After a sterling debut in ‘Burden Of Grief’, the collaboration of Ed Warby (Gorefest) and Rogga Johansson (Edge Of Sanity) otherwise known as The 11th Hour beckoned further investigation into their classic revival of old school doom (as well as how to multi task)!

-Shan Siva

Firstly Happy New Year to you Ed and lemme congratulate you on this album as a fan of old school doom, this has got to be one of the best doom albums I’ve heard in ages - you kept me listening right to the end even when I was dying to go for a piss!

Thanks a lot, sorry I kept you from taking a leak!

What I really like about ‘Burden Of Grief’ is the way you’ve used melodies and harmonies in there whereas too many doom bands just power down so was that a conscious strategy?

Very much so. I wanted the music to be crushingly heavy but with lots of sad and moving themes. In my writing for Gorefest and Hail Of Bullets I also try to incorporate a certain amount of melody, but with death metal you can only take it so far without losing the brutality. The melodies and harmonies I write are usually the direct result of an image I have in my head, a lonely tombstone in a graveyard, or an old man dying in a dark room, it’s hard to explain but I write very visually like that.

There also seems to be an old school feel to the sound that reminds me of Candlemass, early Trouble (before they became a blues band!) and Sabbath (with Ozzy) with slow, epic songs that build on their crushing power rather than todays bands who have much shorter songs. To me what you’re doing is the original and classic style of doom so was that deliberate too given that I can’t think of any current doom bands (aside from Candlemass, Trouble & Sabbath of course ha ha) doing this?

Candlemass and Trouble are the 2 names I’ve been mentioning most in interviews for this as they were the first 2 doombands I fell in love with. I played both Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and Psalm 9 until the vinyl was worn out! So yes, I deliberately set out to make a classic doom record the way I thought it should sound.

No I didn’t consciously try to write long tunes, but in most cases it was just where the song took me. Origins Of Mourning for instance just kept building and building until it was a whopping 11 minutes long, but to me it doesn’t have any redundant bits.

Apart from Candlemass and Trouble I listen a lot to bands like Warning, Funeral (recent), Solitude Aeturnus, Isole and Virgin Black. I also like a lot of Funeral Doom but that’s not what I had in mind for this, although the inclusion of grunts does push the 11th Hour into funereal territory.

Most people recognise you for your death metal work with the likes of Gorefest so how did you come to do doom?

In fact I liked doom before death metal even existed. Once upon a time when there was only “metal” and “everything else”, haha! The reason I never did anything doomy is that the drummer doesn’t have the best spot in a doom band. It only occurred to me once I started playing guitar. Doom really appeals to my more melancholy side, most people know me as a jolly fellow but I can wallow in misery quite unapologetically when I’m by myself.

Where did you develop this wealth of multi talented musicianship?

No idea, must be my musical upbringing or something. Although I only played drums for most of my life (well, and a tiny bit of keyboard) I always had a strong sense of melody. My sister finally unleashed my “multi-talents” a few years ago by buying me a guitar for my birthday, one of those neat starter kits consisting of an amp, guitar and strap. I’ll never be a great guitarist, but I enjoy it tremendously!

I’ve heard ‘Burden Of Grief’ is a concept album so can you tell me about it please?

It’s a story in 6 chapters about the last days of a guy dying from a terminal lung disease. This part of the story is inspired by the deaths of my parents, who were both heavy smokers. The rest is fictional and deals with a terrible tragedy that occurred in the man’s past. As his death draws near he is forced to relive this tragedy to clear his conscience of the less than elegant way he handled things.

Do the contrasting vocal styles between you and Rogga reflect these concepts or are they purely stylistic for the music?

Both. I already wanted to use 2 contrasting styles before we settled on the concept, but once we did it became a great dramatic tool and we really fleshed it out as such. I represent the sad, melancholy and more rational side, and Rogga takes over whenever his fear, bitterness or anger come into play. I really like the way our voices work together and the possibilities it offers.

Is The 11th Hour gonna be a full time commitment from now on or remain a project with Rogga (Johansson)?

Somewhere in between I guess. The way I see it there will be 2 incarnations of The 11th Hour, one studiobound that’s just me and Rogga and one for the stage that doesn’t include Rogga (for logistic reasons). I’ve assembled a great bunch of musicians and Pim Blankenstein from Officium Triste will be performing Rogga’s parts whenever we do a show.

Do you work on your different projects one at a time or are you a ‘multi tasker’ and is it difficult to switch from the frame of mind required for one style into the other?

At the moment I’m working on the new Hail Of Bullets album and while I’m able to switch styles without too much trouble I did want to finish Burden Of Grief before doing anything else. Being such a personal album it was quite draining emotionally, and doing everything by myself also took a lot of time and energy. As far as writing goes I do have to be in a certain mood to write either death or doom metal. I’ve never tried to but I don’t think I could work on Hail Of Bullets and 11th Hour in the same session.

Have you any plans to play live or tour beyond The Netherlands (noting that you played Dutch Doom Days Festival last year)?

Yes, I enjoyed that DDD show so much I can’t wait to get on stage again! Doom isn’t the most commercially viable style (biggest joke I heard last year was when someone accused me of making a doom album to “cash in” on what he apparently thought was an insanely lucrative genre) so it’s difficult to get bookings, but I’m proud to say we’ll be playing the famous Doom Shall Rise festival (Göppingen, Germany) in april. In march we also have a gig supporting the mighty Asphyx in Essen, and there’s some more stuff on the horizon.

Well, in conclusion I’d like to once again commend you on a superb effort and dare I ask if there will a follow up and will it be in the same vein?

Absolutely! I really enjoy expressing myself this way and I’m brimming with inspiration for more doom epics. So far I’ve written 4-5 songs for a possible follow-up, and it’s definitely in the same vein. Maybe a bit more epic, but heavy as hell and very dramatic…