1. Hello, please introduce yourselves to the readers?
Hi, I’m Martijn, the drummer of Apotelesma. I live in IJsselstein, which is a small village near Utrecht, in the middle of the Netherlands.
2. When did you first meet the other members of the band? And was it long before you all started the band? How did you all choose Apotelesma as the name of the band does it have a special meaning?
In 2011, me and Mitch (the vocalist) had an idea to start a doom metal band in the line of Doom:VS, Skepticism and Pallbearer. We knew each other from “Vanir”, which was a pagan/folk metal band (disbanded in early 2010) we used to play in together. We’ve decided to ask my brother, Jasper, to join the band as a lead guitarist. Not long after that, we’ve asked our close friend Yuri to fulfil the role of rhythm guitarist. We rehearsed for quite some time before we found our bass player, Dennis. In 2013 Jasper decided to leave Apotelesma. He was quickly replaced by our dear friend Ruben.
Apotelesma means something like “the influence the stars have on human destiny”. I strongly believe that man is its own master, and that we alone are responsible for our actions and the consequences that come with those actions. On the other hand, I think nature has a big influence on man; more than we want to admit. For a lot of people, the changing of seasons, the weather and the overwhelming beauty of nature can have a big influence on their mood and wellbeing, and define the human self.
3. What is the current lineup of the band? Who would you say are Apotelesma's biggest influences?
The current line-up is: Mitch on clean and harsh vocals, Dennis on bass guitar, Ruben on lead guitars, Yuri on rhythm guitars and backing vocals, and myself (Martijn) on drums. We’re influenced by a very broad variety of (doom) metal bands, but we also tend to mix different metal styles in our music. This makes it very hard to define our genre and the bands we’re influenced by most. I would say, from a personal point of view, that we’re influenced most by Ahab, Katatonia, Sólstafir, Doom:VS and Pallbearer.
4. Timewrought Kings is the bands’ debut release. How long did it take the band to write the music for this release?
It took us four years to write the music. We wanted everybody to be as satisfied with the music as possible. We also wanted to be as original as possible, by combining a broad variety of genres in our songs. Therefore, every song on the album is different and also took a different approach to write. We strongly believe that we accomplished this with the five songs on “Timewrought Kings”.
5. Who usually handles the lyrics for the band and what are some topics written about on Timewrought Kings?
Both Mitch and Yuri wrote lyrics for the album. We tend to write about mankind and the failure of mankind in every way possible. The failure that stands out most is our carelessness for nature. The beauty and the solitude in nature can be overwhelming. That solitude, that feeling of dependence on nature is forgotten in our current society, where people love things more than the things that actually matter: their friends and beloved, and the sheer beauty nature provides us. Therefore, we also tend to write about anxiety, the relentless crawl of our time as a human being on this earth and the loss of the things we should care about most. Nature, too, can be seen as a sanctuary in those subjects.
6. Besides the debut cd, does the band have any other merchandise available at this time? If yes, what is available and where can the readers buy it?
We’ve released an EP in 2014 called “The December Sessions” under our former band name “Monuments”. You can buy a special CD+EP package for a very special price on our Bandcamp page: http://apotelesma.bandcamp.com.
7. Does Apotelesma play live very often? If so, what have been some of the bands most memorable shows so far?
Unfortunately, we didn’t play live for the last couple of years and the chances of us playing live again are very small.
8. Are there any tours or shows coming up in support of the debut release?
At the moment, we have nothing planned and we’re not planning to do a show in the future.
9. Besides playing in Apotelesma, do any of the members currently play in any other bands at this time? If yes, please tell the readers a little about them?
I’m engaged in several other projects at the moment: a thrash/melodic death metal band, a post-metal, and I’m trying to form a new doom metal together with Mitch as we speak. Ruben, our lead guitar player, is currently active as a live guitarist in black metal band Wrang. Yuri plays guitar in the before mentioned thrash/melodic death band, and is also the mastermind behind Wilds Forlorn. Dennis is currently searching for a new band.
10. When not working on new music or band business, what do you like to do in your free time?
I work as a history teacher in a middle school. Besides that, I like to listen to music (obviously), collect (vinyl) records and try to attend as much live concerts as I possibly can. I also like to work out a lot. I think taking care of your body heals the mind.
11. Apotelesma comes out of the Dutch death/doom scene. What are your thoughts on the scene in The Netherlands?
Doom metal is on the rise in the Netherlands. Although having a small doom metal scene in the Netherlands, we have a lot of good bands worth checking out: Officium Triste, Faal, Ggu:ll, Akelei and Façade. Besides that, we also have a very nice doom metal festival called Dutch Doom Days. The bands who perform there are of very high quality, and they also give starting Dutch doom/sludge bands the opportunity to perform there. We were lucky enough to have played there in 2014, which is one of our most memorable performances to this day.
12. Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of The Netherlands? And are there any new bands you could recommend to the readers?
That’s a really tough question. I have a very broad music taste in metal, so I have a lot of “favorite” bands. Therefore, I find it too difficult to make a choice. I can recommend to you the following bands from the Netherlands (besides the bands I mentioned above): Ulsect, Dodecahedron and Terzij de Horde.
Although I don’t have enough time to check out all the releases coming out, I can recommend the following albums from 2017: “Heartless” by Pallbearer, “Mirror Reaper” by Bell Witch, “Caustic” by Primitive Man, “Medusa” by Paradise Lost, “Horizonless” by Loss and “Mass VI” by Amenra. There are countless new albums that are still on my “to listen” list, such as Converge, Enslaved, Monolord, Sorcerer, Spirit Adrift, Hanging Garden and Usnea.
Bands worth checking out are Dvne (sludge/doom), Hela (stoner/doom), Whitenails (stoner/sludge/doom) and OHHMS (sludge/doom).
Thank you for giving us the chance to have an interview. We also would like to thank Solitude Productions by giving us the chance of releasing our music through a label we hold in very high esteem. Support the local and underground metal scene! Hopefully you’ll check out our album and tell us what you think about it. We’re keen on hearing your opinion. Order our album through http://apotelesma.bandcamp.com or Solitude Productions.
Band Contacts
https://apotelesma.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/apotelesmaband/
Label Contacts
https://solitude-prod.com/
https://solitudeproductions.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/solitude_bmm
