Dionysiaque – Interview –
Country: France
Genre: Doom Metal
Interview with: Nathaniel Colas
Interviewer: Speedskullcrusher
Hello. How are you? Are things Strasbourg/ France , and who will answer these questions?
Hi Med. Thanks for having Dionysiaque in the unholy realms of Acier Doux. I am N.C. the singer of the band you and your readers are about to discover further through this interview. Things are well here in Strasbourg, we just come back from 2 gigs we played last week and are now focusing on preparing the upcoming concerts and more recordings.
Why did you choose the Dionysiaque name and what does it refer to?
When we started the band with L.B, we thought about a band name that would define the whole concept of the band, not just cool sounding moniker. So we figured that the primordial fire of Dionysos was a subject that appealed to us. It is not only a matter of walking alongside the footsteps of an antique drunk divinity, it is a matter of embracing the animal nature in all of us. It’s about getting out of our carnal selves and let our spirit reach higher levels of distorted consciousness before falling back on the hard ground we are all rooted in. It is a matter of embracing joy and fear, life and death equally. Thus, the figure of Dionysos was totally fitting our way of looking at life. The name Dionysiaque came quite naturally and allowed me to deal with a great variety of lyrics connected to the aforementioned topics.
How to describe Dionysiaque dooming metal? What about a mix of early Hellhammer, Darkthrone,voivod, with some elements of Candlemass, Saint vitus, and some touches of Dionysiaque ? I think this description isn’t so bad, but feel free to improve it if you wish!
Our roots are feeding on the fertile soil left by those who played heavy and twisted music from the late 60’s like Blue Cheer, King Crimson, 70’s proto hard rock, and prog or Zeuhl like Atomic Rooster, Dust, Flower Travellin Band, Gentle Giant, Magma, Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, 80’s underground stuff like Arpia, Black Hole, Zess, Paul Chain, Holy Terror, Voivod, Candlemass, Trouble, Saint Vitus, Cirith Ungol, Tormentor, Sleep, Hellhammer, 90’s grim stuff like Darkthrone, Old Funeral, Master’s Hammer, Betlehem, as for bands after 2000, we do praise Evil Spirit and Head of the Demon as major influences, then come bands like Negative Plane, Howls of Ebb, Procession, the Temple…
We also enjoy many different styles of music, from grind to soul, blues, rap, punk, afro beat, you name it. Our goal is to produce music that goes to our guts and we can play with our damned souls. If others get it, then it’s good, if they don’t, that’s even better hahaha
I think your dark vocals sound gloomy and doomy. Do you think it’s necessary to have attitude and conviction in the vocals for a metal singer?
Indeed. I mean there are some types of trademarks in Metal vocal like high pitched voices in heavy metal or growls in death metal. But wether you play by the book or not, I think it is always a very important thing to have distinct voices in a band. For example, Ross Dolan of Immolation is growing but in his very own unique way. You cannot mistake him with another death metal singer.
I mean the point is not to be 100% original all the time. The point is to be personal and relevant in what you do. Without conviction in the vocals, this cannot be good. The singer plays a pivotal role in getting the listener mesmerized. Without giving his soul, I hardly see how it is possible to do.
Can you roughly introduce your singles and demos ? How long did the composition take? How did the recording occur and who took care of it? Was it a pleasure to record the songs, or did you face some problems before reaching a satisfying result?
The band was formed in 2014 by L.B on guitar and myself on vocals. It took us some years before we could find suitable people to record the material we had already composed and arranged together. The point was always to record 2 demos before the 1st album. Mythology says that Dionysos was born twice. First from his dying mother’s womb, second from his father thigh.
We figured it was good to take our time and forge our sound and identity with 2 demo cassette recordings, released through La Fin Du Monde records, and in hindsight it was a great decision to be patient. We still like the 2 demos but time came for changes as we wanted to record a solid 1st album. We had to make changes and let our bassist and second guitarist go. Later on the drummer quit as well. All this huge change was for the best, as we now have the most consistent and cohesive line-up so far in the history of Dionysiaque. They are top notch musicians and great human being whose priorities about the band are well aligned.
L.V.L joined first on bass and his rich and varied style fit right away in our music. He is also involved in other bands like Sacrifizer, Solsticium, Karne and Au-delà.Then came B.P. from Supertzar on second guitar. His subtle guitar style and solid roots in everything rock’n’roll and Doom are always a pleasure to get into. And finally T.H came with one of the most incredible determination and ear for powerful music and ideas on drums. His creative talents can be heard in the uncompromising grinding squad Proudhon.
Their musical skills allowed us to record the album at Heldscalla Studio (venefixion, skelethal, necrowretch, mercyless, sacrifizer…) in March 2023.
The whole album has been recorded live in 3 days. 2 more days were needed to record the soli, the guest instruments and vocals as overdubs. The goal was to put on the record what you get when you experience Dionysiaque in a live situation. Hence a very lively and organic feel are to be found in our first album, to be released in March 2024 on the almighty I, Voidhanger Records.
It took us 1 year and a half to compose the album, the recording went quite smoothly and we can’t wait to have it finally released. We are already starting to compose for an upcoming maxi EP and the second album.
Which albums did you listen to the most the last months? Is it often new or older albums you like to play again, and again, until the turntable burns?
I listen to music everyday, as much as I can. Right now I am listening to the Blizaro demo, but lately I have been a lot into the Temple from Greece. Their solemn doom metal impregnated with orthodox like chants is pure gold. When it comes to doom I also appreciated Purification and Cardinal’s Folly from Finland. I like a lot Jade from Barcelona and its killer doom death. Yaaroth, Neptunian Maximalism, Oros Kau or Esoctrilihum from I Voidhanger Records were also regularly played over here.
I also enjoy a lot French metal bands like Meurtrières, Herzel, Skelethal, Tentation, Ritualization, Mercyless, Conviction, Barabbas, Hexecutor, Northwinds (rip)…
And I listened to a lot of carnivore, Judas Priest, head of the demon, Kaamos, Pentacle, Hellish Crossfire, sadus, heavy load, old, autopsy, capilla ardiente… and this is just the metal stuff. I also listened to a lot of blues, prog rock, soul. I am a music freak, be it with old or new music, as long as it touches me, I dig it.
Ok, what are the next plans for Dionysiaque ? Something bestializing to announce to the readers? Thanks for the answers.
Thanks for your time and support and thanks to those who stopped here to read about Dionysiaque.
We are eagerly waiting for our 1st album, titled “Diogonos” to be released on CD in March on I Voidhanger records. The vinyl version should be there by the summer. And we are lucky to play some cool dates with Jade in France in April (Bordeaux,Tours, Metz). In May we will play at the Courts of Chaos Festival in Britanny alongside Tormentor, Blitzkrieg, Helstar, into Darkness,Conviction, and so many cool bands.
In July we will open for Abysmal Grief in Paris.
In September 2e are playing a killer festival in the oyrenean mountains called l’homme sauvage with Venefixion, Tar Pond, Rope Sect, krypts, Isole, fossilization, Father befouled… Quite a killer line-up there.
And we are also working on more gigs and new music.
If you are interested you can follow Dionysiaque here:
https://www.facebook.com/DionysiaqueGestedeGuerre
https://www.instagram.com/dionysiaquegdg?igsh=bTNlbnBxdnZhODNv
