Abstract Spirit are one of few leaders amongst Russian extreme doom scene, they bring high qualitative funeral doom to world-wide underground community since 2006. They did forge three insane sonic monoliths and successfully spread their power through Solitude Prod, showing no bloody mercy. After long year of silence they return with live performance onto Moscow Doom Festival VI with new stuff of forthcoming album. A.K.iEzor is a man who did growl into Comatose Vigil, and he’s a co-founder of Abstract Spirit, seat tight and hear his story of funeral doom domination.
Hello, Andrey! I didn’t know how to start speaking about Abstract Spirit and I remembered a year ago you told me for our Doom Quiz (HERE) that your band was working at the fourth album “Anhedonia 4.0”. How is it coming along?
Hello! Yes, I remember that. We’ve got no news since…Our work is almost finished and it’s going to be a completely different album. We’ve turned out to be unsatisfied with the results of “Anhedonia 4.0” and we decided to start from the very beginning that doesn’t make us redo this one. However we saved something as a song “Za sonmom tsvetnykh snovideniy” (“Behind The Host Of Colorful Dreams”). By the way it’s the only track in Russian, the others are in English. The album is being mixed now; we’re also engaged with a booklet design which an artist Pavel Lyakhov helped us with.
Do you understand that I have to ask now what a new Abstract Spirit album is going to be?
It’s difficult to tell about such things. I can’t review myself our new album but in short… I suppose it’s the gloomiest album in Abstract Spirit life.
I do remember the debut album of an American death-doom band Fall of Empyrean was named the same “Anhedonia” (but there was no numbered mark of course), so what is your attitude to such coincidences of titles in the similar music genres and how much are you preoccupied about “trends” in Abstract Spirit life?
I’ve absolutely forgotten to say we have changed the album title, too. It’ll be released as “Theomorphic Defectiveness’. I didn’t know about their album, to be honest I’m not really advanced in their discography. The coincidences always take place and they will do, there’s nothing critical to it. Trend? I’d not say like that… where did you get such dirty terms about especially underground genre?
If I’d not told “trend” but “genre tendency” would it have changed the meaning of the question? There are always constituents, when in some genre there are a lot of bands where overwhelming majority plays “like those guys”. You know, when we face five new My Dying Bride or Electric Wizard it’s ok, but I’m worried when imitators quantity gets over thirty. Abstract Spirit is one of the few “constant” doom bands in Russia. Are you satisfied with what’s going on to our scene?
Okay, genre tendency, I got it. Actually there are a lot of bands which play “like those guys” in many countries. I’d say, we have many original bands and the scene is at the height of progress. Long time ago the quantity of representatives overstepped the limits which I know. However there are other topical questions for home musicians. The problem is acute about financing musical activity. To buy a decent instrument and additional accessories is a round sum, then one should pay for rehearsals and other costs (alcohol, drugs, fare – tick off). Finally it’s an album recording. Not every band can afford it, half measures aren’t highly thought by ones. I’m not going to mention sales of released CD at the price of incredible efforts and costs. It’s clear about it. To talk about Abstract Spirit - the situation is more difficult. Our schizoid music made us play for target audience. We deeply occupied our niche and we cannot move further. This is the value of that your riffs aren’t hits, he-he. We’re not perplexed with it by the way. If one can’t rely on wages, there’s no point to play anything for “masses”, being equipped with artless remakes of imperishable compositions from the best of the genre. You understand what I’m speaking about, don’t you?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Of course I do, comrade! What is your opinion about Abstract Spirit development from album to album? Whether is there anything you want to get about the new album?
Beginning from the second album “Tragedy and Weeds” Abstract Spirit is a band which follows its genre. The first album was a result of compositions and trying of different times. Further we found out our preferences. I don’t think that something’s really changed since. Who we are to judge if it’s good or not?
Concerning my getting anything about the new album… We don’t want to get anything, we just play music without looking back at criticism. It’s just a new album which we made as we wanted. H. and S. were assiduously working at sound engineering and we’ve reached a new level in our sound. If to talk about the music it is the same Abstract Spirit.
Andrey, you were a lead singer of famous funeral act Comatose Vigil, you are a part of Abstract Spirit and besides you’ve got time to put an appearance in Mare Infinitum. It looks like you shown up at least in two bands of four famous home death-doom/funeral bands. How did it happen? Did you use rough physical power to ensure this domination?
Ha-ha, not on any account. There’s nothing mysterious behind it. Many musicians have much more projects than me. After Comatose Vigils breaking up I got more time for Mare Infinitum, it took its normal course. Georgy and I are preparing for recoding a new album. I’m not going to stop elaborating on it, this is who I am.
