From
Behind the veil e-zine
Hi!How r u? This is Nick from Behind The Veil ezine
(http://veilgr.cjb.net). The review
for MOURNING
BELOVETH is online. U can go and check it out. Now
below u will find some questions for the interview.
Hope the band finds it interesting. Take care!
Nick behind_the_veil2001@yahoo.com
1.TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF
THE BAND'S HISTORY. WHICH IS TODAY'S LINE UP?
Well the band formed properly in 1992- recorded a demo in 1996 with 2
songs and 1 piano piece, another demo in 1998 with 3 songs which were
also intertwined with piano pieces. We got to support Cathedral in 1999-Recorded
our first cd DUST in 2000-supported Cradle of Filth in 2002 and recorded
our new cd The Sullen Sulcus this May- That’s a brief history of
Mourning Beloveth
Todays lineup has exhisted since the recording of the 2nd Demo ‘Autumnal
Fires’
Vocals Darren Moore
Guitar/Vocals Frank Brennan
Guitar Brian Delaney
Drums Tim Johnson
Bass Adrian De Buitlear
2.WHY HAVE YOU NAMED THE BAND THIS WAY? WHAT DO YOU
WANNA EXPRESS THROUGH IT?
The name of the band comes from the original bass player and the meaning
comes from what it really says. We play mournful music about past loves
and losses
3.WHICH ARE SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED ALBUMS?
Some of mine would be My Dying Bride Turn Loose the Swans and The Angel
and The Dark River especially- Anathema-Serenades,At The Gates-Slaughter
of The Souls ,Candlemass-Epicus Doomicus – 3rd and Mortal-Paintings
on Glass , Monumentum-In Absentia Cristi – Ved Buens Ende-Written
in Waters,Guns and Roses-Appetite for Destruction, John Lennon-Imagine,Neil
Young-Harvest,Bob Dylan-Infidels,Dire Straits-Making Movies,Depeche Mode,All-
I like many genres of music as you can see and there’s too many
to mention here.
4.I THINK THAT YOUR MUSICAL STYLE IS CLOSE TO MY DYING
BRIDE, CANDLEMASS AND SOLSTICE. DO YOU AGREE? HAVE YOU
EVER LISTENED TO SOLSTICE? WHICH ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
I used to be in contact with Rich from Solstice- I actually did the live
sound for them one time they played here in Ireland. It is a pity too
that they recently broke up, although I’m sure they will rear their
heads somewhere again in some form or another. I’ve just seen Candlemass
for the first time at the Wacken Festival last week- They were absolutely
amazing!! One of the greatest bands ever. I saw MDB last week there also.
I promoted their show in Ireland 3 months ago-They are really nice guys
and it was cool to have 3 of them in your car driving around Dublin on
the day of the gig. Our music is definitely influenced by those mentioned
above and they are all bands that Mourning Beloveth all share an interest
in. We all grew up/went to school together so we were friends before the
band got serious and it has been good fun all the way. There are hints
of Black metal in our earlier stuff but 99% of MB’s tuff will always
be slow brooding and hypnotic. We do get compared to those bands you mention
at times. The heaviness of Candlemass-the sadness of MDB and the riffing
structures of some Solstice along with our own style and other influences
of course.
5.WHAT THEMES DO YOU LIKE TO HURT THROUGH YOUR LYRICS?
YOU WRITE IN A POETIC WAY... CAN YOU EXPLAIN THEM?
I’m sure Darren our vocalist would be the best person to answer
this but I will try. He writes about the loss of beauty and innocence
that he/we come across in our lives along our path to the grave. They
can be personal lyrics drawn from lifes experiences and ups and downs
or general rantings of despair and sorrow.Darren is big in poetry and
expresses his knowledge whenever possible. Irish people have a built in
sense of despair and melancholy because of our oppressed history and this
comes naturally when we have to express ourselves in words. We are not
a political band or anything-We like to keep it human and thought provoking.
Ireland is a great place for a Doom Metal band to exhist actually!
6.SOME BANDS CLAIM THAT THEY PROGRESS WITH THEIR MUSIC
BUT USUALLY THEIR MUSIC DOESN'T DIFFER THAT MUCH.
DON'T YOU THINK THAT THE RIGHT USE OF CLICHES IS
NECESSARY IN EVERY GENRE OR DO YOU COMPOSE YOUR MUSIC
SPONTANEOUSLY?
