Eternium Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Brent:well we're a 5 piece Symphonic Black/Death Metal band from St. Louis, Mo.
Markov Soroka:We are currently a 5-member symphonic black/death band from the Midwest of the States.

2.How would you describe your musical sound for those that have yet to hear the music?
Brent:Very Symphonic Black Metal with heavy hints of Melodic Death Metal.
Markov Soroka:-I'd recommend the music to anyone who likes Dissection, Amon Amarth, Dawn, Sacramentum, or even Emperor. We take influence from many different styles of music.


3.The song lyrics cover alot about auras, can you tell us a little bit more about your song writing?
In the musical and lyrical aspect of Eternium, the "auras" are the name of the characters and places that are associated with the story of Eternium. Aura [insert something here] is usually our preferred method of writing the songs. Aura Titian is the main protagonist of our debut album, "Repelling A Solar Giant." There are many other key characters, such as Aura Amethyst, Titian's love, and Aura Noir, the corrupted haze that took possession of the Solar God. I don't want to give away much of the story, since it is for the listener to find out by listening to the album.

4. The band started out as a solo project but now there is a full band, what was the decision behind forming a full line up, instead of being solo?
Brent: It's easier bouncing ideas off of other people than just yourself, besides, it more fun.
Markov Soroka:The band was originally a solo project in 2011, but after finding live members, they proved to be very influential to me. We've been a five-piece ever since, and we collaborate directly and indirectly.

5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Eternium?
I would not like to confirm nor deny this, but in the story, "Eternium" is implied to be The Solar God of Solar Gods.



6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Brent: Definitely Nile. Nile was extrodinary. I'm also looking forward to our upcoming shows with Obituary and Absu. I'd say we're reletively energetic on stage.
Markov Soroka:Our best show, hm. That is a tough one. For me, personally, I'd like to say that when we opened up for Nile, we had a pretty solid performance. After the show, Karl Sanders told us that he liked our sound, so that obviously meant a lot to us.

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Brent: I don't want to give to much away, because we're still hashing everything out, but you'll definitely see us on the road later this year.
Markov Soroka: I don't want to give anything away yet, but yes, we are planning to do some kind of touring. We play shows regularly around the area. In fact, we are opening up for Obituary and Absu in the coming months.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
 Brent:It's been received really well, which is super awesome. Words can't describe how stoked I am that people have been digging our music.
Markov Soroka:It's been way bigger than I ever expected it to be. After hearing your own music for so long, it starts to wear old on the ears, so it's nice to hear feedback constantly. On a world-wide level, it's amazing. Usually I contact people myself since I like to connect with fans and talk about music with them, but as of late, they've been contacting us, which is always a good feeling.

9. Are there any other musical projects going on these days?
Brent:Yeah, we all have our own things going on besides Eternium. Markov has a couple projects going on, and we've even discussed working together on a Funeral Doom project. Gabe has a couple things going on, including a Girndcore band called Rotted Brainyard. Chad has a couple things going on, one of them being a more Progressive band called Tumult. I'm currently working on a project called Dakhma which more feelsy Black Metal stuff, very influenced by Woods of Ypres and Agalloch.
Markov Soroka: I believe all the members have other projects as well as Eternium. Chad Griffin has a few up his sleeve that he's shared the idea with us, but we can't give anything away here... Gabe Price has a few death metal and grind projects that he wants to get on foot, Brent Dossett has even had a hip-hop project that he wants to do at one point. Ryan Kelley used to play in Archon, a black/folk band. As for myself, I have a funeral doom project, a black metal project, and a sort of "mega" project that I can't really reveal anything about yet.



10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Brent: Relevtively the same. We want to make things a bit heavier and a bit more progressive as times goes on.
Markov Soroka: Hopefully in a good one! The responses we have gotten as of late are extremely prominent and that alone fuels us to keep going on in a positive way.

11.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Brent:Too many, haha. As far Metal goes, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Carnage, Wombbath, and Agalloch have really influenced me. As far as what I've been listening to lately, I've been listening to a lot Folk Rock/Indie Rock stuff like The Decemberists and Mumford And Sons. Also this Jazz artist by the name of Regina Spektor has been getting a lot of play lately.
Markov Soroka: I personally was inspired greatly by the Swedish melodic black metal scene in the vein of Dawn, Sacramentum, Azure, Dissection, etc. As for what I am listening to nowadays, hmm... Well, I've been really obsessed with atmospheric black metal as of late, as well as funeral doom. So just on the top of my head: Ruins of Beverast, Alrakis, Esoteric, Isis... I've also been digging Fleshgod Apocalypse quite a bit.

12.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Brent:Well to be honest, I'm a complete nerd. When I'm not playing music I', either watching anime, playing video games, and more recently, DnD.
Markov Soroka: I'm an avid video game fan. You'll usually see me playing DooM online through a port called ZDaemon. If anyone reading this ends up downloading and playing, find me on there! The name is _Death_. Aside from that, I try to study medicine and prosthetic work from time to time.

13.Any final word or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Brent:Thank you for this oppurtunity. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day for this interview!
Markov Soroka:Thank you for the opportunity, and it was definitely nice talking to you! And to fans/readers: Go listen to our album! We have links up everywhere, and I'm sure people have leaked it on downloading sites. Of course, we would be eternally grateful if you bought the physical CD, and that is it's own charm.



