Sunday, September 14, 2014

Paimonia Interview

Paimonia was one of my favorite bands to review in the last few weeks.  Their music is packed full of energy and the founding member, B.V. is an extremely nice guy to work with.  I had the extreme pleasure of working with him and then getting to interview him about Paimonia and their recent album, A Disease Named Humanity!  Check it out:

Where does the name Paimonia come from?

Term „Paimonia“ is a synonym for Paimon, one of the kings from Hell which is more obedient to Lucifer than any other, according to „Clavicula Salomonis Regis“ (1904), a 17th-century spell book. As a teacher of arts, science & philosophy, Paimon can reveal Earth’s, wind’s & water’s mysteries. In the previously mentioned spell book, he represents the 9th spirit who rules over 200 legions of spirits, a half of them are form angelic phylum, other half from phylum of potentates. „Pseudomonarchia Daemonum“ (1577), a spell book focused on demonic invocations written by a German occultist Johann Weyer, describes Paimon’s loyalty to Lucifer & the ways to invoke him.   

Is your music or lyrics in any way connected to your name?

Not at all. The name for the band was given by a previous member while we were searching Christian demonology for appropriate, sounding & powerful name. He was more into occult kind of stuff, so you can hear his influence in the lyrics on the first material we released. After we parted ways, I continued with a totally different concept of the band, both musically & lyrically, & only thing I kept was the name which I, from the very beginning, liked the most.

How did this project come to be?  What are some of the musical inspirations that influenced you to form Paimonia?

Idea for the project existed since 2009/2010 if I remember well. I was playing in a several local bands at that time, doing some local shows, nothing serious/special, so as time went by, I was more serious about creating something on my own. At the very beginning, it’s been really hard to find the right people that would be maximally devoted, there were also struggles with the line-up in the period of 2012 & 2013 until I decided to continue Paimonia as a one-man project without any live performances since then. Later on, N.P.V. (current drummer & producer of recently released „Disease Named Humanity“ full-length album) joined to help with the recording sessions & proved that he is probably a right person for Paimonia’s work, so he is, at this very moment, one & only full-time member, along with myself, of course. 
Music that mostly inspired when I officially formed Paimonia were bands from the Swedish Black/Death metal scene, such as Dissection, The Moaning, 
Mörk Gryning, Vinterland, Craft etc.
Today, I don’t really have a musical influence when I create new material. For example, one day I listen to Miles Davis, other to Vlado Georgijev, day after that to De Profundis, three totally different genres of music, so there’s no limits in music for me personally, I try to be open-minded as much as I can.   


Non-music inspirations?

Personal philosophy, thoughts, opinions, emotions etc.

Your debut full length, “Disease Named Humanity“ came out last year.  How has the response been?

Pretty much okay, I’m satisfied with the response so far, over 30 reviews for the album are written & I hope it will remain that way. There will be a live promotion of the album on 20th of September in our hometown Novi Sad & that’s the only show booked for now. I can’t guarantee will we perform live after this concert, but if we get a good opportunity, certainly we will not refuse it.     


Where was the album recorded?

It’s recorded in „Svarun“ Studios in Novi Sad, Serbia.

How long was the writing/recording process?

To tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure how long was the writing process. Some arrangements & lyrics are from 2011, when we were creating the first EP. There are some riffs from 2012 as well, but in general, most of the material is written during 2013, same year when we also recorded it.
Recording sessions lasted for 7 days, 6 for the recording & 7th for the mixing/mastering. Like I said above, it’s recorded in „Svarun“ Studios in Novi Sad, Serbia, during second half of November 2013.


The album artwork is very specific, who stands behind it?

Complete visual aspect of this release is done by MRŽNJA, under auspices of „Hostile Takeover“ Design Studio. I’m very satisfied with his work, although we’re really good friends in private as well, he really knows his work, a really professional, accountable & creative person I must admit. From the start he understood the whole visual concept I imagined for this release & that’s the most important thing I wanted to achieve with the designer, for him to „bring out“ my ideas, put some of his  as well & also, to make the relationship between lyrics and booklet, in this case, for drawings to describe both album title & lyrics. 


You have a very unique guitar tone, particularly on the higher register of the guitar.  What sort of equipment do you use and was the overtone intentional?

Nothing special & unique in my opinion, I play Jackson DKMGT with active EMG81 bridge & EMG85 neck pick-ups, sometimes I combine it with Digitech Metal Master distortion pedal, depends on the amp I’m playing on. As for studio work, I use M-Audio Audiophile 2496 external sound card, Nuendo 4 recording & post production software with various VST’s. All in all, I’m not really a "gear guy“ to tell you the truth.  


How is the black metal or metal scene in general in your area?

Pretty strong at the moment I must say. In my personal opinion, the most promising ones & my personal favorites are surely Zloslut, Iskon, Kolac, Ophidian Coil, Dead Shell Of Universe, Samrt, Kozeljnik...  

Where can people purchase your album from?

Directly from the band by writing on bojan.vukoman@hotmail.com or via label’s Discogs page: http://www.discogs.com/label/382874-Humanitys-Plague-Productions 

Finally, what are the future plans for Paimonia?

Currently we are preparing for the previously mentioned live performance, writing new material as well, so we will probably try to promote this release live as well, that’s our goal at the moment.

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