New Doom Metal duo Pilgrim of Fire have unveiled a must experience new album and I got the chance to fire off some questions to Marc and Andi to see which Doom bands make them tick, how they came together to form PoF, the anti-religious theme of the album, and much more.

Greetings to you Marc and Andi, and thank you for taking the time out to speak with me. How is life as October descends on Derbyshire? 

Andi: Hi, we are all well thank you for taking the time to interview us.

Marc: Autumn is my favourite time of the year so I am quite content. I despise summer as it gets too hot for me so the cooler climate is most welcome.

First up I have to ask about that intro track? Please tell me you guys acted that out yourselves and if so who plays the grief-stricken husband and who plays the dying priest? Was an actual church desecrated or did you just use clever sound effects?

Marc: The original idea for the intro that we called Forsaken was just the organ music. It was a little later I decided that the piece should be something more. Originally the whole thing was based around a priest that had gone crazy and lost his faith in his god and religion.

Andi: When Marc played me the original intro, he said that he wanted something to reflect the anti-religious nature of some of my lyrics. Have the whole rejection of blind faith fore-shadowing the rest of the album.

Marc: This led to me changing my mind in regards to the crazy priest idea and having a grief-stricken common man approach the church and in his despair do what he does in there. To have some reason why it was happening. The real question was how do we accomplish such a thing? Of course, we could have done it for real but then we wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I ended up playing both parts of the forsaken, grieving man and the priest with my very limited acting skills. The rest was built up from samples and field recordings. Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but that is the top and bottom of it.

Following the intro track I’m getting a huge Reverend Bizarre vibe, as well as Age of Taurus and Candlemass. Would you care to enlighten me as to your favourite Doom bands and which have influenced the Pilgrim sound the most?

Marc: Speaking from a musical point of view, the primary influence obviously was first and foremost Black Sabbath. We’re massive fans of Lord Vicar, so you are bound to get the Reverend Bizarre connection who we love also. Candlemass, Cathedral, Jex Thoth, Orchid, Pentagram, St. Vitus and also bands like My Dying Bride, early Paradise Lost. At the moment I am really enjoying listening to Acid Mammoth and Green Lung.

I am also an advocate for the Occult Rock genre, starting with bands like Coven. I talk to Jinx Dawson on social media from time to time. Black Widow, early Blue Öyster Cult, Pagan Altar and the more modern stuff like The Devil’s Blood, Witchcraft and shock, horror, Ghost. I find it all relatable. At the end of the day, good music is good music. Everything leads back to Sabbath though.

Andi: Just to echo what Marc said, there isn’t a metal band in existence that doesn’t revere Sabbath, Doom or otherwise. Certainly, St Vitus and Lord Vicar have had an influence as have the Peaceville bands (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema). Those 3 were my introduction to the Doom genre as a teenager. I found out about Trad Doom a little later than Marc after looking a bit further into the genre in my 20’s, although Sabbath were an exception as my parents used to play the first record to me as a child, along with prog stuff such as Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. Currently I’m listening to a lot of Monolord which are a favourite among the more modern crop of Doom bands. Type O Negative were an early influence even though they blended Doom with goth, hard-core and Beatles style pop. I’m also very fond of Cathedral. Marc already mentioned Reverend Bizarre and he recently sent me a couple of Acid Mammoth albums (YouTube links) which are brilliant. And I’m very fond of 60’s proggers ‘Eloy.’

Marc: Got to love some prog. King Crimson is one of my favourite bands of all time.

Andi: Obviously, from a writers’ perspective I have to acknowledge literary influences such as Tolkien, and Frank Herbert. Then mythology and history, particularly biblical and Middle Eastern mythology plays its part. I also take influence from Paganism and the occult.. Just lately I’m looking into using folklore to see if that can bring a new edge to Pilgrim of Fire. Time can only tell.

How did you both come together to form Pilgrim of Fire? What was the mission statement that the two of you laid out?

Andi: Okay, so me and Marc have played in a couple of bands before but outside of the metal genre, and way before Marc spent the best part of a decade in Norway. When Marc returned to the UK, we got talking on a comments thread on social media. I can’t even remember what it was we were commenting on now, just that it was back in 2014. It must have been on something Doom related otherwise Marc wouldn’t have said “I’d love a crack at some Doom” and I wouldn’t have said “I’m available.” Sometime after that Marc had come up with a name and a logo and stated that he wanted a retro sound, somewhere in the vein of early Sabbath (obviously) and then Lord Vicar had a big influence as we’d just started listening to them. It wasn’t until 2017 that Marc sent me his initial demos to write lyrics to though.

