As anyone following Unearthed Mirrors knows very well by now, we have been often talking and praising Uppsala's preachers of annihilation Endtime, who are committed - as you will read in this interview - to populate people's minds with sounds and visions of disaster and despair.
Musicians in this doom outfit are no strangers to Unearthed Mirrors readers: from hardcore maniacs Undergång, masters of filth Obnoxious Youth, heavy rockers Taiwaz and Noctum, members have then joined forces to spread the oppressive and grim sound of Endtime.
As the release of their first album is approaching (it is due out on March 4th, more details below), we contacted them and asked them about their music, their earth-blowing videos, their horror-themed atmosphere and more. Read below how Endtime musically envision the
"Impending Doom"!
U.M.: Your debut full-length, "Impending Doom", is about to be released in less than a month: can you tell us a bit about the songwriting process? How does an Endtime song typically take shape?
ENDTIME:
It goes pretty much like this; Joppe writes a ton of riffs, then usually throws away 90% of them. Then we put the song together, record it and listen to it a couple of times and if it’s good enough we keep it. If it’s too groovy we throw it away. After that Crippe and Affe come up with the lyrics.
U.M.: The album has been recorded at Studio Shitfun in Uppsala: now, the name of the studio surely says it all - and by the way if we remember correctly, Reveal! also recorded in the same studio in the past, too - did the location of the actual recording have any impact on the album?
ENDTIME:
Studio Shitfun is more of a concept and state of mind than an actual recording studio at one single location. It’s run by one of our band members therefore it was an easy choice.
U.M.: A question for all the gear nerds out there (we know there are quite a few following UM!): any favourite effects to get the best doom sound and intensify the typical oppressive, unnerving mood of the music (either that you already use or that you would like to use)?
ENDTIME:
We use old stuff from the 80s. Big stuff that sounds loud and we use a lot of them. We are more like the burnouts in high school than the geeks when it comes to stuff like this.
U.M.: As you may know, we are super appreciators of your creepy-themed kind of doom. Thematically, it looks like it is more rooted in the good old horror atmosphere rather than dealing with more "earthly" kind of topics, so to say. Did the current state of the World somehow affect the apocalyptic theme of the album or is it completely unrelated to this kind of real-world state of affairs?
ENDTIME:
The state of the world just confirms what we always have stated in all our previous bands as well as this one. That the world is on a 200km/h ride straight into an hillside. You reap what you sow and the chickens are coming home to roost. There is nothing more horrifying than the crushing weight of life itself. The overall theme of the album as well as the band itself deals with the end of the world and the end can come in many forms; nuclear war, biological and chemical warfare, catastrophic climate change, ecological collapse, pandemics, asteroid impact and even cosmic horror. That is why both the real threat of mass destruction by nuclear arms as well as the metaphorical threat of a cosmic doom works.
U.M.: In Endtime the music is closely linked to the horror visuals. What is the aspect of horror movies that you prefer to incorporate more in your songs: the creepy and ghastly vibe of the supernatural evil, or rather the disgusting, graphically disturbing impact of gore?
ENDTIME:
Both, with everything we do we want to convey a feeling of dread and unease. And sometimes it works best with the creepy vibe and sometimes with the onslaught of ultraviolence to make people uncomfortable.
U.M.: Speaking of tasty stuff, on the label's official presentation, we can read that Endtime
"turn amps up to 11, they cause ruptured eardrums and serious dysentery with their sub atomic frequencies". Will the physical effect actually be rather relevant in your shows? As in, are you aiming for some sort of less ritualistic/more nihilistic Sunn O))) kind of gut-shaking experience?
ENDTIME:
The live experience of an Endtime show is just as important as the videos, artwork etc. An Endtime live show is accompanied by carefully chosen visuals being projected onto the stage. And sometimes there will even be blood. Yes, our own blood not the fake shit. You won’t be just seeing a band performing the songs while gazing down at their feet.
U.M.: Your latest
music video, "Living Graves", is an impressive work of animation inspired by 80s cartoons which depicts, very appropriately, a tale of doom and destruction: would you tell us a bit about the making of the video?
ENDTIME:
The idea of making a Saturday morning cartoon style video came up when we realized that making a cosmic horror video as a live action video is way above the resources we have. So making it animated was pretty much the only option we had. And also, we all grew up with that stuff! So our bassplayer worked day and night for about four months doing it the proper old school way of animating it frame by frame. And since it’s us, it’s packed with references to other films, music and places we like.
U.M.: When we spoke to Affe, he told us that you were going to release a video for each song on the album: is this still the plan?
ENDTIME:
Yes, that is still the plan. Two down, three to go! All the videos will be done in different styles and when they all are finished the plan is to release them on limited VHS tapes. And since I would say we are fairly creative and with lots of stupid ideas there’s more weird stuff than just videos coming!
U.M.:
"Impending Doom" will be released on Heavy Psych Sounds Records: can you tell us a bit about how the collaboration with the label came about?
ENDTIME:
Heavy Psych Sounds was the only label with the courage to release an Endtime record. They instantly saw that we held a high standard through and through. With the music, the artwork and the overall package.
U.M.: This is all but, as tradition goes, if there is anything you want to add, feel free to do so and thanks again for your answers!
ENDTIME:
Thanks for the support and keep up the good work with Unearthed Mirrors. The end is nigh!
A huge thank you to Endtime for taking the time to answer our questions!
Photos courtesy of Endtime, still from their video "Living Graves".
Endtime's upcoming album
"Impending Doom" will be out on Heavy Psych Sounds Records on March 4th, 2022: LPs, CDs and merchandise can be pre-ordered on the label's
European shop or on the
U.S. shop.
Follow Endtime on:
Facebook -
Instagram
Endtime are:
Joppe Ebbeson: Guitar
Daniel Johansson: Guitar
Nicke Björnör: Drums
Afshin ’Affe’ Piran: Bass
Christian Chatfield: Vocals
