Summon: How did the band get started?
Kabal: Dominium came about back in 1999, The founding members Dominus and Malignus had a common interest in extreme metal, especially black metal and the progress began from there. I came on board in early 2000 to play bass. I left in early 2001 and by the end of 2001 Dominium decided to take a break. In 2011 (April), Malignus and I decided to resurrect Dominium to continue on what we had started years before. So far since the reformation of the band we have released “The Incursion” EP and are planning to start recording a full length this spring.
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Kabal: Fast nasty Black Metal.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Kabal: Back in the late 90’s we had a great following. We had the pleasure of playing with shows with Mayhem, Marduk, Incantation, Nile, Morbid Angel, Exhumed and others. Since our return last year the return interest has been great. We left the scene 10 years ago and came back with a vengeance and have had a terrific response to the old tunes as well as the new songs.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Kabal: The Band name came from the original definition of the power to use and destroy at our own will. With our music we want the listener to feel and experience the sounds of the end, total destruction. Malignus chose the band’s name many years ago and we have stuck to our original inception and intent.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Kabal: I am Kabal- Guitar, Malignus plays drums, Uzas is our Vocalist and Landphil (Municipal Waste) is on bass.
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Kabal: The music is all written by myself and Malignus, the lyrics myself, Malignus and Uzas all collaborate.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Kabal: Our lyrics come actual events as well as our feelings on religion.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Kabal: I think Satanism is almost as commercialized and received as any other religion in these times. In American being a Muslim is more horrific than a Satanist. But Satanism has almost become a joke nowadays, you can buy pentagrams at almost all clothing stores. Those of us that believe in the dark side of life know our path and stick to it. We wage our war and stance against the lies of pulpit in our own ways. The paths of true Satanists are still strong and well, we know who the false ones are.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Kabal: Since 1999 we have our demo tape “Curses of Wisdom” our 2000 release “The Black War Comes” and our current EP “The Incursion”. Currently we are preparing to enter the studio to complete our first Full Length.
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Kabal: Arise the Unholy is a song we previously had recorded but we decided to tear it down and redo it, make it in the vein of the new Dominium, more brutal. Unleashed and Enter Damnation are new Dominium tracks from the reunion and With Blade, Kingdom Conceived was one of our most popular songs back the first time around so we decided to update that song and give it a better recording than we had on our 1999 demo. And as a bonus we put the original demo track on the EP.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Kabal: I dabble in a few things locally, a GG Allin like punk band. But Dominium is my main focus.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Kabal: My big influences band wise are Venom, Mayhem, Profanatica, Order From Chaos, Immortal, I could go on forever. A lot of different music outside of metal I take influence from as well. Keeping an open mind as a musician I think is very important. Once you close that door you limit yourself on what you can do.
Summon: Which current bands?
Kabal: I still listen to venom pretty much every day, Marduk, Profanatica, Kult Ov Azazel, old school trash like Vio-Lence, Kreator, Sodom, Exhorder. I’m very open to new music so I listen to a lot of different types.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Kabal: We try to make the experience like you are watching a horror film, total chaos and terror.
Summon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Kabal: Not as of yet, we are looking into it now. We would hope to play overseas here within the next year.
Summon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Kabal: It varies from town to town. Hometown shows around 50+ came out to our reunion show. Richmond VA is an odd city, can never predict a turn out.
Summon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Kabal: Very good, normally a wall of head banging metal maniacs. Our intensity live I think shocks a lot of folks. People are used to the sad depressing black metal that keeps on coming out and we are not sad or depressing at all.
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Kabal: There are a lot of generic bands I see often. A lot of people still want to cop what they hear, inspiration and plagiarism are 2 different things. But thankfully a lot of Old school metal bands are making a comeback showing how metal needs to be. Autopsy coming back was probably one of the biggest musical highlights I have had in years. But there are several new US BM and DM acts that are kicking ass.. Bands like Immolith, Kult Ov Azazel, Noctuary are helping to keep USBM going.
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Kabal: Some bands I used to listen to a lot I have not listened to as much. A lot are trying to stick with the same framework that took them to the point of popularity and stuck with it. But every so often a band comes out that kills it.
Summon: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Kabal: Some new bands I have been digging are Witch King, Zygoatist, Humungus (RVA)
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Kabal: Currently we have a albums worth of new material done. We are starting the process now of finding a studio and hopefully start recording by spring.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band??
Kabal: After the album is recorded we are planning a US tour this summer in support of the release. As well as a few one off dates before hand. Once that is done we will continue to write and tour. Spreading the plague as we know how.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dominium/160279517373385
https://www.reverbnation.com/dominium666
