| INTERVIEWS |
From Hellride music I'm happy to report, that the misery grows. Doom Metal has taken a upward turn in interest as of late, and I know many of us, including me, couldn't be happier. One of the bands of the forefront of the current doom metal assault, is Ireland's Mourning Beloveth. Combining epic doom with a two-tiered vocal approach, Mourning Beloveth create that rare form of metal that can appeal to the discerning doom fan of all genres. Hellride Music talks with bassist Adrian Butler about the re-release of the classic Dust album, the recording of their new opus, and Bono of all things.
Adrian Butler: Hello there Hellride. Adrian here . Doomy tidings to ye all…… MB did indeed start almost 11 years ago. There is a better explanation of our history on our website but here's a brief one for you now. MB came from the ashes of a band called Traumatized. The original bass
player came up with the name and we ended keeping that when he left. I
recorded the first demo for Mourning Beloveth at my college in 1996. The
other engineer on that session was Alan Nemtheanga actually from Primordial.
I was asked to join the band soon after on bass and the current guitarist
went back to playing guitar. We did the second demo then in 1998 and it
received much acclaim in the underground, which was helped on by the massive
promotion-fliers/Promos etc that we did. We got to support Cathedral in
Dublin after that which was really great fun and good experience to get.
In 2000 we recorded our debut CD Dust. We pressed 1000 copies of this
and 300 went out as promos and the rest are now sold out. We got to Support
Cradle of Filth in Dublin and Belfast on their last tour here - The re-released
version is available now from my label Sentinel- It includes a demo track
from the 2nd Demo Autumnal Fires and a new track from the forthcoming
album The Sullen Sulcus. Hellride Music: I know Darren's sole duty in MB is to provide the pipes... between Darren and Frank, whose the one laying down the guttural death vox and whose doing the clean singing/spoken word stuff? Or is it the same person doing both and I'm totally fucked-off?! Adrian: Darren does the spoken and growling parts and Frank does the clean singing bits. This formula has gained a lot of interest and we think it really works well. Each own vocal part in whatever song compliments the other and there isn't any overkill on each other's part. Obviously Darren has the main vocal part within the band but when there is a section of new music that doesn't fit the vocals or a working experimental piece both guys work on a suitable lyric/vocal for Frank. Whatever Frank comes up with then can dictate what we have already written and everything eventually gets blended into an MB song. One part of Frank's vocal on the new CD was an idea of Magz - People who have heard some of it thought we were using keyboards but its just layers of a simple vocal melody of Frank's and works away under a spoken part by Darren carrying it along gracefully. There are several new things/ideas on the ...Sulcus album that are new for us and shows our ability to strive forward and progress as a band. Hellride Music: Looking back from your first demo in 1996, to Autumnal Fires in 1998, to your current release Dust, how has the band changed in terms of sound and approach to writing music? Or has it changed at all? Adrian: I suppose the core sound of what MB are all about has remained only that now it is more refined and we have a clearer knowledge of the direction we are heading in. I wouldn't say we have our truest sound possible sorted out as we are always progressing and finding new stuff within ourselves that improves our sound bit by bit. We are always trying different ways of song-writing and nothing ever keeps within a strict plan. One record label that we sent a 'Dust' promo to wrote back saying we should write more melodies in the songs and this is one thing we did a lot of work on this time round whether it be the lead guitar or the vocal melodies. Little things like if we have a long riff we change around the end each time or write a separate melody for the 2nd time we play it etc. Its all just bringing together stuff we learn along the way and I'm sure other bands do this already but I think with Doom Metal, especially as the music is so slow, each second and change is important as the listening ear can pick out a lot more easily than say a black metal band. It also helps lull the listener into the hypnotic trance-like state as the music washes over them.
Adrian: Magz from the Academy Studio produced the CD along with some help/opinions from us. From the experience I had gathered in Sound Recording college I was able to translate the ideas we wanted into words for Magz. We had been in contact with him for a good while before the recording so we all knew what to expect and it kept both teams in the picture. We did a hell of a lot of preparation for the first album - Of course you can never have it all ready and it is good to have a bit of tolerance going into the studio - That's where the artistic freedom and experimentation kicks in. Magz is great to work with and is indeed the Godfather of Doom Metal. He is always coming up with new ideas. "How about this?" and "Why not do that the other way around?". He's got good some great experience over the last 12 or so years since he did the first Paradise Lost stuff -And that was the beginning. The time we were over in Academy recording Dust we found the old bookings diary and we saw the page where PL were penciled in to do their demos! That was a true doom moment. Indeed. Hellride Music: How has the recording of your sophmore full length, The Sullen Sulcus gone? Will it pick up where Dust left off, or have you added a few surprises? Adrian: The Sullen Sulcus is a giant leap for us from DUST but of course still contains all that MB's music is about. We had a lot more time to do this CD -10 days in total but an extra benefit was the fact that the new studio is all done with Pro-Tools. This in reality gives you an extra few days because it is so versatile, etc and saves a lot of time. I know some people prefer analogue to digital but with the new technology that's around it's hard to tell the difference. All of the songs are totally new and were written in the year before it was recorded. Some of the songs for Dust were a few years old. The writing process for The Sullen Sulcus was exciting as everything had to be new and still be relative. We worked on about 2 songs at a time, getting the main parts together then getting the melodies and after that fine tuning the vocals. We are very fussy about our songs and some end up being completely changed around until everyone is happy. We all know what we want and work and work until there isn't any air of doubt. We practiced every Sunday morning for about 5 or 6 hours together and still met up in each other house midweek to prepare for the following Sunday. We didn't play any gigs in a year which was a help as we didn't have any rehearsals for gigs to do and this takes up too much time.
