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Worship - Doommonger
Posted on December 03, 2007 at 8:00 am by admin
Worship - Satachrist, The Doommonger, Fucked Up Mad Max (R.I.P.)
If you remember awhile back, I had put out a post here at Way Too Loud! seeking certain forms of music we don’t get a chance to cover enough of, one of the genres being doom. The Doommonger from the band Worship was one of the first people to get in touch with me about that, and he promptly sent me the high-class album “Dooom”, which not only sounds great, but comes in some really fancy packaging - a digipak that folds out in four directions, and has art for every song on the album. He had some really interesting things to say, so read on, and as always, since I encourage my readers to try different things, you should definitely give “Dooom” by Worship a listen!
Way Too Loud!: The imagery and some of the lyrics suggest an end-of-the world or post-apocalyptic story (although the religious connection in the song titles and lyrics suggest I could be wrong). Can you elaborate more on what you wanted to hit on with the lyrics?
The Doommonger: You are right there. I wanted to tie some loose ends from our past releases, combine them with first lyrics we did for “Dooom”, hammer that into a sort of play with 8 Chapters which tell a continuous story which takes place AFTER the end of the world (in contrast to Last Tape Before Doomsday). I see it as a distorted blackened version of the last days of Christ, which me as an atheist thinks is one of the best parts of the bible.
WTL: You really went all out on the CD, with the digipack that folds out into four directions. Can you explain how the art from each section corresponds to the songs?
The Doommonger: I was brainstorming with by mate Gustavo who did the art, and we fell in love with the idea of creating one picture on one Digipack fold for each song, and do it as a cross-shaped Digipack. We thought that would be quite something to look at, and I also wanted to give something back to the fans who have had to wait a long time for this. Some old releases had very cheap packaging which I never liked. This time I wanted the CD to be a collector’s piece too, in no way inferior to an LP.
WTL: Does “Dooom” mark the first outing for the band on CD? I’ve heard you prefer tape and vinyl.
The Doommonger: There is also “Last CD Before Doomsday”. I like those rather old-fashioned mediums very much, but CDs are quite convenient I think. But what I can’t stand is downloaded stuff or CDR copies. I want to have beautiful packaging.
WTL: Why did you choose the title “Dooom”? More specifically, the extra “o” in “Dooom”.
The Doommonger: “Dooom” is Doom but slooower. We had that idea back in 2000. I know it’s rather pretentious, but we didn’t care.
WTL: Can you tell me about the inception of the band? Many places of information say that Worship revolved around Fucked Up Mad Max (Maximilien Varnier) and The Doommonger (Daniel Pharos). Was there a musical exchange via mail, or the internet, or time spent working together in person?
The Doommonger: We were email friends, and met later. Suddenly Max mentioned that he wanted to do music himself now. He suggested some ideas including an extreme doom band called Worship. I joined right away. I wrote the songs, we met to record. He did a good job with the promotion, he had many friends in the underground worldwide.
WTL: With Fucked Up Mad Max gone, does that make “Dooom” the final Worship album?
The Doommonger: No. Doing Worship does hurt too much to stop doing it.
WTL: You seem to try to keep the band very underground/cult status oriented. Do you find limited releases appealing?
The Doommonger: I would prefer to sell 10000 copies for 1 Euro rather than 100 for 100 Euro. I don’t like limited stuff, I want to reach as many people as want to hear my stuff. I hate it when stuff is sold out. That means if people want to get it they can’t. That’s annoying to them and to me.
WTL: There seems to be a growing interest in everything metal, and doom oriented these days. Would you allow Worship to grow a bit further (such as releasing “Dooom” in North America), or do you prefer an underground status?
The Doommonger: “Dooom” is available in North America via HellrideMusic.com. It is really hard for me to answer. If you want an honest answer I choose both. I want to piss off no-one (in contrast to Max who wanted to piss off everyone), meaning I don’t like to disappoint Worship fans. On the other hand I want to reach as many people as possible. It kicks me that my music is heard. I am doing it for too long to not care. It’s funny to play for yourself for the first 10 years but that is more than enough. For some, that way of thinking is un-underground. Also, I want to waste as little time as possible on non-music jobbing, so I can release more stuff and have more power for music. Also un-underground, because that means I have to earn money with my bands. I don’t care for money, money exists only to be burned for art. But I would love to do music full-time. That would heavily increase my output. This is my goal for the future years.
WTL: Is there a degree of humor behind the choice in nicknames?
The Doommonger: Isn’t there a degree of humor behind everything? Max was sick and weird but also funny, we always were. I always found that the humour I like the most usually belongs to people that are really run over by life. I can’t kill the world, but I can ridicule it.
WTL: Thanks for answering my questions, and for sending “Dooom” my way! I always encourage the users of my site to give different kinds of music a try!
The Doommonger: Thanks for your questions and everything. Doom on!
Worship at MySpace
Worship at Endzeit Elegies
Hellride Music
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