SuuM
is a new name in Italian doom underground: they gathered in Rome in
2017, and the debut “Buried Into The Grave” appeared in February
2018 on Russian label Endless Winter.
Probably
I could skip it but there are two familiar persons in the lineup,
they are Mark Wolf who also sings in great doom band Bretus and
mister Painkiller who plays guitars in Fangtooth.
It’s
hard to tell if it’s a kind of “star lineup”, but at least we
have guarantees, that men know well how to provide proper traditional
doom. I’ve got in touch with Mark to uncover few facts about SuuM.
Hi
Mark! How are you? What's going on in SuuM camp?
Hi
Aleksey! In SuuM camp everything is going well, “Buried Into The
Grave” came out a few weeks ago. The perfect soundtrack for a
nocturnal walk in cemetery. The reviews have
been full of praise and reactions have been mostly very positive,
we have received a lot of appreciation from zines, web zines and
doom maniacs. Totally unexpected. We are
preparing for some Doomed Rituals and the promotion of the album goes
on.
Okay,
SuuM is pretty fresh outfit, we know you from Bretus and Painkiller
is from Fangtooth, but what about the other guys? How did you gather
under the Doom Cult tattered banner?
The
line up is completed by Rick and Marcas. Rick (Drums) was the drummer
of an historical Hardcore band, Bloody Riot (Italy), Marcas (Bass)
has other experiences in some rock / heavy metal bands.
What
made you take part in one more doom band? What's your motivation? Do
you feel you have something new to say in this genre?
Everything
was born spontaneously, I've known Painkiller for a long time, he was
born in Sicily, I'm from Calabria, we have
shared the stage many times in the past.
For various reasons we both live in Rome, we met Rick and Marcas and
from the first rehearsal the right alchemy was created. There is no
particular reason behind this choice. I think Doom needs to stay in
the depths of the rock/metal scene, it's not a
mainstream music and it never will be.
What drives me and the other guys in the band is the desire to
continue to play this music with the right attitude. Basically we
just play music we want to listen to ourselves.
By
the way, how do you feel an essence of doom metal? Bretus deals with
horror stories, and it seems that SuuM isn't faraway from this topic.
I
think Bretus and SuuM are different both musically and in lyrics,
surely it would not make sense for me to play in two similar
projects.
And
essence of doom? What is it for you?
It's
a state of mind, the doom must be breathed and must be lived, it's
not just a musical genre. It is the mirror
of soul. Soul is the most important thing
when playing this music.
SuuM
– Tower Of The Oblivion
The
latest Bretus album “…From The Twilight Zone” is vintage
sounding tribute to old thrillers, and its sound suits well this
concept. What did influence on SuuM heavily overloaded sound? Why did
you stop on it?
Well,
as I said Bretus and SuuM are two different bands with different
approaches and sounds.
In
Bretus you can find also 70's Rock, Psychedelia, Blues. SuuM play old
school Doom Metal in an instinctive way
, there is some death metal influence in the riffing. Painkiller,
Rick and Marcas have their own background.
SuuM and Bretus play doom music in two
different ways, this allows me to try different vocal solutions, this
is what I need.
But
in the same time your manner of singing is pretty recognizable. Do
you mean what you put different efforts or energy in singing for each
band?
What
kind of lyrics did you record for SuuM? How is it important for you?
With
the use of the metaphors we describe the horror that surrounds us
every day. I have always been interested in the dark side of the
things. Some of the lyrics are introspective and many of these have
been influenced by some things happening in my life.
Did
you record “Buried Into The Grave” in the same studio as Bretus'
“…From The Twilight Zone”?
No,
“Buried Into The Grave” was recorded at the Devil's Mark studio
in Rome by Marco MT from Demonomancy (Black Metal band).
“…From
The Twilight Zone” was recorder at Black Horse Studio in Catanzaro.
How
did you spend the record session at the Devil’s Mark Studio? How
many days did you have there?
The
recording sessions were very fast (two days), it was a full
immersion, we wanted to get a sound very close to what we are in our
live shows. What you can hear today is exactly the sound of SuuM.
Every single riff, arrangement or vocal line took 100% of our time
and devotion.
After
being so long in Italian underground, how do you see it now? Does the
life of bands become easier?
Well
Aleksey, as you know there are many excellent bands in Italy, no need
to mention them, they are almost all present in your doom
encyclopedia (compliments again for Doom Metal Lexicanum).
There
is a lot of support among many bands, there is a great scene but
there are few places to play live shows compared to the rest of
Europe.
Both
Bretus and SuuM new album were released by Russian label Endless
Winter, don't you feel disappointed that the albums don't appear on
Italian labels? I guess that Bretus “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”
was released by BloodRock Records, right?
We
are not disappointed, is not necessary to have a release by an
Italian label,
we
are comfortable with Endless Winter and Hellas Records, they are
serious people who do their job with passion. However in the future
anything can happen.
Bretus
– Danza Macabra
What
are your ambitions towards SuuM? How do you see the band’s
prospects?
Doom
is known as the genre that kind of celebrates itself, generally
you don’t choose to play this music to make it big.
We are not innovators, we don't invent anything, we want to play only
Doom metal in a primordial way.
“Buried
Into The Grave” was released just a pair of months ago, but what's
about new material? Do you already have an inspiration for the next
record? Or maybe you are focused on the next
Bretus album?
We
have already some new stuff, I want to clarify that SuuM do not
depend only on my inspirations, I would like to specify something,
SuuM is not “my” project, SuuM is “our” band (Painkiller,
Rick, Marcas, Mark Wolf). In the band we are all 100% involved in the
creation of songs.
At
the moment the priority goes to live shows, surely we will perform as
many live shows as we can, we will publish soon the details about the
new next Doomed Rituals.
With
Bretus we are working on the new album, we’re halfway through
writing our fourth record right now, we hope to enter the recording
studio next year.
Anyway
the two bands will not be hindered, each band
follows its own path.
The
second Bretus album was whole based on Lovecraft’s story, the third
one is collection of old thrillers and horror movies. What’s your
plan for the fourth one? Do you already have a general idea?
We
have some ideas but it's too early to reveal
it, it will
certainly be something different, probably it will be a concept
album, we will see...stay tuned and Doomed.
Mark,
thank you for the interview. How would you like to sum up our
interview?
Thank
you for the interesting interview Aleksey, follow the Sabbath...Doom
for the Doomed!
Words by Aleks Evdokimov and Mark Wolf
