Interview with Shroud of Woe Zine, February 2003

1. Hello Tom! I know, that now you will curse me, but I would like you to present the (pre)history of the band and the most important events so far. How did it all start?

While Heaven Wept began in 1989 under the name Dream Wytch, and was inspired musically by Candlemass, Fates Warning, Celtic Frost, Voivod, Coroner, Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Kitaro. After the last founding member, besides myself, left in 1991, the moniker While Heaven Wept was insurrected, but we continued performing the songs composed under the original name. After experiencing several personal tragedies, the songs became much more introspective, hopeless, and doomed (we originally had a fair amount of Thrash and Avant Garde elements, as well as the Neo-classical Doom sound). Over the years, WHW has undergone a staggering 65 line-up changes, but the musical vision has remained more or less the same, and the ultimate purpose is still both catharsis and the expression of my innermost thoughts/emotions. After 4 years of rehearsals and line-up changes, things solidified in 1993 and we prepared to do our first recordings. Although the line-up has continued to be somewhat fluid since then, we have managed to release 3 CD's, 3 7"s, a double-LP anthology, and have appeared on numerous compilations over the years. The current line-up has the greatest chemistry so far, and consists of: Jim Hunter - bass, Scott Loose - guitar, Jason Gray - drums, and myself on keyboards, guitar, and vocals. With the return of Michelle Loose on keyboards for the upcoming live performances, we have essentially reverted back to the 1998 line-up, except Jason is on drums now instead of Jon Paquin (who recorded all of the material prior to "Empires" with us), and we are also working with Juan Somarriba, who is handling some additional guitar parts live. The most important events in our career are the realization of all of our recordings, the accurate expression of both my emotions as well as the music I hear inside of myself, and lastly, the development of a strong core line-up. These events define success for me.

2. Let's start with your latest news. Is it true that you will be the vocalist of Solstice?

Yes, it is true that I am rejoining Solstice after a 6-year absence. Things did not really work out the last time I was with them because of line-up changes, my own inexperience, lack of label support, and my commitment to While Heaven Wept, so our full potential was never realized. When Rich Walker decided to reform the band, he chose the members very specifically, and since no formal announcement has been made regarding this, I am not going to discuss that aspect right now, but I will say that the new line-up is essentially an "underground super group," comprised of musicians from several reasonably well-known entities. Rich is currently finishing the compositions for "To Sol A Thane," and all I know for sure is that it will be bereft of any NWOBHM influences, meaning it will be 100% bastard heavy Epic Doom Metal. The aforementioned NWOBHM influences that were present on "New Dark Age" will be implemented in Rich's other project Isen Torr, also guaranteed to be storming, Epic battle metal.

3. At the time of this interview, your newest effort 'Of Empires Forlorn' is about to be released. Can you tell me something about the recording session? As far as I know, not all of the songs are brand-new. Am I right?

We first began tracking the album in February 2002, and that initial recording process stretched out through the end of June; we recorded about one week per month until June, when we were in for about 3 weeks straight. The studio was booked by another artist from July until November, so we took a couple early mixes from the sessions and produced "The Drowning Years" single, which came out in October, hot on the heels of the "Chapter One" double LP. We returned to the studio the second week of November, and we worked straight through the first half of December, finally mastering the album just days before Christmas. It was a very intense and grueling process, but ultimately very successful in my opinion. The album really did take on a life of its own during those last few weeks, and we definitely captured some magic on tape.

As with all of the WHW releases, the songs are culled from various eras, which helps to make a diverse album. The "Empires" album is predominantly new material however, with only a couple exceptions: "Voice In The Wind" is my adaptation of an old symphonic/progressive rock song originally done by the German band Jane in 1977; the version on our album is completely different from their version, with the exception of the title, and the basic keyboard ideas. Then there is "Epistle No.81," which is a Carl Michael Bellman composition (Sweden's equivalent to Shakespeare) that has been recorded by numerous artists over the years, including Candlemass. Our version was based on that one, but given a WHW-style orchestration, and done out of pure love for the piece, with the utmost respect. Lastly, the song "Sorrow Of The Angels" was originally recorded in 1994, on the "Lovesongs Of The Forsaken" release, but this new version is much more orchestrated, as I always intended it to be.

4. I am fortunate enough to be able to listen to your new album right now and I have to admit that you did a great job on it!! I am very impressed! Who was mainly responsible for composing tracks? How does the process of creating new songs occur in While Heaven Wept?

Thank you for the compliments. I have been the primary composer for WHW since the very beginning, and this album is no exception, although Jim contributed many ideas to the final arrangements as well. This does not mean that WHW is a tyranny; it is just that everyone is so involved with their other projects that they don't have much time to contribute music to this band as well, but it is true that since we became WHW, it has been my vehicle for personal expression all these years. I think the reason this album turned out so well is because we at least tried out every idea that everyone came up with, even if some ideas were not implemented. Everyone did contribute in some capacity, but Jim really was the most involved in this whole process with me, and it would not have turned out the same without the two of us analyzing every possible detail.

