What do black metal, nature, and woodburning have in common? Is it the ATF’s worst nightmare? Not at all- just getting back to nature with Vials of Wrath madman Dempsey “D.C.” Mills and chatting about VOW’s brand new album Remnants of Remembrance.
D.C., you once played in the deathcore band Bloodline Severed, and now Vials of Wrath is your solo vision. Are there different dynamics involved in being a part of a band vs. creating your own music?
Hey Chris! Thanks for this opportunity to discuss my music and various related topics.
In my experience there definitely is. Both have their pros and cons. In a full band such as Bloodline Severed, songwriting and arranging relies on each member to contribute according to their respective instrument and musical taste. The band’s image, promotion and performance scheduling are also dependent on the group as a whole. In many ways, it’s more relaxed and productive as no one member is carrying the weight of pushing the music forward for success. The downside would possibly be that it’s also a democratic process, and sometimes your ideas or input are met with some pushback and don’t align with what the other bandmates envision.
Whereas as a solo artist, it’s the complete opposite. I’ve been solely responsible for every detail of Vials of Wrath since its inception – for better or worse. Since I’ve also had a career in graphic design and other creative interests my entire life, I thought being a solo artist would allow for an outlet for all facets of my artistic vision. However, it can be daunting writing the music, lyrics, recording, producing, etc. and then marketing and promoting the albums once finished. Which is why it can take one-man “bands” such as myself so long to complete an album. The pro here is you have total control of all aspects of the band and your music. And the con is YOU have total control of all aspects, so there is no dividing up the workload of all the previous things mentioned to succeed.
So many black metal bands are one-man bands. The stereotype is that they just don’t play well with others. I suspect having creative control of their music is a more likely reason for this. When one makes music all by yourself, is there a conscious decision that you are not planning on playing live shows?
I can’t speak for others so much, but when I started Vials I didn’t plan on ever performing live. I’d say many others in similar circumstances feel the same simply because this kind of music is often isolating by its very nature. It’s meant to connect to the listener in a personal way that doesn’t necessarily translate to a live setting. It’s not “fun, feel-good” music in the sense that shows don’t instigate mosh pits or a party-type atmosphere. Conversely it can be all about atmosphere that tries to connect on a spiritual level. It can be highly energetic and aggressive, or somber and moody. For these reasons (at least for me), it seems like it would be hard to get it to translate into a live setting without several band members who were all on the same page. It does happen. But it’s also such a small, niche genre that just finding like-minded musicians seems nearly impossible and I really respect the artists – Christian and non – who can pull it off.
Would it matter if they didn’t ever play shows? Meaning their art is the studio albums they produce, and not a live show?
I would say it doesn’t matter. When I think of all the albums I’ve ever purchased, I’ve seen a tiny fraction of those artists live. Most of them I don’t care to ever see perform (as bad as this may sound) because I wouldn’t want to tarnish the imagery I have in my head created from their music. I grew up in a time when “rock stars” and metal bands were larger than life. The music they created seemed to come from some unknown, mystical place and I always aspired to know how they did it. (I still do for many of them.) And honestly some bands just don’t sound as good live and that’s okay. I didn’t have to watch da Vinci or van Gogh paint to appreciate their works. I feel the same about all studio artists.
That’s not to say we should idolize them or put them on any kind of pedestal, but true art will connect with its intended audience no matter the means – either through performance or the end product. Some are great at both.
Let There Be Light seems to differ from your other Vials output in that it was somewhat straightforward black metal in the vein of Slechtvalk, whereas the rest of your work is uniquely post-black, atmospheric, and nature driven. I wrongly assumed that it was your first album, but now I see that Seeking Refuge was recorded first. Is there a reason for the difference in styles?
It’s funny, but I actually wrote and recorded those albums at about the same time. It was pretty much experimenting with which style resonated the most with me personally. Let There Be Light was easier and faster to produce, as I was just getting started learning audio production and recording. It was also much closer stylistically to what I had done with early Bloodline Severed material and my pre-Christian musical outlets. It was “blackened death metal” and I was pretty comfortable playing that style (even though the production was horrid in hindsight).
