Earlier this week De Profundis promised us that a new video would be gracing our computer screens on Friday. Well, it seems that they are as impatient as I am as they’ve unleashed it today instead 
The following quote is taken from the band’s official Facebook page:
Well, we got bored of waiting till tomorrow to release the video, its ready so why sit on it? So here you go, our first music video for the track ‘Twisted Landscapes’. The song comes off our third album ‘The Emptiness Within’, which was released by Kolony Records in May 2012. The video was filmed in London and Peterborough, U.K. under the watchful eye of director Phil Berridge of Creative Junkie Media (ABORTED, CEREBRAL BORE). Please comment but more importantly we urge you to share it like mad!!!
Loucifer Speaks favourites De Profundis have just announced that they will be joining Marduk and Immolation on their upcoming tour. The following message was posted on the band’s Facebook page:
Photo by madhouseheaven.com
We are proud to announce that DE PROFUNDIS will support MARDUK and IMMOLATION on their forthcoming European and UK tour in September/October. More details to follow soon, spread the word!!!
Pretty good, eh?
As a side-note, the band are keen to play Bloodstock (Ok, it may be a little late for this year, but 2013 could be possible…), so if you like posting on forums, please click here and tell the awesome folks at BOA how much you want to see De Profundis play there 
deprofundistheband.com
facebook.com/deprofundistheband
last.fm/music/De+Profundis
deprofundis.bandcamp.com
It’s no secret that I LOVE De Profundis’ new album “The Emptiness Within” (in case you missed it, here’s my review), so when the chance to interview Roman, the band’s guitarist, arose I knew I couldn’t let it pass me by…
Photo by madhouseheaven.com
Lou: Hi! Thanks for agreeing to this interview. How’s things with you today?
Roman: Hi there! Things are very well, thank you. Currently preparing for our next gig, which a festival appearance at Rockharz Open Air in Germany, and also preparing for our first ever video shoot. Never a dull moment…
Lou: For the benefit of anyone who has yet to witness the sheer awesomeness of De Profundis, please can you tell us who is in the band? How long has the band been together?
Roman: Craig Land (vocals) and myself (guitarist) formed the band in 2005. I initially responded to his online ad, where he was trying to reform his old death metal band from South Africa. When this didn’t work out, he suggested starting a new band, which we called De Profundis. In the early days we had a lot of line-up changes – everyone else we found for the first line-up ended up leaving the band in 2006. We persevered and got in touch with Shoi Sen (guitarist). I think when he joined the band really began taking shape. Fast forward a couple of drummers, Nick Tingle (drummer) joined in 2008, just before our appearance at Bloodstock 2008. Fretless bass wizard Arran McSporran joined in 2009, just before we recorded our second album. We’ve been lucky to retain the same line-up for three years now.
Lou: How would you describe your sound?
Roman: It’s a mix of the music that we like to listen to ourselves, so some sort of a blend of death metal, black metal, progressive rock, jazz and so on. We do not constrict ourselves to any genre or any rules. Each song is totally different. We try to take the listener on a musical journey.
Photo by madhouseheaven.com
Lou: Where does the name De Profundis come from?
Roman: Craig had the idea for the name originally, and I believe he got it from a song by Abruptum. I always liked the name as it’s in Latin, meaning “from the depths”, which is quite dark but, at the same time, does not create any pre-conception in the listener’s mind as to what kind of music they might expect to hear.
Lou: Ok, now that we’ve got all of the standard bits out of the way, I’d like to talk about the new album. I’ve got to say – I was completely blown away by it. Are you happy with the end result?
Roman: Thank you! I am quite pleased with it, yes. I’m a perfectionist, so there are certainly many things I would like have to have done better, but I think it’s our best album to date and everything came together well at then. I think the other guys in the band share a similar view, we’ve all worked really hard on this record, and hopefully it shows. However, the next album will be even better.
Lou: Can you describe the writing / recording process for “The Emptiness Within”. The music sounds quite complex. Did you all work together or did each of you come to the table with your own ideas?
Roman: We write in very organic way; typically Shoi and I bring ideas that we have been working on individually and show them to the other guys. We jam out the ideas a lot, and everyone else contributes and can suggest changes to the ideas. The end result is often very different to what the initial idea was. Now we are getting very comfortable with each other’s styles and preferences, so writing is becoming quite easy. Arran and Nick contributed a lot to this album, and there’s a very tense current of bass/drum rhythms and interplay underpinning the guitars and vocals. We wrote most of the album in Shoi’s own studio, recording most sessions, so we spent a lot of time working on individual arrangements and making sure everything works together.
