Interview with : Brian, Guitarist
Hailz, Can you give a brief introduction of Garden of Shadows for MetalIndia visitors?
Garden of Shadows began in the summer of ’95 with a lineup that consisted of myself (guitars), Mary (guitars), Chad (vocals), Scott (keys), Dave (bass), and Kevin (drums). Very shortly after we began, our drummer and bassist left us because of musical differences. We searched for a new drummer for over a year, finally finding our new drummer Bret in the fall of ’96. Once he joined we began rehearsing regularly and writing new material, and we eventually recorded our debut demo Heart of the Corona with this line-up in April ’97. After we recorded the demo, Owen joined the band on bass, but since then he has been replaced by Sean. In 1998, X-Rated Records released our demo on CD (remastered and with a bonus track), and in 1999, we signed with Wicked World.
How would you best describe your music?
I would describe it as death metal with a mystical and dreamy atmosphere. I think the best way for someone to understand our style would be for them to know all of the bands that have influenced us, because while I don’t think we are exactly like any of our influences, I do think that someone who is into the bands we like would like our music.
What bands have influenced you (personally) the most? And the band?
I think that the bands that have influenced me the most are essentially the same ones that influenced the band as a whole. Some of these bands are Septic Flesh, Rotting Christ, Depresy, Orphaned Land, Horrified, and Crypt of Kerberos.
Which are your favourite albums?
I have so many favorite albums, I couldn’t possibly list them allÖ but here are just a few of them: Depresy "A Grand Magnificence", Septic Flesh "Mystic Places of Dawn", Rotting Christ "Non Serviam", Orphaned Land "Sahara", Horrified "In the Garden of the Unearthly Delights", Crypt of Kerberos "World of Myths", Novembre "Wish I Could Dream it Again", Nightfall "Macabre Sunsets", Dimmu Borgir "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant", Paradise Lost "Gothic", The Gathering "Always", Dark Tranquillity "The Gallery", Renaissance "The Death of Art", Sentenced "North From Here", In Flames "Subterranean", Pyogenesis "Ignis Creatio", Pan-Thy-Monium "Dawn of Dreams", Forgotten Silence "Senyaan", and As Serenity Fades "Earthborn".
Tell us something more about the debut album ‘Oracle Moon’.
Oracle Moon contains material that is more brutal and technical than our earlier material, but it is more melodic and dreamy at the same time. It is a step closer to our true vision and we plan to continue along this path in the future.
Your lyrics deal with cosmic and celestial topics which are evident from the song names, where do you draw your inspiration to write such songs?
Our inspiration comes from the vision we have for the band. We want our music to go in a particular direction and we want our lyrics to push the music even further in this vein. Our lyrical topics are only limited by the direction our music flows. Cosmic and celestial topics do hold a great deal of fascination to us, and so we have used them across Oracle Moon. In fact there is a thematic link between the songs Oracle Moon, Continuum, and Twilight Odyssey. Oracle Moon is an appeal by man to the celestial eye to grant him understanding of the inner workings of the universe. In the end his wishes cannot be fulfilled because the information is beyond his understanding. Continuum opens with the birth of the universe and further details the inexplicable nature of the cosmos. Twilight Odyssey picks up where Continuum left off, as a band of cosmic travelers enter a dimension beyond reality and are surrounded by the very essence of the universe and become one with itÖ bringing them closer to understanding as they transcend our realm
One more thing I have noticed is none of the songs were less than 8 minutes. What made you write such lengthy songs which is rarely seen on a complete album?
We don’t make an effort to write long songs-we simply create a song and allow the song to take its natural course to completion. When it is time for the song to end, we end it. Usually when we write a new song, it does not seem long to me. I am shocked when I time it and it comes out to be more than 5 minutes! We do not purposely drag our songs out, and I think this is why we can have such long songs that do not bore the listener.
Your demo was released by X-Rated Records and the debut album by Wicked World. How did you land with a contract with them?
Actually, the label was first to contact us. Dan from the label had gotten a copy of our demo and that interested him in us. He wanted to hear more, so we sent him the track we did for the CD on X-Rated, along with a rehearsal tape of some new material and a rough 16 track recording of the song "Oracle Moon" and after that he sent us a contract.
What next? Are you working on new album? If yes, please give us some details.
I am always creating, and we have a lot of material written, but at the moment we do not have many new completed songs written. We will continue to write, but we will not pressure ourselves to write too quickly-I think that great material cannot be rushed. Of course, I can say that we will have new material soon and I am sure that we will not disappoint our fans! Also, we do have one song that we did not include on the CD so we may put that on a compilation or as a bonus track sometime in the near future.
Any tours, gigs for promotion of latest album?
We just came back from the Milwaukee Metalfest and we opened up for Mayhem here recently. Both of those shows went really well, but we do not have any tours lined up at the moment. We would love to be able to tour though, so I hope we will be able to arrange one soon!
Has GoS done any opening acts for other major bands? If so, then when, where and for whom?
We have been able to open for many major bands. Probably our best shows were when we opened for My Dying Bride, In Flames, and Dimmu Borgir. All of these shows took place at local venues. The My Dying Bride show was amazing because it was only our second show, nobody knew about us, and we went on right before My Dying Bride. The crowd was amazing and we gained a lot of fans that night. We have also opened up for Obituary, Suffocation, Mayhem, and Six Feet Under, and last year we played at the Brutal Assault Open Air festival in the Czech Republic with Depresy and Septic Flesh.
What do you feel about the Metal Scene here in India?
I don’t know anything about the metal scene in India, so please give me some information!
How do you feel being one of the bands to be featured in ‘Metal Underground’ on MetalIndia.
It is a great feeling to be featured in Metal Underground. I hope we can be of interest to metalheads in India. I am not very familiar with the Indian scene but I would love to know more about it. I personally think that one of metal’s greatest strengths is its ability to take in influences from other cultures and I think the more multicultural influence in metal the better! If there are any Indian death metal bands that fuse traditional Indian music within a death metal framework I would love to know about them!!!
Any messages for the fans in India?
Support MetalIndia and keep the underground spirit alive!
Interview By : METALINDIA (metalindia@yahoo.com)
Links :
Official Garden Of Shadows Website
Earache/Wicked World Records