(In late January of this year Meuse Music released the second album from the Australian doom/death metal band Graves for Gods, and that prompted our Comrade Aleks to contact them for a second interview — and here it is.)
Three years ago we interviewed Graves for Gods. Jak Shadows (Voices of Doom) and Matt Spencer (Resonant Strings) told a story behind the band’s debut album The Oldest Gods, and they mentioned that the music for their second full-length was already written. It took more time than anyone might have expected, yet here’s Graves for Gods’ sophomore album Last Light Fades, released earlier this year. As you understand, there was no chance to miss a moment and talk to these two guys again.
Hi Matt! How are you? What’s new on Graves for Gods’ side?
Matt: Hi Aleks! I’m great thanks mate. Hope you’re the same! There’s plenty of new things going on with Graves for Gods. We’ve recently connected with Doom merchants Meuse Music for the release of our second album, entitled Last Light Fades. People can catch it on CD, Bandcamp, and all the usual suspects if streaming is their thing! There’s a couple of new clips up on youtube for the opening and closing tracks. We’ve just about completed the writing of album number three and also have some Bandcamp exclusive tracks on the horizon.
Yes, number three… Do you already have a general idea where to move with the third album?
Matt: For sure. Initially I’d had a perfectly clear vision, at around 3 in the morning when my mind was doing everything except for sleeping! This was for long sweeping cinematic guitar passages, rarely repeating themselves, just flowing through moods. Still heavy as hell, but not accessibly structured. However when it came time to write this, we’d weeks earlier released Last Light Fades. The cinematic structure envisioned started to feel too much of a leap from where we currently are, so it was shelved. Instead we have something I feel is very much grounded in the sounds of Last Light Fades and The Oldest Gods, but with additional elements drawn from older Doom sub-genres. There’s a definite progression, but not to the point of alienation I think.
We did an interview with you three years ago or so… how did you spend this period behind composing new material?
Matt: We’ve just been trying to make as much music as possible while circumnavigating our daily obstacles. New jobs, health, and all those things. We’ve been learning how to be more productive musically.
Back then you said that you had already worked on new material. Did it really take so much time to finish the new album?
Matt: Hah yeah it was much slower than we’d hoped for! Some of this was just refining the songs. For me, there’s generally a first draft, then a bunch of time spent listening back, waiting for the songs to make further suggestions, then testing these suggestions out until things feel finished. So much of song writing is just listening. Then as an engineer I’m learning a lot as we go, so it takes a bit longer to resolve some recording/mixing issues than it might for a career pro. Then to wrap it up our mastering engineer went on holiday halfway through the job, and the graphic designer had a whole lot of other stuff on his plate while working on our stuff. But ultimately we got it done, and we’re chuffed with the results!
You’ve told us how difficult it is to tour in Australia, has the situation improved over the last three years?
Matt: Sadly not for us. Without getting political, the cost of living in Adelaide has increased dramatically, outpacing much of the world’s similar escalation. People are staying at home. Really, this is the perfect climate for DOOM! But not so great for musicians with full-time jobs wanting to go on an Australian tour. We’d love to make this happen at some stage, but our time and money will be allocated to writing and recording for the time being.
So, no gig is scheduled yet?
Matt: Nope. But we’d love to hear from people who think they might have the right opportunity for us.
I found a brief press-release in your Bandcamp, and it’s said regarding the album: “All ambitions retained and enhanced. More violence. More tragedy. More hope”. What about your ambitions?
Matt: Crucially for us it’s about the dichotomy of violence and peace. We love to lock into a passage for minutes, a tempo for a whole song, so the listener can really sink into something, meditate if so inclined, or bang their heads and break stuff. Our ambition musically is to facilitate both.
Do you mean things like that shift from an oppressing death-doom theme to a calmer interlude in the album’s very first song “Perpetua Fell”, or the totally clean and almost psychedelic tune you started during the second part of “The Dark Age”? You have this contrast in all of the new songs indeed.
Matt: Yeah it’s partially as you say. The heavier stuff is more typically ‘violent’ at times, the psychedelic stuff is more typically ‘peaceful’. But I think it’s also present in the tempo of the songs. Often, despite all the differing sections, our songs hold much the same tempo start to finish, or subdivisions of their initial tempo. This can lend itself to a less stressful listening experience than something that might chop and change more drastically. Ten minutes of really brutal doom at 60bpm can facilitate a hypnotic peace in the listener if so inclined.
Foremost, each album starts with an artwork, and you have this hung nun in quite a creepy environment. Is this image connected with Last Light Fades’ lyrical themes?
