This is a bit messy, as I just cut and pasted these from our old forum at Doom-Metal.com
Reviews for ...OF AGES
http://www.metalcentre.com/webzine....ng&PHPSESSID=319c6c5db4fb4d9956dfc7043adf8b2a
Review for Split A Maddening Hue/Decent
http://www.metalcentre.com/webzine.php?p=reviews&nr=1929&lang=eng
____________________
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Live Review in Detroit Premonitions 06' tour
Shortly after walking in the door, Massachusetts’ most mournful band—SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT—took the stage. SOB has a firm grip on the “beauty in darkness” motif. The group utilized two keyboards, two female choir vocalists (Julie Beaulieu also sings while playing the keyboards), one guitarists/death vocalist, a bassist, and a drummer. The dim, orange stage lights heightened their somber mood. Band leader/death vocalist/guitarist, Dan Robinson’s vocals were remarkably pain-filled, while Julie Beulieau and Samantha Harris sang with mystical tranquility. If I were to hear their performance on a tape, I would never guess the group was without two guitarists because the low end rumbled magnificently. Robinson would later tell me the band was missing the violinist and cello player from their studio recordings. The group made the best of the talents at their disposal, and pulled off a great set consisting of material all through out the band’s career. ‘…And Tears Shall Flood The Earth,’ ‘A Fool’s Lament,’ and ‘A Rose for a Dying Muse’ were some of the highlights of the band’s set.
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Interview for Tears Of Sorrow Zine
http://r.lipari.sites.uol.com.br/Entrevistas/shroudofbereavement.htm
this is an older one, from I think 03'
________________________
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
live review metal underground 05'
http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12126
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Interview at DoomAltar(RIP) by Keen of the Crow's Ronnie Slater
(This was before I had met Ronnie (Phaseinducer), you da man!
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Hail from the Altar, Dan! Thanks for taking the time out to speak with us!
First off, the track "A Rose for a Dying Muse" is an outstanding piece of death/doom! It looks like the 30 hours that it took to record in the studio really paid off, huh?
Yeah, it was a long journey indeed. I was very happy with the end result. I’m just glad I got the opportunity to work with Andy Happel...he was a big influence on me and my music...he gave me the confidence to go through with my dreams, and showed me that there really aren’t any boundaries in music.
Why did the song take 30 hours to record?
The amount of thought that went into this song was very immense...the structures..the harmonies. There were 4 violin tracks in all. With the guitars, there were 2 to 3 acoustic tracks and 3 to 4 electrics. 4 vocal tracks, drums, bass...then the mixing to get that much stuff all separate and sounding good together is quite the task...ultimately I was amazed!
The inspiration for this song was the untimely passing of your best friend Dave, which obviously had a huge impact on you. How much of an effect did Dave's passing have on your writing in general?
At first I tried and tried to write for him..it became my life, and no matter how hard I tried the first year I just couldn’t get in touch with those emotions. Eventually I started grieving...this was the most emotional time of my life and my music...I learned a lot about myself, musically and spiritually...the song was written in movements from the day I found out about his death, to the wake, to the funeral, to the day after and to my nightmares after that. Its all in the song, you can hear the arrangements build more and more if you really listen, every riff before the end are played together on top of each other in progression...the symphony part into the funeral march...major to minor, the sorrow I felt was devastating...I still think of him each day. I told his parents that in honor of him I would compose a song...I did and they have yet to hear it. I only hope I did him justice.
Does most of the inspiration for your writing come from life experiences or do books and other such media inspire your work as well?
Honestly, I don’t read much. I’m not saying I have it hard...I know there are people out there with worse lives than mine. But when I feel pain, this is how I deal with it. Music is my life...I sing about what pains me...love, loss, death...that is life ...we all die we all hurt we all love. those are true emotions...that is what inspires me. Musically, my inspirations come from Mozart and Beethoven ( I love the piano) to King Diamond, I was a huge fan, I loved the whole concept theme thing and musically I thought that he was a genius. The 3rd and the Mortal, Candlemass, Anathema... they made me want to die more times than I could ever imagine. My Dying Bride, I loved the whole violin thing... anything with emotion.