As for the actual compositional process, it tends to vary from song to song, and album to album. With a lot of the earlier material, the lyrics were written before the music, but on this album it was just the opposite. Musically, some songs are composed in a matter of minutes, completely writing themselves (like "Sorrow Of The Angels" or "Soulsadness"), while others are composed over several years ("Of Empires Forlorn" and "Thus With A Kiss I Die" from the last album). There is no real rhyme or reason to it all; it is simply revealed to me when it is meant to be. I don't sit down and forcibly write anything ever. Only after the basic exo-skeleton develops, will I sit down and sort out the orchestrations and nuances.

5. My impression is that 'Of Empires Forlorn' is a concept-album. Am I right? The usually silent moments between songs are filled with the hum of ocean waves and wind, which seems to confirm my thesis.

Well, although there are running themes between some of the songs and even the various albums, "Empires" is not a proper concept album. It does have that feeling of a journey to it, and one probably could turn it into one long tale, but that was not intentional. The atmospheric segments on the albums serve to enhance the mood and assist the flow from song to song. If you perceived them abstractly you could suggest that they are as metaphoric as some of the images in the lyrics, but really they just contributed to the overall flow of things musically.

6. And what can you tell us about the lyrics? What are they all about?

All of the While Heaven Wept lyrics throughout the years have been entirely based upon my personal experiences, which does tend to separate us from a lot of the other bands, who tend to write fantastic tales, or speak of global catastrophes and such. I don't want to be too specific here, because many of the songs on "Empires" refer to two or three different things at once, and I would prefer to leave it open to interpretation, but I will admit duality has always been an aspect of my lyrics. Generally, in the past, they referred to the demise of a very specific relationship, but on "Empires," I am discussing a wide array of topics, mostly "filling in the gaps" over the last 13 years since that relationship came to an end. The lyrics can refer to specific events, people, thoughts, and emotions simultaneously.

I do implement a lot of fantastic and religious imagery in the lyrics, but that has always been to create vivid portraits and/or articulate the magnitude of the emotions I am feeling. While Heaven Wept is NOT a religious band whatsoever - I just use these images because they conjure such strong reactions in those faithful.

7. When I listen to 'Sorrow of the Angels' and 'Of Empires Forlorn' the great step that you took between these two albums concerning both quality of compositions and the performance is very obvious to me. You have progressed greatly. Now this music defends itself, lives on its own. It can be seen that you, as a band move around with ease.

Thank you. It is reassuring to know that we have not become stagnant in the four or five years since "Sorrow Of The Angels." I agree that we have progressed significantly. I really view the entire first decade of recordings as nothing more than developmental or "student" works. Only now has WHW really come into its own in my opinion.

8. Personally I only know about your 2 full-length albums 'Sorrow of the Angels' and 'Of Empires Forlorn.' Unfortunately, I don't know anything about your previous output. Can you describe it? Did you also play epic doom? I heard that you used growling vocals at one point (some very small remains of them can be heard also on 'Of Empires Forlorn')?

While Heaven Wept has more or less always been equated with Epic Doom Metal, and I do embrace this categorization, although I do feel like we are more than JUST Doom. There was a brief period, around 1991, when I took over the vocals, that I implemented the guttural vocal style, but by 1992, we'd gone back to clean vocals exclusively. Now, it is just a matter of what is appropriate for each song. The "Chapter One" Anthology includes everything from the "Sorrow Of The Angels" back to our first releases. It would be safe to say that all of this material could be considered Epic Doom Metal, and the majority of those songs were composed at the same time.

9. You uploaded your whole album as mp3 tracks on the net a couple of weeks ago. You also allowed Doom-metal.com radio station to broadcast the entire 'Of Empires Forlorn' album on the Internet. As far as the potential fan of your music is concerned, it is very appreciated. What about Eibon Records? Haven't they raised any objections?

We decided before we finished the "Empires" recording that we would utilize every opportunity to promote the album everywhere we possibly could. Eibon is fully in support of our decision to make the album as readily available as we can. We want this album to be heard. All of the mp3's that we released on the internet are NOT of CD quality sound, except for those which have the streaming option, and unless someone made an mp3 of the entire album as one piece, there is no way that it would sound the way the actual product does, because the sound is continuous throughout. We want all of our fans and potential fans to have access to our music without having to sift through obscure distributors, and by making it so accessible, our theory is that people can sample the album before buying it, rather than relying on press reviews or word of mouth.

10. I still do not know what labels you are affiliated with. Copyrights to 'Of Empires Forlorn' belong to your company Vast Music Lachrymose, right? Eibon can only release this stuff in Europe if I'm not mistaken.

