Interview with Requiem For Oblivion
We proudly present you a short interview and band presentation:
RMN: Where are you from and what’s the origin of your band name?
RequiemForOblivionMusic: Originally, I’m from California…but upon moving to Erie, PA I was able to start this project. So we are definitely an Erie band! The name was something I had been playing with for a while. I’m a recovering addict so I had this idea about my life/myself being stuck in an oblivion when I was using/strung out/sick/out of it, all the time. So a Requiem For Oblivion is a funeral for futility, for my dark past, for the self made prison I had found myself in for years.
RMN: Introduce shortly your band members and history
RequiemForOblivionMusic: This project started with just me, (Steve J.) doing dark, ambient acoustic/electriconic music in my girlfriend’s basement. I soon met the original drummer for this project, Mike Bryan who ironically had moved to Erie from Reno, NV just 2 months prior to me! A 6 song demo was produced in 2010. Guitarist TJ Hinman joined the band along with a guitarist Steve had played with before, Corbin Fowler on bass. After Corbin, a series of bass players came and went including Will Walker (Obelus, Anti-Atom), Joe Kelly (Scarwork, iScream), and Andrew Laughner (Chisel Fist) before current shredder Kyle Kraschneske joined in 2014. In 2012 guitarist Hinman left the band unexpectedly and was soon replaced by Goeff Radziszewski who is still with the band. In early 2014 original drummer Mike Bryan stepped down for family reasons making room for youngster David Kiehl. During that time, EP11, EP13, and a debut full-length Dark Tales Of Forgotten Mindscapes were self-released. With a solid and consistent new line-up, the band has already written 3 new songs and has numerous shows and a possible tour booked for 2015, including 3 outdoor festivals in the Northwest Pennsylvania region.
RMN: What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
RequiemForOblivionMusic: I’ve often described it as dark, atmospheric, progressive death metal but perhaps hybridmetal would be a better description. We cram so many styles into our music …we stay openminded in our writing and like to joke that there is no riff left behind. Influences originally included Opeth, Agalloch, Between The Buried And Me and Daylight Dies among others. More recently with the new line-up, we have started in a more technical direction in the tradition of bands like Beyond Creation, Obscura and Fallujah.
RMN: What are the main themes or topics for your songs?
RequiemForOblivionMusic: The main theme on much of the material thus far has revolved around many years of alcohol/drug addiction I experienced and the associated pain, depression, hope and redemption. More recently topics have included esoteric spiritual ponderings, anti-terrorism, and extreme weather conditions.
RMN: Where have you already performed and do you have any upcoming shows?
RequiemForOblivionMusic: We have performed all over in Pennsylvania and Ohio…but mostly in our Erie region. We’ve played somewhat legendary spots like The Agora Theater and Peabody’s (RIP) in Cleveland and The Cove Concert Club in Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH. We played a show at the Cove club hosted by Metal Sanaz. We’ve been fortunate to share the bill with bands we love like Katatonia, Kataklysm, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Intronaut, TesseracT, Kriadiaz, Cult Of Luna, and Mushroomhead.
We have 3 festival appearances coming up this summer along with a big show at Rascals in Corry, PA on May 1st with Order Of The Dead and an even bigger one June 6th at the renowned club in Erie, Sherlock’s with Kriadiaz.
RMN: Any last words?
RequiemForOblivionMusic: I think we have a unique thing going with our music. We’ve put together a progressive extreme metal band with a decent mix of groove and technicality, some melodic, ghostly singing at times and some ambience thrown in too. I’ve written about real life struggles and the frailties of being human. Check out the music and follow the stories.
We’d like to thank RMN for the interview…thank our fans and future fans who will go check out our stuff! If you’d like, you can follow our Twitter @requiemoblivion. You can find free music, listen to and purchase our recent full-length release at our bandcamp:
