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doomedandstoned · 6 years

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Tripping Through the Void with SUNNATA

It's been four years since Doomed & Stoned visited SUNNATA and my how they've grown in the interim! Three successful independent releases, legendary live performances, an exponentially growing fanbase, and broad critical acclaim have shifted the spotlight on the Warsaw doomers. Long before they became the juggernaut of the heavy underground, we knew them as an exciting upstart called Satellite Beaver. This week, we give Sunnata’s latest collections of songs a thorough going over and speak with Szymon Ewertowski (guitar, vox), Adrian Gadomski (guitar), Michał Dobrzański (bass), and Robert Ruszczyk (drums) about what fuels their fire.

Heart of Storm

By Simon Howard

Polish loners Sunnata offer the melodic pilgrim a ritualistic, dark, heavy journey into the atmospheric Outlands, hypnotizing us with an eternal 48 minutes of tripping. Pineal glands will decalcify, doors of perception will be cleansed, and the listener will be enlightened.

Sunnata have been creating a musical Zenith in a blend of genres since 'Climbing the Colossus' (2014) and 'Zorya' (2016). This well-crafted album is hard to believe, in the fact that this band have only been around since 2014. Incorrect. Jump in the TARDIS of Tunes, and rewind ourselves back to 2008. Under the moniker of Satellite Beaver, they released two demos and one final EP in 2012, aptly named, The Last Bow. If the reader is not familiar with Satellite Beaver, then you have an amazing musical journey ahead of you.

Outlands by SUNNATA

'Outlands' (2018) was recorded at Monochrom Studio, mixed and mastered by Haldor Grunberg of Satanic Audio, and brilliantly saturated in the artwork by Maciej Kamuda.

I really cannot attest to what was in the Kool-Aid at Monochrom Studio, but the results are spiritually absorbed into the listener's soul. Mind expanding mantras like "Lucid Dream," "The Ascender," and the epically entrancing closing track "Hollow Kingdom" appeal to me on planes we can only experience ourselves. Outlands transitions from mellow meditational hymns to heavenly heavy riffs, blending this album into something transcendental for avid or new fans of Sunnata. This journey will be taken upon by many, and many times. Musical Mecca has been found. The void has been filled.

Soon It Will All Be Gone

A Conversation with Sunnata

Interview by Billy Goate | Photos by Justyna Kamińska

How would you characterize the evolution of sunnata from ‘Climbing the Colossus’ to ‘Zorya’ to your latest record, ‘Outlands’?

It’s been a long way. I would describe it as emotional trip from anger on our debut Climbing the Colossus, through spatial epicness and a need for air on Zorya to introverted melancholia you can dive into on Outlands. In general, we have always been the "sad guys" who were into kind of a gloomy, dark state of mind and soul and our approach towards the music evolved along with our skills of using instruments to express what we feel inside. That’s why I’d characterize our evolution as a path to greater complexity of emotions, where our debut was the simplest and our latest album the most complicated, emotion-wise.

Are there thematic motifs that the band finds attractive when writing songs? Which themes were most influential on 'Outlands’?

We definitely have become more lyrically confident since our previous album and even though we still consider the role of our lyrics as backing for the rest, I think we can finally admit that Sunnata actually has something to say! (laughs) It might not be your most positive answer ever, but our motifs on Outlands consist of loneliness, despair, the negative influence of religious fanaticism, helplessness, and development of the self and whatever conflict you have inside of you. We dig deep, reopen wounds, and push to get to the core. We prefer fighting yourself to fighting others, until you turn into none.

Are the songs on the new album connected in any way? Is this all a “Lucid Dream” that culminates in a journey into the “Outlands,” with “The Ascender” climbing some forbidden mountain of the gods? And what is the “Gordian Knot” -- an internal fight-or-flight struggle? At the end of the journey, is the prize the conquest of a “Hollow Kingdom”? So many questions!

Sure! Song order always comes last, so we have no intention in putting a story together in any way. However, this sort of lyrical consistency allows us to arrange one after another in a way that triggers certain emotions and impressions. Let’s get through the album piece by piece:

"Lucid Dream" encourages you to give, not to receive; to understand that if you separate your self-esteem from the external world and build value of self and the will to explore, you will grow as a human.

"Scars" is a story of being misled, lied to, cheated on, and abandoned on the one hand, but also a story of growing strength and power to end whatever harms you.

"Outlands" was actually inspired by some politically related events. It's all about sacrifice as a way to bring attention to an idea or social problem ignored before. Too deep to dig into it in a single interview.

"The Ascender" track is focused around any sort of radicalism giving an illusion of being permitted to force your point of view on others. We disagree with anyone’s feeling to be justified for actions that do harm. It’s an illusion that keeps you away from self.