From the beginning we knew our music would always progress- Like who can
actually hit the right note first time around. MBD started off playing
fast for a while as an example. We used the keyboards in the beginning
to help create the atmosphere we sought. We had the formula but not the
complete one. We lost the Keys on the 1st cd and will probably never use
them again. Some people missed them on the DUST cd but after appreciated
the lack of them and got into the newer soundscapes we discovered while
writing the DUST cd. If you use clichés all the time or even to
get a thing going you are not going to be that original. I suppose some
do use as a way of getting quicker attention but it can also be the long
way around getting noticed. You can be original from the start and cheat(use
clichés) and hope that there is enough life in the band to make
an impact with your 2nd or 3rd album. This is not the way MB has done
it. We were compared to MDB and Anathema Paradise Lost in the beginning
because we played slow but now we have gained respect from the Doom Metal
community and beyond for steering our own boat and beating our own path
to the mountain of Doom!!!! It does get spontaneous in rehearsals and
that is where 80% of our stuff comes from. We capture the magic we create
in rehearsal and what comes out remains.
7.DO YOU THINK THAT MIND AND LOGIC IS A GOOD ADVISOR
FOR INSPIRATION OR IS IT AN OPRESSOR?
Well one can think too much as well as not thinking enough. I suppose
if you can figure out your own head and its conscience you will know when/where/what/why
and how to do things. But you do need lots of life’s experience-its
ups and downs-pain and salvation to appreciate what you have and the others
around you. If you have too much time on your hands you can think too
much and this can mislead you from what you are really striving for and
upset the balance of your natural progression. That’s why I like
to keep busy and do lots of things-I used to have too much time on my
hands and ended up having too many plans and did nothing. But then I got
a kick in the ass one time and threw caution to the wind. Now I have a
band, a label, I promote concerts and many other things - I have learned
to divide my time for each interest but at times you have to pull your
feet in sometimes for fear of burning yourself out and going insane, which
I touched on once -It was scary and became a very low period in my life
8.YOU ARE PREPARING A NEW ALBUM, CAN YOU TELL US A FEW
THINGS ABOUT IT? RELEASE DAY, TRACK LIST, MUSICAL
DIRECTION, LYRICS...
The new album is actually recorded since last June. We went over to Academy
again with Magz at the helm. The studio has actually moved building and
is gone from analogue to digital do it was all a bit new again for us
but we got the desired result –Even better than we had hope for.
Magz is a legend and as we did the 1st cd with him he knew what sound
we wanted and that is a huge benefit to have waiting for you. I actually
got news yesterday of a label that will be signing us for a release in
Oct/Nov. I can’t say yet who it is until we sign the contract but
it’s a good label and will see a worldwide release with plenty of
support. For further news look at our site or www.metalireland.com
Here are some of the song titles
The Words that Crawled
It Almost Looked Human
The Insolent Caul
Untitled
My Sullen Sulcus
Angers Steaming Arrows
9.HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR A BAND FROM IRELAND TO
SPREAD ITS MUSIC ON A WIDER AUDIENCE?
It is very very hard. Well it was harder in the beginning as noone really
though there was a scene in Ireland. They only bands to make it with any
kind of success earlier on were Primordial who are really doing well for
themselves now-Cruachan got really big after their first album but then
broke up for a while and are back now again. One of the biggest rock bands
in the world came from Ireland Thin Lizzy. We sold over 1000 of our 2nd
demo all over the world and even though it’s sold out a long time
now we get lots of people looking for it. We did thousands upon thousands
of fliers for that and the 1st demo- That is what really helped us in
the underground. Around that time in 1998 the underground was I think
getting back on its feet and people were looking out for newer bands and
interesting stuff coming along. As we released DUST ourselves we could
see where the cd’s were being sold and I don’t think there
is one country in the world where we haven’t send cd’s and
demos. I remember getting an order from Saudi Arabia once and places you
would never think there was a metal community But even at that people
think the worldwide metal community is a small place but it isn’t
in my opinion. Its like a spiders web that isn’t fully complete.
Some places miss out because of the lack of support or a negative society.
Everything takes time I guess. Its true the MDB tag did help us but for
anyone who gets DUST and especially the new album you will be in for a
pleasant surprise- Mourning Beloveth is Doom Metal the Mourning Beloveth
way.
10.YOU HAVE SUPPORTED CRADLE OF FILTH AND CATHEDRAL.
