Desolate Silence are an English band, and 'Under The Darkest Of Skies' is (as far as I know) their first demo. The songs are:
There's also an untitled instrumental piece at the end, consisting of acoustic guitar and strange spacey synth sounds.
Why Pete Watson was so keen to send me a demo tape of his band I'm not quite sure, since I've made no secret of the fact that I listen to a Hell of a lot of Black Metal etc. which is something Desolate Silence as a band seems to be against (printed in the inlay, "fuck off: trendy Black Metal bastards.") However, I see no reason why one can't adore both DM AND BM, and I do... so long as it's done well.
And Desolate Silence's brand of Death Metal is 'done' very well indeed. Especially considering that the band were formed in July 1996 and this is their first demo... they haven't even been in existence for a full year yet! And the quality of musicianship here is better than some bands who've been around for aeons! There's something quite refreshing about this music - it's fairly melodic, but not nearly as Maiden-influenced as so many bands are these days. I'd say this is melodic in the same vein as bands like Disincarnate. Much of this music is midtempo, offering some very catchy moments along with sincere brutality. Pete tells me in his letter that the band are influenced by Deicide, At The Gates, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope etc... I'd also say that they've listened quite a bit to some of their fellow U.K. DM bands, such as Catharsis, Morbid Symphony, etc.
The vocals are well executed - there's a deep style and a higher rasp used (plus quite a high style which is sometimes barely audible). One thing which stood out is that the singing is very precise in terms of rhythm - which is one of the factors contributing to the catchiness I mentioned earlier. There's some great trade-offs between the deep and higher vocal styles, and the two are also used at the same time. It's clearly well thought out in advance, instead of just sounding like someone shouting over the music whenever it takes their fancy.
Very promising indeed, and anyone into Death Metal should find something of interest within this demo. Since this was a freebie I'm not sure about how much it costs - so if you're interested, I suggest you email Pete Watson at: BLTGTAYL@livjm.ac.uk
Desolate Silence are:
Paul Tudor - vocals
Pete Watson - drums
Ian Shaw - bass
Gorry 'Breaker' - guitars
Mick Corner - guitars
Influences:
Deicide, At The Gates, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, etc.
We formed about July of 1996 because there were no decent death gigs happening in the Liverpool area. We wanted to write good music which we are trying to promote at the moment, and we are in the process of arranging a gig in the Flying Picket in Liverpool in May. So far we have a few bands willing to play, but we are always looking for Death Metal bands to play with. We have only 1 gig in April at the Crypt in Glasgow, but obviously we need more support slots.
Desolate Silence are a relatively new band, but there's such potential in their demo 'Under The Darkest Of Skies' that I felt I had to find out more about the latest hopefuls from the good ol' U.K.
First of all, how would you describe your music?
PETE) I was thinking about this question whilst I was masturbating last night and I would call our music,mournful poems of tragedy, and sorrow serenades.
PAUL) Yeah! despite the fact that the music has a lot of melody in it, there is also a lot of brutality, an aggresive edge so to speak.
PETE) We endevour to bridge the classical (Wagner,Bach) with brutal death (At the gates,Broken hope,etc.)
The songs on your demo 'Under The Darkest Of Skies' sound quite professional and proficient, especially considering the band hasn't been in existence for very long. How experienced are you as musicians - for instance, have any of you played in any other bands besides Desolate Silence?
PAUL) I have been in a few death metal bands, but nothing that really got anywhere, this is the first band where the other members are fully commited.
PETE) Ian and my good self have been in and out of bands together for a few years, but nothing as serious as DESOLATE SILENCE.
You put "fuck off trendy Black Metal bastards" on the inlay of your demo, but have since told me the statement was anti-trendhoppers rather than anti-Black Metal. If this is the case, then why did you single out Black Metal? Do you care if people misinterpret the statement?
PETE) I don't agree with some black metal bands in the way that they exploit the culture of satanism, as most people who have studied satanism will find, it's actually a religion of self gratification, rather than CHURCH BURNINGS and christian killings, as ignorant as they may be.
PAUL) EXACTLY, they(black metal bands)give TRUE satanism the wrong image. just look at TERRORIZER pages and pages of misdirected and immature kids wielding axes and acting all angry + covered with fake blood. Portraying satanism as a hateful religion, and that indiscriminate hatred is absolute prerequisite for being a satanist. This is simply not the case as a true satanist would be emancipated from consuming bitterness. In fact, these people are as hypocritical and self-righteous as the christians they claim to deny.
PETE) Of course, black metal has some bands which we all like(Cradle of filth, rotting christ, burpsum, dark funeral etc.) but generally a lot of the trendhoppers are a pile of steaming shite. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
Whilst your music is emphatically Death Metal, songtitles such as 'Final Desolate Tears' seem more typical of Doom Metal and Black Metal bands. Was this a conscious decision, and does it mean that your lyrics are about melancholic, sorrowful topics rather than gore or Satan?
