SEVERED HEAVEN (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for taking your time and congratulations on your debut album. How’s everything going in the SEVERED HEAVEN’s camp?
We’re very busy at the moment with gigs and writing. It’s hectic but we like it that way.
– First off all, I would like you to make some history of the band, as I guess there are some people who aren’t familiar with you yet.
Leanne: Severed Heaven formed 4 years ago, I was in a different band at that point with Charlotte, Vanessa and Anna. We decided that we wanted to take our music in a completely different direction and start a new musical project which is where Lauren came into the mix. Although many people think that Severed Heaven were formerly another band (Blood Sundae) I’d just like to make it clear that they were very different projects. Severed Heaven started from a fresh musical perspective and naturally became our main focus.
– Why did you pick «Severed Heaven» for the band’s name? Your music is quite dark and brutal so; could you say it fits the whole band’s concept?
The idea behind the name is the concept of a broken perfection.
– As I said, you have recently released your debut album, «Incessant Darkness». Is your first full-length album after your previous EP and, though I see you have a solid fan-base and got a good response, I must admit I didn’t know about you before so, how are these «first steps» for the band being?
Being an unsigned band, we’re trying to get our name out there and expand our fan base. Something I always find surprising is the crowd reaction whether they’re into what we do or not. When the vocals are sound checked and Lauren screams or growls people always stop and look like “Jesus Christ what the hell was that”
– If I’m not mistaken you are unsigned right now; does this make things harder in promotion terms? And considering your high quality; haven’t you got any offers from any record label?
Leanne: Being unsigned can be difficult in the sense that we do most of our own gig booking and promotion. On the other hand we still maintain complete control of the band which is very important to us. We have had several label offers over the last 2 years but haven’t accepted any of these. We are still growing as artists, and with the new line up we’re hoping to focus our writing and energies towards an amazing second album. We would definitely consider more label offers in the future, but for now the timing just isn’t right.
Charlotte: It does make things a bit harder. We know there’s an audience out there for our music but as we encompass different styles of metal it can be hard to get onto the right gig line-ups. It’s surprising how narrow some metal fans’ music tastes can be. We don’t play pure death metal or pure black metal and on some line-ups that’s all people want to hear.
– Talking about promotion, Lena (you are) also plays in MY DYING BRIDE. Do you think this will make people check out your music easily?
Lena: It’s a head start yes because there’s automatically an audience there. Severed Heaven isn’t in anyway influenced by MDB and I don’t believe there are many similarities, however, the support from the MDB fans has been overwhelming!
– And still into this, you Lena are the latest addition to the band; how did everything start?
Lena: I actually first knew of the band through an MDB member who suggested I check them out. All female, death doom, ticked all the boxes! I first saw them years ago and was genuinely impressed. When their guitarist parted I was approached by the band as I’d expressed interest previously. And here I am.
– You are a band that plays live quite a lot so, Lena, has been easy to learn the songs?
Lena: It was a bit of a struggle at first but I manage my time between the bands well. I never get to have a day off! I love playing though and wouldn’t change anything. The hardest part has been changing from guitar to bass to guitar again.
– Lena, when I interviewed you some months ago you said it wasn’t really easy making the transition from guitarist to bassist. Are you feeling more comfortable with SEVERED HEAVEN in this field?
Lena: Yes definitely although it took playing a few gigs to get myself back into it properly. It’s all about confidence.
– This year also joined the band a new drummer. Does this new line-up makes you feel more confident and with renewed energy?
Leanne: Definitely! Hayley is a fantastic drummer. She comes from black metal roots which will really compliment the new sound we are aiming towards. Hayley’s drums are going to give us the foundations of an intense dark album, and we can’t wait to unleash her full potential to the world.
– And what have both Lena and Hayley brought to SEVERED HEAVEN?
Leanne: As a band we have worked very hard over the last 4 years to promote ourselves and offer the metal world something a bit different. This year has seen a lot of change for us which, was initiated with Anna leaving and Hayley joining. With a new mix of people always comes a different perspective, and I know me and Lauren particularly felt that we needed to put everything we had into these next few years to really push the band and get ourselves out there. That level of commitment requires something special which is why we are very happy to have Hayley in the band and the reason that we invited Lena to be our rhythm guitarist. They are professional musicians who share the same drive and passion as the rest of Severed Heaven. They have brought a new focus and energy to the band that we can’t wait to unveil.
– Now getting a get a bit into the album, I noticed an overall Doom and Death Metal influence, though it also contains certain elements from Black Metal, etc. But, how could you ladies describe your sound?
Lena: You’ve pretty much summed it up there. Death, doom, melodic, blackened metal. Brutally beautiful.
