Funeral Rain Press Corps

First off, here’s an easy question; why the name The Deep Sea Vents?

Well, the band name was already chosen when I was asked to join.

I’ve always loved the ocean and always felt close to it ever since I was a kid so when I was asked to join “The Deep Sea Vents” I was immediately intrigued and started thinking of ways I could incorporate every possible oceanic creature into a metal song!
The name of the band is attributed to Nate & Jeremy, the 2 lead guitarists of the DSV. Deep sea vents are a real thing at the deepest part of the ocean that release pressure and heavy metals from the Earths core. Before the name of the band had been chosen, Nate had been reading a National Geographic poster and saw the description of what Deep sea vents actually do and thought about that for a band name based on the releasing of “heavy metals” into the sea.

I like to think that there is some connection between what a Deep sea vent actually does at the base of the ocean and how I feel like I’m “venting” as I’m bellowing out lyrics on stage. I dunno…maybe there is some ancient catharsis to venting creatively for the Human soul.

How long have you guys been an active band?

We’ve been playing shows a little over a year. We’ve been together as a band a bit longer than that though.

How exactly would you catagorize yourselves, since there seems to of been some confusion in the past?

It’s really melded into a thrash, doom thing…somewhat progressive. People have actually called us psychedelic which I think is a riot considering I think of bands like Pink Floyd as psychedelic. Not some punk-ass metal head band like us!

I’ve thought about this a lot in the past but now I have no idea what you would call us. All I know is we sound different. We just have a certain way of writing what ever our little black hearts desire and it comes out the way you hear it. We don’t really sit and say; “Well, shit fellas, I guess we all gotta write some Thrash riffs or the Thrash community ain’t gunna like us no more!”

We just write what comes to us and work that into a sound that any of the four of us would want to hear and genuinely enjoy.
One of the things I love about this band is we don’t force each other to play songs that another person hates. We all have to like it and be able to get into it and work within the song structure and ultimately be able to lose our minds in it when we play live.
If there’s a category for all that, then I guess that’s us.

I believe that I was told that your drummer, Dakota, is going in for shoulder surgery? Is the band going to be looking for a replacement until he gets better or are The Deep Sea Vents on hold until he recovers? Either way, we here at FuneralRain.net wish him a speedy recovery.

Thanks for that. I’ll pass that along to Dakota.

Nah, we aren’t looking to replace him even temporarily. It can’t be done. Dakota is like any other member of this band; irreplaceable. If one of us isn’t there at practice, the other guys feel it. We’re a group that loves to play together and in my opinion, if anybody else were to even attempt to fill Dakotas shoes, it would feel really goddam strange and it certainly wouldn’t feel like “The Deep Sea Vents” to me. I think if something that drastic where to occur within this band, you’d find yourself listening to a very different band and it would’nt be called “The Deep Sea Vents”.

As for gigging; we are on hold. But Nate and I are writing new songs that we are both totally excited about. It’s so much fun to write in this band and see what comes next. I can’t wait to play the new stuff live.

What would you say are your influences, both lyrically and instrumentally? The seven seas and everything in, above or around it, I’m guessing?

I can’t really speak for the other guys but for me most of my influences are very horror driven; H.P. Lovecraft kind of things. I love haunted house stories, mystery stories and all sorts of fucked up weird macabre stories you hear in peoples day to day lives. I get a charge out of stories people tell you like; “Hey man, I SAW her again…you know, that lady I was telling you about that goes through my bathroom on stormy nights? Yeah…freaked me out when I was on the can that one time!! She passed right THROUGH the shower curtain and then she floated out the window into the night!!”

I also love to write about the ocean and things I saw there when I would go to Cape Cod as a kid with my parents. “Thresher” is the song I wrote about a dream I had where I was swimming with sharks. Those lyrics are telling you the imagery of that dream.

How important are Swedish Fish to the writing process?

Very. But not as important as Dakotas chips. You don’t mess with those during the writing process. No sir!!

