DOOM METAL FRONT Zine #5 - 01/2011

struct the circles, ritual site, so as to successfully summon
the elder gods has left an indelible mark on me.“
So all three albums, including "Baron Citadel", are somewhat
like ritual instructions or are they rather to be
compared with a retreat diary telling about your miraculous
experiences?
„Yes I suppose that's exactly what they are, a reimagining
and remembering ofwhat has been experienced.“
How do you feel when playing the songs live, is it like
living through those miraculous experiences again,
comparable to a flashback?
„Well, it would be kind of cool to think of the experience as
something comparable to your question, but in fact when
playing the songs it is the moment that overwhelms both of
us, the volume, the tone, and the lyrics. We have no time
to reflect but instead we wish to embrace the excitement of
the moment, of performing, watching the audience to see
how they are reacting. Sometimes it can be the little things
for example scanning the crowd to see how many people
have their fingers in the ears, or how many heads are nodding
etc. You give yourself over to the feeling that we are
all in this together. That makes it unbeatable. Saying that, I
did while on tour with Eagle Twin in October and November
begin to feel the routine of playing every night opened
up an intimate connection to my previous experiences. By
the end ofthe tour I began to feel how I did when participating
in Vodou ceremonies in Haiti. The heaviness of presence,
the darkness enveloping the identity of one as
something begins to mount the soul. It was an incredible
experience and one that I have not had since those days
when I walked down dirt tracks and people would stop and
tell me that there are spirits of all kinds and demeanours
around us all the time. That as much as I wanted to see
them they were watching and would meet me along the
way. To realise the coming together of the spiritual domain
with the music we play has been one of the highlights of
playing in Pombagira.“
I for myself can say that I enjoyed every second of
your live performance too! Let's dig through your musicial
history a little bit: You've been involved in the
London underground scene for many years now,
when did you start to listen to Metal respectively
Doom stuff? Which had been your initial faves?
„I started to listen to bands like Hawkwind and Pink Floyd
when I was 10-12 years old, so that would around 1975. I
would say that's where my psych influences come from,
and these continue to be firm favourites. The first record
that was bought for me was T-Rex ‚Electric Warrior‘, my
Gran bought it for me because I thought the cover looked
cool, I was seven at the time. That record also continues to
be a firm favourite of mine. In terms of Doom, I suppose I
was listening to Black Sabbath when I was 14-15, but my
heart was with Motorhead. The first show I ever went to
was in 1979 and it was a festival being held as part of Motorhead's
Bomber tour, it was called The Brain Damage
Party and had Motorhead, Saxon, Girlschool, Angel Witch,
White Spirit, Vardis and Mythras if my memory serves me
correctly. From 79-85 I was only listening to faster music
like Venom, Celtic Frost etc. The first real contemporary
16
Doom I got into was Candlemass. I never really liked Trouble,
perhaps the Christian rumoured association at the time
didn't sit well with me. I probably didn't listen too much else
other than Hardcore and Grind from 87-90, with the exception
of Melvins. Those early records
are just amazing, I also loved Confessor
when I heard the demo. The time
signatures just blew my mind. After this
it was Sleep, Greenmachine, early Boris, Grief, Bongzilla
well you probably get my drift. The main band though that I
return to is Sleep, ‚Jerusalem‘ in particular. That record
continues to be my main benchmark for any music we write.
Nowadays I love Sunn, Electric Wizard, St.Vitus, Ocean
Chief, Windhand, Toner Low and in comparison to the 90s
I hate what Boris do now, despise Cathedral, just bloody
awful, well I have always thought that, not into Ramesses
either although we are good friends with them. But to go
back to the original question I would say Sleep and Candelmass,
but more important to me than these bands are
groups like Amun Duul II, Edgar Broughton Band, and Pink
Floyd - true pioneers!“
Interview
And when have you started making music, which was
your very first band?
„The first band I actually tried to play in was a band called
Antichrist in 1984. To be honest I couldn't actually play guitar
at all, it had the drummer from Punk/Hardcore AYS in it,
a french bass player and Jason L, who went onto record
three tracks as Antichrist in '87 with members of Unseen
Terror and Heresy. I was way out of my league compared
to the other members in the band. I formed my own band
in 1985, we were called Azag-Thoth. We did one demo as
a three piece, the other two members were friends who lived
locally, at this point in time I was playing bass and singing.
My main influences at this point were Venom,
Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. Soon after the demo was recorded
the other two members left, they weren't really into
the music I was listening too, they just didn't really get it. It
would take another two years before I would find adequate
replacements. The drummer was Shane Embury who was
about to join Napalm Death, it was 1987. I also joined Unseen
Terror around the same time since Shane was in it
that as well. Azag-Thoth recorded a second demo in Rich
Bitch studios in Birmingham where the early Napalm
Death recordings took place. The demo was called ‚Shredded
Flesh‘. At the time we had a lot of interest, including
Motorhead's management. The band would come to
nothing, but the guys from Nunslaughter eventually released
a vinyl version ofthe demo on a split 12" with the Terorizer
demo being the other side.“
foto: Sven Mihlan