Rock Era Magazine finalized its interviews with the participating bands at The Room of Doom Fest II with interviewing Soul Dissolution. Coming from Belgium, Soul Dissolution is the only Black Metal band in The Room of Doom lineup.
REM: First off, thank you guys for having this interview with us. I want start with asking you about your preparations for this performance? How did you get the chance of being in the lineup? Did you sign up for it or the organizers of The Room of Doom contacted you?
SD: Honestly, it seems like we’re spending more effort planning the logistics of flying the band to Greece, rather than actually rehearsing for the gig! haha
I had the chance to play in the previous volume of the festival with my other band Marche Funèbre. We got along pretty well with the organizer, and when he found out about Soul Dissolution, he wanted to invite us for the next volume.
REM: Is it your first time to perform in Greece? And how can you introduce yourselves to the Greek Metalheads?
SD: We are a Belgian band playing a mix of Atmospheric and Post-Black Metal, with our main influences being Alcest, Agalloch and Drudkh. The band exists since 2012, and has released 2 LPs and one EP. While mostly a studio project, we started playing live last year in support of our latest album “Stardust”. Actually this is only our 4th concert at this point, and the first one in Greece. Really looking forward to present our music to the Greek audience!
REM: You are performing Atmospheric Black Metal and some post Black Metal stuff. What are the main influences of your music?
SD: Beside the obvious influence by Alcest and Agalloch, we also take various elements from Winterfylleth, Imperium Dekadenz, Forgotten Tomb, And Drudkh. Our latest EP has a more post-black vibe, in places similar to the likes of Heretoir and Harakiri For The Sky.
REM: Last year, you released a new EP called “Nowhere” so, what are the main concept of your EP and how was the process of writing it?
SD: The motivation to write this EP was the song “Road to Nowhere”, which was originally supposed to be on the Stardust album. Although it didn’t make the final cut, we still liked that song and thought it deserved to be included on another release. After the recordings for Stardust were finished, the song “Fading Darkness” came quite naturally. And since both songs were somewhat similar, yet in a slightly different style from the album, we decided to make an EP with this material.The recording process for this EP went very smooth. It was also an opportunity for us to try new things in terms of sound, so we got it mixed by Oliver from Blastbeat Productions, which resulted in a very clean production. We’re really happy with how this EP turned out.
REM: “Far Above the Boiling Sea” was picked by “No Clean Singing” as one of the most infectious sons of 2018, can you tell us more about this track?
SD: This is another one of those tracks that almost “wrote itself”. It was the third one I wrote for the Stardust album, and it must have taken a couple of weeks at most before it was ready. At the time of writing this album, my writing style was quickly evolving, and for this particular song, I remember taking some inspiration from classic Atmospheric Black Metal bands like Saor and Ghost Bath, in addition to my usual influences. Not sure how much of it comes through when listening to the song though. In any case, this is a perfect ending song for the album. Pure cathartic release!
REM: Are you in contact with any of the participating bands?
SD: Not really. I’m a friend to Daniel from Clouds, as we have toured together on many occasions with other bands. But other than that, I had never heard of the other bands on the bill before they were announced for this festival. And I am curious to see their performance!
REM: Will you have any guest musicians with you in the performance?
SD: Not really as guests, but we will be playing with a slightly different lineup than usual, since not everyone could make it on this trip. Although it took some time to arrange things, our rehearsals together felt great, and I can already assure you we will deliver a very solid performance in this event.
REM: How can you describe the Doom Metal scene in Belgium?
SD: The Doom Metal scene in Belgium is currently thriving more than the Atmospheric Black Metal scene, I can tell you that. More seriously, the Belgian Doom scene has a long history, going back to cult bands like Pantheist and Until Death Overtakes Me. Through the years, there has always been an influx of new and interesting bands. Among the most recent ones as Lethvm, Splendidula and Iteru come to mind. There are plenty of interesting gigs and small festivals too, such as “From Dusk Till Doom”, or our very own “Darken The Moon”, organized by Marche Funèbre every year.
REM: Finally, thank you guys for this interview and best of luck for your upcoming performance at “The Room of Doom II.“
Edited by: Amgad Mahmoud
Check our full interviews with The Room of Doom Fest II lineup: Selefice, Inner Missing, and Shattered Hope.
