Goeden dag Ed, the actual album "The Burden Of Grief" of your band THE 11th HOUR is kind of a bombastic debut into the Doom genre, thank you very much for this and of course for doing this interview!
"You're welcome, thanks for the great review you did and for giving me this opportunity to talk about the album!"
It was Thomas of our crew, who did the review, but anyway, we are all in common when talking about "The Burden Of Grief" as it's a remarkable peace of Doom remembering me personally of Candlemass, Krux and in a way of Hypocrisy's more symphonic pieces as well. Please correct me, but it's been quite a long dream of yours to make this kind of music besides GOREFEST, who had been one of my favourite Death Metal acts in the early 90ies. When did your interest in doomed music grow?
"Candlemass and Krux are definitely 2 of the biggest influences, seeing Krux live in particular was very inspiring to me. My love for doom started when I first heard Trouble, I had a friend who was deeply into tape-trading and he had some live tapes and demos so when Psalm 9 came out I was already totally psyched for it. The second step in my conversion to doom was Candlemass' Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The Nemesis EP was another favourite among my circle of friends so we anticipated Leif's next project with much excitement, and when it arrived we were floored by the heaviness and brilliant songs, I still consider it one of the 10 best metal albums ever made.
Over the past few years I've been getting more and more into doom, bands such as Warning, Virgin Black, Funeral, Shape Of Despair, Isole, etc. so starting my own doom band was just a matter of time. You might wonder why I didn't do this earlier, but that's because I only started playing guitar a couple years back. I never thought the drummer in a doom band had a fun job, but as a guitarist it's absolute dream music."
Yes indeed, but most Metal people out there are digging a more thrashing guitar sound. Doomsters like us are worshipping kind of slow, heavy, of Black Sabbath, Pentagram and St. Vitus influenced riffs. Either you love it deep within your heart or even not. It's amazing to know, that you have been playing the guitar only some years now as it sounds amazing yet. Some people say it's no miracle and easy to play slow. Do you agree with that?
"To me there’s almost no greater joy than playing a slow, heavy riff, especially together with another guitarist. And while I couldn’t play guitar in a thrash band, that’s also true the other way round. Contrary to what some people think it’s not easy to play slow, and you have to invest a lot of feeling into what you play because each note matters and it’s easy to break the mood."
And you definitely have invested a lot of feeling into the writing of each song I would say. When did you start composing for "The Burden Of Grief" and how could one imagine the evolution of THE 11th HOUR's songs?
"I started writing in may 2008, the first song I did was One Last Smoke because I had that riff in my head for a while. I usually start with a riff or a theme and take it from there. If the riff is strong enough the song almost writes itself, going from one part to the next in a natural flow. When I have the basis I'll start looking at adding orchestral bits and leads/melodies. Sometimes I begin with the melody and add the rhythm parts after, like the grand theme after the funeral scene in ‘Origins Of Mourning’. I tend to write very visually, the melodic stuff in particular usually originates with an image I have in my head, like a deathbed in a dark room, or a coffin with roses on it, these images will trigger certain melodies and harmonies, it's hard to explain... once the songs were done I didn't change much about them anymore, I just re-recorded them for the album with better equipment."
Even if all songs are absolutely sticking to the Doom genre, there are several hints within the song's arrangements reminding me of your Death Metal roots. You can't deny!
"Sure, that's something I never tried to hide or even think about. If you bring Rogga in and speed the tempo up a bit like at the end of Origins Of Mourning the flavour is certainly that of death metal, but in general it's quite far removed from even the doomy parts I write for Hail Of Bullets. When I played the first few 11th Hour songs to Stephan of HoB he was visibly relieved it didn't sound like the slow HoB stuff at all, which is much uglier and bleaker, whereas for The 11th Hour I went for a more grandiose, epic sound."
That's exactly what it turns out like at the end. Your predominating clear voice is underlining this fact as well. It's kind of individualistic but at all moments just brilliant in comparison to many Epic Doom comrades. Is this the first time you're singing for a band?
"It's funny, the album's getting very positive reviews in general but my voice seems to divide reviewers somewhat; fortunately most like it but those that don't absolutely hate it, there seems to be no middle ground. I've sung before but mainly behind closed doors, mostly on demo's. I didn't plan to handle the clean vocals myself but Rogga liked my singing on the 11th Hour demo's so much he persuaded me to go for it. It's not a typical metal voice at all, so I guess that's why some people have a problem with it, but I really enjoy expressing myself this way. I also like the way it combines with Rogga's monstrous growling so I guess I'll keep singing!"
