Delve into the atmospheric depths of Pontifex's debut album, "From the Pale Mist." Explore the band's unique blend of black metal subgenres and symphonic elements.
1. Congratulations
on the upcoming release of your debut album, "From the Pale Mist"!
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the album title and what listeners
can expect from the music?
Thank you
for the support! When I first started writing the music for the album, I knew I
wanted to set an ominous tone; I knew I wanted mist to be in the title and
tried different phrases till I found something that stuck out to me. This album
features intensely dark atmospheres in the music and a balance between haunting
melodies and aggressive style changes. The songs pull inspiration from many of
my favorite black metal subgenres, including DSBM, Classic Norwegian Black
metal, and melodic black metal.
2. Pontifex
has been described as a symphonic black metal band that pushes the boundaries
of traditional black metal. How do you approach blending ambient and dark
symphonic sounds with the aggression of thrash and death metal to create your
unique sound?
Black metal
is a tricky genre; it is both a genre severely limited by the narrow scope of
its audience, and a genre that is incredibly expansive with the various
subgenres within black metal. When I am writing material for Pontifex, I am
always very aware of retaining the core black metal sound in our music;
however, there has to be changes in the music to keep it interesting and to set
it apart from the many other bands performing this type of music. I make sure
to add nods to thrash metal, death metal, or even classical music in almost
every song to provide more variety.
3. The
album features former Suffocation drummer Mike Smith, adding a unique dynamic
to your music. How did Mike's involvement come about, and how did his drumming
style influence the overall sound of the album?
Our
original vocalist grew up in Long Island and knew Mike from back when. Working
with Mike was an incredible experience, he took the drum parts I wrote and made
everything much more aggressive and much more intricate. The intricity of the
drums, and the power of the performance, really adds to the the atmosphere and
energy I was aiming for when writing the music.
4. "Abyssal"
is highlighted as a track that showcases your ability to integrate symphonic
aspects with heavy metal riffs. Can you walk us through the creative process
behind this song and how you balanced different elements to create a cohesive
sound?
This song,
Abyssal, is the magnum opus of the album. The first thing I wrote for this song
was the choir and piano outro at the end; from there, I took the chord
progression of the choirs and wrote the rest of the riffs around that central
theme. There is a lot of counterpoint between the two guitars in this song that
adds to the depth, particularly in the first two riffs. The style change in the
middle of the song hammers home the aggression before we bring back the melodic
ideas with the guitar solo. During the solo, I knew there had to be a clean
transition back to the choir chord progression, so I used a pivot chord to take
the song to a new key.
5. With
influences like Satyricon and Horna, Pontifex aims to innovate while staying
true to the essence of black metal. How do these influences manifest in your
music, and what sets Pontifex apart from other bands in the genre?
The
tonalities and energy used by bands like Satyricon and Horna can be heard well
in our music, the style of black metal they play is haunting, aggressive, and
still melodic. There is always energy driving the songs forward. I have done my
best to capture that energy without retreading any of the things that make
those bands exemplary. The biggest thing that separates us from other bands in
the style is that we are not afraid to experiment and incorporate all of our
influences. People get caught up on sounding black metal at all times, it has
to be "trve kvlt" or it isnt good. Our approach is more so to think
of black metal as a canvas which we can use to express ourselves in a musically
diverse way, rather than a strict guideline to be constrained by. It also helps
that our vocals are not typical of a black metal band, which adds further
variation to our music. From a visual standpoint, we are one of the most
diverse black metal bands that I have seen; our bassist and drummer are both
women and we have members of multiple ethnicities as well. It is a great
opportunity for us to showcase the impact that this music can make on anyone,
anywhere.
6. Your
music has been described as taking listeners on a journey to dark, mysterious
places. How do you evoke atmosphere and emotion in your songs, and what themes
or concepts do you explore through your lyrics?
Evoking
atmosphere and emotion is always the hardest challenge of writing a song. To
really create the atmosphere I want, I spend a lot of time analyzing how the
chords interact with each other. Music has natural tendencies that our ears
have grown accustomed to hearing that can be exploited to create specific
feeling or atmosphere. Our lyrics deal frequently with the human experience,
the trials of life and the effect it has on a person.
7. As a
band from Orlando, Florida, how has your local music scene influenced
Pontifex's sound and style?
Orlando is
one of the greatest places to be for an extreme metal band; however, the amount
of black metal in Orlando is very small in comparison to death, thrash, or any
other style of metal. The sounds of death metal are interwoven with our music
in part due to this massive death metal scene we have here. It is a great genre
and scene, and I enjoy playing both styles of metal.
8. "From
the Pale Mist" will be available on all major streaming platforms. How
important is it for Pontifex to reach a wide audience, and what role do
streaming platforms play in the modern music industry?
Of course
we want to reach a wide audience, we would not invest all the time practicing,
recording, and mixing into this band if we didn't want it to be heard by
people. Black metal has a lot of great underground artists, but I can't see the
point of releasing music for no one to listen to it. Streaming platforms are a
double edged sword; while they are certainly helpful for showcasing the vast
array of talent that there is in the music industry, it has also contributed to
the decline of physical media and made it difficult to search through the
thousands of artists to find the ones that you resonate with.
9. What
are your plans for promoting the album following its release on May 7th? Any
upcoming shows, tours, or other projects in the works?
We have
been working with Metal Devastation PR for our current PR campaign, and could
not be happier with the results. We have shows booked through September
throughout Florida.
May 8th at
Conduit in Orlando with Oceans of Slumber
May 17th at
CMC in Gainesville our CD Release Show
July 19th
at Uncle Lous in Orlando
August
2nd-3rd at Brass Mug in Tampa
September
21st at Troubled Times in Lake Worth
We are
always looking to play more shows in and out of state!
10. Finally,
where can fans connect with Pontifex online, and how can they support the
band's music and upcoming releases?
You
can connect with us at our Bandcamp, Facebook, or Instagram accounts.
Purchasing music and merch is always helpful, but sharing our releases and
announcements is a huge help to us at this point. It takes a village, and we
are grateful for all support. Show up to shows, support your local music
scene!
From the Pale Mist (Single) | Pontifex (bandcamp.com)
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