Musically speaking, A Rose for a Dying Muse has something for everybody, from weepy keyboards to shredder style guitar solo's right down to Celtic sounding acoustic parts....How difficult was it to get all of those dynamics to transition smoothly?
It was a natural thing for me...I love music and I love different styles. I never heard quite the right mixture of everything that I wanted to hear as a listener...so I just thought that I could create what I always wanted to hear. I always liked a climax in music, I don't think you hear that too much in metal...that is what I shoot for the most when writing. I also think that having guest musicians that don’t listen to you’re style of music helps...the solo was played by my friend Bob Beal, who was mutually best friends with Dave...at the funeral, I told him that I was going to do this song and he said he would love to be part of it...he is one of the best guitarists that I ever met. His playing added alot to the feel of the song, and I thank him for being a part of it.
I understand that you played the guitar, keyboards, and did the vocals on A Rose for a Dying Muse. Are you a self taught or a trained musician? How long have you been playing each of these instruments?
I started playing drums when I was 11, I am now 27. I then played guitar shortly after my brother was a guitarist, who always inspired me to play as good as him (I still think he’s better than me ha ha) I was always the guy who no one ever listened too, I was the singer in a band called Mourndrear, which out of their ashes came December Wolves...no one ever listened to me because I was the "singer" so eventually I said fuck ‘em...i’ll do it myself...I was self taught and I do everything by ear, so I guess you could say I have been playing for some years now!
Shroud of Bereavement has been around since 1996 and seems to be moving in typical doom fashion, slooooooow. What has taken Shroud of Bereavement so long to put out an official release?
It took many years for my skills as a musician to develop and get the confidence to step up to the plate...aside from the old demo, in the last year I have finally just began to show people what i’m doing. I have the live band now, and we are ready to do what ever we have to, to make this thing work, they are a great group of people and im very excited... aside from the message boards and the few shows we have played, we haven't come out full force yet. I want to come out, out of nowhere and hit everyone in the balls, and that is what is happening. We’re ready!
When can we expect the Shroud of Bereavement album "Alone Beside Her" to be released, and will it be a self release or will it be put out by a label?
Screaming Ferret has released "Rose" on a comp that will be featured in bw/bk and Metal Maniacs, I guess 20,000 copies are pressed and will be out soon...they said they would hook us up with distro in Europe once we decide what we want to do with our cd.... I paid for the whole cd so I haven't decided fully what I want to do yet...i’ll know more in a month as the cd will be done. We will hit the studio as a full band as soon as "a.b.h." is done to record the next album "The Fools Lament" so I will be looking for a label to help us on that one...
Shroud of Bereavement has recently been playing the New England scene, how has the reaction been to the band?
The reaction has been great, there is a big buzz on the street about us...we just played the radio last week, we got some good feed back on that... you can hear it online with pics at www.returntothepit.com. This weekend we played a good sized show and last weekend we played a festival with 18 other bands. The guy, Aaron at the radio station we played has been great to us, he spreads the word and has been following us to every show with his camera...he's a great guy and has done a lot for the scene around here.
Dan, what would you say has been the most encouraging moment for the band and why?
that is a hard question to answer...getting my live band together, the fans man they are really supportive, this one guy tattooed "celebrate the life that once lived" from our song "Rose" on his back... all the great stuff that everyone has been saying on the forums, that really makes us proud to be doing this. I guess there's just too many moments.
OK Dan, thanks for giving Doom Altar the opportunity to ask you a few questions. Is there anything else you would like to say or want the people out there to know about?
I would like to thank you for the interview, we appreciate you’re support!
Buy our cd when it comes out! Support your local scene and support Doom in general...this form of music is very special and deserves the credit...