Not really a question but I thought you’d like to know anyway: the review of The Deep Sea Vents’s “Into The Deep EP”
is the highest viewed and the most “Liked” review on the site! Congrats!

Wow!! That’s VERY flattering! Thanks to everyone who has checked us out since then! I hope we get to see you all out at a future show!

Do The Deep Sea Vents have any aspirations that include but aren’t limited to releasing a full length album eventually?

We’d like to release about three full length albums. Nate and I are pretty prolific when it comes to writing. We go through dry periods and then it’ll hit us. Like all last winter I couldn’t stop writing but until recently, I hadn’t started writing anything else. Getting those songs onto some media for us and our fans to listen to is my biggest goal.

We’d eventually like to do a small West Coast Tour once we have a full length album out and of course, we want to play more shows and get our craft up to where we’d like it to be.

Who’d win in a fight, Superboy Prime or Kid Miracle Man?

Cthulu.

Do you have anything to add for the Funeral Rain audience?

Thank you for listening and checking us out! It’s great to hear we got such a positive response from our EP review and a big thank you to you, Chase, for that review.

After Dakota heals up and we get those new songs under our belts, we’ll be hitting the venues again and we would love to see you folks at some shows so if you wanna check us out or just want to say hello, feel free to hit us up at our facebook page at; http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Deep-Sea-Vents/104594776247562
And you can hear our EP over at our ReverbNation page here; http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeepseavents

(NOTE: The opening question was asked before the June 2nd concert had taken place. The guys in Thornafire have been understandably busy lately, so we won’t hold it against them.)

Thanks a lot for the interview! Exacerbated Gnostic Manifestation is easily within my Top 20 list of favorite death metal albums of all time, so this interview is kind of a big deal for me.

Thanks for the great comment Chase, we just do what we do because we worship Death Metal.

So, Thornafire are going to be opening for Slayer on June 2nd as part of their World Painted Blood tour in South America, eh? Do you mind if I attempt to flatter you all and say that I see you guys overpowering Slayer in sheer badassery?

The truth is that the show was very crazy. We were plenty of good luck, we played with a basic back-line but we got a clear and strong sound, cleaner than the Kings of Killing. As I said previously on the press, I think the 13,000 attendees got a good impression from us.

I read somewhere a while back that you guys planned on touring the U.S. only to find out that you actually couldn’t. What happened and do you plan on trying again in the future?

We fixed all the papers several months in advance, but the embassy guys are really slow with paperwork and such. I am booking a new tour for Europe and after that one I’ll try to book something for the U.S. with our the new CD, I already have contact with a guy who works dealing with paperwork to get the musician’s visas.

As a musician, who would you say your biggest influences are?

I always liked the old twisted vibe from Morbid Angel on their demos, also some Bach, at least I try to play Death Metal with a sense and not play a random generic material that is quite boring.

I’ve always wanted to ask, what did you mean by naming the band Thornafire?

Our previous singer came up with the name, it was during the time that there was almost no band with a one one-word name. It isn’t based on faith, believes, or politics, it’s just referring to the strength of spirit.

Is Ibex Moon as awesome a label on the inside as it appears to be from the outside?

Yes, indeed, John the owner is always very active and easy to deal with, the label has only bands that play good music, they don’t have Metalcore bands. We have a very direct deal and a pretty good one, besides that I work for them as a graphic designer.

Are there any new details that you would be willing to share about your upcoming album? You mentioned that it’s going to be a little different than what you’ve written in the past. How so?

I do not want to change the style of the band for any reason, we are an underground band and that allow us a very creative independence as we don’t depend from the major markets. Certainly will be a new album following this Dark Line,  the new songs are currently sounding really good.

Is there a song in your catalog that appears to get more people moving more than the rest during live shows? Maybe one that gets more people battered and bruised that the rest?

That is Clergy’s Betray, the audience really enjoy it. For instance, the Slayer show we opened with that one.