Jak: Yes, it is absolutely connected. It is a vision of the state of lost faith, devotion, and sanctity. The fall of the trinity one might speculate. It is a simplistic image of horror tied with our themes, provoking the listener to draw their own conclusion, and as such something of a metaphor.
So it’s not a possessed nun nor demon-worshiper in disguise, is that right?
Jak: No, as much as I love horror and those themes there is no possession or demon worshipping behind this image. The horror comes from the loss of absolute faith, the stark sense of abandonment to the point of taking one’s own life in disregard to the scriptures’ warning against suicide due to its path to hell.
Also it’s said there that Last Light Fades is “a masterclass of indoctrination and manipulation, of the corruption of man through Idolatry and Divinity”. Which train of thought led you to such a concept?
Jak: I have always enjoyed history and it’s remarkable how easily people can be controlled and led; religion is the perfect way to create unity and dehumanise other humans at the same time. Empires fall and beliefs change, sometimes with a bang and sometimes with a slow slide. I feel this resonating with life right now and worth a sojourn for Graves for Gods.
And so we come close to education’s crisis, isn’t it? The issue is much deeper, yet I wonder if there is any country where state schools teach kids to think in an analytic way. Was there something like this in your childhood by the way?
Matt: The Australian public education system is in a pretty good place at the moment I think. Many schools offer an incredibly diverse range of classes, for scientific, artistic, athletic students, and more. Most schools have ‘debating’ groups that compete with other schools, which can very much encourage analytical thought. I think there’s not yet a genuine ‘white washing’ of history here. It’s such a young country in it’s current form, with strong representation from so many cultures, and kids are exposed to so much of the world just through their classmates, it’s an incredibly expansive time.
The education system was far more narrow in my childhood. It was pretty much a case of get good at maths and science or suffer. Fortunately my home was filled with music!
Great to hear it, it sounds like a really healthy system! Your previous album took listeners to “the journey through the rise and fall of Sumerian religion”. Did this topic somehow relate to the story behind the new album?
Jak: In a way yes, it does. It encapsulates Graves for Gods, the changing of beliefs and reveals the path to the graveyard of the old ones.
Subjectively, Last Light Fades doesn’t differ critically from your debut The Oldest Gods, yet it has another level of an epic vibe, another level of storytelling so to say. How do you see the differences between both albums from the position of their author? Is it still “Celebratory Funeral Doom”?
Matt: For sure yes, the celebratory funeral doom angle is still integral, but not the entirety. It’s a foundation we aim to build on with elements of death-doom, stoner doom, even post-rock and more. I think it’s a more bold album structurally than the first. I love the lull in the middle and the lift at the end. This definitely contributes to the epic vibe you mention. I’m chuffed with the production too. More weight, more refined than the first, but still rough and raw.
Jak: From my perspective I would say yes, absolutely, we get a maniacal boogie on for the title track!
I see your point, although I can’t agree with the boogie definition totally)) However you guys play in a couple of other bands, what’s the news on this front?
Matt: For myself, we’ve finally launched an eclectic electronic project named Modern Day Heretics. It’s properly dark stuff, but not genre affiliated. We released 60 tracks across 20 EPs on Bandcamp last year. For Jak, he released the debut album of his Melodic Black metal band Dream Upon Tombs. It’s terrific! And Ryan has a whole bunch of stuff on the go, my current favourite of which is Sundowner. They’re much like the early High on Fire/Electric Wizard style stoner doom. Heavy stuff.
Graves for Gods are on the Belgian Meuse Music Records. Did you ever discuss a chance to play in Europe? Would it be worth all the effort?
Matt: We’d absolutely love to be bringing Graves for Gods to European stages. We’ve not discussed this with Meuse as yet. They do some great work and when the time is right we’d definitely look to them for guidance. Our major obstacle right now is the financial one. We’re not currently in a position to cover all the associated costs by ourselves. For us, for the thrill, it will definitely be worth the effort. There’s a ridiculously rich history of metal through Europe, plus just as a tourist, the historical architecture and the traditional beer, wines, and spirits are huge draw cards.
What are your plans for 2026?
Matt: We’ll be grinding away on album number three with a mid-2027 release in mind and just writing every chance we get. The zeitgeist is extremely conducive to creating DOOM! We’ll make the most of it!
Thanks for the interview gents! Did we skip something important on our way?
Matt: Thanks so much Aleks! Great to talk to you. Anyone who’s interested can check us at: