Progressive Aussie Doom, Rise of Avernus – Interview

Hey there this is Paul here with an interview with an amazing up-and-coming progressive doom band all the way from the land down under called Rise of Avernus. We were lucky enough to interview this amazing up and coming band!

Tell us a little about the history of the band. How did everything come together?

Cat: Ben and myself began collaborating online. It was all based on instinct so we ran with it and before we knew it Rise of Avernus had already written our first song ‘Forbidden Sin’, this was all before our first face to face meeting so we had a strong feeling that the partnership would only grow from there. Since the release we’ve had some very gifted musicians jump onboard to help us bring this vision to the life.

Matt: I became aware of the band when I found their Facebook page in it’s early stages. I listened to the Forbidden Sin demo and thought it had a really interesting mix of styles and a clever structure, so when I saw they were looking for a guitarist I sent a message through to Andrew (who I already knew as our other bands have played together and we have a lot of shared musical interests). From there I met up with Ben and we had a jam, got along great and found we were very much on the same page.

What musicians/bands have primarily inspired your music? If you could tour with any two bands around the world, who would you tour with and why?

Cat: This is a tricky one, we draw inspiration from so many different styles of bands, some of our favorites include Portishead, Enslaved, Gojira & Paradise Lost. In regards to touring, My Dying Bride and Katatonia would probably be my hot picks purely because they are both amazing live bands who have this uncanny ability to tap right into depths of one’s soul.

Matt: My interest in music lies in the bizarre, unique and absurd. Outside of RoA a large portion of what I do is much more light hearted, so to get in the RoA headspace my bands of choice are Agalloch, Katatonia, Anathema and Theater of Tragedy (who shockingly, the rest of the band is not familiar with!). Big shout out to my biggest influence Frank Zappa though. As for touring, I think we would fit great on any bill featuring Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Anathema or Opeth.

Rise of Avernus has a very unique sound. You effectively mix doom metal with progressive and ambient elements to produce a very interesting result. How would you as the band classify your own music?

Cat: At this stage we find it easiest to describe ourselves as ‘Progressive Doom Metal’. Our sound changes vastly from song to song so its hard to pick just one sub genre.

Matt: I think the biggest unifying feature of the music is the atmosphere –while the texture and tone of our music alters from quiet and melancholic to bombastic and aggressive, I feel we maintain a consistent dark-yet-optimistic atmosphere which really ties it altogether.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbsQ4MkWvgc]

What is the musical background of Rise of Avernus? Has anyone in the band received musical education? Any weird or unusual instruments that any of you guys know how to play?

Andrew: I dabble with the Jews Harp.

Cat: I know Ben began drumming lessons from a young age before migrating to guitar. As for myself I started learning classical piano when I was 8 then much later I discovered I could also sing when I had to participate in theatre productions during my Senior years at High School, I was incredibly shy so the idea of singing in front of an audience absolutely mortified me.

Matt: I had guitar lessons from about mid primary school to the end of high school. From there I went to University for composition and kind of got more interested in that side of music, but now find myself practicing alone late at night trying to master these ridiculous riffs Ben is coming up with.

Forbidden Sin is a very beautiful song. If you don’t mind me asking, did anything in particular inspire you to write it? Is there a story behind it?

Cat: Now we get personal haha, you will find many of our stories are based upon real life experiences, sometimes we take liberties in order to make the stories more theatrical but I think it’s best we leave it to the imagination.

Is a full length album in the works? I’m sure I’m not the only one eager to see a whole albums worth of material from Rise of Avernus. What is a difference between the E.P. and the full length that fans can expect?

Cat: We have already begun pre-production for the first full length album, it’s a lot more intricate and intense with the 5 of us are working together to take the concept beyond the parameters of the EP. We are pushing the extremes further in the spectrum of sounds we utilize, to simplify you can anticipate anything from funeral doom to symphonic death metal.

 

How easy or hard is it to promote the band in countries abroad? What is the reception like in your home country?

Cat: Even with internet promotion booming it is sometimes difficult for Australian bands to create interest overseas without label representation, we live on an isolated land mass so we can’t just jump on a tour bus to visit neighbouring countries whenever we have a CD to promote. We don’t like having so much distance between us and our fans in America and Europe but it is nothing that some careful planning and budgeting can’t resolve. 2012 was a big year for us, we were stoked by the genuine interest in Rise of Avernus right from our very first live performance. I think we underestimated how many closet doom fans can be lured out of the woodwork especially now that there are some really strong live acts in the Sydney scene such as The Veil, Myraeth, Rituals of the Oak & Lycanthia just to name a few.

Touching a little more on Australia, what’s the metal scene like over there? I imagine it must have its own niche over there given the increasing number of bands coming out over the years.

Andrew: The metal scene throughout Australia is quite resilient, we work together and support each other to reach a common goal. Every sub-genre imaginable is represented throughout the nation, creating many diverse sounds and styles. Regardless of the perils and difficulty of Australian touring, many bands are still willing to go above and beyond in order to get their music to the furthest corners of our huge country and it’s very widespread cities. No tour is complete without at least one vehicle breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

Australia is known for many great theaters and venues. What has been your favorite to play in so far? Where would you love to play most? What was one of the craziest concert or festival you’ve ever played at?

Cat: The Metro and The Factory Theatre are right up there with my favs but I’m yet to play the illustrious Enmore Theatre which I hope to rectify soon. The Hi Bar in Sydney was definitely the craziest, we were supporting Apocalyptica from Finland, it was their first tour in Australia so the venue was packed with enthused punters across two levels.

Matt: The Hi Fi was definitely a step up in venues for that I have played. Having our own personal backstage room wasn’t too shabby either!

What do you consider the staple of Australian cuisine? I really want to try one of those meat pies.

Cat: Meat pies with tomato sauce are an essential part of the Aussie diet so is Vegemite on toast but if you are going to try it, do yourself a favor and use lots of butter and only a hint of Vegemite, if you spread it on like it’s peanut butter I guarantee you will never touch it again.

Here’s a personal question: I actually went to Sydney when I was a kid and remember digging out onions out of the hamburgers (back when my taste buds were still developing). Is it custom to mix the onions in with the ground beef?

Cat: It’s not uncommon for parents to sneak finely cut vegetables into their homemade hamburger patties, whether it’s layered on top separately or hidden in the meat onions are a must for any self-respecting Aussie hamburger, as is pineapple and beetroot.

Finally do you have any parting words for your fans here at Der Metal Krieger?

Matt: Thanks for the interest and stay tuned as our debut album is sure to kick unimaginable amounts of ass!

Thank you very much guys, good luck with everything and we hope to hear more from you soon!

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