De Profundis - A Bleak Reflection [CD 2010]

[lorenzo_kolony]

New amazing review of 'A Bleak Reflection' available on Doom-metal.com!

"In Spring 2010, there has been a rich harvest of all things Doomy; De Profundis can certainly be added to that best-of list. Based in London, the band offers an clever mix of classic English Doom (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema) seasoned with a drop of technical Progressive Rock. From those kind of statement, you could easily thought of them as another contender to the sought-after title of Opeth’s clone. But they are not.

For, where too many unimaginative bands are happy with another version of 'Blackwater Park', De Profundis take inspiration more from a band like Cynic (particularly noticeable through the superb fretless style of their new bassist) in the faster passages, and the moods and melodic solos of Swedish Black Metal.

The exemplary arrangement job makes songs like ‘Ablaze In Autumn's Fire’ or ‘Crimson Black Bleeding’ really take off. De Profundis’s music appears rich and innovative without ever crossing a limit that would make it TOO innovative and therefore boring. Quite the contrary, their daring take on Doom reinforces the baroque atmosphere.

Despite its length, you listen to 'A Bleak reflection' and absorb it easily; it offers a subtle and rich journey through the misty sounscapes that the genre has accustomed us to. Innovative bands in Doom are rare: one more reason to support what I consider to be one of the most exciting albums of the beginning of 2010."

Link:
http://www.doom-metal.com/reviews.php?album=1920

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

DE PROFUNDIS: long and detailed interview with singer Craig Land and bassist Arran Mc Sporran available on Spain's 'Pitchline-zine'!

Greetings to everybody in De Profundis. How are things running at London? What are the present plans for the band? I guess you will keep on presenting “A Bleak Reflection” live.

Arran: Things are great in London, although the weather is starting to move towards Winter now. We will keep presenting and promoting ‘A Bleak Reflection’, but we have already started writing new songs for the next album while looking for available tour slots. We are hoping to tour Europe in the new year and are touring India at the end of October 2010.

Craig: Greetings to you and your readers. Things are picking up after a quiet Summer and we are getting very busy, which is the way we like it.

The album was officially released on (please correct me if I’m wrong) February 1st this year (awesome date by the way, it’s my birthday). What kind of opinions have you received not only you but also Kolony Records about this work? Do you think it is quite difficult stuff to “understand” for the typical listener of extreme metal that is not used to your sound?

Arran: Actually we have been pleasantly surprised by the critical acceptance of the album. We have got our own sound that is reminiscent of other styles, but is uniquely our own and to have the listeners really appreciate it, including some saying it is one of their favourite albums of 2010, has really meant a lot to us and proved that we are doing something that is that little bit different. That’s not to say, however, that everyone who has listened to it has enjoyed it or ‘understood’ it, but I find all the best albums grow on you as you learn to appreciate their intricacies.

It’s a long work when it comes to its length but it was recorded in only 2 months, June and July of 2009. How did the recording sessions go?

Craig: Actually, I think 2 months is a long time, but we didn't work on it solidly in that time. We recorded a lot at our own studio under the watchful eye of Fernando Pereira Lopes, who brought his mobile studio over from France. It was far more relaxed doing it this way as we didn't have to worry about spending too much time, and therefore money, as we paid for the recording and mastering ourselves. There was a moment of concern when Nick hurt his back near the end of recording the drum tracks at Panic Studios, but Arran stepped in and recorded most of his bass parts, until Nick was well enough to finish the drums. Mastering was done at Parlour Studios, and that was probably the most stressful period as we were all involved, and obviously all had our own ideas of how the finished article would sound. However, Fernando managed to please us all with his phenomenal effort, which is no small feat!

Arran: The recording went really well. The other guys had already written and rehearsed all the music before going into the studio so it was just a matter of playing it and getting it to sound tight. My parts, however, weren’t set in stone until I got into the studio because I had only joined the band a month before recording. So some parts I had written changed and some parts stayed, but generally it was a very productive environment to work in and I am very happy with how accepting the other guys were with letting me do my own thing.

I don't know if you are fully informed of the feedback and reviews that Kolony Records has received, but I read one that called my attention stating that the bass sound “distorts” during the album (source: http://www.friedhof-magazine.com/criticas_detalle.php?id=2488 “A not very clean voice and a bass that distorts in many points break the equilibrium reached by the rest of the instruments”). Did you feel any frustration at this kind of press reaction from people who can't “process” your sound and characteristics?

Arran: Actually I was expecting more of this! For the album I had a very individual bass sound in which I was trying to create a combination of the fretless bass and the Indian tambura (a droning instrument). My long notes had that fretless ‘mwah’ sound with an extra ‘buzz’ that was reminiscent of the tambura – it was all in the way I have my bass set up. I had not heard a sound like that before on records, so I knew some people might be confused and potentially not like it! It’s not actually distorting though and neither are the vocals, so it is somewhat frustrating that someone who may not have heard of us, and is reading the review, may disregard the album as having a sub-standard production.

Craig: Perhaps there is something lost in translation, but this is the first time we've come across that criticism. In fact, we have had nothing but praise for the production on the album.

What is the main source or reason that makes the music of De Profundis so rich, varied and even “original”? Great leads, blast-beats, heavy and dark riffs in a classic Doom style, cello arrangements, progressive parts or influences from other styles...

Craig: We all listen to a vast array of different music styles which influences the way we think about music, which ultimately influences the way we write. We could play play any style of music we like, but we all love Metal and that is what we want to play. I think Metal is the most diverse style of music out there because it can encompass so many other styles yet still be Metal. It gives us the freedom to really cut looseand write what we want to without bothering too much about the rules. After all, Metal is all about rebellion - breaking the rules.

There is one track that outstands from the others, the instrumental “Longing”. Why did you write a song so different from the others? The beginning displays a strong “bossa-nova”, jazz-fussion, etc influence. What are your thoughts on this track?

