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Today on the morning of Hallows Eve, the beast that is Swedish doom band Alastor, meaning in Greek mythology, as the avenger of evil deeds, return with a new EP on cassette, 20 minutes of mind reaping fuzz worship entitled "Blood on Satan’s Claw" and guaranteed to make you blood run cold.
Set for release through Swedish label Ljudkassett on the 15thNovember and featuring two tracks, one original and one cover of the Creedence Clear Water track “Bad Moon Rising”, today we are happy to exclusively stream the EP in full as well as a short interview with Alastor guitarist Lucy Ferian both of which you can check out below.
Can you give us an insight into how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of
Alastor?
Lucy Ferian: Music has always been a huge part in the formation of who I am. I remember sneaking into my older sister’s room to look at her Iron Maiden records at an early age. Those album covers fascinated me, especially the cover to”The X Factor”. So it was not unexpected that when the rest of the kids my age played football or drove around on shitty mopeds I started to play guitar. To be honest I sucked pretty hard.
I played in some hardcore bands and played in a rock band before Alastor, none of which really got anywhere. You can say that when I joined Alastor everything sort of fell into place for me, both musically and aesthetically.
For followers of the blog unfamiliar with your band, is there any bands on the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point bands to describe your band, and who or what continues to
inspire you and push you to try new things?
Lucy Ferian: With the risk of sounding like a pretentious asshole, for me that is up to the listener to decide. It’s not that I think that Alastoris unique in light of the present doom scene, it’s just that I’m not in the slightest interested in comparing ourselves to other bands who play this kind of music. It’s not constructive to me. We in the band all come from different musical backgrounds and the things that inspire us comes from all kinds of music and art. A few bands that I’ve listened to a lot during the recording and writing of “Blood on Satan’s Claw”are Camel, Pink Floyd and Black Magic SS.
What can you tell us about your upcoming release “Blood on Satan’s Claw” and where do you
feel it sits within the context of current doom scene?
Lucy Ferian: “Blood on Satan’s Claw” is a step further on our musical journey. We allowed ourselves to experiment a lot more on these two tracks than we did on the “Black Magic” album. To be honest we are kind of out of touch with the present doom scene but in the context on a more personal level this EP is a huge accomplishment for us as musicians.
Does anything spring to mind when you think about the completion of this new release and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Lucy Ferian: Probably listening to the final mix of the track “Blood on Satan’s Claw” for the first time. It was such a heavy experience to finally hear the final result on high volume. The journey from the recording to the final result of this EP has been a long and difficult one but now we can finally move forward. We look forward to corrupt more and more minds.
What stands out as your overarching memory from the recording sessions?
Lucy Ferian: When recording the “Bad Moon Rising” cover we stumbled upon a cellist who just happened to be recording in a smaller studio connected to the one we recorded in. I think the part which he played really gave the cover a whole new feel. Sometimes you need luck to write good music.
With you new record in the bag, how is your schedule shaping up over the next 12 months?
Lucy Ferian: We are currently working on what will be our first real full length album. When and how that will manifest is yet to be revealed.
Finally, do you have any last words?
Lucy Ferian: Listen to Pink Floyd.
The End
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