Summon: How did the band get started?
Stevil: I’ve been in various bands since I was a teenager(since about 1991). But it was always hard for me to find musicians who had the same vision as I did, especially in the grunge/alternative era of the 90’s. So I kinda gave up on music for a few years. But the fire was always inside me. So a few years ago, I decided to just write, create and record all the music myself. I’ve always had a passion for the viciousness of early/mid 80’s thrash and black metal, thus Haunt was born.
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Stevil: Haunt is a homage to early/mid 80’s thrash, 90’s European black metal, and classic metal of the 70’s and early 80’s with a little bit of punk attitude thrown in there as well.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Stevil: So far pretty good. Most like the raw, viscous sound. Also get a lot of props for playing all the instruments myself. Someone even made a Metal Archives page for me. That was pretty flattering.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Stevil: I’ve always liked strong, one word names that stick, easy to remember. It was hard finding a name that wasn’t already taken. Originally, I wanted to call it “Curse”, but that was taken like 100 times over. So then I came up with, “Haunt”. I did some digging and couldn’t find anybody else who used it. Then I thought, “fuck, it’s close to ‘The Haunted’ “, but I really liked it, so I decided on it. I think it fits the music well.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Stevil: Well, it’s just me, Stevil. I play guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards… everything.
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Stevil: That would be me as well.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Stevil: I have other projects where the lyrical topics are more socially or personally driven. Haunt allows me to delve into topics based on fantasy, insanity, dislike of Christianity or even my love of metal. It’s an outlet for my darkness to be released.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Stevil: I respect the fact that Satanists keep to themselves other than constantly preaching and pushing their views on the unwilling like most other religions do.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Stevil: I have released one full length(2012 – Curse Of The Northern Moon) and one EP(2013 – Nightfall Sorrow Eternal) via StillBorn Twins Records.
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Stevil: My latest is the “Nightfall Sorrow Eternal” EP. Musically, I wanted it to kinda be like a bridge my debut and my next album. Still keeping the viscous sound but adding some ambiance. “Abysmal Future” is about what I think will be the eventual state of the world. Sometime in our lifetimes, there will be an event in the world, be it war, disease, natural disaster, that will be catastrophic and cripple the world and wipe out a lot of the human race. It is inevitable. “Nightfall Sorrow Eternal” is more fantasy based. It’s loosely based on “Bram Stokers’ Dracula”. It’s about a vampire who has lived in decadence for centuries, with no emotion. But this vampire gets depressed because he wonders of the death that he has served out for so many years, and he’s all like, “what the fuck?,I’m not supposed to feel emotion” haha. I’m really proud of that one, it turned out cool.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Stevil: Yes. I also release material under the banner, Crucifyed. it’s more groove oriented, very Sabbath/Down influenced, heavy as fuck! Lyrically it’s more personal issues, just hardships in life and such. Very proud of it! I Also have several other projects that I work on periodically, but Haunt and Crucifyed are my main projects. Rarely a day goes by when I’m not working on music.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Stevil: Slayer(R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman) has always been my number one influence. Hard not to hear their influence in most thrash/death/black. Maiden, Sabbath, Motorhead, Venom on a more classic level. Viscous thrash like Kreator, Destruction, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Razor,Sacrifice. Then there is black metal influence, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, Dissection, Satyricon. Even some punk influence, Misfits, Samhain, Black Flag, D.R.I., early C.O.C., fuck I could go on and on…
Summon: Which current bands?
Stevil: I cannot get enough of Ghost. Some people may debate if they’re metal(I think they are), but such an amazing band. They have such a evil sound and image, so infectious. I can appreciate any band that praises Satan in such a catchy, sing- a- long fashion(haha). Mastodon is also amazing. Big fan of Skeletonwitch too.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Stevil: Only played live once, but not as Haunt
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Stevil: There are some awesome bands coming out of U.S./Canada, but like any genre, you get some original, amazing bands and then comes the hundreds of clones. I have discovered lots of great indie acts just by scouring reverbnation like, WinterLord, Deathymn, Crowfather, Murderous Ideology just to name a few.
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Stevil: The scene for black and death metal seems more genuine overseas because the scenes over there were so influential. You got the Swedish death metal scene in the 90’s, Norwegian black metal scene in the 90’s, and of course the birthplace of metal, England, with Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple and the band that coined the term black metal, Venom. Honestly, there is great metal coming from all over the globe.
Summon: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Stevil: I’ve been listening to metal for 30 years(since I was 7) so I’m always stuck on listening to the classics. But I’ve been listening to tons of indie bands like the 4 bands I mentioned earlier. Some others would be Ancestors Revenge, Primordial Conviction, Slotth, Dead Trip, Tyrants Blood, Blacksoul Seraphim and so many others. All are very good. Only a matter of time before some of these bands get signed.
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Stevil: I’m in the very early stages of writing my next full length. It’s gonna be a little different from my other material but it’s still gonna be Haunt. It’s important to me to keep a raw, viscous sound, it’s kinda my trademark. But at the same time I don’t wanna make the same record over and over again.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band??
Stevil: For now, to just keep making music. I do this because I love it. If other people like it, that’s great. So far, response from fans has been positive and I’m so grateful for that. I want more people to hear Haunt, to keep it growing. If it turns into something great, if not that’s cool too, cause as long as I enjoy doing it, I’m gonna keep doing it. Watch for a split tribute EP to the Misfits with Crowfather, coming soon.
Contact them at:
http://www.reverbnation.com/hauntdeadmonton
http://hauntdeadmonton.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haunt/506344349399621
https://twitter.com/666stevil
https://new.myspace.com/hauntedmonton76/music/songs
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVnfRrEWA6TYT-sgZ7y3fqw
