At the Gates of doom with Doomshine



Doomshine from Germany are much loved by the metal underground but underrated by everybody else including the band themselves as this interview points out. A classic Traditional Heavy Metal band with its roots in classic Metal, Hard Rock and Doom Metal. The new album comes after a 6 year wait but the album titled "The Piper At The Gates Of Doom" has been worth the unexpected delay. This interview with the band covers a lot of ground within its 12 questions so I hope you enjoy it.

Hello and thanks for this interview. Ok, this question I am sure you are already sick of answering by why six years between albums?
First of all sorry for answering this that late. We always are slow in everything we do. That´s the simple reason for six years between two albums. We had no pressure and everything you see and hear is selfmade, these facts cost a lot of time. And between us all working on this album we just lived our lives, so actually six years is nothing, haha.

"The Piper At The Gates Of Doom" is a great title, was you inspired by Syd Barratt when doing the writing for this album or has it got a deeper meaning?
Inspired by the title, of course. But rather less musically. We named the album "The Piper At The Gates Of Doom" because of the lyrics, it is the summary of all the songs. The idea was to describe that 40 years after the first Floyd album the world didn´t get more friendly, so we replaced the word "dawn" with "doom" which is definitely a view of a darker period.

When you listen to the finished album now, how do you compare it with "Thy Kingdoom Come"?
I think it is more basic, it sounds very real. There´s not much difference to our live sound now. "Thy Kingdoom Come" is a very beautiful album, more like a dream. "The Piper" is alive, awaken, crue and present. We have more traditional rock and metal elements today. I´m really looking forward to what the future will bring. We are still on our way and we really are curious to see what will come. Actually we have to hurry cause we´re far away from our twenties, haha...

Personally I rate the new album a little higher than "Thy Kingdoom Come" as its a little more on the infectious side even though remaining totally within the realm of Doom Metal so my question is - Was there any concerted effort by the band to make the songs flow a little easier than previous recordings?
No, not really. We had a lot of fun writing that songs. I wonder that some people tell us that the new songs are more catchier and stuff  like that. I don´t know...maybe they are. And I hope we are able to keep on going our way between doom, classic rock and traditional metal. I agree when you say that the new album is the next step on a higher level, but there are also people who prefer our first album. And that´s okay, because it´s kind of different. Although I don´t want to compare us with Iron Maiden I would say that "Thy Kingdoom Come" is our "Somewhere in Time" and "The Piper..." is our "Piece of Mind". Both great albums but different.

A lot of people view Doom Metal as a elitist form of music, what is your thoughts on this?
"Elitist form of music" sounds very arrogant, haha. Actually we are no doom experts so we don´t think about such things. Doom is very soulful mostly, the blues of metal. It depends on what comes from your heart. From that point every form of music could be the elitist.

I know a lot of people rate Doomshine along with Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass as being the most important bands in the Doom scene. How does that make you feel?
That´s very flattering and we are glad to hear that. But hey, Solitude and Candlemass are in the Champions League, I can´t believe that people see us on the same level, haha. We are amateurs against them! Nevertheless it´s a praise and it´s an honour for us that these people feel like that. Thank you very very much!

What about the lyrical concepts for the new album. There is a couple of intriguing songs that I am curious as to where the idea's came from. The first one is Waltzhalla, where did the inspiration come from for that song?
"Waltzhalla" was just the working title when we wrote that song. We liked it and I tried to find the suitable words. My idea was to name many of those who are or were involved in war crimes. It´s a rather weird story... all these warlords and bad people meet again at a place called "Waltzhalla" where they dance and drink to the memories of their cruel past. To remember all the senselessness they went through. It´s kind of a hippie song but in a rather cynic way.

The band's sound still is very much rooted in the old school, not only older Doom Metal but Heavy Metal as well. Are you influenced by the likes of Rainbow and Dio for example because the new album more so than "Thy Kingdoom Come" has a lot of classic metal elements.
Oh yes! The truth is that we are more in classic Heavy Metal than in Doom Metal. Rainbow and Dio stand definitely for that kind of music we really love. And as I said before I hope that we will combine classic elements with our fresh ideas in the future. Just listen to the guitar solos of Sven. He plays like a real bastard from the 80s, doesn´t he?

What was your feelings on Ronnie Dio's passing and is there anyone you think can replace his role in the Heavy Metal world ? He was such a iconic figure so I was wondering is there anyone that come close to filling the space he left behind.
The day I heard that Ronnie passed away was real hard. I was on holiday in Stockholm with my girlfriend and that day was...ruined somehow. So we drank some pints to Ronnie very early that afternoon. I don´t think that anyone ever will fill the space he left behind and I think nobody wants to. It´s hard to think about it but all our legends will die some day and no one can replace them. You can´t replace Phil Lynott, Keith Moon or even Chuck Schuldiner. The only thing we can do is to care for their legacy.

What has the band got planned for the rest of 2010 and 2011, tours etc?
Oh, don´t ever ask Doomshine for future plans, haha. Let me try to answer... it sounds boring but there will be no tour, just some gigs. We will start writing new songs one day and we just can hope that inspiration is with us.

Will we have to wait another 6 years for the next album  and does the band think ahead in those terms?
I really hope that our third our album will be released before the summer of 2016 but I don´t want to promise. It´s possible that we release something in 2013 and it´s possible that the next album comes in 2017. Time will tell. And no...we don´t think in those terms.

Thanks again for the interview and I would like to personally thank you for giving us such a killer album. I am sure the album will feature highly in top 10 lists of 2010. Any final words for the readers?
We have to thank YOU for loving our music. This is the greatest thing a musician can experience. And we really know that this passion of music worshippers is our incentive to create a third album as soon as possible. Shine on, sisters and brothers!!!
Band:
Interviewer: Ed
Aug 26, 2010

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