Marc: Andi and myself have been friends nigh on 20 years and share a lot of similar musical interests. That is what drew us together. The idea of playing Doom Metal was inevitable for both of us really as that was an expression we felt strongly about and something we could stand behind 100%. I personally don’t think I could have done a band like this with any other vocalist. Andi really understood what my intentions were and what I wanted to do. He shared the same notions of what Pilgrim of Fire should be. He just got it and knew what he had to do right away. The main objective of Pilgrim of Fire is to make the best possible music we are both capable of. Nothing more, nothing less.

You started out in 2017 but not until now do you unleash your debut album. What took so long? How do you feel that spending five years on your debut has impacted on the finished article?

Andi: Well, the idea of the band started in 2014 as previously mentioned, but I was expecting to become a Father the following year and that obviously impacted a lot of our time. By the time we finally got around to putting plans into action, it was 2016/17 already and we were both starting to float various ideas at each other, but nothing got recorded until 2017.

Then it was just a matter of finding time within our working schedules to get together and do stuff. Obviously, we both have day jobs to work around and Marc was doing this whilst playing in Heathen Deity among various other projects. It goes without saying that Covid prevented us from getting together on a regular basis over the best part of two years. If my memory serves me correctly, we’d virtually finished the album before the first lockdown hit. Then in the autumn of 2020 we decided to begin the final mixing and mastering stages but lo and behold, another lockdown happened and further setbacks ensued. It was pretty much a case of waiting for the right opportunity from that point on, but I’m glad it happened that way for my part. It gave us more time to clean the sound up and make any changes we felt were necessary. We definitely ended up with a better sounding record as a result.

Marc: When we hit the mixing stages I always felt something was missing from the album. Through covid and the lockdowns I had time to focus on what that missing element was. I personally needed something that was a bit more laid back from the rest of the tracks. That was how the track “Euphoria” was born. I had no idea how Andi was going to feel about that song at the time. We recorded the track right in the middle of the mixing stage. It just had to happen and I think it works well on the album. But as Andi already stated, there was a lot of downtime when it just wasn’t possible to do anything. Life gets in the way and all that, but we finally completed what we set out to do. An Age of Penance and Oblivion is an album I know I can say we are both highly proud of. All the downtime in those particular years paid off for us in the fact we made the album how we wanted it to be, to sound how we wanted it to sound and have the right feel and sonic elements within the songs that we desired.

So now that you are on the verge of releasing “An Age of Penance and Oblivion”, what are your overall thoughts on the album? Is it everything you wanted it to be or are there things you would change?

Marc: It is rare for me to say, as I usually pull my own music apart but I love this album. I am so proud of it. I wouldn’t change one thing. Nothing.

Andi: I’m in the same mind as Marc here but I approach such questions with the mindset of “if we thought it was going to be bad, we wouldn’t have done it” sort of thing. Like Marc, I have been known to be overly critical of anything I’ve done musically and that certainly happened during the writing stages, but we were in the fortunate position of being able to go back and change any elements we felt needed changing. The finished article, I can honestly say I’m 100% satisfied with.

Marc: I am my own worst critic.

Now that you have dropped the debut on us, is it back to the grindstone for album two, or do you have other diabolical plans in store for us?

Marc: We have already started putting ideas together for new songs and we have done some scratch recordings of these ideas, so it is looking like we are heading back to the proverbial grindstone you speak of. Whether it will be an EP or the next album only time will tell. Be assured though it will not be another 5 years wait!! I promise!! Haha.

Andi: Yeah, I mean we don’t want to give too much away but fleshing out the band into a functional live unit is something we’ve discussed. A different lyrical theme is also on the cards, for the next record but that theme is… not telling, Haha. Rest assured we won’t be re-hashing the same ideas. Come what may and all that.

Marc: Be assured, we will always have something up our sleeve.

I mentioned in my review a lot of bands that you reminded me of in various parts of your album. Is that something that bothers you or do you embrace the various elements that people associate the album with?

Marc: Every musician there ever was has an influence, or even several influences even. In no way would I state what we are doing is original or even new. We play traditional doom metal. That statement alone invokes images of early Black Sabbath, who are of course a big influence. How could they not be? I have tended to wear my influences on my sleeve no matter what genre of music I was ever involved with. Saying that, inspiration can come from many different places. The trick is of course, to be influenced by, but never outright copy. Have your own take on something your own twists and turns and inject yourself and your own style into whatever it is you do find inspiring.

Somebody saying we sound like this, or we sound like that isn’t an insult to me at all. It is just how it is. It doesn’t bother me at all. I like to think we have a sound or a playing style that is different enough. We really are just writing and playing the music we would want to listen to ourselves. We are doing what we like and what pleases us. If anybody out there likes what we do, the art we make, then that is a massive bonus, which means a lot to us and we would be forever grateful for.

