| Interview by Burt Wolf with keyboardist & backing vocalist Rhiannon of SOMNUS. Interview done on January 18th 2002 |
| TAKE US BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF WHEN SOMNUS WAS BEING BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE? Scott first created the concept for SOMNUS way back in '94. After being in a straight up Death Metal band for a few years, he realized that he was more into stuff like MY DYING BRIDE, CANDLEMASS, DEAD CAN DANCE, etc...He set out to find other musicians who wanted to do something melodic yet also very heavy, with lots of atmosphere, keyboards & some doom elements. This is more along the lines of the European style of music, so it was pretty difficult to find people in the Ohio area who wanted to do the same thing, which is why the band didn't have a complete line up until early '96. I was the last member to join, after I met the rest of the band at the legendary MORBID ANGEL-DISSECTION-AT THE GATES show. I was already into melodic Black Metal & Death Metal (SAMAEL, EDGE OF SANITY, old THERION) so I was very excited to join SOMNUS. I was actually a guitarist, but I thought that the early SOMNUS stuff was good that I switched to playing keys in order to be a part of the project. WHY WAS THE NAME SOMNUS CHOSEN FOR THE BAND? SOMNUS is the Roman God Of Sleep, father of Morpheus, God Of Dreams. The name was chosen partly because we are very interested in ancient times, mythology & legends, but also to embody the dark somber feel that we try & create through our music. THERE ARE A FEW STYLES OF MUSIC BLENDED TOGETHER TO CREATE YOUR SOUND. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE SOMNUS' MUSIC? Even though we've been playing this stuff for 6 years I still have a very tough time trying to describe it, haha! Basically we blend orchestrated Black Metal with classical Death, Doom & Power Metal passages. We have so many different Metal influences from Thrash to Doom to Death, so any one of these is liable to pop up some where in our sound. Even from song to song our style changes quite a bit, but with the atmospheric it still sounds like SOMNUS. Scott started out with mostly Black Metal vocals, he has been doing more Death growls & mid ranged stuff lately, which makes things more interesting & more well rounded I think. |
| I'M SURE THERE ARE MANY GREAT THINGS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED YOU GUYS IN CREATING YOUR SOUND. WHO OR WHAT ARE SOME OF THOSE INFLUENCES? Everything from myths, legends and classical music to stuff like IRON MAIDEN, KING DIAMOND, BLACK SABBATH, BACH, MY DYING BRIDE, TESTAMENT, RUSH, MORBID ANGEL, the list goes on & on. HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH |
| ROOT OF ALL EVIL RECORDS FOR YOUR DEBUT CD RELEASE OF "AWAKENING THE CROWN"? I had assissted the Chicago based Doom band AVERNUS with some backing vocals at the Milwaukee Metalfest, to help them out & a guy who worked for ROOT approached me after the set, so I began telling him about SOMNUS. Well he loved our demo & the label agreed to release our CD, which we were almost done recording & until then we were thinking about releasing it ourselves. Luckily we didn't have to resort to that! Earl Root is the nicest guy though, we're glad he's worked with us. HOW HAS THE UNDERGROUND'S RESPONSE BEEN SO FAR TO THE CD? I think it has been well recieved, we've had almost all positive reviews & we are still getting college radio airplay. THE ROOT is still pressing copies after 2 years, that is always a good sign! And the new one "THROUGH CREATION'S END" will be out soon! I can't wait to see how that does, we think it will do much better. I HEAR QUITE A LOT OF DIFFERENCES FROM YOUR DEMO TO YOUR CD. HOW DO YOU FEEL THE BAND HAS CHANGED & PROGRESSED? And you'll hear even more progress from the 1st CD to this new one! Basically, the line up changes have been the biggest push for change & improvement. From the demo to the CD we acquired a phenomenal drummer & as you know, that makes all the difference in the world. And from the CD to now, we have a new lead guitarist who is classically trained & VERY good, and new bass player who adds a lot of energy & heaviness to our sound. Even Scott & myself have gotten to be much better players over the past few years & we're always working on improving our vocals as well. WHAT IS SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF YOUR MUSIC? Most of our lyrics relate to times long since past-legends & myths. Some of them are also inspired by Pagan & Druid ways & the ancient Celtic culture. We are much more into exploring the realm of ancient fantasy than realism, to give the listener something to think about & imagine. COULD YOU GIVE SOME OF THE MEANING BEHIND THE "AWAKENING THE CROWN" CD COVER? The cover is related to the song "Unfulfilled Prophecy", where a forest king reigns in his triple moon goddess throne, but may soon be usurped by a dark mysterious figure in the background. The Raven on his throne is a sign of what might be to come. Or will the current king successfully defeat the dark figure? It is completely open to interpretation. |
 |
 |