What are your Top 5 Favorite Death Metal Albums?

Oh yeah, it’s an easy question:
1.-Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness
2.-Autopsy  - Mental Funeral
3.-Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
4.-Krisiun – Conquerors of Armageddon
5.-Hate Eternal – Conquering the Throne

Obligatory Stupid Question: Is there something in the water down there that makes EVERY extreme metal act to come out of Chile and its surrounding areas so fucking awesome?

Ahhh, Latinos have always lived the scene Extreme Metal scene with a lot of passion. I guess that’s why we add more feeling and madness to the music, sometimes with pretty basic recording studios, equipment, back-line and so on but then from time to time some infernal beasts come from these lands.

Is there anything you’d like to add for the FuneralRain audience?

Oh, thank Chase for the space given to Thornafire, and just wait for our new album as I’m working hard on it and this new stuff will sound un-listen-able for fans of Amon Amarth. I am also on the artistic/visual work, and I’m building a new tour of Europe and then USA (I hope), so if you see the Thornafire logo on a poster for some concert around, don’t miss the experience to see our blackened poison flowing through the amps.

Thornafire On Facebook

Thanks for taking the time away from crafting your brand of pure, unadulterated black metal to answer a few of my questions. It really is an honor, sir.

First Question: How is the metal scene (or more precisely, the black metal scene) in your neck of the woods?

Brisbane is interesting because it has no identity or ‘sound’ as such but the quality is highly unique and diverse often breaking barriers of obscurity.  A history of Spear of Longinus and Vomitor carried over to Obscure Black/Death anomalies Impetuous Ritual and Portal with the emergence of Mongrels Cross and Embrace the Solar Winds mark the soil of independent minds with no desire to adhere to a niche. Moon likewise chooses its own path with its individual sound in mind.

What’’s In a Name: Why Moon?

The Moon is the primordial reflection and ruler of night, the astral world and all those that are called luminaries of fire.  In ancient myth the moon was forced to diminish under the sun to rule the night.  When this limitation was incurred it struck a great resentment; the adversary derives its energy from this act.

How are you set up for live shows? Since you’’re a one man project, do you even do gigs or are you purely a studio performer?

Moon has members to play live; it has been active since late 2009 and continues to perform around Brisbane and Australia.  The shows are ritualistic performances of nihilistic black metal.

The title of your recent release is called Caduceus Chalice. Did you just choose two song titles that came up sequentially or were you referring to something Alchemical or did I miss the point entirely as I tend to do?

Of the four elements of Goetic Ritual, the Caduceus and Chalice are related to the male and female sexual organs and are tools for magickal realization.  The union of these two elements in its darkest sense is the alchemical gateway to the Astral Realm.  The Kundalini that rises through the Snakes of the Caduceus is the energy that infuses the darkness of the inner mind; the Chalice is representative of form and contains the waters of the veiled world.  Therefore semblance manifests through the fusion of will (Caduceus) and potential (Chalice).

The songs Caduceus and Chalice are of these characteristics separate and the convergence is symbolic of the drive of the album overall as travelling into the Astral Nightside and the Underworld.

Why do you think that there has been a massive surge in the depressive/suicidal black metal market? Is it a niche genre or do you think it’s just an exaggeration of people not knowing what to call a slightly different version of black metal? Personally, I’m not for it in great quantities though since I want to live…

I haven’t taken much care to consider what niche Moon is under although clearly it is black metal of some accord.  Projects such as this are unique and don’t try to adhere to any genre, I’d be doing what I do now regardless of what trends were around at the time. 

I’ve heard Moon be compared to everyone from Striborg to Xasthur to Burzum. I’m sure that you’ve pulled influence from any number of these bands, but who would you say is your biggest influence?

