*** This is my 100th blog post of the year and final one for
2022. The Harbinger will take a break and return on January 9th,
2023. Happy New Year!!! ***
It’s time for another convo with
a band! Let’s travel to Vancouver, Canada to chat with Eye of Doom, a doom
metal/prog trio. I recently reviewed their debut LP, The Sapient, a stunning masterpiece of space doom. The album also
ranked number 8 on my Top 20 Albums of 2022.
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: Congratulations on the new album! It felt like a
natural progression from your 2020 EP Curse
of the Pharaoh. Does it come naturally to Eye of Doom to plan out these
concept albums with epic songs as opposed to writing and playing a collection
of songs without a particular theme and putting them on an album?
Eye
of Doom: Thank you, it was a long time coming! Yes, this stems
primarily from what we are influenced by and how we approach music. We have
been influenced by a lot of the 70s prog rock and, generally speaking, these
artists don’t have many boundaries for song time limits, what genres are mixed,
and how they put things together. The biggest factor, when it comes to Curse of the Pharaoh and The Sapient is that these songs were all
developed close together, so they all fit similar themes since that was what we
were influenced at the time. We can definitely say that the upcoming music
draws from new inspirations that are unexplored.
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: You guys have been together for about five years
now, right? How did the band get started and was it always going to be a trio?
Eye
of Doom: The band actually started out as a duo (bass and drums) and
has had a few changes throughout the years. The first EP Eye of Doom was Alex Kadhim on bass and two sessional players filling
in for the guitar and drums. Later on, guitar player Adam Mattsson joined and
we started to develop some of the ideas that are on The Sapient.
The last piece of the puzzle, and
catalyst to our current sound, was when Derrick Staines joined the band on
drums. This accelerated our output and allowed us immense musical freedom, leading
to Curse of the Pharaoh and The Sapient being completed. Since the
completion of The Sapient, we have
parted ways with Adam and have welcomed Sam Beatty on synthesizers. We are
developing a new sound which pushes us to a more cinematic experience as
opposed to our current riff-based music.
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: One of the aspects that distinguishes Eye of Doom
from other bands is the space rock music, imagery, and lyrics you compose. Do
you draw inspiration from films and other mediums?
Eye
of Doom: Definitely, there are many things that we draw from for
inspiration. One of the most obvious for The
Sapient was a comic book, of all things. The story for Eye of Doom Part I
and II are based off of the Eye of Doom comic by
Basil Wolverton. Set on Venus, this story merges horror with
space by narrating the demise of an astronaut who is seeking to rescue his
friend. We put our own spin on this story with the music and tried to make the
comic come alive.
A comic book is probably one of
the most obscure influences that we have drawn from, but where we get our ideas
has varied throughout the years and continues to change. Earlier on, horror and
occult themes played a big part in what we wrote about and tried to gear our
sound towards. For The Sapient, a lot
of the lyrics and music drew from astronomy and space travel, with a dark twist.
There is a bit of this on Curse of the
Pharaoh as well.
Unlike a lot of our
space-inspired material, our upcoming music is inspired by more grounded ideas.
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: What is the music scene like in Vancouver and in
and around British Columbia? There seems to be a renaissance of stoner rock and
heavy metal across Canada these past couple of years.
Eye
of Doom: There are some great bands coming out of Vancouver. Although there
aren’t many venues that cater to heavier music here, there are some great
venues and promoters. It has been challenging in the last few years to be
inspired to book a show considering venues have been suffering financially and
the audience has not been able to come out to shows.
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: Do you enjoy playing live shows again after the hiatus
brought on by the pandemic? What are
your touring plans, if any?
Eye
of Doom: Definitely! We’re hoping to get some live shows soon after we
finish some new material. We’d love to get a tour of the West Coast or through
Canada some day for sure!
Harbinger
of D.O.O.M.: Thank you for your time! Is there anything else
you’d like to say to your listeners and the metal/doom community?
Eye
of Doom: Thank you for all of the support throughout the years, we
appreciate every single one of you!
Eye of Doom’s
Official Website
Eye of
Doom on Bandcamp
Eye of
Doom on Twitter
Eye of
Doom on Facebook
Eye of
Doom on Instagram
Eye of Doom on YouTube