IN DAKHMA discusses the journey behind their debut album He Who Sows the Ground, blending diverse metal influences and thought-provoking themes. Here, they share insights on music, collaboration, and future plans.
1. Congratulations
on the release of He Who Sows the Ground! This is your debut
full-length album—what does this milestone mean to you as a band, and how long
has this vision been in the making?
Matko:
Thank you very much! It’s a big deal for us, and we are very proud. It’s the
first metal release in our music careers, and we couldn’t be happier. The idea
was born in 2020’s during the quarantine days, at first we just wanted to make
old-school death metal throughout the album, but ideas have grown, and
eventually, we just wanted to make a bit of a mashup album of our favourite
genres in metal and make it as coherent as possible.
2. Your
album draws influences from iconic death metal bands like Entombed, Cannibal
Corpse, and Morbid Angel, along with doom-inspired elements. How did you find
the right balance to create IN DAKHMA’s unique sound, and how would you
describe it in your own words?
We just
weren’t really thinking about the genre of the album, more about the flow of
the album with hills and valleys. If we stayed in one genre, we couldn’t have
made really nice melodic parts or heavy breakdowns or black metal screeches. It
was more like, this part with these lyrics requires this kind of energy and
then we tried to mix it up. It’s more interesting to us, listening and playing
wise, and then it’s more interesting for the listener to never really know
what’s going to happen next. It’s metal for short, but if we have to put
ourselves in some brackets, let’s say it’s death metal but with elements of
doom, black, sludge and maybe even prog metal.
3. The
album explores themes of societal conflict and ancient stories with deep
meanings. Could you elaborate on how these themes connect to each other and
what you hope listeners take away from the lyrics?
Matko:
Hopefully people can take away a positive message from the lyrics. I write in a
lot of metaphors, I like it to be a bit abstract at times, to make your own
conclusion about the lyrics, to maybe even make out something different than
what I wanted to pursue in terms of the message. But at least think about
something they never really thought about or just see the other side of the
medal. Being yourself and thinking for yourself, not being influenced by the
masses, the media, authorities etc. that’s what I really want for the people to
consider and derive from these lyrics.
4. The
track “Ona kraljuje sama” is an adaptation of Antun Branko Šimić’s work. What
inspired you to adapt this poem, and how does it fit within the overarching
themes of the album?
Vedran:
During brainstorming sessions, I remembered that Antun Branko Šimić has two
songs about death: “Smrt“ (=Death) and “Smrt I ja”(= Death and I). We chose to
adapt “Smrt i ja”, and that’s “Ona kraljuje sama” (=She reigns alone). We
believe it fits perfectly with the theme of the album, with lyrics along the
lines of “Death is not outside, she is inside of me, grows with me and
eventually will outgrow me, reining alone after it consumes me”.
5. Both
Tomislav Ferenc and Darjan Fiolić contributed unique elements on lead guitar,
vocals, and even mandolin on specific tracks. How did these collaborations come
about, and what did they bring to the album’s sound and atmosphere?
Matko: We
have known them for a long time, and they were an obvious choice regarding
guest appearances. I hope we can have guests on our future releases too, maybe
they will feature again, who knows haha. They are both great guitar players,
and it was a no-brainer, so when they wanted to feature on the album, we
couldn’t be more pleased. Mandolin was kind of a random idea, but that
instrument just lifts you up, mixed with the acoustic guitar, just gives a
fresh sound.
6. The
album was recorded at Chicken Sound Studio with Vedran Nor and yourself, Matko
Podobnik, handling multiple roles. How did you approach the recording process,
and what challenges did you face in bringing such a complex project to life?
Matko:
Well, since the idea from the start was to make an old-school-sounding album,
maybe the biggest difficulty was the absence of a metronome. I recorded the
drums without the click, and since many songs have major shifts in parts and
tempo, it was a challenge for me, as well as for Vedran, to then track the
guitars according to my tempo. It fluctuated at times, but to us, it sounded
organic, not perfect, and not like a machine.
I can, for
sure, say that for Vedran, this was, vocally speaking, the most extreme studio
sessions he ever had. He really pushed himself, and at times, I also pushed him
to the point where his normal speaking voice was different for a day or two.
For instance, the screams on the song Tower Of Silence were one of the last in
the studio. You can listen to it, and you will for sure know why they were one
of the last hahaha.
Vedran: The
most time-consuming thing was to record guitars and bas. Vocals were quite a
challenge to do, as Matko said. They were recorded in three studio sessions,
and the recipe was “one take, one spoon of honey, repeat until voice dies”, and
I’m thrilled with how it turned out.
7. The
artwork, created by Vanja Perković, and the video work by Mirko Czukor are both
striking. How do the visual elements complement the music and themes of He
Who Sows the Ground?
Matko:
Vanja is a dear friend of mine, and I have known him for a long time. We wanted
something different regarding artwork, and I knew he would deliver. He threw
about three different ideas for the album after checking the sound of the
album, the lyrics, etc., and we were, from day one, in love with the cover that
made the final cut. It fits the lyrics, the message, and the music perfectly
for us.
Mirko, in
the video work, was just a determined professional who likes this kind of music
and whose creative ideas, with the lights in the video, the dominant red colour
and the production, just made our jaws drop the first time we saw it. We
couldn’t be happier with these two lads, they made this process ten times
easier than we originally thought it would be.
8. The
song titles, like “Sacrum,” “Aeshma,” and “Lies Beneath the Golden Ruins,”
suggest a blend of spiritual and mythological themes. Could you share the
inspiration behind these tracks and how they reflect the album’s message?
Matko:
Well, Sacrum is a pretty random idea for a song title, it’s a very important
bone in our lower back, involved in our walking, for instance. The song is
about a dark place mentally, where you feel like not walking, not waking up,
and not doing anything for that matter, so the metaphor is actually pretty
obvious. Aeshma is a demon of rage in the Zoroastrian religion. It’s a
malevolent figure even in later religions where he is depicted as Asmodeus,
seeking revenge, violence and power. “Lies Beneath The Golden Ruins” is more of
a political statement, anti-religious message, not really against the faith,
but against the powerful figures in our society who control the masses by
withholding the truth, by manipulation and eventually create a divided society
full of conflicts, corruption etc.
9. Running
your own label, Tower of Silence Records, to release this album is a
significant undertaking. What led you to go independent, and what are your
hopes for Tower of Silence Records moving forward?
Vedran:
Having a label was a business decision as it primarily gives us opportunities
that we couldn’t have as regular musicians: business-to-business and
business-to-customer relationships. We will see if we will hire a manager in
the future, and if we do, maybe we will start signing new unknown bands. We
will see, it’s just for us for now :D
10. With He
Who Sows the Ground officially out, what’s next for IN DAKHMA? Do you
have any plans for touring or upcoming projects that fans should look forward
to?
We hope to
play as much as possible live. We are planning to be a trio, the bass player
for our band has spawned already haha. We hope to deliver these songs live to
make people happy, to make someone’s day like our favourite bands do to
us.
Plans are
in motion, when it comes to another official video and an audio visualizer with
lyrics.
We are
already planning a release for the future, we are just not sure about the
length of the release. It will be a bit of a surprise, we can promise you that
much haha.
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