Adrian: There are plans underway right now to tour in February next year with US Doomsters Morgion. There will be gigs in Ire/UK-Ger-Bel-Fra-Holl-Pol and hopefully Czech Rep. We have about 15 or 16 days of touring planned and it will be a dream come true to go out on a tour.
Adrian: Indeed the Doom Metal scene is very loyal and gets great support from the real fans. I do think sometime though that Doom Metal will get real chance to prove itself in the Metal scene too. I don't mean it will get trendy and commercialized but it will get the respect it deserves. People forget that Black Sabbath started the whole Metal Movement. There is a lot of people now in charge of magazines/labels etc. that were around at the height of the 92/93 Doom Metal Scene and these people will crumble and do an extra bit I hope to see the rejuvenation of this powerful scene. Doom metal is I think a genre that all people should listen to, especially when the music is so miserable. We all experience misery in our lives and music provides the healing one needs - What better way to appreciate music and do one's own self some good in the meantime? You can't listen to Doom Metal all the time but it's a powerful catalyst in my aural catalogue anyway. When the band started it had no real direction or idea of what it would end up as and the music just flowed out of us I guess and it became a natural learning and creative experience. It is what we all do best at. We do mess around with Rock & Roll/Black Metal/Death/Blues etc. in practice for the laugh but it never becomes part of our sound. Now we have a serious vision of what MB stands for and what we need to keep on manufacturing in the great big factory of DOOM. We are miserable bastards too but we know how to live it up after playing, etc. and leave more than our music's mark on wherever we go. One guy from the UK said to us recently "You fucking bastards! You play the most miserable music I have ever heard and here you are getting pissed, shouting and arseing around like maniacs all the time!" But this is us. We're Irish for fuck sake! We like a good party. It has resulted in us getting barred but that happens. Fuck it - Life's too short. Hellride Music: Do people in Ireland still love U2? Just curious. I was wondering if anyone else caught on that Bono is a big douchebag with an ego the size of Dublin... Adrian: Bono is a mouthpiece and has a lot to say all the time. But the thing is he doesn't care - He's taking the piss out of the way people expect rock stars to behave. He's having a laugh and giving what they want. At home he's a very private person and on stage his alter ego steps up. I grew up with Irish rock in my early musical years and U2 became one of my favourite bands. I have a varied and wide taste in music as a result of being deprived of it when I was younger. That's a contradiction in terms but its true and I will listen to most stuff except the chart/pop crap. I like listening to ethnic music and strange experimental stuff. It's more fun to listen to most good music than stick yourself in a particular category. I'm sure there isn't one metaller who listens to strictly metal 24/7/365? That would bore me. Hellride Music: What bands are you guys into currently that you want to hip people to? Adrian: I recently got a promo of a band called Mar de Grises from Chile. They are a great Doom Metal band!! They spent a lot of money on their recording and are endlessly promoting their demo through the underground. It is their first demo and a major milestone in their career as far as I'm concerned anyway. Anyone into Doom/Death should check them out and support them. Check out the Irish Metal scene through this site www.metalireland.com <http://www.metalireland.com>
Adrian: Thank to you too for the interview. I hope some people will buy our CD and see what I am talking about here. You can get the Dust re-release from my label Sentinel:www.sentinelireland.com <http://www.metalireland.com> (and right here at the Hellride Music Superstore! - ed.). We have an exclusive Irish Mailorder along with a worldwide list with some rare and new titles. Sentinel is releasing a Limited to 300 copies Pic Disc with another Irish band called Lunar Gate in November. It is strictly limited to 300 copies and we are taking pre-orders now so be quick as it looks like being sold out before it even goes to press. The new album will also be out in November and hopefully we can secure
major distribution in US this time. Sentinel will be doing the vinyl of
Dust in the near future too so watch out for that.
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