Abysmal Dawn Interview

Interview
Charles Elliot
Abysmal Dawn

Lineup:
Charles Elliot - Guitar, Vocals
Jamie Boulanger - Guitar
Terry Barajas - Drums
Mike Cosio - Bass

Abysmal Dawn Promo

6/26/07
Interviewer: Karma E. Omowale

“I’m not concerned with writing “From Ashes Part II.” It will have elements from that album because it was written by the same group of people…”

Abysmal Dawn is causing quite an uprising in the LA metal scene and beyond and if you have not heard of this band then it’s time you got your head out of your ass and checked this quartet out! Bet your blackened heart this band is poised to take over in the not so distant future in a new genre, American Blackened Death Metal! In the meantime, ex-Rise guitarist’s Charles Elliot took some time to talk to FourteenG about opening for the legendary Emperor, the band’s crushing debut From Ashes and the follow-up…

Karma E. Omowale: First off, thanks for doing the interview Charles! For our readership that is not familiar with your band and shame on them if they’re not, could you describe the idea that embodies Abysmal Dawn?

CONGRATS on opening for two legendary bands such as Emperor now Immortal (7/15), then Exodus (8/4). Could you please share a little bit of the experience you had with Emperor?

That Emperor show was just insane. I have to be honest, I haven’t been that nervous playing a show in a really long time. It was just such an honor opening for such legends. It was also great to finally redeem myself haha. I played with Emperor in my old band Inhuman Visions it was one of the worst shows I ever played. I remember the singer had thrown out his back before the gig. Jamie recently fucked up his back as well so that was déjà vu. Right before Inhuman was supposed to play that night my amp blew up on stage. I ended up plugging direct into the board using a boss metal zone pedal and it sounded terrible. When they let the crowd in people just came in and sat down in front of us. It was a rough show to say the least. This time was much better. The crowd had lots of energy and treated us with the respect they’d give any veteran act. We actually had a pit the whole time I think. We’re for the most part a death metal band with some black metal parts so we were very pleased to see the crowd respond like that. Later that night Samoth’s amp blew in the middle of Emperor’s set. I was like, “I know how he feels!” haha He ended up borrowing my head for the rest of the show.

Now that a story to remember! Speaking of tours, how did the last tour go [Six Feet Under, Krisiun, Decapitated]? Did you fare better than expected? What are your touring plans for the immediate future?

The tour was amazing! At some point during the tour, it came up that this was our first full US run and all the other bands were really surprised. Judging by the crowd responses and how well we conducted ourselves they just figured we’d done it before. We want to tour again but we’ve been focusing on writing a new record. We might do something by the end of the year but in the meantime, we’ve just been doing small runs and festivals. We might do something by the end of the year or we might not do a proper US run until early 2008. It’s up in the air right now until we record this August really.

It’s nice to see you guys are getting exposure all over the place, especially being in heavy rotation on Music Choice. How has this changed the band? Has it shined more light on you?

We definitely have more fans than when we started and things seem to be growing all the time. We’re just happy we’re playing something people seem to appreciate. I can’t really say it’s really changed us or our music at all. We still feel we can write an even better album and we know there’s always more work to be done.

Considering what you do with your day job [PR], how does that affect you as an artist, meaning how does it feel to be on both sides of the fence of promotions…does it encourage you to work harder at your craft in the long run?

It’s given me a better idea of what of how a band should operate and what we should really expect from a label. Working for a label has been a college education for me. I’ve learned so much dealing with it everyday that I think it’s helped the band immensely.

Thanks! We tried really hard to make it as good as it could. It is brutal but we tried to add a lot of melody as well without losing any of the balls to it. This new album is even more extreme. The tempos are faster, the leads are crazier and some of the riffs are pretty technical. I think we’re definitely going to raise the bar for ourselves again.

Considering this was your debut, with a clean slate, do you think it was harder or easier to create the songs without any expectations? Having said that, how much pressure will there be on for your sophomore effort? Will it be harder to try to live up or to surpass what you’ve done to date?

We always had to live up to our own expectations and that’s the hardest part. With no pressure, it took us two years to write that record. We weren’t necessarily writing the whole time but each song was given a lot of attention. We’ve also learned to stay a little more focused since then haha. I don’t know that I feel that much pressure personally because I’m not dwelling on the past that much. This album is for us first and foremost and hopefully people will like it. I’m not concerned with writing “From Ashes Part II.” It will have elements from that album because it was written by the same group of people, but I’m not making that much of a conscious effort to do so. This will be a natural step up for us and one-step closer to our own sound.

