FUNEREAL OPERA, BIOVORE and SADISTIC TORMENT - this is where the current members of GARDEN OF SHADOWS played before. Would you like to tell our readers few words in regards to all aforementioned acts?
 
- FUNEREAL OPERA was the band that our vocalist, keyboardist, and I were involved in before GARDEN OF SHADOWS. The band was valuable for me as a learning experience, but we never did anything worthwhile. In fact, when I joined the band I did not know how to play guitar at all. By the time I could actually play the kind of music I wanted to, we were looking for a second guitarist and we ultimately chose Mary to fill that role. She had played in other bands—most notably BIOVORE—before we found her. She wanted an opportunity to  contribute her musical ideas and we were able to provide her with that. After getting rid of our drummer and bassist because of musical differences, GARDEN OF SHADOWS began to take shape. We were unable to play out until we found Bret, who had played in SADISTIC TORMENT. Bret had put a lot of time and effort into S.T., and that was where he gained the majority of his drumming experience, but when they broke up he was anxious to join another band right away. As far as our previous bands are concerned, I would describe them as follows: FUNEREAL OPERA was a terrible band that no one should be interested in, BIOVORE was an interesting death metal band that no longer plays death metal, and SADISTIC TORMENT was a very brutal death metal band that did not give Bret the opportunity to display the full range of his talents.
 
Chad’s growling is almost inhuman and it’s rather hard to believe that he didn’t use any effects in studio...
 
- Well, I can assure you that there are no effects on his vocals at all. He would not want to use effects because he would consider that «cheating». His vocals are entirely natural, but it is certainly a compliment to say that they are almost inhuman!
 
Mary possesses very impressive voice, however it’s featured only in «Apollonian Realm» - why? Was it her first experince or she practiced singing somewhere else before?
 
- She has never sang on a recording before, but she does sing in the shower, in the car, etc.! I agree that her voice is impressive and we do plan to use it again, but Mary is primarily a guitar player and that is where she will always put the most effort. Still, I think it would be a shame to let her voice go to waste. We plan to have her sing on another song we are working on called «In Dreams».
 
Why did you decide to add Sean to the GARDEN OF SHADOWS’ lineup? And who played bass at live shows before you invited him?
 
- Until Sean we did not have a bass player. I played bass on the demo because of this. Because of the keyboards we were able to pull off many live shows without the bass, but we knew that bass would help. Sean had played bass in SADISTIC TORMENT, so he knew Bret well. He started playing with us and things went really well. He is a great musician. Unfortunately, his schedule became so hectic that he had to stop playing with us. Since he left we have found another bass player named Owen. Owen was actually a fan of our music who played guitar. He offered to play bass for us and when we said yes he bought a bass right away. He is very dedicated and things are going well with him right now. We have played several shows since he joined the lineup—the Maryland Death Fest being the first of those shows.
 
Your music is undoubtedly original, however it can’t escape comparisons with SEPTIC FLESH, mostly due to a unique combination of bestial brutality and beauty, obtained by both, you and aforementioned Greeks...
 
- Thank you! Being compared to SEPTIC FLESH is just about the highest honor I can think of. I think «Mystic Places Of Dawn» may be the most amzing atmospheric death metal album of all time — no other album has captured the feeling it has… and if anybody knows of another album that has that feeling please let me know because I would kill to hear it! As far as comparisons between us and SEPTIC FLESH, we do not consciously try to sound like any particular band. We just try to make music that we love. Because of this our music is bound to include elements of music that influences us and I cannot deny that SEPTIC FLESH is among those influences.
 
Jussi @ Finnish CRIMSON MIDWINTER prefers to define your music as «melodic doom / death ala first THE GATHERING», however I don’t think that this definition really fits your music...
 
- I just think of it as atmospheric death metal. I like that banner because I think it is a style that has unlimited potential and room for experimentation. I would consider SEPTIC FLESH, ORPHANED LAND, KRYPT OF KERBEROS, PAN-THY-MONIUM, NOVEMBRE, HORRIFIED, and countless other bands atmospheric death and no two of these bands sound the same. I would like to think of us as being in this camp.
 
Please, comment each of the songs featured on «Heart Of The Corona» (musically and lyrically)...
         
«Heart Of The Corona» - I suppose this song has the most Greek influence of any song on the demo. It deals with the awesome and destructive power of the sun.
 
«Lovely Cold» - The song deals with ancient civiliztions that destroy each other and their accomplishments are buried forever under ice. I think this kind of mythical tale works well with the epic nature of the music.
 
«Company In Solitude» - Probably the fastest song on the demo, and the lyrics to this one are certainly the most bleak. I wrote it during a very dark time in my life and I think this is evident in the music and lyrics.
 
«Apollonian Realm» -  Certainly this is the song that has the strongest Swedish influence of any song on the demo, but the song itself deals with a ancient Greek topic—the cult of Apollo. I find this combination intriguing.
 
Are you satisfied with the sound of «Heart...»? What would you change in the first place now, if you had such a possibility?
 
