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Hier ein kleines "Standardinterview" mit Phil Swanson von den amerikanischen "Obscure doom" Metallern von Upwards Of Endtime. Auch dieses Interview ist wieder aus Zeitgründen nicht übersetzt! Viel Spaß damit!
Could you give me history of your band, please?
Rich (bass) and Jeff (drums) have played together since 1985 and released a number of demos and 2 albums under the name Atrocity (US not Germany). Matt and I have been close friends since 1980, started writing and playing together around 1993. Both playing in various bands until finally getting together. Than Matt moved from Connecticut to Vermont. While we still communicated it was diffucult to work on music for a time there. I was in an old school punk/metal crossover band ala Exploited/Motorhead called Blastmat and released 2 CDs before contacting Rich and forming Upwards of Endtime. We released a demo in 2003 under the name Lepus before changing our name to Upwards of Endtime. In October 2005 we released our debut self-titled CD. We just finished our second CD "Sadly Never Fore" (March 2006) that has yet to be released (labels take note).
What’s the meaning behind your name?
I have a fascination and fear of death and its unknowns that crippled me socially and emotionally as a youth. Upwards of Endtime is the time begining after our deaths.
How would you chracterize your sound and which are your influences?
From my stand point I would characterize us a heavy metal band influenced by its earliest pioneers like Iron Maiden, Witchfinder General, Raven, Angel Witch, Black Sabbath, UFO. But we each have our own individual influences as well. Matt and I grew up together listening to NWOBHM and German bands like Accept and Uli era Scorpions as well as US bands like Malice, Savage Grace, Armored Saint, Savatage, Jag Panzer and of course Liege Lord as they are our some of our closest friends. I later became influenced heavily by thrash (Sacrilege BC, Voivod, DBC) and hardcore (Fang, Exploited, Conflict) which eventually came to light in Blastmat. Jeff and Rich Im told have even more underground influences of 80s crust, grind, hardcore and punk which is obvious by the Atrocity recordings as well as many underground heavy metal bands.
I want to tell you a few things about your last album.
Well our self-titled debut was a very trying period. We were attempting to expand on our demo with more progression and longer songs. We were also trying to find ourselves. Some songs like Phantom Limbs, Stairwell to Hell, Battlefield, Wish It All Away and Conquerors we feel are definative of Upwards of Endtime. Than others are a bit lost like Dead To Me seems to be more of a transitional effort between Blastmat/Atrocity and Upwards of Endtime. The song Upwards of Endtime we all like very much but to me is like our "Running Free", cool catchy song but not like any of our other material. Hellnight is just a total thrash throwback, probably wont hear another one like that from us in the future. Jerhume Brunnen G and I Am Legend are a bit confused and unorthodox. There were also so many obsticles in recording the debut that it took over a year to record and release. And to us stands more as a demo than anything else. I wont go into the gory details, but I can say we have fixed all the problematic areas of our debut and learned allot from it.
Since the debut we have made many changes in the writing approach there are a lot more hooks and catchy melodies. Matt didnt write any of the music on the debut CD, he only came in at the last minute to record. Now that he and I are writing together again it has changed things dramatically. He is such a talented player and creates such melodic atmosphere its very easy for me to find vocal melodies. And writing with Rich continues to be much the same, his straight forward aggressive nature allows me so much room for catchy phrasing. Also working with Simon at Underground Productions has turned Upwards of Endtime into a whole new animal, there is actually real production value now. While some of the material is from our demo I can say songs off the upcoming "Sadly Never Fore" like Circles (reprise), Dwellers of the Dust and the Gathering are just a sign of things to come. We have already started writing material for our third release and it promises to be our best yet!
Who is the writer of the lyrics?
I write all the lyrics most are based on my fascination with death, the afterlife, epic war, satanism, paganism, horror and science fiction. Some ideas are taken directly from my favorite films like Jerhume Brunnen G is based on the show Lexx and a backstory of the character Kai. I Am Legend is based on the book of the same name as well as the films Last Man On Earth and Omega Man. Off the upcoming "Sadly Never Fore" album So Mote It Be is based on the movie Race With The Devil and Dreamachine is loosely based on Mindwarp (aka Brainslasher). Home Sweet Home is based on personal experiences of both Matt and I. In our youth we both went through periods of self mutilation, attempted suicide and periodic stays in sanitariums and rehabs. Dead To Me from the debut is just me lashing out at my ex band members in Blastmat, one in particular actually.
Do you write the music first or the lyrics?
Music is always first, than melody, than lyrics, than arrangement. I constantly jot ideas and thoughts in rhymes and poetry but they dont come to completion until I fit them on a riff.
What do you think about today’s metal scene?
My metal scene has always been quite different than average. Its always been constant never waivering. Theres always been great bands in the underground trudging away. Wether the mainstream takes notice or not makes no difference. Todays scene is as good as it ever was. Underground bands like Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol are as popular as they ever were and were never forgotten. And bands like Slough Feg, Reverend Bizarre, Ogre and Northwinds are destined to become legend as well. The underground bands are just that, theyre not molded for the mainstream and will always remain just off the radar. And if your asking me thats the best place to be, unspoiled by success, CULT! Metal is were it should be and hopefully wont surface too much, just enough to keep it going. We all know what happened last time around, lets not let it happen again. KEEP IT TRUE!
Any last words?
Yes, if you showed any interest at all in our debut please pick up "Sadly Never Fore" when its released. We are very proud of where we are headed with the new material and only intend to work harder at making it better with each release. We also finally started performing live and working on getting to Europe. Places of interest, Germany, Greece, Scandanavia and Poland (booking agents take note). Videos for the songs Circles (reprise) and The Gathering will be online soon for viewing. And please contact us we love feedback!!!
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