Holodomor Interview

 Answered: Adam (guitars, vocals)

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
A. HOLODOMOR as a full-line up band was formed in 2009, in Plymouth, South-West England. Before that,myself and the guitarist (Steve D) would already rehearse for some 3 years on our own, while looking for members, which are hard to get for this sort of music in the South-West UK. We have released our debutMCD Temoignages de la Gnose Terrestre earlier this year, which seems to have been quite impacting in theextreme underground scene and the media. IRON BONEHEAD RECORDS are due to release the materialon MLP and the French MALTKROSS PRODUCTIONS are preparing releasing it on tape as well.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
A. HOLODOMOR is 80s/90s inspired black/death/thrash unit, mostly compared to the bands such as BESTIAL WARLUST, SADISTIK EXEKUTION, REVENGE, ANGELCORPSE, KREATOR, early MORBID ANGEL, DEATHSPELL OMEGA, WITCHMASTER or THRONEUM... We try to incorporate the best genre-defining elements from all these diverse styles and consolidate it within our own vision of what extreme underground music in 2000s should be. The predominant features of HOLODOMOR are barbarity, relentless speed, violence, grief, despair and agony. We also try to enhance the genre's raw stylistic delivery with some unpredictable metric constructions and more compound riff structures at times, although without compromising our fundamental qualities of deliberate primitivity and relentless audio chaos.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A. The subjects talked about in the lyrics are quite diverse. I, as the author, focus on various topics, which I find overwhelmingly disturbing or inescapable. Some more general titles, like Tribulation Stigmata or Fall Into Time express the dark notions of inherent antagonism of our condition as forms of life and members of this particular species: we are bacteria feasting on each other on some random piece of rock drifting in empty space for a limited duration of time. We know nothing. HOLODOMOR is an accusation against humanity as well as a bitter wept over the death of humanity. Some lyrics are more personal, however I always try to poeticise enough to present the ideas in a universal, somewhat esoteric dimension. On this level they refer to malignant truths about the very human constitution... for instance, sacrifices committed in the name of ethical codes, personal values etc. The primary criterion in creating lyrics for HOLODOMOR in any case is to deal with something genuinely painful and frustrating rather than fantasizing, endorsing ideologies or cults,
making up dark stories etc.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
A. Speaking for myself, HOLODOMOR has a few interpretations. First of all, the sheer act of millions of human deaths quite succinctly defines the emotional stage of what is conveyed by the band's work. The genocidal event of this sort unfolds the monstrosity of the human race, the dark side of our very condition, whose seed dreams in each and every one of us, even though most of us refuse to accept it. You see, the deceit of the world being in denial of this horrific event for so many years is the best evidence of that. This also is very important: we live in the age of revelation and I mean it in an extra-biblical sense. The definition of the Latin word “revelation” or the Greek “apocalypsis” in its purely etymological sense implies as much as “exposure of truth” or “disclosure of previously secret or unknown events”, only that it does not have to be all this dramatic mythical stuff like Riders of the Apocalypse, Trumpets of Doom etc... these are poetic metaphors. I think it's Google rather than anything else which contributes to people getting to know about stuff they would not be able to find out about in any previous age in history... It's too late for apocalypse, the biblical style, now that we have internet... but I'm digressing... Anyway, in this sense, the band is a vehicle of spreading this truth about the hidden genocide, which so many “humanitarian” governments would not like to hear about for decades. The modern Western society is a bunch of self-indulgent hypocritical scumbags and for me, the band HOLODOMOR is, in a sense, a symbolic act of war waged against all that this society represents.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you
describe your stage performance?
A. I think we're quite brutal live. As reported by the fans, a lot of people usually seem overwhelmed by the intensity of our stage presence. I can only say that if you liked the CD and haven't seen HOLODOMOR live, you haven't seen anything yet! We only played locally in UK so far so we haven't really been seen by many people who would be into this kind of particularly violent stuff. There are some black or death bands around here but nothing of a bestial warring variety if I can call it like that. I wouldn't be able, though, to point out the best gig we've done. The one with Vader and Gorgoroth was pretty exciting for obvious reasons, also because of the sound being extremely well done by Vader's live engineers, which they have always been
famed for...

6. Do you have any plans to do a tour in the future?
A. There are some plans, indeed. I would not like to say too much though before we get things confirmed.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel
that would be a perfect fit for your music?
A. This has actually changed since we're releasing this MLP for IRON BONEHEAD and we also have been
working with MALTKROSS/GLORIFICATION MUSIX for some time now. I have also sent the CD myself to just a few labels worldwide which I thought would be appropriate for a band like us: INVICTUS PROD, NORMA EVANGELICUM DIABOLI, PAGAN REC, NUCLEAR WAR NOW! PROD... I think some relatively obscured underground label would be a healthy choice for a new band like HOLODOMOR.

8. Godz Ov War has been promoting your band, how did you get in contact with them and how
would you describe the support that they have given you so far?
A. Greg contacted me after he got a promo-copy of our CD for review in Psychozine. He's good friends with Zibi (7Gates), who initially helped me to spread some promo stuff of HOLODOMOR. I have known Zibi for many years now (in 1998 his Seven Gates of Hell released the demo the band I was involved with at the time –Nebula Gates), although we've bit out of contact during recent years, he has done a brilliant job starting off with the promotion for the band as soon as I delivered an advance copy of Temoignages de la GnoseTerrestre to him. Greg of GODZ OF WAR pushed it all to a next stage by contaminating media with news about HOLODOMOR, arranging reviews, interviews etc. Both SEVEN GATES OF HELL's and GODZ OV WAR's support to the band has been outstanding. We are very thankful to them.

9. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black, war and
thrash metal?
A. The most of the reviews are really enthusiastic and people seem to really have found something fresh in our music, regardless of the rigid stylistic confines of the genre. I find it very rewarding. We had reviews/publications appearing most of the European countries now as well as in in USA, Australia and even Asia. As so far, we got the most support from Poland, France, USA and Germany and, yeah, the maniacs of old-school war/black/thrash stuff are the ones who seem truly dedicated and appreciative of what we do as HOLODOMOR.

10. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
A. There are some bands/projects the HOLODOMOR members are involved in: Dan (drums) is the guitarist in a progressive death metal band DAGGERS DRAWN as well as two others – ETERNAL SAROS (black/death) and WISHLIST. Steve Dean has recently been setting up his other band in which they explore more dissonant PORTAL'esque sonic territories. I also do get involved in random musical projects of various flavours. Sometimes I cooperate with other musicians/singers from different backgrounds, like remixing tracks from other genres. These are often ephemeral projects, which allow me to explore different dimensions of sound. I have been involved in a thing called URANIUM CLUB which is a post-apocalyptic multi-disciplinary conceptual chimera focused on incorporating technologies like modular synthesis, sampling, live mixing and misusing equipment... I have also written some minor orchestral scores for some independent short films, although these days I don't get much time to do it.

11. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
A. I think a band like HOLODOMOR cannot evolve ridiculously towards a too sophisticated style. The primary criterion will remain to create as hellish and haunting aural assault as possible. For the moment we need to consolidate all the elements, which define our still style. This band will always use stylistic cliches and the well tested methods of achieving dimensions most efficient sonic/lyrical depravity within the genre. We will head towards ever increased ambiance of inhumanity and overwhelming darkness. This will remain the defining factor for this band, although we will certainly work on emphasizing our style-identity as
HOLODOMOR.

12. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are
you listening to nowadays?
A. The main bands, which influenced the way HOLODOMOR sounds are SADISTIK EXEKUTION,
ANGELCORPSE, BESTIAL WARLUST, BLASPHEMY, CONQUEROR, ANTAEUS, ARKHON INFAUSTUS, DEATHSPELL OMEGA, PORTAL, ABSU, AURA NOIR, ADORIOR, NIFELHEIM, MAYHEM, early MORBID ANGEL, early VADER... but we listen to all sorts of stuff... for the last 4 years or so I really got into classical stuff, like STARVINSKY, The Second Viennese School, BARTOK, PENDERECKI, XENAKIS, STOCKHAUSEN... these guys opened my eyes to different qualities of sound and looking at the definition ofmusic for a more abstract angle. From the avant garde things I'm into DIAMANDA GALAS or ULVER. ULVER especially has changed me a lot as well as ARCTURUS' La Masquerade Infernale. Garm truly is a genius. The Bristol's Trip-Hop of the 1990s is a huge overall influence as well, however perhaps not directly apparent in the style of HOLODOMOR. I generally get into anything which has an aura of dark energy to it, some negativity... It's all about the emotional content of sounds. Genres are irrelevant, really.

13. Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in your music?
A. Not explicitly. Again, I can only speak for myself in this case: I can relate to the  myth of  Lucifer/Prometheus in a symbolic way. For many years (over a half of my life now) I have been asking myself whether I am a satanist or not... these days I do not care anymore what it means. I do believe in mastering one's virtues and strengths and standing independently in life and being able to sacrifice a lot for the set goals, challenging one's weaknesses – being tough on oneself. All this satanism stuff is such an individual thing that it really is difficult to define it. I usually avoid mentioning it altogether since most of people, for instance in the metal scene, who talk about it have no fucking clue what soever what they're dealing with. I renounce all of that shit. I believe in thinking and acting for myself and living by the sword – yes, but I'm not keen to name it by one thing or another as it's just more bullshit for people to argue about. I'm not into it. I'm certainly not a satanist in the sense of worshiping the devil. I think all kinds of worship, all ideologies and systematized beliefs are fundamentally mere compensations for not using your own brain, however they all carry the same element of universal wisdom, only that each of these systems claims the sole copyrights to the Truth. The truth is they all say the same thing by different signs and symbols. Nietzsche's thought alone sums it all up for me. The studies of certain texts have influence on how the work of HOLODOMOR is conceived in terms of its spiritual origin but as the author of lyrics I do not draw any direct references. I do believe though, that the human faculties of generating sounds and words in our case are mere manifestation of this fundamentally spiritual principle. If music dies, if words die – this metaphysical element of self will remain unchanged. The mystery always remains occult.

14. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
A. I have been heavily into Philosophy and Social Sciences for many years. I'm mostly interested in the contemporary anthropology and cultural theory – the shift in consciousness after the death of God/advent of increased technological advancement. I think about ethics a lot... the links between science, art, society...This is my main thing. Besides I like cooking good food, keeping fit and not much else... Reading is more important for me at the moment than anything else.

15. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
A. Thank you for a very interesting and insightful interview – it was pleasure. Stay real. Hails


HOLODOMOR:
Adam Widawski - guitars, vocals
Steve Dean - guitar
Steve Waldron - bass
Dan Couch – drums

DISCOGRAPHY:
Témoignages de la Gnose Terrestre – MCD’12 [self released]

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