Cult of Luna + Process of Guilt @ Paradise Garage

29 January 2013

The proof that post-metallers Cult of Luna have a loyal and committed fanbase in Portugal is that, despite being a working day and the cold temperatures felt outside, Paradise Garage was fully crowded to watch the return of the Swedes to these shores.
Opening for Cult of Luna was Portuguese doomsters Process of Guilt, who put out a great record last year entitled “Faemin”, so their set was unsurprisingly dominated by tracks from that excellent album. As expected they delivered an impressive performance, their combination of ire and gloom was tight and perfectly synchronized, and provided a great set-up for headliners Cult of Luna.
But the night clearly belonged to the Swedes, whose vast line-up currently includes no less than seven active members, which means that they can recreate live the complex and heavily layered songs created in the studio with impressive accuracy and energy. Their performance started off with “The One”, the instrumental track that opens their latest album “Vertikal”, quickly followed by the powerful “I: The Weapon”. Short on words, Cult of Luna delivered a set to remember, which drew heavily from their exceptional new record, though they also played some old favourites, including "Finland" from “Somewhere Along the Highway” and "Owlwood" and “Ghost Trail” from “Eternal Kingdom”.
For many people, it was one of the best gigs they'd seen this year and possibly even one of the best they'd ever seen and that applies to me as well.

Photos: Francisco Cordeiro
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Well, this one certainly came out of left field! Having had a bit of an explosion this year with some killer releases from Candlemass, Saint Vitus and Paradise Lost – not to mention a host of lesser known bands all delivering the goods – the doom metal scene seems to be in a healthy state right now. But when you get a handful of new releases come along in a short space of time and one of them is from a relatively unknown band with an album that is over forty minutes long and only has five songs on it, preconceptions may get in the way a little bit.

But have no such fear, as Portuguese metallers Process of Guilt have delivered what is quite simply a belter of an album in “Faemin”. Almost going beyond what the word ‘doom’ infers in metal terms, the songs on this album are crafted for maximum devastation yet have an edge that the word ‘accessible’ doesn’t do justice to. Opening track ‘Empire’ builds on a rumbling rhythm until around the six-minute mark where it finally cracks open and lets the brutality out in a cascading flurry of buzzing riffs that bring Godflesh to mind, but without the industrial overtones. Musically ‘Blindfold’ has a vibe like Ugly-era Life of Agony – gloomy yet with a focused sense of melody and a slight hardcore edge – although vocally this is more in the realm of Extreme Noise Terror than Keith Caputo.

As the album progresses each song throws a curveball and doesn’t quite go where you would expect for such a brutally heavy band. ‘Cleanse’ rolls along on a wave of percussion and breathy howls before succumbing to the power of the riff. The eleven-minute title track closes the album on a dynamic slant with its thundering, bass-heavy riff working some sort of hypnotic majesty in a way that many bands try but not many achieve.

As you’ve probably guessed, this album is real joy (in the doomy sense of the word) to listen to. Not totally sticking to the doom metal rulebook, the band bring in a few outside influences to pepper their sound with just enough of a twist on the doom formula to keep it interesting throughout. So if you’re looking for your next fix of melancholy but are also looking for something a little different then maybe Process of Guilt could be just what you’re looking for. (8/10) 

Chris Ward 

Band info: www.processofguilt.com 

Label info: www.bleakrecordings.com

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Inspired by the failures of mankind PROCESS OF GUILT have created the most accomplished and raging album of their career. Proud of the new effort and determined to make 2012 their biggest year yet, guitarist and vocalist Hugo Santos tells all to Scratch the Surface.

It’s been three years since your last album “Erosion”, how does it feel to have “Fæmin” finally out? 

We're really glad to finally have a new album out, but it's important to state that we didn't spent the last three years making it. We only started writing what would become «Fæmin» in the beginning of 2011 and it was a hard working process, since we basically started from scratch, but that gave us the opportunity to compose a strong and concise album from start to finish. Given the experience provided by our last releases, «Fæmin» is, the album that took us less time since we entered the studio until the moment it was released. It was also our most concise experience regarding production. We only took about one or two months for all the recording, mixing and mastering, somewhere between last September and October. Nevertheless, it's always a good and positive feeling to have the record out. 

