by Chris Barnes
December 23, 2006
One of the biggest surprises in '06 was from an Indy (the State, not the state) forlorn foursome by the name of Apostle Of Solitude. Their 3 song release, Embraced By The Black, is a bright shining light for underground Doom Metal - they eschew the drones, grunts, rasps, symphonics and general derivativeness heard so much in the "avant-garde" Doom movement for the back-to-basics tradition that made the advent of Heavy Metal so great nearly 40 years ago. AoS guitarist/vocalist Brown talks to Hellride about the birth and chemistry of the band, the new EP and what the future has in store for Apostle of Solitude.Hellride Music: Greetings Mr. Brown, many thanks for agreeing to do this interview, because we at Hellride, are on the cutting edge when it comes to new talent within the blackened, disconsolate and often misanthropic sphere of Doom Metal. Well, not really, but we give it a solid fucking college try. First off, congrats on the new EP, everyone seems to be getting pretty excited about "Embraced By The Black". I'm no psychic, but I imagine it's got to make you guys feel pretty good about what you're doing. Give us *your* reaction to the reaction - how has the word of mouth and reviews been so far? What are your thoughts on these three tracks? Anything you'd change?
Chuck Brown: The response to the new ep has been very positive, and yeah, it feels great that people are into it as much as we are. We would all have loved to spend more time in the studio with each song but unfortunately we're all working stiffs so time was very limited so we just did the best we could in the few hours that we had. So if I could change anything it would be to spend more time in the studio recording and trying new things and making it better.
Hellride Music: I'm personally obsessed with the origins of band names - Apostle of Solitude sounds like a heavily philosophically-driven moniker, not something that came around after smoke or drink, but after a particularly pensive bout of self-examination. Who among you is the Solipsist that came up with that one? And why?
Chuck: Well at the risk of over simplifying things it really is just about a lone individual who travels around and spreads what he/she knows to be true and also spends a fair amount of time like you said, in self-examination. It was a name that I actually had for a long time and thought that it best fit this band for the type of songs we were writing.
Hellride Music: Those of us behind the scenes know that you played drums in The Gates of Slumber for quite awhile, and then you suddenly left. What happened there and was departing from TGoS a catalyst to the creation of Apostle of Solitude? How did you meet the other guys that eventually formed AoS? Are they all from the Indy scene as well?
Chuck: The idea for AoS and some of the riffs actually predate my time in TGoS but Apostle actually got up and running soon after I started playing in The Gates. Although being out of TGoS wasn't the catalyst for AoS it did free me up to make Apostle my priority rather than The Gates which is the way it was in the beginning. As far as what led to my departure from TGoS with out getting negative and what not it really was a classic case of people just not getting along anymore. In the beginning everybody had equal input but then it became where I was getting pushed out and I felt not respected. It really felt at times if I said the sky was blue they would say "no it's actually this or that". It just felt like any idea I had or wanted to explore they would just disagree for the sake of disagreeing. I think we were all a little guilty of being too sensitive to other peoples ideas and the like. A band is very much like a marriage if you don't talk about the things that bother you then there are going to be problems. Thankfully we had a chance to talk things out sometime ago and we're all back to being friends, which is great. If you get a chance to see TGoS sometime you should they put on a great show.
All the guys in the band are from the "scene" so to speak except for Brent. Brent and I work together and he has always dabbled in music but just never joined any bands or anything so after some badgering on my part I convinced him we should play together. Corey came from a short lived but good band called "Arlorey Eve/Tri-Power". Luckily I was able to snatch him up before he joined another band. Justin comes from the same Indy scene background playing in various other local bands. Again thankfully he liked where we were heading musically and joined up. Everybody in the band comes from a classic Heavy Metal background of Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden etc.. but everyone has alot of varying influences past the big ones. It makes for some cool ideas when it comes time to write, everyone has the same foundation but the rest comes from different places.That's probably way more than you care to know huh?
Hellride Music: We all knew you could play drums, but I think only a minority of us knew you could also play guitar and sing until AoS made it's debut. From your standpoint, how does it feel not only to be out from behind the kit, but now be the focal centerpoint of the band, as guitarists/vocalists often are? How does the change in instruments also effect your contribution to songwriting? More, less or otherwise?
Chuck: It does allow me to write more of the guitar riffs and lyrics which is nice. I do still play drums I just don't do it in a full time band at the moment. Believe me if there were more hours in the day I would be doing 2 and 3 bands if I could. We all really contribute to the songs though. I may bring in a skeleton of a song but everybody adds something or suggests something that really makes it a better and more complete song. There's a touch of everybody in each song, it's a real group effort.
Hellride Music: Let's switch gears just a little bit and talk about the musical style of AoS... honestly, it seems like more and more Doom Metal that is being released consists of drones, guttural vocals or weepy symphonics... nothing wrong with this of course, but it seems in the course of "progression" within Doom Metal, musicians in scene forgot both how to write a melody and sing without grunting, rasping or blowing out a pharynx... and maybe most of all, forgot the rich tradition of Heavy Metal in general. The songs on "Embraced By The Black" are most definitely melodic, you got the singing part down and the Metal attitude and approach is readily evident. There is no compromise, it appears. Was it a general consensus by you and the band NOT to go avant-garde by droning, sludging or weeping, or is this just how you guys create music? With that being said, what is your feeling both individually and as a band about the various offshoot formats of Doom and Doom Metal as an art form?
Chuck: It wasn't something that we talked about really we just kind of do what we do you know? I'm not saying we would NEVER have some droning or sludging parts but we wouldn't do it just because we felt like we had to have it to be heavy or doom or whatever. I don't subscribe to the whole idea that you've got to be this or that or can't have this or that in order to be Doom. If we like something and you don't so fucking what! It's OK to like different things, really it is. I think all the offshoots of Doom are fantastic. I love all kinds of music but obviously metal is my first love and always will be.
Hellride Music: Now that you guys have the EP out, what's next? Any quest for better distribution through a label, or are you happy being cult, true and generally unfettered by label restrictions? Any plans for playing out coming up?
Chuck: You know what being "cult" has it's perks as far as no one can tell you what to do about anything but the unfortunate down side is you can't reach as many people. No body likes to be told what to do but sometimes you have to compromise a little in order to reach a bigger goal. Hopefully since releasing "Embraced By The Black". someone will be interested enough to want to work with us be it labels or distributors. If anyone out there wants to work with us just let us know. We'll continue to write, record, and play shows with or without label support.
We would love to get over to Europe sometime in the near future if we can afford it. Maybe play Doom Shall Rise and Belgium Doom Night(hint,hint). But if we can't we'll probably do 7-10 days in the Mid-West and east Coast like we did this past fall. We went out with a band from Cincinnati called "Elusive Travel" that I filled in on drums for the tour and had a blast so were looking forward to doing that again. Actually we may do an extended weekend 4 day thing in Feb. Indy, Cincy, and Louisville, if anyone is interested in coming out to see us check the web site or mypace for updates.
Hellride Music: Many thanks once again for the time and words - please leave us with some weighty words on which to dwell upon.
Chuck: First of all thank you Chris specifically and all at Hellride for existing and giving little guys like us a chance be heard. It's very appreciated. Support the scene as much as possible and stay true. Don't fake it!