Interview with Thomas Haywood (ex -bass player of Abigail Williams) about his band Vintage Warlords.
Hi Thomas, how are you?
Very well, thank you!
Tell me when Vintage Warlords was founded?
The idea of Vintage Warlords started in late 2013 to early 2014. The vocalist, Conor, and I had been playing around with the idea of doing some sort of “Doom” band around that time. I wrote 1 song at the end of 2013 which became the catalyst for the VW sound and the EP.
”Invisible Foe” is the fist release as an EP. Tell me about it.
It’s my first stab at doing something like this. Conor is into a lot of Doom bands from Serpentine Path to the more melodic/melancholy, November’s Doom stuff. It was Conor who really got under my skin about trying something in that vein. I am also a lover of Doom with my influences coming more from old Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and even Candlemas and Cathedral. It was the combination of all these acts that inspired the idea for the band. Once I got to the actual writing of the music, things took a little bit of a different turn, but the above bands all inspired the initial birth of the Vintage Warlords concept. The “Invisible Foe” EP is the representation of a band discovering itself. The first song written was “‘From Orange to Grey”, which was written much earlier than the other two. The title track came next, with “Exodus of Souls” being the last one I wrote. Those 2 tracks are a better representation of where the band is headed although “From Orange to Grey” is important in that it was the tune that started it all for us.
Who writes the lyrics?
Conor is the lyrics guy. He has a really cool way of writing. He takes a perspective that is not the obvious one. For example, when people think of war, we always think of the battles, melee, and so on. Conor focuses on the psychological : what are these soldiers doing when they are not in battle?; how are they dealing with what they’ve endured?; how do they cope with being away from their loved ones?; How do they handle natures elements? These questions are far more interesting to us, and a lot of battles are won or lost due to the psychological side, not the physical one.
Are you going to release new materials soon?
It’s probably going to be a while until our next release. I have a ton on my plate being that I just started 2 record labels, Redefining Darkness Records and Seeing Red Records. I am currently working on all the upcoming releases for the labels. As far as writing goes, I am focusing on the full length for a grind band I have with a few friends called To Dust. The first To Dust EP will be up soon on Give Praise Records as a split 7″ with Dirk Verbeuren’s (Soilwork, Devin Townsend Band, Scarve) grind band Bent Sea. Look for that in the next month or so, it will be out soon.
What are the influences?
As I mentioned above, the bands responsible for inspiring us to start Vintage Warlords have little to do with our sound. When writing I was trying to create a feeling of desolation and despair, so I was greatly influenced by bands that give me those feelings when listening to them. Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Lord Mantis, Satyricon, and Vallenfyre were probably the biggest inspirations from a writing perspective. Hopefully I achieved what I was going for all while creating a unique sound…hopefully people will agree too 🙂
Any shows confirmed for this year?
No shows as of now. We are currently operating as a 2 piece, but have had discussions about getting live personel together in the future.
A message for the fans?
I really hope death/doom metal fans are digging us of course! We really tried to create something a little left of center and unique with Vintage Warlords. Thanks to all the fans and to the metal press for all the positive support thus far! We appreciate it immensely!
Thank you Thomas, cheers!
Thank you too!
https://www.facebook.com/vintagewarlords
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