Craig: That has been the most controversial track among critics, which we knew would be the case. Those who get it, have given it particular praise, and even though it's an instrumental, it is my favourite song on the album. I really enjoy bossa-nova, and we all enjoy jazz / fusion to varying degrees. We also admire bands like Cynic, Atheist, Pestilence etc who have experimented with this type of sound before. I would love to develop that sound within the context of the De Profundis, but so far there's no trace of this style in any of the music we have written for the next album.

Arran: I wasn’t there for the initial creation of this track, but managed to have a little bit of a say in its progression. I like how it builds and changes mood throughout the track, as if it were someone contemplating and collating their thoughts and opinions on a subject. The changes in mood and genre reflect someone going through positive and negative reactions in relation to their judgement of the subject. Personally I love how the breakdown in the middle section kicks back in with the drums and also enjoyed writing the bass/drum solo at the end of the track. Nick played a rhythmic drum solo and I composed a solo bar by bar to complement it. I’m very happy with the way it turned out.

You know that style tags are more than necessary for the general public and the media such as us use them to guide the listener through the bands. As the promo sheet that Lorenzo sent us reads, you are tagged as a Black-Death-Doom-Prog-.Metal. What do you think of this?

Arran: I really understand the necessity for the media to use style tags as it’s one of the easiest ways for anyone reading a review/interview/cd label to instantly get an idea of what the band may be about. However, when a band combines these genres to try to build something of their own it can get very difficult to label them in one genre - when they belong in all and yet none of the said genres! We normally stick to ‘extreme metal’, which can be taken as ‘extreme’ or as music of extremes – combining elements from genres at extreme ends of the musical spectrum. We like to let the listener decide.

Craig: We don't want to pigeonhole De Profundis by claiming to adhere to the rules of any specific genre. We don't. We play Extreme Metal, and to me that embodies Death, Black and Doom Metal. There are elements of all these styles in our music, so it's a fair desription. If someone feels that description is too broad, they probably aren't open-minded enough to appreciate us anyway. If so, it's their loss.

There are two aspects in your biography that really call my attention. Your youth (Nick's, Arran's and Roman's in particular) and the different nationalities within the band (Russian, French, English and South African). It's not a common fact in a band. Maybe this makes the band richer?

Arran: I would agree with that. The different cultures and growing environments for all the different members has really given everyone their own voice within the band, which may not be present if we all grew up together listening to the same bands. All of us grew up listening to music the others may never have heard of. The age difference between some of us also makes for interesting metal conversations - as some of us grew up in the 80s, while others were born in that decade!

Craig: At least we have some British members now. Prior to Arran and Nick joining, we've had no British members, despite being based in the UK. I guess some people are shocked when they hear that Shoi and I are 10 years older than the rest, but we're pretty much on the same wavelength despite this. However, sometimes us old timers do have a laugh at the folly of youth! I think our different nationalities play an even smaller role because while there are obvious cultural differences, we are all metalheads, and metalheads are a culture unto their own, which doesn't recognise borders. We work really well together in a musical context, and are best of friends too.

I would like to ask this question to Arran McSporran. Why are some songs played on a conventional bass and other on a fretless one? Which are your criteria when choosing one or another? How many years have you needed to fully control the fretless?

Arran: All the songs on the album are played on my fretless bass, except for the instrumental ‘Longing’ and a little tapped overdub with a wah pedal in Cold Is The Grave. I was originally intending to record some of the album on each instrument, but as I worked out parts for the songs I kept going back to the sound of my fretless. It just added an extra character to the songs, especially in the quieter sections where I could really use the subtleties of vibrato and slides to add an extra voice underneath everything else. I wanted it to sound like someone moaning sorrowfully.
It also cut through the guitars really well and allowed me to play parts that may not have been heard if I played on my fretted bass. I chose the fretted bass for the instrumental because I knew my fretless tone would perhaps overpower and detract from the guitars at the start of the song, so played the rest of the song on it too.
I’d been playing and practicing on my fretless almost exclusively for about 3 years before I joined De Profundis. I had used and recorded exclusively on my fretless with another band before I joined however.

How would you describe your previous album “Beyond Redemption”?

Craig: My intention when I formed De Profundis was to play Doom. However, as we filled out the ranks, it became clear that Doom wasn't a natural style for us to play. Despite this, I persisted with my view that we should write a Doom album, so restricted the members from just cutting loose and really expressing themselves, which was a mistake we rectified with "A Bleak Reflection". "Beyond Redemption" is a Doom album but with hints at other elements, whereas "A Bleak Reflection" is a lot more open to exploration and all the better for it. Both albums are distinctly De Profundis though. It's good to have our own style, which I think is enhanced by our use of bass guitar. Our previous bassist played slap bass, which is quite unusual in Metal, and now we have Arran who mostly plays fretless.

Your promo sheet reads that you have been in France, Romania or even India. How did you get the gigs on these last two countries? How did the experience there go? Tell us how the Extreme Metal fans are over those places. What other countries have you played in?

Arran: Other countries include Portugal, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands. Extreme metal fans are a little bit different in each country, but normally everyone is united under the banner of Metal for the night and just wants to have fun!

Craig: Actually, we are just about to return to India for a handful of dates. Following the last show we played there, we managed to secure a distribution deal for India with Sony, who have released both albums there. We must have made a good impression. We got those gigs like we get all of them. We have been managing ourselves, and put ourselves forward for most festivals and shows we conside would be good for us to play. We have managed to get a few festivals this way, and the Romanian show actually came from the collapse of a festival we were supposed to play out there. We managed to secure a club show at the last minute and decided to go out there and do it. It was surprisingly good considering it was such short notice and we played last on a Sunday evening, but there was still a decent crowd. Back to the Indian show, when we heard Iron Maiden was headlining, we decided to approach the organizers with our offer to play. They must have liked the promo pack we sent them! Perhaps the fact the Shoi is of Indian descent made us a bit of a novelty. We were blown away to get invited to play and it was generally an awesome experience. We were very well looked after in all regards, except on stage, where we struggled with very poor sound, poor equipment and stage crew who were clueless. We played to about 15 000 people, which is our biggest audience to date, but we didn't appreciate it at the time because we were so angry at not being able to play to the best of our ability. However, the crowd loved it and speaking to some of them afterwards, I was surprised at how knowledgeble they were. We're all very much looking forward to returning.

