Interview with Aeternum (UK)

Aeternum are a band from UK playing black/death metal. Not only a ordinary black/metal band though. With only one year of existence they already show a great amount of experience. Their songs are very powerful, melodic, heavy and fast. Their first EP was released very recently, which Lachryma Christi had the opportunity to review in a previous post (11th July 2012). Let's see what they have to say about all this:


How did Aeternum start? And why "Aeternum"?

There isn’t much history when it comes to us, we only started around May or June last year. Elliot and I recorded the early demos together and he managed to sort out the rest of the line up through his contacts. As for the name, it just means eternity, coming from the Latin phrase “In Aeternum”.

Being such a recent band, have you played many gigs so far?

Not as many as we want but being fairly new on the circuit it’s not been so bad. I think we’ve played around 15 gigs now, give or take.

How did your gig and release of EP "Through Death We Ascend" go on the 12th July in Stockwell?

It was a good show, the line up was strong, the crowd was ecstatic and there was lots of energy. The release of the EP went well too, it has been held back a bit. We had the recordings ready in February, but seeing as it is a self-released title we had to make sure everything was properly done without rushing into things. Hopefully it was worth the wait.

What is the message you want to leave to your followers with this EP?

Chaos!

What are your expectations about EP? Lachryma Christi already wishes you all the luck!

I cannot speak on behalf of Aeternum for this one, they may have different expectations or not. I feel that is a strong starting point, but personally I see it as a foundation for us that we will keep transcending beyond. 

How does composing process happens in Aeternum? What comes first?

In the past when it was just me and Elliot, I wrote the songs and he wrote the lyrics. We are very individual when it comes to song writing. What comes first I guess is something that sounds fucking evil, then we just keep weaving it until it becomes a finished abomination.

What are your main influences?

As a band musically our influences obviously come from the masters, Dissection, Bathory, Mayhem, Necrophobic and some of the later bands, such as Behemoth and Watain. Everything else is from the Darkness.

Some of Aeternum members also play in Phyrexia, can you tell a bit about that? what about the other members, do they also have side projects?

Yes, Elliot is also vocalist of Phyrexia, they have their debut full-length coming out soon, so it should be a good year for them. I’m working on a death metal project, expect things from that this fall. As for the other members they have no side projects.

You say you play black/death metal. How do you see the black and the death metal scenes in London?

I think there is a fairly strong following. There are bands like Grave Miasma and De Profundis who are doing extremely well.

What can we expect from Aeternum in a near future? More gigs, hopefully?

We are planning the recording process of our next EP, expect crushing music from that one. We are also planning on doing more gigs outside of London hopefully in the coming months. Our next gig is on the 19^th of July at the Boston Arms with Carpathia and De Profundis so you can catch us there.


Lineup:
Elliot Beaver - Vocals
Adam Grima - Guitar
JG - Drums
James Patterson - Bass
(Currently seeking second guitarist)


Discography:

Through Death We Ascend (EP 2012)

You can find more information about Aeternum on the following websites:
http://www.facebook.com/aeternumuk