Book Of Sand Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the music project these days?

I am waiting on labels for a couple of releases, and working on three new full-lengths.  I am nearing the end of my first set of albums, and there will be some changes after that.

2.Your music covers a lot of ground, can you tell us a little bit more about the evolution of your music over the years?

In the past, I've had some contact or experience with a number of different styles of music.  Obviously, black and doom metal, but also jazz, gamelan, European classical, and various "outsider" genres.  So, these all come out in different ways in my music.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the musical project has explored over the years?

Lyrically, my work is political, often with the lens of my uneducated understanding of theology.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Book Of Sand?

I thought it had the right feeling when I borrowed it.

5.How would you describe your views on Anarchism, Anti Fascism  and  Veganism?

I'm committed to all of those, but as time goes on it seems less worth talking about - from my point of view, these are the only politics that can be justified, but most people already have their minds made up, and change only slowly if at all.

6. Has the musical project ever done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

For now, Book of Sand is strictly a recording-oriented effort.

7.Over the years the band has worked with Music Ruins Live and Paradigms Recordings, do you feel these labels have done a lot for getting  your  name  out  there?

Yes, as did Antithetic Records.  It's not a label, but I am particularly grateful for the way Aquarius Records has helped me out.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

There hasn't been much.  Some people like it, some people get angry about my politics.  For the most part, people ignore it.  That's fine by me.  Forgive my arrogance, but most of the opinions about my music that I've read haven't been worth worrying about.

9.Are you involved with any other musical projects?

I play guitar in an anarchist black metal band called "Wither," and various other instruments in various other groups (gamelan and free jazz, primarily).  

10.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Upwards and outwards, hopefully.  There will be some surprises coming up.

11.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Lately I've been listening to a cd by U.S. Saucer.  I like about half of it.

12.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

At the moment I am learning about electronics.

13.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

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Book Of Sand/Mourning Star/Music Ruins Lives/2012 FUll Length Review

  This  is  the  final review  of  a  recording  from Book Of  Sand  with  the  musical  style  being  avant  garde,  experimental  anarchist  black  metal  with  the  album  being  called  "Mourning  Star'  and  released by  Music  Ruins  Lives.

  "The  Face  Of  The  Waters"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars,  avant  garde  synth  sounds  and  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  and  after  awhile  drums  and  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  riffs  come  into  the  song  along  with  some  high  pitched  depressive  screams  and  later  on  in  the  song  dark  sounding  melodies  start coming  in  before the distortion stops  and  the  song  goes  into  a  cleaner  direction  for  a  few  seconds  before  the  synths  and  primitive  guitar  riffing  returns  and  you  can  hear  a  lot  of  distorted  elements  in  the  background.  

  "Fits  And  Starts" begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  that  utilize  full  chords  before  heavy  guitar  riffs,  drums  and  depressive  black  metal s creams  start  coming  in  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  you  can  hear  some  experimental  drones  in  the background  along with  some  clean  sections  a  few seconds later  which  also  leads  up  to  some  synths  and  then t he  song  goes  into  an  ambient  noise  direction for  awhile  and  halfway  through  the  song  the  heavy  and  symphonic  sounds  make  a  return  before  switching  back  to  a  noise  direction  and  adding  in  some  acoustic  guitars  in  the  background.

  'Crawling  Through  Sand,  Crawling  Through  Earth"  begins  with  some  heavy  guitar  riffs,  drums and  synths  as well  as  some  saxophones  and  a  few  minutes  later  black  metal screams  start  making  their  presence  known  in  this  song  and  as  time  goes  on  by  the  music  gets  more  diverse,  experimental  and  avant  garde  sounding and  towards  the end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  classical  guitars  being utilized.

  "Planet  SUV"  begins with  some  acoustic/classical  guitars  and violins  and  a  minute  later  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  riffs  and d rums  make  their  way  into  the  music a s  well  as  some  blast  beats  which  lead  up  to  some  high  pitched  depressive  screams  and  a  few  seconds  alter  saxophones  can  be  heard  in  the  background  as  well  as  the  classical  and  acoustic  guitars  while focusing  on  some  repetitive  black  metal  guitar  riffing  and  as  the  song  gets  closer  to  the  end  it  goes  into  a  more  harsh  noise  direction  along  with  some spoken  word  parts.