I’ve listened to a lot of Black Metal but I started formulating my own ideals before I’d heard any of it.  I remember when I first heard Dark Medieval Times and In the Nightside Eclipse how similar it was to what I was envisioning. The most interesting aspect I found in Black Metal was the outsider and trance like elements first exposed to me through Burzum, Darkthrone, VON and Abruptum. Ultimately though it has been my own ideology that has been the biggest influence; the more that is produced the more it is identifiable as Moon.

Do you have any side projects going on or is Moon your one and only for right now?

Moon is the only project I’m working on now, previous to this I played in Forn Valdyrheim, Urgrund and Catacomb. 

Obligatory Stupid/Silly/Retarded Question: If you were stranded in the middle of the Outback, under a massive boulder for some fucking reason and you thought that the end was coming, what would be the last song that you would wish to hear before you slipped away?

On the most unfortunate occurrence that I found myself stranded in my most detested of places the outback, under a massive boulder with no chance of survival I wouldn’t take much care but to listen to whatever was in my head.  At the time of writing this Ixtab’s Lure by Dispirit sticks with me for no profound reason.  

Is there anything you’d like to add for the Funeral Rain audience?

Caduceus Chalice is available June 28 through Moribund Cult.

First off, thanks for taking the time to answer a few of my questions! It’s always a bit of a rush knowing that someone who makes awesome fucking metal that I love to bang my head to is going to respond to my fair unimaginative questions.

Heri Joensen:  My pleasure :-)

Like too many others, I had no idea what the Faroe Islands were before I listened to TYR. Is that a possible ulterior motive, to help raise awareness to ignorant Americans about your beautiful country?

No. We never set out to be ambassadors for our islands. But we often find that in effect we are, so it’s a side effect really.

Is there a reason as to why there has been a bit of a decline in the folksy influence (at least instrumentally) as of late? I mean, yes it’s still there, but it’s not nearly as immense as it was in previous albums.

We have deliberately steered a bit away from the explicitly folky material, although you may still find it here and there. We think we have something more to offer and we want to disassociate ourselves somewhat with the genres Folk, Pagan and Viking. We think that may do our career some good.

While touring, do you receive warmer receptions in certain countries or do the people everywhere you go already know that you rule?

It happens that we play for a heavy crowd that hasn’t heard of us before, and that doesn’t obviously want to hear us. But that’s mostly when we are supporting bigger bands. I would say it’s much more common that the people who come to our shows already know our music, and are glad to hear the songs live.

Not A Question: “Kiss my Scandinavian ass” is one of the best anythings I’ve heard in a song for a great, long while. So, thank you for that!

I’m glad you like it :-D

Is there a song that you guys play live that never seems to fail at getting the crowd’s blood flowing? Hold The Heathen Hammer High comes to mind…

Yes, that and By The Sword In My Hand and Tróndur í Gøtu are songs that always makes people go apeshit! It’s a pleasure to witness from the stage and that makes playing live worth it in it self.

Call me crazy, but you lot seem like a hard partying bunch. Do you have a wild stories from the road that you can share here with incriminating yourselves in several high courts?

I can only speak for myself here. I’m not the hardest partying guy in metal today, but I do remember once I got pretty drunk and threw up in the sink on the tourbus. The next morning I went jogging and I threw up WHILE jogging, and after that I had to take apart the drain under the sink to clear out the puke remainds that were clogging the drain. Yes, sometimes stuff like that happens :-D Maybe I could add that the other guys aren’t tea-totallers either ;-)

Is there a chance that in the future that TYR will play anything that isn’t related to Norse mythology or The Faroe Islands? Or is TYR concrete in that concept?

That’s easy. We already have songs that are not related to mythology or the Faroes, so that already happened. Songs like Shadow Of The Swastika or Rainbow Warrior from the Eric The Red album.

Obligatory Stupid/Silly/Retarded Question: How often have you heard somebody say “You guys are TYRiffic!” and how tired of it are you?

I’ve heard and read that a few times, yes, but I never tire from hearing it again.

Is there anything you’d like to add for the Funeral Rain audience?