You definitely have to, as yours is one of the best epic vocals I've been listening to this year besides Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass), Leo Stivala (Forsaken) and Thomas Eriksson (Griftegard). There is no need to figure out, what a "typical Metal voice" should sound like, as it doesn't matter at all, if the music is able to catch me. And "The Burden Of Grief" does with both your clean and Rogga's deep vocals! By the way, where do you know each other from and when did THE 11th HOUR emerge as a band?
"We met on the Swedish Global Domination site where they host the official Hail Of Bullets and (now defunct) Gorefest forums. He was kind enough to send me a package with some of his CD’s and we noticed we have quite similar taste in music. Originally he asked me if I’d be interested to make some doom together, he really likes Winter (the band) and wanted to do something similar. Once I got involved with Demiurg we abandoned this plan to focus on The Hate Chamber instead and I started writing on my own. It’s funny, we’ve made 2 albums together and are currently working on a third (the next Demiurg) but we have never physically met!
That's really strange, but on the other hand even not, as we are living in a modern world that offers us possibilities trough the World Wide Web. It's almost the only way getting to know really good Doom stuff being worth man's attention. Think about trading good music stuff, news about the bands and gig information."
Why not being a band this way, as it connects over distances. In your case it's some easier, as you have been playing all instruments yourself, even the bass guitar and of course the drums, which is kind of a home play for you. How will you manage playing live being just a duo?
"Internet has opened up so many possibilities to communicate with people in different countries it’s become a rather “normal” way of working for me. We do entire album mixes with Dan Swanö long distance without actually being there. I would like to meet Rogga some day, but we e-mail a lot and it’s a good and creative relationship as it is. As you may know The 11th Hour already made its live debut at the Dutch Doom Days. Rogga wasn’t present due to a chronic ear infection but I put together a great band consisting of Officium Triste’s Bram Bijlhout (guitar) and Pim Blankenstein (growls), Petra Guijt (guitar), Dirk Bruinenberg (drums) and myself (guitar and vocals). For DDD we had Kris Gildenlöw (ex-Pain Of Salvation) on bass but he’s a busy man and it’s not really his style so I’m looking for a replacement at the moment. We have some cool shows planned for next year that will be announced soon."
Let me know the dates then, hope you will play in Germany as well! Coming back to "The Burden Of Grief" itself again, where did you record and mix the songs of it, any helpful hands involved?
"Germany's good for doom so I'm sure we'll play there! Burden Of Grief was recorded almost entirely in my home-studio with me performing all engineering and editing duties. The drums were done in the Excess studio in 2008 already because I got some studio time from the owner (who is thanked extensively in the CD booklet). Ronnie Björnstrom mixed the album in Sweden, we worked very closely together on getting the sound just right. Rogga recorded his own vocals so basically the only outside help was Hans from Excess and Ronnie. At times the recordings got a bit claustrophobic, it’s hard to maintain a fresh perspective when you’re working on something for so long, especially near the end when everything comes together but the sheer size of what you’re doing kind of obscures your vision. It all turned out ok though, thanks to Ronnie’s patience and skill."
So it's a wonder you'd not driven mad being surrounded by that bombastic and sorrowful music at all. Please tell us more about the background of the songs, just to start with " One Last Smoke ", as it is the opening and even kind of symptomatic song for the whole album.
"The main character hears he’s going to die soon. He’s ruined his lungs by smoking and his reaction to the devastating news is to light another cigarette… the opening riff is also the first one I wrote for the album, it has a strong Candlemass feel to it. The middle section with the mellotrons is one of my favourite parts, very dramatic and heavy."
Indeed, "In the Silent Grave" then starts with those dark piano tunes followed by an enormous riff of the same disastrous melody.
"Yes, this is where our guy lies on his bed, thinking about his imminent death. At first he feels relieved because he'll finally be able to shake off the guilt that has plagued him for so long, but then he realizes there will be no peace among the worms... the end riff is another enormous one, and it's repeated over and over again to signal the guy slowly losing his mind as Rogga's taunting words echo in his head. I'm very fond of the vocal melody in the verses in combination with the bending harmonies on the guitars."