Check out our site www.geocities.com/shroud_of_bereavement
Interview by Ronnie Slater doomaltar@hotmail
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Review for "A ROSE FOR A DYING MUSE" DOOM ALTAR
Shroud of Bereavement - A Rose For A Dying Muse
Shroud of Bereavement describes their sound as a mixture of doom and classical. Being a fan of classical music, I was very interested and excited to listen to their song "A rose for a Dying Muse". I must say that this song went way beyond what I could have imagined or expected, and that is always a good thing. Written by Dan Robinson for a friend who had passed away, this long epic piece evokes many emotions. Fear and loneliness, sorrow and reflection, these were just a few of the emotions I was feeling while listening to this piece. Like any good piece of music, it took me a few listens before I was able to really take it all in, and with each subsequent listen, I enjoyed it more and more.
I'm not the biggest fan of death/growling style vocals because I feel that at times it can become too monotonous. Shroud of Bereavement avoided this problem by combining female vocals with the growling. This gave some movement to the melody lines and the combination of the two contrasting vocal styles added to the haunting and dreary mood of the piece. It also allowed me to understand the lyrics which helped draw me into the music even more. Spoken word parts that sounded like excerpts from films scattered throughout the piece helped create a nice change of mood and connect the different song sections.
The guitar playing of Dan Robinson really stands out in this piece for his use of fast runs and fills which at times reminded me of the great neo-classical guitar shredders of the 80's. An acoustic guitar and violin section near the middle of the song was without question my favorite moment. The haunting sound of the guitar and violin drew memories from me of my favorite guitarist Randy Rhoads and the "Diary of a Madman" guitar intro.
The classical sound is created by the use of violins which pop up at various points within the piece. They are very well thought out and add the perfect grand, epic feel to this masterpiece. Other bands that often use the violin tend to only use it as a background, atmospheric type of thing. Here the violin is arranged to sound like a small ensemble. It's obvious the strings were not an afterthought but are a very important part of the song.
The piece ends on a somber note leaving one to feel abandoned and hopeless. I almost feel like this was a movie which ended suddenly with a "to be continued..." and because of that I'm very eagerly awaiting the next chapter from Shroud of Bereavement.
Visit the official Shroud of Bereavement website at http://www.geocities.com/shroud_of_bereavement/
Review by Shamus Gaffney frozenintime@rcn.com
Reviews for ...OF AGES
http://www.metalcentre.com/webzine....ng&PHPSESSID=319c6c5db4fb4d9956dfc7043adf8b2a
Review for Split A Maddening Hue/Decent
http://www.metalcentre.com/webzine.php?p=reviews&nr=1929&lang=eng
____________________
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Live Review in Detroit Premonitions 06' tour
Shortly after walking in the door, Massachusetts’ most mournful band—SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT—took the stage. SOB has a firm grip on the “beauty in darkness” motif. The group utilized two keyboards, two female choir vocalists (Julie Beaulieu also sings while playing the keyboards), one guitarists/death vocalist, a bassist, and a drummer. The dim, orange stage lights heightened their somber mood. Band leader/death vocalist/guitarist, Dan Robinson’s vocals were remarkably pain-filled, while Julie Beulieau and Samantha Harris sang with mystical tranquility. If I were to hear their performance on a tape, I would never guess the group was without two guitarists because the low end rumbled magnificently. Robinson would later tell me the band was missing the violinist and cello player from their studio recordings. The group made the best of the talents at their disposal, and pulled off a great set consisting of material all through out the band’s career. ‘…And Tears Shall Flood The Earth,’ ‘A Fool’s Lament,’ and ‘A Rose for a Dying Muse’ were some of the highlights of the band’s set.
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Interview for Tears Of Sorrow Zine
http://r.lipari.sites.uol.com.br/Entrevistas/shroudofbereavement.htm
this is an older one, from I think 03'
________________________
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
live review metal underground 05'
http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12126
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Interview at DoomAltar(RIP) by Keen of the Crow's Ronnie Slater
(This was before I had met Ronnie (Phaseinducer), you da man!
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Hail from the Altar, Dan! Thanks for taking the time out to speak with us!
First off, the track "A Rose for a Dying Muse" is an outstanding piece of death/doom! It looks like the 30 hours that it took to record in the studio really paid off, huh?
