Interview with Rhiannon of Somnus, by
Dea. (edited by Scott Hilberg also of Somnus)
First of all, you just released the CD, "Awakening The Crown" on Root
of All
Evil Records. Tell us about that release.
It's our debut CD, featuring 8 full-length tracts and some keyboard
interludes. We recorded the bulk of it last summer and overall we're
pleased
with it. The songs show a wide variety of styles and tempos, a trend that
we
will continue in our new material. The cover artwork has been getting a
lot
of attention; it was painted by Matt Cavotta, a Cleveland artist who also
paints for Magic-The Gathering fantasy cards.
Why did you decide to re-record the songs from the demo?
Our 1997 demo was very low budget. Since we still liked the songs, we
thought we should hear them recorded with better production and also with
Chris Stolle on drums. He really embellished parts since they were
originally recorded.
How's it going so far with Root of All Evil Records? What all are they
doing
for you?
Good! Earl has sent out a lot of promo's for us and is also doing some big
trades to get our name out. After a month, 1,000 CD's were moved and he
has
ordered more. We need to work with him on getting some more ad space in
zines for the CD. Awakening the Crown was a one time deal with Root, so we
are free to work with them or whomever we choose in the future, but we
haven't accepted any offers yet.
It seems that you are leaning more towards the black metal style with this
new album. Is this true?
We don't think our actual style has changed all that much since the
beginning. We have some faster parts now only because we couldn't play
that
stuff with our first drummer. Our music will always have a black metal
basis
but it's greatly mutated by elements of doom and movie-soundtrack
orchestration. The mix of atmospheric black metal and melodic doom is
kinda
like our trademark sound. People have called it "forest metal"
from the dark
feel that they get while listening, as well as the pagan-influenced lyrics.
The thing we're working on for the future is to encorporate some heavier and
more groove-oriented riffs into our songs to compliment and balance the black
metal parts. Our style isn't totally changing but it is becoming more
complex.
What do you think of all the black metal trends right now, with the corpse
paint, and everyone trying to act like they are more evil than the rest?
We don't really get caught up in trends. There is a lot of great music
out
there right now and there is no need for excessive competition, the scene
needs to be supported by all kinds of music and all kinds of fans. We just
want people to check us out and maybe enjoy us, bottom line.
What did you think of the New Jersey March Metal Meltdown this year? It
looked like the crowd was really digging you guys. I know a couple of my
friends went and bought the CD after your set. Are you going to be playing
Milwaukee again this year?
We'll definitely be playing Milwaukee this summer. We've had some
great
responses at those fests and it really pumps us up. We want people from
all
over to be exposed to Somnus, and those fests are the best way to do it
without going on tour. But a tour would be nice! Hey Dea, do
you wanna put
us on the road (or anyone else reading this)?
Somnus participated in the Slayer tribute album. What song did you cover, and
what were all the problems that occured with releasing that tribute?
We recorded the song "Seasons In the Abyss", and we have really
gotten a lot
of new fans by recording this song; they like our interpretation we guess!
Anyway, at the last minute, Slayer's management or whatever said that they
didn't want the tribute to be released unless the title was changed. It
was
called "In Slaytanic Blood" and it had to be changed to "Gateway
to Hell",
which cost Dwell a lot of time and money. Basically Slayer's management
said
in a letter that they were not interested in supporting any "underground
metal" these days. Weren't they once forefathers of underground
metal?
Slayer's management also said that they felt tribute albums were done for
bands that are "dead'" and Slayer is supposedly far from dead if not
at a
high point in their career! They must be talking about Ozzfest cuz none of
us have bought a Slayer album in quite a while!!! It sure pissed a lot of
people off...they didn't have to alienate their fans like that. This was
supposed to be a tribute to them, done by people in bands who at one time
looked up them.
What is your opinion on the Ohio scene right now? Do you think it is
dwindling right now? What did you think of the Ohio Death Fest last week?
We don't think that the scene has dwindled so much as it has diversified.
Cleveland's got so many different styles of metal bands to offer that no one
can really afford to go to all the shows that are going on. So people kind
of pick and choose certain types of metal shows that they'll go to instead of
supporting the whole scene. The Cleveland area is spoiled because all the
national acts come here on their tours plus there are lots of good local
bands to see. Some people will always be there to support the scene, but
what we need right now are more kids at the underground metal shows. A lot
of unfortunate teens don't know that there is stuff out there that is
completely sick and that they don't have to listen to Korn or Manson. For
just pennies a day we can join forces to warp these young souls...seriously
though it would be great to see a lot more of our youth getting into death
and black metal and going to the shows, cuz our generation will be old and
deaf very soon!
The Ohio deathfest was cool, it's just too bad that some people feel that
death metal has to compete with black metal. Most people like both, and
the
scene would really be hurting without those people. Just because we're in
a
band with screaming vocals and some black metal riffs doesn't mean that all
we like is black metal, in fact that is far from the truth. Most of us
listen to all kinds of metal and other stuff besides!
What are Somnus's plans for the rest of the year? Any out of state shows
planned?
Right now we're working on new material, because we want to record another
full-lenght at the end of the year. Besides Milwaukee we don't have
anything
set in stone, but we are working on setting up some shows (if any
bands/promoters are interested in doing/trading shows please contact us).
We
will probably hit Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago, Detroit, Toledo,
Pittsburgh, and Castle Heights in New York within the next year.
Were you in any other bands before Somnus?
Scott Hilberg was a founding member of Cleveland's Odious Sanction, Chris
Stolle was in Thanatopsis in California, and Dave Ingram was in Akron's Blood
Coven. We all had death metal roots, even though it's not always reflected
in our music.
Where do you see the underground scene in 5 years? Do you think that the
internet is taking over the scene?
Hmm well it seems that many of us spend an awful lot of time on the 'net,
especially advertising our bands and zines! It's hard to get noticed
otherwise, unless you have all kinds of money to travel! On the one hand
it's great that people can hear music and see bands on the 'net, but at the
same time bands lose CD and live show profits that way. It'll be
interesting
to see how the lawsuits go, cuz a lot of richie rich bands are sueing free
music sites, like Metallica's suit against Napster.com. We aren't making
any
money either way so we don't care, we'd rather have people hear us! For us
the 'net is good promotion.
Is it true that Scott & Rhia sent the guys in Shango a naked birthday
card?????
Hey now, we meant to send you a strip-tease birthday card but we didn't get
your email address right, whoops! Well it was the thought that counted
right? Happy Belated!
I suppose that is it from my end. Feel free to plug away...
Thanks for the interview Dea! Please go to Http://somnus.cjb.net/
and check
out the Somnus website! Sign our guestbook, or email us at Raveng0d@aol.com
or LadySomnus@aol.com. We have
full color long and short sleeve shirts with
the CD artwork that are really nice for $17 and $12, respectively. If you
haven't heard the CD yet, get a copy from us or from Root of All Evil Records
for $12 ($10 at our shows). Red Stream, Dark Symphonies, and Lost Disciple
also carry our CD. Thanks again.