"Gordian Knot" is exactly what you have interpreted: inner struggle -- one that can make you fall apart or disintegrate, in any way.

"Hollow Kingdom" has been chosen as climax, the ending song in praise of emptiness. Its structure, repetitive feeling, and overwhelming melancholia are the best ending of an album we could choose from this track list.

Tell us about the artwork, the artist you chose, and the layers of meaning behind this many-faced wraith?

The only constant is change to us. That’s why this time, instead of going with the magnificent Jeffrey Smith of Ascending Storm once again, we decided to go with another talented artist, Maciej Kamuda, who is also author of Weedpecker and Major Kong artwork. We felt a strong urge to do something different. Deity presented on the front cover is a variation on deep symbolism of Goddess Kali. We didn’t want her to look in a way she’s known from Hinduism. We were inspired more by deep, complex symbolism behind her various forms. If you read about her, you will instantly get it.

One consistent word that comes up in all the descriptions of your music -- live performances especially -- is “ritualistic.” Whether it is the careful setting of the stage, the lighting of the incense, or the hypnotic, trance-like rhythms of the music. What is the importance of ritual for the band and what does this bring to your compositions and performances.

Ritualism in our music comes from trance-inducing forms we create. Immersed in void and drugged with noise, we jam a lot in search of the desired emotion trigger -- we can’t name it, we just get the feeling. If we do, we proceed further. Our work routine and who we are as people actually doesn’t have much to do with dark shamanism, but everything changes once we take instruments and start playing together. It’s similar to being possessed with something. All other details you mentioned -- stage setting, light, clothes, and merch -- are secondary to this and their role is to create certain atmosphere to take people on the journey with us.

I've heard rumors of a music video in the works?

Videos are our curse. We’ve been working on them for every album, but for various reasons all these projects were abandoned. Right now, we are at the beginning of production process for video of "The Ascender" song and we really do hope that it will work out this time. I can’t tell much yet, but we would like the outcome to be something similar to our music -- '90s aesthetics in a psychedelic, doomy setting. We’ll see what time will tell.

Let’s close by giving our readers a peek at your touring plans for 2018 and beyond. What “Outlands” are you off to in the days and months ahead?

We can’t reveal many dates since they are not officially announced yet, but after the our spring tour of Scandinavia with the crazy lads of Boss Keloid, we have various festivals in the summertime confirmed and good perspectives on touring Europe with Dopethrone in October, plus an appearance at Gizzardfest in Rotherham, UK. I believe that best is yet about to come. We just need to follow our own path.

Ruling Land of Emptiness

By Shawn Gibson & Billy Goate

To understand the significance of Sunnata's musical achievements, we need at least a cursory understanding of the soil in which the band is planted. Poland's heavy music scene has been experiencing a surge of activity over the past decade or two, but its music roots are deep-seated and stretch back generations to the darkly complex oeuvre of composers like Frederic Chopin, Leopold Godowsky, Karol Szymanowski, Henryk Górecki, and so many others.

Sunnata's home base of Warsaw encompasses an impressive if turbulent history, evolving from a smattering of villages more than 1400 years ago to become one of the ten largest capital cities in Europe. Warsaw has had more than its share of doom to contend with, too, from disease and famine to regional and global wars -- including the devastating Nazi occupation, which spurred the great underground resistance movement known as the Warsaw Uprising.

Given this context, it's significant that Sunnata has adopted a name representing one of the fundamental principles of Buddhism. Śūnyatā is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word शून्यता (pronounced as "shoonyataa"), which signifies voidness. Think of it as a meditative state of "emptiness" in which the mind is devoid of desire, specifically the stubborn presence of that word we all learn by age two: mine. Śūnyatā involves the diminishing of one's ego, and the band that wears this name has dedicated the better part of a decade to exploring this philosophy through the medium of ritual heavy music.

Photo by Aleksandra Burska

"Hollow Kingdom," the closing track on Outlands, is one example of Sunnata's approach to voidness, with its droning ups and downs and subtle twists. Sunnata let this song be the pedals of a cherry blossom drifting in the breeze. Another highlight is "The Ascender" (my favorite of the record). It's the kind of vessel one imagines boarding to cross over to निर्वाण (nirvana). The backing vocals near the beginning of the song calls to mind prayers and mantras of Tibetan monks. Guitars buzz like propellers, shuttling you along to another plane of existence. The heavy psychedelic vibe and stirring chorus makes for an uplifting experience that is, one imagines, not unlike astral projection. Sunnata are your gurus fixed atop the mountain, lulling you ever closer on an ascendant journey skyward. Along the way, there's an avalanche of emotions.

