For those unfamiliar with your band, please give a brief one liner about your sound and a quick FFO.
Beldam hails from Seattle, WA, playing sludge/doom with blackened touches. With influences as diverse as Sleep, Eyehategod, Graves at Sea and Black Sabbath, we pair primordial, buzz saw guitars and massive low end bass with earth shattering drums and intense vocals/lyrics invoking death and despair. For fans of Bongzilla, Brainoil, Coffins, Conan, Crowbar, Dopethrone, Grief, High On Fire, Indian, Meth Drinker, Neurosis, Noothgrush, Om, Orange Goblin, Order Of The Owl, Pelican, Primitive Man, Pungent Stench, Rwake, Soilent Green, Sourvein, Sunn O))), Thou, Ufomammut, Weedeater and Zoroaster.
What was the writing process like for your album?
The writing process for Pasung was excruciating and exhilarating at the same time. We had the luxury of putting in some heavy pre-production into the tunes on Pasung. We essentially decided to lay off gigging while we were writing and jamming out the tunes the record. I would cut a demo to Garageband and email it out to all the guys. Randall was a beast during the creation of the album. I would email out a rough demo and he would show up to practice the next day with all of his lyrics and vocals ready to roll and the rest of the band hadn’t even jammed the song out together yet!
Beldam has had the fortune to have members from different age ranges and musical influences. It has kept the bar high for material pitched to the band. Each member has been steeped in different genres of music so no weak riffs or half assed songs make it past all the members. I feel another thing that has set the band apart is that all members are well-versed each other’s instruments and it keeps the checks and balances on material tight.
What sort of things inspires you to create music?
The number one thing for me is going to see other bands play live. You can’t get that energy or motivation in any other way. First thing I do when I get home from a show, is pick up my guitar and start writing riffs. Also, listening to other band’s records helps me out, too. I love getting a band’s newest release and hearing what kind of stuff they have come up with in between records and touring.
How do you feel about the current state of the music industry, in particular streaming services, “illegal” downloads and such?
I feel that there are many more avenues for getting music out to the masses which is great; however the days of flying in private jets and limos to gigs Zeppelin or Sabbath style are all but gone. Illegal downloading sucks but it’s a reality. We have to adapt accordingly because it certainly isn’t going away. So as musicians and performers, we have to figure out new ways to create revenue streams. I feel it’s useless to push back against trends and facts in the industry. Thieving music is real and to fight against it is the stuff dinosaurs were made of……extinction! I’d rather keep making music and continue to manage and understand the trends of the listeners and fans.
If you could share the stage with any other musician (dead or alive), who would it be?
This most definitely would be Tony Iommi today, tomorrow and 100 years from now!!!!!
7. Which albums are in your top 10 right now?
My top ten right now is:
Meth Drinker: their entire catalog destroys
Brainoil!: Greg Wilkinson is killing it down there in Oakland. He’s an awesome guy and he actually gave me some really great input on the songs that are on Pasung.
Eyehategod: The entire fucking catalog!!
Bongzilla: Amerijuanican
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew
Indian: The Unquiet Sky
Graves at Sea: the entire catalog!
The Beatles: Abbey Road
Sleep: Dopesmoker…..ALWAYS!!!!!!!!
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
Fast forward 5 years from now, what’s Beldam doing?
Five years from now Beldam will still be making heavy music with crushing riffs. This is my life’s passion and I will continue to do it until I am unable to pick up a guitar.
Craziest thing you’ve ever done together with the band?
This would only seem crazy to Beldam but we used to absolutely terrorize each other with half eaten bags of Moon Cheese. In fact, I think the original bag from back in 2016 is buried away in one of the guy’s gig bags and has traveled to many, many states.
Thanks for your time, anything else you’d like to add?
Beldam truly appreciates everyone’s patience as the band gets settled here in Seattle. As soon as we are up and running and gig-ready, we will make announcements across our social media platforms. Pasung represents Beldam at its most raw and finest in my opinion and we hope it resonates with all of you. Please visit our bandcamp page to purchase or download our material:
https://beldamofficial.bandcamp.com
We can also be found on any of these pages:
https://www.facebook.com/BeldamOfficial/
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd164.html
https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/pasung
https://twitter.com/beldamofficial
https://www.instagram.com/beldamofficial/