First of all, let me congratulate you for your latest album “Ex Rosa Ceremonia”, excellent Doom - Death Metal.
Thank you! Happy you enjoy it. It is the culmination of a lot of work.
Please tell us the story of your band, how it all starts?
In 2017, Jason (Barron, original vocalist) and I started having conversations about how that early era of doom/death metal – like the first two Paradise Lost albums, first couple My Dying Bride albums, etc. – just kind of came and went too quickly. Seemed like no one was doing anything like that anymore, and it was music we loved. Jason found Jeff (Breden, our guitarist) and he was into the idea. So Jeff and I started writing songs. Once we felt like we had a full album of songs, I started looking for bass players to do session on a demo. It was surprisingly difficult. I couldn’t find anyone locally that was able to do it, so I asked my long-time friend and co-creator Jarrett (Pritchard, guitarist) if he could do bass on a demo for me. He said sure, so I sent him some songs. Once he heard it, he was really into it and wanted to join full time. He said fuck doing a demo, come down here and record an album! The rest is history.
Will you be so kind too described the concept of your album?
The album conceptually refers to a need for a mental and spiritual renaissance. Looking back throughout history, there have been movements that inspired and created many metaphysical systems and philosophies that, upon deeper inspection, led us forward as a species in many ways, though hidden behind the curtain of magical order and secret society. As the near-sighted corral the blind and the masses happily stab their third eye with a constant diet of blue light among other things, we have arrived at a time that begs deeply for the need of an expanded consciousness. We see masses being led by the governing of robotic suggestions to align with your enemy based on alarmist response-seeking propaganda. A world of experts lacking substance, clamoring for the dopamine endorphin-guzzling pastime that becomes a virtual existence for many. Words like "influencer" and "trending" that are spoken instead of vomited, as they should be. The suggestion to “get in line” or be destroyed through character assassination. The record speaks of the power of unity when like minds join, the strength of a creature like us with nothing to lose when tenacity is put to the test with no alternative conceivable. People have become willingly blind to the power of the human mind when it is quieted and directed, when the bulb of the strobe light effect of media blitz hypnosis is smashed. The power of focus and purpose. And the rose of ceremony.
The album has an interesting cover, who is responsible for it?
The central photo is a work by Brian Sheehan/LGRDMN. Adam had worked with him before with Wolvhammer so we reached out to him to see what things he had been up to. In his portfolio, he had a piece that really jumped out at us that was quite striking and seemed to fit what we were going for perfectly. I looked at the title and he had already entitled it “Ex Rosa Ceremonia”, which was the title of one of our songs! So it all kind of came together.
Also, what can u tell us about the meaning of lyrics?
We don’t really like to over-explain what we’re about. I feel like Adam is pretty easy to understand if you listen. Between that and the press release (pasted above), I think that’s enough for people to work out.
Did you have good time in the studio with the recording?
Yeah, I did. While recording is typically a lot of work full of very long days, I find it fun. I love the process of creating with my friends in the studio. All the variables of the room, the equipment, the mood, etc., can all spawn new ideas that you hadn’t thought of before. We recorded drums at Matt Talbot’s Earth Analog studio this time. It’s a great place, I love it there. It was the first time I had recorded straight to tape since 1994. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m very happy with the result. All the rest – guitars, bass, vocals, cello, etc. – was all recorded at Jarrett’s New Constellation studio in Florida. I remember the first thing Adam did, he just walked in and knocked it out of the park! And John really stepped up on the bass lines too. Yeah, recording is fun. Hearing it all come together after a year or more of work is really gratifying.
How was it for you the all Covid-19 situation?
Well, we were supposed to do another tour with 1349, which got canceled. John was supposed to go out with Abigail Williams, which got canceled. Jarrett was supposed to tour with Abbath and Mayhem, which was canceled. All of Jarrett’s touring work vanished. Me, Jeff, and John were also out of work for a period of time. So yeah, it hasn’t been great. But we did take the opportunity a few months ago to get together for several days to rehearse, record a couple things, do a video shoot, and start writing the next album, so we’ve stayed productive!
Where we can find your creations?
All the music product we have as well as shirts, patches, pins, and all other merch is available directly from us on our Bandcamp page at pulchramorte.bandcamp.com. You can also get there from our website at pulchramorte.com. Our label, Transcending Records, also has some stuff available at transcendingrecords.com. Transcending also has a dedicated EU site to help save on shipping. All of our albums are also available on all digital and streaming platforms. Really, wherever you consume music, you can find us. We try to make it as simple as possible to hear us.
The last words belong to you.
Thank you for the time and support – it means a lot to us! I have spent some time in Bucharest and really enjoyed my time in Romania. Hope to one day get back there and bring what we do to you in person! In the meantime, we will continue to write and create, always. Stay tuned for more!
Interview by Ionut Dimitriev
Answers by Clayton Gore
March 2021