Solace of Requiem

Interview with Jeff Sumrell (Vocals & Bass) conducted by AJ Blisten in 2005

An announcement like the one SOLACE OF REQUIEM has on their web site makes me curious. I got to admit that. But I also got to admit that it makes me think that there’s nothing to it. That it’s put there just to make people curious, to make them stop for a second and take a closer look to see what this is all about. You know, just to draw attention from web surfers and their restless search for something new and different stuff. In that case, is there peace of their restless minds to find in the realm of SOLACE OF REQUIEM? Yeah, I wouldn’t rule out that option…

Beat The Blizzard got in touch with Jeff Sumrell, the band’s bass player and singer, to be a little more acquainted with this new death metal band from Virginia in the U.S. And the first thing we confronted him with was the statement mentioned above; “SOLACE OF REQUIEM – Welcome To A New Concept In Death Metal…”. Jeff elaborates…:

The new concept is about much more than the music itself, he explains.
It is the entire concept of the band. For example, when is the last time you have seen an album come out that has no blood, guts, puss, pentagrams, goats or some other form of witchery? How many band names have you seen that were printed on the CD cover so distorted that it is impossible to say the name?
There is no question that the roots of the genre are meant to be dark, but some of the gimmicks in new metal are too much in our eyes.
When you listen to a CD at home, the artist has no more influence over the opinion of the listener. We have tried to remember that when we write our songs.
This new concept is also a reference to the fact that we feel death metal had evolved into a form of music different than what we had expected and hoped for. As for the new music, the lyrics are usually shallow and blunt. The music is fast but usually with not much accuracy and there has been a drought of music with flare or “catchiness” in the genre.
We are trying to capture those and many more essences in our sound that we feel were left behind somehow in death metal history.
Our statement of being a “new concept” also deals specifically with the way our songs are constructed, the message we bring with both our music and lyrics and most importantly, the way we present it on stage. We have a “raw” quality that we think allow the listener to feel the music better and let them closer to the physicality of each instrument. This has let us feel free to explore more creative channels as well…

Before going into more closely into some of the details in your music and musical expression there are two subjects I’d like you to tell us a little about.
Firstly; why did it take so long to make and release this album? Although it’s your debut CD doesn’t mean that Solace Of Requiem is a novice death metal band in the scene over there in the U.S. …?

We are a band that has been isolated from the outside influences that seem to keep the metal scene staying similar. We knew how our music should sound, but had no idea how to produce it. It wasn’t until we had 3 or 4 songs written that we all started to rehearse as a band for the first time. When we finally ironed out all the details and began to learn the material well, it had already been a long time. After recording, mastering and all the other odds and ends, we had finally gotten through the easy part…

Ok, for how long have you been together as a band? I believe I read somewhere that the band has been around in almost 10 years… I guess that’s not correct then…?

Well, we have all known each other for more than 10 years. We started playing death metal in 1992 as a band, but as individuals we have been playing for more time than that.
Together as a band we have only about 5years experience and about 3 of those years were when we were very young and just getting started.
We called ourselves "Sarcophagus" then and the music was simple, but our sound was taking shape then as well.
Luke had to move away when we had just gotten things working for Sarcophagus.
After that, we kinda gave up for several years.
So, the answer is really "no"! We have known each other for 10 years, but Solace of Requiem is only 2 ½ years old. To be honest, Solace of Requiem is only about 2 months old. We felt that until our album was released, we would not be taken as a serious band.
We have all been friends for a very long time though and that has helped us a lot...

Good to have things clarified. Good friends and experienced as musicians, but freshmen as a death metal band determined to put an album out as an independent release. Did they ever try to shop deals with any labels at all before they decided to do it all by themselves? When this question comes up Jeff has a confession to make…:

Actually, we have to admit that this CD is a demo. It does have a full CD’s worth of material, but that is truly because we wanted to hear all of our material on a good recording.
We felt our songs were so diverse that it would be too difficult to choose which songs we would record as well. Instead of 3 or 4 perfectly done songs, we came out with 10 semi-perfect songs. That is why the sound is not as thick and heavy as it should be, but the recording is very clear and gives you a great feel for what we offer as musicians. Hopefully, that will open a door for us to get into a bigger studio with more time at our disposal.
Then we can re-record our album without having to focus on anything but the music. We will begin to shop our material in a month or so. We want the record companies to know who we are when we send them our stuff…

Century Media is mentioned on your web site. Are you in a negotiating process with this label?

No, well, not really… They are aware of who we are and they have remained in contact. Century Media has helped us from the very beginning. When we decided to cover the Grave song, we knew we would be in touch with them. They are distributing our CD in their mail order catalog and have put a word or two in for us as well. They have been very nice to us and they will be our first contact when we are ready…

Ok, let’s dig a little deeper into your music. The album is a persuasive showcase of convincingly articulated and definitely well-played death metal with some characteristic musical details that stands out. I simply love the bass tone and those bass parts that are very audible upfront in some of the songs. I wrote in my review that this had to be a fretless bass. If it is, isn’t that pretty unusual in death metal…?

Thank you very much for the compliment. The bass tone was captured mainly because of the style I have have. It is not a fretless bass. The slides, pops and the sustained vibrating harmonies are created from my fingers. One of my major influences is Steve Digiorgio (Death, Sadus) and he plays a fretless sometimes. Maybe that is were I get it from, Jeff wonders before he goes on:
Anyway, there have been a few bands that have used a fretless in their death ballads, but none as of recent. It is a bit unusual to hear a fretless in death metal, but it has been done before. If it hadn’t been done before, we would not have those influences to add to our own style…

I won’t let go the bass tone and the dry yet dynamic jazzy and funky feel it delivers… Was this something you deliberately wanted to put into the songs or did it just come out that way?