DID YOU GAIN ANY EXPERIENCE FROM THESE BANDS? HOW ARE
THEY AS PERSONALITIES?
The first was with Cathedral. That was cool as it was our biggest gig
up until then. We were on 2nd,just before Cathedral. It was in a small
poky venue but it was perfect and good experience. It was nice to have
good equipment etc for once too and a crowd of about 250 people! The Cathedral
guys were really nice too and still say hello when we meet at gigs- We
played with Cradle of Filth in Dublin and then the next night in Belfast.
That was even better than the Cathedral for different reasons. A bigger
venue-600 people each night-we got to use their gear and we got an amazing
reception. One of the downers was some kid coming up to us after and asking
what country we were from!! That’s a taste of the attitude in Ireland
though. Nobody looks at what bands are at home. I talked a bit with the
Drummer Adrian which was great as his old band At The Gates are one of
my all time favourites. Gian gave us a bong full of hash after our soundcheck
and hung with us for a while-Nice guy! The rest of the guys didn’t
really mix muck. Funny though seeing Dani in a business suit during the
day. On the phone all day bitching and doing business running his empire.
They were all good and valuable experiences though and never to be forgotten.
11.WHY DO YOU COMPOSE SAD SONGS? IS IT POSSIBLE TO
COMPOSE ONE DAY A HAPPY OR AN EPIC SONG?
We don’t set out to compose sad songs – its just what we end
up being comfortable with. All our songs have an epic feel to them anyway
so that’s not a worry-its become part of the Mourning Beloveth experience
and in keeping with the meaning of the name of the band. A happy song
just wouldn’t fit in ever and won’t.
12.WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE FANS AND PRESS ON
YOUR RELEASES? WHICH WAS THE BEST AND WHICH WAS THE
WORST REVIEW YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
I can say that all our releases have been received well with each one
though gathering its own momentum and the praise mounting up as they go
along. I do know that I can say the DUST CD didn’t receive 1 bad
review. We were getting 8/10 and 9/10 left right and centre. We got Album
of the month on Doom-Metal.com , Demo of the Year in Moondance in Germany.
Many mags etc were glad to see a band playing really good Doom Metal as
the scene had slipped by in the previous years when the pioneers of the
early 90’s Doom Scene had moved on a bit.
13.WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF
YOUR MUSIC AND IN WHICH FIELD DO YOU NEED TO BECOME
BETTER?
Our guitarist’s melodies are really great- I love the heavy palm
muted parts of our songs too-It really hits you in the chest when you
play it and shakes the stage sometimes. It’s those little things
that make it all worthwhile. As for an area in our music that we lack
in –I would think it is song writing. We have proved that we can
write good songs but progression is something a band needs to keep a grip
on and always needs to be happening. I’m not saying we will stray
from our path sometime, it’s just the ability to write that I hope
will stay with us forever.
14.WHICH SONG OF YOURS IS THE MOST IDEAL TO REPRESENT
YOUR WORK? Its very hard to pick one but for me ‘All
Hope is Pleading’ from the DUST cd is really great. It was the last
song we wrote before we went to record the album. The first riff is a
new kinda step for us and was leading into the newer territory for us-It
jumps straight in, no acoustic or meandering intro and the pounding first
part of the riff gets followed by a quick melody and then falls into the
rest of the song. The end riff then is probably still one of the most
miserable and lonely pieces of music we have ever written and a perfect
end to the cd. It shows the true essence of Mourning Beloveth .It aurally
interprets what we are all about and set our benchmark for the future.
The songs on the new cd ‘The Sullen Sulcus’ are on a totally
different level and it is impossible to pick one as it is a very strong
album and it is the total result of where ‘All Hope’was heading
in after DUST
15.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO COMPOSE
MUSIC?
I would hate to think about it for too long. I would probably
cut off my arms and burst my eardrums. I have been into music in one form
or another since I was 7 years old. I can remember getting posters from
my aunt and putting them on my wall at home-I had a radio permenantly
strapped to my head and just loved music. Later on Metal became my chosen
path.
16.WHY DID YOU INVOLVE WITH MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE?
WHICH ARE YOUR DREAMS AND GOALS? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO
ACHIEVE?
I started a trash band in the early 90’s and when that broke up
in 1993 I was asked to join Mourning Beloveth and since then its been
full steam ahead. I remember when I was very young that I wanted to put
on a huge gig for all my friend and people that knew me.