The album is 69 minutes long; you can't deny this length may look excessive to some listeners of “A Bleak Reflection”. What are your thoughts on this? Will your next work be so long as this one?

Arran: I’m not particularly bothered by the length of the album as it’s an artistic expression and a reflection of where we are at this point in time. Perhaps we’re lucky that CD formats are limited to 80 minutes! Some people will listen all the way through, as it was intended, but I’m sure some people will pick their favourite songs and listen to those on heavy rotation! Album length is irrelevant in a world of mp3s however, as those who want to listen to it all in order, will. And those who don’t want to, won’t! We haven’t written the whole of the new album yet, but we’ve evolved and seen what works live and what doesn’t. I think I can safely say the next album will definitely get more people headbanging!

Craig: Some of my favourite albums have a long playing time, which I personally like because the artist can express themselves without the constraints of time. My favourite kind of music is music that takes me on a journey, and I believe that's what we do with all the songs we have written so far. In fact, it is one of our main goals with our own work. We struggle to say everything we want to in under 5 minutes, and it's not like we are writing pop singles, so the songs can be as long as we deem necessary. Having said that, the new songs we've written so far are around the 8 minute mark, which is down from our average of 10 minutes a song so far! In addition, the new material that we have written so far is a lot more intense than what we have done before, so another 70 minute long album would just wear the listener out. But it's still early in the songwriting process, so we won't rule anything out.

“A Bleak Reflection”, as well as your first work, is officially distributed by BMG Sony in India. Undoubtedly, a big success for a Metal band like yours. How did you get that license?

Craig: Yes, we were shocked when we got the offer. It came about following our performance at the Rock In India show. As I said earlier, we thought it was a disaster while we were on stage, but the problems probably made us play even better, and luckily we were very well rehearsed, so we were still tight despite not being able to hear each other. The crowd reaction was fantastic, and I heard that the whole show was broadcast of a music tv channel to about 7 million people in the region. Perhaps Sony were impressed with our performance, and the positive feedback, and decided to take a chance. India is a potentially huge market and we are thrilled to have our albums in almost every music shop in the country.

What is your opinion on Kolony Records (and their bands) and the work of Lorenzo and co.? I have yet to listen to their bands, but all of them have a great quality inside their respective styles, from the fantastic melodic/Sweadish Death metal of Be'lakor to the technique of Persefone, the exotic feel of Bilocate or the vynil re-edition of Mourning's first album.

Craig: Firstly, Lorenzo has excellent taste otherwise he wouldn't have signed us! Seriously though, Kolony have some fantastic bands on their roster. Despite their various styles, the bands share a common trait in that they all write technically proficient, progressive and melodic Metal, which makes Kolony distinctive. All the bands are top class. We have an extremely good relationship with Lorenzo, and regard him as a 6th member. Him and JP work very hard to do the best for all their bands. Lorenzo deserves great success as he's a decent, honest guy, which is rare in this business.

Any news for our readers? What are your earliest future plans? Will you ever release any EP or anything in vinyl format?

Arran: We have discussed vinyl and EP releases with Kolony, but nothing has been decided yet. Our current plans are to continue writing, play some gigs around the UK and fly for a small tour of India at the end of October! Then hopefully another European tour in early 2010.

That's all from Pitchline Zine. Cheers to everyone in the band, feel free to add anything you want to finish this interview.

Arran: Thanks for the questions and I hope to see your readers on the road soon! ..m/

Craig: Cheers.

[Interview done by Fekalot, The King Of The Underworld]

Link:
http://www.myspace.com/pitchlinezine/blog/540937035

Interview in Spanish:
http://www.pitchline-zine.com/interviews.item.php?id=000235

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

DE PROFUNDIS: latest live show reviewed online!

"We are led to believe that price is a means for signalling worth, that monetary value reflects some intrinsic, indelible, transcendental property. The ideology of the market underscores the fallacy: expensiveness equates to quality. The exchange of cash is our access to worthwhile objects and experiences. Capitalism’s sly touch renders this process very subtle: there must be an inarguable reason that one thing is more expensive than another; it must be the inner core – the “soul” – defining the cost. But in fact it’s the always opposite: the imposition of price from without – sheer market construction. Consider, if one spends forty quid to listen to a Death album, is the experience enhanced? Does the perfection of the music become (paradoxically) more perfect? Of course not, and the very idea of it is demeaning to the work of an artist like Chuck Schuldiner; this degradation, rampant in the system, is the vile antithesis of his stunning musical project and others like it.

It was with these thoughts that we left the putrid intersection of central Camden and began our trek to the Unicorn, crossing the coarse terrain like nomads seeking a world far from the corrosive exposure of North London’s hellmouth. We sped along quickly, leaving behind the superficial fashion-obsessed thrust of that damnable hot spot to find a refuge on the outskirts, to discover the very margins where we ought to reside, a comfort zone from which we could spit bile and critique inferiority, free from the stupefying gaze of Camden’s parade of idiocy and mediocrity.

Cost and quality are not in equal ratio. The supposed guarantees of a financial transaction are total falsities; the opening of the gates of wonder is an empty promise premised on the inaccurate and arbitrary tyranny of exchange value. So we are doomed to pay large sums of money to see bands that offer nothing but shoddiness, that are the aural equivalent of being sodomised by the Coco Pops Monkey. Actually, that’s unfair: being sodomised by the Coco Pops Monkey would be much more fun than listening to half the bands you find on the London gig circuit. Costliness doesn’t always lead to disappointment, but factoring in the requisite twenty jars of ale on top of the ticket price, the entire enterprise reeks of avarice and exploitation.