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Following a very auspicious debut recording named 'Renounce', Process of Guilt return with an album that confirms all expectations created around them. Their sophomore record 'Erosion' demonstrates that the group from Évora - Portugal had no fears in expanding their sound beyond the strict limits of a somewhat rigid style of music as Doom-Metal, incorporating new nuances from several other musical sources without ever betraying their own essence.
We set out to know more about the writing process of 'Erosion' and its main sources of inspiration from vocalist and guitarist Hugo Santos.


Three years after a surprising and favourable debut named 'Renounce', Process of Guilt return with a truly colossal new work that confirms all expectations created around the group from Évora. 'Erosion' is a more mature record in comparison with its predecessor and even though it maintains the primordial characteristics of Process of Guilt intact, at the same time it also manages to transfigure and be innovative, embracing new elements that result in plenitude.
In this second work it is noticeable an evolution towards new musical paths like the post-metal of Neurosis and the minimal shoegaze of Jesu, do you feel that this was something that appeared naturally during the composition of the new songs, or you had a preconceived idea to imbue slight changes into the song-writing methods for the new album?

“The phase of composition of 'Erosion', besides being sufficiently different from the one of its predecessor, corresponded to a concise period of time where we really dedicated to the elaboration of an album where everything functioned as a whole.
Deep down, 'Erosion' represents the point where, musically, we would like to be when 'Renounce' came out, so this time we could go deeper into what we really long for our own sonority, trying to detach it from the more obvious associations that had been made in previous releases.
However, the incorporation of these new elements was for us more like the refinement of details that already were part of our language than properly a conscientious decision to follow into one determined path.
But we tried to purge the music that we were creating of everything that we considered unnecessary in order to create something that, it our point of view, approached more the true feeling that we were aiming for this album.”

As such, it doesn’t seem improper to state that the Process of Guilt of today does not fit comfortably in a musical style like Doom-Metal in its more orthodox meaning. Although it is a little ungrateful to ask for a musician to define his own music, how would you define the current sound of Process of Guilt?

“If we restrict the Doom spectrum only to the Doom/Death tag, we do not identify with it at all, however, is certain that, for the most part we continue to be a band with a very Doom cadence and we declaredly assume this facet since this slower rhythm is natural in us.
However, we like to think about our music as not being strictly limited to that label, acknowledging that are indeed other influences related with everything that surrounds us, either in our daily life or musically, that gets reflected in our music. In this point, beyond the influences related with Doom, I think that you can find references to some sludge, to some material more atmospheric or even some melodies post-something (in lack of a better description) that we look to translate, always with our own touch and where the dark is enhanced."

And how do you see, with a natural distance since the album as a finished product already co-exists with the band for some months, the evolution of the band from the first work 'Renounce'? In your opinion, which are the main differences between the two albums?

“'Erosion' is, in everything, a more mature work and, in our opinion sufficiently different from its predecessor. We could say our first full-length album consisted of an assortment of songs that we wrote throughout the two years that had preceded its release. As such, it is natural that it was still glued to some of the influences that we heavily possessed at the time. 'Erosion' corresponds to period different in all aspects, given that from the composition of the songs to the entrance in studio, passing through the process of mixing and mastering, everything was done in a very distinct way, starting right from our own personal approach to the process. Our last record continues to be the one with which, still today following some months, we identify the most, recognizing our own intentions in each song.”

'Erosion', along with the previous album was captured and produced at the 5ª Dimension studios once again with João Bacelar (who follows the evolution of the group since their initial phase) sitting at the control panel. How did the recordings go in an environment that, I believe to be profoundly familiar for you?

“The environment is indeed sufficiently familiar for us and adapts perfectly to the objective that we were looking after for 'Erosion', given that we were searching for a feeling with a stronger impact close to our live performances. Therefore, it was important the incorporation of our sound technician throughout the whole process, in order to translate into the studio the energy of one of our live performances. We were also, sufficiently more organic in the way that we recorded all the instruments, avoiding overdubs and transporting into the recordings what we sound like in a live environment. In this way, the recording process turned out to be more efficient and focused, leaving us plenty of time for the mixing. The mixing phase was also fully integrated with the mastering process given that, after we spoke with Collin and expressed our objectives for the sonority, it was still possible to make some adjustments with a view to achieve the best possible final result.”

