Doomed Confessionary: Scott, Steve, Chris & Konrad (Nepenthe)
Photos by Alex Snape
Forged in 2018, the Nepenthe collective emerged from a shared desire to compose music that leaves a lasting impression on the world. Although rooted in doom and atmospheric black metal, Nepenthe expands these genres’ boundaries by incorporating elements of post-metal, goth rock, and neo folk. The result is an emotional soundscape that traverses both beauty and dejection, exploring the complexity of the human condition through haunting melodies and evocative arrangements.
The band’s lyrics draw philosophical inspiration from figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Charles Baudelaire. By interlacing vivid imagery and rich symbolism with dark acoustic passages and ethereal atmospherics, Nepenthe evokes a profound sense of existential reflection.
Nepenthe’s upcoming new EP, »The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow«, is set for release as compilation featuring their debut »Elegies Of Loss And Doom« (2020) this Friday, November 15th, 2024 via Hypaethral Records. Fans of Woods Of Ypres, Warning, Falls Of Rauros, Panopticon, and the like, pay heed.
Nepenthe are Scott Rice (lead guitar), Steve Rowlands (rhythm guitar), Chris Rowan (bass) and Konrad Schröder (drums, vocals).
Can you say a few words about your band?
We are Nepenthe, from Guelph, Canada. We consider ourselves to be a mix of post-black, atmospheric black metal, and doom metal.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Our biggest challenge so far has been management and organization in general. It has taken far longer than we initially thought to get the ball rolling for things like recording music, promotion, and release schedules. We recently became a part of the roster of Hypaethral Records, and things have been much easier since then. Aside from that, it has been challenging to find our footing as a band, in particular, finding a sound that works for us. We have fairly diverse musical tastes between the four of us, including black metal, folk music, death metal, jazz fusion, and more. So finding common ground when writing can sometimes be difficult.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Simply the feeling of going out to play a show, and seeing new faces who came out to see us play, or even just playing for people who haven’t heard of us yet. We love sharing what we have created, and take pride in it.
What was your biggest regret?
Our biggest regret was entirely out of our control, so it might be hard to call it a regret. We can’t go into specific details, but at one point we had the opportunity to tour as an opening act for a couple of bands who are very important to the post-black scene. Covid happened, and the tour got canceled.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
The best tour we have played so far was our run earlier this year with our friends in Hell Is Other People and The Listener. That was the furthest we have ventured together as a band as of now. W started with several dates in various cities of Ontario, and then left the province to play a couple shows in Quebec (for those who aren’t familiar with Canadian geography, that would be about a 9 hour drive from where we started). Just in general it was a great experience, we were able to play with so many amazing bands, and play for a lot of people in places we had never been.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
We have had a lot of surprises so far, but one of the biggest ones is how little black metal and black metal adjacent bands there are in our region. Black metal has never been too popular in Ontario (the province of Canada we are from), but we still have a pretty good pedigree due to bands like Woods Of Ypres, Panzerfaust, and Unreqvited. It has been pretty hard to book black metal shows here, although the bright side is that the few black metal bands that are around have become pretty tight-knit. It is a small, albeit close community.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
All of us have fairly independent musical tastes from one another, so the answer is different for each of us. Chris has been listening to a lot of Panzerfaust (the aforementioned post-black band from Ontario), specifically the »Suns Of Perdition« album series. Konrad’s current favourite album is »Suicidal Emotions« by Abyssic Hate, an Australian depressive black metal project. Scott hasn’t been listening to much metal lately, his rotation has been composed mainly of the outlaw country musician, Townes Van Zandt. Steve’s rotation has mainly been old-school thrash and death metal bands, in particular »Beneath The Remains« by Sepultura.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
What has stuck with us the most is that progress in the music business is very slow. The pace of success is glacial, but you just need to keep moving forward. Many people have said this to us in various ways, but the message is the same. Keep moving forward, even if the pace is slow. If you stop moving, you die.
What are your guilty pleasures?
There is nothing guilty about our pleasures.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Guelph / Ontario?
As previously stated, The black/doom metal scene in Ontario is fairly sparse, so it has been hard to find like-minded acts to collaborate with. We still play a lot of shows, but black metal only shows are pretty rare. With that being said, however, we have pretty diverse music taste, and multi-genre shows have been some of the best we have played. Even though black metal bands are uncommon, there is no shortage of metal (and non metal), with melancholic and emotional undertones here.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We are typically not too active this late in the year, however we have a couple EP release shows planned in the middle of November for »The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow«. One of which is at Futhark Records in Toronto. If you’re ever in Ontario, make sure to give Klaus a visit. Futhark is one of the best (probably the best metal shop in particular) record shops in the province.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
I think our future plans are quite consistent with what we are doing now, but scaled higher. We will keep writing music, releasing music, and playing shows. However, the biggest change that we want to make is touring more. It is something that we are still very new to, but now that we have completed one, we want to do more. So to sum it up, we are pretty much going to keep doing the same thing, but we plan to tour more, and hopefully do some festivals in the future.
How can people best support your band?
At the moment, the best way to support us is the Hypaethral Records Bandcamp page. Our latest release, »The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow« & »Elegies Of Loss And Doom« is available there, with various purchase options available (Shirts, patches, CDs, Vinyl, etc.). We are very excited for this release in particular, as it is our first release on a physical format. Other than that, the very best way to support us (or any band for that matter) is to come out to a show. Hang out with us, have some booze, buy a shirt.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Remember, there is no destination, only the journey.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well