You seem to dig the piano, as Origins Of Mourning is not only introduced again by it but pushing those lyrics like "...roses on a coffin as you slowly sink into the earth...", very mournful stuff. The soloing part of the guitar around the middle of that song is very, very long and really catching.
"Yes, it's a great instrument to create an elegant, melancholy mood and I really wanted to have a piece with just piano and vocals. The scene I describe there is pretty much my father's funeral, everybody around me was crying but I was so empty and numb I couldn't cry. My girlfriend came up with the idea to hand out roses so everybody could leave one on the coffin as they walked by.
The solo is probably my biggest piece de resistance as a fresh guitarplayer and I'm very proud of it. Presenting myself as a rhythm guitarist was already quite a stretch, but playing solo's is another step beyond... I'll never be a fast shredder but fortunately I do have a keen sense of (sad) melody and I really had fun working out the runs and notes for the leads."
You definitely pointed those sad feelings out that way. Coming to my favourite song 'Weep For Me", that's serving the most aggrieving melody of "The Burden Of Grief". Your singing is so full of emotion and epic power, the violins fit perfectly to the song's outfit. The mid-tempo parts are given certain heaviness by Rogga's enormous growls.
"Weep For Me was on the 2 track promo I made last year to try and get a record deal as I felt it to be one of the strongest songs as well. It has a cool 2 part structure, the first part describes the way our protagonist wakes up every morning from another nightmare-filled sleep and the second part goes into the nightmares themselves and what's causing them. I myself tend to have an odd relationship with things in the past, they take on an almost mythical importance sometimes. Little relics of a nice day, or old photographs, stuff like that is very powerful to me. In the song I used the image of the past clawing through a veil to grab me.
The part where I sing that has another favourite 2 part harmony riff that I really like, it forms a nice contrast with the oppressive chugging riff that frames it."
Absolutely, but then Atonement follows turning out to be a very Doom/Death outfitted song, here Rogga dominates the vocal parts quite obvious.
"Yep, I only took the choruses on this one. In the spooky verses Rogga describes how the guy takes a trip to the cemetery to visit an old grave for the first time (yet another autobiographical touch) and finds he's looking for forgiveness in the wrong place. The middle section was created in the middle of the night during the last hours of mixing. If you listen close there's a raven screeching as the voice from beyond the grave speaks. The riff is quite simple, but it takes on a macabre quality due to the decaying piano notes, cool stuff."
And it reminds me of the roots once slipping into Doom, grown up with Death Metal several years ago as well, kind of flashback. Last but not least the final song: Who is "Longing For Oblivion" and why?
"Having found some kind of peace there's nothing left to do but lay down and die. This describes his final hours as he's on life support, waiting for his misery to be over. He's helped somewhat by a lethal dose of morphine and by the end he slowly slips into death, into oblivion...
The death scene in the middle was a very hard part to create as it's much too close for comfort to me, again drawing on real life experiences to paint an authentic picture. I wanted to give the album and story a majestic ending, morbid but beautiful."
...and the violins softly let his soul pass off the sleeping body, resting in endless peace. If this is no epic story what else? "The Burden Of Grief" is a poem of sorrow in whole, a very dramatic symphony of Doom. As I've been listening to it many times now, the songs are still growing. Will you be able to even record an album of the same grandiosity again, any plans yet?
"My musical mind never rests so I already have about 60% of the next album written. It will not be as extremely personal and dramatic as this one, but the style remains similar. Maybe a bit more majestic/epic, with ultra heavy stuff balanced against frail beauty. It will be another concept but not a story this time, more of a unifying theme running through the album. Death has left such a lasting impression on the way I look at life it's an endless source of inspiration, both lyrically and musically. I'm really excited about the new songs and I have confidence that they won't disappoint anyone that likes Burden Of Grief. But first we have new Hail Of Bullets and Demiurg albums to finish!"
Guess it will emerge in 2010, hopefully!
"I'd count on 2011 rather than 2010, time flies and it takes a while to record an album..."
...as it has to be for good Doom related output! What's your last words, at least for this time, going out to all slow people?
"Thanks for the support, stay doomed and keep it HEAVY! And thank you so much for doing this interview!"
text: Mo)))urner
fotos: Hannah Anthonysz (www.hannahanthonysz.com)
