Torpor and Sonance are
perhaps two of the heaviest Sludge Bands the UK has to offer at the
moment. Both different sounding bands but each with the same
objective in making some of the heaviest Sludge Metal around.
Torpor released a
stunning debut album earlier this year with From Nothing Comes
Everything. Sonance have been creating bleak experimental
Sludge/Post-Metal for the last few years now. I've became a fan of
these great bands over the last few years.
So when Lauren
(Bass/Vox) from Torpor and Ben (Guitar) & Will (Vox/Guitar) from
Sonance contacted me recently to discuss their forthcoming split
record they will be recording and releasing next year, I couldn't say
no. It was also a great chance to catch up with these two awesome
bands.
So
here's the interview with Lauren, Ben and Will.
Hi
Ben, Will and Lauren. Thanks for doing this interview, how are
things with you today.
Lauren
– Hey Steve! Really good thanks, just enjoying a day off in the
rain. Much tea and sofa time…
Torpor - Photo by Torpor
So
we are here to talk about the forthcoming split record between Torpor
and Sonance. What can we expect from this release.
Lauren
– 20 minutes of stumbling mammoth riffs and swirling vortices of
harmony and noise.
Will – Heavy
as fuck, low and slow. We're writing shorter songs this time around
rather than single tracks lasting a whole side.
When
will it be released.
Lauren – I
think we’re aiming for spring 2016.
Will
– First part of next year, with our usual pattern of getting the
download out asap and other formats/vinyl following soon after.
Sonance
When
did you get the idea to release a split record.
Will
– We're huge Torpor fans and have shared the stage a few times,
they seemed like the ideal band to reach out to.
Lauren
– The idea came about while we were planning a weekender earlier
this year, which didn’t quite come together. If I remember, Ben
felt guilty that he didn’t ask us to play their Blackflower release
show, so the split was a consolation prize! Haha.
Ben
- We asked torpor a while back. i've never done a split before, it
seems like a fun thing to do with a band you love.
Whilst
Torpor and Sonance are both heavy sludge based bands. Both bands have
a different sound to each other. Does the sound of both bands work
together for the new record. As I never thought both of your bands
releasing a split record together.
Lauren
– I feel that we share a lot of common ground with Sonance, without
especially sounding similar. For me that’s the perfect kind of
creative alliance – inspiring but not stepping on each other’s
toes. The beauty of a split is that fans of each band get to hear
something they might not check out otherwise, so the two sides could
be polar opposite and still work as a whole because they are joined
by a thread of inspiration or values.
Ben - We'll see.
i'd imagine so, torpor have a raw sound to me, something i love to
see live and on record so far has left me wanting more. splits work
better when they are not the same style bands anyway....i think
converge/hellchild was immense.
Will
– We're collaborating a bit on material, for example I'm doing
vocals on a track of theirs. We have a very special guest vocalist
lined up for one of our tracks too.
Does
the split record feature entirely new material.
Ben
- From us yep.
Will – Yep,
all new material, we're writing a lot at the moment so have a few
tracks to choose from.
Lauren
– We’ve written two new songs for this record. One of them was
pretty much done when the split idea was finalised, but it just so
happened that it felt perfect for this release.
Will
you be touring together to promote the record at all.
Lauren
– We’re planning a weekender or short tour for late spring 2016 I
think.
Will – The aim
is to do a short tour together to promote the release. We're hoping
to do a show at The Cube in Bristol where we did the Blackflower
release earlier this year. It's a cinema so the situation is optimal
for visuals/atmosphere.
Ben
- We'll do at least a weekender covering Bristol and London.
Both
bands are well regarded within the UK Doom/Sludge Metal scene. Has it
surprised you the response to your music by fans and critics alike.
Lauren
– We still feel like nobody has really heard of us outside of our
little community, so it’s nice but surprising when people like you
say things like that! We’re still mostly opening shows, although
those opening slots are getting a bit more high profile recently
(like for Amenra!) I think playing in London makes it hard to judge
how people respond to you – folded arms and a general air of
indifference are pretty standard! We really like going to smaller
towns and cities where people are a lot more forthcoming, and you
think “oh right, people do like us!”
Will – We've
been very lucky to have so much positive response to our music. It
fuels our fire.
Ben - We got a
great response after like ghosts and blackflower, in my opinion was
not as well received, which was fine by me. They're two different
records and i can see what people may like or not like in each
release. What's important is for this band to keep writing and
releasing music.
