Atra Filia

interview by - Wouter Roemers

Sweden has a rich history in doom metal. From influential genre monuments such as Candlemass and Forest Of Shadows to relatively new acts such as Draconian, World Below or Isole, the art of making misery is one of Sweden's better exports, alongside its established death – and black metal scene. Recently, a young act called Atra Filia (which translated from Latin roughly means "dark daughter") released their first promo EP with "Animus Obscurum". Being impressed with the rough potential displayed on this EP Masterful Magazine spoke to Atra Filia's three members: singers Elias Axelsson and Caroline Marjoniemi plus composer/multi-instrumentalist Jan Röök.

Hi Elias! Thanks for doing this interview with us! What are you and the rest of Atra Filia currently up to?

E: At the moment we are actually working with the mixing of our new songs for the full length album. It sounds great! The artwork for the booklet is also in progress. Besides this we're trying to hunt down a record label that wish to help us realize this release.

So, your debut EP "Animus Obscurum" is out now, roughly one year after Atra Filia formed. I guess the inevitable question is what led you to forming the band. One night of heavy drinking at a local pub or a mutual interest in doom metal that brought the three of you together?

E: Well, first of all the EP was out roughly 6 months after the formation of the band. Just to straighten things out. Anyway, we formed the band mainly because we all had been involved in different bands and projects which had died or stagnated, and we were all burning to make music and to satisfy our creativity. We all carry different kind of emotions and inner demons, in which the music is a great element for expressing and channelling all these things. As some of you might know we originally had the idea to make some sort of dark/ambient/medieval music experiment, but since we're all into metal we slithered in that direction rather quickly.

Atra Filia were formed in the summer of 2008, but you have already independently released your debut EP. How easy it was for you to release something in such short time?

J: Well, it's never easy to convert emotions and thoughts into music. But since we all work great together it was not too hard. Elias and Caroline brings out the best in me when it comes to making music. Their exceptional work when it comes to writing lyrics triggers my creativity to the max. Experience and determination contributes as well, of course. If there is a will there is a way.

Congratulations with the release of "Animus Obscurum". How are the first reactions?

C: Thanks! First of all people said to me: "You are playing doom!" I didn't even know that myself. People that normally doesn't listen to metal and "dark" music has told us that they love the music. I know a lot of girls that claim to hate metal but when they have listened to our EP they have been pleasantly surprised and now they love it. Among friends the reactions and feedback has been good. We have also received a couple of reviews. Some of them has been awesome and others helped us to improve in different areas. Constructive criticism is good criticism. Overall, we have received a rather good response.

It was recently announced that Atra Filia is in the finalizing process of recording its first full length album "Fuga Ex Inritus", which consists of 9 tracks. Are these 9 entirely new compositions or have you re-recorded the 4 tracks of your "Animus Obscurum" promo?

C: The CD will contain all the EP songs except for the instrumental track 'Sanctum Obliteration'. Besides those three tracks there will be six new ones with a special surprise. We will actually have two songs in Swedish for our fans to enjoy. We hope to have it released before the end of this summer.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing your first official recording with 4 track "Animus Obscurum" promo. While the band is obviously still in its infancy, there's clear potential for some classic doom in the vein of Evoken, (early) My Dying Bride, (early) Theatre Of Tragedy and Shape Of Despair. Did the promo turn out the way you had originally envisioned it?

J: As mentioned earlier, the original idea was a more dark/ambient project so in that sense, no. But after we developed our project into the deathlike doom which we now perform, then yes! I believe it did came out as envisioned. Actually, even better than all our expectations.

C: I never thought I would have the strength go through with the EP and even less with the full length album, but these two wonderful men I'm working with has brought out the best in me and are always pushing me to peak performance. Everything is coming together so well because we are so alike in our vision.

The lyrics are written by both Caroline and Elias. Can you go deeper into the lyrical contents or concept of "Animus Obscurum"?

E: The overall concept is basically about inner darkness and misery. The lyrics for 'Haunted by Grief' sort of just came to me as Jan was working with the music for that song. As Jan was playing the guitar and nailing the main riff down I got a dark sense of inspiration and wrote down the words in a matter of minutes.

C: Sometimes we start off with only a melody or a riff. Jan's music has a way to inspire us both in our writing. Other days you just feel like crap and write things just to get them off your chest. So what you get on our full length album is sort of like ripped pages of a diary mixed with some heavy therapy sessions. You may say that our inner demons are transformed into words.