However, I was working on Seeking Refuge during that time as well, and had much of it completed but not fully produced in a way that I was ready to release it. So I released Let There Be Light first and honed in on making the style of Seeking my focus since it conveyed my vision much more. I wanted to push the boundaries with more atmosphere and incorporate some of my influences that I’d never used before. Having said that, I still find myself writing some traditional death metal riffs here and there, and I sometimes think another album in that vein might be fun under a different moniker.
I’ve encountered other post-black and atmospheric christian bands, but admittedly, I avoid listening to mainstream extreme metal music. Is this a sizeable niche in metal music?
Not when you compare it to most other genres. I’ve often joked that if metal music where in a pie chart, the style I play (along with very few others) would be such a small sliver that you probably wouldn’t be able to see it: Christian post-black (Unblack) atmospheric metal, that is.
However, in the mainstream (although still considered underground) I’d say there actually is a sizeable number of bands who fall into this category stylistically. There are even entire labels dedicated to this style exclusively.
The nature theme in VOW music is integral to your own style. Do you attribute your love of nature to where you live? Isn’t the very idea of nature themed extreme music anachronistic- loud music vs the serenity of nature?
I’ve lived the majority of my life in the mountains, and even when I lived near Charlotte, North Carolina I would “retreat” to the mountains pretty often to get away from everything. I wouldn’t say I’m overly introverted or anti-social, but I definitely need a lot of alone time. It’s when I self-reflect, meditate and pray. I find nature to be very inspiring in so many ways. It influences my music as well as other creative outlets and hobbies such as woodburning.
As I read that Christ often withdrew into the wilderness for similar reasons, it was easy for me to connect the dots as to how my music could incorporate this theme. Many authors have written about such spiritual connections through nature – John Muir and William Wordsworth come to mind.
To use metal music to convey such ideas does seem far-fetched initially (with nature usually offering peace and tranquility), but there’s the juxtaposition of storms raging against a calm meadow, the calm autumn breeze at sunset versus the unsettling darkness of the unknown forest, etc. Black metal, post rock and shoegaze all have elements that can convey these feelings and experiences in a way that just seems fitting when applied to the backdrop of nature.
Do you see your music as evolving with each album? What can fans expect to hear onRemnants of Remembrance? What are some of your favorite moments on it?
I like to think it evolves at a steady pace, while retaining the initial quality that I intended – a fusion of black, death, doom, and to a lesser extent post-metal/rock, (Maybe even some dungeon synth – “Abram’s Creek” comes to mind). This album is a little more “song oriented” in that while the atmosphere is still there, I tried to build around more melodic riffs and not use quite as many chaotic elements like blastbeats and tremolo picking excessively. Since there aren’t many Christian artists who play this style, I rely on secular bands whom I consider masters of this style for musical inspiration. I cite Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Alcest as the biggest purveyors, and often say if you put all of them in a blender, added some Christian theology for lyrics, with a dash of the Norwegian/Scandinavian bands, you’d get Vials of Wrath.
As for moments that personally stand out, “Forty Nine Novembers” – as a whole – is my favorite song. It just feels cohesive and came out like I had hoped when writing it. Derek Corzine’s lead work on it and “Seed of the Black Oak” really stand out as well. “Baptized in Amber Light” is the closest I’ve been able to come to getting the post-black/blackgaze sound and still work within the scope of the rest of the album.
Can you tell us about some of your hobbies?
I’ve been dabbling in pyrography for a few years, but recently decided to pursue it more seriously. I have an Etsy store under the name Wooden Antler Studio where I sell some of my work. As with Vials of Wrath, it’s nature-oriented art that is burned into various woods using specific tools and techniques. So far it’s been mostly animals and nature scenes, but I hope to expand to other similar subjects in the future. Being a resident of the Smoky Mountains area, I’m sure I won’t run out of reference material any time soon.
Other than that, I’ve also made some “primitive” rustic furniture occasionally. I’ve quite enjoyed it, and am currently looking into how I can combine that with pyrography to create some really unique pieces. Since I left the graphic design field a couple years ago, my hope is this potentially becomes a full-time job and still gives me enough time to focus on faith, family and my music.
