Today
on the morning of Hallows Eve, the beast that is
Swedish doom band Alastor, meaning in
Greek mythology, as the avenger of evil deeds, return with a
new EP on cassette, 20 minutes of mind
reaping fuzz worship entitled "Blood on Satan’s Claw" and guaranteed to make you blood run cold.
Set for release
through Swedish label Ljudkassett on the 15th
November and featuring two tracks, one original and one cover of the Creedence Clear Water track “Bad Moon Rising”, today we are happy to exclusively stream the EP
in full as well as a short interview with Alastor guitarist Lucy
Ferian both of which you can check out below.
Can you give us an insight into how you started playing music, leading
up to the formation of
Alastor?
Lucy
Ferian: Music has always been a huge part in the formation of who I am. I
remember sneaking into my older sister’s room to look at her Iron Maiden records at an early age. Those album covers
fascinated me, especially the cover to”The
X Factor”. So it was not unexpected that when the rest of the kids my age
played football or drove around on shitty mopeds I started to play guitar. To
be honest I sucked pretty hard.
I
played in some hardcore bands and played in a rock band before Alastor, none of which really got anywhere. You can say
that when I joined Alastor everything sort
of fell into place for me, both musically and aesthetically.
For followers of the blog unfamiliar with your band, is there any
bands on the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point
bands to describe your band, and who or what continues to
inspire you and push you to try new things?
Lucy
Ferian: With the risk of sounding like a pretentious asshole, for me that is up
to the listener to decide. It’s not that I think that Alastor
is unique in light of the present doom scene, it’s just that I’m not in the
slightest interested in comparing ourselves to other bands who play this kind
of music. It’s not constructive to me. We in the band all come from different
musical backgrounds and the things that inspire us comes from all kinds of
music and art. A few bands that I’ve listened to a lot during the recording and
writing of “Blood on Satan’s Claw”
are Camel, Pink Floyd and Black Magic SS.
What can you tell us about your upcoming release “Blood on Satan’s
Claw” and where do you
feel it sits within the context of current doom scene?
Lucy
Ferian: “Blood on Satan’s Claw” is a
step further on our musical journey. We allowed ourselves to experiment a lot
more on these two tracks than we did on the “Black Magic” album. To be honest we are kind of out of touch with
the present doom scene but in the context on a more personal level this EP is a
huge accomplishment for us as musicians.
Does anything spring to mind when you think about the completion of
this new release and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Lucy
Ferian: Probably listening to the final mix of the track “Blood on Satan’s Claw” for the first time. It was such a heavy
experience to finally hear the final result on high volume. The journey from
the recording to the final result of this EP has been a long and difficult one
but now we can finally move forward. We look forward to corrupt more and more
minds.
What stands out as your overarching memory from the recording
sessions?
Lucy
Ferian: When recording the “Bad Moon
Rising” cover we stumbled upon a cellist who just happened to be recording
in a smaller studio connected to the one we recorded in. I think the part which
he played really gave the cover a whole new feel. Sometimes you need luck to
write good music.
With you new record in the bag, how is your schedule shaping up over
the next 12 months?
Lucy
Ferian: We are currently working on what will be our first real full length
album. When and how that will manifest is yet to be revealed.
Finally, do you have any last words?
Lucy
Ferian: Listen to Pink Floyd.
The End
