Funeral Rain Press Corps

Interview with Dave from Brigantia, an Irish Doom band. One that slays. I found out about them through Five Will Die, and loved ‘em ever since. This interview here is ancient, a time machine entry from Funeral Rain Zine’s first forays on MySpace. It’s lovingly reprinted here, with no modifications at all. Enjoy.

What is Brigantia? Who are you, where are you, and what is that racket coming out of my speakers? Also, where did you get the name Brigantia from?

Brigantia are three grumpy old men, unified by a love of doom and weed. Years of listening to all kinds of metal has inspired us to try something of our own. We are paying tribute to the scene that spawned us by believing in the power of the riff and trying to channel the honesty that the old Gods brought to the fore.
The name Brigantia comes from the Celtic high Goddess of the same name, the Christians then proceeded to steal her for their own fabricated saint!

There are several other doom bands in your area. How is it that several bands in the area can have the same genre, but all have different sounds?

Aye, there are more and more doom bands in this country at the moment, the more the merrier I say, I personally cant see any factors that could be attributed to the bands sounding different to each other though, a lot of the guys I know have said that they intended to start as straight doom metal but ended up taking many other influences on board. I love to see what a varied scene we have here at the moment and long may it continue.

When you’re making new music, how does the process usually go?

Slowly.. Ha ha! It usually starts with me coming up with a riff and a bridge, we take it to the practice room, jam the fuck out of it then one of us will add a little extra like a key change or vocal hook, we like songs that will stick in your head without playing a riff over and over a fucking hundred times!

What bands inspire you to create? Is there anything you listen to that would surprise fans?

Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Cathedral, Celtic Frost, MDB, Anathema, Reverend Bizarre, Candlemass, e.t.c. No surprises.

How about non-musical inspiration?

My other passion is for horror movies (ultimate cliché for a doom band!) I fucking love horror…right from the silent era onward.
Most of the lyrical inspiration comes from horror, the stagnant fear of “Death line”, the decadent thrills of “the masque of the red death” or the simple brutality of a film like “Maniac” Doom metal and horror have been linked ever since Sabbath took their name from Mario Bava’s 1963 movie of the same name.

You’ve been playing tons of shows of late, judging from all the show posters I’ve been seeing online. Any paricular memorable shows recently?

Yeah we like to keep the ball rolling! This year’s gigs have all been great but getting to play with Gates of Slumber was a definite highlight for us! We were the second band on the bill that night, played a good show too. All the bands really stepped up to the plate on the night and made it one of those magical nights! Pints were drank, heads were banged, fist’s were raised….Magic!

Who have you been playing with? Any bands out there that you’d like to do shows with?

Five will die, On pain of death, Castero, Shadowmarch, Haietta, Engines of ruin, Crowning glory, Gates of slumber, Procession, Two tales of woe, This weary hour, Thurisaz are a few I can think of this year. We are looking forward to a couple of gigs after the summer with our Italian comrades Misty Morning.. There’s a band called The wounded kings from England that we would love to cross axes with too..
If I was going to be unrealistic I would say check the answer to question 4 for the list!!

What kind of long-term touring plans does Brigantia have? Any European shows? How about polluting Canadian and American soil?

No plans man but we would jump at any chance to gig overseas, be it England, Europe, Canada, the states…to get the opportunity would be savage! At the moment though we are in the process of recording our second demo “Nostradoomus” we have a tune from this on our myspace page entitled “Time machine of doom”

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Some “last words”, so to speak?

Thanks for the interview and best of luck with the zine and label.
To anyone reading this, check out our myspace, listen to the tunes and make sure to say hello!
In doom……………

Genre: Thrash
Label: Independent

Take a little bit of Anthrax, pre-’89 Metallica, and a fair amount of Slayer, throw in some Candlemass, and call it Serenity Dies.
With a voice that reminds me a lot of Tom Araya and Messiah Marcolin combined, these guys bring a bit of a slower, chuggy thrash metal to the table. The song “Blood Serenade” is probably the best example of what I mean, and could be the best song on the album. It’s my favorite, at least.
These guys kick ass.
8 out of 10.

Serenity Dies on MySpace.

Genres: Brutal Death, Doom, Progressive Death
Label: Independent

These guys asked me if I’d do a review of their demo like a million years ago. I said sure, downloaded the .rar and kind of forgot about it in the clutter of my computer.
But alas, in burning myself a promo-filled disc, I saw Corpsex waiting patiently in the To Review folder. And so today these sick bastards are blasting my ears.
Now, naturally, in today’s metal world if you play brutal death with occasional technical flourishes, you’re going to be compared to Cannibal Corpse. But at the same time with these guys I can hear some Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, and Cryptopsy influences, as well as tons of doom and stoner influences too, like Candlemass, Pentagram, and of course the big daddy of metal, Black Sabbath. The second song, “My Dear Killer”, especially shows these doom influences, and it’s my favorite track on the demo.
Overall, these guys are playing a very wicked blend of various metallic influences, turning it into a great listen. If you haven’t had any Corpsex today, I recommend you give it a try.
8 out of 10.

Corpsex on MySpace.