The Unicorn, however, operates differently. Rather than big name bands, unreasonable ticket prices and extortionate lager fees – all part of a grand ruse that sees the promoter essentially skull-fucking his customers – this homely establishment offers free gigs every weekend. Yes, free gigs. Friday and Saturday. And pints of nectar costing less than a pot of gold to buy. The Unicorn attempts to replace the destructive emphasis on profit with an acknowledgement that not everything can or should be reduced to the bottom line, dedicating its space to sincerity and authenticity, offering a forum for young bands to exhibit their wares. It acts as a rebuttal to the systemic thirst for maximising turnover at the expense of everything else. While the Unicorn does not lie outside the system – and is therefore afflicted with the basic need for sustainability – it does gesture towards a superior environment where the art form can flourish without being undermined by the moral-less vacuum of the market. And the reaction seems to have been positive, judging from the turnout here. By the time the first band emerged the pub had become noisily populated.

Carpathia initiated their set with a bizarre tease. After arriving on stage and playing two minutes of dirge, they stopped, took off their instruments and strolled off stage. This had some of us whispering quizzically, staring into our pints, stroking our beards, exchanging baffled glances. If this had been Guns’n’Roses concert, none of the fixtures and furnishings would have been left untouched. Then the band returned with the words, “We are Carpathia and this is our last song.” Cue more bafflement. But then the band proceeded to play the sort of lengthy song that would have had Opeth themselves applauding. The opus sped through heavy dissonance and weighty tritones, alighting at the routine melodic breakdowns – injecting clarity and tranquillity into the steadily aggressive mix – before accelerating towards the furious horizon of a bleak vicious finale. (Geeky excursus: one riff sounded like the mid-section in “Lashed to the Slave Stick” by Nile, and was understandably awesome as a result.) That Carpathia were able to compose and successfully perform such a long and demanding song points towards a promising future. Perhaps they will be able to pick up the baton that Green Carnation dropped long ago.

Ancient Ascendant were up next. Here another unique and welcome aspect of the Unicorn presented itself. Instead of the usual division between performers and audience – individually reified as the Talent and the Underclass, part and parcel of the disgusting rock star disregard for the fans, and an extension of the class struggle itself – these guys were in fact familiar faces, having been part of the crowd for Carpathia, having stood next to us but a few minutes ago. Newly on stage they tore through a set of brutality, channelling the jagged wartime aesthetic of Bolt Thrower and energetically slamming shuddering riffs into a guttural baritone wall of sound. These compositions radiated with a passion for the form, every pummelling turn carefully forged in a cauldron of unrelenting Death Metal. This was exactly the combination of crafted elegance and numbing viciousness that we were hoping for, with the only incongruous sight being that of a man juggling fluorescent balls in the crowd. It seemed out of place, but then this is a multitude united under the flag of Metal, a place where such eccentricities can easily be subsumed by the universalising majesty of the music.

Diathesis. Once we got over the confusion surrounding the name – “Who? Dialysis? Diet Faeces?” – we were genuinely struck by the forcefulness of the sonic assault being generated on stage. Furious and deafening, this London-based band played a blistering, grinding Death Metal, packed with rapid-fire drums and jolting guitars. The vocals ran from a Barney Greenway bark to a controlled Corpsegrinder Fisher growl, serrating the edge of the already-formidable soundscape. Although young and still in search of a distinctive identity, the band showed potential and are worth catching on the circuit at a later date. And they must have exuded some kind of broad, or broader, appeal as demonstrated by the arrival of a random middle-aged woman walking through the crowd, not a single connotation of Metal strapped to her being. Who was she? A random loiterer on day release, lured in by the loud sounds? A Rose West seeking nubile bodies for dismemberment and other fun and games? Alas we’ll never know.

Last up was the headline act, De Profundis. This conclusion to the night’s panorama of extreme Metal ushered in a new ambience, different from the chunky gruesome tones of the preceding bands. Akin to Irish lords Primordial, the band’s Black Metal theme stretched between vast Bathory-esque grandiosity and a grimmer, more Norwegian style of trebly, buzzing guitars, intermixing strong melodic hues to add distinction and flavour. Like their illustrious forebears, they took us through a mid-paced evocation of ancient forests and fields of tundra, the usual points of reference of the genre, an ingrained iconography now indissociable from the style. But that’s not to claim triteness or cliché, for the renditions positively declared their competence and ingenuity. The intimation of professionalism in their performance is backed up by a record of two album releases, a sleek website and their being on a proper label (Italy’s Kolony Records). De Profundis were worthy headliners and were treated as such by the receptive audience.

At the end we reflected on the cost-value equation. Initially our expectations were low: what could a free gig offer but the very fact of its freeness? Yet each and every band impressed us, suppressing all the erroneous preconceptions that plagued our entry, all that nonsense positing the need for a sacrifice to attain enjoyment, to spend in order to receive. The fantastic mix of extreme Metal put on by the Unicorn was evidence that costliness does not guarantee quality, and that free does not guarantee shite." [Suicide Scriptures]

Link:
http://suicidescriptures.com/2011/0...n-camden-london-–-saturday-15th-january-2011/

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

New review of 'A Bleak Reflection' online by Me(n)tal-Meltdown Webzine (UK), rating is 8/10! :Spin:

"With just two records under their belt including the recent ‘A Bleak Reflection‘, London-based De Profundis offer an example of how to shift the template of progressive rock towards a darker and more ominous strain of extreme music.

