In the depths of oceans
Anyone who likes Funeral Doom and would like to hear Lovecraft´s stories transformed into music, he should draw attention to the Argentine FUNGOID STREAM band. Debut "Celaenus Fragments" was released already in 2004, but this year came time again for penetration of cliffotic forces into our reality in the form of "Oceanus" album. Their music guides you through the mysterious depths of the oceans and the infinite dark cosmic abysses full of unexpected dangers and threats. Both members have, in addition, their projects called QHWERRT and DORMANTGOD. Conduktor of this tour is vocalist Simon O.
What is currently happening around FUNGOID STREAM band?
Right at this moment, not too much, we are enjoying that our second album has finally seen the light.
Why did release of "Oceanus" album take so long?
It was purely a problem of resources. The album was ready to be launched by 2008, even the booklets were printed. But after that, as economics rules the world, the so called global crisis hit here too. I would like to mention the enormous effort made by our label for finally releasing Oceanus by March, 2010.
Can you describe the sound of FUNGOID STREAM and atmosphere you want to create by music?
We want a deep sound, but with enough place for melodies and keyboards, so useful for creating such ancient, ethereal and perhaps horror atmospheres.
Do you play also live shows, or it is purely the studio band?
We are a studio band so far. There is no plan of playing live shows in the short term.
Both your albums were released by Furias Records, do you know them personally? Looks like you are very satisfied with them...
You're right; we are totally satisfied and grateful with Furias Records. They have been very supporting with us. They gave us their loyalty since the first moment we met.
Seems that new album is somehow connected with the oceans; even whales appear in your music. What attracts you most on the oceans? Do you know the German band AHAB? They are the same...
I've heard Ahab and I liked it a lot, it's a great band. The connector between FS and the ocean is H. P. Lovecraft. Ocean was always an element of horror in his stories. We cannot know what ocean can hide, and that's fascinating.
How did you get the idea to play just Funeral Doom Metal? That style is probably not widespread in Argentina…
I must say that Doom metal is widely listened here, and Funeral Doom has some faithful listeners. At this moment, I must clarify that the founder of FS was Joseph C. He chose Funeral Doom for FS, its sound is perfect for melting the HPL universe with the music. He asked me to join for vocals, as he knew that Funeral Doom and HPL are my favorites in music and literature.
Joseph is responsible for all the instruments. Isn’t that too much for him?
I don't think so. He is a bit misanthropist, and perhaps that's the reason for him for playing all the instruments in his home recording studio. Anyway, as himself admitted, he has a couple of flaws about that and he's working on them.
What is your feeling from the debut "Celaenus Fragments" today? Are you still happy with it?
Yes, we are totally happy with our first album. We wouldn't change anything. In fact, Joseph uses to say that "Celaenus Fragments" is his favorite track ever composed by him. Anyway, I [Simon O.] can see a growth from the first album to the second.
Why did you choose to write lyrics influenced just by H.P. Lovecraft?
As Joseph wrote in our website: "being a doom metal listener, a musician, a voracious reader and a H.P. Lovecraft's literature cultist since my very childhood, I've decided to create a band that could agglutinate all these aspects". As I mentioned above, we share the same tastes about music and literature.
Are you interested in the history of the Earth, civilizations and universe? Are your lyrics based on the books, or purely on your feelings?
I think any Lovecraft reader is interested in ancient history, dead tongues, vanished (real or imaginary) civilizations and all the mysteries (and horrors) that the universe can hide.
What do lyrics of “Star Winds”, “The Gardens of Yin” and “Night-Gaunts” tracks deal about? Who writes lyrics?
We've got the best lyric writer that we can ever wish: HPL himself. All lyrics are fragments taken directly from his work. In both albums, every track title is a Lovecraft's poem, so you can find the lyrics by reading the poems from a book. All verses are taken from poems included in "Fungi from Yuggoth and other poems".
Have you even been influenced by any films, movies? Which ones do you prefer?
That's a huge question. For my part [Simon O.], I can say that I like any movie that tells (in a right, literary way) a fantastic, horror or even science fiction story. But I think that our music didn't receive any influence from that.