One imagines the many plagues, fires, wars, and uprisings that might have influenced "Scars." The song strikes a thrash-like tempo, with jazzy cymbals and a psyched-out tambourine. Then, at the five-minute mark, all hell breaks loose with a thundering bassline, fuzzed-out guitars, and a pummeling drumbeat. Doom has come to claim its reign! Similarly, "Gordian Knot" attacks like a nest of pissed-off hornets. Still rocking hard by the two-minute mark, things lighten up for a spell as fuzzy desert riffs and reassuring chants (with those wonderful backing vocals) lull you to sanctuary. The aggressive pace returns, leading to a crescendo of screaming vox to chase every worry from your mind. Only the journey consumes you now.

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Taken in sum, Outlands is an exhilarating magic carpet ride, albeit with some turbulence. Sunnata hone the powerful elements of rock and metal like master alchemists, dispensing measured doses of doom, sludge, psychedelic, and stoner, melding them seamlessly, and transcending boundaries only few conceived possible. The heavy doom passages are somehow made even heavier by this psychedelic blend, which brings one closer to a state of voidness.

High spiritual concept meets the earthy might of doom in Outlands. It is the enlightenment of the yogis, the ascension of gurus, a musical Kathmandu. I've visited the temple now multiple times over the course of weeks and months and it continues to be a cathartic experience for me. Outlands will make your heart flutter and embolden your spirit with its mesmerizing riffs and hypnotic rhythms. It will usher you down a river of feeling and bury you in a cascade of sonic desolation. The chants and mantras sent my spirit soaring heavenward. Returning to earth, I felt as if I have been everyplace in existence and at the same time perfectly still, third eye open -- mind, body, and spirit aligned. Awareness is the gift I received from this Outlands. Who knows? In listening, perhaps you will find your own Śūnyatā, as well.

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doomedandstoned · 7 years

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THE GREAT BIG SLOMATICS INTERVIEW

~By Svempa Alveving~ Photos by Gerry Dollso (studio) and Paul Verhagen (live)

Would ya believe that in all these years, we've never had a chance to do a one-on-one with Slomatics? With the Belfast band making a key appearance in the States this year at Psycho Las Vegas, we figured it was high time to change that. Guitarist David Majury was kind enough to oblige our questions. (Billy)

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To start, we'd love to hear your telling of the Slomatics origin story.

The band has been together for 13 years now, which is sort of hard to believe. We formed out of the ashes of a previous band called The Naut in 2004, which all three of us had played in. The bassist of that band became our original drummer, but Marty replaced him in 2012 so it feels like things went full circle. We’ve all done a lot of other bands. Marty and I played in a garage band called The Favourites and a stoner band called Cosmonaut, and Marty played in a whole range of stuff for years from old school hardcore to psych collectives. Chris and I have played in various bands together for around 17 years now.

As for Slomatics, we formed, released two albums, some splits, and seven inches, and toured Ireland and the UK, all being pretty low-key DIY. We then recorded our split with Conan and the previous drummer quit, both of which led us to move things on pretty quickly. With Marty in the band, all restrictions of the previous line-up were removed and in the last five years we’ve released three albums, a seven inch, a digital EP, a soundtrack song, and have studio time booked for our next release. We’ve started travelling a lot more, even though we don’t tour, and have played Desertfest and Roadburn in the last year or so.

What's at the core of your musical inspiration?

I think that inspiration is often confused with music people enjoy. For example, I listen to PJ Harvey a lot, but I’m never going to really try and write music to sound like her. For us, it’s been more a case of having a certain sound we gravitate towards, but without a specific reference point. I mean, we’re not claiming to be any sort of genre-defying thing, we play heavy, fuzzy rock music, so of course we take something from Sabbath and the Melvins, but I wouldn’t say those bands influence us specifically.

I get most of my inspiration from bands we play with, so seeing Bismuth recently made me think about layers in our sound, or Wild Rocket made me thing about their use of effects, and then I’ll try to interpret those experiences our own way. One band does really stand out though. In our early days, we played a few shows with a band called Like a Kind of Matador who were from Leeds, England. They had such an unusual approach to song structure and guitar playing/tones, which really stuck with me. They’d no bassist, either, which appealed to me, too, and helped me realize that it’s only convention which dictates a band’s line-up. We don’t sound anything like them, but just seeing a band do things their own way with no thought for how they’d be perceived certainly made us want to do the same.

If we were to take peek at your playlist these days, what would we be listening to?

I’ll give you the last five records I’ve bought:

Part Chimp – 'IV' (2017). Their last record was maybe eight years ago and they’d been on hiatus for years, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this really is their best album yet. Monstrously heavy and sounding completely epic, they out-heavy just about anyone else making guitar music today. Incredible band.

