With a bit of delay I managed to write a few words about this event which took place on the 20th of January in Quantic club. Dark Sessions first edition is an event made by Final Step Productions and it went as smooth as possible, with lots of doomish moods. Unfortunately there weren’t as many people as I expected to see there, but I hope next time we’ll see more of you there! First band of the night was Self Hatred. A doom band from the Czech Republic and this was their first visit in our country. As a personal opinion those guys were a very nice surprise for me and my ears as well and I really hope to see them again soon! I’ve talked to them a bit and here is what they’ve told me about their band and about their short visit in Bucharest:
Hello guys! Thank you for accepting my invitation! Congrats for the show in Romania! I’m going to ask you a few questions related to the band and its history and also about the short visit you’ve had in my country. Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers?
Hello Miruna, thank you for this interview! We’re really glad that we could play at such an amazing place. SELF-HATRED are an atmospheric doom/black band from Czech Republic. We’re trying to follow the legacy of our beloved local doom metal scene in our own way. Our debut album “Theia” was released by Solitude Productions in 2016 and in a few months the follow-up to it called “Hlubiny” (The Depths) will come out. All lyrics are in Czech and it’s a conceptual album connected with a visual projection which will be used during our upcoming gigs.
Who usually writes the lyrics for the music and what are some topics the band writes about?
All lyrics are written by our singer Kaťas and they reflect the dark corners of the human mind. The new album came to existence in a different way from the debut. First we came up with a full story and only then we started composing the music and writing the lyrics. Each song deals with a different psychological stage of a man trying to accept the suicide of his beloved one.
What does the word “doom” means to you?
It means a lifestyle for me – although it could sound funny. Doom metal is deep, melancholic and emotional. It forces me to think deeper about life and all the things around me and I’m trying to put all of that into our music.
I will ask you the same thing I asked the other bands too… What did you think about the public? How was it in your opinion? Would you come back? What do you think about the organisation?
We really enjoyed that evening in every way. The venue as well as the organization were amazing and it was a real pleasure to play in such a great place. We hope the crowd enjoyed our show as much as we did. We arrived home with great memories and we hope to come back to your country soon with the new record. Thank you for the interview and as the old Chinese proverb goes – let there be doom!
The second band of the evening was Woe Unto Me from Belarus. As far as I know they were here for the first time as well. I hate to repeat myself but I did like their music (with few jazz influences if I am not mistaken) so much and I hope they will come back soon. We’ve talked a bit and here is what they told me:
Hello and first of all I wanna thank your for Saturday’s show in Bucharest ! Was a pleasure to hear you for the first time & I hope you’ll come back for more!
Artyom: Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words. It was a pleasure for us to play for such a great audience. We will definitely come back to Romania as soon as we have the opportunity.
Where do you take all inspiration from? What does the music mean to you?
Artyom: We take our inspirations from everywhere and everything. Mostly from our own lives, different emotional experiences, disappointments, distresses, and of course from what surrounds us. This music is the reflection of ourselves and our inner sadness, deepest emotions and personal feelings.
I wanna ask you the same I asked the other bands too… What did you think about the public? How was it in your opinion? Would you come back? What do you think about the organization?
Artyom: As I’ve already mentioned the audience was amazing. We felt these vibes, we were opening our hearts to the public and we felt the connection, feedback, confluence of emotions, we felt really great on stage this evening. And we would definitely like to return to Bucharest and play again. Speaking about the organization I must say that it was very professional, Mihai and the whole Final Step Productions did a really great job and we’d like to thank them one more time for the hospitality and dedication to what they do, huge respect guys! In general this show in Bucharest was really one of the best gigs on our tour from all perspectives.
Let’s talk a bit about your latest album “Among the lightened skies the voidness flashed”. What was your main theme? With whom did you have collaborations on it?
Artyom: This album is very personal to us or even better to say intimate. It deals with the events of our personal lives, sometimes very tragic events, it’s full of really heavy emotions and experiences. We didn’t want just to tell any specific story in it, we just wanted to pour out our inner pains and afflictions, we really opened our inner worlds to the listeners but mostly not by content or plot, more in an emotional way. Several very special guests took part in the recording of “Among the lightened skies the voidness flashed”, such as Daniel Neagoe from Clouds, Eye Of Solitude and Shape Of Despair, Thomas A.G. Jensen from Saturnus, Jón Aldará from Hamferð, Barren Earth and Patryk Zwolinski from Proghma-C, ex-Blindead. We are very satisfied with such collaborations so I think that we will continue to invite some guest musicians to take part in our upcoming albums.
Thank you for your time & for your answers.. last words belong to you…
Artyom: Thank you for this interview, it was really a pleasure. And one more time huge thanks to the Romanian audience for such a cordial welcome. It was an awesome evening which will stay forever in our hearts. Hopefully we will come back soon.
Moving forward to the 3rd band of the evening, Evadne! Evadne are from Spain and again this band is one of those who came here for the first time. I have listened to Evadne for the past 3 years and I was eager to listen to them live as well. Of course I enjoyed the show, especially the song in collaboration with Ana Carolina from Mourning Sun. This might be my first event when I write nice things about the whole evening (haha). I’ve talked to the guys as well, about their visit here and how Romania seems through their eyes:
Hello guys! And thank you for your time to answer my questions! First of all I wanna thank you for such an awesome show (it was the first time I saw you live) and I was so impressed! When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
The band was formed in 2000 under the name “Hexenprozesse”. In these days we made black metal music but in 2003 we changed our way to make art and we decided to express all feelings in a slow , deep and sad music. It was a natural evolution. All of us were friends and we shared similar interest and musical tastes. This was enough to form a band because all of us have other bands and we had musical knowledge and experience.
How would you define your music? Who is in charge with the lyrics?
It is inevitable to have a tag in music; we think we make melodic and melancholic slow death metal with a lot of influences like black metal, sludge, ambient, stoner and a lot of genres that we like. We prefer we don’t have any tag because we like to offer a variety of styles, always with sad, melancholic or depressive feelings. Normally Albert write the lyrics, but the band tries to help him or offer our perspective, although in the last work we make the lyrics together.
I wanna talk a bit about the show in Bucharest. What did you think about the public? How was it in your opinion? Would you come back for more? What do you think about the organization?
It was our first time in Romania and concretely in Bucharest. It was an awesome experience because we meet great and warm people and fans. The organization was magnificent and attentive, we had all we needed. Evadne hope to return soon to this beautiful country.
And last but not least, the band of the evening… EYE OF SOLITUDE ! Did this band need any further comments? I guess not. Everything Daniel does is magic. I saw them for the first time even if they were in Romania many times. Of course I loved the show, I do listen to Eye Of Solitude at home often and I was very impressed that the sound quality was so good, it sounded like its recorded version. Daniel’s words about the event: “ It’s a real pleasure to come back to Romania, and this was no exception. The crowd was really receptive and we’re very happy to have had another great show in Bucharest.”
Thanks to Final Step Productions for making this event happen!
See you next time !