Look, for all that could it be possible for people to see you with a microphone growling in Who Dies in Siberian Slush or Otkroveniya Dojdya?
Seriously? I’m not going to monopolize Russian doom scene, there’s nothing to be afraid of, ha-ha.
Hm, what can you say about famous Ea band?
To tell the truth – nothing. They said, former Comatose Vigil members have something to do with it. But it’s not like that. None of us took part in it. So, I’ve got nothing to say.
Then let me ask you about Comatose Vigil former members, by the way. I remember you were replaced by another vocalist in this band, where was he got from and where did he go?
I can’t exactly say where he was got from because I was out of the band at that time. I seemed to be out more than two years. He should have been found per internet but I’m not sure. We met and spoke not once further, I don’t remember this story actually. Upon the whole Kostya is a nice positive dude. We see each other from time to time. At some instant he understood the band wasn’t his cup of tea because he likes sludge more. He left and sang in a very savage and stoned formation Sobutilniki Christa (Jesus’ Boon Companions), that doesn’t exist anymore. I came back to Comatose Vigil to finish up “Fuimus, non Sumus…”. Now he sings in 609 which plays solid sludge-doom.
How does it happen that such a rotation of musicians take place in Moscow bands – are there really few good musicians within this genre?
Rotation? Why? Some people just like playing music together, efficiently mixing themselves, making new projects. Why not? I think the term “professional” is inadmissible because doom is not a kind of profession. Good musicians – it’s okay. I’m not sure I can only make a guess about their quantity.
So, here we’ve got a natural question… Could we speak about serious competition inside of Russian scene having minimum substantial death doom/ funeral doom bands? What is your opinion about how many leading bands are able to meet competition with western ones?
You’re asking me as if I specialized in Russian doom-scene. I make you sure I don’t. There are a lot of bands, I always see new band names, I didn’t set myself the aim of monitoring them. Meanwhile I consider that we can call “leading” bands in question. It doesn’t matter how it sounds but everything is relative.
First of all, you can be called an expert as a man who has been in the midst of doom-scene for a long time. Secondly, some bands could be “leading” relatively to others. So there are bands which Solitude Productions successfully promote, good bands advanced themselves, some bands stew in their own juice. But western bands seldom come to play in Russia as there no one waits for ours in Europe as it seems. In any case you should promote yourself as far as possible…
Firstly as I said before the problem of lack of money is acute in our country. It’s not only about musicians but labels releasing their production (but again to tell about selling CDs everybody knows they are weakly demanded in sale). Competitiveness will suffer heavily. In the second place, as I said before again, we’ve got a lot of good and interesting bands and no matter that they sound worse than western colleagues. You can think in such way. The pluses and minuses are obvious but I suppose our chances have risen for 10 years. Organizing concerts is getting on bad. They say we constantly have to thrust ourselves on it. So it is, but I don’t know. We didn’t try for some reason.
Honestly I doubted if this question should be asked, but I bet some Comatose Vigil fans are excited about – how likely is the band reunion?
The chances of it are 0,0000000000001. This is not enough, isn’t it?
Hm it’s really improbably… Tell me, is the difference big between how you feel with Abstract Spirit and Comatose Vigil?
The difference is tremendous, but I feel good both. There were reckless guys in Comatose Vigil and all the time we had most fun when we didn’t torture instruments. Sergey Evgenevich Troitsky of Korrozia Metalla would envy such boozes. Concerning Abstract Spirit it’s vice versa, all people are serious being in condition of constant straight-edge, except me, certainly. After all I’m pleased to have a deal with such people. I’m not going to compare because it’s useless.
Abstract Spirit will take part in Moscow Doom Festival VI. What track list will you play this day? How much are you interested in playing there?
Well, we want to play couple of tracks from the new album, but I don’t really know yet, whether it will have time to be released. We’ll play songs from the previous ones, we haven’t made track list yet. Certainly we are interested in playing at this festival! Sepulture Union always set perfect gigs, unhesitatingly we agreed to perform.
What do you think, what Abstract Spirit fans will remember about the band if one day it stops existing?
It’s sick music, what else?
The answer is accepted and I don’t want to abuse your patience that’s why let me thank you for your time. I wish you good luck and bloody powerful performance at Moscow Doom Festival! Do you want to send some regards or something?
