Teeming with forests and lakes that are usually swathed in darkness and icy temperatures for the best part of the year, it’s no wonder that Finland produces so much downbeat doom. Hell, even the suicide rate for the country is one of the highest in the world. Suitably impressed with the self titled debut album of one of the most recent doom exports from Finland, I managed to track down Paganus vocalist Markus to try to dissect what it is that makes them tick so verrrrry sloooowly….
(LC) Hi Markus, thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions.
Firstly, I'd like to ask you about the band name, with Paganus coming from
the latin for Paganism/Heathenism. How does this fit in with the concept of your music?
(M) To us, Paganus is a term that describes us where we come from, which is
from a small town by the sea. As a noun the term Paganus was used to
mean "country dweller", which suits us good.
(LC) For the un-initiated fan, could you describe the band's music in
five words or less?
(M) Extreme heaviness, massive doomy soundscapes
(LC) Who or what inspired you to form Paganus in the beginning?
(M) The band Burning Witch was the main inspiration I think. Basically we
wanted to make same kind of music as them.
(LC). The Paganus MySpace site cryptically mentions your influences as
'Stuff you dig' - would you care to expand on that for me? Does your
list of influences adhere strictly to a 'metal only' policy or do they
span further afield?
(M) Our so called lists of influences in music span further afield
definitely. We all like different kinds of music, not just metal, our
range of music is very wide. For example I listen to a lot of punk rock
and ska, though you hardly find any punk or ska influences in our music.
Bands like Neurosis, Mastodon, Burning Witch, Isis and YOB are important
bands for us when thinking of influences. We are hugely influenced by
few black and death metal bands too.
(LC). Debut albums are pretty important for up and coming bands to get a
foothold in the scene early on, so how has the general fan reception
been to 'Paganus'?
(M) The reception has been great, we have had some great feed back mainly
through the internet.
(LC). Your initial demo release (as far as I can find anyhow) was a live
recording from 2006, with the same tracks as your debut album, albeit
around 10 minutes shorter in running time. Did you naturally slow down
when coming to record the album, or were the songs different back then?
(M) We made some changes in the songs when we were recording them for the
debut, and the songs were indeed a little bit different back then. They
needed some updating.
(LC) How do Paganus on album differ from Paganus live, or are they one and
the same? How do the fans react when having such crushing music heaped
upon them?
(M) We got good live show and great energy on stage, something you just got
to witness on the spot. We just try to make people enjoy, and not clear
the house.
(LC). I noticed that it said you formed the band in 2000 - why did it take
so long for you to get some releases into the public domain?
(M) Don't know really, maybe because it took us some time to get this kind
of solid line up.
(LC). It's generally considered that Finland has a fantastic doom/death
and funeral doom scene, what's your interpretation of it, and how do you
feel you fit in?
(M) Indeed Finland has a great doom scene. There are many great old and new
bands around. I think we fit in well, no doubt about it.
(LC). How did you become signed to Jerusalem based label Total Rust
Music?
(M) We were looking for a label to release our songs which we had all ready
to be released, and Gad, the mastermind behind Totalrust Music simply
contacted us through email, and made an offer we couldn't refuse.
(LC). One of the things that struck me upon listening to 'Paganus' for
the first time was the varied vocal work. When compared to a lot of
other extreme doom bands, it made a refreshing change to have black
metal like screams, bellowed barks and gruff growls all tearing at my
ear drums in equal measures. Was this a purposeful thing to give
yourselves identity?
(M) That was not purposeful thing, it just happened when we started to make
this kind of music. As our influences come from black metal too, those
black metallish screams are obvious. This kind of varied vocal work give
us room to experiment with different things, like moods and styles. The
vocals are just one instrument we use to build up our sound.
(LC). Do you have to be in a 'special' state of mind to write such
extreme music which is filled with so many negative emotions?
(M) Well, you definitely have to be in some kind of special state of mind,
whatever that is…
(LC). To finish up, what does the future hold for Paganus, and what are
your plans for 2008 in particular?
(M) We will play few gigs before summer and then we are going to produce
some new songs, and at the end of the summer hopefully we'll enter the
studio once again to record new stuff.
(LC). Thanks once again for your time, all the best in your future
efforts. I look forward to hearing more high quality extremity from you
in the near future! As per usual in this style of interview, I'll leave
the final words to you..
(M) Thank YOU for the interview! Buy our album, come to see us live if you can, doom on!
Visit the band at http://www.myspace.com/paganusdoom
www.regainrecords.com
www.totalrust-music.com
If you enjoyed this interview you might also like the following:
Interview with Centurions Ghost
Interview with Primordial
Interviewed by Lars Christiansen
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