Soundcarriers – 'Entropicalia' (2014). A friend turned me on to this record, and it’s definitely not a doom album. It combines '60s French pop like Serge Gainsbourg with a sort of Can-esque drumming and weirdness, like the soundtrack to some lost arthouse movie.

Hornets – 'Witch Hunt' (2017). Raging hardcore from Belfast! These guys embody what I think of as hardcore, rather than the sort of awful metalcore stuff that passes itself off as hardcore these days. They’ve a real doomy edge, too, which adds a really creepy feel to their sound, and are one of those bands who can make negativity and anger somehow sound uplifting. We’ve played a lot of shows with them and they’re so intense live. Great band.

Documenta – 'Drone Pop #1' (2015). I’m flying the flag for local music here. These guys have been around for a while, but I only really heard them last year and this record has barely left my turntable since. I’ve no idea how to categorize this record. It’s really cinematic, with just amazing textures and guitar sounds, beautifully produced and really moving.

Holly Hunt – 'The Wait/Bowling Green' (2017). This is the most recent 12” from this two-piece. I was a fan of their first album and through nerdy guitar stuff online I hooked up with them, leading to us releasing a split 7" a couple of years back. They’re absolutely amazing, again, hard to categorize, but if you’ve any interest at all in heavy guitar sounds then this will appeal to you. Their sound, a bit like Part Chimp, is almost overwhelmingly huge.

Let's switch gears now and talk about your own discography. How do you feel about your output to date and do you see a progression, musically?

I suppose I feel proud of it all, just because I know how difficult it is for bands at our level to create any kind of longevity. There’s no monetary reward and for the first few years it’s generally playing to small crowds. I think a lot of great bands just fizzle out, which is always a shame. My friend has a theory that in every town of a certain size there will be at least one amazing band, but that they won’t ever really be heard outside of that town or their own basement. I’ve certainly seen those bands here in Belfast and it’s easy to see why some things don’t last. I feel good that Chris and I kept going, kept being excited about playing music together, and maintained a reasonable prolific output, which in a way is just a reflection of our friendship.

Each record represents where we were at that time, really, so although the early stuff -- and all the stuff with the previous line-up, to be honest -- feels like a different band, I’m still reminded of how much we enjoyed things at the time. That being said, once Marty joined the band it felt like we’d really opened the door to being able to do all the stuff we’d always wanted to, and the records we’ve done with this line-up are something I feel really proud of.

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We practice in a lock-up in an industrial estate here in Belfast. It’s certainly not glamorous or "pro" in any way, and yet there are three great looking records that folk around the world have thought enough of to spend money on. Holding a copy of one of those records in my hands is a very satisfying thing, I’ll not deny it, and I’m sure anyone who releases a record feels the same way. That really blows my mind and it’s a great feeling.

As for progression, that’s the aim. I suppose it’s up to the listener to decide if we’ve achieved it or not. We’ve never deliberately tried to reinvent ourselves, but it felt like we took a leap forward once Marty joined and that each release since has been closer to the sounds in our heads. On the last record, I think we were fairly happy that it sounded like we’d hoped it would and that the songs has the light and shade we’d aimed for. It's maybe the record where we felt we’d included all the things we’d tried out on the previous two, but hopefully in a more fully realized way.

What's the Slomatics approach to writing and recording new material?

It’s different every time, really. I think we all have a sort of unspoken role in the band, and we try to work together to our strengths. I write most of the riffs, which are the initial ideas. Often, I sit at home with my iPhone recording wee 20 second segments and building up a load of ideas. Most come to nothing, of course, and probably 70% of them are just me messing about with delay pedals or weird noises. I’ll bring them to the practice room and if the others think there’s something worth working on, then we’ll jam it out and think about dynamics.

Marty often interprets my ideas completely differently to how I envisaged them, which is always a cool moment as the song takes on a more collaborative form. A lot of the last record was written that way. Chris is always a good sounding board for what makes the studio. He’ll always try moving riffs about before dismissing anything, so he’s a great barometer to have. And unlike me, he’s a really technically proficient player, so he’ll have ideas about where chords and things fit in. It really is different every time, though. The last record was basically written by me and Marty, but of the three new songs we’ll record in November, one is fully collaborative with all three of us writing riffs, one is all Marty, and the third is all me. It just depends who has ideas at a given time.

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Recording has changed a little through time. We used a great studio called Start Together here in Belfast for 'A Hocht' (2012) and 'Estron' (2014), but then switched to Skyhammer for the Holly Hunt split (2014) and 'Future Echo Returns' (2016). This was mainly as we’re now on Black Bow Records, but also because the studio is so amazing. Chris Fielding from Conan is the engineer at Skyhammer and he has such an amazing ear for heavy sounds. We loved the production he’d done on the Throne and Conan records, so it was a very easy decision to go to his studio. It’s stress free, as Chris is really easy to be around, and we trust his mixing completely. There are very few tweaks ever done. We’ll record the next record in November there, too.