- I am satisfied with it for what it is — our first demo. I think that it is a good demo and I am very proud of the music on it. I would not be happy if our next recording sounded exactly the same, though. We learned a lot recording that demo and we made some mistakes that we will not repeat. I can promise you that our next recording will be more professional, with a heavier, fuller guitar sound, and a more professional sound overall.
 
Can you tell me anything concerning your present recording place? And where will you record your next releases; is it Oblivion Studio again?
 
- I do not think we will go back to Oblivion Studio. We have signed with X-Rated Records in Mexico to release the demo on CD. It will be remastered and contain one new song that we plan to record very soon. It is called «Shards Of The Sphere» and is over 8 minutes long. If you like our demo songs, then I think you will really enjoy it. Hopefully we will get it out soon so you can judge for yourself!
 
Did you get any serious offers from various labels after «Heart Of The Corona» was released?
 
- We have had several independent labels show interest, but none of them can afford to give us any recording budget, and we have no money! As I said, we have signed to X-Rated Records for one MCD and we hope that this (especially with the new song we will record) will attract the interest of a bigger label that can help us record a full length album.
 
If I’m not mistaken, you once played with DECEASED - aren’t they the same DECEASED who released «Fearless Dead Machines» some time ago?
 
- Yes, they are the very same DECEASED. Because they are from Virginia, they play around here fairly often. In the months that we have been playing out we have played with them three times!
 
USA are most famous for it’s brutal death / grind acts recognizing no compromises, while your music stands really far from that...
 
- I must agree with you that this is what the US is known for. I hope that that is slowly changing. Melodic death is not big here, but there are some other bands that do it very well, such as DISINTERMENT, SORROW BEQUEST, ISKARIOT, SCHOLOMANCE, SCULPTURED, DAWNBRINGER, AGALLOCH, EDENROT, and I’m sure there are many others that I am forgetting!
 
What’s opinion of contemporary christian Church and christian beliefs in a whole?
 
- I am an athiest, so you might imagine that I see christianity as one of the most sucessful brainwashing institutions in the world. It tries to supress thought, and for that reason I am against it. I really view it as a bit of a joke and just feel sorry for all those that are deluded into believeing that a god exists.
 
In my view extreme music cannot (shouldn’t) be played by people, adhering to christian precepts...
 
- I have not heard much good christian death, but there are a few bands that are not bad, like PARAMAECIUM. If a christian band played really great music I would listen to it and just ignore their «message». However, you may be right that christian beliefs do not lend themselves well to creating dark music.
 
Would you like to express your thoughts regarding the popularity of black metal nowadays? Does this music really deserve such attention or it’s caused only by events which took place in Scandinavia few years ago (murders, arsons, churchburnings, etc.)?
 
- All I care about is good music. I think powerful music cannot be given too much attention. I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of high-pitched, schreechy black metal vocals like the kind CRADLE OF FILTH uses. In my opinion, brutal death vocals are more powerful sounding. I think DIMMU BORGIR’s «Enthrone Darkness Triumphant» is an excellent black metal release, but too much of the black metal material doesn’t measure up to this. As for all the actions that took place in Scandinavia, I really think that I am not familiar enough with the situation to have a valid opinion of it. Sorry to disappoint you!
 
Does your play-list contain only death / doom metal recordings, or there’s place for some non-extreme music? What about such bands as f.ex. PANTERA (strange, but they seem to be most hated metal band among people involved in death and black metal scene)?
 
- My play list is 99% atmospheric death. I can’t get enough of it and I am always searcing for good melodic bands. I occasionaly listen to classical (like Bach lute works) and more ambient music like DEAD CAN DANCE, TRIAL OF THE BOW and SIDDAL, but it is almost always some form of death metal. The rest of the band has more varied listening choices than I do, though. As for PANTERA, I agree with you that they are a hated band among most fans of extreme music that I know, and I am not a fan of theirs either. I aways find it hard to get into any band that has «shouted» vocals. I think the vocals should almost always be extreme, or beautiful, like THE 3RD AND THE MORTAL (well, Phil Anselmo of PANTERA uses very wide range of vocals - from these «shouted» ones you mentioned to almost death metal-alike growls and BM screams together with clean voice! Just listen to «The Great Southern Trendkill» CD... - ED).
 
What awaits GARDEN OF SHADOWS in the future?
 
- We will continue to do all we can. We will write more material—at the moment we have seven songs that are not on the demo and we have many ideas for more. We will try to record a full length CD (I hope a label can help us to be able to afford to have a fully professional recording!). We will play out as much as we can. We will give it our all and never stop creating our art!
 
Thank you for answering this interview as well as for creating such splendid and tremendous music! If your imagination didn’t exhaust itself yet, say something special for VAE SOLIS readers...
 
- First I must give you my greatest thanks for your extremely kind words. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to answer your thoughtful questions. VAE SOLIS is surely one of the best webzines I have ever seen! Everyone who is interested in us, please write. We still have our demo for $4 US / $5 world, and we are working on other merchandise, such as T-shirts, etc. Get in touch! Metal Forever!!!
       

GARDEN OF SHADOWS contact -
Email: BMissant@aol.com