THULSA DOOM (EN)
– Hello and, first of all, thanks for taking your time to answer to our questions. How’s everything going in the band’s camp?
Hail to all the Queens of Steel! B.G.Triumph here replying to your questions. Thulsa Doom quartermaster is very busy at the moment. We are rehearsing a lot for imminent gigs (France, Belgium and Italy) and for a future release.
– Most of you have and are still involved in other Metal bands into different styles. Where did the need of creating a project like THULSA DOOM born?
Original members of Thulsa Doom are currently just on this project. Just our new bass player A. Cutthroat is a shared member with local DEMONOMANCY. By the way, we all share the same tastes in metal and the will to create something that can embrace this passion with our different influences. Thulsa Doom is born to achieve this goal and to bring cruel metal to passionate listeners!
– You play Death Metal deeply rooted in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Did you have a clear idea since the beginning this was the music you wanted to do with this new band?
Yes.
– Does the name com from the Robert E. Howard’s story? It isn’r a too obvious name for a Death Metal band. How did you come up with the idea?
At the beginning we tried to figure out a name that could evoke evilness with all the common words you can hear in metal in general… Death… Angel… Evil… Blood… Grave, etc., etc. But, come on, we thought that we should have something different and very evocative for metal and epic fantasy fans like ourselves. That’s why we chose a «personal» name. Of course it is taken from R.E. Howard’s literature and the Conan the Barbarian’s saga… We fucking love it.
– And has your name affected the themes and they way you write your lyrics? Has it helped to create your imaginary?
Totally. Thulsa Doom’s lyrics and also the riffing always look at this epic/dark fantasy imaginary, bringing the listener to a violent, desolated cruel dimension, where there is only neverending chaos, war and unstoppable fire-winds.
– What does inspire that imaginary? Are you inspired by any other authors maybe?
Horror, fantasy, grotesque art, movies, music and literature. We can mention J.R.R.Tolkien, R.E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, E.A. Poe, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, H. Bosch, M.C. Escher, A.Bocklin, G. Doré, A. Dürer… And so many many more!
– As I said, you all have different music backgrounds. How do your other bands, or the bands you were part of in the past, affect what you are doing now with THULSA DOOM? Not just in sound terms, but in terms of experience as musicians and songwriters.
Before this project I took part in just one band. Co-founding and playing drums in DEMONOMANCY until 2015 left a mark on me in many ways, from the songrwriting to the style of playing but also in the way I face a live show. Together with V.K. Nail and F. Phantomlord, who have thrash, black and death metal backgrounds we found a way to cooperate in a very explosive way, mixing our music beheaviours and imaginary… The results can now be heard, in a first step, in «Realms of Hatred».
– Is there in «Realms of Hatred» material that was supposed to be for any of your former bands or is it all new stuff?
Everything in the release was composed by the members of Thulsa Doom, but yes, some riffs were arranged also before it.
– «Realms of Hatred» is your debut EP, and has been released by none else than Invictus Productions. How did this cooperation come to be? Did their link with DEMONOMANCY have something to do with this?
The link was made through Marco of The Devil’s Mark studio (and frontman of DEMONOMANCY), who during the mastering part of the recordings shared the tracks with Invictus.
– There’s obviously a lot of new bands playing old school Death Metal lately, but you broaden a little bit your sound and welcome Thrash riffing (from the German scene I’d dare say) and some subtle Black Metal elements as well. Was something conscious to try give a twist to a traditional style that a lot of people is playing nowadays?
As mentioned before our music background is common but not so similar. I come from primitive Black/death drumming, V.K. Nail from thrash/death highly influenced by South American and German riffing and F. Phantomlord is a total maniac of Florida’s death metal… I think that’s the reason why we sound a bit more original than others… By the way I also think that it is useless to release something that you can already enjoy from other bands…
– You have included several interludes and an instrumental track, which I think helps make the overall atmosphere stronger. Is ambience an important element in the sound of THULSA DOOM?
Thank you for this feedback, that was our intent! I am obsessed with orchestral and instrumental interludes and tracks («Desolate Ways» from «Blessed are the Sick», ALL the Timps in Master’s Hammer albums, intros and outros from hundreds of releases) so I do insisted a lot for those tracks. Since the vision of the other members is also highly focused on catching the listener’s attention thanks to this eerie, cruel and dark atmosphere, we wrote those tracks, added some synths and started to think on our next material with the same goal.
– With this atmosphere instead of painting gruesome, gnarly images in your listener as most DM bands do I think you build a darker, sinister landscape. What emotions and atmospheres do you want to convey to the listener?
Landscape is the key word. We tried to have, with each song, a specific scenery in mind. An infinite burning desert in which an aeons old city hides unbelievable secrets, infinite sieges of cruel barbarian warriors, dark summoning rituals of a cursed priest. Scenes where, with our music, the listener can see something and be part of it.
– The artwork on the other hand is very old school looking (as well as your logo). Who was in charge and how did you work on it?
The «Realms of Hatred» artwork has been commissioned to Samuele Gore, a young but really talented artist from Rome.
– The production is pretty clear without sounding too modern or overproduced. Marco (DEMONOMANCY) took such duties if I’m not mistaken. How did the whole process go? How pleased are you with the final outcome?
Damn, Marco did an awesome job! We are really satisfied with this first collaboration between Thulsa Doom and The Devil’s Mark studio, since we have been assisted in a very professional way also when we had the need to re-record something that did not fully pleased us. We asked for specific sounds and Marco provided us what we asked for. In the first place we recorded drums, then guitars and bass guitar. Vocals involved all the lineup.
– All this about «Realms of Hatred» being said, how could you describe it in just 3 words?
The first onslaught
– You recently welcomed Cutthroat to your ranks as your bass player. How do you think having a bass player will affect the way you work?
I think the real change in the line-up is to have somone like him, not just to have a bass player. A. has got a very propositive attitude and plus his recent musical experiences (Vesper and Demon Bell) already started to affect our songwriting process.
– You are hailing from Italy, a country that has always had a great Metal scene into different subgenres, and seems to be still healthy with newer acts such as THE RITE, MORBUS GRAVE or NECROMUTILATOR among others coming out but, how do you perceive it as an insider?
Italy has got a nice fan base. This is also thanks to the great bands that came out from here in the past, such as: Bulldozer, Death SS, Necrodeath, Strana Officina, Mortuary Drape, Black Prophecies…. We are a young band made of young people (>30 years old) and at the moment we are receiving good feedback and encouragement. A few years ago, when I was in Demonomancy, we didn’t have the same luck, maybe because of those (within the black/death wave) who felt obliged to spew shit out of their mouth just to be someone, on the Internet. Fortunately now, attending gigs and the local music store, there are only people who want to talk and listen to music, not gossip about it. In fact, coincidentally, many young bands (Thulsa Doom, Sepolcro, Morbus Grave, Night Gaunt, Demonomancy….) are followed. No Bullshit.
– You haven’t played that many shows, is there a specifical reason for this? In January you will be playing at Live Evil and besides this, what are your near-future plans?
There’s no specific reason for that. We have some plans also before the mighty Live Evil like dates here in italy (Rome and Naples) with Sepolcro and Morbus Grave and something abroad with Extirpation at the very beginning of November.
– That’s all from our side, thank you once more for answering to our interview. If you’d like to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Thank to all the Queens! RIDE FAST….RIDE TO DEATH!
Tania Giménez
tania@queensofsteel.com
