Pale Divine - Divine Mind Revealed

Doom metal revisited. Yeah! Forget the stoner crap, doom metal proves to us today that it is stronger than ever. And PALE DIVINE is part of it. Pennsylvania's power trio "Thunder Perfect Mind"(2001) is easily one of the best debut albums of the genre. On 6th of July, this year, their second full length "Eternity Revealed" will be out and all the doom fans wait for it full of anticipation. Metal Invader had the opportunity to talk to Darin McCloskey founder member and drummer of PALE DIVINE and talk about the band, doom and Bobby Leibling!! Fuck trends , doom metal is here to stay! DOOM ON!

 

Hello Darin, this is Dimitris from the Greek e-zine metal invader. First of all I want to thank you that you accept our invitation to make this interview. This is your first time in Metal Invader, so introduce the band to our readers and give us a bio of Pale Divine.
Hi Dimitris! it’s a great pleasure to be in Metal Invader. ..and you’re right this is our first time, so for those who aren’t familiar with Pale Divine here’s a very brief history. Pale divine is basically a "doom metal" band from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Pale Divine began life in 1995 when Greg Diener and I met up and began jamming together. The idea to play this kind of music basically began with a mutual admiration that Greg and I had for the heavy sounds of the 70’s and 80’s. Bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Captain  Beyond and 80’s luminaries such as Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Trouble, Pentagram, The Obsessed and various other NWOBHM bands basically
set the course. Greg and I began writing original material and practiced together three to four times a week before enlisting the services of Jay Purnell to record out first demo "Crimson Tears" in 1997.  Not long after the demo was pressed we parted ways with Jay and basically had a very tough time finding a replacement until 1999 when a  former band mate of Greg’s by the name of Jim Corl
stepped up and helped us out for the first infamous SHoD festival (Stoner Hands of Doom) and a few shows before and after. The chemistry seemed right with Jim in the fold so the line up has been the same ever since. In 2001 we recorded our debut CD "Thunder Perfect Mind" for Game Two records and received very favourable reviews as well as a fair amount of recognition within the genre.

Your first full length "Thunder Perfect Mind"(Game Two Records) has been released 3 years ago and I admit that was one of my favourite albums of 2001. How did the fans respond to it and how did you persuade the "big" Bobby Leibling to sing and write lyrics for it?
Well as I said the reviews and overall response was very good. I think we were all pleased with the final outcome of "Thunder Perfect Mind" and I think it did pretty well in terms of achieving recognition. As far as "big" Bobby getting involved it was something that was pretty simple really. See originally our first release for Game Two was to be a 7" record featuring our version of "20 Buck Spin" backed by an original PD tune for the b-side. At the time we were sorting out material that we had intended to be on our full length CD. Onthe back burner we had a song that we liked quite a bit but unfortunately was never complete with lyrics. A light bulb went on in our minds to possibly
approach Game Two about making the 7" a Pentagram themed project and asking Bobby if he would be good enough to lend his vocals and original lyrics to the song for the b-side. We figured it was a long shot but worth a try. Conan at Game Two had been in contact with Bobby already regarding the "Death is Alive" Deathrow live record so he gave me Bobby’s phone number and  told me he thought it sounded like a good idea. Now the cool thing about Bobby is that most people might’ve scoffed at the idea of not only singing one of OUR songs but also writing lyrics....but Bobby was very enthusiastic and genuinely into doing it. There wasn’t any persuading to do really, Bobby said he was "honored" to do it and before long we had plans made to hook up with Bobby and lay the song  down on tape at Chris Kozlowski’s Polar Bear Lair in Middletown MD. I’ll never forget when Bobby sang "Dark Knight" for the first time. Being HUGE Pentagram fans it was a thrilling experience to hear his voice with our music...words just couldn’t begin to describe it! I think the end result was the prefect song to end the CD on...

Your new album "Eternity Revealed" will be out soon! , you also have a new label Martyr Music Group.Of course we want to learn more-more details about these "new" steps of the band.
Well, it took a little while for "Thunder Perfect mind" to really catch on. I think it was like almost a full year after its release that we actually saw a lot of stores begin to pick it up. Rather than rush into the next CD we decided that we’d wait a bit and let TPM sink in a bit so that when we went
back in the studio to record number two there might actually be a stronger
interest in a new Pale Divine release. Not being under any exclusive terms with Game Two we had decided to sign on with Martyr Music Group based largely on their involvement with Penance as
well as having a fairly diversified roster that we felt would serve us well to
become a part of rather than be on a label that pretty much dealt exclusively with one style of music.

