New interview with TO CAST A SHADOW's bassist Stian Dalslåen is online @ North America's webzine Blistering.com!
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Few styles of metal fluctuate as much as Goth metal and while the scene will forever have its pillars of Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Paradise Lost, the bands filling in the gaps have been a mixed bag. Its hardly reasonable to pronounce a relatively new band like To Cast A Shadow as potential saviors, especially considering how excited people have gotten over the likes of Draconian, Tristania, and Sirenia, but filing them in the upstart category is definitely a start.
The Norwegians second album is In Memory Of (Kolony Records), a lush, yet straightforward and haunting effort, guided by the soft (and eerie) vocals of Gunnhild Huser. With a strong balance between muscular and dramatic struck, the band comes away with several winners on In Memory Of, specifically Nightfall, Betula and My Misery. If anything, its the natural extension of the vaunted British doom sound, thrust forward into the modern age. So yeah, Blistering will gladly peg these lads as a newcomer to watch, something bassist Stian Dalslåen was more than glad to supplant via email
Blistering.com: Your first album, All Alone came out in 2007, so why the three-year wait in between albums?
Stian Dalslåen: We actually started to prepare for a new album at the end of 2008, but that was put on hold when we in the beginning of 2009 were picked, as one of six bands, to take part in a year-long project called Project Six. Being part of this project enabled us to work with some major names in the music industry as well as appearing live at different showcases. After this period, we finished writing the new material for our upcoming album and headed for the studio.
Blistering.com: While you are Norwegian, your sound is right in line with the classic doom metal sound from Britain. Is it safe to say bands like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost are primary influences?
Dalslåen: For sure. These bands have played a major role in finding our direction musically. That is not to say we don´t have other influences as well. Names like The 3rd and the Mortal, Type O Negative, Tool and of course Black Sabbath has also played its part. Even though doom metal is our core sound, I think you´ll be able to hear some of these influences in our songs as well.
Blistering.com: Considering how new you are to the scene, is In Memory Of the right introduction for those unfamiliar with To Cast A Shadow and if so, why?
Dalslåen: Definitely. This album shows what To Cast a Shadow is all about. You´ll hear our true and recognisable sound filled with good melodies, grooves and riffs in a neatly doomy wrapping.
Blistering.com: Where does In Memory Of pick up where All Alone left off?
Dalslåen: The focus on good melodies and the sound from our first album has been brought forth into In Memory Of but this time we have maybe concentrated more on dynamics and variation combined with more power and force. It all sounds a bit more aggressive and organic. We have also introduced more male vocals, both clean and growling, to some of the songs.
Blistering.com: How did you hook up with Kolony Records?
Dalslåen: They contacted us after the release of All Alone and Lorenzo, the owner, really liked what he heard on that album. At this point, we were not yet ready for a new release, but we thought the label was interesting and we stayed in touch. When we were in the finishing stages of making In Memory Of, we contacted them again and found out that they were still interested.
Blistering.com: How did you hook up with Nell Siglund from Theatre of Tragedy for Betula?
Dalslåen: She comes from the same town as us, and Marcus, our guitarist, knew her from before. He had written a short and haunting song called Betula, and we decided to ask Nell if she wanted to do the vocals on this one. She agreed to do that and thought it was a lot of fun, and it turned out to be a great little tune among the other heavier ones.
Blistering.com: Gunnhilds vocals are especially chilling, so how did you find new ways to use her?
Dalslåen: As you may know she did the vocals on two songs on the first album, which were good, but she has evolved a lot since then. She really has a beautiful voice with an amazing variety, from soft and heart-felt to operatic excellence to just raw power. This gave us the opportunity to approach the vocals in a different way and make it even more fitting to our musical style. In my opinion, this makes the songs more interesting.
Blistering.com: Pick me a favorite of yours off of the new album. Ill vouch for Nightfall and When You Leave the Room.
Dalslåen: Oh, that´s a hard one... I really like all the songs on this album. The ones you mentioned here are definitely some of my favorites, but I would also say Oceans Apart. This is a classic doom tune that has a little bit of everything - heavy riffs and good melodies, female vocals and growling, some interesting little details and a punch-in-the-face ending. When it comes to performing live, I would say Tormented for sure. It´s a really fun and intense song to play.
Blistering.com: Considering how many female-fronted Goth metal bands there are, what is your opinion of the scene?
Dalslåen: To be honest, I think that too many bands are starting to sound too much alike and follow the same recipe, but it´s apparent that this type of music is quite popular seeing how many bands that choose to play within this domain. With that said, there are of course, some bands that are able to think outside the box and come up with some more interesting and original tunes and sounds, which is always a breath of fresh air in this scene. I would like to believe that To Cast a Shadow falls in the latter category.
Blistering.com: Are there any bands that do this style that you enjoy?
Dalslåen: I don´t listen to as much female-fronted bands as I used to, but that has more to do with the musical part, which seems to be either too symphonic or, as I mentioned earlier, that it is too much alike. However, I do enjoy listening to bands like Theater of Tragedy and Tristania, and I think that Ava Inferi has got some pretty interesting stuff as well.
Blistering.com: What can To Cast A Shadow do to separate itself from the pack?
Dalslåen: The essence of To Cast a Shadow is focused around playing plain doom and heavy guitar-based metal, with a different type of female vocals. We try move away from the grandiose and symphonic aspects that seems to be the norm for female-fronted Goth metal bands by concentrating on our core instruments, guitar, bass and drums, and using more variation in the vocals. I think that we are able to combine our influences with our own sound and style, and present something original to the scene.
Blistering.com: Finally, whats on tap for 2011?
Dalslåen: Beer...hehe. First of all, we are looking forward to the release of our new album In Memory Of in February, which we hope as many of you will check out. Hopefully we will do some touring and continue building the To Cast a Shadow name so we can give all the metal-heads out there the opportunity to discover our music. And I think that we also will find the time to write some new material as well. Hope to see you soon at one of our gigs!
Link:
http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/templateid/21560/menuid/3/tempidx/5/link/1