INTERVIEW: DEATHMASTER (DoomSword)

Interview by Thanasis Mpogris.

Doomsword formed in Italy and for 10 years now, they offer us thrilling
moments with their songs, which are shine for their quality, passion
and emotion. With the release of their new album “My Name Will Live
On”, we had the chance to interrogate Doomsword’s vocalist, mainman
and composer, Deathmaster. Let’s see what shared with us.

Thanasis: Hails to you Deathmaster. First of all I would like to
give you my congratulations for your new album "My Name Will
Live On". Would you like to give us some information about the
creation of the album and the comments that you have received,
so far?

Deathmaster: The album was created in unusual circumstances, as
we don't all live next to each other and we don't have the possibility
to rehearse on a regular basis like most bands do, but we soon
adapted to these circumstances, even because we didn't have much
of a choice, and established new routines and way to exchange ideas
that worked out great in the end. Now DoomSword have picked up
the pace and will be able to produce albums with a normal rhythm of
once every year and a half / two years. The comments so far were
great. People started to get that DoomSword have a unique sound
which is always evolving, which makes comparisons between albums
difficult and not very meaningful anyway. As a result, instead of
concentrating on the old "I prefer the previous albums..." dispute,
DoomSword fans simply enjoy the next boulder of epic metal which
has been dumped on their heads. 

Th: I noticed some changes to your sound, such as higher
speeds, less doom parts and some catchy melodies, mainly
at the refrains. Did you want to experiment embodying these
elements to your songs, or it was a natural process?


Dth: It was a completely natural process, there has been
experimenting going on, but none of it was planned sitting at a table
and discussing strategies. The real drive has been the will to give
DoomSword fans something that would sound classically DoomSword
without repeating ourselves and without creating a “Resound the Horn
II” or something like that. To be honest, I don't even think all these
elements can be considered so much as "new", most of them were
already in our songs, just scattered across different albums.

Th: Despite these changes to your sound, your identity remains
unimpaired to the path of Bathory and early Manowar. Would
you like to name us some of your influences?


Dth: The spectrum of our influences for this album was very broad.
We still take most of our inspiration from classic US metal from the
80s, Cirith Ungol, Warlord, Omen, Manilla Road etc., though we
took inspiration by bands such as Rainbow and Rush, and a lot of
underground metal. Manowar of course are a major influence for us,
whereas I would say that “My Name Will Live On” is the least
Bathory sounding album since the times of the “Resound The Horn”.

Th: I think that your new album, stands into the best metal
albums of the running year. Do you believe that the album
is able to introduce Doomsword into a bigger audience,
and outside the boundaries of the epic sound?

Dth: No. I don't mean that I don't believe the music contained in
the album isn't capable of that, but breaking into a bigger
audience is a whole other story, made of promotion, distribution
and accessibility. If you want my genuine opinion, DoomSword
have melodic elements but we don't sound commercial enough
to be appreciated by the masses.

Th: You are a permanent habitant of Ireland, anymore.
This fact, in connection with the changes to your line up,
do you believe that can affect your function as a group?
Technology, for sure is a helping hand, but not having
a base to a common place, is an obstacle?

Dth: This has been quite a common question in this round of
interviews. The answer is that by living in Ireland we've
increased our level of determination and commitment towards
the band, and we work now at a much faster pace than when
I was living in Italy with the rest of the guys. I know it might
sound strange but this is the reality, and we're pretty happy
with our situation. The only aspect of DoomSword suffering
from this distance is the number of nights out drinking.

Th: I noticed that you choose again as a cover artwork,
a piece of paint, and more specific a painting of
L. Royer. Can a suitable, to the album,  artwork give
another dynamic to the songs of an album, when the
listener has it on his hands?

Dth: Absolutely! Or at least, it counts for me. Take Cirith
Ungol, for example. Their cover certainly shaped the
emotions in the mind of the listener, especially those
who knew Moorcock and Elric. Same goes for
DoomSword. I believe part of our success and the
status we gained is due to the imagery we chose,
scenes representing something epic and dramatic,
like DoomSword's music.


Th: Except from your 1st album, the title of each
new Doomsword album is relevant to something
taken from the last album. It's too early for this,
but on our review for your new album, we made
an attempt to guess the title of your next album,
and this was "Once Glorious". I would like to talk
about this habit and for our estimation.

Dth: You are correct; the title of our albums is taken
by a sentence in the lyrics of the previous one. Your
guess is a plausible one. It's good to see that people
figured this aspect out and started to guess the title
of our next album! The real reason for this kind of
choice is that we want to always make clear to
DoomSword fans that we will stay true to ourselves
and that our sound might evolve, but the core of Epic
Metal will always be there, and that DoomSword will
always offer the same emotions in all the years
to come...

Th: Which are your plans for the future? You have
a solid core of fans here in Greece, would you
visit us again for a live show?

Dth: We will come to Greece again, no doubt about that.
It might not be in the near future, it might take us some
time before we can work that one out, but don't worry,
we realize how important the Greek scene is and the
support we received from it throughout the years, so we
will come again.

Th: Ending, I would like to thank you for the time
that you spent with us and to wish you good luck
in every attempt that you make. Raise the horns!

Dth: Thank you! 

Steel at side, horns up high, you are the Riders of Doom...