Father Moon's self-titled EP release brings on an epic and anthemic doom metal soundscape with dark choir intros that build into thriving and melodically edgy riffs and floating backing vocals.
The Father Moon EP is brimming with a deepening and engulfing rock sound that bleeds into Sabbath style undertones and a lurking evil that peeks through at all times.
This record plays out like a horror film that features occult villains and night skies with gigantic blood moons.
The band is incredibly tight, and you get so many great changes and riffs within a single song its crazy.
This certainly feels like a concept record of sorts and the vocals are belting out like cries in the night that beckon you to have a closer look.
This was such a cool release. It just has that genuine aesthetic to it, and they know how to get heavy and hard hitting when the time is right.
The thing about this record is that everything is done tastefully. Nothing is blown out or overdone. It's all dynamically perfect and the songwriting is able to take you to these other worldly places.
They create this dark imagery in your head and it's really fun to let it do its thing.
This really makes you want to see Father Moon live as it seems like it would be quite a spectacle.
With the release of the Father Moon EP, we wanted to have a chat with the band to find out where all of this actually came from and what may be next for the band.
Here's what happened.
BUZZ SLAYERS: Let's kick things off with the Father Moon EP. This record has such a cinematic rock edge to it. Where did this EP come from?
This was created song by song. At first we wrote one song that would become Mother Earth. Then we wrote Father Moon and realized that it could be fused together with Mother Earth to make a really long song. After some jamming we started coming up with the 3rd part, which would become Severed Sun. At first it was just a little 2 minute thing and we had no idea that it would become the longest song of them all at 7 minutes. Once we had the songs all written musically (3 separate songs or one big long one) then the lyrical themes started to come. Themes about the lore of Father Moon.
BUZZ SLAYERS: Would you say this is a concept record?
Indeed it is. The lyrics all follow a lore that Singer William Grant and Bassist Smash Thompson came up with. To put it plainly, it follows the journey of our Earth if the sun suddenly went out, and we were plunged into darkness. If the sun were gone the earth would also start to travel through space on its own. In our lore, the moon also follows us on this journey. Will and Smash both have different interpretations of the Lore.
We see it from different points of view, such as: did the sun go out? Was it eaten by a massive serpent? Did the first sun exist at all? So it's open to interpretation. This album is from Williams point of view and he chose a more religious perspective as he is more of a religious person. Smash’s point of view is explored a little bit on the previous EP “2” on the song Wzdm, if you’re curious about learning more.
BUZZ SLAYERS: So, when did music start affecting you? When did you know making music was something you wanted to be doing?
We were always musicians. Smash and Olek Janusz (Guitarist) were originally in an indie rock band together called Cardboard Cutout Sunset. After a few years of playing with different drummers they found William Grant to fill in on drums and tried to make CCS work for a while. But it never really took off so they decided to switch gears and genres and formed Father Moon, a doom metal band. William Grant was obviously the best singer in the band so we moved him off of the drums onto vocals. Then we found Will Guenter to play drums and he fit in immediately and really made the whole thing work. At this point FM was fully formed and we just kept experimenting with song forms and structures until we figured out our own style.
BUZZ SLAYERS: This record has some great styles! Can you all give us some of your top musical influences?
For this record, it's in standard tuning drop D. So D A D G B E. Now, normally we play in C which is a lot darker sounding. But playing in standard gave the whole EP more of a classic metal sound and feel. The riffs are also closer to stoner rock than doom metal for the most part. So influences for this EP specifically would be Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Monster Magnet, and maybe some Kyuss. Hard to say because each musician brings something new to the mix every time. We all have very diverse influences that extend way passed the doom and stoner genres. Did I mention that there was a jazz section that we ended up cutting out? Yea we were pushing some prog rock into the song but found it a little too distracting, so we ended up just cutting it out. LOL.
BUZZ SLAYERS: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music?
We all have jobs. Music is our passion but it does not pay the bills yet unfortunately. So we do it when we can and it does mean that it takes longer for us to release our music.
BUZZ SLAYERS: Who's in all your headphones right now?
Active members answers: Smash= King Hannah, Begonia, and Courtney Barnett. Olek= Peach Pit, Cannons, Phoebe Bridgers, The Smile and Preoccupations. Will Guenter= Doves and Thin Lizzy .
BUZZ SLAYERS: Are you guys doing any live performances right now?
We have a festival lined up in September called Moments Fest. Other than that we are actually taking some time off from performing to finish up 2 Full Length albums.
BUZZ SLAYERS: This EP feels like a big undertaking, is there any advice you'd give to other up and coming bands out there?
It takes longer than you want it to for sure. So be patient.
BUZZ SLAYERS: What can your fans expect from you guys in the near future?
So, in the future we have lots to look forward to. We are working on releasing 2 LP’s worth of material. One LP is our last album with Willam Grant on Vocals and it was recorded during the worst of the pandemic. William has since left the band and moved onto other things, hence the long delay in releasing it. Now, we have also recorded a follow up album as a 3 piece and it is way more instrumental. Having the follow up album makes it easier for us to finally release our pandemic album titled “FM”. Once that album has had some time to breathe we plan to release the instrumental album “Elena”. FM has songs we never had a chance to play live before so there will be lots of new fun songs for our fans on there. As for Elena, it is full of all of our new instrumental songs that we play live now. We recorded them live off the floor so the takes you hear are about as close to hearing us live as they can be. With a few little extra studio-isms in there too just for fun.
BUZZ SLAYERS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Watch out for the Iron God Music video! When that drops, that means the album FM is coming soon after!
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