This owes as much to the band’s tight chemistry together as it does the diverse range in their songwriting – where a sinister atmosphere mainly comes through a mix of hard rock, funk, and heavy distortion to list a few. Second track ‘Ablaze in Autumn’s Fire‘ for one, starts off with low guitar strumming before easing its way into down-tuned funk rhythms with tremolo picking. It’s just part of how De Profundis show they can create extreme metal through parts which aren’t all that extreme. Death, speed and black metal exist here, but they’re tied in with strings of traditional doom and blues rock. Effectively, the past of rock (its traditional forms) meets with its relatively newer branches (its aggressive subgenres). It makes an interesting mix between the latter’s fast pace and the former’s mid-tempo.

De Profundis succeed in pushing through with their own set of influences – without drawing too much on the avant-garde side of progressive rock, they steer clear of the associated pitfalls from its influence. ‘Longing‘ – the one track without Craig Land’s feral growls – shows this well. Despite its being the musical showcase of the album; the band’s foregoing of progressive “doodling” in favour of hard rock solos means a more direct focus in sight than what is arguably experimenting for the sake of experimenting.

‘A Bleak Reflection‘ is a consistent album. While it plays along the basics of progressive rock, it also makes sure not to dwell too much into it – leading to a record which brings many bits and bobs together for its dark envisions." [Ann]

Link:
http://metalmelt.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/de-profundis-a-bleak-reflection-kolony-records-2010/

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Interview with Shoi Sen & Roman Subbotin of De Profundis posted online by Bulgarian webzine Metal Best! Check it out!

*******​

We present an interview with UK metal band DE PROFUNDIS. Our questions, responded to both guitarists - Shoi Sen and Roman Subbotin.

First, let's get to know our readers with the purpose of your music.

Roman: There is no agenda to our music – we are not trying to change the world, we are not trying to convey some argument or opinion. So in that sense, our music has no “purpose” as it exists only as music, for music’s sake. Our music is simply an artistic expression of five individuals – it is a product of our twisted psyches, thoughts and dreams. We try to create music that takes the listener on a journey and makes him or her think. Maybe you can call that a purpose...

If you have to hook-up a new fan just with a few sentences what would you say?

Roman: I prefer to let the music do the talking. We loosely describe ourselves as progressive
extreme metal. We incorporate lots of different influences from different genres of heavy metal – as well as other forms of music. Anyone who enjoys progressive or atmospheric music will find something of interest in the music of De Profundis.

When should we expected 3rd album of "De profundis"?

Shoi: We have written over half the 3rd album. In fact we played some news songs on the Rotting Christ tour. Now that we are back in UK our focus will be to finish off writing the album. We are expecting to go in the studio around sept/oct and then release the album early 2012.

What is the real meaning of "De profundis" ?

Roman: It means “out from the depths” in Latin. I don’t want to be in a band that has an obvious name that the listener instantly associate with a type of sound. De Profundis is dark and ambiguous – and allows us creative freedom. To clarify – our band name does NOT have anything to do with the Oscar Wilde work.

Waht should expect the bulgarian fans on the concert on 5th may in Sofia ? Which songs you will play and etc.?

Shoi: This interview is post Bulgaria. What can I say, Sofia was in terms of crowd the best gig of the tour. The crowd was mad even for us the opening band. We sold a lot of merchandise which was incredible considering the price of the show was high! It shows how hungry some places in Eastern Europe are. The promoter in Sofia is keen on having us back there soon so I am hoping we can put a little Romania/Bulgaria tour for later this year together.

How did come the idea of the tour with Rotiing Christ ?

Shoi: I knew Sakis for some time and was aware that RC would be touring in Europe as the last part of their Aelo tour. From a musical point Rotting Christ fits a lot better for us than a brutal death metal band. I had also been talking to Massive Music the booking agency for some time so when this tour was booked I pushed for De Profundis to be on it. We had an amazing time with Rotting Christ, the other bands on the bill and the Massive Music crew. We hope to do more tour with them soon.

Do you know something about Bulgaria or bulgarian bands ?

Roman: I know there are many good bands in Eastern Europe, but unfortunately I am not personally familiar with any Bulgarian bands.

Recently you uploaded your new song "Dead inside" in facebook, can you tell me something about it?

Shoi: Dead Inside will be part of our third album which we are working now at present. The
version loaded up is a demo/promo version. The song is a bit of departure for us, its pretty intense with some crazy drumming. It also has some clean singing from Craig which we are pretty excited about. We have played that song live a few times and the reaction has been very positive. Actually we are over half way through the writing of the album and all the songs so far are extremely varied. Dead Inside is probably the most intense of the songs. Our plan is to start recording the next album from September for an early 2012 release.

Roman: I recorded and produced the demo from which this recording of “Dead Inside” comes from. The purpose of the project was to experiment with different production methods, including the addition of some new atmospheric elements. It was a learning experience, and not everything worked out perfectly, however I’m sure that we will use some of these ideas on the new album. Overall I think the band was satisfied with the demo, so this is why we decided to share one of the songs with our fans. “Dead Inside” and the other three tracks that we demo’ed will be fully re-recorded for the album. We may release the entire demo as a special bonus treat at some point in the future, however, for now, only “Dead Inside” will be available online. There are quite a lot of live videos of us playing another new track called “Delirium” on YouTube, so anyone interested in what our new material will sound like can always check that out, too.

Any plans for the summer?

Shoi: Our focus now is to finish writing the third album, like I said we are over 75% done. After
that we might take a little break during August and the start recording. I would like to catch a
festival, especially as I would like to see Coroner live, I am a big fan from them since the 90s.
Didn’t manage to see them the first time around.

Wish something to our fans?

Shoi: Well we were really amazed by the reaction we got in Sofia, even as the first band we were cheered like mad. So will never forget, and we will be back as soon as we can, so my friend keep it METAL!

Roman: Thank you Bulgaria for the best show of the tour! We will be back.