Lou: What were your main inspirations when it came to writing this album? What sort subjects have popped up in the lyrics?
Roman: Speaking for myself, I create music for the sake of creating music. I used to have a sort of an ethos, trying to combine and contrast ideas in a way as to accentuate the power of both, but I’ve stopped thinking along those lines some time ago. I guess the main inspiration for me was to make some good music! Craig writes the lyrics by himself, so they are his thoughts and views only. I think we all respect his lyric-writing, but it is his own space to express himself.
Photo by madhouseheaven.com
Lou: Aside from my review (where I instantly transformed into a bit of a fangirl), what feedback have you received for “The Emptiness Within”?
Roman: Feedback has been very good, if somewhat divisive. Generally either people “get” what we’re trying to do, or they don’t. Some people comment that we try to do too much with our songs, and others seem to struggle with the fact that we don’t fit into a particular style. I respect well-thought out criticism, and sometimes we even take reviewers comments on-board. However, I don’t see the attraction of, for example, being a Behemoth-clone… sometimes reviewers give the impression of wanting to hear a particular sound even before they’ve heard the album, and when they don’t get it, the album gets a negative review. Maybe this happens because there are so many bands nowadays… But then people should be more interested in those trying to break the norm and do something new, surely?
The main thing for us is to do something that we like ourselves, and to make a strong connection with people who enjoy our music. I would rather have a small number of really dedicated fans than be perceived as an enjoyable commodity by a huge number of disinterested listeners. I’m glad that you personally enjoyed our record – that means a lot.
Lou: I noticed that you seem to be selling more albums in Germany than in the UK. Is this correct? What are your thoughts on the UK metal scene? What can be done to improve it? Ok, that’s several questions in one…
Roman: Yes, sadly that’s correct. UK metal scene has a lot of bands, but also there is a very tired attitude towards music and bands in general. This goes from small venues forcing bands to do “pay to play” deals – having to buy a certain amount of tickets just to be able to play the show – all the way to UK ‘metal’ festivals preferring to book dumb comedy acts instead of quality UK metal bands with a new albums out. It’s so frustrating, but not much we can do. We have met some really great promoters and agents over the years, who are really honest and good people. We try to work with them as much as possible. We can’t change people’s attitudes, and certainly now it’s a difficult time for everyone, but that’s not a reason to try to screw each other over!
I think the best thing that people can do is go to their local gigs, support their local bands. Things like getting to the gig early enough to watch all the bands, and not leaving immediately after your mate’s band has just played. Music is something special and shouldn’t be taken for granted. When bands come from far away to play a show, make them feel welcome, at least give them a chance to impress you. If everyone puts in just a little bit of effort, it will be much better for everyone.
Enough ranting!
Lou: Ok, time for some randomness methinks… Picture the scene, you awake one morning to find that the zombie apocalypse has arrived. Are you prepared?
Roman: For sure, I have played many zombie games, so I know the theory and all the best strategies for survival. Now I just need to find a chainsaw, shotgun, armoured truck and a Rambo bandanna.
Lou: Which De Profundis track will be playing in your head (as kind of a soundtrack / personal theme song) as you fight your way through the hordes of the undead? Feel free to give reasons for your answer.
Roman: ‘Dead Inside’, because they are!
Lou: You manage to find somewhere secure to live, but there’s only a CD player there (clearly the owner of said building never bothered to join the digital revolution), which albums do you hunt down to listen to while you wait for the zombies to rot? This is the last zombie question, I swear. I clearly watch too many zombie movies…
Roman: Firstly I’d check if there are any vinyls left – I still haven’t joined the “CD revolution” – so I’m one behind. Assuming I’m out of luck (clearly the owner does not appreciate real analogue music!), I’d probably try to hunt down some rare CD releases for the sake of it… before realising that actually, what you need is some classic stuff. I’d probably end up listening to Alice Cooper and King Diamond. I guess I would be content at meeting my end whilst “Abigail” was on…
Lou: Anyway… moving on…
How does “The Emptiness Within” compare to your previous work?
Roman: It’s a faster album, more densely layered and more ‘to the point’. Songs are shorter and have more hooks, but we also push ourselves musically and experiment with mellow sections and jazz a lot more.
Lou: Are you touring at the moment? Where are you playing? I saw you a few months ago in Camden and need to see you again…
Roman: We’re working on a tour in September/October, which should take us across UK and Europe with a couple of very well-known bands. If any promoters are reading this, they can always contact us, we try to play as many gigs as we can.