Yeah, it was a long journey indeed. I was very happy with the end result. I’m just glad I got the opportunity to work with Andy Happel...he was a big influence on me and my music...he gave me the confidence to go through with my dreams, and showed me that there really aren’t any boundaries in music.
Why did the song take 30 hours to record?
The amount of thought that went into this song was very immense...the structures..the harmonies. There were 4 violin tracks in all. With the guitars, there were 2 to 3 acoustic tracks and 3 to 4 electrics. 4 vocal tracks, drums, bass...then the mixing to get that much stuff all separate and sounding good together is quite the task...ultimately I was amazed!
The inspiration for this song was the untimely passing of your best friend Dave, which obviously had a huge impact on you. How much of an effect did Dave's passing have on your writing in general?
At first I tried and tried to write for him..it became my life, and no matter how hard I tried the first year I just couldn’t get in touch with those emotions. Eventually I started grieving...this was the most emotional time of my life and my music...I learned a lot about myself, musically and spiritually...the song was written in movements from the day I found out about his death, to the wake, to the funeral, to the day after and to my nightmares after that. Its all in the song, you can hear the arrangements build more and more if you really listen, every riff before the end are played together on top of each other in progression...the symphony part into the funeral march...major to minor, the sorrow I felt was devastating...I still think of him each day. I told his parents that in honor of him I would compose a song...I did and they have yet to hear it. I only hope I did him justice.
Does most of the inspiration for your writing come from life experiences or do books and other such media inspire your work as well?
Honestly, I don’t read much. I’m not saying I have it hard...I know there are people out there with worse lives than mine. But when I feel pain, this is how I deal with it. Music is my life...I sing about what pains me...love, loss, death...that is life ...we all die we all hurt we all love. those are true emotions...that is what inspires me. Musically, my inspirations come from Mozart and Beethoven ( I love the piano) to King Diamond, I was a huge fan, I loved the whole concept theme thing and musically I thought that he was a genius. The 3rd and the Mortal, Candlemass, Anathema... they made me want to die more times than I could ever imagine. My Dying Bride, I loved the whole violin thing... anything with emotion.
Musically speaking, A Rose for a Dying Muse has something for everybody, from weepy keyboards to shredder style guitar solo's right down to Celtic sounding acoustic parts....How difficult was it to get all of those dynamics to transition smoothly?
It was a natural thing for me...I love music and I love different styles. I never heard quite the right mixture of everything that I wanted to hear as a listener...so I just thought that I could create what I always wanted to hear. I always liked a climax in music, I don't think you hear that too much in metal...that is what I shoot for the most when writing. I also think that having guest musicians that don’t listen to you’re style of music helps...the solo was played by my friend Bob Beal, who was mutually best friends with Dave...at the funeral, I told him that I was going to do this song and he said he would love to be part of it...he is one of the best guitarists that I ever met. His playing added alot to the feel of the song, and I thank him for being a part of it.
I understand that you played the guitar, keyboards, and did the vocals on A Rose for a Dying Muse. Are you a self taught or a trained musician? How long have you been playing each of these instruments?
I started playing drums when I was 11, I am now 27. I then played guitar shortly after my brother was a guitarist, who always inspired me to play as good as him (I still think he’s better than me ha ha) I was always the guy who no one ever listened too, I was the singer in a band called Mourndrear, which out of their ashes came December Wolves...no one ever listened to me because I was the "singer" so eventually I said fuck ‘em...i’ll do it myself...I was self taught and I do everything by ear, so I guess you could say I have been playing for some years now!
Shroud of Bereavement has been around since 1996 and seems to be moving in typical doom fashion, slooooooow. What has taken Shroud of Bereavement so long to put out an official release?
It took many years for my skills as a musician to develop and get the confidence to step up to the plate...aside from the old demo, in the last year I have finally just began to show people what i’m doing. I have the live band now, and we are ready to do what ever we have to, to make this thing work, they are a great group of people and im very excited... aside from the message boards and the few shows we have played, we haven't come out full force yet. I want to come out, out of nowhere and hit everyone in the balls, and that is what is happening. We’re ready!
