With their debut „Spiritus/Sulphur“, Brasilian atmospheric black metallers DEAD LIMBS created a deeply atmospheric, interesting album. In the following lines, lyricsist Saturnus tells us more about the Brasilian metal scene, the story of the myth, which the band created for the album and how „Dark Souls“ is involved in it.
DEAD LIMBS is a rather unusual name for a Atmospheric Black Metal Band, it sounds more like Death Metal. Why did you choose this name?
At first we didn’t think of a profound meaning regarding the name. It was something that we thought had a connection with the atmosphere we wanted to create. We were able to assign a deeper meaning to it, as time passed. Death isn’t the final state of someone or something, but it’s the pathway to transformation and resurrection. As a dead limb that was originally part of a tree will turn into something else, we’re on a constant process of transformation.
Torsten of Northern Silence Productions really seems to think quite highly of you. How did your cooperation come about?
We sent some emails to a few labels, but we actually never expected to be a part of NSP’s main roster. All we had in mind was having a few physical copies and some promotion, so when he emailed back it was an astonishment. It is incredible to be where many of the bands we’re fans of are, and we’re honoured by this. Torsten treated us nicely and patiently, but also orientated and advised us on a lot of aspects that we hadn’t any experience. We all hold him in high regard for that.
According to the label, your music is influenced by Agalloch and Mgła, which is really audible. Are there also other bands that have inspired you?
I think so. I actually had to ask Asclepius and Poimandres about it because I had no idea of any examples at all. That’s probably because the influences were subtle to distinguish. I could say maybe bands like Summoning and Batushka, which we were listening a lot while composing, but we would all agree that the videogame „Dark Souls“ even played a larger part than those from a sonority perspective.
Your debut „Spiritus/Sulphur“ is a really impressive, deeply atmospheric album. Apart from the music, the lyrical concept is also quite fascinating, you have created your own myth called „The Ash Seeketh Embers“. Can you shortly tell us, what this tale is about?
It’s about ressurection. To die and be reborn as someone greater. It follows the story of a decadent and plagued reign, once glorious, but now collapsing as men become more vicious and degenerate. As it falls, a malign force rises to rule and condemns the people. This scenario turns into an introspective journey of a prophesied emperor who kills the man inside him, and transcends beyond his human flaws to lead his people out of misery. It stands not only as a tale but as an allegorical exercise about the spiritual struggle to become an elevated being. We hope that people enjoy it and give as much attention to it as to the songs. We’ll release the full tale soon, and the prologue can be found in the booklet.
The myth you created is influenced by hermetic, Greek mythology and the „Souls“-series, which means the videogame-series including „Dark Souls“. What is it that fascinates you about these three topics?
Yes. I’m one of those guys that get on videos, wikis, blogs, Reddit posts… for hours long trying to find any minor detail or reading theories about the „Souls“ universe. It’s amazing how they created and shaped this world throughout the years. It’s so rich and brilliantly made, and yet so mysterious. I’m not a good player, though. About the Greek mythology, it’s something I’m very fond of since I was a kid. I had a lot of books with myths and they all have this trait of oddness; men turning into dolphins, a king that turns everything he touches into gold… Finally, about hermeticism. For Asclepius and me, Hermes‘ writings are very curious and interesting; occultist aesthetics and its allegorical themes are things we like to get into. For Poimandres this is different, he developed a deep religious connection with it.
How did you come up with the idea of writing your own myth, inspired by these subjects?
It came to be as a result of a profound immersion in these matters. We wanted to create our world, our stories. We wrote a basic text at first, just defining the characters and the events. As we were writing, this story slowly became more complex and the world bigger. Then, I wrote the origins of each character and some previous events that led into the story of „Spiritus/Sulphur“. This one that I wrote later became the prologue that is in the booklet. From then it was clear enough for us that we had to expand this world.
Will you continue your mythical tale on the albums to come or will there be completely new lyrical themes?
We’ve been thinking a lot about this, and we might create something new, but it’s something we still need to discuss. Maybe another myth with similar atmosphere, we’ll see.