Lou: How would you describe a De Profundis show?
Roman: Intense! We work very hard to put on a good show for the audience. We write our music around how well we can communicate them live. I’ve always said that we were a better band live than in the studio. Come and see us live and decide for yourself!
Lou: Which show has been the highlight of your career so far and why?
Roman: Probably our tour of India in 2010. We did 5 shows across the country, including co-headlining a festival in front of 30,000. We had to travel huge distances between every show – flights, trains, driving up into the Himalayas, and we got to see so much and met so many cool people! We also ended up doing a couple of music performance clinics / demonstrations – and we got treated with a lot of respect and courtesy throughout our trip. I think it’s fair to say that we got to live like rock stars of old for this tour!
Lou: Where can people buy your stuff from?
Roman: Our website, deprofundistheband.com, Amazon (UK and Germany), Kolony records website (kolonyrecords.com), Nuclear Blast mail-order and at gigs. Cheapest is normally at gigs as we don’t need to pay for postage and cut out the “middle man”, and we also try to offer some cheap CD/shirt deals too. Hopefully another reason to come to our gigs!
Lou: I know you’re on a couple of social networks (and I’ll be posting links to them at the end of this interview – but feel free to share them again here), but which is the best when it comes to promoting your band?
Roman: MySpace died a death, so it’s difficult to do much there anymore. We’re focusing on Facebook (facebook.com/deprofundistheband) and Last.fm (last.fm/music/De+Profundis) right now, but it’s quite tricky as there are so many bands out there. Bandcamp (deprofundis.bandcamp.com) has been great for us – people can listen to our entire back-catalogue and purchase legal downloads of any of our songs.
Lou: What’s next for De Profundis?
Roman: World domination, but we’ll take our steps one at a time. We’re working on a tour to promote our new album and there’s a music video currently in the works!
Lou: Do you have any messages for the readers of Loucifer Speaks?
Roman: Thank you for reading this interview, and thank you for supporting music. Come and see De Profundis
Lou: Thanks again!
deprofundistheband.com
facebook.com/deprofundistheband
last.fm/music/De+Profundis
deprofundis.bandcamp.com
You can listen to “The Emptiness Within”, the incredible new album from De Profundis (click here to read my review and discover just how incredible I think this album is), via the band’s official BandCamp page… or, alternatively, just use the funky little widget below:
De Profundis were recently featured in an edition of Flying the flag for Blighty’s Metal scene along with several other awesome UK bands. Click here to check out all of the bands featured so far.
deprofundistheband.com
facebook.com/deprofundistheband
louciferspeaks.com/?s=de+profundis
In case you missed it, yesterday I started a new feature here on Loucifer Speaks… it’s called Flying the flag for Blighty’s Metal Scene and now it’s time for the second lot of bands for you to check out and enjoy.
Once again, we’ve got three very different bands, but I’m hoping that you’ll find something to your tastes…
Khthon
I’ve only recently (‘recently’ as in today) found out about Khthon, but what I’ve heard on their Facebook is fantastic…
Info:
“Like the love-child of Candlemass and Mourning Beloveth”, Khthon was born in the autumn of 2007. Vocalist Adam Robinson had been toying with the idea of forming a doom band for some time and had placed adverts in several local music shops, hoping to attract like-minded musicians (a pretty tall order in Maidstone!). Fortune smiled and the advert was seen by guitarist Kevin Lawry, a local doom fa…natic and riffmaster extraordinaire. Kevin is best known for his solo doom project Silent Winter, self-releasing several EPs and albums over the last few years. Kev originally contacted Adam to offer support and make links with another doom fan, but in no time the idea to jam together was formulated. So, along with Benjamin Robinson, also on guitar, the core of Khthon took shape.
As a three-piece, the band focused on writing material while actively looking for a drummer and bassist. This period led to the recording of the ‘Songs on the Grave Side’ EP in July 2008. The EP, consisting of four tracks of Epic English Doom, was recorded and mixed at Kewsound Studios (My Silent Wake), and mastered by Greg Chandler. The band’s sound is a unique combination of its members’ individual tastes. Benjamin’s folk and classical influences blend seamlessly with Kevin’s unending ability to craft monstrously heavy riffs. Together, they create music which is both subtle and powerful. Around this, Adam’s vocals weave dark poetry inspired by folk ballads, Romantic literature and a lifelong passion for all things metal.