When can we expect the Shroud of Bereavement album "Alone Beside Her" to be released, and will it be a self release or will it be put out by a label?
Screaming Ferret has released "Rose" on a comp that will be featured in bw/bk and Metal Maniacs, I guess 20,000 copies are pressed and will be out soon...they said they would hook us up with distro in Europe once we decide what we want to do with our cd.... I paid for the whole cd so I haven't decided fully what I want to do yet...i’ll know more in a month as the cd will be done. We will hit the studio as a full band as soon as "a.b.h." is done to record the next album "The Fools Lament" so I will be looking for a label to help us on that one...
Shroud of Bereavement has recently been playing the New England scene, how has the reaction been to the band?
The reaction has been great, there is a big buzz on the street about us...we just played the radio last week, we got some good feed back on that... you can hear it online with pics at www.returntothepit.com. This weekend we played a good sized show and last weekend we played a festival with 18 other bands. The guy, Aaron at the radio station we played has been great to us, he spreads the word and has been following us to every show with his camera...he's a great guy and has done a lot for the scene around here.
Dan, what would you say has been the most encouraging moment for the band and why?
that is a hard question to answer...getting my live band together, the fans man they are really supportive, this one guy tattooed "celebrate the life that once lived" from our song "Rose" on his back... all the great stuff that everyone has been saying on the forums, that really makes us proud to be doing this. I guess there's just too many moments.
OK Dan, thanks for giving Doom Altar the opportunity to ask you a few questions. Is there anything else you would like to say or want the people out there to know about?
I would like to thank you for the interview, we appreciate you’re support!
Buy our cd when it comes out! Support your local scene and support Doom in general...this form of music is very special and deserves the credit...
Check out our site www.geocities.com/shroud_of_bereavement
Interview by Ronnie Slater doomaltar@hotmail
SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT
Review for "A ROSE FOR A DYING MUSE" DOOM ALTAR
Shroud of Bereavement - A Rose For A Dying Muse
Shroud of Bereavement describes their sound as a mixture of doom and classical. Being a fan of classical music, I was very interested and excited to listen to their song "A rose for a Dying Muse". I must say that this song went way beyond what I could have imagined or expected, and that is always a good thing. Written by Dan Robinson for a friend who had passed away, this long epic piece evokes many emotions. Fear and loneliness, sorrow and reflection, these were just a few of the emotions I was feeling while listening to this piece. Like any good piece of music, it took me a few listens before I was able to really take it all in, and with each subsequent listen, I enjoyed it more and more.
I'm not the biggest fan of death/growling style vocals because I feel that at times it can become too monotonous. Shroud of Bereavement avoided this problem by combining female vocals with the growling. This gave some movement to the melody lines and the combination of the two contrasting vocal styles added to the haunting and dreary mood of the piece. It also allowed me to understand the lyrics which helped draw me into the music even more. Spoken word parts that sounded like excerpts from films scattered throughout the piece helped create a nice change of mood and connect the different song sections.
The guitar playing of Dan Robinson really stands out in this piece for his use of fast runs and fills which at times reminded me of the great neo-classical guitar shredders of the 80's. An acoustic guitar and violin section near the middle of the song was without question my favorite moment. The haunting sound of the guitar and violin drew memories from me of my favorite guitarist Randy Rhoads and the "Diary of a Madman" guitar intro.
The classical sound is created by the use of violins which pop up at various points within the piece. They are very well thought out and add the perfect grand, epic feel to this masterpiece. Other bands that often use the violin tend to only use it as a background, atmospheric type of thing. Here the violin is arranged to sound like a small ensemble. It's obvious the strings were not an afterthought but are a very important part of the song.
The piece ends on a somber note leaving one to feel abandoned and hopeless. I almost feel like this was a movie which ended suddenly with a "to be continued..." and because of that I'm very eagerly awaiting the next chapter from Shroud of Bereavement.
Visit the official Shroud of Bereavement website at http://www.geocities.com/shroud_of_bereavement/
Review by Shamus Gaffney frozenintime@rcn.com