Thank you for the wishes; it was pleasure to have a talk. Regards to my granny who will never read this interview, I’m kidding, ha-ha. I’d like to thank our not numerous auditory for their liking us. Thank you, friends, we hope to make you enjoy our works of funeral art!
Interview By Aleks
YouTube Video
Facebook
Myspace
Official Website
Russian version of the interview: HERE
Hello, Andrey! I didn’t know how to start speaking about Abstract Spirit and I remembered a year ago you told me for our Doom Quiz (HERE) that your band was working at the fourth album “Anhedonia 4.0”. How is it coming along?
Hello! Yes, I remember that. We’ve got no news since…Our work is almost finished and it’s going to be a completely different album. We’ve turned out to be unsatisfied with the results of “Anhedonia 4.0” and we decided to start from the very beginning that doesn’t make us redo this one. However we saved something as a song “Za sonmom tsvetnykh snovideniy” (“Behind The Host Of Colorful Dreams”). By the way it’s the only track in Russian, the others are in English. The album is being mixed now; we’re also engaged with a booklet design which an artist Pavel Lyakhov helped us with.
Do you understand that I have to ask now what a new Abstract Spirit album is going to be?
It’s difficult to tell about such things. I can’t review myself our new album but in short… I suppose it’s the gloomiest album in Abstract Spirit life.
I do remember the debut album of an American death-doom band Fall of Empyrean was named the same “Anhedonia” (but there was no numbered mark of course), so what is your attitude to such coincidences of titles in the similar music genres and how much are you preoccupied about “trends” in Abstract Spirit life?
I’ve absolutely forgotten to say we have changed the album title, too. It’ll be released as “Theomorphic Defectiveness’. I didn’t know about their album, to be honest I’m not really advanced in their discography. The coincidences always take place and they will do, there’s nothing critical to it. Trend? I’d not say like that… where did you get such dirty terms about especially underground genre?
If I’d not told “trend” but “genre tendency” would it have changed the meaning of the question? There are always constituents, when in some genre there are a lot of bands where overwhelming majority plays “like those guys”. You know, when we face five new My Dying Bride or Electric Wizard it’s ok, but I’m worried when imitators quantity gets over thirty. Abstract Spirit is one of the few “constant” doom bands in Russia. Are you satisfied with what’s going on to our scene?
Okay, genre tendency, I got it. Actually there are a lot of bands which play “like those guys” in many countries. I’d say, we have many original bands and the scene is at the height of progress. Long time ago the quantity of representatives overstepped the limits which I know. However there are other topical questions for home musicians. The problem is acute about financing musical activity. To buy a decent instrument and additional accessories is a round sum, then one should pay for rehearsals and other costs (alcohol, drugs, fare – tick off). Finally it’s an album recording. Not every band can afford it, half measures aren’t highly thought by ones. I’m not going to mention sales of released CD at the price of incredible efforts and costs. It’s clear about it. To talk about Abstract Spirit - the situation is more difficult. Our schizoid music made us play for target audience. We deeply occupied our niche and we cannot move further. This is the value of that your riffs aren’t hits, he-he. We’re not perplexed with it by the way. If one can’t rely on wages, there’s no point to play anything for “masses”, being equipped with artless remakes of imperishable compositions from the best of the genre. You understand what I’m speaking about, don’t you?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Of course I do, comrade! What is your opinion about Abstract Spirit development from album to album? Whether is there anything you want to get about the new album?
Beginning from the second album “Tragedy and Weeds” Abstract Spirit is a band which follows its genre. The first album was a result of compositions and trying of different times. Further we found out our preferences. I don’t think that something’s really changed since. Who we are to judge if it’s good or not?
Concerning my getting anything about the new album… We don’t want to get anything, we just play music without looking back at criticism. It’s just a new album which we made as we wanted. H. and S. were assiduously working at sound engineering and we’ve reached a new level in our sound. If to talk about the music it is the same Abstract Spirit.
Andrey, you were a lead singer of famous funeral act Comatose Vigil, you are a part of Abstract Spirit and besides you’ve got time to put an appearance in Mare Infinitum. It looks like you shown up at least in two bands of four famous home death-doom/funeral bands. How did it happen? Did you use rough physical power to ensure this domination?
Ha-ha, not on any account. There’s nothing mysterious behind it. Many musicians have much more projects than me. After Comatose Vigils breaking up I got more time for Mare Infinitum, it took its normal course. Georgy and I are preparing for recoding a new album. I’m not going to stop elaborating on it, this is who I am.
Look, for all that could it be possible for people to see you with a microphone growling in Who Dies in Siberian Slush or Otkroveniya Dojdya?
