Interviews: Epitimia

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Atmospheric Black Metal band, Epitimia, from Russia. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name; you planned it or came out just like that?

For the band name, we were looking for a term that would reflect the person's personal experiences. We stopped on the orthodox term "epitimia," which means the punishment that a repentant person imposes on himself. Over time, this word has acquired a whole complex of meanings for us that are not related to religion. We are interested in the very essence of human self-reflection, the searching of his place in the chaos of life.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

We have always been interested in black metal, because its anguish and aggression reflected our inner state very well. I think that's why we decided to play in this style, it just happened by itself. But we have never focused exclusively on black metal, our music has a lot of influences from other musical styles that we also love.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

We knew each other long before the band was formed. With M. we have known each other since childhood and with K. we have been friends since school. Before Epitimia was formed, me and M. played together in the melodic metal band called Syntagma, and we all played together for a short time in symphonic metal band “Autarchy”.

4. Each band member favorite band?

It's very difficult to choose one thing, so so be it:

A. - Hieronymus Bosch, Selbst, Suhnopher, Dvar

K. - The Ocean, Battle of Mice, Coldworld

M. - John Zorn, Fantomas, Chronic Waste, Nerve, Prohibited Beats.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

The main inspiration for us is personal life experience, and, of course, interest in music, a desire to create something new.

6. Where was your last gig?

Epitimia is a studio project, we do not play live.

7. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

All our contacts with fans are extremely pleasant, but I can tell you an interesting case about interaction with a musician. This was before the recording of our fourth album “(Un)reality”, which we decided to make very experimental, with the use of musical styles that are radically different from black metal. We decided to hold a series of rehearsals to play together better. We were looking for a session guitarist and posted an ad on the internet to find him. One of the respondents was a guy with a passion for “true” black metal who enthusiastically advocated for rehearsals, offering to play some stuff from Mayhem as a warm-up. Then we asked if he could play the reggae part, because one of the songs required playing in that style. We never heard of that guy again.

8. What do you think of your fans?

Our fans are very different people living in different parts of the world, and we excited about this. It's great that our music resonates with so many different people. In our music we appeal to the individual, not to the masses, so I think that the one who understood our message is a person who feels closely to us. Moreover, with versatile musical tastes.

9. What do you think of our site?

You have a very understandable and beautiful website that is easy to navigate. Not every website can boast of this.

10. Something to add?

We wish you all good health and creativity, no matter what the difficulties!