1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days?
At this moment we are launching a series of lyric videos from our latest album "Modern Obscurantism", and we are also recording a new single to be released on October 18th.
2.In the last couple of years, you have released a full length and a single musically how do they differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
All our releases are different between each other, musically and also lyrically. In the case of "Modern Obscurantism" which is our seventh album, there is a kind of sinister atmosphere apart from the darkness always present in our music. Is a heavier album also, and is also the first time we record the full drums with a real drummer. In the past we had done a couple of singles with invited drummers. "Geometry of music" with Sir Kimmo Luttinen (ex Impaled Nazarene, ex Beherit), and "Fatal Stigma of the Realist" with Matti Torro (Myon), but before that all our albums and single have been done with programmed drums until our latest album "Modern Obscurantism" where we recorded with the sessionist drummer Joonas Alaräihä.The incorporation of real drums made an improvement in sound, in relation with our older albums.
3.The lyrics on the album you released in 2019 where a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the story that you had covered with this release?
The concept of the album is based on the idea that we are living in a new era of strong censorship and repression, even bigger than the obscurantism of the middle ages, because now everything has the magnitude of being global. So Natalia and I were talking for months about this idea to put the things as clear as possible... so we focused on the biggest points and so per song there is a topic.
First the album opens with an intro called "Back To The Dark Ages" which is very direct in the message, and musically helps to put the listener into the mode of the album.
Then the next song ``Vanity's Bonfire" talks about all the knowledge and precious art we had lost under the censorship of the church in the middle ages and the message is a question mark about how many precious things are we losing just now because of the new forms of censorship. The album has 10 songs and all presents a different topic related to the same concept. I tried to write the lyrics as poetically as I could, without affecting the original feeling. And we closed the album with an outro called "Lucifer" which is an extract of a text by Oscar Wilde, in which he let very clear the importance of keeping rebellion alive, as a motor for producing changes.
We closed the album with a text, a poem written by Ricardo Arocena, (Natalia´s father), because he made reference to the importance of fighting against indifference. I think these two last texts close the album with a positive message, despite all the darkness we were putting on the table along the whole album... Nothing is eternal, and everything can be changed by keeping the seed of rebellion in our hearts and fighting against indifference.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Upon Shadows'?
Upon Shadows in other words means "about darkness".. we all have our shadows and Upon shadows is all about my shadows.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the full length cover?
Yes, I made the artwork thinking about representing the shadows taking over our lives, in a global way. A darkness that is over us all and represents censorship and control. So I get the idea of basing the design in an advanced but not total eclipse.
6.Originally the band was based in 'Uruguay' but now reside in Finland, can you tell us a little bit more about the mover?
I moved to Finland in 2013 because of personal reasons, not because of music. I needed a change in my life, I am a person that is all the time fighting against conformism and always needs new challenges.
But my move didn't affect our way of working in Upon Shadows. We have been keeping active all the way.
7.The last album was released on ;'Ground Media Group', how would you compare working with this label to other labels that you have been a part of in the past?
We have been releasing mainly independently, because we have the characteristic that we always release our music for free download, and this is something that is not attractive to most of the labels. Despite that, this is a decision we made from the starting point of Upon Shadows and we are not going to change it.
But we had released CDs with Satanica records from New Zealand, Depressive Illusions Records from Ukraine, and Underground Devotion Zine from Chile also had our permission to print and sell our music as a way to support the underground scene.
Ground Media Group is a new Finnish label that is growing a lot, and is made by people whose main purpose is to keep the underground alive. They give us the opportunity of releasing the album in a very beautiful edition where the Cd comes in a 4 panel digipak with a 12 page booklet. The printing quality is magnificent, the colors are very alive so the design is displayed in the best possible way.
We are very happy with the result.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, dark and gothic metal?
The reaction is more than positive.
We are very underground, but we have people who have been following and supporting us through the years, and are the kind of people that really listen and pay attention to the lyrics, and are open to feel and think with us, which is the most important thing for us.
We know that what we do is out of the standards of what most of the people wants to hear in these genders, and despite of that, and despite that we are a female duo,(which many times is enough for some people to deny us the opportunity to be listen), we have been making extreme metal music for the last 19 years. Offering a different proposal and keeping absolutely loyal to our ideas.
9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I think we found our own style which is the most difficult thing to find, an identity. And the goal for the future is to keep improving in technique and sound, and keep on this mixture of emotions and darkness.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The styles that influenced me the most are Black Metal and Dark Ambient. I grew up listening to Abigor, Necromantia, Impaled Nazarene, Samael, and so on.
And the Dark Ambient... I found it through experimental music while I started to work as a music producer for a TV show called "Voces Anónimas" about ghost stories and urban legends in my country, where I was creating sounds to make the audience feel the uncomfortable tension and the fear related to the stories.
But I also have an strong influence from what my generation calls Dark Music (now people use the term "goth" or "gothic" wich I personally don't like) with bands like Sisters of Mercy, Christian Death, or The cure and its mix with metal music like The whores of Babylon. I think this influence is very visible in my keyboards.
Nowadays I'm listening to some new bands like Yoth Iria, NEDXXX, Aethyrick and Vermilia.
I also discovered some bands that are old but new to me like INFERNO and their album "Gnosis Kardias" which is a masterpiece.
And from the old bands I´m absolutely fascinated with Abigor´s new album "A Saintslayer's Songbook", and Rotting Christ "The Heretics".
11.Does Occultism play any role on your music?
Mmm...not directly, but if I think about it from the point of view that it is something that has always interested me, and is something about I have read a lot over the years...then I assume there are influences that I cannot deny.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity to express myself and present my music to your readers.
All Upon Shadows music can be download for free at :
http://tamarapicardo.blogspot.com/
And my final message is this: Keep the seed of rebellion in your heart like the most precious gift we have, because it is the core of our artistic creation and a consequence of our reasoning ability.
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