Well, the entire editorial staff got together and had a meeting about this band. Upon my..er their finding out it was only a single person, we felt that this was even more interesting than what we'd heard.
So, I asked them (I mean we asked him) about getting down on a slab of vinyl, but as there are no plans for that in the present and Glacially Musical's coffers have been voided by the purchase of an 18 pack of Rolling Rock and a vinyl copy of Radiant Knife's latest....
The best we can do is get you more interested in this really cool Black Metal outfit(?) and a great way to do that is to tell you more about the man and where is music comes from.
Check it out below.
(NOTE: Glacially Musical is a one man enterprise. It's helmed by a man suffering from delusions of grandeur who'll tell you flat out, Void Ritual and Radiant Knife are bad ass metal bands.)
1. Is there an event you can point to you that made you say, wow, that's the instrument I want to play? Not like guitar or drums, but the reason why you play the model you do?
It’s probably not the most satisfying answer, but the truth is that most of my gear I have because it’s what fit within my budget, which is very limited. My current guitar cost me about $130.00, and I’m glad to have it.
When I was younger, I had a really nice Epiphone Les Paul that I absolutely adored, but I had to sell it during a particularly rough financial period years ago. The reason I wanted that Les Paul is because when I was an impressionable teenager, I watched the first Danzig VHS over and over again.
There were interview segments on that video, and there’s one part where Danzig talks about Les Pauls with such reverence that it just kinda stuck with me.
When I was younger, I had a really nice Epiphone Les Paul that I absolutely adored, but I had to sell it during a particularly rough financial period years ago. The reason I wanted that Les Paul is because when I was an impressionable teenager, I watched the first Danzig VHS over and over again.
There were interview segments on that video, and there’s one part where Danzig talks about Les Pauls with such reverence that it just kinda stuck with me.
2. How do you write a song?
Generally I start with guitars first and just kinda build piece by piece, finding riffs that flow nicely together and that sort of thing.
I’m not any good at remembering things, so these days, if I’ve come up with a riff that I like especially, I’ll open up the voice memos app on my phone and then just play it on my unplugged guitar so I have a way to remember it. It sounds hilariously bad, but it helps me remember it later. Then I just build from that idea over time.
Then I start figuring out the drum beats I want to use, and then I come up with bass lines because I like the bass parts to take the drums into account. The lyrics are always last, so that way I can write them in a way that fits the emotional tone and rhythm of the song.
I’m not any good at remembering things, so these days, if I’ve come up with a riff that I like especially, I’ll open up the voice memos app on my phone and then just play it on my unplugged guitar so I have a way to remember it. It sounds hilariously bad, but it helps me remember it later. Then I just build from that idea over time.
Then I start figuring out the drum beats I want to use, and then I come up with bass lines because I like the bass parts to take the drums into account. The lyrics are always last, so that way I can write them in a way that fits the emotional tone and rhythm of the song.
3. How many concept records do you own? Could you ever write one?
I don’t know exactly, but I’m sure there’s a fair number of them. Most of the King Diamond albums are concept/story-based. Opeth’s Still Life for sure. Turisas’ Varangian Way, Blind Guardian’s albums are usually concept albums, no?
The same for Rhapsody too. London by Voices is a concept album too, I think.
The same for Rhapsody too. London by Voices is a concept album too, I think.
As for writing one myself? The songs on the split with Barshasketh had a theme, as far as each song was written about a famous cult (Heaven’s Gate, etc.).
But a genuine, full blown concept album is probably out of the question. I’m shit at narrative storytelling, so I try to keep my lyrics within a more reactive, emotional, situational space.
But a genuine, full blown concept album is probably out of the question. I’m shit at narrative storytelling, so I try to keep my lyrics within a more reactive, emotional, situational space.
4. Who's influence is most evident in your music? The least?
Probably either Satyricon or Ulver these days, if I had to guess. Nemesis Divina and Nattens Madrigal seem to find their way into almost everything I do, at least in some small part.
As for the least evident, probably either Hypocrisy or early Aeternus. The Hypocrisy influence is in those melodic single string tremolo parts, and the early Aeternus comes in with some of the keyboard stuff on the new album.
As for the least evident, probably either Hypocrisy or early Aeternus. The Hypocrisy influence is in those melodic single string tremolo parts, and the early Aeternus comes in with some of the keyboard stuff on the new album.
5. Which one of your songs is the one you’re the most proud of?
Probably “Given Unto The Water” from the new album. There’s a lot of depth to it, I think. The tranquil beginning of it, the kinda fantasy/medieval feel after that, and the layered chords through most of it make me especially happy.
I think it came together pretty well overall. I also get uncomfortable at the idea of giving myself any credit as a musician, so even my being happy with it equates more to something like “I think this might pass me off as competent, that’s kinda cool!”.
I think it came together pretty well overall. I also get uncomfortable at the idea of giving myself any credit as a musician, so even my being happy with it equates more to something like “I think this might pass me off as competent, that’s kinda cool!”.
6. Sum up your latest record for us.
I tried to have the music take on a kind of epic, melodic character, because it represents things I’ve tried to distract myself with. It’s meant to represent fantasy and escapism.
The lyrics are meant to be about the bleak emotional reality of coping with actual death, in my case watching my father die last year. There’s something of a difference between the trivial way metal lyrics often treat death, using it almost like a prop or window dressing.
But for me, dealing with the grief and the trauma of the event itself felt much more taxing and arduous than all that, so I tried to describe that desperation as best I could. I probably did a poor job, but I gave it my best shot.
The lyrics are meant to be about the bleak emotional reality of coping with actual death, in my case watching my father die last year. There’s something of a difference between the trivial way metal lyrics often treat death, using it almost like a prop or window dressing.
But for me, dealing with the grief and the trauma of the event itself felt much more taxing and arduous than all that, so I tried to describe that desperation as best I could. I probably did a poor job, but I gave it my best shot.
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