Friday 6 April 2018

Aleks Evdokimov Interviews Mark Wolf From SuuM and BRETUS



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?

The energy I use is the same for both bands but the lyrical themes are different.

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.

For the moment we are satisfied with this solution, this is the most important thing.

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