Akallabeth
Heavy gothic doom metal band from Baltimore.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
The musical collaboration between Susan Creasey and Frederic Jablonski began during the Autumn of 2004. Each, coming from vastly different musical backgrounds, slowly began a recording project that would be known as Akallabeth. Akallabeth comes from The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, and translates as the downfallen, referring to the downfall of Numenor in the second age of Arda. Susan is a trained classical operatic singer who was performing childrens musicals when the two met. Frederic is an ambient music composer (see Evenwhen) and rock guitarist who had previously been in the band A Dream Apart. Together, they began to create music that fell into the emerging style of gothic doom metal.
With a lack of musicians who sympathized with this direction in music, the band has struggled to assemble a complete lineup. The lack of a drummer in particular has plagued the two from the beginning. Friends, such as Ed Bercaw from the band Splintered Image and Carlton Nelson from the band Theophany, were willing to contribute to the project and help Akallabeth in achieving its artistic vision. Ed Bercaw played bass on "Sacramentum" and Crown of Darkness, and Carlton Nelson contributed keyboard parts on Nada and Ascension.
The first song created in 2004 was "Sacramentum," and incorporated all the elements the music was aiming for- gothic metal downtuned guitars, heavy drums (samples), piano and synth, Ed's fretless bass, and Susan's powerful vocals. This song set the pattern for all the rest of the songs afterwards- Crown of Darkness, Ascension, Nada, and Dispossessed. Erebus was written as an atmospheric instrumental track originally but Susans lyrics fit the theme perfectly and also provided an opportunity to showcase her operatic vocal style.
The subject matter of Akallabeths songs is based mainly on fantasy and myth. The bands intention is not to bend towards the common matters of everyday life, but to transcend those thoughts and transport the listener beyond the mundane. The myth of Orpheus, paintings by Edward Robert Hughes, and the conceptual movies of Dario Argento are just a few sources that have inspired the songwriting of the two.
"Tristesse" is the bands first demo cd and will be limited to 100 copies.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
No, not yet.
Your musical influences
Nightwish, Within Temptation, Tori Amos, Celtic Frost, Candlemass, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Anathema, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, King Diamond, Theatre of Tragedy, The Cure, Epica, Lacuna Coil, Therion, The Gathering, Celestial Season, Solitude Aeturnus...
What equipment do you use?
Recording was done using Cakewalk Sonar3 software.
Anything else?
Contact us for a copy of the demo.
Also check out our myspace site-
http://www.myspace.com/akallabeth