In your line-up it says that Asclepius is doing the instrumentals while Poimandres is working on the concept and you are doing the lyrics. How exactly are you working together and who is singing on the record?
These were the main roles for each one of us but everyone was deeply involved in all of the aspects of the album, meaning that even though Poimandres dealt mainly with the concept, he also worked in the song-writing; the same applies to Asclepius and me. Asclepius is the only one singing the harsh vocals while each one of us does clean vocals. We tried to make the singing, both growls and clean vocals, to work in a way that would benefit the narrative. That explains why we had clean vocals at some specific parts.
The artwork of the album also looks as if it was a real ancient work of art depicting an existing ancient myth. What can you tell us about it?
Yes, in fact it is an old hermetic emblem. We decided that the illustration fits the imagetic essence of the lore really well. All we had to do was adapting the symbolism contained in it so it would make more sense in the world of ideas. In the album’s context, the sun would be Spiritus and the moon Sulphur. The alchemical and hermetic allegories were essential for the construction of the universe of „Spiritus/Sulphur“.
Despite its ambitious concept and some rather long tracks, „Spiritus/Sulphur“ is just 35 minutes long. Why did you choose this rather short running time?
One of our main concerns during the structuring of the album was to make a coherent and well-driven narrative, with a comprehensive storyline, but without losing the lyricism. We also wanted to make it more straightforward, so only the fundamental parts made it onto the album and that’s why it may sound like a bunch of nonsense for an outsider. The running time wasn’t a concern. I would enjoy a few more minutes, but we’re happy as it is.
One of the reasons for the short running time are the short two interludes. How important are these two interludes within the album’s concept?
Their purpose is to introduce the moments in which the protagonist is in a profound introspection, and these moments precede crucial events that will change him. As I said, we wanted the album to be more straightforward, so I think their short length works fine like stage curtains on a play.
The album has been produced by Patrick W. Engel at the Temple Of Disharmony. Why did you choose him as a producer and how was it to be working with him?
Poimandres managed to make a pretty decent mix and master with what he had available (which is almost nothing), but the fact is that he’s not a professional and we don’t have any good equipment at all. That’s why Torsten put us in contact with Patrick so he could master the album, helping us to take a step further with it. We had some dissents over minor technical matters but that’s irrelevant since he knew what he was doing and did a great job with the record.
What can you tell us about the Brazilian metal scene? Are there any other bands from there that you can recommend?
I see a huge potential on our metal scene. Thy Light, for example, stood out and had a big impact on the international scene. On the other hand, there are a lot of bands that share the same musical ideas and very few of them bring something new. I live in a small town on the countryside of Rio de Janeiro and there are dozens of metal bands here that sounds exactly the same. That makes the scene saturated to the point that becomes difficult to newcomers that brings new content to step up. Besides the one I already mentioned, I’ll recommend Labirinto, a must-hear for those into post-metal.
Do you intend to do live shows, maybe even in Europe?
We were so immersed in the construction of the album that we never gave a good thought on doing live shows. I think we will keep working on future projects for DEAD LIMBS such as EPs, lore content and albums for now. Yet, we’re open to discuss any opportunity if it happens. But I still think Europe is a far away dream.
Well, this interview is slowly coming to an end. At last, I would like to ask you to take part in our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming. Please tell us, what comes to your mind while reading the following terms:
Agalloch: Listening to „The Mantle“ on a bus coming home from school a few years ago
Dante’s Inferno: Gothic architecture
God Of War: I remember beating the first three ones with my father, so it brings back good memories
Religion: Something to achieve
Favorite album of all time: „Blessed He With Boils“ by Xanthochroid. At least for now.
DEAD LIMBS in ten years from now: With our creative goals achieved.
Alright, thanks again for this interview. If there’s anything left, you want to tell our readers, you may go ahead:
I want to thank you for the opportunity, Stephan! I hope people enjoy what we’re creating.
3. Februar 2017 Stephan Rajchl