- Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Infernal Masquerade: Thanks for taking time to answer our questions, and let’s get started. Heaven Grey started out as playing Death Metal, then moving into Doom Metal, and now Gothic Rock/Metal with Doom influences. Can you tell us what prompted the band to keep switching between genres? Do you think that you guys have finally found a comfortable sound?
Heaven Grey: Actually all these genres were very comfortable for us because we have always played the music we liked at the moment, doesn’t matter which genre it was. When “Heaven Grey” started in 1993, it was built on the ashes of 2 local bands : “Scaffold”, which played death/doom metal and “Disgorged”, which played death metal. So we just continued to play within the genres we’ve played that time. Shortly after that most band members became strongly influenced by the bands such as My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Anathema, and we moved quite into the doom metal. But we also always liked and tried to create something that is both heavy and melodic, we experimented with the sound and our latest album turned out maybe more gothic metal than doom metal, but we really didn’t care much about staying within some genre boundaries, we just played the music we felt that time.
I.M: After recording “Northwind” the band split up, why did this happen?
H.G: To tell the truth, after the release of “Northwind” followed by a quite intense touring we decided just to take a break, which was maybe not a real split-up, but a kind of a vacation for the band in order to have a rest and to generate some new ideas and to compose some new songs. Unfortunately, it took too long and 2 tragic events happened during that period : our guitar player Sigvards died of cancer and our lead vocals Ansis died in a motorcycle accident. It made our vacation to last even longer…
I.M: Returning in 2007 for a one-off show prompted the band’s return. With such a tragic succession of events that include 2 older members passing during 2004 and 2005, were you guys ever concerned that the band was cursed and you shouldn’t bring it back? What made you guys want to start rehearsing again and keeping Heaven Grey alive?
H.G: Actually it was an amazing feeling after that tribute performance – the audience accepted us extremely warm and we also felt that we have enough new tunes and ideas that have to be put together and presented to the crowd. Thus we decided to recruit 2 new members (which both are our old friends) and to start rehearsing and performing live again. We really have never thought about some curse being over the band and “Heaven Grey” just came back…
I.M: “Falling Mist” is the band’s latest self-released album. Can you tell us more about the concept and ideas behind this release?
H.G: The main symbol of the album is a falling mist that represents changes and mystery. The lyrics were mostly inspired by all the negative emotions surrounding us every day – a mixture of fear, depression, paranoia and anger.
I.M: Mixing songs in English with songs in Latvian gives a very original edge to Heaven Grey. What made you guys try this? Especially when all other bands are always scrambling to make songs in English to appeal to a broader audience
H.G: When we write songs, usually riffs come first and then come lyrics. When riffs are ready, we somehow feel in which language lyrics have to be written. It sounds strange but we have some kind of intuition for that…
I.M: The sound behind “Falling Mist” combines plenty of old school elements Doom/Gothic Metal with some hints of Rock. How important was for Heaven Grey to not fall on the clichés that most bands have this days when playing Gothic Metal/Rock?
H.G: Actually we have never paid much attention to stay inside some genre boundaries – we just recorded the songs we liked and we didn’t care much about the genre we fit in. And the biggest award for us is that you and many other people like the result of our work, whatever it is called. The clichés come and go, but the impressions and feelings remain…
I.M: Besides your appearance at Metal Camp 2010, are there any future dates planned in support of “Falling Mist”?
H.G: Yes, we are planning to make an album support tour in Baltics and, probably, Russia this year. Hope to come to the States some day as well! J
I.M: We haven’t heard many bands form Latvia besides Frailty. How is the Metal scene these days in your country, has it changed in the last few years? Any new up-and-coming bands that you would like to recommend to our readers?
H.G: Since in Latvia there’s no much audience for the metal and for underground music in general, it’s extremely difficult to get support for such kind of music here. There always have been many talented bands here, but only very few of them stayed alive after 1-2 years of existence, because mostly it’s all based on the musicians’ own enthusiasm and finances. About the band to recommend : you’d definitely have heard about our Latvian pagan/folk metal act “Skyforger”, but if not – we recommend you to check them out!
I.M: If you had unlimited budget for a live performance stage set-up, what would you use to immerse the fans in your music and why?
H.G: Hmm… Maybe we’d like to make our gigs to be like theatre or opera performances to show the world that metal is not only headbanging and drinking, it’s really an art…
I.M: Anything else you want to add for your fans and our readers?
H.G: We’d like to thank all the people who supported us and other metal bands throughout our history. Don’t forget that heavy metal doesn’t consist only of bands, record labels and festival organizers! You are the most important part and the metal scene couldn’t exist without your support! Thank you for keeping the metal alive!
I.M: Thanks for the time and good luck promoting the album.
H.G: Thank you and good luck to your webzine! Hope we’ll meet again soon!
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Read our review of "Falling Mist" here.
More info: http://www.myspace.com/heavengrey
