BAND OF THE WEEK: Kenodromia
BAND OF THE WEEK: Kenodromia
Giving stoner/doom a good name again.
Doesn’t it suck how some genres and movements of music are completely ruined by overplaying and overcrowding of generally unimaginative scenes? As much as I love Kyuss, or Fu Manchu, or Monster Magnet, or Miss Lava, or any other band “accused” of playing stoner rock, as soon as I see a band labelled with that heavy burden these days, I generally tend to stuff my ears with cheese and run the opposite way. And if it’s coupled with something else, like the tenebrous “stoner/doom”, I might even play some Kate Bush to drown it out as if it was fucking Vecna himself coming for me, visions of purple-clad people standing in front of orange amps singing about weed while recycling ‘Symptom Of The Universe’ riffs at 4pm on a Desertfest stage dancing around my troubled psyche.
Therefore, the fact that today’s Band Of The Week is a band generally classified as stoner/doom who used to be a Black Sabbath tribute band should not go unnoticed among you. I wouldn’t pick a band - hell, I wouldn’t go near them with ten metre spiked baseball bat - like this if I didn’t think they’re really bringing something different to a table full of [insert food you dislike here and imagine it spoiled for ten years] already. Kenodromia do indeed fit the general characteristics of the genre, and while they aren’t necessarily reinventing the wheel either, there’s something remarkable refreshing about them.
Hailing from a country with enormous traditions, but mostly in other wildly different genres (Norway), they have quite a history behind them already (they explain all in the little interview below, don’t worry), and this recent incarnation under the new name is actually a sort of return to their roots, reuniting the original line-up when they were called Fallen Angel (they turned into Hideout in the meantime, and now settling on Kenodromia), with singer Hilde Chruicshank back in the mix. This is a crucial step, because - and no disrespect to the rest of the band, whose swagger and groove are massive and passionately played - she is kinda the highlight of the whole thing. Dynamics are great, they know how to employ space, they don’t just slow down when that supermegaheavy part is coming down - just check out that moody mid-section of ‘Bound’, my favourite tune on their debut EP -, but Hilde is one of those frontwomen that brings instant personality and a distinct flavour to a song.
That’s the last of the three songs on offer on the aforementioned EP, which was released last Monday, but all three of them are finely crafted tunes that make the total of 22 minutes just fly by. Doomy, sure, but there’s a distinct grungy feel to it too, a sort of leftfield, morose grunge like Pist.On (I went on about one of their old records recently, if you remember) are masters of, for instance. In fact, there’s less tired rehashing and blatant, boring Sabbath worship in these people’s music than in 90% of what gets thrown into the stoner dumpster fire these days, which considering they were, as I mentioned before, a fucking Sabbath tribute band, really should tell you something.
So, dive in without fear. Chunky riffs and great melodies await you. And now, over to them!
Could you tell us how Kenodromia started, what are the origins of the band?
Hilde Chruicshank (vocals): Kenodromia is very much the rebirth of a Black Sabbath tribute band, Fallen Angel. Eigil can fill us in on the actual beginnings, as I was the last to join the group back in the day. We covered songs from the first four Sabbath albums.
Eigil Nicolaisen (guitars): The band started out as me and drummer Trond had a couple of beers too many, haha… We had so much musical energy going on when playing together, and felt the inspiration from the riffs and rhythms of the old Sabbath stuff. I came from a local grunge oriented band called Lumachelle before that. Hilde left us for exile in the UK some seven or eight years ago - that's when we decided it was time to start writing our own riffs and rhythms. As the pandemic hit the world, we hit the studio in 2020, recording our first EP, ‘Vakuum Sessions’, under the name Hideout.
When you got together as Kenodromia, did you know exactly the kind of sound you were after? Has anything surprised you in the meantime, in terms of what you’ve written together?
Hilde: We were definitely after a strong stoner vibe, but on the heavier side (we don’t hate slow songs, haha!). I’ve always known that the guys would be able to blow me away with what they bring to the table every time we start writing something new, so the biggest surprise for me is that my sometimes weird ideas have found their match in their instrumental soundscape.
