Rockezine.com interview with DoomSword on Jul 10, 2002

with Deathmaster on Jul 10, 2002

The Italian heavy metal band DoomSword has surrounded itself with an aura of mystery during their three years of existence. Now, after the release of their new album, “Resound The Horn”, Deathmaster answers some questions about the what and why behind this epic heavy metal band.
		The music on “Resound The Horn” almost sounds like a nostalgic journey back in time, epic heavy metal guitar riffs from the days of yore.
		But what strikes me most is the sound of the album; in my opinion it has an eighties ring to it and sometimes even a Viking metal ring to it. Was this done on purpose or just a coincidence? No, it was the precise aim of the album, and I’m glad to see that someone noticed it! At the time of our first album, we created a sound that was much more a tribute to all the bands we like than a real personal composition. Now we tried to develop that kind of sound into something more personal and original. We have learned the lesson and we now want to become as legendary as our teachers were.
		Your music is very difficult to categorize, but how would you describe DoomSword’s music yourself? First of all, it is pure Heavy Metal. I agree with those people who add some terms to describe a certain kind of music better, but I don’t think about epic metal as a different thing from classic metal: they all belong to HMHM: His Majesty’s Heavy Metal. If I had to choose some terms to define DoomSword’s music I would surely say Epic Doom Heavy Metal.
		Just for the sake of comparison, how would you compare DoomSword to Italian’s most known fantasy oriented metal band Rhapsody? In the same way you can compare their lyrics: Rhapsody are fantasy oriented, their lyrics are about pure-hearted fair haired warriors, DoomSword chants the glory of historical heroes who died with their sword in hand.
		Most of your lyrics are clearly about Northern European mythology. Can you tell me why you decided to use that type of lyrics, being an Italian band and all? I have to tell you that only two out of seven songs concern the Viking topic, of which we are long time passionate fans. There are even songs about Celtic sagas and medieval tales, too. What lies behind this passion for ages long time gone is our admiration for ancient folks who lived in the name of honour, and their sincere bond with nature. None of us can himself define the term “pagan”, but we have a real pagan soul. Anyway I don’t want to bore with philosophical speeches about our vision of life, just keep in mind that we are really sincere and serious when we talk about those topics.
Just keep in mind that we are really sincere and serious...		Any other topics you use in your lyrics? As I said before, we even talk about Celtic legends and historical facts. The only strange song, regarding lyrics, is “The DoomSword”, which can be considered our idea of the word DoomSword itself.
		Did you spend a lot of time researching the old Norse mythology and other medieval topics or was most of it already sort of common knowledge before you decided to found DoomSword? I’m a long time Viking history passionate, and I read tons of material about it. Maybe I know Viking history as precisely as the Roman one, even if there are a lot more books about the Romans. I have always been especially interested in medieval times, with all its folks and populations. Vikings were simply among them, but I started reading this kind of stuff even before I started to listen to Heavy Metal, many many years ago.
		Before you founded DoomSword you had a medieval project called 1014 A.D. Unfortunately however, that project never really came off the ground. Can you tell me a bit more about it? 1014 A.D. was a really difficult project. Too many proper instruments were needed to make it sound good. We were medieval music passionates, but had no medieval instruments to play. The stuff we recorded has been played with our modern acoustic guitars, but we immediately noticed that we were not on the right track, even if the material was good. I don’t think I’ll ever return to 1014 A.D. for DoomSword is the natural evolution of what that project was. Besides I don’t think I will be able to find the right musicians in a short period of time. Anyway, the song “Foredoomed” on our demo is the only example of what 1014 A.D. might have been if we continued on playing that stuff with our modern guitars instead of lutes.
		Does the concept of 1014 A.D. still influence the music you write for DoomSword and if so, in what way? The music of 1014 A.D. heavily influenced our very first period, so that two out of five songs on the DoomSword demo were 1014 A.D. stuff transformed into heavy metal songs. But I think that no other songs were inspired by medieval music after those tunes.
		When singer Nightcomer left the band you decided to take care of the vocals yourself again, but did you ever think of a replacement for him? It has been a hard decision, all has been led in friendly terms, but I had to tell Nightcomer that there was no room for him anymore since I just WANTED to sing on our second album. I surely don’t want to be replaced…ahaha!
I surely don’t want to be replaced…ahaha!		If you could choose anyone and I mean anyone to join your band as a singer, who would it be? Eric Adams (from Manowar).
		I’m very interested to hear how Ancient’s drummer Grom got involved on this album? Did he himself contact you or is there a story behind it all? We have been friends for a long time. I mean, we usually go and drink a couple of beers together every week. When he knew we were without a drummer, he asked us if he could play, and we agreed.
		After your first album “DoomSword”, you kept a very mysterious aura around the band; no live gigs and not even promotional pictures, will this change after the release of “Resound The Horn”? Surely not. We really want to maintain this halo of mystery, for the music must speak instead of our faces… We are the most distant thing you can imagine from a rock star band. We recently received the proposal to play with Manilla Road on the 22nd of October here in Italy, so we are thinking about some live activity, but I don’t know in which terms it will be done.
		Thanks for this interview and good luck with your album! Anything left unsaid? Thank you for the interview, and thanks to all the people who supported us in these 3 years of darkness. DoomSword lives for you.
(Frank van de Voorde)