  "A  Devil  Not  A  Phoenix"  begins  with  some  violins  and  classical  guitars  and  a  minute  later  some  saxophones  start  coming  into  the  song  and  halfway  through  some  avant  garde  and  experimental  sounds  start  making  their  presence  known  along  with  some  harsh  noise  elements.

  "Lord  Have  Mercy"  begins  with  some  heavy  guitar  riffs  and  a  few  seconds  alter  drums  are  added  into  the  song  which  also  leads  to  some  synths  being  utilized  in the  background and  the song  is  all  instrumental.

  "That  Tearful  Day"  begins with  some  acoustic  guitars  a  few seconds  alter  you  can  hear some violins  being utilized  in  the background  and  a  couple  of  minutes  later  you  can hear  some piano style  avant  garde sounds  and  towards  the  end  heavy again  riffs  and  saxophones  make  their  way  into  the  song  and  close  the  song  and album.

  Song  lyrics  cover  anarchist  themes,  while  the production  has  a  very  dark, raw  and  primitive  sound  to it  along  with  most of  the  songs being  very  long  and epic  in  length.

  In my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding recording from Book Of  Sand  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental, avant  garde black  metal, you  should  check out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS INCLUDE  "The  Face  Of  The  Waters"  "Planet  SUV"  and  "That  Tearful  Day". RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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Book Of Sand/The Face Of Waters/Antithetic Records/2011 Full Length Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  Book Of  Sand  with  the  musical  style  being  experimental,  avant  garde  black  metal  with  the  album  being  called  "The  Face  Of  Waters" and  released  by  Antithetic  Records  during  the  year  of  2011.

  "The  Face Of  The  Waters"  begins  with  some soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  which  utilize  finger  picking  and  then  the  heavy  guitar  riffs,  drums  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  start  kicking  in  while  also  keeping  around  the  acoustic  guitars and  after  awhile  some  violins  make  their  presence  known  in  the  song.

  'The  Waters Above  And  Below"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  drums  along with  some  distorted  parts  in  the  background  which  also  leads  up to  some  avant  garde  sounding  classical  violins  and  after  awhile  some  high  pitched  depressive  black  metal  screams  make  their  presence  known  in  the  song  along  with  some  primitive  guitar  riffs  being in  the  background.

  "Falling  Through  The  Firmament" begins with  some  depressive  black  metal  screams  before  the  drums,  acoustic  and  electric  guitars  kick  in  along  with  some  violins  and  saxophones  as  well  as  some  dark  and  melodic  guitar  riffing.

  "Be  Fruitful  And  Multiply"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  before the  grim  sounding  screams,  drums  and  saxophones  start  kicking  in  and  you  can  hear  some  distorted  guitars  in  the  background  of  the  song.

  "The Oldest  Master"  begins  with  some  violins,  bass  guitars  and  drum   beats  as  well  as  some  orchestra  elements  being  utilized  and  a  minute  alter  some  high  pitched  depressive  black  metal  screams  start  making  their  presence  known  in  the  song.

  "Intelude"  begins  with  some  avant  garde  sounding  pianos  along  with  some  sound  effects in  the  background  and  serves  as  an intro  for the  nest  song.

 "The Gates Of  Heaven"  begins with  some  acoustic  guitar  playing  along with  some  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  being  utilized  a  few  seconds  later  and  halfway  through  the  song  guitar  leads  are added  in.

  Song  lyrics  cover  Old  Testament  themes  from  an Atheist  point  of  view,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark, raw  and  primitive  sound  to it.

  In  my  opinion  this  another  great sounding  recording from Book Of  Sand  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  avant  garde, experimental  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album. RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Face Of  The  Waters"  "Be  Fruitful  And  Multiply"  and  "The Gates Of  Heaven".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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Book Of Sand/The Bees And The Butterflies/Mouthbreather/2011 EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording from Book  Of  Sand  with  the  musical  style  being  experimental  black  metal  mixed  with  folk  music with  the  ep  being  called  "The  Bees  And  The  Butterflies" which  was  released  in 2011  by  Mouthbreather.

  "Now  The  Green  Blade  Arises"  begins with  some  violins  and  then  the  primitive  black  metal  guitar  riffs,  drums,  synths  and  depressive  screams  start  kicking  in  along  with  some  epic  and  atmospheric  elements  being  thrown  in.