What's most important when writing a new song: the lyrical concept or those musical ideas you referred to?

It always starts with the music. If the riff isn’t there, then there’s no skeleton to hang the song on. We usually write all the music first and then Marty goes away and writes all the lyrics and melody, although recently he’s started writing sections as we go along. He really does spend a lot of time and effort with the lyrics and it’s not like they’re an afterthought. We’ll often change the structure to create space for where the lyrics will fit, even before they’re written.

Do you plan on booking some shows outside Ireland?

Actually, we play more shows outside of Ireland than we do at home these days. We don’t tour due to work and family commitments, so most of our shows will involve flying into somewhere, playing a show or two, and then flying home. It’s frustrating in some ways, as we end up turning down shows that we know would be amazing, but we all accept that it’s just how it is. It’s not that we don’t love playing Ireland, either, but for a band like ours playing a couple of shows a year is enough, as Belfast is pretty small and folk would get tired of us if we played every weekend. I think I might get tired of it, too! In the last year, we’ve played England a few times, Scotland, the Hostsabbat Fest in Norway, and of course Roadburn, and we’ll be in Las Vegas in August before returning to England in September. We’d love to play away more often, though. There are places like Germany and Sweden we’d love to play. Hopefully in 2018!

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You are playing Psycho Las Vegas this August. I believe Billy Goate recommended you to the organizer, who asked for his top picks. How will you prepare for that event? What other bands are you hoping to get to see?

Yeah we are! It's a bit of a mind-blower, to be honest. We couldn't believe it when we were asked. I replied to the organizers that we live in Ireland and don't tour, but they were super cool and keen to have us over. Our mates in Conan and Tombstones have played it before, so we knew a bit about the fest. It's like a who's who of the heavy-alternative scene. It should be a real blast, seems like a really well organized set up with an insane lineup.

As for getting prepared, the main thing was sorting out equipment, which is all organized now. Beyond that, it's literally turn up and play! We'll probably do something special with Jon from Conan, too.

As for who I'm excited about seeing, all the usual suspects like Sleep, Neurosis, The Melvins, and Corrosion of Conformity. I'm sure they'll be amazing, as always, but I'm really stoked about seeing stuff I've not seen before, like the Brian Jonestown Massacre and a band from Sweden called Domkraft, who I really love. There's so much: obviously Conan, but the likes of Chelsea Wolfe, Psychic TV, Wizard Rifle, and Murder City Devils will be on my list, too. Hopefully I'll see as much as possible.

Tell me more about the local scene in Ireland.

Honestly, that’s a whole separate interview in itself. Ireland has always had an amazing history of local music, but I’d say that right now things are better than ever. There’s a pile of doomy stuff going on, with some really great bands like Nomadic Rituals and 7.5 Tonnes of Beard putting out cool music, but the most interesting stuff tends to be at the edges of different scenes. Bands like Maw, Hornets, Documenta, The Bonnevilles, Los Reyes, Junk Drawer, Bosco Ramos, New Pagans, Gnarkats, Hiva Oa, Beauty Sleep, Venus Sleeps, Wild Rocket, Horse, No Spill Blood, Robocobra Quartet -- honestly the list is so long.

There are a couple of really great venues like Voodoo and the Black Box, too, run by cool supportive people and with excellent PAs and crew. The scene is generally well supported; we’ve not played to an empty room for years now. There’re some great promoters bringing bigger names through town and putting local bands on bills, which is great, and we’ve a world class studio here, as I mentioned, called Start Together.

For a few years, I noticed that all the best local bands were older folk who’d been around for years, but in the last couple of years there’s been a real run of young bands playing really exciting new music, which is amazing to see, even if it does make me feel old! I suppose my only criticism would be that there could be more crossover between scenes and in the arts, in general, but then that’s true of most towns.

Any cool bands overall that I should check out?

My top three:

Maw. A two-piece who blend ultra-heavy riffs with amazing melodies that somehow remind me of Pavement and the Melvins simultaneously. They use a weird set-up of hand built amps and pedals, too, so my inner geek finds them very satisfying.

RoboCobra Quartet. Again, nearly impossible to put in any specific genre. They sound a bit like if Henry Rollins or maybe Steve Albini did a jazz record. Heavy as anything, but with saxophone and no fuzz boxes.

Documenta. I know I’ve already mentioned this record, but it’s really worth a listen, if you’re a fan of cinematic, hazy textured guitar stuff. In particular, their album Drone Pop #1. Not heavy at all, but with some really creepy interludes. It has that ability to transport me away when I listen to it. It’s just a masterpiece.