"Of Empires Forlorn," like all WHW recordings has been entirely self-financed by the band, and is the property of our own label Vast Music Lachrymose. Basically, the plan is to license the album out to various labels worldwide (although nothing else has been confirmed at the time of this writing), thereby making it available in every region (usually divided by continent), but the band still ultimately owns all the copyrights. Our arrangement with Eibon is a bit different, in that Mauro releases the album on his label, and provides us with X number of copies. It is primarily an arrangement between brethren, and there are no restrictions to the Eibon edition, other than the quantity that will be pressed. In the case of "Empires" it is strictly limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, packaged in the typically extravagant Eibon fashion. With a bonus track!

11. What about While Heaven Wept's gigs? Do you play them often? Can you describe the typical WHW concert?

Due to the personal nature of the material, WHW rarely performs live, however we will be doing several shows in support of the "Empires" album for sure. In the early days (around 1991-92) we did perform at several private parties locally, and then after the release of the "Sorrow" album, we did a small number of concerts throughout 1999, and that is about it. Live, WHW is much heavier than on vinyl or CD, and the stage is usually bathed in deep purple or blue lights...very dark, very heavy, very intense. Our sets consist of songs from all of our releases, sometimes all the way back to the first 7". We will return to the stage in the spring of 2003, and are tentatively planning to a tour in Europe for early 2004, especially if Doom Shall Rise 2 is to transpire.

12. I have been asking some famous doom metal musicians for their opinion on doom scene lately. Which bands do you think highly of? Do you also consider the year of 2003 as the Year of Doom? And finally, what do you think about our Shroud of Woe zine? Is there chance for it to stand the chance of time (Especially, in the world of webzines)?

In many ways I do feel as though 2003 is the Year Of Doom, with the reformations of Revelation, Candlemass, and Trouble, as well as a plethora of new releases from Orodruin, Mirror Of Deception, The Doomsday Cult, Isole (formerly Forlorn from Sweden), WHW, and Solitude Aeternus to name a few. These are all bands that I highly regard personally, and there is also Thunderstorm, Dawn Of Winter, Doomshine, The Reverend Bizarre, Minotauri, Spiritus Mortis, Cold Mourning, Pale Divine, and Warning all of whom I adore. I do quite enjoy some of the new death/doom like Whispering Gallery as well as the Funeral stylings of bands like Skepticism, Shape Of Despair, Catacombs, Thergothon, etc.

I think the concept of Shroud of Woe is awesome, and I hope that you will continue to produce it for many issues to come; very few Doom 'zines have lasted beyond a handful of issues, and even the longest running entities ultimately expired in the early teens (Reflections Of Doom and Psychedelic Zine). You certainly have my full support, and I will be happy to refer people to Shroud of Woe for sure.

13. Ok, we will be finishing. The last specific question. Do you have plans for the next opus?

As far back as 1994, we had planned on following up the "Sorrow" album with "Vast Oceans Lachrymose," so that is the next release to come from WHW (finally). You see, originally, "Of Empires Forlorn" was going to be an EP when we were working with The Miskatonic Foundation, but Rich was adamant about the inclusion of more and more new material. We did not completely see eye to eye about this, because I wanted to include some older songs re-vamped, since all of our early releases were out of print, and also because it was an easy way to break in a new line-up, so we ended up going with Eibon once again in order to realize the exact vision that I had personally. Eventually, however, "Empires" developed into the second WHW album proper, largely in part due to Rich's insistence. At any rate, by the time we had entered the studio to record the "Empires" album, we had already completed 90% of the material for the "VOL" album as well, so now we are simply rehearsing those songs, refining them, and trying to raise the funds for their recording. The "Vast Oceans Lachrymose" album will be even more diverse than "Empires" and will feature another long composition (like "Thus..." from the "Sorrow" album), as well as several shorter pieces. On one hand, some of the material is much more aggressive than our past work, but other songs are even more funereal than ever before. Hopefully "VOL" will be recorded and released within 2 years of the release of "Empires."

14. Feel free to encourage our readers to listen to the wonderful (IMHO) 'Of Empires Forlorn'. Thanx for the interview. Good luck with While heaven Wept!

Thank you for the opportunity to express myself, and for your support of While Heaven Wept. I wish you all the best with Shroud of Woe.

"Of Empires Forlorn" as mentioned previously is a very diverse album and should appeal to fans of ALL styles of Doom, as well as Metal fans in general. We encourage everyone to check out the mp3's on our websites: www.whileheavenwept.com and www.mp3.com/whw. For more information about the Eibon pressing go to their site: www.eibonrecords.com. You can contact the band for more information about other releases and merchandise at our aforementioned site, via email plomerus@hotmail.com, or snail mail: While Heaven Wept, 4809 Lockwood Lane, Dale City, VA. 22193 USA

Thanks to all our fans and colleagues for their support over all these years. Doom Onward...