1.Hello Hangsvart please introduce yourself to the readers?
Hello Patrick, my first name is Aimeric, I was born in France in 1991 and moved to live in the UK in 2020. I am now located in the north east of England. I had a few other solo projects beside AGoD and sang for a few bands. I have been also a singer for hire for a while but I have diminished all of these things to focus on AGoD and now Abysmal Rage and personal things.
2.At what age did you become interested in writing and performing music?Who would you say are some of your all-time favorite musiciaans and influences over the years?
I started playing bass and guitar in 2007. I had been suffering for a few months from schizophrenia and depression. It is really what got me into music and writing poetry. I have discovered metal at the same time but in some very unusual ways. The first bands I discovered were Ataraxie, Funeralium, Remembrance (three French bands of funeral doom), Shape of Despair, Skepticism, Comatose Vigil, Catacombs/Hierophant, SUNN O))), My Shameful, and other similar bands. They have stayed with me all these years. Amenra has been very present as well, but I discovered them a little later, more around 2010. Earth has been very present, some black metal bands such as Gris, Hate Forest, Siebenburgen. Beside metal, I have always listened a lot to dark ambient like Northaunt, dark folk, like Nebelung (which makes me think about Empyrium which I love too), Pop like Pink Floyd and London Grammar, a lot of classical music and film soundtracks, and a lot of traditional songs/bands like Huun Huur Tu. More recently I have been listening to more mainstream metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Immolation and Behemoth, as I can find their tabs easily and I am now focusing on Abysmal Rage, death doom metal.
3.What instruments do you currently play?Are you self taught or did you take lesons when first starting out?
Currently I play 8 string guitars, 5 string bass and the Tsuur, an ancestral vertical flute from Mongolia. I am self taught in everything regarding music, playing, singing, composing, recording, mix/mastering.
4.Are their any instruments that you would like to learn to play one day?
If I had the money and the time, I would love to learn to play many ancestral flutes, musical horns and the carnyx.
5.You also handle the vocals for the band when did you first start growling and singing?Do you do anything special to keep your throat and voice healthy?
I started to growl/grunt very early on. I am not a good clean singer, I had taken a few lessons in lyrical singing around 2013/14, I am not sure of the date anymore, but I always felt too disconnected with clean singing to continue. I can only express myself through guttural singing. And now I have mastered 4 very different techniques of guttural singing.
The grunt, that you hear in most metal bands, like Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth and such, can be high, mid and low pitch.
The growl, that you almost never hear, I am only sure to have heard it in the band Devangelic. But I think some bands of brutal death/grind death and such, use it. It can be mid and ultra low, spoken, whispered or louder than normal speech but it is not as aggressive as grunt which is why it is rarely used. It has been my main type of guttural singing in AGoD.
The Kargyraa, which is an ancestral type of singing. It was used all over the world but now can only be heard in Mongolia/Tuva/Siberia, Tibetan Monks, and a few other groups. But bands like Heilung are using it a lot.
And what I call guttural harmonics, which is basically a mix between grunt and kargyraa and yet sounds very different, with amazing harmonics.
I try to sing everyday, and I often start with kargyraa or guttural harmonics to warm up my voice. But besides that, I do not do anything special.
6.Hangsvart you started Abysmal Growls Of Despair back in 2013 when did you get the idea to start this band? How did you choose Abysmal Growls Of Despair as the name of the band?
Since I started to play bass and guitar I started to compose as well. For one, at the time you could not find tabs of the bands I was listening to. I quickly discovered My Dying Bride and tabs were available of them but it is no funeral doom. I just had to do it, to put down what is in my mind, poetry or music.
For the name I wanted something to reflect the despair and the main type of vocals I was using, deep growls. And I thought that the word Abysmal was a good idea as it is conveying many different meanings. Where abyssal has only one, really.
7.I believe you are the sole member of the band have you always worked alone? Would you like to find more members to do some live shows or do you prefer to work alone?
I much prefer to work alone. I was extremely withdrawn from reality and to be around other people has always been very hard for me, triggering a lot of my symptoms. I need to live away from human interactions, as much as possible to feel well. Before living on my own I was pushed to be normal and have friends and do things with others. I tried. I tried hard and for so long. But every single band I have tried to be part of or to form quickly made my sickness worse and I had to quit. I have been a singer for others but via online/international collaborations, that was fine. But I much prefer working alone. Since living in the UK and having to handle both French and English in my daily life, I was not able to write anymore and that is why I stopped all poetry. However, I was/am very open to use other people's writings if they wished to. Especially when the texts/poems/lyrics are of good quality. Like for Torn, the lyrics were written by Jorg, a wonderful writer. And the first album of Abysmal Rage, soon out with Wormhole Death, is using my companion's poems.