If you were headlining a festival and you have the opportunity to choose the bands, who would you choose?

In reality, I’d stick loads of local bands on there, but I think I’ve banged on about that enough, so I’ll go international with this one:

Pink Floyd. The 'Live at Pompeii' (1972) era. When we started the band, both Chris and I were really obsessed with that DVD, so in the dream world we’d transport them through time and put the festival in an Italian amphitheater.

Part Chimp. To this day they’re still the loudest band I’ve ever seen and I think they’d set the standard for colossal riffs at any festival.

Mudhoney. Being of a certain age, I was a big fan of early '90s fuzz rock. I saw Mudhoney last year and they were even better than when I saw them in '92, so they’d get a spot in my festival line-up, for sure.

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. Because it’s Tad Doyle, no other reason required!

Monoliths. They’re a three-piece with folk from Ommadon and Bismuth, both insanely heavy bands, and the marriage of the two is just as good as I’d hoped, with huge, looping, meditative riffs. I’d like something to trance out to at the fest, so these guys would do that nicely. Plus, they use about 100 amps live, so the stage would look really cool between all that and Floyd’s gong.

Conan: Yes, they’re old mates of ours so hanging out would enhance my festival experience, but also because they’re just so good. Their wall of Green amps never ceases to impress, either.

I’m old, so I’ll keep this festival line-up to a one-day affair, as I’d be too wrecked for a second day. Between Monoliths, Part Chimp, Conan, and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, my eardrums would need a rest, so I’ll go for John Carpenter. I think his stuff is really amazing, and if he played the ‘Lost Themes’ (2015) material I’d be able to relax nicely, maybe in one of those collapsible camping chairs with the drink holder. I can’t imagine much better.

Last of all, I've always been curious about the meaning of songs like "Estronomicon," "In The Grip of Fausto," and "Into The Eternal" off of the latest album, 'Future Echo Returns' (2016).

We get asked about the meanings of specific songs quite a bit and I always feel like I’m ducking the question a little when I answer. The reason is that we don’t like to spell the songs out for the listener. We’d prefer people take their own meaning or interpretation of the song. I know that sounds pretentious, but when I listen to music I like to be transported somewhere by it and that experience may be the same for everyone else or perhaps it’s totally different. I like to believe that the latter is the case and that what might be transcendental for one person could be really superficial for another -- both are fine.

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The aim of our music is to be whatever people want to take from it. All that being said, yes, there is a narrative to the album, which follows on from and concludes the story of the previous two records. We’d always intended these to be a trilogy with a beginning and an end. This album hopefully feels like a conclusion. We tried to sequence the songs to create a sense of being on a journey with a certain pace and feel. We do have a clear story to the record, but as I said, it’s up to you to decide what that might be. We try to leave song titles and lyrics open to interpretation. Hopefully some folk pick up on that, but at the same time if anyone just wants to stick on a record and crack open a beer hopefully it works on that level, too. Maybe the next record will be more straightforward and we’ll have a song called "Viking Skulls," which is actually about the skulls of Vikings -- you never know.

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doomedandstoned · 7 years

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Beastmaker Engineers Another Masterwork of Horror

~Review by Svempa Alveving & Billy Goate~

~Photographs by Ken Trousdell~

Inspiration ebbs and flows in metal, as in all mediums of art. Feast or famine. While fans might wish for the next great record from Sleep or Tool, we have no choice but to wait patiently through long periods of drought for new material to emerge. Happily, fortune has smiled on Californian doom masterminds BEASTMAKER, who find themselves flourishing in the midst of an impressive creative streak.

Owning a recording studio has no doubt made it easier for Trevor William Church (vox, guitar), John Tucker (bass), and Andres Alejandro Saldate (drums) to cut through reams of red tape and keep costs manageable as they focus on fine-tuning and disseminating their sound. Over the past two years, Beastmaker has been unstoppable, issuing a cult EP and an equally beloved LP which jettisoned the band to international attention. Now, right on the heels of 'Lusus Naturae' (2016), the Fresno trio has just dropped a ten song sophomore album -- and what a brilliant release it is!

'Inside The Skull' (2017 - Rise Above Records) embraces all of the Pentagram and Sabbath worship you could hope for, viewed through the hazy glasses of stoner rock and fueled by a wicked garage vibe. If the band’s first album took us by surprise with its untethered energy and raw power, this new effort has significantly stepped up the Beastmaker game.

It's hard to live a life of solitude. At every corner someone's hunting you. Stay in the shadows do not show your face. You don't belong within the human race.

For decades, doom and horror have come hand-in-hand and Beastmaker's affection for dark stories of madness and monsters is no exception. Rather than stepping into the stylistic footprint of Electric Wizard, however, Beastmaker seems drawn to the pomp and aggression of Danzig and Mercyful Fate. This marriage of the slow 'n' low and old school heavy metal is perfect for the horrific themes that Inside The Skull explores. A small injection of psychedelia adds a swirling occult atmosphere to the mix that is also quite potent.

