On the verge of their third European tour in three years and a headlining slot at the Doom Shall Rise festival, Doom stalwarts The Gates Of Slumber, are back. Be afraid. Be very afraid, this shit is heavy.

Well... I just saw Jason at the gym, working on trying not to look like Mammoth anymore... right now we are just gearing up for the next tour of Europe.

April sees the band head to Europe for a mini tour with Earthride, which includes a slot at the Doom Shall Rise Festival in Germany. How much are you looking forward to the tour?

It's without a doubt a real highlight for us. It's actually pretty lengthy. We'll be going from Glasgow to Rome and back up to Paris. It'll be the third time in three years and the second within one... so it's pretty much a lot of hopes, dreams and hard work coming together. We'll also be headlining one of the dates at DSR... so that's pretty amazing

nah... not really. I used to get nervy all the time. But now for some reason it just feels like coming home. You know? Last time we played there the crowd was really, really cool, I expect it to be the same, if not better this time. With Bob on the drums now we have taken on a much more intense sound. It really is a big difference. The only worry I have is playing for so long!

Oh, there is a HUGE difference in the crowds. European audiences are waaaaay waaaay more exciting to play for. People there come to rock out and have a good time. Sadly, all too often it seems like a 'scene' here in the U.S.A is a place to socially network rather than just have a bunch of beers and forget about 'real world' shit for a while. I love to tour, it's probably the most fun that I have in the band. I love getting out on the road, seeing old friends, making new ones, it's a lot like being some kind of Visigoth roaming the land and sonically pillaging shit.

For us, yeah it is. We are a metal band first and foremost, and not one of the "new wave" bands either. Also, having our records released on European labels really hinders us a lot in the US. We are basically an unknown here. We can play for great crowds in Gothenburg, but in Iowa City we don't draw at all. It's a lot more work to tour and play in the US. Bands in Europe get rooms and food and beer and money. Here you are lucky if you get a few free draught beers and a portion of the door a lot. There are a lot of killer fans here for sure, and it's always a good time to play... but it's tougher.

Yeah, it's not easy at all. We actually want to really try and make a push to get somewhere in the US. I hope with 3 CDs and 3 pretty stellar tours of Europe we can command enough money to get the van from one town to the next and buy some food.

Your most recent release, "Suffer No Guilt" has been out now for the past year or so now. What has been reaction to the record? In retrospect anything you'd like to change on the record?

Reactions have been really really good. It got four 'K's in Kerrang, Decible Magazine here in the US loved it. We sold our copies really fast, and it's in another press. I'm really proud of it. I think it could stand to have the drums re-mixed. I had to go back into the studio to do some re mixes to bring the guitars up and make it sound like a heavy metal album... the drums kind of suffered because of those re mixes. Even though Chris is not the drummer that Bob is I still think he played really well on it: Jason's bass sounds great and his lines are killer. The songs are really good. It's as good as we could do at the time... which is all we can ask of ourselves. We just want to try and make records that are better than the one previous.

Can we expect any new material to be aired on the European tour?

No, sorry... we tend to do songs in batches these days. It gives records more of a focused sound, which Jason and I are really into. When you hear a record it should sound like a cohesive piece. Really our stuff should be listened to on a whole... it's not for casual listening. At least I think so. We agonize for hours, or even weeks over 15 seconds of music sometimes... and then sometimes we shoot from the hip... it's strange to be honest.

We have the next record sketched out. Right now we aren't worried about getting in the studio at all. Personally I want to work Suffer No Guilt for a while longer and try to get as much out of it as possible. It's a record I'm really proud of and it deserves the time. I wouldn't expect to be in the studio again until 08'

It depends really. Songs can come all at once, or be a part that is lying around for years sometimes. Jason continually re-writes his stuff. Every week I hear about how he's gutted a song that he played for me and that I liked. Me, I'm all over the place. Sometimes I pick a key to write in, sometimes I look for a cool hook. Sometimes I just riff until I get something that I like.

"Suffer No Guilt" was released through I Hate Records, what is the status with your deal with I Hate? Have they been treating you guys well? Have you found any significant difference between a European and US label?

