Metal Invader - Concept Of God Interview



M.I.: Well finally after so many years of awaiting the Concept of God debut is finally a reality. Listening to it now, are you satisfied with the final result? Would you change anything if you could? All of us are happy with the material and the production of VISIONS, and that the album is finally released. To me it's like having a painting you've worked on underneath your bed for years, and it should be hanging in the hallway. We all wanted to release the album 7 years ago, but there were just so many issues that required our complete attention for so long. Finally we can hang that picture up where it belongs. I would not change anything about the album. We had plenty of time to do that. When you have this much time to sit on the material as we did, there is always the thought of changing something, or adding something etc. But I always try not to alter the original thought for each song. Instead I usually focus my efforts on writing something new, and the way I see it is if it sounded good to us back then, there is no real need to alter it in any way. M.I.: Lets get back in time. When did the idea of Concept Of God first came in shape? Who was involved back then? Concept of God began in 1999, not long after Solitude released the ADAGIO album. During that time Solitude was experiencing some problems, which included personal, financial, and work related issues with a few other members. Having a little extra free time on my hands, I began putting material together for a side project to keep me busy, and musically active. Once I began writing and arranging the material, I spoke with Robert about becoming involved. It just so happened that he had been working on lyrics for a project he wanted to call Concept of God, and asked me about playing guitar. We went over some of the ideas, and everything just seemed to fall in place seamlessly. John Covington came aboard on drums, and originally we had River Tunnell on bass. River and I had worked together for years in Omega Thesis, a band I was playing in before I joined Solitude. And so Concept of God was born. Eventually, River ended up leaving the band around the middle of 2000 to pursue another project. I brought James Martin in on bass whom I had worked with in other projects over the years. James brought the project together with his solid low end sound, and top notch technique. It wasn't long before we were up and running again. While we were working on the original material, we also played a wide variety of cover tunes for fun. Bands like Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Mountain, Bad Company, Dio, Kiss, and many others. This kept us busy playing out quite frequently, and helped us get accustomed to one another. In December of 2000 the original material was fully arranged and ready, so we booked some time in the studio to record. M.I.: I have heard that in the beginning the band has done even some live shows, so was there a living line up behind Concept Of God or it was just a studio project after all? We did quite a few regional shows back then, and the only line up changes we experienced were on bass, and keyboards. The line up for the band hasn't changed in over 8 years now. Most of our live shows had a mix of eight or nine original songs, and one to three cover tunes, and we haven't made it overseas with the material as of yet. There are a few different boot-leg videos out there of some older gigs that I'm sure will re-surface sometime in the future. If you are reading this, and you have a video performance of Concept of God, send me an e-mail, because I would like to see the show myself. It's been a while since we've been on stage as Concept, and I'm sure it would be fun to watch. Concept of God is still together, and I believe that it is both a band, and a project in a sense. The "Concept" project is something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I am currently working on material for a second album. It's not a "working band", or anything close. But we are still open to the possibility of playing some more shows. With a little luck, there will be a few of the larger open air festivals that would like to have us on the bill sometime in the future, now that the album is finally released. In some ways Concept of God is a real band in that we want to continue to make music under the Concept name, but Concept will always be second to the commitment we have for Solitude. M.I.: If we compare Concept Of God with Solitude Aeturnus what would be the most differences and similarities. Many people would do that compare due do common members and due to the fact that in general both albums are in Doom Metal style… The main goal of the project was to simply play the music I was hearing in my head. I wasn't concerned with whether or not it was different, or similar to what I write with Solitude, I just write music. I began writing the Concept material with the intention of making full use of Robert's more aggressive vocal style, something we had done with a few songs on Adagio. Although Robert doesn't sing "aggressively" on every song of the album, my objective was to provide him with an