"Evil One" is a good example of what you can expect from the album, with nice hooks, fantastic chorus lines, and a vibrant tone. There inspired touches in every song, like the tech-flavored arpeggios accompanying those baleful refrains in "Now Howls The Beast." Trevor's nasal-tone vocals add an extra dimension of evil, as well, as witnessed by "Nature of the Damned."

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Every song is structured efficiently, with a back-to-basics approach to riffmaking and a preference for intuitive verses, evident in "Of God's Creation." This filtering process may give us a relatively shorter album, but be assured: each ingredient has a well-chosen place and purpose. Unnecessary passages are snipped, avoiding the tendency of many bands to take a good thing too far. Reducing the fat also cuts back on listening fatigue, which encourages us to spin the record over and over again.

Sonically, Inside The Skull is fresh from end-to-end, thanks to savvy sound engineering that results in pristine clarity and noticeable depth, as in "Heaven To Hell." All of this, remember, recorded and produced entirely by the band -- an astounding DIY effort.

Inside the Skull is an absolutely fantastic album of downtuned throwback metal, delivered with high intensity and attention to detail. Beastmaker presents an energetic work filled with enigmatic themes, edgy riffs, hypnotic rhythms, heart-pounding drums, heavy metal swagger, and the full weight of doom. If the band continues to progress on this level, I see their star rising rapidly. It's no mistake that this latest release found a home on Lee Dorrian's label, Rise Above Records. Perhaps it's too early to speak of Beastmaker growing to Cathedral-level greatness, but this album, at least, could cement the band's place as Record of the Year and certainly one of the great records of decade.

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Film by Billy Goate

#D&S Reviews #Beastmaker #Fresno #California #Doom #Metal #Heavy Metal #Horror #Svempa Alveving #Photography #Ken Trousdell #Live #Concert #Rise Above Records #Doomed & Stoned

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doomedandstoned · 7 years

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Trading Words With Swedish Doom Hermits Alastor

~By Svempa Alveving~

Photographs by Gianluca La Bruna

I was super-excited when I received the thumbs up to have a little conversation with Gothenburg’s cult-style doom rockers ALASTOR. In a time of bands doing all they can to seek attention, Alastor are doing the opposite. There a so little to read about on them and that creates a tension I prefer. Alastor wants the listener to pay attention to the music and not the persons behind it. Their main epos 'Black Magic' (2017 - Twin Earth Records) will be placed high on my list of 2017 best records.

Black Magic by Alastor

Guys, please tell me a little bit about your musical backgrounds.

None of us are educated musicians, but music has been a big part of all the members’ lives as long as we can remember. Music has been a way for us to deal with the world around us. If we hadn’t been up to music, we'd probably be dabbling with assassination, telemarketing, or something else that’s evil.

Alastor? Does the name mean anything special?

The name Alastor has many implications and appears in many religions and cultures. To put it short, you can say that the name stands for wreaking revenge on the mankind -- or is it taken from the Harry Potter character Alastor Moody? We haven’t decided yet.

Every band has a special way of creating music. Speak about yours.

Our music is evolving from a black slurry tardily boiling over until it covers your kitchen floor completely and you have to call your landlord and ask them to come to make a new floor. The music Alastor creates destroys the floor.

Have you brought any influence into the band?

The pleasure of playing music is partly inspired of other music but also of the life we live. Relations, feelings, experiences are things that having effect on us as musicians.

Do you recommend other bands?

It depends on which situations you’re part of. As an example, we wouldn’t give you an advice to listen to G.G Allin if you’re attending a christening ceremony. Two bands we think are working in every situation are The Dahmers and Stoinabjär from Sweden.

Do you have any band in the same genre as you playing in Gothenburg?

Yes, but none are as bad as we are.

Tell us about a bad concert memory!

I don’t know if it’s a hilarious memory, but when we saw BelzebonG and Bong of Cthulhu playing in Hässleholm, a heavy and old Orange-speaker fell down on Belzebong’s pedals and it makes one of the buggered pedals work again. Violence solves everything.

If you were about the headline a festival where you could decide which band you wanted to perform, what band would you choose?

If we were to imagine, we would like to have a band with Satan on guitar, Aleister Crowley on bass, Vlad Tepes on drums, and Tiny Tim on vocals. A guy called Vincent Price could do some limericks during the break. The only thing you'd have to pay attention to is avoiding Vlad Tepes spike someone during the drum solo.

