Interview with Legions of Crows
Author: Hong Rui | Filed under: Black Metal, Doom metal, Legions of Crows, UK
UK's Legions of Crows released their debut full length album, Stab Me, last year, displaying their blackened doom metal style. The cold and bleak atmosphere combined with that sense of doom made the album an extremely dark one. We talk to the band to find out more about the creation process, Paul Di'Anno as a guest vocalist and the decision behind the usage of programmed drums.
HMT: Greetings Legions of Crows! The band late last year released your debut full length album, Stab Me. How have response been for the album, and is the band satisfied with the results of the album?
We’ve had several fantastic reviews from all over the world so we’re really happy with the response to the album so far. There are always gonna be people who don’t get it or just don’t like the music, but there haven’t been many of those yet…
Before we move on, would it be possible to give our readers a brief history of the band? How did the formation of Legions of Crows come about?
I started writing the music in late 2008. We had three or four other tracks that didn’t make onto the album. I guess the material for “Stab Me” was really finished in early 2011. I net guitarist Herod through a film that we were bpth doing musical work on. He is an incredibly skillful and versatile guitarist and really helped me to realize these first recordings. Jon the Revelator joined last year and added some very welcome lyrics and spoken word parts. He also co-wrote the track “Bullshit Acres”.
What was it that made the band decide to play the current form of black/doom metal, especially since Attila seems to have a background leaning more towards heavy metal, and Herod being in nu-metal band Room 237?
Well my back ground may have been in the NWOBHM and resultant offspring, but I really came along after the first wave of that music had passed. My early loves were Punk and the British Industrial bands of the Mid 19080s. From there, I got seriously into Grindcore and Hardcore in the mid 1980s and also Death Metal soon after that. Tho Morbid Angels Altars of Madness has yet to be surpassed. After Death Metal got boring for me, I heard the whisperings in Northern Europe that were to transform a generation of music and breath a whole new lease of life into it. I also love early Black Sabbath so I guess that’s where the sound comes from…
Let’s now talk about the new album, Stab Me. Throughout the album, both the cold, black metal and traditional doom metal influences are clearly audible. What was the songwriting process like behind the album?
This is the direction that I wanted to take with this recording, and was a natural style for me to write in. In most of the songs I had the idea for the riffs and sketch them out using Cubase. I’ll do drums, keyboards and sometimes bass like this. When I have an arrangement that I’m happy with I then turn it over to Herod to get ideas for the guitars, or Jon for extra vocals and lyrics. The tune builds in that way until we’re ready to record the whole thing. We record as analog as possible before moving files to Pro Tools for the final mix down.
Songs like opening track Provident Hymn/Malediction have a somewhat soothing melody and a contradicting cold black metal riff present. How did songs such as these come about, and where does the band draw musical influences from?
The Provident Hymn is a tongue in cheek look at the way that Religion is sold to so many people. We wanted a hymnal quality to it and so drew upon old Wesleyan style melodies to come up with the first part of the song. The cold Doom and Blackness contrasts this to turn the song on its head. I very much enjoy the contrasting beauty and Beast in the music of bands such as Shining, so I guess that has an influence in this particular song. Other influences come from early Black Sabbath, Skitliv, Darkthrone, Burzum, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and other such melancholic artistes…
On top of the 2 instrumentalists, the band also credits John the Revelator for spoken vocals and as the band’s theologian. How has his inclusion and contribution to the writing of Stab Me affected the direction of the band?
Jon’s contribution on this album came fairly late as the majority of the material had been written. His contribution was still large, however as he sing on two of the songs and did the spoken word parts on another two. He also contributed lyrics on several occasions. We will be using more of his lyrical input on the next recording, along with his vocal to contrast mine, which is naturally rather deep and sonorous, like an English Tom Waits. Should be interesting!
The new material will be slightly more experimental – with elements of German depression era chanson and even some dub reggae in there! We want to push boundaries while still retaining a Black Doom heart!
The lyrical theme and song titles of the tracks on the album seem to revolve around death, hatred and putridity, especially on songs like Defecate. Where and how did such sense of hatred and disgust for mankind come about?
The themes behind the trio of songs “Defecate”, “Bullshit Acres” and “Dull Grey” are really based on our disgust at what the British government has become in recent years. Our freedom is fast being eroded under the guise of Anto terrorism laws and our livelyhoods are being destroyed by the Rich and corrupt politicians and bankers. The people are stuck between having very little and having no choice of whom to vote for. They are all self-serving motherfuckers as far as I am concerned. Trouble is, there is no one left to say “No more. Enough” anymore and to pick up the cause of revolution to save the future of this shitty world. They’d rather play on their X Boxes and do designer drigs than get out on the streets and fight the bastards. I have some admiration for the French and the greeks who have taken these steps. Unfirtunately, the riots that we experienced in the Summer started for the right reasons and carried on for all the wrong ones – merely motivated by greed and the “Something for nothing” philosophy so prevalent in England right now. Our otyher songs on the album are more a look at religion and religious repression that has still been allowed to fester over the years. We laugh at it and revile it at the same time, I guess A healthy and traditional Black Metal stance!.
With Stab Me, is there any message that the band wants to send out to its listeners?
Don’t be apathetic upon this Sceptic Isle! Stand up and fight! Fuck religion, fuck Politics and fuck the lot of you!
Stab Me also features programmed drums instead of a real drummer. What was the reason behind this, and does the band intend to have a drummer in the band in the future?
I wanted to translate a fairly martial feel to the music on this album. Thus the drum mashine sounds like a drum machine, rather than using a program like “Drummer” that attempts to sound like a real musician. If it’s a machine, lets have it sound like one! We may be looking at doing live dates in the future, so are looking for a drummer who can handle the discipline of the material. There are also a couple of songs planned for the next album that will benefit from live drums.
The album also features ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno on guest vocals as well. How did this collaboration come about, and why pick him in particular as the guest musician on the album?
I recorded a couple of albums with Paul in the late 90s come early 2000s, so I have known him a while. I also do a lot of vocal recording for him when he guests on various projects and we work very easily together. He’s a good friend and a pleasure to deal with, plus he always delivers the goods!
The album artwork of Stab Me shows the silhouette of an angel, with a trail of blood behind it. Is there any underlying concept behind the album artwork, and how did it come about?
The artwork was conceived by an Artist friend of mine whom I was keen to work with. She had some unfinished works that were adapted for the cover and the sleeve. The concept is loosely that the that the two band members on the inside cover have been murdered by someone or something and the trail of blood leads to the culprit.
We have come to the final question of the interview, the last words are yours!
Well thank you for your interest and support of our band! We have exciting ideas for the second album and are going to be writing and demoing over the coming months. We aim to be around for a bit, if our consumption doesn’t kill us first, so look out for future releases!
Related articles:
Album Review: Legions of Crows - Stab me
Legions of Crows on the internet:
MySpace
Funeral Rain Records
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