Interview with LORD OF CONFUSION (Portugal)

LORD OF CONFUSION reveals a truly classic that lands them somewhere between stoner and traditional doom. Their debut full-length in Sept 2022 called "Evil Mystery" moves under statedly with slow, fuzzy, crusty, stunning vintage guitar sounds and symphonic theatrical vocal performances. It sounds a good deal like a record lifted straight from the 1970-80s, or simply Sabbath's early birth.
They have the uniqueness of having a female singer while playing the keyboard. So, the production is really hypnotic and soulful, you can check it out further with the interview below and the Bandcamp link here; https://lordofconfusion.bandcamp.com/album/evil-mystery

MD : Tell us about your musician background? Have you guys been involved with any bands before?

Well, Nelson and Fonseca have been playing playing since 2010/2011 in various cover bands and also original projects (like "Made in Mars"), I (Danilo) met Nelson in 2015 at school and he kinda inspired me to start playing. Carlota started to learn classic/jazz in a conservatory music school by the age of 14 and later on she began to composing songs in a solo project. In 2016 me and Nelson started "The Shrink Age" a stoner rock/grunge band, it lasted until early 2018. Right after the band finished Nelson, Carlota and I started jamming and began moving towards a Doomier sound. Then LORD Of CONFUSION was born and while we were recording "Burnin' Valley" Joao Fonseca joined and since then the line up never changed.

MD : How did your interest in creating such a doom/stoner genre begin and what led to that decision?

It was a question of timing really, for me at that time I was listening to a lot of Doom and some bands are really important to me and it quite changed my life, music even as dark and bleak as Doom as really given me a lot enlightment and joy while playing it, it's like therapy. Even if it's a band's that doesn't write really personal lyrics, like we do, the craft/artform really inspires me and keeps me moving forward. The Power of the Riff shouldn't be underestimate (laughs).

MD : You had a good EP (Burnin' Valley) in 2019 and a full album (Evil Mystery) just came out. How did you take advantage of the two-year gap to release this new album? Is it a relaxed, stress-free arrangement and recording?

After "Burnin' Valley" came out we really spent that year doing all sorts of gigs, from Venues, a Hallowen Party and even a Theatre Show in early 2020. After that, Covid broke out... We had already wrote "Witchmantia" and recorded it in that summer in a small Covid lockdown gap. After that we didn't really see too much of each other. Evil Mystery was wrote in bits and pieces, Land Of Mystery and Howling Void were written in late 2020 and the other songs were written in 2021. I changed my guitar playing and approach to song writting because I was never fully satisfied with Burnin' Valley and Witchmantia. I don't think they are bad, and I am still very proud of those works, but I knew I could do better. So lockdown, gave me space to understand what I could be better at. In terms of release it was very relaxed, we recorded in a good studio who is run by an amazing producer (Antonio), we took our time to find labels that we would like to work with, we are very proud to be working with "Gruesome Records" and "Morbid and Miserable Records" they are great people who really understand our art, and respect our views. Obviously there were stressful moments while realeasing our record, but it's normal, because it's your work and a part of who you are.

MD : I think there's a kind of dissimilar mood between "Burnin' Valley" and "Evil  Mystery". Could you explain something?

They are really different works. Burnin' Valley was recorded in a different time and we worked more as a jam band. "Evil Mystery" is like a tribute to Doom in general, while at the same time, it's the album where we discovered our own sound. It's a mix of a thoughtful songwriting but at the same time being very primitive and savage. The psychedelic effects, the double vocals, the really slow and punishing tempos, the pumpkins (laughs)... that's us!

MD : Were the members satisfied with the overall sound and production?

Yes, otherwise I don't think we would publish something we don't like.

MD : How often do you all get together, have fun jamming? Do you still choose any cover songs while in the rehearsal?

Yes, we usually rehearse twice a week. We don't usually do covers, not really... despite that many people have said to us that we should! Every now and then we will throw a barbecue and invite our friends and jam out until late night, good times. 

MD : Are there any specific effects, gear or techniques you use to get this kind of vintage sound?

Yes, I use an Orange Thunderverb and dial it with a very Rock N Roll type tone, then I add a Minotauri Swamp Lord fuzz pedal which is a clone of the 70's "Ram's Head" and then a Boss Ge7 to give me a mid boost so I can cut better through the mix. I dial everything in a way that it sounds gigantic but at the same time it's not super muddy and get's lost in the mix. Carlota goes for a Hammond Sound which is super vintage and unique. The gear she uses is a Roland VR-09, at the level of the feet expression and damper pedals, for the hands a bunch of underrated guitar pedals and of course the handbell to mark transitions between songs! For the continuos highs and lows transitions in her voice she says that brought inspiration from carnatic music. Nelson is a great and unique drummer, he can accentuate notes that no one would remember to do so. The brakes and fills he plays  through sections of the songs... No one plays like him. Finally Fonseca goes for a mix of Fuzz and Overdrive too so everything really works well on our band. The sound you hear on the album is very similar to our live setting.

MD : OK, besides doom tempos, do you enjoy any style of fast-paced, blast beat music? Give some examples of bands you like related to it and why?

Well, for example, the band that will be touring with us MANFERIOR play super fast, really. They have everything I like in a band, good song-writting, but they are very primitive while being supper skillful. That's the type of stuff I like in a band, good song-writting but the music needs to feel honest. Carlota is more into the 70's, Golden Era for the progressive rock bands. I also listen to a lot of Rock music and early metal/proto doom...I mean I also like bands where there is a big logistic of instruments and great skill involved but, heavy primitive riffs does it for me (laughs). 

MD : Your lyrics have something to do with an illusion and mysterious things, I think. What story do you want to translate behind the album?

For us represents a personal phase of social isolation, aversion to luxury and friendliness to nature. For you? I guess you will have to find out then...

MD : Are you going to and have the opportunity for a massive promotional tour?

For now we will be touring Spain and France in late October. We already have plans for next year, but they are still plans, and to answer your question, for now we are not able to do a Massive Tour.

MD : What is the next vision from LORD OF CONFUSION and your last comments...?

At the moment we are looking for a record label to release Vinyl. It's still early to give you a vision for the future, but for now we want to go as far as possible in terms of playing "Evil Mystery". If we keep on making music together the future seems like a bright one really, and that's what it all comes down to. My last comments, listen to our record, embrance our violet universe full of pumpkins, bats and trees. Even if you are a Doom Head or not! ...you can stream our record everywhere...   DO IT! Thanks for inviting us for the interview. Keep on Doomin'!

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