Andi: Definitely. If someone picks up on a sound that reminds them of a specific band, I would say “good,” because although that band might not be anyone we had in mind at the time, I’ll always be glad to see someone take something personal, that they can relate to, from our music. I noticed in your review that “Euphoria” reminded you of Ghost and I was surprised because I’ve never listened to them. for my part but now that I hear it mentioned, it seems obvious to me that the sounds of other artists have been picked up along the way subconsciously, without us even realising. It’s impossible for a band with our set of influences and style to not get compared to another at some point. No matter how much we might try to avoid it. If anything, I’m quite flattered when people pick up on our influences. It says to me that we’re making the right noises. Literally and figuratively.

Marc: I think it also comes down to an individual’s interpretation also. The Ghost comparison was surprising as they were far from my mind when the track “Euphoria” was being composed and coming together. I was speaking to a friend not too long ago about that particular track and they said it sounded reminiscent of Syd Barratt era Pink Floyd. Of course, I love Pink Floyd but again they were far from my mind when I was writing. I do like to hear what people think and what their own take of an album or song is though. I find that stuff very interesting.

In true Doom Metal fashion, the album felt like a mix of historic reference, personal emotions, fantasy storytelling and dark vibes. Can you explain to me the creative process behind the lyrics? Do you try to quota each type of theme so as to keep the album on an even keel thematically?

Andi: In a way, yes. Marc says he likes occult themes for Doom and I try to approach that as often as I can, but try to vary things as much as possible within that context. Some of the lyrical themes are pretty obvious: “Rest in Oblivion” is about a weary king who wants to go to Valhalla, so that kind of fits the historic reference and tells a fantasy story in one. “The Bargain” is my take on Faustus. After that I tend to go with anti-religious themes as previously mentioned. “Gallows Tree” fits that bill nicely, as it tells the story of a condemned man being asked to give confession before he is hanged. Instead, he spits in the priest’s eye and curses the God he’s lost faith in. In terms of thematic divergence, “Euphoria” is our break from the norm, so to speak, Basically that one is about a drug addict, chasing the perfect high and dying in the attempt. I suppose that “Ashes Over Water” drifts away slightly, as it explores death and funeral rights as a concept. I guess it wouldn’t be Doom if it wasn’t dark and morbid, Haha.

How did the deal with Naturmacht Productions come about? Were there other labels in the pipeline? Also, with the album seeing both a CD and cassette release, is there an LP on the cards?

Marc: Once the album was complete, I sent an EPK (Electronic Press kit) to several labels but it was really Naturmacht Productions I was hoping for to pick the album up. I have worked with Robert and Naturmacht in the past and he was every bit the gentleman that most label managers aren’t. A true professional that cares for, and is passionate about the art. For me, if he was interested it was a no brainer. I knew he would handle the release and its presentation with respect and be fair with us. Luckily for us, he was very keen to get behind the release and has been nothing short of brilliant. Everything I knew he would be.

As for a release on vinyl, that would be up to Naturmacht, but in my understanding of the format and from a recent past experience, An Age of Penance and Oblivion is simply too long for the format to be a single disc. With that understanding it would mean the album would be a double LP. Asking anybody to deal with that expense would be a massive undertaking that I wouldn’t want to bestow on anybody. Only time will tell on that front I guess.

Do you take much of an interest in the Doom Metal scene in the UK? Are there any bands coming through that you feel are worthy of more attention?

Andi: There’s a couple of good bands that caught my attention this last couple of years. Firstly, a band I saw live in Sheffield called Gevaudan. Some obvious Iommi worship going on with those guys. Mammoth Weed Wizzard Bastard I saw around the same time. Admittedly, the name tickled me but then I got into the ethereal nature of their sound and loved it.

Lastly, I must give a friend a mention here. Someone I have known for many years has a solo project called Thy Listless Heart which is due for release very soon. You won’t be disappointed.

Marc: I second Thy Listless Heart, very good epic doom to say the least. Green Lung, Master Charger from Nottingham are great. Conan is always great also, as is Iron Void also. Age of Taurus, The Lamp Of Thoth. All the obvious ones, Cathedral, Orange Goblin, etc.. Wren seems to be good at what they do and are pretty cool if you like that more sludge sound. Did I mention I like Black Sabbath??

That is all I have for you. Thanks again to the both of you for taking the time for me. The final words are all yours.

Andi: The pleasure is all ours, thank you for having us. Obviously, we look forward to speaking again in the future. Be sure to check out our Facebook page for any further news and updates.

Marc: As Andi said, thank you for the chat and to you guys reading this. If you like traditional doom metal, be sure to check out our little album “An Age of Penance and Oblivion” that is out on CD and cassette on the 14th October, 2022 through Naturmacht Productions. It would be very much appreciated. Thanks again and DOOM ON!!

(Interview Marksson)

https://www.facebook.com/pilgrim.of.fire

https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/album/an-age-of-penance-and-oblivion