Lauren
– Torpor’s new album – From Nothing Comes Everything – was
released earlier this year. That was a brutal and quite frankly
brilliant album. It received some lovely praise all over the place.
Did that surprise you. Would you change anything about that album. Or
would you leave it as it is.
Lauren
– Thank you! We were really pleased at the amount of positive press
it received. We didn’t have any expectations, but we worked very
hard on that record, we spent a long time crafting it and I think
people can hear that in the finished album. It was a true reflection
of the band at that time, and with that in mind I wouldn’t change
anything about it – we’re all really proud of it. Torpor is
constantly changing and evolving, most obviously with Nats leaving
quite recently, so the new songs sound different and we are really
looking forward to going back into the studio and seeing how the next
recording turns out. We’ve lost one very strong influence, and
it’s set us free creatively. You’ll hear much more of our
individual tastes coming through, we’re stretching our wings again.
Ben,
Will – Sonance have just released a new album with Mirror And Vie.
Another experimental offering from you guys which you’ve said can
be played by itself or with previous albums. How did that idea come
about releasing a record such as that. Was it an easy record to write
and record for. I don’t know if you were influenced by BORIS who
did something similar years ago.
Will – More
influenced by Neurosis's Grace/Times of Grace combination from nearly
20 years ago. The intention is for Mirror and Vie to be an on going
release i.e. we'll add to it with more experimental and ambient
content, that can be listened to alone or in combination with our
future releases.
Ben - refer to
will's answer.... it's been done before sure, but it's something we
feel we can keep doing over the years.
Both
bands are both fairly active with the UK Live Doom/Sludge Metal
scene. Some people are saying that the scene is thriving whilst
offers are saying it’s in major decline. What’s your own verdict
on this. And if it is declining, how can we improve it.
Lauren
– We have a fantastic, supportive community around us but we’re
naturally loners and kind of keep ourselves to ourselves. We don’t
bother with people we don’t like and don’t inspire us – why
waste time bitching about stuff like that or spending hours you’ll
never live again watching music that does nothing for you?! We leave
them to it and just focus on what we’re doing. My verdict? There
are some fantastic bands around and it’s a real privilege to count
them as friends and peers, and there is (as there always has and
always will be) a fair bit of derivative stuff. We all have
different tastes and music serves different purposes for us, if
someone wants to get drunk and listen to recycled Down riffs then who
am I to play judge! The pundits could use their time better by
creating something positive rather than trying to define a moment in
time when ‘the scene’ declined or moaning about a lack of
originality – that just highlights a short-sightedness on their
part.
Ben - The scene
is great, but i'll happily go on record saying that stoner metal or
sludge metal in the UK or worldwide has become boring. Slabdragger
are exempt!
With
2015 almost drawing to a close, what have been your fave records
you’ve listened to this year.
Ben - i'll sound
like a twat and say i can't recall any.
Lauren
– I’ve been mostly listening to records that friends and bands we
know have released, including ‘Spectrum’ by Human Future; ‘The
Finest Day…’ by Monolithian; Dead Existence’s absolute blinder
of an album ‘Endless Misery’, and revisiting old ground like
Grails ‘Burning off Impurities’, feeding an obsession with
Me’Shell Ndegeocello, and some Ornette Coleman. There’s loads
I’ve forgotten, I have a terrible memory!
Will – I
wasn't expecting to like it as much but Harm's Way - Rust hasn't left
my player since I got it. Really, really looking forward to the
Dragged into sunlight/Gnaw their tongues collaboration.
Do
you have any exciting plans happening in 2016 that you can tell us
about.
Will
– We're concentrating on writing a lot more than we have in the
past so 2016 should see more releases than usual from Sonance.
Lauren
– We’ll be doing a couple of weekenders with friends, and writing
a lot. If people would like to book us for some festivals that would
be fantastic, thanks. Haha.
Ben -
Write......maybe plan a tour....release this split....
Well
thanks for doing this interview. All the best with the new record.
Can’t wait to hear it.
Lauren –
Neither can we! Thanks Steve.
I want to thank Lauren,
Ben and Will for taking the time out to talk to me. It was great
catching up. Can't wait to hear the new split record next year. You
know one thing, with these two bands, it's going to be HEAVY....
Words
by Steve Howe, Lauren, Ben and Will.
Sonance
Links:
Torpor
Links:
