Ten Questions to .... Arc (Guillotine Dream)

UK goth act Guillotine Dream are back with a new album in the pipeline entitled Damaged and Damned, to be released later this summer by Secret Sin Records, following on from their impressive 2019 EP for the same label, Something Shining, Something Bright. Having also previously recorded for Oskar Terramortis’ ground-breaking Gothic Rock label, the bemasked trio are at the forefront of the current revival of interest in old school 80’s-influenced guitar-driven goth.

As a teaser for the forthcoming LP, Guillotine Dream this week released a chilling video featuring the album's closing epic, Vermillion, a real slow burner of a track which harks back to the bombastic early days of Fields of the Nephilim, with a full two-minute instrumental build-up before vocalist Arc begins to intone a vampiric lyric ("Look at those blood-red beautiful lips!") in a suitably chilling voice over an extended, detuned and powerful jam solidly underpinned by powerful Dawnrazor-esque drumming from sticksman Mapk. Lake’s buzzing bass and Arc’s tense-as-tripwire guitar slashes hanging like dense sheets of freezing fog complete a multi-layered aural assault that ensnares the listener in a tale of bloodlust, with some well-edited mildly disturbing horror movie visual tropes as an accompaniment on the video. Sonsombre's Brandon Pybus was one of many contemporaries duly impressed, succinctly commenting "They have a wonderfully dark sound. They never disappoint".

Having followed Guillotine Dream’s progress since first becoming enamoured with the up-tempo track Signs (think Trees Come Down meets In The Flat Field) from their debut EP Lemuria four years ago, the new song represents a further refining of their brooding, evocative sound and the album seems set to catapult them to the forefront of a UK goth scene which retained a niche presence during the global gothic slump of the first decade and a half of the new millennium thanks to the Whitby festivals and the consistent excellence of bands like Grooving Green, The Last Cry, NFD and more recently October Burns Black and Sometime The Wolf, to name but five acts.

I was therefore pleased when Guillotine Dream’s main man Arc agreed to an interview (but also felt some slight trepidation having read his not entirely serious discussion with Absolution and the "Goth Tinder" humour of Primitive's video), and subsequently delighted when he gave such full and interesting answers to some fairly predictable questions!

Current Guillotine Dream releases can be obtained via Secret Sin records and from their Bandcamp store.

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1.           You’ve been in bands for the past thirty years or so, mainly on the death metal scene (and some of which are also still active) like many artists of the current wave of goth bands (eg Sonsombre). What for you are the similarities between the two genres, and do you find that certain elements of death metal survive in your Guillotine Dream compositions?

Arc: Yes possibly. The energy is similar. I have deliberately stayed away from using a distorted sound on most songs for GD. Overdrive all the way. We are happy to shove in a growl or some double bends occasionally but keep away from anything too metal. I did (and still do) play death/doom metal so we don't want GD to be a metal band. Songs are much easier to create with GD and have a very free feel to them. The lyrics are also very enjoyable to write without the usual rigorous self-analysis and soul searching that comes with writing in My Silent Wake. I play in MSW with Lake and three other friends. Mapk was once a member of the band. Another old MSW member, Ash plays some gigs with us on second guitar. Both bands are enjoyable for different reasons. Plenty of metal bands such as Paradise Lost and In The Woods were goth influenced. The band Celtic Frost had a very experimental and dark edge to them which influenced so many and annoyed a few closed-minded individuals.

GD was formed for our own enjoyment and to fulfil the desire to play fairly traditional gothic rock, which we all enjoy immensely. Since around 2010 I had had some experience playing with my friend Martin Bowes in Attrition. I contributed guitar to The Unraveller album and Gary Gilmore's Eyes EP and played a few gigs. This was such a departure from playing thrash or doom and a completely different way of playing the guitar and I loved it.

I was in a goth band around 1990 with my friend Danny called Children of Power which had members of my thrash band Seventh Angel and another friend. Sadly, we only did one gig and split. In the end, many years later Danny recorded one of the songs with his band Zonei. Since then I have had a hankering to play trad goth again!

2.           Your initial EP release Lemuria got very positive reviews and saw you sign with Gothic Rock records for your first full album release, incorporating many of the EP’s tracks. Was the aim mainly to get your music to a more worldwide audience?

Arc: The EP tracks we used on the album were re-recorded so both versions could be enjoyed. Lemuria and Signs were extended and Darkling Rooms has a number of differences too. The aim was to be able to sustain regular recording sessions without having to plough any more of our own money in!

Of course we want more people to hear our music but we do it primarily for ourselves. It was a shame that the album was released just as Oskar was finishing the label. It had no real promotion.