Why have you created the project QHWERTT? Have you had ideas not fitting to FUNGOID STREAM?
Qhwertt is a personal project of me [Simon O.], created after the releasing of the debut album of Fungoid Stream. I should say that the soul of FS is Joseph and he let me to be part of such great band. But Qhwertt became my own place, for exploring a more dense and perhaps droner (despite I don't like this word) atmosphere but without losing melodies and musical notes.
Which Funeral Doom Metal albums do you feel are most important to the scene and had the greatest impact to it?
I can't name an specific album. But the most important albums always shared two characteristics: they made a solid proposal of musical melodies, using notes for reaching the appropriate aesthetic feeling in the listener, and they tried to expand the funeral doom without breaking the canons of the music and the genre itself, avoiding falling in experimental, alternative and sterile ambiences.
How does metal underground of Argentina looks like? How many interviews you did? Do you have many Metal live shows there in Argentina?
Metal underground in Argentina suffers the same odds that in any other part of the world, from outside and inside the scene. All interviews we did but two (made by argentinian zines) came from Europe. And there is a lot of metal live shows here, mostly local (and talented) bands.
You live in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. Is it a suitable place to create such a mysterious music? Wouldn’t you rather live somewhere near the forest?
Any place in the world can be a source of mystery and fantasy. Only our own mind can lead us to the deep, pre-human forest, or to the fungous basaltic abysses of the ocean. The horror is lurking behind our own eyes and we must tame it or face our destruction.
Ok, that's all from my side, you have the last words. Can you write your current top 5 albums?
First, we really appreciate this space you gave us for expressing our thoughts. Thanks a lot for that.
About the albums, it's hard to say, but I'll mention several albums (more than five) that we really liked and influenced on us, some of them not Funeral Doom: Elend, Les Tenebres du Dehors; Esoteric, Epistemological Despondency; Forest of Shadows, Departure; Morgion, Solinari; October Tide, Rain without end; Pantheist, 1000 Years; Evoken, Quietus; Skepticism, Farmakon, Lead and Aether; Thergothon, Stream From The Heavens; Dolorian, Dolorian; Endura, Elder Signs; Void of Silence, Towards the dusk; Saturnus, Paradise Belongs to you, among many more.
Thanks.
http://www.orionmusicfurias.com.ar/fungoidstream
Simon O. 25. 8. 2010 Storm
What is currently happening around FUNGOID STREAM band?
Right at this moment, not too much, we are enjoying that our second album has finally seen the light.
Why did release of "Oceanus" album take so long?
It was purely a problem of resources. The album was ready to be launched by 2008, even the booklets were printed. But after that, as economics rules the world, the so called global crisis hit here too. I would like to mention the enormous effort made by our label for finally releasing Oceanus by March, 2010.
Can you describe the sound of FUNGOID STREAM and atmosphere you want to create by music?
We want a deep sound, but with enough place for melodies and keyboards, so useful for creating such ancient, ethereal and perhaps horror atmospheres.
Do you play also live shows, or it is purely the studio band?
We are a studio band so far. There is no plan of playing live shows in the short term.
Both your albums were released by Furias Records, do you know them personally? Looks like you are very satisfied with them...
You're right; we are totally satisfied and grateful with Furias Records. They have been very supporting with us. They gave us their loyalty since the first moment we met.
Seems that new album is somehow connected with the oceans; even whales appear in your music. What attracts you most on the oceans? Do you know the German band AHAB? They are the same...
I've heard Ahab and I liked it a lot, it's a great band. The connector between FS and the ocean is H. P. Lovecraft. Ocean was always an element of horror in his stories. We cannot know what ocean can hide, and that's fascinating.
How did you get the idea to play just Funeral Doom Metal? That style is probably not widespread in Argentina…
I must say that Doom metal is widely listened here, and Funeral Doom has some faithful listeners. At this moment, I must clarify that the founder of FS was Joseph C. He chose Funeral Doom for FS, its sound is perfect for melting the HPL universe with the music. He asked me to join for vocals, as he knew that Funeral Doom and HPL are my favorites in music and literature.
Joseph is responsible for all the instruments. Isn’t that too much for him?