– Due to this I would like to know how was like the song writing for «Incessant Darkness» as, moreover, there are plenty rhythm changes and you also clearly enlight parts with elements from different styles.
Leanne: As one of the main writers in Severed Heaven I have always tried to incorporate different styles into our music. I am mainly a lover of black and doom metal, particularly harmonies however other influences such as death core and even hardcore entered the mix which represented everyone who was in Severed Heaven at the time. ‘Incessant Darkness’ is a cross-over of all kinds of genres which worked with our previous line up but now we have changed members I feel that our new material will be a darker, more intense version of the ‘Severed Heaven’ sound. Certainly more focussed on Blackened doom. I am a lover of good dynamics in a song, and tend to throw rhythm changes and contrasting elements into my writing, which I hope will also come through in our new material.
– Lauren, I just got impressed when I heard your voice and those two amazing tones. What singers have influenced you?
I don’t have any specific influences. I don’t listen to bands and try to emulate them. I write my vocals lines to suit the music. It’s always the last part of the writing process for us.
– I have also read some comments saying your vocals are the most brutal FEMALE ones. What are your thoughts on these kinds of «comparative» comments?
It’s very flattering and I would like to be considered amongst the MOST brutal female vocalists. Some people have mentioned that sounds like that shouldn’t come out of a lady…
– You are an all-female band; has this been something planned? I mean, when a band member leaves, will you always look for women to fill in?
Charlotte: Most of us have been the ‘token’ female member in otherwise all-male bands and I personally prefer the atmosphere of an all-female band. There’s no one-upmanship. We don’t do it as a gimmick – we just like it this way. And if we inspire any girls to get into metal along the way then all the better.
Leanne: Being a female band has been a criteria from the start of Severed Heaven, the dynamics in our band are very different to what they would be should we be a mixed band and I think it’s important to put this across. As women we share the same vision and goal for our music, and generally speaking go about things in the same way. I think it’s important to have that kind of understanding in a band.
– And do you think the «all-female» term has affected you in a positive or negative way? As press and also «metalheads» tend to focus in the genre aspect first.
Lena: Both. We’re usually judged immediately and expected to sound a certain way. It’s a positive thing to show people that women can actually write “proper” metal too. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching people’s reactions during the first few songs. We certainly don’t advertise ourselves as being all female because our gender is irrelevant
Charlotte: It certainly makes us stand out, as there are so few of us doing it. But I think it’s fair to say that there are people out there that will lower their musical expectations as soon as they hear the tag ‘all-female’. It’s our job to prove them wrong.
Leanne: I think being all female can be a double edged sword. Sometimes it has positives other times negatives. What I’d like to say to everyone reading this is that we certainly don’t try to use this to our advantage. It is a label that unfortunately comes with us, and tends to be used by promoters etc rather than us ourselves. The main focus should be the music, and that is what we hope people are judging when they see us or listen to us.
– Even though many people respect and admire female Metal musicians doing their own thing, into the Metal world people tend to illustrate differences between both genres instead of highlighting similarities. Could you say this is a way for discrimination as well?
Charlotte: Metal made by women and metal made by men are not two different genres. It’s like saying that metal made by blue eyed people and metal made by brown eyed people are two different genres. We’re just five people making music and that’s what it’s all about.
Leanne: Being a woman in music leads to very different criticisms on a lot of levels. For instance we very rarely play live shows without our appearance somehow being reviewed as well as the music. For most male bands this is never an issue. Unfortunately I think that differences between male and female musicians will always be highlighted before the similarities, but I don’t think having differences is necessarily a bad thing at all. Differences are what make something unique.
– Now leaving behind that main topic for Queens of Steel, let’s talk about your live shows. Throughout these years of existence you have played with bands as SHINING or HECATE ENTHRONED just to name a few. Have you noticed supporting such big acts has opened you any doors?
Lauren: Yes it all helps towards promotion when you play with such bands. You get to play to bigger audiences and also, more people go to see signed bands. The live scene is hard work in the UK because don’t want to see unsigned acts or travel far to see them. If it’s not at the local pub you can pretty much forget it!
– Finally, what are your near-future plans? Have you worked on any new stuff with the current line-up?
Leanne – We are busy writing our second album at the moment which has been a very rewarding experience so far, the line up changes will certainly bring a new Severed Heaven to the metal world! We have plans to tour in Europe next year to promote our new offering, which will hopefully be ready for release by February 2012.
– That’s been all ladies, thanks once more and our best wishes, hope you’ll get soon the recognition you deserve. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Severed Heaven: Thanks for interview and support QoS! Chug love!