Now I run Emerald Promotions and we have brought to Ireland acts such
as MDB, Anathema, Kreator, Dismember, Immortal, Vader, Morbid Angel, Cannibal
Corpse, The Haunted, Entombed, Katatonia, and many many more. That has
been great fun for the last 3 years now and made some great friends in
these legendary bands. Things like being asked to have some hash for Pete
Sandoval and giving it to him before the gig-Picking up MDB and Morbid
Angel from the Airport-watching Immortal doing a soundcheck without all
the facepaint etc. Every gig has been a blast anda privilidge to be involved
with. www.emeraldpromotions.8m.com
I set up Sentinel Records 3 years ago with Brian Taube who used to work
for Misanthropy in the UK(Burzum -Primordial-In The Woods) We released
a Dbl cd ‘In Unison’ with 19 Irish bands and then The 2nd
cd for Abaddon Incarnate(Death/Grind) We’ve just released the 1st
Mourning Beloveth cd DUST again with extra tracks and new artwork. We
are releasing a split pic disk(ltd to 300) of Mourning Beloveth and Lunar
Gate, due out in Oct. We are releasing an Ep for Bastardsun which features
Stuart Anstis (Ex member of Cradle of Filth) and we’ve a few other
things planned for the near future too. www.sentinelireland.com We also
do an all Irish mailorder. It has releases in all formats from all the
Irish metal bands here. We are expanding now and will have lots of common
titles and t-shirts available soon.
I also contribute to the Metalworks Magazine which is the first Irish
Metal Magazine ever and is doing really well www.metalworksmagazine.com
So you can see, I keep myself busy
17.IF YOUR MUSIC WAS A FEELING WHAT WOULD THAT BE AND
IF IT WAS A PAINTING WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
The feeling would be GRIEF and the painting would be someone kneeling
at a single and lonely graveside of a dead loved one in the depth of winter
with tears turning to ice before they hit the ground.
There would be a bleak horizon touched by dark and brooding clouds. The
wind would be blowing harshly and there would be frost on the ground.
18.HAVE YOU READ ANY INTERESTING BOOKS LATELY? IS
THERE A MOVIE YOU'VE SEEN LATELY AND LIKED A LOT?
The last thing I actually read was a short novel by a guy from the Caribbean
who wrote about his early life on the Island and some of the experiences
there. It was about this family who grew rice and lived in the depths
of extreme poverty. The father was a alcoholic and spent his time in the
Rum shop. The wife who amidst her husbands beatings raised 4 kids, planted
and harvested the rice and basically had a shit time. She ends up going
crazy and disappearing into the forest after one of the kids died of pneumonia
because the husband was too shitfaced drunk to bring a sick kid to hospital.
At the funeral the husband got the wife pissed so he could tell all there
that it was the wife’s fault and he loved his kids. Very sad story
indeed.
19.ARE YOU ANNOYED BY THOSE GUYS WHO JUDGE THE
ARTISTIC VALUE OF A RELEASE BY THE NUMBER OF COPIES IT
SELLS?
Exactly. Those people are usually not in bands anyway and can’t
appreciate the true essence of it all. Fuck them I say. They can be Cradle
kids who are looking to see if anyone else can sell as many as their favourite
band or are they? In comparison to other bands sales and popularity, Mourning
Beloveth have gained a great acceptance for their efforts and perseverance
and that is worth more than any sales. We’ve paid for the recording
and pressing of our 1st cd and the recording of our 2nd cd-going abroad
both times to do so-Its no means feat and shows our dedication to the
music that is Mourning Beloveth.
20.WHAT PROLOGUE AND TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS
INTERVIEW TO HAVE?
Prologue.
An interview with the bass player of the most truly miserable Doom Metal
bands around today- I can’t think of anything else-you add to it
Title – You make this up
21.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOT TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND
YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Just thanks for the interview. I hope my questions are not too long and
that I make sense to you all. Check out the websites I am involved with
if anyone wants. Hopefully I will meet some of you on tour sometime. Our
new album will be out in October so be forewarned and save those pennies/Euros/Dollars/Yen/Escudos/Dinar/whatever
and purchase the 2nd most heaviest album of all time after our first of
course.
Our demos should be available on Weird Truth from Japan in the near future
too.
Doom on.
Thank you.
Adrian
www.mourningbeloveth.com
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