photo by Frank Ralph
(In mid-August Profound Lore Records released Distortions, a new album by British doom metallers Godthrymm, and today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview with two members of the band, Hamish Glencross and Shaun Taylor-Steels.)
The name Godthrymm is familiar to many, and doom fans couldn’t help but hear how this UK-based band fired off one after another top-notch EPs A Grand Reclamation (2018) and Dead in the Studio (2019), and then struck with an epic full-length manifesto, Reflections (2020).
Their traditional, epic-oriented doom metal has deep roots. The singing guitarist Hamish Glencross went through the universities of My Dying Bride and Vallenfyre. The drummer Shaun Taylor-Steels played not only with the Brides, but also with Anathema. And if we dig deeper, we can easily find that both of them studied the basics of doom back in the ’90s, as part of the ever-memorable Solstice team.
Hamish and Shaun, along with bassist Sasquatch Bob and Hamish‘s wife, Catherine, who this time sings and plays keyboards, returned this August with a new album, Distortions.
(This interview was conducted shortly before the release of the album and was first published in the Spanish metal-magazine This Is Metal.)
Hi! Thanks for your time; it’s much appreciated. It looks like Distortions is going to be released very soon, so how do you plan to support the release? Do you see a demand for a number of live shows in the UK and abroad?
Hamish: I hope we’ll see some good offers for shows coming on once the reviews are out and people have heard the album. We’ve been enjoying some great shows already playing the new material and I hope we get the opportunity to play live as much as opportunity allows. The video for “Devils” is out and is being seen by people; I think that serves as a great instruction to the band as it has the visual element too.
The way from Reflections to Distortions looks fast and comfortable: you’re on the same label, and the lineup is the same too. Did you meet any obstacles on your way to the new release?
Hamish: We faced the obstacle of not being able to write and rehearse in the same room for an extended period of time. Thankfully we made the best of that situation and instead wrote and recorded demos remotely and sent them through to each other. This allowed for a lot of time and attention allowing the songs to mature and develop. There was a great period of writing and rewriting, and by doing so much pre-production demo work, meant we had the opportunity to try different vocal styles and ideas before settling down to the final versions.
Shaun started to play doom in 1995, when he joined Solstice. Hamish, as I understand, started his way to doom one year earlier in prog doom band Seer’s Tear. What did you learn about the genre after all these years? Did you find a universal formula or something?
Shaun: At least for ourselves we have learned how well we bounce ideas off of each other. When we’re writing together, we know how to jam out in a way that immediately sounds like ourselves. It’s very natural. We’re looking forward to doing more writing in the rehearsal room again.
Hamish: I think the term “doom” has become very broad and can be used quite frequently in some styles that are actually very different. Doom for me always needs heartfelt emotion and passion. Not just loud amps.
Distortions sounds richer and more saturated than Reflections. Was it your intention from the start to make something different and yet to keep the band’s individuality as it is?
Hamish: Absolutely. And because the music this time around is much more layered and complex, we needed a production that would allow all the instrumentation the necessary space it all needs to breathe and be properly appreciated. That’s where Andy Hawkins came in. We actually recorded a couple of songs at the Nave Studio with him before settling on using that formula for the album. Do check out the single “Chasms” if you haven’t already done so.
photo by Frank Ralph
Your first records, including Reflections, got quite positive feedback. Did you get some criticism that you took into account when you composed the new songs? Do bad reviews (if there were any) spoil the picture for a band like Godthrymm?
Hamish: I wouldn’t want to take any negative reaction too much to heart. Ultimately we write to satisfy our own muse and passion. There’s a lot of very personal stuff on this new album, and it’s incredible if people connect to that, but if someone doesn’t appreciate what we do, then that’s fine too. Art will always be subjective.
Catherine got more space for new songs, how natural was this decision? And how did you reach the balance regarding her and Hamish’s vocals on the album?
Hamish: I love having Catherine doing more vocals. Not only has she got a beautiful voice, it relieves pressure off me being a sole vocalist. Also the quality of her voice has inspired me to grow and develop my own vocals. The writing process we had this time allowed us to even try alternate versions of the vocals where we would see how it sounded if we each tried a certain section, and then just go with what sounded the best.
One of doom trends in the ’90s was “the beauty and the beast” gothic doom wave started by Theatre of Tragedy. Why do you think the UK hadn’t any bands of this kind? And can you imagine Godthrymm turning into this kind of a band with more emphasis on the gothic side of doom even if we take MDB as an example of this genre (as some of their fans suggest).
Hamish: I think there’s a couple of bands in the U.K. doing that style. It certainly seemed more popular in mainland Europe though, definitely. A lot of that style sounded quite keyboard driven rather than guitar driven, and so I don’t think we’d really go down that route.
photo by Frank Ralph
You started composing Distortions during the quarantine. Was that a reason why we hear not only Catherine’s vocals but also Hamish’s daughters in one of the songs?
Hamish: We recorded a few things for fun with the girls during lockdown, so it was a great opportunity for them to add some creepy nursery rhyme style atmosphere! We wanted to get the kind of thing that might crop up in a film!
Aaron Stainthorpe performs vocals in “Follow Me”, and it’s interesting how you (having such a rich background) managed to avoid strict associations with the bands you played in before, like Anathema, MDB, or Solstice. Was it one of your main points to emphasise Godthrymm’s individuality?
Hamish: I think it’s important. I spent 15 years in My Dying Bride and also 9 years in a band with Gregor Mackintosh. It would stand to reason there would be some echoes and references in what I write now that would harken back to then. I don’t want to feel I have to go out of my way to sound one way to avoid sounding like another. I think I’ve got a certain style and that can be heard across the different things I’ve done and contributed to. I hope we’re forging our own sound and take on this style though.
What’s your ultimate motivation to keep on playing doom metal for so many years? Is it your natural way to direct your creative inner impulse? Or is it a kind of universal “the cry for mankind”?
Shaun; It’s always pissing it down here in the U.K. so it’s not always going to be shiny and happy!!
Ah, well, you’ve got to remember that doom spelled backwards is mood which makes it the most emotive of all the genres. And that’s scientifically verifiable by any linguistics professor.
Hamish: It’s just absolutely the style that I feel most comfortable in and can connect with.
Is it true that you have already worked over new material and even have a working name for Godthrymm’s third album? How much have you written already?
Hamish: Yes, I’ve started writing for the next album Projections with the idea being a bit more experimental and mixing up some different sounds and styles to push things forward. So far, there’s a whole song and a few developed ideas. By starting now, it allows plenty of time for the songs to go through a period of reflection, experimentation and development as required.
Thanks for the interview! I hope we’ll have a chance to discuss the next Godthrymm album soon, but that’s all for today. Do you have a few more words for our readers?
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the band. Please do check out the new album and I hope you find something of a connection. I hope we get chance to share this live with as many people as we can. Cheers!
https://www.facebook.com/godthrymm/
https://godthrymmdoom.bandcamp.com/music