Dwell in Solitude is an atmospheric/depressive black metal project started with a couple of riffs written during the cold dreadful winter of 2015. At that time I only wanted to try a new playing style, coming from more thrash oriented licks I moved to a black metal approach with open distorted chords and tremolo picking. Then in 2018, after having recorded some instrumental tracks, I decided to give a name to the project, complete the songs with vocals and publish them into the wild, out of curiosity to see how far a homemade album would reach.
2.So far you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
I’ve written the album over a span of three years, it started off with a depressive mood and repetitive, almost droning, riffing but then evolved into something more rich and diverse over time. The tracks may sound a bit uneven, but overall the atmosphere is consistent, delivering a balanced combination of melody and harshness. I'm quite satisfied with the result: mixing depressive, blackgaze, raw black and some jazzy stuff too, I feel everything summed up into an original and cohesive sound where the different elements gracefully blend together.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored with the music so far?
I write things that comes to my mind, as the music I compose, trying to shape out my feelings. It all deals with depression, alienation and the sense of not belonging to this place; nihilism and hopelessness permeates the verses where the flow acts more as a sequence of scattered dreamlike images than a coherent narration.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dwell In Solitude'?
I was looking for something simple, catchy and good sounding that could convey the sense of sadness and loneliness of the music and stand out in search engines. After a few tries this one matched all the requirements.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
It’s a picture I’ve taken one morning when this crow caught my attention on the street. I’m fascinated by birds: they represent freedom because they can fly anywhere they want, but at the same time they look so lone and sad. I think this fits perfectly with the content of the EP. Also the rawness of the image is in tune with the musical production style.
6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Actually it’s more of a one man project. M recorded vocals for the first songs but then had to leave due to some personal issues. After thinking about giving up I decided to go on and started doing vocals by myself; results were not very good at first but with some effects added it became decent enough for my needs. I like trying new things, this was the first time playing keyboards too and I hope to get some improvements with practice. This project is about expressing my personal emotions and freely experimenting musical solutions, so it will be a one man band for the time being, but there might be some other collaborations in the future.
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
I’m not interested in going far from the underground but yes, having the album distributed in physical form would be great. I fancy about a nice colored LP! So if I’ll get enough positive feedback I can start looking for a small label to print and distribute the EP. Let's see how things evolve.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
I’m doing promotion by myself and it’s not easy, but so far the comments were mostly positive and I got a few supporters on bandcamp. All in all for a bedroom project this is encouraging, and being compared with bands such as Ellende, Gris and None is flattering. It seems that the (post-)black world is open and welcoming to new unknown acts, unlike more mainstream genres fandom.
9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Not sure if I’ll ever do a full-length, it takes a lot of time and energy so a thirty minute EP is the perfect format for now. It all depends on the inspiration but usually I’m not very prolific and I prefer quality over quantity. As for the style the second EP will lean a bit on the prog side, with even less structured songs featuring lots of changes and some odd time signatures too, but it will retain the gloomy and blackish atmosphere nonetheless.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I’m open to almost all kind of music, usually ranging from black metal to pop-rock, sometimes going into jazz, swing or electronic. Austere sparkled my interest in depressive and post-black metal, and I like Glorior Belli for their southern scented black metal style. A couple of albums I found very inspiring are Astarte’s “Sirens” and Common Grave’s “Il Male di Vivere”, love the use of piano on the former and classical guitar on the latter. As for the things I like to listen lately I’d mention Abstract Void, with its combination of modern post-black and nostalgic synthwave, and Alice in Chains, still my favorite band as of today.
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I’m into computers, programming and playing around (but I think I’m getting too old for this), and drinking beer.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I'd like to thank you for the interest in the project and in the underground scene in general.
Stay tuned for more music to come!
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