Link:
http://metalbest.net/news.php?news_story=8387&lang=EN

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

New interview online @ Atmospheric Mag from Poland!

*******​

Could you please introduce yourself? And tell us also please what do you do in the band.

Craig Land: I’m Craig and I’m the vocalist.
Shoi Sen: Shoi, I am guitarist.
Roman Subbotin: Roman, I’m the guitar player.
Arran McSporran: Arran, I play bass.
Nick Tingle: I’m Nick, I’m the drummer.

You have been in Poland about a year ago, right? Can you say something about this performance?

Craig: Yeah, nobody came…

Really?

Craig: We were on tour with the black metal band from Norway called Ragnarok and a band called Noctem from Spain. The promotion was very poor throughout the tour. We played in a decent size venue in Gdynia but there weren’t too many people so it was unfortunate.

So it wasn’t a good gig?

Craig: We don’t care how big this audience is, we play as best as we can. If there’s one person or if there’s 30 thousand people, it doesn’t make any difference. For us it was a good gig ‘cause we played well. There were just not many people to see it.

Let’s talk about how it all started. How did the band get together?

Roman: In 2005, so it’s nearly 6 years ago, I responded to the advert that Craig posted up, so me and him got together. He had a name for the band, De Profundis, and eventually we found all these other guys. We’ve had this line-up for about 2 years now, I think we’re happy now with the music. We’re finally able to express what we want to do musically, because, (I think) in the beginning some of the drummers that we had couldn’t play things that we wanted them to play. Nick can play the things we want him to play, it’s good. Well, sometimes … So yes, I think this is a very good line-up and we can play some progressive extreme metal.

Craig: We’ve achieved something in 5 years, I suppose. We didn’t release a demo, we decided we were going to release an album straight away.

‘Beyond Redemption’, yes?

Craig: Yes. So after about 2 years we recorded that and released it ourselves and then we signed to Kolony Records. We released ‘Bleak Reflection’ with this current line-up and now we’re busy writing for the 3rd album. We’ve done a couple of tours, we’ve played to some pretty big crowds so far so it’s going quite well.

What’s the meaning behind the bands’ name?

Craig: Tha bands’ name ‘De Profundis’ means ‘from the depths’ in Latin. ‘From the depths’ is a phrase that could means many different things to many different people. So it could be depths of your feelings, it could be depths as a deep heavy music. It has many different meanings and I thought that with a name like we have. we don’t sound like we play any specific genre of music. So we can really play anything with a name like that. And that’s why we’re kind of exploring. The better the band get to know each other as musicians and songwriters the more we’ll be playing around with different kinds and genres and different styles and who knows, we’ll see what happens. Hopefully people will take from the name what they like.

Who mostly composes the music?

Craig: Well, we all do. The guitarist normally will sit in a room and write. But the guitarists normally come up with a riff or a melody and bring their ideas in, and as the band we sit on a riff, put it all together, like making LEGO I suppose. We see what bits fit, what bits don’t fit, how we change things. Over a couple of weeks we’ll have a whole song written out and then I take the song, when the arrangement is all done, and I write lyrics to it, at the end, when all the music’s done.

Shoi: Roman and myself have been coming out with lots of ideas. The thing that is very good about this line-up is that rhythm section adds a lot to the arrangements, which I think really makes the songs really more interesting. We played a couple of new songs tonight and in lot of these songs we had the riff, but the way to go, it had a lot to do with these guys. So it really is a team effort, not just one person writing.

And who writes the lyrics? What is the lyrical content of your music?

Craig: I write the lyrics. On the first album I tried to write about the meaning of existence basically, deep meanings. The second album was more a concept album about a person who loses his will to live so ends up killing himself, so not particularly happy. The third album that we started writing at the moment is even more personal stuff which is just theories about myself. People will take from it what they want but I think if you write lyrics from your own perspective you always gonna write the best lyrics rather than just make stuff that’s not really you. I find it really difficult to write the lyrics because I spend a lot of time sort of going through it and making sure that I say a lot without saying too much. I struggle to write lyrics, especially because on that stage the music is written and the music is normally really good and I have to try and do as best as I can and it puts a lot of pressure on me.

What is the hardest part of songwriting?

Nick: Well, I thing that song structures. Slicing, combining riffs…

Craig: …and making sure that music fits together and it flows comfortably from one part to the other because we use different time signatures and it’s sometimes very difficult to make the song flow. We sometimes want to show maybe too much, that we’re good musicians and we also have to bear in mind that the song needs to be listenable and someone needs to be able to follow it. And making sure that the song does that from start to finish is the tough part.

Which band mainly influenced De Profundis music?

Craig: Who do you think we sound like?

Well, maybe Opeth, a bit? I mean construction of the songs.

Craig: I would say that Opeth was quite a big influence.

Roman: I think you’re right in that. In terms of structures they had a big influence on me personally, because when I first heard them there was no one else who was arranging music the way they do, so I will say yes. But I don’t think we write Opeth’s riffs.

Craig: We all listen to really wide range of music. I personally like a lot of black metal, some oldschool death metal and extreme doom metal, but especially these two guys (Nick & Arran) are very heavily into the progressive stuff of 70’s.

How is the new stuff different from ‘Beyond Redemption’?

Shoi: There’s a lot difference. You can hear it’s still us, and I think because the line-up was different we did a lot of exploration since then. It’s definitely faster, there’s more variety and also when I joined the band ‘Beyond Redemption’ was already half written, so by the time I came we did the second album, so I could bring in my own ideas and influences in it. And now the third album is a lot more different. We’ve already had a few people who listened to the new material, and everybody’s saying that you could hear that this line-up has been together for quite some time now, because of the way everybody’s playing. We pretty much know what we’re doing. That’s the same on stage. It’s because played a lot together for last two years.

Craig: Also when we started, when I had an idea of forming a band I wanted to play sort of extreme doom metal but I never had anybody joining the bad who was into that kind of stuff. When Roman and I started the band he was listening to really melodic stuff, In Flames, Opeth, that kind of stuff, so straight away we were always writing melodic stuff. On the first album we were trying to make it as doomy as possible, on the second album we’ve just decided to play whatever we thought like. There were no restrictions. The more comfortable we get with each other and songwriting, the more that’s gonna be like it. We’ve just decided to play progressive extreme metal rather than any other because you can play anything in that.

You’re rather a new band, established in 2005. Where have you been until now?

Arran: We were in India last November. There was a tour of India. And we were also in Europe this time last year. We were playing in Poland, Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Romania as well, Portugal, many places in UK, most of the places in Europe. We’re playing another 8 countries, we haven’t played on this tour, so there will be another 8 countries to add to the list, so there’s gonna be quite a big list.

What are the best and the worst things about being in a band?

Roman: Well, it probably depends on your mood, the best part is being around with these guys and the worst thing is also being around with these guys. The best part is playing music every day, but the worst is playing the same music every day. It’s like we all do it because we really love it but it’s quite difficult, it’s not an easy life being a musician, but we all love it.

Craig: I think being on the road is difficult, but it’s also a lot of fun. The guys in the band are like my best friends, so yes, we do get on each others’ nerves but we’re basically like brothers. We all love each other to death! We love making music, I think the worst part of being in a band is the business side of it. Shoi does most of it actually, dealing with promoters, dealing with people, with everyone who doesn’t actually make music, that wants a piece of you. That’s really hard work and you see very little results out of that. The whole music side is pretty much a joy but the whole business side is rather horrible from start to finish…

Shoi: It’s a hard life, being on the road, having maybe half an hour of fun and than the rest of the day travelling and it’s not easy , we’re being away from home and all these things… Touring is like you’re on the road and after a few days you’d like to go home, but when you’re home you’re thinking when is the next thing. So it’s not easy, but it’d be all right. We enjoyed ourselves tonight, the set was good, first gig of the tour.

Could you tell us something about the metal scene in England?

Craig: Metal scene in England in terms of people coming to shows is quite disappointing. For a city like London you’d expect to be a rather interesting metal scene, but there isn’t. It’s quite small, and other places in England are even smaller. The scenes are very, very small, and promoters don’t do very good job in promoting. People mainly go to see rather pretty famous bands, they decide to go to some festivals than to shows. But in terms of the bands the UK is getting a lot better. There are many upcoming bands that started to get names for themselves and getting some respect. But a couple of years ago that wasn’t a case. England has always been good for metal. That’s a birthplace of heavy metal - Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and all the death metal bands of the late 80’s and 90’s… But from about a mid-90’s to the whole 2000 it just kind of died. Lately there are some good upcoming bands. I would suggest people keep an eye on UK, because there are some good bands and they may surprise some people out there. Believe me or not but it’s a bit hard being from the UK. I think at the moment there’s a monopoly for the Scandinavian bands at the market. Well, everybody want Scandinavian bands or the bands that sound like Scandinavian bands, all the bands that play folk metal, especially in Germany. You cant’s see too many UK bands on the road, being honest, out of our lot, bands that we know, we’re probably the only band, apart from one other band that I have in mind, that actually managed to go out UK properly, so it’s not easy.

Do you want to say something to the fans, to the world, whatever you want?

Craig: Well, just support heavy metal, go to shows, buy CD’s if you can, rather try not to download. Just keep metal alive, “cause the bands need you, guys, more than you need us”, that’s for sure. So keep supporting us, so we can keep playing metal.

Thanks a lot.

Craig: Thank you.

[Adam Dzwonnik, Marta Kasprzak]

Link:
http://www.atmospheric.pl/index.php...d=497:wywiady&id=13681:de-profundis&Itemid=61

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Interview with DE PROFUNDIS' guitarist Shoi Sen @ Magic Fire Music webzine (in French)!

*******​

Magic Fire Music : Bonjour Shoi et merci de nous accorder cette interview. Pour commencer je vais te laisser nous faire une petite présentation du groupe de sa création à aujourd'hui et nous dire ce que signifie le nom du groupe, 'De Profundis' ?

Shoi : De Profundis a été formé en 2005 par Craig et Roman. Moi j’ai rejoins le groupe en Octobre 2006. Nous nous sommes mis à travailler sur notre premier album « Beyond Redemption » qui est sorti en 2007, c’était une autoprod. On a joué beaucoup en live avec album, mais vécu quelques changements de line up. Nick note batteur nous a rejoint en 2008 et pour moi c’était vraiment un grand départ pour le groupe car sa technique et ses goûts nous ont permis d’écrire des morceaux plus variés et techniques. Finalement juste un mois avant l’enregistrement de notre deuxième album « A Bleak Reflection (2010)» on s’est séparé de notre bassiste et Arran nous a rejoint. L’album était sorti par Kolony Records. Depuis Mai 2009 nous avons la formation actuelle de De Profundis et on est tous très content (Joke)
De Profundis a déjà complété 3 tournées dont une récemment en première partie de Rotting Christ. Nous avons tourné en Inde et fait la première d’Iron Maiden à Bangalore. On travaille sur notre 3ème album en ce moment. Donc un jeune CV déjà chargé comme tu peux le voir (Joke)
De Profundis est un mot latin qui signifie « des profondeurs ». Craig avait choisi ce nom parce qu’il aimait sa qualité un peu ambiguë et sans contexte précise. De cette manière on n’est pas limité à jouer dans un registre ou un autre. Si tu t’appelle « Cattle Decapitation » tu ne peux pas faire autre chose que du brutal death.
Le nom n’à rien avoir avec le nom d’un album d’un groupe Polonais ou d’une œuvre d’Oscar Wilde.

Magic Fire Music : Les gens ont tendance à vous qualifier de groupe de Doom, mais votre musique n'est-elle pas plutôt axée vers le metal extrême progressif ? Comment a progressé votre musique au fil des ans ?

