From Belgium comes a symphony of doom and melancholy. The next artist we will talk to makes a gloomy dark opus of blackness and suicide.This is as dark and slow as it gets.Let's hear the funeral procession hymns Until Death Overtakes Me....

Q: Why the name Until Death Overtakes Me?

A: First, because it perfectly describes the situation I am in : I really like to create music, experiment and listen to good music and I will continue to do so until the very end... Second, it's a phrase that appears in the track 'Black God', by one of the greatest doom-bands ever, 'My Dying Bride', during the early days I was a huge fan of MDB and they inspired the very first tracks. Consider it a small appreciation towards MDB for helping me making my first steps in the world of doom.

Q: How long has Until Death Overtakes Me been around?Please give us a brief history of the band.

A: I started making own lyrics and music in may 1999, at that time I was fed up with most music I heard and decided to make my own. At first the music was a mix between black metal and melodic doom-metal but soon the style changed to funeral doom and the amount of dark-ambient in my music kept growing. During that time, 3 other members joined UDOM, but none stayed very long. In march 2001,I finished the first demo, called 'Symphony I - Deep Dark Red'. I wasn't very satisfied with the quality of the demo and started working on the second one, which was relased in november 2001. This demo, 'Symphony II - Absence Of Life', received lots of positive feedback and I decided to re-record 'Deep Dark Red', to let people hear what UDOM sounded like before 'Absence Of Life'. Amazingly, most people like the less experimental 'Deep Dark Red' more than 'Absence Of Life', which was my favorite. Since then I've been looking to improve my sound and come up with new experiments to keep UDOM an original project...

Q: What is your religious and or political beliefs?

A: Well, actually both religion and politics don't mean anything to me. I avoid these things, together with most other stuff that's related to our present-day society, since it simply sickens me.

Q: What do you think of Christians?

A: I am not interested in them or in any religion or anti-religion. If anyone wants to dedicate his/her life believing or non-believing in something, that's fine by me. I am not interested in any religion. If they respect me, I will respect them.

Q: What does Until Death Overtakes Me sing about?

A: There's one big concept in the music I've written thus far: suicide. It's present in every track, but in most cases it's well-hidden behind the other things I write about. UDOM is very personnal and every track also includes some of my dreams, emotions, fears, whatever my mood is at the time of creating and some of that mood is always captured in the music. I leave it to the listener to find it and experience it.

Q: What is Ever Dark Green?

A: EverDarkGreen is the name of the site/zine I am working on, which will focus on promoting underground (or fairly unknown bands) that play original and dark music. Several years ago I made my first dark-ambient compilation, and it was entitled 'EverDarkGreen', for some reason I felt that this was the right title for music like this and when I decided to start the site the first thing that came to mind was calling it 'EverDarkGreen'.

Q: How many official releases does Until Death Overtakes Me have?

A: At the moment there are 2 demos available : 'Symphony I - Deep Dark Red' and 'Symphony II - Absence Of Life'. There is also the first version of 'Deep Dark Red' and a demo-tape, created somewhere inbetween the first version of 'Deep Dark Red' and the release of 'Absence Of Life' and before that there was also a split with my dark ambient project, called 'I Dream No More', which contained 4 rehearsal tracks.

Q: Has Until Death Overtakes Me played live?

A: No, since I am the only member and I don't really want to add other people to the line-up and thus it doesn't look like I will ever play live...maybe I change my mind on that, after the positive experience with Pantheist, I surely want to do another live gig.

Q: How many people are in the band currently?

A: Just me...

Q: How old are you guys?

A: 21 physically...feels much older, though.

Q: What types of music are your favorites?Bands and genres plus influences?

A: Funeral Doom: Esoteric, Hierophant, Pantheist, Thergothon, Worship, Shape Of Despair, Skepticism and Unholy. Dark Ambient: Svartsinn, Nether, Silent Watcher Of Dark Matter, Hlidolf, Uncertainty Principle, Undiscovered Moons Of Saturn and Corridors Of Pale. Classical: Arvo Part, Michael Gorecki, Frederic Chopin, J.S. Bach, Beethoven, M. Ravel and E. Grieg. as for influences, only the three genres I mentioned, but no bands, just the genre as a whole...I don't want to sound like anybody else.

Q: What is Belgium like?

A: Belgium sucks...to bad the entire world is a loathsome place, so moving out wouldn't change a thing.

Q: What is the local scene around you like?

A: There are some intersting bands in Belgium, like Nether, Pantheist and The Ethereal and that's about it. Nothing else going on here.

Q: Are you or any of your members involved in side projects?

A: Yes, I got 7 solo/side-projects: I Dream No More : dark ambient/electronic soundscapes, Fall Of The Grey-Winged One : drone doom meets ambient, Organium : raging black ambient/noise/doom, Dreams Of Dying Stars : dark melancholic space ambient, Tear Your Soul Apart : hatefull noise and industrial electronics, In The Mist : dark and gloomy ambient soundscapes, Beyond Black Void : ultra-minimalistic and nihilistic funeral doom.

Q: What are your favorite book,movies,or TV shows?

A: I mostly read books on astrophysics, or horror (S. King and Lovecraft) or Fantasy (JRR. Tolkien). The few movies that could interested me, were those by Kubric, especially 'Space 2001'. Other than those there aren't much movies that interest me, I simply don't have the time to watch tv. The only show I like are 'the simpsons'!

Q: What do we expect soon from Until Death Overtakes Me?

A: I am working on 'Prelude to Monolith', like the title suggests, a prelude to the upcoming 'Symphony III - Monolith'. At the moment there is some interest in UDOM by the Finnish Firebox label, if they like it, they might release it...if not, I will release it...

Q: Anything else you want to add?

A: Thanx for the interview and keep supporting the underground, where the only good bands can be found! People interested in my music can check all my projects out at Until Death Overtakes Me , I have more than 5 hours of free mp3s online... The EverDarkGreen site can be reached here. Cheers!