Georgia doesn't sound like a place you'd catch Frostbite but you'd be wrong.  Atlanta's dark metal lord Christopher Compton chats up e.V.. about his solo gothic metal project, Frostbite. 

e.V.  For people who may not have heard your music or heard only a song or two, please describe your project and name 2 of your songs for people to listen to first, just to get an idea of where you are coming from as a musician.  And tell us a bit about the genesis of Frostbite...


C.C.   Frostbite is a project that's been brewing for quite some time. While I was living in Seattle, WA., the last band I started was firmly rooted in the "Gothic Rock" genre, for lack of a better term (think Fields of the Nephilim had a love child with The Sisters of Mercy and Rammstein was the crazy uncle). After that band split, I moved to Los Angeles for a few years. During my time in California, I worked for a company that produces guitar amplifiers and amp modeling software. I worked with several musicians and our company gatherings always turned into big jam sessions so, every few months, I was able to get on a stage and make some noise. When I left that company, and moved from LA, I no longer had that outlet and I began to miss it pretty quickly. I realized that I had all of these song ideas floating around in my head that had never been recorded or flushed out completely so, I started work on the song Valentine, which was a logical progression from what I had been doing in Seattle. Still very much a "Gothic Rock" sound, but heavier this time. I finished Valentine and just kept going. I wasn't planning on recording an entire album but, eventually, I had several songs that went together quite nicely. I decided to release what I had, just to see what might happen. The response has been very positive, a bit overwhelming and completely unexpected! 

I suppose the best song to start with would be "Valentine" as it was the first and sums up the feel of the "Valentine and Other Stories of Hope" album pretty well. The second song I would suggest would be from the next album, "Everything That I Crave", the song is called "Everything I Crave" and I think it's a good representation of that album (to be released soon!).  

e.V.. You released an album a few years ago, and also have a sampler and a single out - please tell us more about those! 

C.C.        Valentine and Other Stories of Hope was released in 2011 and was the culmination of several ideas I'd had over the years that finally came to fruition. Doing (almost) everything myself allowed me to create exactly what I had been hearing in my head for a long time! Valentine is a very personal album for me and the story it tells (minus the two bonus track) is mostly true. Of course it's not completely autobiographical. If that were the case it would have never been written and I wouldn't be here to answer your questions ;)

The Venus in Furs single came out in 2012. The song was originally done by The Velvet Underground and I've just loved it since the first time I heard it! I really enjoy taking songs that mean something to me, from outside my particular genre, and seeing what I can do with them or, more appropriately, how I can mess them up ;)

The sampler was not put out for general audiences. I had a few radio stations asking what was happening with the new album so, I put together a mix of a few of the songs I was working on as a sort of teaser. I also wanted them to know (yourself included) that I was, indeed, working on the follow-up to Valentine.                  

e.V.  What are your favorite genres and what drew you to them? Do you have a genre you enjoy that might shock others given the genres you typically play?

C.C.        When I was growing up, I was a complete metal head! As to what drew me to that, it's hard to say. Prepubescent angst?? Actually, I mostly listened to what would now be called Power Metal, I suppose, so I think it was the amazing vocalists and the crazy guitar playing that I really enjoyed. While I still loved my metal, everything changed when I heard the Sisters of Mercy for the first time. I had never heard anything like it and the sound really struck a chord with me. Something about the low vocal (which I wasn't used to at all) and the dark subject matter seemed to suit my personality and I started seeking out similar bands. I found The Fields of The Nephilim and I immediately connected with the sound. I can't explain what it is about them that I find so appealing. I only know that there are some bands that move a person and The Fields do that for me. Unfortunately, I didn't find these bands until either they weren't putting out music anymore or, they had broken up. Then there's Skinny Puppy!!! What can I say except BRILLIANT!!! One of the first Industrial  (cont.)

Put up your feet and pour yourself a virtual horn of mead, as Canada's Viking metal bard speaks with e.V. about Bathory, Burzum, breakfast cereal, Primordial, the soul, thinking up things in the dark - and most importantly, about SIG:AR:TYR's coming album "Northen', their indepth follow-up to the epic Godsaga..   SIG:AR:TYR's creator and driving force, Daemonskald, is the possessor of one powerful pagan metal muse., forging lyrically vivid and melodically evocative atmospheric, often acoustic, metal, 'though he describes himself as a part-time musician.

blackened folk metal, thunderous and poetic by turns. doom fans who love Saturnus can give it a go as well \w/

SIG:AR:TYR on Bandcamp
SIG:AR:TYR Official Website

e.V.   For people who may not have heard it (or who have heard only a song or two), please describe your music and name 2 of your songs for people to listen to first, just for new listeners to get an idea of where you are coming from as a musician.

Daemonskald:  I would describe it as atmospheric pagan or viking metal. In the beginning the main influences that I wanted to combine were the viking metal aspects from Bathory's Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods albums, and the neoclassical style of Yngwie Malmsteen, mixed in with a little black metal atmosphere like Burzum. That was it, really. If I had to choose two songs that fully represent what I've always tried to express, it would be the tracks "Blood of the North", and "Godsaga" from the Godsaga album. The earlier stuff is a little more stripped down, a lot of acoustic instrumentals and ambience, a few metal tracks, but I think these songs combine the best of all these aspects.