Band: SUMMONING
Country:
Austria
Style:
a unique mixture of black metal, dark wave and ambient
Questions
by: Mark Riddick
Answers
supplied by: Silenius Gregor (bass, keyboards, vocals)
After Trifixion left SUMMONING your style changed. What influenced this change and how have your fans reacted to it?
- It never was that we said "Hey,
let's change our style", it just happened. The difference is in the beginning
we were not experienced enough to work and everything as we wanted it,
and as we had a real drummer we of course had to make compromises.
After his kick out, we had more time to relax and make more experiments
with keyboard and percussion sounds. The songs became longer, epic,
orchestral, with a mixture between metal drumming and epic and ancient
styles of drumming. It simply became the result of what we would
prefer to listen to privately. And as time passes we learned how
to handle our creativity so that the result turned out best. The
reaction was simply a great and enthusiastic outcome.
Concerning
the image of SUMMONING, how do corpse paint and medieval weapons play a
role? Is image an important factor in the music scene? Please
explain your philosophies in regards to these subject matters.
- As an old sword and sorcery fan I collect old fashioned weapons as they are essential art of individual fighting. A 120 m small dwarf could be perfect by handling a dagger but he could never fight with a broadsword. I like weapons that belong to the individual of war. In ancient times people could choose weapons which fit their character. On one side they are a symbol and key to times long past. Corpsepaint is simply a symbol for one's unbound aggressive nature. Image is of course an important factor as long as it reflects the individuality of a band so people can know why they are able to expect.
Tell
me about your relation to the Austrian scene. I know you have something
to do with ABIGOR, could you please elaborate? Are you friends with
other magnificent Austrian acts like ANGIZIA, ELEND, and THE MOON LAY HIDDEN
BENEATH A CLOUD?
- The Austrian scene is a small
but very creative one. On one side we have individual metal acts
like AMESTIGON, ANGIZIA, and GOLDEN DAWN and on the other side we have
outstanding ritual and dark wave bands like THE MOON LAY HIDDEN BENEATH
A CLOUD, ELEND, and ALLERSEELEN. Each of them is individual and worth
to listen to. I'm the constant singer of ABIGOR since the debut release.
ABIGOR is of course the most well known band here in Austria after PUNGENT
STENCH who is now dead and gone (How can defunct
band release a brand new album...??? - ED). After all,
I'm just the singer and I'm not included in the lyrical or song writing
but of course my heart belongs to them. Of the mentioned bands, I'm
just in contact with ANGIZIA.
How has
Tolkien influenced your music and your life as a whole?
- Tolkien has influenced my musical creativity but not my life. The thing that makes the works of Tolkien essential is his incredible imagination of a world with all those detailed cultures, landscapes, languages, etc. His history of MiddleEarth, his tales, stories, and legends are timeless and unique. This act of creation of an individual mind world is absolutely unique and far above the average thinking.
What is the importance in creating and being a creator?
- The importance of being a creator
is individual self expression.
I know
that you are very inspired by the gothic / industrial and ambient / ethno
scenes. Who are some of your favorite bands and how did you become
involved in those scenes?
- Essential bands from this genre are SOPOR AETERNUS, SHINJUKU THIEF, STOA, or anything from this genre. But I'm not involved in any special scene. I just concentrate on my own, making music that comes from my heart.
Please inform the readers about your magnificent side projects, DIE VERBANNTEN KINDER EVAS and PAZUZU. Who are the individuals behind these projects and what are their themes?
- Meanwhile, Protector cooperates
very intensively with Oliver from WELTEN BRAND and his own new label M.O.S.
Records. Protector was guest singer on the new WELTEN BRAND CD. Also, his
industrial project, ICE AGES will be released there this month and later
on, the new DIE VERBANNTEN KINDER EVAS CD. I'm not into that band right
now, simply because I had no suitable ideas, and I was also not really
involved in the new PAZUZU CD. Pazuzu now handles everything on his
own, releasing it on his own label together with Martin of ex-PUNGENT STENCH.
I just did a short outro that's all. But now I concentrate on my
own ritual project called MIRKWOOD. But it's too early to give you
more information.
What
kinds of future plans do you have for SUMMONING and your other projects?
- Next releases: new ABIGOR MCD, «Apokalypse» - new SUMMONING MCD, «Nightshade Forests» - and in the end of this year DIE VERBANNTEN KINDER EVAS and MIRKWOOD (all of them have been already released, with an exception for MIRKWOOD... or maybe I just missed this one - ED). And I forgot to mention ICE AGES release this month.
Will or have you ever played live with any of your projects?
- No live gigs.
Please
close this interview with some final words...
- Thanks for the interview!
SUMMONING
Silenius Gregor,
Munzwardeingasse 9/7, A-1061 Wien