*Alright Bernd, cheers for being a part of this rag. What’s up?
Cheers! Firstly, I would like to introduce the other sick minds of Dungeons of Blood who will be offering some of their thoughts; Dan, Nathan and Josh.
*Dungeons of Blood is a relatively new band. What did you and the other members get up to before forming? Had you previously played together in other bands?
We’ve been around for a few years now. Dan and Bernd started writing and rehearsing the first songs in 2012, but we only really became active around the time of recording and releasing the demo, which was 2014. We had all been active in other various bands before forming, and still are. Our current lineup is probably just over a year old now.
*There is also a distinct sense of ritualism and mystery to your music. These days I often find that bands who incorporate repetitive stretches of heavily reverbed dissonant riffs just end up a bore, but this is not the case with Dungeons of Blood. What are your thoughts on the new underground death metal trend to focus on atmosphere over riffs?
Atmosphere and riffs are synergistic components, each one greatly enriching the other, yet alone, can become stagnant and uninspiring. We tend to focus more on writing riffs and piecing them together in a way that flows well, as opposed to aiming to creating big atmospheric songs/sections. That being said, our style of writing includes slow, sludgy riffs and evil tremolo sections, and riffs like that always have a strong atmospheric edge.
Being a death metal band, most of the mystery in our music is about death, morbidity and torture. These are all fascinating in the way we as humans engage them. Currently more and more is being understood and rationally explained through science and we have an expectation for logical explanation. Death is still mostly a mystery, but the mystery is enriched through many art forms; including death metal.
Thoughts on death metal bands focusing on atmosphere over riffs – none really; it is another interesting way to explore death and more esoteric themes.
*So far, the sole release of Dungeons of Blood is a demo CD-R. How has that been selling? Are there any plans to reissue this on a different format?
The demo seemed to be received quite well and they moved steadily until finally running out! Yes - there is a tape version in the works which features a newer mix more suited to the tape format, and some new artwork.
*It has been a couple of years since that CD-R demo came out now. Would I be right in assuming there will soon be some new stuff appearing? If so, in what form – EP, split, full length?
Yep! We recorded some material for a 7” split a little while ago; this is still in the works but hopefully will be finished and released this year. Other than that I think a full length will be our next endeavour.
*How did you all originally discover death metal, particularly the filthier, dirge-ridden end exemplified by D.O.B.?
Mainly just the usual way; listening to bands and trying to find what they listened to before they wrote their music, watching local death metal… Josh, many years ago, borrowed Sepultura’s Morbid Visions from his local library when he was a teenager. This proved to be a real shock compared to his normal rotation of metal, and it was all downhill from there…
*Give us a handful of your favourite filthy death metal demos/7”s etc. – include any underappreciated gems you reckon need more attention!
Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia (At a time when we were looking for some new members, this was the “if you haven’t heard this, you can’t join the band” record)
Teitanblood - Purging Tongues EP and Seven Chalices
Xysma - Above the Mind of Morbidity
Thergothon - Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth
Blood Incantation - Interdimensional Extinction
Plenty more, but these come to mind for us…
*The closing words are yours. Cheers!
Cheers for the support!