While Heaven Wept: The H.o.S. Interview
(Page 3 of 6)
UD: You've mentioned before that you weren't completely happy with "The Death Of Love" off the Sorrow Of The Angels album, which was essentially an electric version of the Lovesongs Of The Forsaken track "La Mort D'Amour." What would you have changed to make the song more satisfactory, in your mind? Any plans to try again and get it down the way you really wanted it to be?
TP: I just felt like "The Death Of Love" was a good idea that was poorly executed, primarily because we were rushing to complete the album before we ran out of money. I would have liked a few more layers, and a nice set of modulations at the end, personally. We did however develop the ideal hybrid of the two versions of the song during the live shows in support of the Sorrow album; it is more like the original acoustic version, but with all the keys, vocals, and harmonies of the electric one. That's what you'll hear on the Sorrow Of The Angels: Definitive Edition.
UD: When most people think of doom metal, they don't think of acoustic guitars. Still, WHW have made tremendous use of acoustic instrumentation throughout the years, especially on the amazing, predominantly acoustic Lovesongs Of The Forsaken EP. Please, talk a bit about this unorthodox approach to doom metal and how you feel it fits in with or accentuates the style in general.
Tom Phillips: Being that I equate doom with mood, I believe you can have an extremely heavy song emotionally without heavy guitars, for example Black Sabbath's "Solitude." I've never really perceived the use of acoustics as "unorthodox" but I suppose it's true that most bands don't use them very often. I've always used them for two reasons: one, they provide a great dynamic contrast to the bombastic wall of our electric guitars, and secondly because they tend to resonate longer than just a clean electric would. I suppose I never really thought about it because our biggest influences, Candlemass and Fates Warning, both implemented quite a bit of acoustic guitar into their songs over the years. I just thought it was the norm man (laughs).
UD: How did the WHW/Cold Mourning split come about? What are your thoughts on that release?
TP: Hmmm you may want to ask Conan of Game Two Records about that, as I can't quite remember (laughing). I know that I was in contact with both Cold Morning and Game Two, and I think it just developed during that series of split releases the label was doing at the time. I did request Cold Mourning's "Frostbit" be their contribution because I loved that song, and still do, but most of the other details are a bit foggy now (laughing). It was great to do a split with our doombrothers, and someday we will do volume 2, something we've talked about since the first one came out. This is one of the hardest WHW releases to locate now, and even I only have my personal copies left at this point in time.
UD: On the Chapter One collection, there is a previously unreleased song called "Unplenitude." To my ears, it was somewhat reminiscent of bands like The Cure and Chameleons UK. Do you have, or have you ever had, more material in this vein?
TP: "Unplenitude" is definitely a one-off composition, and omitted from the Sorrow Of The Angels album because I decided that the record should be 100% pure doom metal, unlike many of the albums that were being released at that time. The song was written in a few minutes while I was living in England, inspired in no small part by Beyond Dawn's "Pity Love" which I had an advance of from our (Solstice's) label at the time, Candlelight Records. I think it's a good song, but like the first 7" completely unrepresentative of WHW, and therefore a "lost track." But not for long (laughing); I've developed a new arrangement for it that is much more somber, and it will also be included on the Sorrow Of The Angels: Definitive Edition coming sometime next year.
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