The band had given a series of concerts to promote the new album, and even had the chance to play at Madrid is Dark Fest in Spain. How is it for you the experience to play live and how has been the reaction of the audience to the new themes?

“After a mini-tour to present the new album, along with The Firstborn, we participated in some festivals like Vagos Open Air, Madrid Is The Dark and the Dutch Doom Days VIII, and especially these last two, the reactions of the public had completely exceeded any expectations from our part, as much at the level of the reactions from the public as to the search of our merchandise, and that strengthen our will to take our music even further. Even our participation at this year’s edition of Ghouls Night Out in Évora, in regards to the public’s reaction, completely exceeded our most optimistic expectations by playing in front of a crowd that in certain way have seen us evolve almost from our garage days. For us the experience to play live is, by far the one that we crave the most and where we completely commit ourselves to the interpretation of each song.
We try, above all, to create the adequate ambience from a musical standpoint, scenic, sound and the delivery from each one of us in order for the public to be able to get the best experience while we’re performing.”

'Erosion' seems to underlie a specific concept, with various themes describing a cycle and subtitled as parts or chapters of a single story. What is the lyrical concept of the album?

“The lyrical concept of the album is in fact erosion, from its physical angle to a more personal side. Given the cyclical concept associated to erosion and the force that it causes, all the lyrical content of the album is intimately associated with the music, the way that riffs and rhythms are played and how the words are placed.
We didn’t set out to reach for a strictly lyrical concept as we wanted to associate the lyrical and the musical components in a way that we had yet to accomplish.
More than the interpretations associated with the lyrics of the songs, which always have a personal source, what we were looking forward with this release was that, from the music to the lyrics and the artwork everything would function as a whole, and whose interpretation could also be sufficiently personal.”

Your music explores in a certain way an emotional territory divided between melancholy and desperation. Do you feel that music is a privileged vehicle to deal with these feelings, as if we were taking about some form of catharsis?

“We can say that, yes. The music that we create has definitively something of a cathartic effect with a darker side that is related with melancholy or desperation. We think that is the spectrum that better adjusts what we set out to create. It continues to be this feeling that moves us and stimulates practically everything that we make as Process of Guilt. The objective is always the creation of sonic landscapes possessing a feeling of involvement that grows and inspire us as performers and listeners, hoping that throughout the process, we could find something more than only the sound coming out of the speakers.”

More info at: www.processofguilt.com

David Alexandre

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Three years on from their critically acclaimed debut “Resonance” Portuguese doomsters are back with a sophomore work that clearly confirms them as great songwriters with an impressive and genuine affinity for miserable and dismal ambiences. Across six tracks, Process of Guilt create a gloomy and sorrowful sonic landscape few bands are able to achieve, it’s like wandering through a dark village deteriorated by age and ravaged by natural catastrophes. A bleak landscape bereft of any trace of life or any single colour other than grey and black. Though there are times where their songs can be overwhelming as well, with brief explorations of contemplative and shimmering melodies as if all of the suddenly a faint beam of light appears lurking behind the pale-grey sky and blackish clouds, restoring some type of hope to all the glominess and misery. Both “Dust” and “Waves” will journey listeners into such dark realms of the imagination for sure, they just have to switch off the lights, lie down and let Process of Guilt guide them. On these two tracks, the group casts out plodding and heavy riffs firmly rooted in doom/death metal (that’d be My Dying Bride, Shape of Despair, Novembers Doom, Swallow the Sun, etc) intertwined with submerged and sweeping guitar melodies that betray an infatuation towards post-metal acts like Neurosis and Isis. The album's success lies in these moments where Process of Guilt strays from the well-worn path and pitch into diverse moods and textures that tend to increase the mystery and intimacy of their compositions.
Overall, “Erosion” is an impressive album and is highly recommended for all the fans of the acts mentioned above. (8/10)

Band info: www.processofguilt.com
Label info: www.majorlabelindustries.com

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