3.           Many reviews of the early releases pointed out a similarity to Fields of the Nephilim. Were they an influence? Which other goth bands did you listen to when you first got into the genre?

Arc: Of course they were a huge influence! We all love them. The atmosphere they create is wonderful. For me my other major goth/alt/punk influences are Sisters, Bauhaus, The Damned, The Cult, New Model Army, Dead Can Dance, Faith and The Muse, Type O, NFD, And Also the Trees, The Mission, Rosetta Stone, Joy Division etc etc. I have always been a fan of goth and alternative as well as metal, classic rock and folk. Recently I discovered the music of The Blue Angel Lounge which I adore. My first few singles as a kid were Adam and The Ants, Saxon, Rush, Maiden and Bauhaus. Bowie's Ashes to Ashes and Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime were also real eye openers at the time. I must mention U2 as well.

 I don't see alternative styles as that different from each other in spirit and it's good to see more open-mindedness since the days I was growing up and the restrictive camps of punks, rockers, mods, teds. I still remember a school friend being appalled at me at about the age of twelve for liking Saxon as well as Adam and the Ants. If you love music an open mind is the best way. We all stand together against the mainstream shit. The useless crap on the radio masquerading as music these days sickens me. I grew up with Visage, Ultravox, Maiden, Motorhead, Priest, Bauhaus all entering the charts and all sounding incredible.

4.           You did a cover of The Sisters of Mercy’s Marian on the last EP, your first for Secret Sin Records. Why did you choose that particular song?

Arc: We had been covering it live and are all big fans of this song. I think it was an ambition especially for Mapk to cover this. We haven't covered many songs in GD. We did play Celebrate at our first gig and also covered a My Silent Wake song which is strongly goth influenced.

5.           For Marian, your more traditional “growled” vocal was more of a croon. Was that just because the Eldritch vocal line lent itself to that style, or are you looking at branching out in terms of your vocal style?

Arc: Actually Mapk sings lead vox on this song! This is the only song like this. He sings backing vocals on other songs.

6.           For the first Secret Sin EP, Something Shining, Something Bright, your guitar sound certainly had a shinier, brighter almost ringing tone to it, especially on songs like Three O’Clock and Creatures See, Is that something which will be carried over to the new LP?

Arc: Yes it has been pretty much. I haven't actually changed the tone much since we started but maybe added a little more gain etc. The sound on Wych Elm Bella was different due to my amp being a bastard on the day of recording that song. I think I used a Mesa boogie instead. Generally my trusty Vox/Schecter combination has worked well.

7.           The first track released as a teaser for the new LP, Vermillion, is a real slow-burning epic, like a stoner doom version of Dawnrazor. Are you aiming for a more epic, bombastic style of sound this time around?

Arc: I suppose it is similar in tone to Dead Genius on the debut. There is a lot of variety in tempos on this album again. It contains lots of the things we love about goth, but with a rawer, punkier edge this time. The recording was done in two days. When we went in, one song was just one small part and another was written from scratch during this time. The others were very roughly arranged. Pretty much everything was first take and the mixing had to be done without us being there. Some parts are very improvised and experimental but it all seems to work.

                           ("Look at those coated beautiful Rings!")

8.           The video that accompanies Vermillion is very chilling, and very removed from the “Party Rings” humour of the video that accompanied Primitive for example. Is that an indication that you’re taking Guillotine Dream more seriously as a project?

Arc: My girlfriend Sarah and I made it a few days ago for fun and it turned out very well. It was filmed and edited on my mobile and was done just behind where we live in the Welsh countryside. An element of the band has always been humour and disinformation or at least something a bit tongue-in-cheek, as it adds to the enjoyment and creates a bit of much-needed chaos. The band began life in a shop window in Stafford, believe it or not! A music shop had electric drums and amps set up and we couldn't resist. We aren't young and haven't/won't/don't want to, make any money from this so why take things too seriously at the risk of spoiling the chaos which is GD?  This is the first straight interview I have given tbh! We just make it up as we go along, a bit like our music!

9.           The band’s image – name, appearance, logo, album covers, videos - seems to be based on horror movie tropes. Is that an interest which you all share?

Arc: Of course! I am a fan of Hammer and the like and the more cerebral or supernatural side of things. I have a fascination with all things Fortean as well which has inspired many of the songs including Man ov Fyre, Number 16 and Lemuria. Mapk likes his gritty, gory stuff. Not sure if I have ever discussed this extensively with Lake.

10.         So far you’ve only played some relatively low-key gigs. When the current lockdown ends, do you intend to tour Guillotine Dream a bit further afield, as you’ve done with some of your other projects?  

Arc: If we get offered anything and our lives and health permit it, we will do at least a few gigs.