I don't think so. He is a bit misanthropist, and perhaps that's the reason for him for playing all the instruments in his home recording studio. Anyway, as himself admitted, he has a couple of flaws about that and he's working on them.
What is your feeling from the debut "Celaenus Fragments" today? Are you still happy with it?
Yes, we are totally happy with our first album. We wouldn't change anything. In fact, Joseph uses to say that "Celaenus Fragments" is his favorite track ever composed by him. Anyway, I [Simon O.] can see a growth from the first album to the second.
Why did you choose to write lyrics influenced just by H.P. Lovecraft?
As Joseph wrote in our website: "being a doom metal listener, a musician, a voracious reader and a H.P. Lovecraft's literature cultist since my very childhood, I've decided to create a band that could agglutinate all these aspects". As I mentioned above, we share the same tastes about music and literature.
Are you interested in the history of the Earth, civilizations and universe? Are your lyrics based on the books, or purely on your feelings?
I think any Lovecraft reader is interested in ancient history, dead tongues, vanished (real or imaginary) civilizations and all the mysteries (and horrors) that the universe can hide.
What do lyrics of “Star Winds”, “The Gardens of Yin” and “Night-Gaunts” tracks deal about? Who writes lyrics?
We've got the best lyric writer that we can ever wish: HPL himself. All lyrics are fragments taken directly from his work. In both albums, every track title is a Lovecraft's poem, so you can find the lyrics by reading the poems from a book. All verses are taken from poems included in "Fungi from Yuggoth and other poems".
Have you even been influenced by any films, movies? Which ones do you prefer?
That's a huge question. For my part [Simon O.], I can say that I like any movie that tells (in a right, literary way) a fantastic, horror or even science fiction story. But I think that our music didn't receive any influence from that.
Why have you created the project QHWERTT? Have you had ideas not fitting to FUNGOID STREAM?
Qhwertt is a personal project of me [Simon O.], created after the releasing of the debut album of Fungoid Stream. I should say that the soul of FS is Joseph and he let me to be part of such great band. But Qhwertt became my own place, for exploring a more dense and perhaps droner (despite I don't like this word) atmosphere but without losing melodies and musical notes.
Which Funeral Doom Metal albums do you feel are most important to the scene and had the greatest impact to it?
I can't name an specific album. But the most important albums always shared two characteristics: they made a solid proposal of musical melodies, using notes for reaching the appropriate aesthetic feeling in the listener, and they tried to expand the funeral doom without breaking the canons of the music and the genre itself, avoiding falling in experimental, alternative and sterile ambiences.
How does metal underground of Argentina looks like? How many interviews you did? Do you have many Metal live shows there in Argentina?
Metal underground in Argentina suffers the same odds that in any other part of the world, from outside and inside the scene. All interviews we did but two (made by argentinian zines) came from Europe. And there is a lot of metal live shows here, mostly local (and talented) bands.
You live in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. Is it a suitable place to create such a mysterious music? Wouldn’t you rather live somewhere near the forest?
Any place in the world can be a source of mystery and fantasy. Only our own mind can lead us to the deep, pre-human forest, or to the fungous basaltic abysses of the ocean. The horror is lurking behind our own eyes and we must tame it or face our destruction.
Ok, that's all from my side, you have the last words. Can you write your current top 5 albums?
First, we really appreciate this space you gave us for expressing our thoughts. Thanks a lot for that.
About the albums, it's hard to say, but I'll mention several albums (more than five) that we really liked and influenced on us, some of them not Funeral Doom: Elend, Les Tenebres du Dehors; Esoteric, Epistemological Despondency; Forest of Shadows, Departure; Morgion, Solinari; October Tide, Rain without end; Pantheist, 1000 Years; Evoken, Quietus; Skepticism, Farmakon, Lead and Aether; Thergothon, Stream From The Heavens; Dolorian, Dolorian; Endura, Elder Signs; Void of Silence, Towards the dusk; Saturnus, Paradise Belongs to you, among many more.
Thanks.
http://www.orionmusicfurias.com.ar/fungoidstream
Simon O. 25. 8. 2010 Storm
interview
