ANNO DAEMONICUS - Interview with Amaymon by Dave Wolff - Music - http://maxpages.com/aeazine/ANNO

When was ANNO DAEMONICUS formed? What inspired you to start the band?
ANNO DAEMONICUS was formed in 1995 by Xevilion (formerly Evilee) and myself, Amaymon. Inspiration was formed by my strong interest in Metal and bands such as THE ABYSS, ANCIENT, EMPEROR, VARGA VINTER, and even PRIMUS and FEAR FACTORY and anything else considered original.

Describe the band's lineup, their positions and the band's history. Has this lineup always remained stable or have there been any changes since the band's inception?
Well, I am Amaymon, possessor of spiritual words and purveyor of Metal woodland overtones. Xevilion slices the six strings of bloodshed as well. Skaliskasaga (formerly Glockenspiel) conjures spells on the keys of the universe. Elric Demonwarrior relays the distant, yet equal sounds of bellowing four string summonigs. And our newest addition is Necresis who hammers the nails into the coffins of anybody who disturbs the woodland spirits. The lineup has not been stable since 1995. We've goen through five bass players in the last four years. Also, two drummers have shared our journey. Our ex-drummer, Danochar, just faded out of the picture recently due to problems he couldn't control. he is featured on all of the recordings we've produced.

Which bands, if any, would you cite as major influences? Are you more into the old school or new school of Black Metal?
My major influence has to be older METALLICA (from Justice on down), because they were the heaviest band around when I was younger besides VENOM. Also THE DOORS, and, of course, SABBAT. Of course I don't relay any of their music into ours, but those bands are what music is meant to be. I'm actually into both genres of Black Metal, but a lot of the newer stuff has a lot more orchestration and original ideas rather than the old stuff with fuzzy guitar and basic keyboard structures. I like a lot of sounds and music going on rather than scratchy noise and ALL screaming. So as Black Metal goes, I'd probably put on BAL-SAGOTH's Battle Magic rather than EMPEROR's Wrath of the Tyrant.

What does Black Metal and the imagery in ANNO DAEMONICUS' stage presence (i.e. corpsepaint, etc.) personally mean to the band?
We use corpsepaint live and also in pictures which is the only part of ANNO which I consider "unoriginal." We are trying to develop an image which is original, but that comes with time, and we're in the process of changing that now. I'm sure that anybody who knows anything about Black Metal is sick of corpsepaint.

Talk about the Black Metal scene up there in Maine. Where would you like to see it headed? Are there any other good bands along with yours there?
A Black Metal scene in Maine is only a dream in very few peoples' heads. Up here, the Metal bands are mostly Grindcore or Death Metal. There aren't even many bands in those categories. I'd like to see the scene get bigger, therefore creating a larger demand for Metal and opening places to play. We're limited on places to play because certain people in other bands give Metal a bad name up here. I guess they want to see more dance clubs open. There could be many bands that I don't know of, but one band that I'd like to see make it is SHACKLED REALITY. They play like a groovy Grind and we do a lot of shows with them.

What is your personal opinion of the infighting between fans of Black and Death Metal in the underground? Would you say it will ultimately do the scene more harm than good? Please explain your answer.
I think that fighting between Metal fans shouldn't happen at all. I'm very much against fighting unless it's done for a good purpose like rebelling against government lies or clearcutting, bt fighting within Metal music just doesn't make sense. Not everybody in the Death Metal scene are assholes; actually, I know many that aren't. But more times than others, they like to put down Metalheads that don't like the straight-forward, pitting style aggressiveness. The trouble usually kicks in when you want to be different.

Descrbe the self-titled CD demo you have out now. What kind of an experience was it to record the CD?
The CD we released in '98 was different than the style we are now playing in many aspects. It was a concept album which took many years to write. I think if you listen to the songs in order, you'll hear the progression from beginning to end. Some songs dealt with magical journeys for power and wisdom such as "The Moonstone" and "Chaos Overshadows the Valkyrian Castle" and "At Leisure in the Unspawning Dawn" which led to the defeat of Odin and how the Earth would remain under the powers of darkness and eternal celebration. Other concepts deal with nature and magic. The studio we recorded in was pretty run down and half-assed. But it was cheap so we weren't in a situation to argue. The quality came through better than we expected though. We then took the recording and got it professionally mixed and mastered, and the final product was respected by ourselves and many others.

Has there been any label interest as of yet?
We got a deal with DWELL records, and they paid us to do an OZZY track for a tribute album. So we did a song called "Waiting for Darkness" in a month, and it should be released in November 1999 everywhere. Other than that, nobosy has signed us as of yet.

Does the band plan to perform outside of Maine at any time in the days to come?
I am very anxious to perform outside of these woodlands. But I don't really have many contacts in the New England area. And fiancially, we can't afford to go any further at this point, so plans are limited.

What does ANNO DAEMONICUS ultimately hope to accomplish?
I think we would all like to make a career out of music. I'd like to travel out of the country if it was worth it to quit my job. Getting signed by a good label and getting paid to do recordings, and advertisements would be extremely helpful. I really want people to like the Metal we're doing also. All of this I would like to see happen, and we patiently await!

Any closing comments?
Thanks for the interview Dave, and hopefully I'll hear from you soon. Anybody who cares to contact us can write to me personally at: Amaymon, 697 Sawyer Rd., Greene, ME 04236 USA or Evilee@aol.com. CD's are available for $8; also a live CD is available for $5. For video footage send $2 and a blank tape. Include $2 for postage.

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