How has been "Revealing Damnation" received in the underground?

The reviews have been great and I've been doing a bunch of interviews promoting the release. Girls still don't want to have sex with me though. At least the reviews have been positive.

Do you feel that "Revealing..." is much heavier than the demo CD "Council of the Fallen"?

I never had the demo mastered and with the death metal vocals the overall effect is heavier. The songs are more complete on the debut. More harmony guitars and dual vocals. The demo has a good production, but the full length is superior.

 

Can Council of the Fallen´s music be described as death/black metal? Do you feel this is an appropriate way to describe your music?

Death/black, black/death, black/death/thrash, death/black/thrash. Whatever. I describe it as 70%death metal, 25%black metal and 5%thrash. Council is a good mix of all of the styles that I have listened too.

Do you have plans to add a fourth musician to the line up, like for example a second guitar?

On the next recording we should have a second guitarist. His name is Randy Piro and he has written two songs that we should be using. This also makes the chance of Council playing out more possible. We will see if this will happen.

How did you got in touch with Sean Baxter (Broken Hope-Em Sinfonia) and added him to the band?

E-mail. Almost all COTF contact is done by e-mail. Without this Council would be a completely different band. The 21st century has created this monster. Sean is great. He adds alot of musical skill to the band. Derek and Sean can actually play guitar better then I can. I'm so depressed.

How were the songs in "Revealing Damnation" composed?

About half were written while Derek was living in South Carolina and we wrote them together. I would come up with a riff and then he would say go slower or faster from there. After he moved back to Florida I continued writing using what I learned from Derek as far as song structure. Sean should have a song on the next album also and Derek has one or two. I wrote most of the first album, but Derek wrote Cast From The Heavens. The songs are written individually and minor changes are made while recording.

 

I never had lessons and I learned everything from guitar magazines and just by fooling around with the instrument. If the song has alot of changes that is what the song needed to stay interesting. As long as the songs flow it doesn't matter how many changes there are. Good song writing is different then technical playing. I am more of a songwriter then a good player.

Are you planning to tour since all of the members of Council of the Fallen have other bands ?

I wish we could, but the more time that goes by the less likely it seems. I will try and play a show or two when we record the next cd, but as far as a full tour--it isn't likely, but I wish we could. We have all expressed interest though.

Do you have new songs ready to be recorded?

Any final words?

Thanks for the interview. Visit the website at www.councilofthefallen.com , sign the guestbook, order a shirt and just listen to Revealing Damnation everyday. If you get sex because of this cd let me know what you did so I can get some too.