Seriously? I’m not going to monopolize Russian doom scene, there’s nothing to be afraid of, ha-ha.
Hm, what can you say about famous Ea band?
To tell the truth – nothing. They said, former Comatose Vigil members have something to do with it. But it’s not like that. None of us took part in it. So, I’ve got nothing to say.
Then let me ask you about Comatose Vigil former members, by the way. I remember you were replaced by another vocalist in this band, where was he got from and where did he go?
I can’t exactly say where he was got from because I was out of the band at that time. I seemed to be out more than two years. He should have been found per internet but I’m not sure. We met and spoke not once further, I don’t remember this story actually. Upon the whole Kostya is a nice positive dude. We see each other from time to time. At some instant he understood the band wasn’t his cup of tea because he likes sludge more. He left and sang in a very savage and stoned formation Sobutilniki Christa (Jesus’ Boon Companions), that doesn’t exist anymore. I came back to Comatose Vigil to finish up “Fuimus, non Sumus…”. Now he sings in 609 which plays solid sludge-doom.
How does it happen that such a rotation of musicians take place in Moscow bands – are there really few good musicians within this genre?
Rotation? Why? Some people just like playing music together, efficiently mixing themselves, making new projects. Why not? I think the term “professional” is inadmissible because doom is not a kind of profession. Good musicians – it’s okay. I’m not sure I can only make a guess about their quantity.
So, here we’ve got a natural question… Could we speak about serious competition inside of Russian scene having minimum substantial death doom/ funeral doom bands? What is your opinion about how many leading bands are able to meet competition with western ones?
You’re asking me as if I specialized in Russian doom-scene. I make you sure I don’t. There are a lot of bands, I always see new band names, I didn’t set myself the aim of monitoring them. Meanwhile I consider that we can call “leading” bands in question. It doesn’t matter how it sounds but everything is relative.
First of all, you can be called an expert as a man who has been in the midst of doom-scene for a long time. Secondly, some bands could be “leading” relatively to others. So there are bands which Solitude Productions successfully promote, good bands advanced themselves, some bands stew in their own juice. But western bands seldom come to play in Russia as there no one waits for ours in Europe as it seems. In any case you should promote yourself as far as possible…
Firstly as I said before the problem of lack of money is acute in our country. It’s not only about musicians but labels releasing their production (but again to tell about selling CDs everybody knows they are weakly demanded in sale). Competitiveness will suffer heavily. In the second place, as I said before again, we’ve got a lot of good and interesting bands and no matter that they sound worse than western colleagues. You can think in such way. The pluses and minuses are obvious but I suppose our chances have risen for 10 years. Organizing concerts is getting on bad. They say we constantly have to thrust ourselves on it. So it is, but I don’t know. We didn’t try for some reason.
Honestly I doubted if this question should be asked, but I bet some Comatose Vigil fans are excited about – how likely is the band reunion?
The chances of it are 0,0000000000001. This is not enough, isn’t it?
Hm it’s really improbably… Tell me, is the difference big between how you feel with Abstract Spirit and Comatose Vigil?
The difference is tremendous, but I feel good both. There were reckless guys in Comatose Vigil and all the time we had most fun when we didn’t torture instruments. Sergey Evgenevich Troitsky of Korrozia Metalla would envy such boozes. Concerning Abstract Spirit it’s vice versa, all people are serious being in condition of constant straight-edge, except me, certainly. After all I’m pleased to have a deal with such people. I’m not going to compare because it’s useless.
Abstract Spirit will take part in Moscow Doom Festival VI. What track list will you play this day? How much are you interested in playing there?
Well, we want to play couple of tracks from the new album, but I don’t really know yet, whether it will have time to be released. We’ll play songs from the previous ones, we haven’t made track list yet. Certainly we are interested in playing at this festival! Sepulture Union always set perfect gigs, unhesitatingly we agreed to perform.
What do you think, what Abstract Spirit fans will remember about the band if one day it stops existing?
It’s sick music, what else?
The answer is accepted and I don’t want to abuse your patience that’s why let me thank you for your time. I wish you good luck and bloody powerful performance at Moscow Doom Festival! Do you want to send some regards or something?
Thank you for the wishes; it was pleasure to have a talk. Regards to my granny who will never read this interview, I’m kidding, ha-ha. I’d like to thank our not numerous auditory for their liking us. Thank you, friends, we hope to make you enjoy our works of funeral art!
Interview By Aleks
YouTube Video
Myspace
Official Website
Russian version of the interview: HERE