Doomed Confessionary: Jonathan Burgess (Demons Of Noon)
Photos by Harry Skelton
Demons Of Noon is a doom/sludge metal collective from Auckland, New Zealand. Formed in 2017, Demons Of Noon is a smouldering cult doom colossus that will conjure in the mind of any true fan of the genre, the cosmic rock of Blood Ceremony, Lucifer and Purson.
Having harvested a loyal fanbase across their native New Zealand, the six-piece has continued to up their game time and time again, refining their sound with every new release while continuing to mine the primitive and historic grooves channelled by the likes of Black Sabbath, Coven and Black Widow.
Following the success of several self-funded singles, on December 1st, 2023 the band released »Death Machine« – their first full-length album – amid a fug of smoke; spectral jams and punishing riffs.
Demons Of Noon are Jonathan Burgess (bass, vocals), Aria Jones (vocals), Abraham Kunin (guitar, vocals, synth), Tamsyn Matchett (vocals), Joseph McElhinney (drums, vocals) and Scott Satherley (guitar, vocals).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Demons Of Noon is a six-piece doom band from New Zealand. We play low, loud and slow, and we all sing. Our six-part layered vocal approach lends our music an occult air of monkish choirs and ethereal invocations.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Making an album takes so much time and effort. We’ve all got families and jobs, and carving out time to make music is a challenge. We’re completely independent, so simply getting through all the steps it takes to release a successful album was easily our biggest challenge.
What can you be most proud of so far?
We’re deeply proud of the immersive world of our debut album, »Death Machine«. In the cursed timeline of online attention wars that we find ourselves in, we managed to create something that will take you away from all of that for 45 minutes.
What was your biggest regret?
Fuck regrets.
What was the best concert/tour last year and why?
As part of our album release tour we finally got down to Wellington to do our own headline show at Valhalla, the home of metal in New Zealand. Everything about it was great: the sound, the scene, the people, and – most importantly – the 16 hours in the van.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The authentic, heartfelt way that people around the country have connected with our music has taken us all by surprise. Anyone in the metal community already knows that it’s the friendliest scene out there, and that the terrifying looking dudes festooned with nails will be the first ones to check if you’re okay if you go down in the pit, but hearing the stories of the lengths that people have gone to to make it to our shows, or learning our songs on guitar, or singing the words back at us have just floored us with their sincerity and desire to connect to something meaningful.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
The album that Emma Ruth Rundle made with Thou is exceptional, and I was stoked that Bongripper put out a new album this year.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Josh Homme once said that “when you expect anything from music, you expect too much. So you play for yourself, you play to enjoy it and you make the most of it for you, period.”
What are your guilty pleasures?
Have you guys ever tried cookie dough vodka?
Can you say something more about the music scene in Auckland / New Zealand?
There’s a joke out there that arguing over which metal bands belong to which subgenre is now its own metal subgenre. It was an interesting experience releasing an album and reading all the reviewers from the international metal scene exploring subgenres in their reaction to »Death Machine«. It might just be me, but it seems that New Zealand might give less of a shit about genre boundaries than elsewhere in the world.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We’re heading out on a New Zealand-wide double-header tour with Infinity Ritual in August.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Performing live is at the heart of Demons Of Noon. In a time where thousands of songs are released every day, doom is about the visceral and communal experience of coming together and enjoying volume and catharsis in a room together. We’ve got our eye on some festivals for the future, and hope to build some international tours around those.
How can people best support your band?
Buy a t-shirt.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Heavy metal is the only sane reaction to modernity.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well