Join us for an insightful interview with Grand Demise of Civilization as they discuss their new album, "The Blaze of Abaddon," and share their creative journey and evolution in the metal scene.
1. Congratulations
on the upcoming release of "The Blaze of Abaddon"! How does this
album differ from your previous works, and what inspired its creation?
Thank you!
Blaze is an album that we wanted to introduce a few new elements with the idea
to have the album run seamlessly from one song to another, with outros/intros,
some are very musical, and a few are more atmospheric sounding. It’s a
listening experience, while still keeping each song separate from each other.
Previously, we did an album called The Repent of the Sentient Being, that is
one 43 minute song, with chapters and interludes, but still sharing riffs and
lyric parts, while Blaze is a concept style album with separate tracks.
2. "The
Blaze of Abaddon" features some intriguing track titles like
"Redeemer of Wrath" and "Cathedral Reaper." Can you give us
some insight into the themes or concepts behind these songs?
Our themes
have kind of been around topics from history, death, and theology at times.
This album is a bit more of a concept album with the idea of unexpected death,
the path through purgatory, wavering faith, the battle of good and evil and the
results from personal choices.
3. Grand
Demise of Civilization has been active since 2008. How has the band evolved
musically and creatively over the years, and how does "The Blaze of
Abaddon" reflect this evolution?
I think for
each of our albums, we’ve tried to explore different ideas musically, and not
just create the same album over and over, especially with Below the Feet of
Kings and the new one, The Blaze of Abaddon, where we evolved more into the
melodic side, creating layers of organized chaos at times, bringing a fuller
sound to the songs. This more melodic approach naturally happened with the
addition of guitarist/vocalist Dan Lerach, who has profound musical ability and
really adds a lot to our sound.
4. Your
music is described as "Epic Hell Metal." Could you elaborate on what
that means to you and how it translates into your sound and lyrical themes?
Hell metal
is a term we used when we started this band, because we’re not fully black
metal, and definitely not death metal, or even blackened death metal. We play 7
and 8 string guitars to give a wide extended range to our sound, we’re not
heavy and chunky, we follow more black metal style riffing and chords, while
still using very low notes at times. Vocally, we have three lead vocalists, we
all share the vocal parts and do a lot of combined gang vocals in parts, so we
have a lot of diversity in our voices and can emulate that live as well.
5. What
was the creative process like for "The Blaze of Abaddon"? Did any
particular challenges or moments of inspiration stand out during the recording
and production?
We do all
our own recording and mastering, which can also be a curse! It gives us the
freedom to record when we want, and take as long as we need to to get the parts
exactly how we want them, but it also can take us a long time to record,
because we have no timeline to follow. The Blaze of Abaddon took us a lot
longer to record than we imagined it would, I think it was about a two and a
half year process, but much of that time was spent writing and organizing all
the intros and outros for the songs, which had to be planned ahead of time for
the order of the songs and making the connecting pieces work with staying in
key and transferring that to the next song.
6. With
the current state of the world, many artists find themselves influenced by
social and political issues. Does Grand Demise of Civilization draw from
real-world events or ideologies when crafting your music, or do you prefer to
explore more abstract themes?
We don’t
get into political topics, or current events, instead, we tend to draw off the
dark side of history, like the Salem witches, the old west, or even apocalyptic
changes. Lyrics and topics are not real important to us, but the vocals and
sounds they create to go with music is what is important, it adds to the
overall ambient sound of things.
7. Your
album artwork is quite striking. How does the visual aesthetic complement the
music on "The Blaze of Abaddon," and what role does imagery play in
conveying the album's atmosphere?
I’m an
artistic person, so visually, things can stick out to me, and artwork is one of
those things, it has to speak to me, have elements in it that fit our style.
The Blaze of Abaddon cover art was done by Belial NecroArts, we worked on the
image together, relaying what elements we wanted to add to the picture until we
were happy with it. The art is pretty sinister, striking red with flying demons
around a cathedral. I think you know what you’re going to get when you see the
cover!
8. Grand
Demise of Civilization has garnered attention for its speed, intensity, and
precision. How do you maintain such energy and cohesion both in the studio and
during live performances?
I think
that speed and intensity just come natural when you love playing this style of
music. We’ve all been doing this for a long time, with several bands before
this one, and we have all known each other for many years before this band
started. Dan and I met in Junior high back in the late 80s, and have played
together ever since, so we have a lot of cohesion and work off each other very
well, and have played a ton of shows together over the years. I don’t have the
musical ability he has, so i know if I write some good riffs and arrangements,
he is going to improve upon my ideas even more.
9. Minneapolis
has a vibrant metal scene. How has the local community influenced Grand Demise
of Civilization's journey as a band, and are there any other local artists
you'd recommend checking out?
Yes,
Minneapolis has a great scene, and not just for metal! My experience has been
tremendous, starting in one of the first death metal bands from the area back
in 1991 called Necromis, and there have been many bands and people over the
years that contributed immensely to this scene. One band I would recommend
people check out from Minneapolis is Sunless, a crazy-good techy 3-piece band
with insane talent.
10. Lastly,
with the release of "The Blaze of Abaddon," what are your hopes and
aspirations for the album, and what can fans expect from Grand Demise of
Civilization in the future?
We just
want to get our music out there for people to enjoy, we’re not on a major
label, still pretty underground, and it’s hard to get your stuff recognized and
in the hands of listeners. We’ve already started working on the next material,
maybe an ep next, we’ll see, but we have so much more material lying around to
use and arrange, that it won’t take long to get something together and
hopefully release sooner, rather than later next time!
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