Cheers!

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Eternium/Repelling A Solar Giant/Blast Head Records/2013 CD Review

  Eternium  are  a  band  from  St.  Louis,  Missouri  that  plays  a  mixture  of  symphonic  black  metal  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Repelling  A  Solar  Giant"  which  was  released  by  Blast  Head  Records.

  "Aura  Titan:  Obsidian  Dressed  His  Eyelids"  begins  with  some  sound  effects  before  going  into  some  heavy  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  which  then  lead  to  some  blast  beats  from  the  drums  and  black  metal  vocals  and  then  the  music  slows  down  and  adds  in  some  deep  death  metal  growls  and  keyboards  and  after  awhile  the  music  comes  down  for  a  bit  before  returning  with  some  fast  guitar  riffs  and  blast  beats  before  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  which  lead  to  the  song  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  mid  paced  direction  as  well  as  mixing  in  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  towards  the  end  the  music  gets  fast  again  and  adds  in  more  blast  beats  but  closes  with  some  acoustic  guitars.

  "Aura  Infernum:  The  Flight  Over  Massless  Soul"  begins  keyboards  and  acoustic  guitars  which  then  lead  to  some  drums  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  then  the  black  metal  screams  start  kicking  in  before  going  back  to  a  cleaner  direction  and  during  that  time  deep  death  metal  growls  become  a  part  of  the  song  and  the  music  starts  getting  heavy  again  and  then t he  music  stops  the  vocals  get  more  evil  as  well  as  the  acoustic  guitars  making  their  return  which  also  leads  to  the  song  reverting  back  to  its  heavy  and  melodic  roots  and  adding  blast  beats  in  certain  sections  which  also  leads  to  the  song  switching  back  and  forth  between  soft  and  heavy  parts.

  "Aura  Amethyst:  Her  Gaze  Cast  Obsidian  Death"  begins  with  with  fast  guitar  riffs,  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  after  a  few  seconds  deep  death  metal  growls  and  shouting  becomes  a  part  of  the  song  and  a  minute  later  the  music  slows  down  a  bit  and  adds  in  some  melodic  guitar  riffing  but  returns  to  blast  beats  after  awhile  but  keeping  the  rest  of  the  music  slow  but  the  guitars  do  start  speeding  up  again  after  awhile.

  "Aura  Sentium:  Concord  Of  Ember  And  Zephyr"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  violins  which  lead  to  some  deep  death  metal  growls,  blast  beats  and  fast  guitar  and  then  the  song  starts  switching  back  and  forth  between  soft  and  heavy  parts  while  also  adding  in  black  metal  vocals,  slow  parts  and  melodic  guitar  riffing  and  then  the  music  goes  into  sound  effects  which  lead  to  some  classical  music  style  keyboards  which  lead  to  the  music  getting  heavier  again  while  also  adding  in  more  melody  this  time  around  as  well  a s switching  back  and  forth  between  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  also  mixing  in  blast  beats  in  certain  sections  and  towards  the  end  it  returns  to  acoustic  guitars  for  a  few  seconds  and  then  returning  to  the  heavier  elements  which  also  close  the  song.

  "Aura  Rubicon:  Apotheosis  Of  Solar  Flares"  begins  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  and  keyboards  along  with  some  black  metal  vocals,  heavy,  melodic  guitar  riffs  and  drums  kicking  in  shortly  after  that  and  a  couple  of  minutes  later  deep  death  metal  growls  are  added  to  the  song  and  then  the  music  goes  into  a  faster  direction  while  also  adding  in  some  blast  beats  which  leads  to  the  music  going  into  a  slower  yet  heavy  direction  and  then  going  back  to  its  softer  roots  and  after  awhile  the  song  starts  switching  back  and  forth  between  heavy  and  soft  parts  and  as  the  song  moves  on  there  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  being  utilized  as  well  as  some  melodic  guitar  leads  in  certain  sections  of  the  song.

  "Aura  Noir:  Repelling  A  Solar  Giant"  begins  with  some  melodic  guitar  riffs  and  whispers  and  then  bring  in  some  heavy  guitar  riffs,  drums  and  black  metal  vocals  as  well  as  some  deep  death  metal  growls  and  then  going  into  a  faster  direction  and  adding  in  some  brutal  blast  beats  and  then  slowing  down  and  adding  in  some  keyboards  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  switching  back  and  forth  between  slow  and  fast  while  also  bringing  in  some  guitar  solos  and  leads  before  going  into  a  cleaner  direction  and  adding  in  some  acoustic  guitars.

  Song  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  on  aura's,  and  pagan  dieties,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  even  though the  bass  guitars  are  mixed  down  low  in  the  mix,  in  addition  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Eternium  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  symphonic  black  metal  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Aura  Amethyst:  Her  Gaze  Cast  Obsidian  Death"  and  "Aura  Rubicon:  Apotheosis  Of  Solar  Flares".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.      

eterniumband@hotmail.com   
http://www.eterniumband.com
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http://www.youtube.com/eterniumofficial