PAUL) I always try to make my lyrics to our tunes meaningful and full of emotions. I write them in a very poetic way, and like poetry, a person has to decide for themselves what the lyrics mean to them. Every person will see something of different personal meaning in the lyrics and what one person will see in the themes of the lyrics, will differ from the next. Furthermore lyrics of a sonorous nature, which are full of meaning are not exclusive to doom metal.
What do you think of the U.K. scene? Are you pleased with the relative popularity of bands like Cradle Of Filth and My Dying Bride?
PAUL) Yeah, I suppose so, I mean they both used to be death bands and I would not really consider myself as a my dying bride fan, but I've always really admired the music of cradle of filth, apart from the latest album which i'm not too keen on but yeah, I think it's good to see them become so big.
PETE) I admire c.o.f. and m.d.b. for both having over 17 people on stage at once. NO but seriously now,i do admire c.o.f. because after all the past controversey the've been draged through they haven't submitted themselves to the tabloid press as so many other bands would have.as for m.d.b I have never been a real fan of their music but the two guitarists in the band think that they are absolutally spiffing.
What albums do you currently listen to?
BOTH) bands we are currentaly listening to are :- BAL SAGOTH, AT THE GATES, DEICIDE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, IN FLAMES, BROKEN HOPE, SUFFOCATION and obviously the SPICE GIRLS tremendous album "SPAZ"which musical integrity has still to be questioned....... Nice TITS though, okay!!!!
How old are you all, and do you think you'll still be listening to Death Metal ten years from now?
PETE) I have been on your world for 18 of your earth years.about the latter question this all depends on whether or not I'm alive in 10 years, because I live my life in a heavy metal fashion and never know what tommorow will bring.
PAUL) Yeah whatever pete there with his interview speech for manowar. I'm 20, and of course I'll be listening to death metal 'till I'm dead. Death metal is a massive part of my life! I would not be without it, I could not be without it.
PETE) If bands as good as DEICIDE are still releasing albums in 10 years then obviously yes, I will be, but I haven't changed my tastes in 6 years why should I in the future.
PAUL) The other members are Ian 180, mik 200, and the gorry eternal experience 2100
Since you're a Death Metal band, do you have strong feelings towards death itself? Do you think death is ever a positive thing?
PAUL) The lyrics to "OPAQUE SERENITY" deal with death. the beauty in death and the sorrow and desolation death often brings. Death is a very natural thing . It is nature like Autumn when autumn comes all dies, this happens every year, it is a renewal. There is a great beauty in this I think.
PETE) Death to me is a positive thing with negative tendencies, as it will end the mental torment which we all feel every day in love, hate , pain and fear for what the future may bring . Thus it will bring joy and freedom to the next life, to break the shackles of christianity basically. Then on the other hand it will also mean leaving friends, the desire for the unknown and most importantly loved ones.
Does the short instrumental at the end of your demo represent anything in particular? Why doesn't it have a title?
PETE) The quiet after the storm.
PAUL) It actually has a TITLE!:- "The darkly beloved !" why 'tis indeed the conclusion to the masterpiece that is "of forlorn embrace" and is symbolic of the trancending to insanity and a higher state of concious awareness of course.
At times your music is fairly melodic. Why do you think more bands are incorporating melody and catchiness into their music these days? Is pure brutality for brutality's sake a thing of the past?
PAUL) I would venture to asume that more bands are now exploring new avenues of the extreme and will continue to do so until me and Pete say otherwise. so as far as melodic death goes, it all depends on indevidual preferance some bands follow the style of at the gates and some follow in the style of cannibal corpse, but "EXTREME" is a matter of perception. My mum thinks that christian hyms are fairly brutal, actually!
PETE) I believe that there are no true melodic death bands. We ourselves have some very brutal tunes indeed which were not captured on our first recording I.E.- "celestial dreams "AND "Obscurity of sorrow" which have only been preformed at recent gigs.we could not speak for other death metal bands as we do not know the reasons for which they conjure music whether it be musical or emotional, we ourselves write from an emotional point of view and as our emotions change so do our tunes, this is to us what defines melodious from brutal.
What does the future hold for Desolate Silence? Are you an ambitious band who want to get a record deal as soon as possible and become really popular?
BOTH) Desolate silence wish to earn enough money to purchase the spice girls (except the scoucer OF COURSE) and then take over the planet by using there own personal material to hypnotise you all, actually but then our world domination policys are a differant story.
PAUL) In the short term we just want to do as many gigs as possible around the country and hopefully with signed bands.
PETE) lets all start a war, oh sorry wrong question as far as record deals go we haven't really discussed it but if the opportunity arouse i'm sure we'd deeply condider it.
That's it for now. Any last comments?
BOTH) DEATH TO SHITTY POP MUSIC!!!!!
AND UP THE SPICE GIRLS !!!!!!!!!PETE WATSON
PAUL TUDOR
DESOLATE SILENCE