  "Black  Is  The  Color"  begins  with  some  violins  before  the  fast,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  riffs  kick  in along  with  some  drums,  synths  and  high  pitched  screams  while  also  keeping  around  the  violins.

  "Young  Girl  Cut  Down  In  Her  Prime"  begins  with  some  violins  before  some slow  and  heavy guitar  riffs,  high pitched  depressive  screams,  drums  and  synths  start  kicking  in  and  the  song  closes  with  some  experimental  noise  sounds.

  "All  The  Pretty  Horses"  begins  with  some  violins  before  the  fast,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  riffs,  drums  and  high  pitched  screams  kick  in  along  with  some  synths  that  bring  in  more  folk  music  elements.

  "Wayfaring  Stranger"  begins with  some  violins  and  the  song  is  an  all  instrumental  folk  cover  song.

  "Arran  Boat  Song"  begins  with  some  violins  before  the  heavy  guitar  riffs,  drums  and  synths  start kicking  in  and  there  are  no  vocals  present  on  this  song  with  the  music  being  all  instrumental.

  Song  lyrics  cover  American Folklore  themes,  while  the  production  has   a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound to  it.

  In  my  opinion this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Book  Of  Sand  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  experimental  black  metal  mixed  with  folk  music,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Now  The  Green  Blade  Arises"  and  "All  The  Pretty  Horses".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

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Book Of Sand/How Beautiful To Walk Free/2010 Full Length Review

  Book  Of  Sand  are  a  band  from Minnesota  that  plays  a  very  experimental  and  anarchist  form of  black  metal and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2010  album  "How  Beautiful  To  Walk Free".

  "Destruction, Not  Reformation"  begins  with  harsh  noise sounds  before  the  guitar  riffs  and  drums  start kicking  in  as  well  as  some high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  some  atmospheric  elements.

  "No  Flags" begins  with  some  melodic  guitar  and  bass  riffs  along  with  some  drums  before  the black  metal  screams  kick  in  which leads  to  the  music  getting  a  lot  more  darker  and you  can  hear  elements  of  post  punk  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  after  awhile  there  is  a  brief  use  of  distorted  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized  and  the  song  closes  with  elements  of  noise.

  "The  Night  And  Day  Will  Pass  Away"  begins  with  noise  sounds,  fast  raw  and  primitive  sounding  guitars  and  blast  beats  from  the  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  grim  screams  start  coming  in  along  with  some  depressive  elements.

  "Hidegen Fujnak  a  Szelek" begins  with  harsh  noise  sounds,  and  heavy  guitar  and  bass  riffs  along  with  some  depressive  black  metal  screams  which  leads  to  the  song  adding  in  mid  paced  elements  along  with  some  primitive  guitar  riffing  and  after  awhile  you  can  hear  some  atmospheric  sounds  in  the  background.

  "I  Heard  You'll  Be  Gone  A  Long  Time"  begins  with  harsh  noise  sounds,  lo-fi  primitive  and  fast  black  metal  guitar  riffs  along  with  some  drums  and  you  can  hear  some  distorted  bass  guitars  in  the  background  and  then  the  high  pitched  depressive  screams  start  kicking  in  as  well  as  experimental  sounds.

  "Crawling  Through  Sand,  Crawling  Through  Earth"  begins with  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  guitar  and  drums  as  well  as  the  guitar  riffing  utilizing  some  melody  before  the  high  pitched  screams  kick  in  along  with  some  experimental  sounding  synths  in  the  background  which  make  the  song  a lot  more  atmospheric  sounding  and  after  awhile  some  guitar  leads  start coming  in  and  out.

  "When  We  Are  Gone,  The  World  Will  Be  Awash  Away  With  Light"  begins  with  harsh  noise  sounds  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  which  leads  up  to  some  fast,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  guitar  riffs  and  drums  which  also  utilize  some  blast  beats  and  yo  can  hear  some atmospheric  and  experimental  elements  in  the  background.

  Song  lyrics  cover  anarchist  themes,  while  the  production  has  a very  dark,  lo-fi,  raw  and  primitive  sound  along  with  the  last  song  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Book  Of  Sand  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental,  raw  and  primitive  anarchist  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Destruction, Not  Reformation"  "I  Heard  You'll  Be  Gone  A  Long  Time"  and  "When  We  Are  Gone,  The  World  Will  Be  Awash  Away  With  Light".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

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