The vocal interplay between Elias, Caroline and Jan reminds of early genre bands as Theatre Of Tragedy, in particular. What are the band that the three of you look up to, take inspiration from in writing music with Atra Filia?

J: I have to say that I don't take inspiration from any particular band or type of music. Sure there is probably a lot of the music that I make that sounds something like other bands. I mainly get inspiration from within and from all kinds of music.

E: Lyricwise I can't say that I find inspiration from any other band. It all comes from within. When it comes to my small musical contribution I suppose bands like Runemagick and Shape of Despair has given me some kind of influence. But generally I listen almost exclusively to black metal and there is obviously no inspiration from that kind of music in Atra Filia.

C: I'm not sure if the bands that I listen to contributes at all to my writing? I have been writing poems long before I discovered music. I can fall in love with one song and not necessarily like the whole CD. Classic, Pagan and Metal is the music that has followed me in my life so far. Vocally, one can only dream to make magic songs like the 'Divine Burning of Angels' by The Project Hate MCMXCIX.

Jan handles all instrumentation. Does he write the music all by himself or is that more of a collaborative effort between the three of you?

J: For the most part I write all music myself but sometimes Caroline or Elias comes with a melody or a line which I develop. This suits the three of us fine as we work well together. It would be worse if we were a seven man band with as many strong wills leading in different directions. Dictatorship works perfectly!

On the promo you did the production entirely by yourselves at your own Marble Soul Studios. Was this a positive experience recording this album on your own terms/expenses and at your own leisure? In what way did the album benefit from you doing it yourselves? Any downsides?

E: Besides financial issues and expenses it was, in my opinion, a truly positive experience. To be able to do things entirely your own way and in your own time is highly appreciated. Because of this very reasons I think the EP benefitted quite well. Our studio is very private and has allowed us to really do things as we please. This just might mean that I could be found dead drunk on the floor without anyone taking offense. Or that any of us could be pulling our pants down and reveal the secrets of the black farts! The freedom to behave like you feel contributes with a lot of positivity to the recordings, I think. The only downside that I can think of is the quality of the sound that can be much better in a professional studio with a professional sound engineer. But all credit to Marble Soul Studio and to Jan who, in my opinion, provides a totally satisfying sound during the circumstances.

Now that the recording for your first full length album "Fuga Ex Inritus" have been finalized. Will a professional producer/engineer be hired to mix and master the album?

J: No, not for the mixing. When it comes to the mastering process we are thinking of using the skills of our dear friend and musical genius Peter Bjärgö ( Tyrant / Arcana etc. ) We will see what happens and how we will feel after the mixing is completed...?

The artwork was done by Caroline herself. How does the collaboration go between her and the band when she works as the graphic designer. Do you give her carte blanche or did you tell her what to do?

E: Me and Jan have our opinions and ideas, of course, but we have full confidence for Caroline's artistic skills. We are rather uniformed also when it comes to graphic visions, so we usually have the same thoughts about layout and such. I think she has done a great job with the logo and the artwork so far, and I know that the cover of the full length album will be damn nice and suitable to our music.

I always associate Sweden with death metal, either the angry Stockholm or the more melodic Gothenburg kind. Is there a big doom metal scene and community of doom bands in Sweden?

E: The specific doom genre is not so well spread in Sweden. At least not of my knowing... But some acts worth mentioning are Draconian and Runemagick. A few great drone bands like Nekros and Switchblade exists as well, but that's a whole other matter..

Are there any other happenings or things going on with the band or you personally that you would like me to let people know about? Do you have anything to say or add for closure?

E: Atra Filia-wise I think you now got it all. Besides that I will within a reasonable future do some recordings with my first death metal band Ara Sepulcri. And along with Jan and another friend also record some stuff with our new devastating black metal project called Wan.

C: I will get busy with the layout for the full length CD. We need to take some new professional photos for our booklet and some that we can use for promotion. Though all of us are multitalented in different ways, we can't do that ourselves but we have many good photographers in our midst.

J: I will continue to make music to Atra Filia and my other musical projects as well.

And collectively we would like to give you a huge fucking thanks for showing interest and for letting us have this interview.

Info: www.myspace.com/officialatrafilia

Atra Filia

interview by - Wouter Roemers

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