In October 2008, Khthon welcomed bassist Mark Barnes to the fold. Immediately, Mark added a new dimension to the Khthon sound, providing an expansive rhythmical foundation to the existing songs and contributing immeasurably to new, as yet unreleased, material. In August 2009 the band’s epic search for a drummer finally came to an end with the addition of Marcelo Teixeira.
So, the line up is complete. World doomination shall surely follow!
Line-Up:
Adam Robinson – vocals
Kevin Lawry – guitars
Jeff Barber – guitars
Mark Barnes – bass
Simon Jones – drums
Links:
khthon.co.uk
facebook.com/khthon
louciferspeaks.com/?s=khthon
Old Corpse Road
Listening to Old Corpse Road makes me all kinds of happy – I really can’t wait to hear their forthcoming album!
Info:
The Birth
The Old Corpse Road was conceived during the autumn season of 2007 during a brief excursion to the Lake District, more specifically Haweswater. This Autumnal break, in celebration of the wondrous and powerful music that we all know as Black Metal, awoke our desire to share our musical passions with other like minded people. The band name was taken from the road of the same name which ri…ses out of the Haweswater valley and leads to Mardale.
The Journey So Far
2008 – Throughout the period of 2008 the band diligently worked on their first musical output focusing on creating classic British black metal fused with the passion and atmospheres created by British folk tales. Crafting each song carefully the band prepared several songs of which five were recorded. Of these three were put forward for the demo. During this year the band also launched a very successful MySpace website along with its own dedicated website.
2009 – On Friday 13th March 2009 Old Corpse Road unleashed their first demo “The Echoes of Tales Once Told” in a limited 1st Edition of 1000 hand numbered copies. Reviews of the demo were outstanding (click here to view them) and we gained much support including a slot on the Zero Tolerance covermount cd. On the strength of the demo the band were offered the chance to record a split EP with the Worms of Sabnock due to be relesed late 2009 on Godreah records.The Old Corpse once again entered the studio to record three more songs for the split EP, namely Hob Headless Rises, The Witch of Wookey Hole and The Devils Footprints.
The Band
The band hail from the North East of England, an area rich with ancient tales and rife with folklore. The line up consists of five members who have played together in various other projects over the last decade, most notably the dark metal band Nemain. We consider our individual identities to be unimportant, although those who ask shall be told. The members of the band are long time friends who form a part of the Nemain Collective. On a personal level the band follow the entire metal scene passionately and regularly attend gigs and rock nights whilst indulging in fine ales and beverages.
The Inspirations
Old Corpse Road are not aiming to break any musical barriers, nor do we seek fame or infamy ; we only seek to give back to the scene that has given so much to us. Musically we are inspired by many diverse bands ; within black metal Bal-Sagoth, Primordial, Cradle of Filth, Burzum, Emperor, Abigor and Immortal. Old Corpse Road also enjoy classic early doom bands such as My Dying Bride, Celestial Season and Paradise Lost. The band find much pleasure in various other musical styles from Cold Meat Industries (Arcana, Raison D’etre) to traditional folk music, classical pieces and film scores.
The Concept
As you will be aware the spectrum of Black Metal is as vast as the cosmos that inspires it; selecting the correct course for our creativity was a decision we did not take lightly. With the utmost contempt for religion, a total disregard for humanity, and pity for politicians and our ailing society we concluded that we would only become more bitter and spiteful following these paths. So after much discussion and introspective travel, we narrowed our focus to the single aim of playing Black Metal inspired by our true passions; Nature and British Folklore. Combining the dark beauty of British Folk Tales and the power and majesty of Nature, we hope to steal away your soul…
The Mythology Behind The Name
Corpse roads provided a practical means of allowing the transport of corpses to cemeteries that had burial rights. In Britain, such routes can also be known by a number of other names: bier road, burial road, coffin road, coffin line, lyke or lych way, funeral road, procession way, etc. Such “church-ways” have developed a great deal of associated folklore regarding wraiths, spirits, ghosts, and such-like. Many of the corpse roads have long disappeared, while the original purposes of those that still survive as footpaths have been largely forgotten, especially if features such as coffin stones or crosses no longer exist.