In your new album you make a cover in "Solitude" of Candlemass, we've already heard the brilliant cover of "20 Buck Spin" of the mighty Pentagram in your previous cd. It's very obvious that these band are some of your main influences. Who else has influenced you?
Well mostly the heavy bands of the early to mid 70’s like Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Budgie, Rainbow, UFO etc. as well as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Angel Witch and Witchfinder General. As far as our doom metal roots obviously we draw a heavy influence from Trouble, The
Obsessed, Pentagram, Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Count Raven, Iron Man, Internal Void, Penance, etc.

Now one of the most common, but interesting questions . Tell us your 5 favourite bands and your 5 favourite albums.
ok, that’s a pretty fun one....hard to limit to only 5 though!
5 favorite bands:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Judas Priest
3. Iron Maiden
4. Mercyful Fate
5. Pentagram

5 favorite releases:
1. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 / Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (tie)
2. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
3. Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
4. Budgie - In for the Kill
5. Rainbow - Long Live Rock n’ Roll

Some of the most important bands are trios (Rush , Motorhead , The Obsessed etc). You are also a trio band Do you think that all the three-piece bands have something unique and powerful? Do you believe that for yourselves also?
I think playing as a three piece has  it’s fair share of pros and cons. Everyone is pretty busy with their respective instruments so there isn’t perhaps as much in the way of  "showmanship." We don’t have the quintessential "frontman" to throw out some lively rock and roll banter between songs and play the
archetypal role of the "rock god." Seems silly I know but it’s what people have grown used to and expect many times. Three guys jamming out semi-complex musical arrangements and pouring their heart and soul into it isn’t always as appreciated as one might expect. People now a days aren’t as into the 3-4 minute guitar solo segments within a 12 minute epic like "amplified" or "Judas
Wheel" as they might’ve been when groups like Grand Funk, Rush and Budgie stormed the stages! However, from our perspective it’s been very enjoyable playing as a three piece. It’s a bit challenging to put out as much (or in some cases MORE) sound than a band with 4, 5 or even 6 members. I think we have all our bases covered and everything in as much control to execute our song ideas adequately.
There’s a saying that too many cooks spoils the broth...and I believe that’s true in most cases.

A lot of newcomer bands( Reverend Bizarre, Orodruin , Voodooshock etc) "classic" bands (Cathedral , Penance etc) continue to blow us away , some old bands reunited (Trouble , Unorthodox) , very important people like Wino, Victor Griffin released awesome works. What's your opinion about the doom metal scene of today? I think it’s still going strong...maybe more so most recently than ever
before now that there are actually a few festivals devoted to featuring Doom bands exclusively like  the "Doom Shall Ride fest" in Europe the "Born Too Late" fast of last year in Rochester New York and the upcoming "Templars of Doom" fest in Indianapolis, Indianna. I don’t think the genre will ever reach the mainstream and still be true to it’s origins but there do seem to be more new bands coming up and quite a few old ones getting back together again. I only hope it continues to grow.

Do you think that today's conveniences like the internet , better distributions, more independent labels, help underground music and of course doom metal,  get what it deserves?
I think it’s definitely been a blessing....communication is much faster and easier. I would think it’s easier for people to manage a business selling and distributing  their goods over the internet as opposed to opening a shop somewhere where maybe the location wasn’t the best. Of course it’s great for the bands too...more places available to sell CDs and other merchandise. As far as press goes I think the same thing  applies...there’s just  tons of online publications that not only promote specific types of music (like DOOM) but also cover a wide spectrum of music so someone looking for a review of something more mainstream might stumble on something obscure and thereby broaden their
horizons a bit. As far as the smaller independant labls are concerned likewise it makes their job easier having more resources to promote and distribute their releases and merchandise. Yeah, I  think it’s a win/win situation.

And now the last question. What Pale Divine exactly means. It’s really a curious and imposing name. What could be pale and so divine at the same time. And what exactly does the band Pale Divine means to you?
Well...I think it’s cool for people to draw their own conclusions as to what it means. There’s plenty of evidence within the song "Pale Divine" as well as elsewhere on the CD to indicate what my interpretation of it is. I think it’s pretty obvious that the name implies that it’s a reference to something or someone who may be, say...less than perfect? I’d rather the listener or the fan take it and apply their own meaning...what do you think Dimitris?

Thank you very much for the interview Darin. It' s a great honour to have you in the magazine, you know this is my first interview, ever! I hope you enjoyed it (i was prepare these questions for a long time, I was a little nervous!). I wish for you and for the band, good luck for everything you're doing. Please close this interview as you want.
Thank You for the kind word and the interview Dimitris! It’s an honor to be your first interview for Metal Invader. Keep an eye out for our new CD "Eternity Revealed" available on July 6th through Martyr Music Group www.martyrmusicgroup.com DOOM ON! -Darin/Pale Divine www.paledivine.com