Can you give a brief history of EPIC DOWN, including the music style and the members?
We are a duo from Leipzig (GER) with a pronounced passion for heavy, melodic riffs paired with beats in a rather leisurely pace, consisting of Mitzschi (guitar & bass walls) and Fabian (drums & vocals) and got together in 2021 for this common journey. Since then we have put a lot of energy into our musical creation, spent a lot of time in the studio and released our first own works as a digital EP with Equinox Pt. 1 & 2 in 2023. Our style can be described as doom with sludge elements and slightly melancholic, but clean vocals, banned into songs to build a soundtrack of downfall.
Could you provide more detailed information about Days of Oblivion?
It is our debut album and will be released on 27.09.2024 via Argonauta Records as a DigiSleeve CD. There are 7 songs on the album, most of which were written between June and October last year. It is not a pure concept album and each song is its own narrative. However, the overall picture is a small epic journey through the abysses of our civilization, accompanied by an examination of current events and embedded in a soundtrack of doom.
EPIC DOWN has signed with Argonauta Records. Could you tell us more about that?
After the release of Equinox Pt.2 in May 2023, we decided to knock on a few doors, introduce ourselves and see how we would be received and where it could take us. An almost surprising, but also very welcome answer came from the Argonauts and after a more intensive exchange, the opportunity arose to launch an album on CD together with their support. This was the initial impulse for the creation of Days of Oblivion and its release was our next milestone.
We are very grateful to them for this and the placed trust.
What is the difference between your latest record and the band's very first one?
At best, listeners should find out for themselves. Our first works are not necessarily more raw or stylistically different from the current songs. If you listen carefully to our releases, you will of course be able to make out various developments. The sound in general is certainly an important aspect. But the instrumentation in particular and not least the vocals have also evolved. In the beginning, we tried not to write songs that were too long and also experimented a lot with different equipment. In this respect, Days of Oblivion is an evolutionary step and reflects our point of view at the time of the album's creation, both musically and lyrically.
What inspires EPIC DOWN's music and lyric writing? What do EPIC DOWN's lyrics talk about?
As far as the texts and their themes are concerned, this is relatively easy to answer. On the one hand, it is almost always people or things created by people, related problems or conflicts caused by them. On the other hand, it is the elements, nature and their underlying contexts or even myths associated with them. Together they provide a constant source of thematic inspiration. The music adds a strong dose of mood and zeitgeist, which certainly contributes to the rather gloomy overall picture.
Do you play live often? Do you enjoy performing abroad?
We both played live a lot in the early days and were therefore on the road a lot. On the one hand, we always had a lot of fun, playing our songs on stage in front of an audience is somehow essential for a musician. But there were also moments that we would have liked to have done without. Unfortunately, we haven't tackled any live concerts with this project yet and have focused more on songwriting, recording and publishing, but that doesn't mean that we wouldn't like to play live again with Epic Down. How often that will happen remains to be seen.
How often does the band practice and work on new material?
We work on new material almost continuously and there is virtually no rehearsal in which we don't come up with one new idea or another or continue working on existing sketches. We're kind of tireless when it comes to this, although we strictly avoid pressure when composing and like to take it easy. We rehearse at least once a week, as long as the workload allows. When we make recordings, we intensify this depending on our needs and work status.
How did the band come up with the name EPIC DOWN? What does it mean to you?
The band name probably came about that way. After a few months of making music together, we had collected a few ideas for possible band names on an old piece of paper and sometimes played around with some of them during breaks, modified them and came up with some really appealing results. The whole thing would probably have gone on for quite a while if Mitzschi hadn't told us one day, more or less in passing during a rehearsal break, that he had created a SoundCloud for us under the name Epic Down and the first demos had been uploaded. At that point, we hadn't agreed on a name yet, but we didn't really pursue it any further. In the end, we decided to leave it at that. The name is the program for us, fits the music and was on the list for a reason. That's it.
What are the band's plans for the near future?
We are looking forward to seeing how the album is received and what comes of it. In any case, we will continue on our path as a duo and doom on. There will definitely be new music from us next year and if everything goes well, we'll be able to play a concert or two in front of an audience. We are also planning a music video and a few other things. If you follow us on our social media channels, you'll always stay posted on what’s happening.
Do you have a message for Iron Backstage readers?
If you like Epic Down and want to support us, listen to our music on your favorite streaming service or visit us on Bandcamp. Get yourself a physical copy of our album and leave us a message if you like. Stay true, stay doom, and don’t eat yellow snow, thanks for your attention.