1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
YERMO is an Extreme Metal project free of boundaries. When the pandemic stopped the world, Sun of the Dying couldn’t rehearse or even meet, so I started developing some ideas I had in my mind for years. Everything started with some simple riffs, but it grew to something different and I added some orchestrations and clean vocals. So the result is kind of eclectic, you can find subtle strings arrangements and pianos mixed with blast beats and Funeral Doom sections.
2.You have your first full length coming out in December, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
I didn’t try to fit in any style with YERMO, so there are a lot of different elements. Of course I pursued some coherence concerning sound, so the guitar tone, the drums, the keyboards… are always the same. And there is a lot of melody, but you can find traces of Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom, Post Metal and even some Folk.
3.A lot of your lyrics cover Castillian Folklore and History, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
The lyrics of the album reflect mostly the nostalgia of simpler times, and the desire of scaping from this jail of smoke and concrete I live in. In Castile we have some of the greatest writers in the Spanish language, and many of them have a style that fits the personality of that land: plain, simple and kind of distant, yet heartful. Those novels and poems, together with the landscapes I grew in, led me to write about this land and the nostalgia of it. Also there is a lot of personal stuff. For example, “El Peso del Sol” (Spanish for The Weight of the Sun) depicts the fall of a land that once was glorious, but also the fall into senile dementia of beloved person of mine.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name ‘Yermo'?
YERMO is Spanish for barren land, like the ones that inspired some of the lyrics of the album.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album?
Masles Roy is an amazing painter from Madrid. I’ve known him for many years, and I always wanted to work with him in some projects. I knew his style and I knew he would do something amazing. I gave him absolute freedom, and he delivered that amazing painting inspired by the song “El Peso del Sol”.
6.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea in the future?
I think I will keep it as a studio project, but I am open to everything. I play in two more bands and for the moment I have all the concerts activity I need.
7.The new album is going to be released on 'Negre plan Y', how did you get in contact with this label?
Negra Nit has one of the most consistent and honest catalogues in Spain, so I wrote them and they liked the album. It will be released by the sub label Negre Plany because Negra Nit is very focused into Black Metal, which I absolutely love.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and doom metal?
I’s a little bit soon to talk about it, but the feedback I’m getting is really good, better than I expected.
9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
I play keyboards for the Doom/Death Metal band Sun of the Dying and the Melodic Metal Arwen. Two bands that are absolutely different in every possible sense, so I always have a lot of chances to learn something new.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I love being free of boundaries, so I’d love to keep that open mind setup. I have some ideas, anyway, and most of them sound a little bit more aggressive.
11.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 listen to a lot of different music, so it’s hard for me to tell what really made an impact to my music and which one didn’t. Of course there are some bands like Anathema or The Gathering that made a huge impact on me and they are still among my favorites. Lately, I’m really enjoying the last Ne Obliviscaris album, A.A. Williams and the last album by Symphonic Black Metallers The Circle.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for giving me this space. Keep on supporting underground Metal!!
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