Shoi : Ben je suis d’accord avec toi. Le premier album avait des passages lents et lourds mais aussi des plans rapides plus axés sur le black/death, et des arrangements assez progressifs. Le deuxième va encore plus loin dans ce registre, et personnellement je ne vois pas comment on peut être classifié de doom. De toute manière la communauté Doom nous aiment pas (smile). C’est le problème éternel des metalleux ça, de vouloir mettre une étiquette sur tout et de jouer le snob !
Pour moi c’est du métal extrême progressif, en plus avec la section rythmique que l’on a, on peut se permettre de jouer avec les dynamiques. De nos jour un album sonne pareil du début à la fin avec aucunes variations dans les rythmes. Ecoute les vieux albums classiques comme Master of Puppets, tous les morceaux ont leurs propre identité.
Pour le prochain album on va continuer dans le progressif mais on rentrera dans le vif du sujet plus vite.

Magic Fire Music : Peut-on connaître vos influences ? Quels sont les groupes qui vous inspirent ?

Shoi : Je pense que le fait que les gens ont du mal à nous coller une étiquette vient du fait que l’on a vraiment des influences super variées. De par nos nationalités et origines, moi je suis Français d’origine Indienne, Craig est sud Africain, Roman Russe etc... On a des points communs bien sur comme Emperor, Opeth, Metallica, Maiden, Priest, Death. Mais par exemple Arran écoute beaucoup de fusion, moi du jazz et de la musique indienne etc...

Magic Fire Music : Il paraît qu'un album est en préparation. Peut-on en savoir un peu plus ? De quoi va t-il parler, a qui est-il destiné, comment as t-il été composé, quand va t-il voir le jour... ? Bref on veut tout savoir !!

Shoi : On est en train de finir de composer ça se passe très bien. On pense avoir fini les morceaux d’ici la fin Juillet. On devrait commencer à enregistrer en Septembre et Fernando Pereira Lopez (Misanthrope, Orakle) sera de retour aux manettes. Je pense qu’il sortira en Avril l’année prochaine. L’album sera très varié, plus rapide et moins long que Bleak Reflection. Craig s’occupe des paroles et pour l’instant il n’aborde pas un thème principal mais plutôt des concepts. Il nous déjà évoqué un titre pour l’album et on était tous d’accord dessus, mais je ne pas t’en dirait pas plus à présent (Joke).

Magic Fire Music : Va t-il sortir en version physique et digitale, juste physique ou juste digitale ? Que penses-tu du MP3 ? Est-ce une offense à la musique ou bien est-ce un format qui tend à se développer au point de peut-être un jour remplacer le CD ?

Shoi : Ecoute on est old school nous, le format CD est très important pour nous. Un album pour moi c’est pas juste une liste de fichiers mais tout un concept avec l’artwork etc... Surtout dans le métal c’est important tout ça. Moins dans la variété.
Par contre je ne suis pas contre le format digital s’il y a une certaine commercialisation du produit. Je ne suis pas d’accord avec cette idée que la musique ca devrait être gratuite, c’est n’importe quoi ! Je ne passe pas des heures à travailler sur des morceaux pour qu’un site de morveux en Russie mette les morceaux en ligne pour rien du tout.
Mais il faut aussi vivre dans le réel, dans le long terme je pense que le CD, le vinyl deviendront des formats collectors et les MP3 seront des normes. Là où je pense les labels devraient se jeter, c’est de devenir plus des boites de management (Artist DEvelopment) qui engloberaient toutes les activités d’un groupe comme album, tournée et merch.

Magic Fire Music : Comment allez vous le promouvoir ? Est-ce que le net tient une grande place dans votre promotion ? Quels sont les réseaux que vous utilisez ?

Shoi : Ecoute on est en train de parler avec quelques labels, Kolony Records également. Pour l’instant je n’ai pas trop d'idée sur la promotion mais le net est super important, ainsi que les tournées. De Profundis devrait beaucoup tourner l’année prochaine. Tu sais il n’y a pas de secret, tu fais une bonne promotion magazine et net, tu suis tout ça par des tournées et des grosses prestations scéniques, et si la musique est bonne le publique viendra. On est de plus en plus actifs sur le net mais il faut faire attention car beaucoup trop de groupes se contentent d’envoyer des emails a la chaîne ce qui n’est pas bon. Ça a tué Myspace !

Magic Fire Music : Vous venez de finir une tournée dans les Balkans il me semble. Comment ça s'est passé ? Quels sont les autres concerts prévus ? Une tournée en France est-elle prévue ?

Shoi : La tournée était avec Rotting Christ et Omnium Gatherum en Europe de l’Est et était très bien. On s’est bien amusés avec tous les autres groupes. Les concerts en Pologne, Roumanie et Bulgarie étaient vraiment excellents.
Pour l’instant pas de dates de prévues, mais je pense qu’une fois l’album en boite, on devrait faire des dates en Octobre/Novembre, en attendant la sortie de l’album juste pour garder la forme. On travaille en ce moment sur des dates en France.

Magic Fire Music : Encore merci du temps que tu as pris pour répondre à ses quelques questions et je te laisse le mot de la fin !!

Shoi : Merci a toi. Je vous invite tous à découvrir De Profundis sur www.deprofundistheband.com, ou sur les réseaux sociaux comme Facebook et LastFm. A bientôt !

Link:
http://www.magicfiremusic.net/itw.php?cat=itw&id=489

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Song 'Crimson Black Bleeding' by DE PROFUNDIS featured in the 4th episode of Me(n)tal Meltdown online radio show! Give it a listen!

Link:
http://metalmelt.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/710/

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Check out a new exclusive interview with DE PROFUNDIS online @ Invisible Oranges webzine!

Link:
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/08/interview-de-profundis/