I do not want to do any live shows. I had the chance to do some in Toulouse, France, as the singer of a death metal band. The concerts themselves were fun to do, but all the hours before where I had to be among humans were hard.
8.If you had the opportunity to work with any musicians who would you like to work with?
If I had the opportunity to work with other musicians it would be as a singer for them. I do not have any artist in mind. But I would be open to any ancestral music, or bands searching for ancestral singing. Bands who do not want to have any physical contact or live show.
9.Who would you say are the bands biggest influences and have they remained the same over the years? For the readers who have never heard Abysmal Growls Of Despair how would you best describe your music?
I would say the main influences that have remained the same until now are Ataraxie, Remembrance, Comatose Vigil, Amenra, Hate Forest and Northaunt.
It is not easy to describe AGoD because I have composed albums of funeral doom, of dark ambient and of drone. But I would think the main albums would be of funeral doom. I would say that AGoD is focused on slow overwhelming music with deep growls. The main themes are despair, madness, death, grief, ancient civilisations and spirituality and misanthropy. It is not a music for everybody and I know that most people won't like it and won't even sit through a full song, being often longer than 10 minutes. My music always focuses on feelings, it is made to make you feel something, it is emotional and ambient. It is not something you headbang along. It is something you experience because it is created from what I experience, because I do music to be myself, to express things that are inexpressible, things that haunt me.
10.Torn is the newest full length how long did it take you to write the music for this release?How long does it usually take you to complete one song?
I don't really remember, I would say between 4 and 6 months for the full album, from composition to master. For one song, it depends, but I'll say between one week and 3 weeks, from composition to master. But the master is always done last, once I have all the songs mixed. And before to have all the songs mixed, I can rerecord some instruments/vocals if needed to have the most coherent sound through the album.
11.Where do you draw inspiration for the lyrics and what are some subjects written about on the new release?
The last release's lyrics were written by Jorg Puschmann. They are autobiographical and relate what he went through while caring for his wife when she was fighting her cancers.
For previous releases, my main inspiration has always been my own sickness and depression, but also in a general way despair, madness, death, grief, ancient civilisations and spirituality and misanthropy.
12.Besides Torn are the bands previous releases still availible for the readers to purchase? If yes where can the readers purchase your releases?
Yes, of course, all the previous releases are on my bandcamp, to stream and download. And all the major releases are on all streaming platforms like youtube, spotify and such.
Torn will soon be available in CDs, from my bandcamp and many online stores.
A few older releases in CDs/physicals must still be available here and there online.
13.Do you currently work with any other bands or solo projects? If yes please tell the readers a little about them?
I do not work with any other bands but I am currently working on my new solo project, Abysmal Rage. The first album, A House No One Could Live In, will be available with Wormhole Death Records the 6th of November. It will be only a digital release. The lyrics were written by my companion. Let me share with you the official description of the album:
A House No One Could Live In is an oppressive album of Death Doom Metal. The massive and crushing power of 8 string guitars and 5 string bass immerse the listener in hatred and rage. The vocals are drenched in desperation, rage, blasphemy and human terror. The lyrics of some tracks describe autobiographical events, others consist of spiritual metaphors.
14. When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business what do you like to do in your free time?
Spirituality is very important to me and is a big part of my daily life. The shortest way to give you an idea is to let you imagine shamanic practices.
I enjoy playing video games on PC as well, like The Elder Scrolls, The Witchers, Shadow of Mordor/Shadow of War, Diablo 3 and 4, Senua's Sagas, ...
15.Thank you Hangsvart for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers?
Thank you for submitting this interview. I liked your questions, many of them are not often asked. I like to add to my interviews that people with financial difficulties and/or health issues can contact me via my bandcamp if they wish to download an album for free. I will gladly provide a download code.
Abysmal Growls Of Despair
https://abysmalgrowlsofdespair.bandcamp.com/album/torn
https://www.facebook.com/abysmalgrowlsofdespairofficial/