Michael Sindhu (bass): Our sound is the shape of our individual influences and what we listen to, and we bring in those elements to give the songs what they need. That's what makes the songs us, Kenodromia! Music grows with us, and current bands like Witchcraft, Lowrider and Kal-El can be equally important influences as for example Kyuss and Motorpsycho.
Sabbath influences everyone, of course, but still, how much do you think the band’s past as a Sabbath tribute band still play a decisive part in your music? Is it something you fully embrace, or do you somehow try to get away from that, to find some individuality?
Hilde: I think it’s shown us that you can have great variety across the songs on an album, yet still have a recognisable “sound”. For me, going from ‘Snowblind’ to ‘Paranoid’ and then straight into ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ was a great learning experience. Especially when it comes to timing and technique. Looking back, I loved the experience, but I thoroughly welcome not having to do things “just so”. You just don’t fuck with Sabbath. Also, singing lyrics that haven’t been written by the bass player helps, haha! I found it quite difficult to work on my own lyrics whilst being in the Sabbath headspace. I very much embrace the freedom that comes with writing your own songs, and writing melodies that’ll suit my voice better. Saying that, I do reckon we’ll pull up one or two songs from the old set in a live setting.
Michael: I see no point in shying away from inspiration and our past; if we tried deliberately to get away from Sabbath, we'd be in trouble, ‘cause Iommi already did the riffs decades ago! I think embracing both old and new bands we like is what eventually shapes us.
Tell us about this new EP – what can people expect from these three songs, in your opinion?
Hilde: You can expect something a little different. Lots of weird twists and turns, with an honest and raw element to it.
Michael: The new EP for me is about diversity for the listener. It’s a teaser for what is to come in the future.
Could you tell us a bit more about the lyrics? Is there any overall concept or theme that you’re exploring with these songs?
Hilde: I guess you could say the song titles make up the concept for this EP. After having lacked a creative outlet for so long, both with me singing mainly covers, but also being in a headspace where I felt completely inept at most things - never mind the writing, it’s ultimately about saying goodbye to letting yourself be bound, slandered and corrupted. The songwriting process was a bit different across these three songs. On ‘Bound’, the lyrics just came together almost immediatly the first time we jammed it – the droney riff sort of put words to a feeling I’d had for a long time and I couldn’t move my pen fast enough, whereas with ‘Corrupted’, I had the words already floating around in my head, much due to my complete disregard of the current political climate. With ‘Slandered’, it occurred to me the other day that, rather than pointing fingers at something outside of yourself, the “old man” might as well be my own nagging inner voice, that’s constantly stopping you from making progress.
I tend to be quite blunt as a person, so, as you can probably tell, I’m not very big on using metaphors in my writing. Saying that, my lyrics should obviously be open to interpretation! Listening to music is very much a subjective experience, and words can mean different things to different people. But I do feel that the titles create a common thread for three songs that are quite different in both composition and lyrical content. Bringing them together, in a way.
How is usually your method of writing? I hope I’m not wrong, but this really does have that organic feel of four people in a room making noise at each other, do you jam together a lot when writing?
Hilde: You’re absolutely right – jamming is a big part of the process for us. We enjoy seeing what comes naturally and how far we can push things in a sort of symbiotic environment. We will of course exchange ideas if we manage to record any “epiphanies” outside of the rehearsal space, but most of the time we just jam it out. It’s the best possible way for myself to tap into the energy that a good, long jam gives you. It’s a bit like we cease to be four separate people, and somehow become one entity when we play.
What are your plans now, was the EP a good warm up for a proper album?
Hilde: It’s definitely given us the motivation we needed to finish the songs that we shelved during the recording process. We want to start getting some gigs under our belt with our original material. There are definite plans for a full-length in the not too distant future.
Eigil: We got a good bucket full of heavy riffs, and a quite good flow of ideas going now. The energy in the rehearsal room - our noise asylum - is good. “A good warm up”, is pretty much what I would call it.
What are your expectations with this band? Do you have any goals, or plans, that you’ll try to see through?
Hilde: Expectations can be a bit tricky, but I predict we’ll be gig ready some time in September, and then play as many gigs as we can over the next six months. And then hopefully playing some festivals next year, potentially with a fresh album in the bag. Fingers crossed!
Michael: Agreed, Hilde nailed it, but forgot the beers we’ll be having along the way haha!