Interview with Zero Tolerance - November 2009

Congratulations on the new album, Vast Oceans Lachrymose - this has taken six years to surface, what have you been up to in that time?

Cheers…I hope everyone who has waited so patiently for so long feels it has been worth the wait. As for what we’ve been up to all these years, while I’d like to say that we’ve been labouring over the album for more than half a decade, the fact is that is only half true; most of the album was recorded throughout 2005-2006, and sessions didn’t recommence until May 2009. This isn’t to say we were just sitting ‘round on our arses during the years between, rather a good year or so was spent procuring the necessary music gear to finish the album properly, and the rest of the time our other bands (Twisted Tower Dire and Brave in particular) had commitments to fulfil. Additionally, there were births, marriages, deaths, and serious illnesses that required our attentions – all very personal matters that obviously take precedence over any musical endeavour.

From our last interview this one feels like it has taken longer than previous works to reach the finishing stages - or has been more of a struggle - is this the case?

Indeed the interstice between “Of Empires Forlorn” and “Vast Oceans Lachrymose” was a year longer than that between “Sorrow Of The Angels” and “Empires,” but barring extenuating circumstances, it’s more or less par for the course; being that we’re still 100% self-financed (and none of us are even close to being wealthy, rather living paycheck-to-paycheck), it always takes us longer to complete an album than most bands – especially considering my penchant for perfectionism. The latter point isn’t just a case of me being obsessive-compulsive, rather the whole purpose of WHW is to express emotions and music precisely, plus I want to offer nothing less than the best possible results to our very loyal audience. That said, there was a period when the well of lyrical inspiration had run dry, and I refuse to force anything related to WHW into being, so it took another crushing blow to my heart and soul to spawn the deluge that enabled us to complete the album.

Each song in the liner notes has a list of years beneath - some spanning more than a decade - what do these represent?

The dates printed under the song titles indicate when each song was written, revised, and completed. I’ve always felt that this added touch provided some interesting insight into the world of WHW, especially if one were to place songs released on different albums alongside others composed around the same time to really suss where we were as writers, and just how much we’ve kept to ourselves over the years, regardless of quality. In the case of “Vast Oceans Lachrymose” the earliest dates refer to the music itself, and those more recent, the lyrics.

If they show the years you have worked on the songs, why do you choose this approach?

The bottom line is, the music itself dictates everything; being that I rely strictly on revelation as far as establishing the foundation of the songs, it’s less of a choice and more a matter of “divine intervention.” Sometimes, as evidenced by the aforementioned dating, this can take years, but it is a very natural process, not at all contrived. It’s only after the basic structures have completed themselves, that I’ll actually sit down to sort out orchestrations and arrangements. This is also very true of the lyrics – there’s no rhyme or reason, they just come to me when the cosmos determines it’s time.

Does it not feel strange to be working on material which you began over a decade ago, in a completely different period of your life?

Not at all; there’s usually a very clear vision of each album, and each one dictates a specific flow, atmosphere, or experience – we always yield to this, even if we have more recent material that we’re excited about. We’re well aware of all the songs that exist in the WHW archives, and even those that are near and dear to our hearts such as “Vessel” or “To Wander The Void,” simply didn’t fit in within the flow of previous releases. Every one of the songs is like a child, none more important, and eventually each one will have its own opportunity to shine, when the time is right. This also prevents us from losing sight of where we’ve come from, and no one can accuse us of this since every album is a combination of material new and old.

What were the biggest challenges when recording the album?

Apart from the aforementioned lyrical drought, the greatest struggles were surpassing our own very high standards across the board (performance, production, etc.) with a limited budget, and perhaps even more difficult, was meeting the deadlines established to reach the release dates. We actually delivered the album a month late, and for the preceding eight weeks, engineer Chris Salamone and I worked nearly non-stop…often 20 hours plus a day, with very little sleep…to the point of complete exhaustion physically and spiritually. Two weeks before the album was completed I literally collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital.

Why the nautical theme, and how integral is this to the album, do you think?

When the concept of “Vast Oceans Lachrymose” first developed in 1995 or so, it was simply another way of saying “endless sea of tears,” inspired by a line in a very early WHW song called “The Mourning,” so it wasn’t exactly based upon nautical themes originally, but over the years the metaphors grew exponentially throughout the songs. The bottom line is the allure of the ocean and it’s relativity to the human experience couldn’t be a more appropriate inspiration for music that mirrors the ebb and flow, serenity and tumult of the sea. Being that the album is in fact a journey, I’d endeavour to suggest the thematic aspects are essential…even down to the graphic presentation. “VOL” is a very concise package overall, and we certainly had enough time to really think it through!

What do you think drives you to make the music you do?

The music of WHW is driven strictly by heart and soul, nothing else. Real emotions, relationships, experiences, and circumstances are the driving forces behind WHW…always have been, always will be.

The world of epic doom sometimes feels pretty barren - why do you think there aren't that many more people like yourself out there playing this kind of music?

That is a difficult question for me to answer, due to the fact that I don’t consider WHW to be a doom band at all, at least not since the 90’s when clearly that was the best description of our music at the time…but apparently everyone else still considers our music as such, and it absolutely does remain a key element within the “WHW sound,” so I’ll have a go at responding insightfully. While the number of all the epic doom bands that have ever existed can be counted on our fingertips, the reality is this music isn’t very far removed from that of classic metal whatsoever…perhaps just a bit slower and darker, otherwise I struggle to see any difference. This might also explain why I feel that WHW has more in common with more traditional melodic metal bands than blues-based, Sabbath-influenced doom. Consider bands like Doomsword or even specific albums such as the most recent Manilla Road…what makes them different from something like a “New Dark Age” or “Beyond The Crimson Horizon?” Not much in my estimation...you know, maybe it’s simply a matter of people being weary of coming across as contrived or cheesy, but if you feel it in your soul, then I’d say there’s little chance of that, and bollocks to external opinions anyway.

What for the future - is it going to be another six years before we hear more from you?

First and foremost, we want to get out in support of “Vast Oceans Lachrymose” as much as possible; the integration of that material into the set makes for a very exciting concert experience for us, and hopefully the audience as well…full of twists and turns, tension, contrasts, it’s going to be a great thing indeed. Beyond that, the priority is recording the follow-up album “Fear Of Infinity” as soon as it is financially possible – it is already complete musically, and is very much the other, darker half of “Vast Oceans Lachrymose.” Hopefully we’ll be able to sort that out in far less time than it took between the other albums, but I suppose that is largely up to the record-buying populace…this time, it really does depend upon people picking up the CD, LP, or buying a shirt…the sooner we pay off this massive recording debt, the sooner we can get cracking on “Fear Of Infinity” – that is the bottom line.