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Despond interview (11/2004)


With: Richard Loudin - All instruments
Conducted by: Azhidahak
Published: 05.11.2004

Band profile:

Despond






- Could you please give a short history of your band to those readers who don't know about you yet?

DESPOND was founded in 1995 from the ashes of our previous death metal band called Perished. We released one demo tape in 1996 and one live tape album in 1997. As the band was about to record its debut album, it unfortunately disbanded, but I decided to keep DESPOND alive under the form of my personal project. During a couple of years, nothing happened until in 2001 when I unburried this project and started writing brand new songs. In 2002 and 2003, DESPOND reformed with new members and we played some gigs in France, Belgium and England. My debut album "Supreme Funeral Oration" was finally released in 2003 by Haceldama Productions and DESPOND has turned back to a one-man band once again.

- How would you describe your debut album "Supreme Funeral Oration" to those people that haven't heard it yet? And to whom would you recommend this album?

"SFO" is the very personal achievement of many years of solitary work. This album includes 6 songs of extreme and atmospheric doom/death metal. It is a musical and lyrical ode to the night, the stellar domains and the kingdom of darkness. I recommend this album to every listener of dark and painful music, which is to be named extreme doom metal?

- Most of the songs on your album last an average of 10 minutes. I was wondering, do you think that it is technically more difficult to compose many short tracks or a few longer tracks?

In my opinion, it is obviously more complex to develop long songs than short ones. I experienced both exercises since I also take part to other musical projects besided DESPOND. Concerning the songs of "SFO", their basis is often elaborated on the same structure which includes a long and central atmospheric part to be considered as break in the song. But I think that is also easier to compose a 6 tracks album than a 15 tracks one.

-You just recently became a one-man band again, how did that happen? Weren't you satisfied with the work of the other members or was it just that you preferred to work alone or was it any other reason?

When I recruited new musicians, the situation was not clear. Everyone of us was already occupied by several other bands and DESPOND was more to be considered like a second hand band. And finally, half the line-up got tired of this situation and two guys decided to leave the band. Then I would have had to find new musicians and it bored me so I decided to stop the cooperation with the remaining band members who had also their own bands by the way. But basically and since our first split up in 1998, I definitely consider DESPOND like a personal project, so it's not been very hard for me to accept once again a new split up.





-What about gigs? Do you have any plans for your future tours?

Of course not. And I don't think that there will be DESPOND gigs in the future? Even if 2005 will be the 10 years anniversary and a special gig could be a good idea. Time will tell.

-You also have your own record label, Haceldama Productions. Is it hard to run an underground label these days? Do you plan to sign more bands in the future?

Haceldama Productions was created to develop the activity of DESPOND and some of my other side projects. It remained a personal stuff during many years. In 2002, I got in touch with a guy from the band NINGIZZIA and we became good friends. I told him about my band and label and as NINGIZZIA was also searching for a label to produce its debut album, we decided to join and Haceldama Productions became an official structure. I cannot answer your first question properly because we are not comitted in the label that much. Haceldama Productions is not a project we work daily and it remains secondary in relation to our bands and our jobs. We do not intend to live from our music so we don't care if our albums sell 500 or 50000 pieces. We think of releasing some new stuff in 2005, but only our own side projects, no other bands.

-And your lyrics? What are they mostly about?

DESPOND lyrics deal with death, melancholy, night, spiritual elevation and suicide. My lyrics are like poems written in twilight. There are my odes to the realm of shadows and stellar infinity.





-What do you think about the evolution of some famous doom bands like Anathema or Paradise Lost or even The 3rd and the Mortal?

I respect their choice; especially if it is proved that his music comes from his heart. Anathema used to be gods of modern doom and I love their first albums, I don't know much of their latest material but I am sure they give their heart into their music and that is something I cannot criticize. Concerning Paradise Lost, I would say the same, even if I prefer Anathema material. Sorry but I never listen to any The 3rd and the Mortal records.

- When most people/websites want to categorise genres, they usually put genres like black, death and thrash metal under" Extreme Metal" and then they put; gothic, power, progressive, heavy and doom-metal under" Melodic Metal". What is your opinion about this? Which category do you think the doom metal scene nowadays belongs to mostly?

There are different ways to play doom metal. Of course, the old school doom metal is much closer to heavy metal or even rock music, but my music is definitely rooted in the extreme genre, since the past career of DESPOND is in death metal. I often label my music like "extreme doom", so I guess that all is said in this expression, isn't it ?

-When can your fans expect the next release of Despond?

I plan to release a new album in 2005, and maybe also a "history compilation" for the first ten years of the band.

- What are the best doom-metal releases this year?

I listen to very few doom metal, strange isn't it ? I would say that the new Esoteric album is very good. I also loved the new album of Skepticism and Shape of Despair also. Bands like the Eternal, Mar de Grises and Swallow the Sun are interesting too.

- What do you think of the fact that some people only listen to a couple of songs from each band instead of exploring the bands entire CD? Or what about people who put their cd on shuffle, or even worse, put 6 different types of cds in a cd-changer and then shuffle all that, doesn't that kind of "shuffle" the work and intention of the artist as well?

I agree with you on that point. I never use the shuffle option and I don't use the cd-changer system anymore. When I am into one album, I am fully into it? from the first note to the last one.


-Thank you so much for your time, any last words?

Thank you for this interview, any doom metal fan can contact me to get the "Supreme Funeral Oration" album or browse our homepage at www.haceldama.com.





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