Everybody heard about Agalloch's split. And nobody got over it yet. However, bad news never come without good news: John Haughm, the band's frontman, is already back on the path of creation with Pillorian, surrounded by highly respectable names : Stephen Parker, founder of doom metal band Maestus, and Trevor Matthews, who is our conversation partner. Trevor has founded two major black metal bands of the Portland metal scene : Infernus, and more recently Uada, whose excellent first album has been reviewed here last year (over here). Trevor gave us some insight into Obsidian Arc, Pillorian's first gem (reviewed here).
| French Version |
1.
Hello Trevor, and thank you for giving Scholomance Webzine this interview.
The announcement of Pillorian's formation came quite quickly after
Agalloch's split. For how long had you three been knowing each other
when Agalloch came to and end? Did you already consider working
together?
Stephen
met John a couple years prior, introduced through Jason Walton. He
later became their merch guy on Agalloch's final US tour. I had met
John earlier in the year at an Uada gig we played with Stephen's
other band Maestus. They were working on a lineup for a more Swedish
death metal type project and were interested in me possibly drumming.
We eventually rehearsed together a few times on that material. After
the Agalloch split we put that idea on the back-burner to start a new
project.
2.
Even if you've all been evolving in the Portland metal scene for many
years, you still come from perceptibly different musical spheres.
Yet, you came across each other and are now working together. Would
you say that your local scene is particularly close-knit? How often
do you attend gigs in Portland?
Portland
is very close-knit and has quite the thriving music scene, metal in
particular for only being roughly 500,000 people. Many great artists
and bands. I attend gigs here very frequently and have since I was
14. Less so in the past 6 months than ever in my life though with
being so busy.
3.
Now is the time for the dumb but essential question : why did you
choose the name "Pillorian"?
Many
reasons. It was a bit of a nod to the great Abysmal album "The
Pillorian Age". As it is essentially a made up word from the
root word "pillory" it was not taken. We wanted a one word
name and it had a nice ring to it that wouldn't pigeonhole us to a
specific sound or image while still being dark and fitting.
4.
You are signed by Eisenwald, a German label. Why did you choose to
work with them, instead of an American label for example?
John
has worked with Eisenwald for many years and I have as well with
Uada. They have always been great to us and work with us more than
most labels would.
5.
Your debut album, Obsidian Arc, will be released on February 10th.
Was it equally composed by all of you? Do you have different ways of
working and composing? For instance, Stephen Parker used to be the
only member of Maestus; one can imagine that must have made him quite
independent.
Very
equal input was given forth to compose the album. The riffs were
about 50/50 overall and I wrote my drums based off of basic ideas for
tempo. Stephen also recorded the bass on the album and engineered in
studio. But the writing was a highly collaborative effort.
6.
This album is quite varied, and easily switches from cold
straightforward black metal to fervent melodic parts. Obviously, your
influences are diversified. What essential references do you all
share?
We
share a lot of similar tastes, but try to steer clear of referencing
other bands as to how we wanted parts to sound.
7.
How would you define the artistic goal you aimed at with Obsidian
Arc?
I
am sure John would have a far more in depth answer to the goal of the
themes, but dark and powerful is definitely something we would all
agree with.
8.
In this album, there are more instrumental moments than vocal ones,
and in the latter case, the voice isn't always much put forward. The
core of your work is instrumental, with some exceptions of course. In
metal, do you think there could be such a thing as "pure music"
which wouldn't need vocals, just like in many classical genres? Do
you feel that instruments have a wider expressive range than the
human voice?
There
is definitely a place for more instrumental music in metal if done
well. I would agree that instruments have a wider expressive range
than a human voice, as there so many different instruments, let alone
effects. But that would be largely discounting the power of words.
Music leaves everything up for interpretation, which is amazing. But
words can often be more powerful than any note or beat could ever be
to the right person at the right time. A thoughtful mixture of the 2
is what makes music the most potent universal language and highest
form of magic that exists.

9.
Speaking of the human voice, who wrote the lyrics of Obsidian Arc?
When are they usually written? Before the music, so that the whole
structure of each track can closely fit its own text, or does the
instrumental composition comes first?
John
wrote the lyrics and they came after the song structures with loose
ideas in place during composition.
10.
One of the tracks that touched me the most on Obsidian Arc is "Dark
is the River of Man". What does this river mean to you? Is it
some kind of bleak metaphor of fate, in which we're all mired?
Me
too. Definitely a dark and bleak metaphor. Maybe not of fate so much
as the human condition and the perpetually tainted ways of our
destructive and flawed nature.
11.
A few elements of Obsidian Arc will certainly remind the listeners of
Agalloch's characteristics; I'm thinking of the doubled clean vocals,
of the very lyrical lead guitar, of the ambient and dark folk
elements... What was your position towards this inevitable comparison
when you recorded the album? Was it something you feared, somehow?
We
will never write something based around what we think critics may
derive from it. We knew going into this project that there would be
nothing but comparisons at first and there is no winning that
battle. Many people would be angry if it wasn't a carbon copy replica
of Agalloch and others would be mad at anything that resembled
Agalloch. Some hints of Agalloch would be inevitable with John's
distinct voice, very specific instruments, amps, pedals, etc. Not to
mention riffs, song structure, themes. He was a big part of Agalloch
and there is no denying that.
12.
At the moment, more than twenty Pillorian shows have been announced,
but only in Europe. Why do you begin with this part of the globe? Is
it more welcoming than America, does it offer more opportunities?
There
are definitely more opportunities with the festival circuit and many
different cultures, but those were just the first announced shows.
There will be a couple US shows immediately preceding the European
tour.
13.
Do you want to highlight Obsidian Arc's unique atmosphere with some
particular visual artefacts in this upcoming tour? Or would you
rather stick to a sober show?
I
encourage the audience to come find out for themselves.
That
was my final question. Thank you very much for your time. Hope to see
you on the French boards as soon as possible!
__________________________________________
Interview by Marion
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