opportunity musically to let out some "power" here and there with a few tunes. I've been asked if the VISIONS material was originally meant to be recorded by Solitude, or if these songs were an attempt to take Solitude in a slightly different direction. The material was never meant for Solitude, nor was Concept of God the beginnings of ALONE. The material I wrote for the ALONE album was always kept completely separate, and was written after the VISIONS album was recorded. During that time period, most of us were just trying to stay busy musically, and I just happened to write some material that I felt was a little "outside the box", or different from what Solitude normally does. With Solitude we often include changes in a song that if overused can sound somewhat unexpected. With the Concept material, I really wanted the listener to be able to anticipate what is next in the composition, and not be at all surprised. Concept of God has a more "straight forward" sound with a touch of "groove" elements and an overall simple feel. That's something I would not do when writing material for Solitude. Also, the production is more raw and less polished compared to Alone. When I began producing the Visions album I knew right away that I wanted a much more simple sound and a cleaner guitar tone. With the Alone album I was aiming for a more polished feel, with a blend of instruments, and a dirtier sound overall. Someone who is not familiar with the Doom Metal genre' of music would find the material similar to Solitude, and that is to be expected with any project containing inter-changeable band members. However, I think the songs are different enough, and produced in a way that constitutes an entirely separate band. I'm confident that those listeners who are familiar with the genre' will immediately recognize the differences, and with a little luck find a song on the album that they enjoy. M.I.: Happy to mention that Wolf is back in action with Concept Of God. How die you get in contact with him? I guess he was satisfied enough to deliver some more Doom. John Covington played drums in both Solitude and Concept of God up until around 2002 I believe. Around that time John felt he needed to focus his efforts on a few other musical projects, and his involvement with Solitude became limiting. His need for a more active musical life was understandable because Solitude doesn't really have a demanding schedule. John is a close friend to each of us in the band, and still plays drums with Concept of God as well as another project of mine entitled Omega Thesis. However, he spends most of his time playing drums for a band called Kung Fu Preacher. Don't worry, you haven't heard the last of John Covington. M.I.: How would you musically describe the band to someone that has never checked you out? Concept of God has been described by others as: "Powerful Doom Metal with a Technical Edge", and "Very Friendly to the Ears, a Must Own for all fans of Doom Metal". "Visions should appeal to fans of Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, and all who like it heavy". I think that any fan of metal that enjoys the occasional straight forward no frills raw listening experience will find a song or two on VISIONS that they like. M.I.: What about the band's name and the lyrics. Concept Of God is one of the most inspired band names I have recently heard. The name CONCEPT OF GOD is something Robert Lowe came up with. If I'm not mistaken, that's a title he had been wanting to use for quite some time. Robert also wrote all the lyrics for VISIONS. I believe that he has written about a variety of different subjects, and that he draws his inspiration from a multitude of different things including life experiences, fantasy, fiction writings, religious belief systems, and others. To my knowledge there is no "concept" behind the lyrical content, nor should this album be considered a "concept album" with a recurring theme, or storyline that ties each composition together lyrically. I personally believe that the name Concept of God is somewhat universal, and I think that everyone has their own "concept of god", even if it is "nothing" itself. The name shouldn't imply belief in any specific religion, or belief system. Each of us have somewhat different religious beliefs, and I don't think that Robert meant for the name to be specifically religious, or anything like that. M.I.: What about your influences?. Allowing me a comment I would say that we can meet lots of musical elements in the album aside the Doom Metal stuff. Musically I would say that the Concept of God material was inspired by bands like Memento Mori, Dio era Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Cirith Ungol, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Man-O-War, Venom, and Kings X, among others. As for the individuals who influenced my guitar playing, I would have to say people like Ace Frehley, Ritchie Blackmore, and Tom Scholz got me started on the electric guitar, and as I got older, it was people like Jerry Fogle, Michael Denner, Yngwie Malmsteen, Mike Wead, Paul Gilbert, Gary Moore, and bands like Black Sabbath, Venom, Man-O-War, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden that kept me interested in the instrument. Like most guitar players, I could go on and on listing musicians and bands that influenced, or inspired my playing, or my music, but I think the few I've mentioned above will give the reader some idea of where I'm coming from. M.I.: What about the Man On The Silver Mountain cover? Are you a big Rainbow fan? In my opinion they are one of the greater bands of all time. Which era of them do you really prefer? At the time when VISIONS was recorded, all of us were also playing only cover songs in another band around town. When we entered the studio to record, it just seemed natural to include one of them. It wasn't something we really planned out, or anything like that, but Ritchie Blackmore has always been an influence on me. I believe he pioneered the use ( or at least championed the use ) of phrygian dominant modes in progressive rock. His use of dark melodies was something that always inspired me growing up. The main reason for that cover is probably how each of us in the band feel about Robert singing Dio's material. We always enjoy hearing Robert's version of Dio's vocals, and it encourages us to include material that Dio has performed on anytime we are considering a cover song. I've always loved the DIO era Rainbow stuff, it still gets regular playtime in my stereo. M.I.: How did you get in touch with Massacre Records? I suppose that the co-operation with Solitude Aeturnus and Massacre made the whole thing a little easier. Am I right? Actually, it was rather simple. All of us felt obligated to give Massacre the opportunity to release the Concept of God material before we approached any other labels. After speaking with Thomas at Massacre in Germany, we received the appropriate paperwork, and the process began. Naturally it took quite a long time to get everything in place, but Thomas made us all feel comfortable, and has been very supportive and helpful with everything. M.I.: Did you go through the same difficulties as with the Solitude Aeturnus album with those financial forms that had to be confirmed from your State in order to get studio money for the label to record the album? There were a lot of forms and stuff naturally, but it really wasn't that difficult. We had everything in order for quite some time in advance, so once we got the go ahead from Massacre everything fell in place nicely. M.I.: Are there any plans for the band to play live? As I mentioned earlier, we all would very much like to play the Concept material on tour overseas. The problem lies in the responsibilities we have here at home. It's difficult for any of us to leave for months at a time to tour overseas. With a little luck we will be able to play some of the larger outdoor festivals that only require a few days at a time away from home. As for the regional shows, we will most likely wait until the new material is finalized before we start gigging around locally again. M.I.: Are there any plans for a new studio album? Yes, I am in the process of writing material for a second Concept album right now, and hopefully we can have that available around this time next year. M.I.: It seems that John "Wolf" Covington is back in music action. First of all the concept Of God CD, secondly the reformation of HYD and correct me if I am wrong he would also play in the Omega Thesis band? What have happened with him? As I mentioned earlier, John never really left the music, or us for that matter. His absence on the last Solitude album shouldn't be taken as a sign that he has stopped playing, or that we don't maintain contact with one another. We do have plans for the reformation of HYD, and have been working on the OMEGA THESIS project in addition to material for Concept of God. M.I.: Talking about Omega thesis can you give a little info about the band? Are you about to record and release something? How would you describe the band? The band is somewhat difficult to describe. When John Covington left HYD to play with Solitude Aeturnus years ago, I continued on with the bass player Steve Johnson, writing material for another project called REMNANT. Eventually, Steve Johnson left to pursue other musical interests, and I continued on with some of the material and formed OMEGA THESIS. The whole thing sounds more complicated than it actually is, but suffice to say that John, Steve, and I are working together once again, and have plans to record the material sometime this year. The music is very different from Concept, or Solitude, and is more technical or progressive in comparison with some epic arrangements exceeding 17 minutes in some cases. Its fun and challenging for each of us to perform, but not nearly as "sing-along" when listened to. I would describe it as METAL, with a technical progressive epic doom twist of sorts. M.I.: Ok that is all for now Steve. I wish good luck with everything. Close it the way you like. All of us in Concept of God appreciate your interest in the music. If you would like to keep in touch with us, or perhaps want to find out about the latest news, etc.. Check us out on the internet at: www.conceptofgod.com or visit www.myspace.com/conceptofgod