Lyrically I’ve always strived to paint a picture in your head and sort of convey the atmosphere of the song. When I write lyrics it’s almost as if the words sort of spill out of me and I rewrite them to make sense later. It’s the vibe from the music, the anger, the loathing, and despair from the music that I draw inspiration from.

It hard pick a favorite really because I related to them all at some point in time. A song like “Servants to Their Knees” is really fun to play live because it’s fast and gets the crowd going. I also enjoy the catchiness of songs like “Crown Desire,” “Solitudes Demise” and the one that gets played on Music Choice all the time “Blacken the Sky.”

The production of the CD is amazing! Would you consider using John Haddad again? And what’s the story on how you got him to produce the CD to begin with?

We already have the studio time booked with him for August! Initially I had just heard a few things he had done with local bands. He did Intronaut’s first demo and that’s when I knew we should give this guy shot. He’s really good at capturing what a band actually sounds like live and putting that to disc I think. I’m sure he’ll be a name people will be hearing a lot of in the future.

I’d probably listen to John Haddad and mix the vocals a little higher haha. I think the leads could be slightly louder as well. Everything was recorded and mixed in 10 days so overall I think it came out very well.

The cover art is phenomenal! How do you collaborate with Par Olofsson [Spawn of Possession, Disavowed…] and Anthony Clarkson [Communic, Hypocrisy, Scar Symmetry] to come up with these awesomely imaginary works of art for the album cover?

Par actually did the cover and Anthony did the layout. The cover was based on the lyrics to “Blacken the Sky.” I just gave Par a general idea of what I wanted and the layout of it and that’s what he came up with. We’ve been trying to collaborate more with the new cover. I think the was some metal cliché that could have been avoid last time if it wasn’t for my hand in it. It was sort of old school looking in a way and that fit the album perfectly. This time were trying to create something a bit more modern and original that won’t pigeonhole as an old-school death metal band. I think we’ve broadened our sound a bit and we want to represent that.

No one new really, I’m so jaded haha. The new Nile album is really good though.

A collection of people really. To idolize one person is idiotic because we all have our faults. I admire certain aspects of many people and try to learn a little bit from everyone. Maybe my fault is wanting to be perfect haha.

Neither really but it depends on how you define each word. I believe in the power of the mind whether it’s actually a spirit or not. I don’t think religion is a complete bad thing and I do acknowledge that some people need it, even if I don’t. Christianity is what I don’t like really because it uses people’s need for spiritual enlightenment against them in order to really control them.

What’s the one thing that people wouldn’t know about you that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

I cannot live without the following…

If I could fulfill just one fantasy, what would it be?

First music you remember hearing in your house?

Literally? Well, since I always stuck to CD and never vinyl or tape really I can’t think of one haha. There’s a ton of stuff that I listened to a ridiculous amount of times. In my transition phase from grunge to metal in Junior High it was Machine Head “Burn My Eyes,” Testament “Low” and “Live at the Fillmore,” Metallica “Ride the Lightning” and “Black Album”, Fear Factory “Demanufacture” and Entombed “Wolverine Blues.” From there it was just heavier and heavier stuff.

Do you have a good luck charm?

What ignites your passions good and bad? What pisses you off and what heats you up?

Music is my biggest passion and I’m always trying to improve in that sense. A lot of things that I applied in music early on helped me in other aspects of life i.e. discipline etc. What pisses me off most is indifference.

Most valuable lesson learned in the Industry thus far?

If not music then what?

If the Abysmal Dawn were a cocktail, which cocktail would you be?

Role reversals: if you could hear anyone cover an Abysmal Dawn song covered by anyone, who would do it and which song would they cover?

What an awesome choice that is!! Now if you could interview a band, name one that you would love to find out more about and what would be the one thing you'd want to know?

Chuck Schuldiner if he were still alive. I’ve heard different stories about him over the years but sadly never got to hear him defend himself. Rather than one single question, it would be “what happened with this or that lineup”?

Do you enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with or without the crust cut off? Haha I like PBJ with crust but it all depends on my mood whether or not I eat it or not.

Peering into the crystal ball, what does the future hold for Abysmal Dawn? Where do you see yourself in ten years?

If there’s any justice in the world, we’d be ruler of all that is black t-shirts by that time.

Any special messages for your fans and or please feel free to add anything I may have left out.

Thanks for doing the interview Charles! Good fortune in your future endeavors as we can say, “We knew him when! J

Best of luck to you and the band; we and the rest of the world await your upcoming release!