Line-Up:
The Bearer : Guitars and Vocals
The Revenant : Guitars and Vocals
The Wanderer : Bass and Spoken Word
The Dreamer : Percussion and Ambience
The Watcher : Keyboards and Vocals
Links:
oldcorpseroad.co.uk
facebook.com/OldCorpseRoad
louciferspeaks.com/?s=old+corpse+road
De Profundis
If De Profundis new album doesn’t blow you away, I will presume there’s something not quite right with your noggin…
Info:
De Profundis was formed in November 2005 by vocalist Craig Land and guitarist Roman Subbotin. As the band’s sound evolved over the course of the next 18 months, Christophe Szpajdel (Emperor, Enthoned) was approached to design a suitable logo reflecting the band’s music visually. The band underwent several personnel changes until a stable and committed line-up was completed with the recruitment of Aleksej Obradovic (bass) and Shoi Sen (guitar), with David Andrews stepping in to play the drums on the recording. In April 2007, De Profundis recorded its first album, entitled ‘Beyond Redemption’, which was mixed by Steve Watkins at Warehouse Studios, Oxford and mastered by Tim Turan at Turan Audio (Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, Emperor). Achilleas Gatsopoulos (Dark Tranquillity, Arcturus) created the artwork for the album. ‘Beyond Redemption’ self-released in August 2007.
Delivering unique-sounding progressive extreme metal, De Profundis has many genre-bridging elements to their sound spanning across death, black and doom metal right through to jazz and progressive rock. These draw on a wide range of influences and the diverse nationalities of the band members. Having played their first show in September 2007 with drummer Sterghios Moschos, De Profundis has been delivering high impact live performances to rave reviews and enthusiastic crowds, being voted the 6th Best Unsigned Band in the 2007 Terrorizer Readers’ Poll.
Following further glowing reviews, De Profundis was invited to perform at the MMD Festival in Athens (Greece) in March 2008. Upon returning from Greece, the band supported the French band Misanthrope on both of their exclusive UK shows. In July 2008, Nick Tingle replaced Sterghios Moschos, making his live debut with De Profundis at Bloodstock Open Air 2008 Festival. In December 2008, De Profundis was handpicked by Zero Tolerance magazine to take part in their showcase “Day of Unrest” gig.
In February 2009, De Profundis supported Iron Maiden at the Rock in India Festival in Bangalore, India in front of 20,000 people. On the back of this performance, Sony BMG gave the band a record deal to release their debut album “Beyond Redemption” in India.
With De Profundis now putting all their effort on completing their sophomore album, growing musical differences resulted in Aleksej Obradovic departing from the band and being replaced by Arran McSporran in May 2009.
In the months of June and July 2009, De Profundis recorded their second album “A Bleak Reflection” with producer Fernando Pereira Lopes (Misanthrope, Orakle). The album was once again mastered by none-other-than Tim Turan at Turan Audio. Darryll Jones created the album’s artwork.
August 2009 saw the band resuming its intensive live schedule with a show in Bucharest (Romania) and an appearance at Portugal’s Festival Ilha do Ermal 2009. In Autumn 2009, De Profundis performed in Paris (France) and toured across Northern England and Scotland.
Following the European release of album “A Bleak Reflection” on Kolony Records in February 2010, De Profundis officially launched the new album with a show at the Underworld, London. The band returned to play at the Underworld several weeks later for the “Infernal Damnation VI” festival. In May 2010, De Profundis undertook a two-week European tour with Ragnarok (Norway) and Noctem (Spain), performing in Germany, Austria, Poland, Holland and Belgium.
Following the European release of “A Bleak Reflection” several months earlier, De Profundis signed with Relapse Records for exclusive distribution in USA and Canada. Following the success of the band’s first album, Sony BMG released “A Bleak Reflection” in India in June 2010. With the support of the British Council, De Profundis returned to India on a headlining tour in October 2010, which included co-headlining Kingfisher’s Octoberfest 2010 in Bangalore in front of 30,000 alongside Lacuna Coil.
In April / May 2011, De Profundis went on a 14-date European tour with Rotting Christ and Omnium Gatherum, performing in 11 countries across Central and Eastern Europe.
The third De Profundis album ‘The Emptiness Within’ will be released in May 2012.
Line-Up:
Craig Land – Vocals
Roman Subbotin – Guitars
Shoi Sen – Guitars
Arran McSporran – Fretless Bass
Nick Tingle – Drums
Links:
deprofundistheband.com
facebook.com/deprofundistheband
louciferspeaks.com/?s=de+profundis
That should keep you going for a little while
Make a note of the following link to make sure that you keep up to date with all of our Flying the flag for Blighty’s Metal Scene posts:
louciferspeaks.com/tag/flying-the-flag-for-blightys-metal-scene
If you’d like your band to be featured, please get in touch.