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doomedandstoned · 7 years

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Painful Beauty Defines New Sound By The Moth Gatherer

~Review by Svempa Alveving~

with Billy Goate

Photos by Peo Bengtsson (@peo.bengtsson)

The Moth Gatherer was born in Stockholm in 2008, the creative vision of Victor Wegeborn and Alex Stjernfeldt. In mid-2010, they began recording A Bright Celestial Light -- a dark affair about loss and grief. By April of 2013, their debut was picked up by Agonia Records and given a wonderful release. Two years later, The Moth Gatherer gave rise to a second record: The Earth Is The Sky. This highly acclaimed album featured guest appearances from heavy underground favs Terra Tenebrosa, Monolord, and Kongh and received airtime on national and international radio.

After this success and a subsequent period of rumination, The Moth Gatherer decided time was ripe for a third release. "After The Earth Is The Sky," the band says, "we felt like we needed to push our limits, while not forgetting our roots. The music and lyrics are supposed to feel like painful beauty and to provoke reflection. The themes revolve around an inner search, a way to rise while being pushed down by depression."

Enter 'The Comfortable Low' (2017). I would lie if I said I wasn't completely stoked when I first heard news of this release, anticipating great things from the band. After all, the Moth has given us two great full-lengths and the new EP is no exception.

There are guest appearances here, as well, namely contributions from celebrated singers Dennis Lyxzén of Refused and Fred Burman from Satan Takes A Holiday. I was surprised by these absolutely fantastic vocal efforts, especially from Dennis, who gives the finest performance I've heard from him in ages.

The Comfortable Low by The Moth Gatherer

The Comfortable Low exposes the listener to new influences, but also transports us back to the genesis of Moth. This epic journey divides into two parts: "This Providence of Bones" (with Dennis Lyxzén) and "Still Life Slumbers Here" (featuring Fred Burman). I can state confidently that this is the best material the band has released so far. The new EP pushes boundaries, resulting in some of the most gorgeous post-metal I have yet encountered. To spice it up a bit, The Moth Gatherer inject some epic ambient and electronic tones into the music. It's a genius move, providing a lot of interesting variation to these songs.

From time to time, I listen to bands like The Moth Gatherer as a kind of therapy. This music gives me the opportunity to deal with situations in ordinary life that threaten to bring me down. After spinning The Moth Gatherer's new EP, my life seems to be darker than ever; but in a strange way, I feel sunshine inside and that’s not bad at all. These four flavour their post-metal with heavy, gorgeous guitar technique and a mix of harsh and clean vocals that can only be described as majestic. Just as I’m about to burst into tears from the tension the song is song building inside of me, everything stops for a moment. This pause beckons the arrival of a crescendo designed to usher me into ambient breathing space. A very effectual moment, indeed!

The themes revolve around an inner search a way to rise while being pushed down by depression.

My only drawback about the new stuff is that it's way too short. This is not entirely strange, considering this material is a kind of trial balloon testing the Moth's comfort in travelling down new roads. Take the journey with The Comfortable Low and I think you'll discover, as did I, that The Moth Gatherer's innovative sound predicts a very bright future for the band.

The Moth Gatherer is:

Alex Stjernfeldt (bass, vox)

Victor Wegeborn (guitar, fx, vox)

Svante Karlsson (drums)

Ronny Westphal (guitar)

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doomedandstoned · 7 years

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In The Company of Serpents Probes Vast Mysteries of the Immortal ALL

~By Svempa Alveving, with Billy Goate~

Photos by Travis Heacock

I first took notice of IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS with the 2013 release Of The Flock (their second full-length by that time). One year later, I had the opportunity of reviewing their subsequent EP, Merging in Light, which I described as massive sludge-infused slab of doom, landing somewhere between Church of Misery and Electric Wizard.

Now the Denver duo are back with their third full-length, 'Ain-Soph Aur' (2017), a title that references the Hebrew concept of infinity. In the mysticism of the Kabbalah, אין סוף (roughly translated "there is no end") represents the idea of God as an eternal, self-sustaining cosmic entity. It's the exact opposite notion to "Your own personal Jesus. Someone to hear your prayers. Someone who cares." Ain-Soph is the nameless, faceless Divinity, before revealing himself to the world as "the great I AM."

Grant Netzorg (guitar and vocals) and Joseph Weller Myer (drummer) lets this concept play out through six tracks characterized by harsh, sludgey tetures, dissonant tonality, and a spacey doom aura -- never losing its natural melodic structure, which is as elegant as it is heavy. The grand-scale sound is captured brilliantly by Dave Otero, who has also worked with fellow Colorado bands Khemmis and Cobalt. His production is very well-suited to the band's vision. The Edenic album art of Mike Lawrence encapsulates this vision in a more literal sense, depicting the mystical, intertwining themes that flow freely from one song to another.