Demystification dom Saturnian: Terrorizer finds out everything you need to know about Saturnian

Enigmatic black metallers Saturnian have been working hard, their ambitious debut album ‘Dimensions’ is out on Indie Recordings 24 August (you can stream this below!) and they have just played Bloodstock. We spoke with guitarist/backing vocalist Myk…

Can you tell us about how the band came together?

Saturnian was formed from the remnants of Traces, another band playing a similar sort of music but suffering from a lack of direction. Due to so many lineup and stylistic changes we decided to call it a day and start with the majority of the same members, with a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve from the start.

What are your primary influences, metal and otherwise non-musical?

Our influences range from Black Metal and Death Metal, to classical and film scores, to electronica, to traditional world music… Current influences on the material we are compiling are as diverse as Year of No Light, Behemoth, medieval Gregorian Chant and Hans Zimmer, so it’s a real mix of elements! With the new material we’re striving to make it incredibly atmospheric but also crushingly heavy at the same time. Non-musically, we are influenced by all sorts of literature, the places we come across in our travels, even events that occur in our day to day lives – despite the music and lyrics being very dramatic and over the top at times it is still very much from the heart

The album… are you proud of it? What does it represent to you? Where next?

We have worked very hard over the last few years to make this album what it is now, against all odds – despite a few false starts and endless difficulties we are now extremely happy with how it turned out, and are extremely honoured to work with such professionals as Russ Russell and the guys at Indie Recordings. Next comes promoting the album as much as possible, we are currently looking for gigs and tours, as well as already beginning the hefty task of dissecting the best of the best from the wealth of material we have stored up for future releases!

You have quite an unusual sound in the extreme metal scene. What inspired you to combine such brutality with classical in the way you do?

We generally try to pay very little attention to the modern music scene in general, at least in terms of it affecting our music, especially the UK scene, which, inevitably due to its small size, tends to breed bands with very similar styles. The combination of metal with orchestral music is mainly due to a likeminded group of people being equally passionate about both genres, we try not to listen to other symphonic/orchestral metal bands for the most part and just put our own spin on it, which I think is beginning to give us our own unique sound!

How do you think you fit into the current metal scene?

At least in the UK, I don’t think we really do – the majority of bands are still stuck in the same stylistic rut and it’s quite difficult to break out from under the weight of all of that, however a strong scene is brewing beneath the surface, and I really think in the next couple of years people will get sick of having heard the same ideas regurgitated for the last 6 or 7 years and start looking for music with real ideals and original approaches to metal. Alongside other such forward thinking groups such as Xerath and Nexus Inferis I think the UK is becoming a strong contender for the future of Metal!

Can you tell us about the songwriting process for your band?

The songs can take form in a variety of different ways really! Certain songs can follow a more traditional ‘rock’ structure, something that we always pay homage to in honour of all the great bands of the past that the UK has given us, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc. Others are almost written as if the band was an orchestra itself, with little repetition, complex rhythmic or key changes, counterpoints etc. We strive to give each song its own firm identity as much as possible, which is something of a lost art these days.

How does it feel to be playing Bloodstock, and what can we expect from your live show?

We are very proud to return to Bloodstock, and all looking forward to it as fans as well as a band. It truly is a great platform for promoting the strongest talent in Metal, both local and international, and with fantastic organisation to boot. >From our show you can expect power, brutality, elation and every emotion in between, with a new set and new appearance we have been hard at work to ensure our rebirth, as it were, to be a memorable one!

What are your ambitions for the future?

Currently our priority is to promote this album as much as we can, play as many shows as possible and get our name out there. We are also already working on new material for future releases, we have a huge library of material, some new, some years old, and it’s simply a matter of putting it all in the best format we can to ensure each release blows the previous one(s) out of the water! To put it simply, total domination!