It is really a combination of both.
We wanted to have the songs come out the way they did and since our style is the way it is, we really had no choice. We had the jazzy feel in mind the whole time though. We wanted to bring more feeling into the music; so incorporating non-metal influences into our songs only seemed like the right thing to do…



The songs on this album seem to be long-lasting quality songs. My impression is that they haven’t been put together in a hasty way.
So, in what way do you write the songs? Is it based on riffs you are coming up with or do you work more thoroughly with the ideas as… let’s say, composers? You know, withdraw yourselves from all social activity, your families and band mates to sit alone and write songs from start to finish?

I will tell you how our songs are written, but it may not be the answer you would expect to hear. The songs write themselves…
We have very little influence over the will of the music. Something will cause us to start the process. It may be that one of us hears a lyrical phrase, riff or maybe only a word or note, but if we pay close attention, we can hear the entire song. Sometimes it will take several months, other times we can hear the whole thing in a few days. That may sound like an odd answer to your question, but it is the truth…

Well, it’s not that odd after all. Music comes to people in the strangest ways and what sort of things and emotions that works as sources for inspiration is also very different form person to person. SOLACE OF REQUIEM seems to be a creative three-headed death metal creature inspired by a wide spectrum of musical sources. On the other hand, maybe it’s hard work all the same for Jeff, Chris Young (guitars) and Luke Downing (drums) to come up with new material? Or was their first album like a shot in the arm considering the songwriting process for the next one?

Sometimes we wish we would stop having so many new ideas, Jeff says and puts all speculations about lack of ideas and possible songwriting problems aside:
We are constantly writing new material, but with the gigs and promotion for the CD, we haven’t had the time to rehearse many of our new pieces. After we are satisfied with the results of the debut effort, we will concentrate on the new stuff.
We also feel that every time we write a song, we build it better and play it at a higher skill level than the one before it. That is why we try not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Every day that passes, makes us better musicians…

What are you particularly happy with on the album? And what would you like to see undone, like bad stuff or weaknesses you’re going to work hard to avoid on coming albums…?

The best point to the album in our opinion is the fact that it is crystal clear.
Keeping true to the “new concept”, we knew we had to produce an album that was clutter free. There are parts in the album that are not as clear as others. For example, there are bass lines in at least two of the songs that are hardly audible and are routinely missed by the average listener, the drums have spots that need work and the guitar sound is thin with a reverb quality that can be a little annoying at first. Especially if you have just listened to a bigger budgeted recording that has more “thump” in the low-end.
Another album comes to mind when I mention that thinness and high-end sound for a first attempt CD. One first album in particular that was more on the high-end than any of their later albums; Alters Of Madness by Morbid Angel. We are in no way comparing ourselves to them. We hold a tremendous amount of respect for them and we would never be so arrogant as to compare ourselves to the Florida Death Gods, but that album does have a lot of high-end and they did do a lot of re-mixing of songs on that album.
All in all, we feel that the CD we produced is an accurate overview of our abilities. We only played each song one time during recording. There was little room for error and we had to practice very hard before we went into the studio. Once again, our main focus has always been to shop the CD for a deal. We just haven’t got that far yet.
As for the future, we will definitely push our abilities to the next level. Expect a faster, more aggressive and better talented Solace of Requiem…

The album has been out a few months now. How’s the response been so far?

The public seems to love it. We have gotten good feedback from the people who have heard it. Getting your music to the right people is the key, but that is easier said than done.
We are spreading our seed slowly but surely with radio, webzines and other forms of media that promote us throughout the world. The majority of the people who give us feedback on our efforts are very positive and that has meant a lot to us…

As an independent band – if you’re not already signed to a label, that is… - how hard is it to get gigs in your area, let alone tours and festivals…?

It was hard at first, but that was only until we played our first few shows and then people started liking us. Now we have plenty to choose from. We play large shows here in the US. Sometimes we play in front of over 1000 people and other times we play smaller shows with only 100 to 200 people.
We are playing the main stage at this years “Milwaukee Metal Fest”. That is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest metal show in the US. Mostly signed bands will be performing like Testament, Obituary, Otep, Malevolent Creation, etc. The booking is still being finalized and we haven’t received a lineup yet. Therefore, we are reluctant to claim who will or will not be at the Fest. I know we will be there and that is good enough for us…, says Jeff and tells me also that the band did a local gig the day before the interview took place: Yeah, it went well. We played for about 150 people and that’s not too bad, actually.

Ok, let’s close things up; I still enjoy your debut CD, but I have to ask this anyway: when will the next Solace Of Requiem album see the light of day?

That is to far away to predict. If all goes according to plan, we will put out our next effort under a label. We will have to wait and see…

Thanks for the interview and keep us regularly posted on what’s happening in the Solace Of Requiem lair, ok?

Sure, no problem. Thank you…

Oh… just one more question: What’s the idea behind the band’s name…? The name would probably fit better for a doom metal band, don’t you think…?

The literal meaning of Solace of Requiem is “the inner peace of music”. Keep in mind that a Requiem is usually in reference to funeral music or in regard to death in one-way or another. Once again, keeping true to our new concept we named the band a name that we felt was pure and had no ties to evil. The name had to capture your attention, but it also had to capture your intrigue. It had to make you question its meaning and remain majestic. We feel that we have captured our entire essence in our name and the way we present it.
We are the Solace of Requiem…