I Hate has been very very cool to us. They've done everything we needed and they are really working with us, I really like that. I can't say what the difference between a US and European label is, because we've never worked with a US label at all... Chris Barnes from Hellride Music did a CD for us, but he's an online seller more than a label. Chris put a LOT of work into our CD and without a doubt has been a true supporter of The Gates of Slumber.

Going back to Suffer No Guilt the album features the beautiful artwork of Ken Kelly. How did Ken Kelly become involved with the project?

Well, we knew that we needed a strong record to follow "The Awakening". We'd changed drummers; changed labels; and it was technically our second full length. All of those things are real big problems for bands, and we had that going on at the same time. Chris came up with the title "Suffer No Guilt" and from there we knew we needed a really strong cover piece to go with that title also we wanted something classic... like the Frazetta covers for Molly Hatchet's records in the 70's I bought those records knowing that they would be the heaviest of heavy metal based on the cover alone... imagine my surprise. Point is that people do judge books by their covers... maybe they shouldn't, but they do. I contacted Ken Kelly to look at getting a second license for Revenge of the Viking... my favorite painting by him. He was really cool and we did the deal. That's basically it... we knew that we didn't want to pirate him. We just aren't into that idea.

Yeah, Ken did that cover too! And it was just the vibe that the record had, the vibe that the songs have. We really let our influences come out on this one. Rainbow, Early Manowar, Thin Lizzy. The cover and the music just match.

You mentioned earlier that between albums you changed drummers. Bob Fouts is the current incumbent of the drumming duties for Gates of Slumber. What has Bob brought to the band?

Well, Chris Gordon, the guy who replaced Chuck just had a wealth of personal problems. Things were good at first, but he just never got his shit together. In the end he just wanted to be a bar band drummer... was unwilling and unable to make the sacrifices to do what Jason and I want to do. Bob has played with Jason before and was just a natural choice. He's mainly played in hardcore and death metal bands in the past... so this is a bit different for him, but his power and ability to find a groove and make it muscular is obvious. His biggest influences as a drummer are all quintessential metal players, so it's just a natural fit.

I don't imagine The Gates of Slumber is self-financing and your only means of income. How do you guys juggle all your personal commitments alongside those of the band?

hahaha, by going hungry. I work temporary jobs... Bob and Jason are both married and their wives really help out. It's a very tough proposition. If we could stay out on the road long enough it would be a self supporting deal... we don't do badly when we tour. I actually make more money on the road than I do at work!

What is the status with Slumbering Souls Records? Any future releases in the works?

We'll see. We've talked about it. But there are no hard plans. The proposition is basically to make it possible for us to release our own stuff, like the God Wills It single. We may do other things with it in the future.

The band, as I understand it, is heavily involved with the Circle Of True Doom. What exactly is the COTD?

I don't know what the status of the COTD is right now it is a group basically that allows like-minded bands or what have you to promote themselves. A lot of people get bent out of shape over the word "true" but in the end it's just a fucking word and a lot of people need to worry about themselves  and  their  own

sad bands. Rather than worrying about what we are doing. When we started trying to do this no one was helping us out. We've never even been approached to play Emissions or SHoD, any of the fests that cater to this style here in the US. We are "too metal". And we are a bit quick to tell people to fuck off. We don't do the schmooze thing very well. I guess that's one thing that binds all the bands in the COTD together a bit of an aggressive attitude towards things... I don't know. To be honest, I don't know if the term "Doom Metal" even applies to us anymore. We play slow, but there are a lot of True Metal and 70's Metal influences on top of the usual Saint Vitus / Pentagram / Candlemass sound We're closer to Manowar than we are to Pentagram.

But on the topic of true Doom metal bands, how much of a loss is it to loose the likes of Reverend Bizarre?

It's a sad thing that they are done, but they were not happy as a band anymore. It's official though... they are finished. One more record and then they are done forever. I used to think it was just a stunt, but it's over. Peter is going to do Lord Vicar and Albert is going on to Puritan. I don't know what Void is doing. I'll miss them though. We did two tours with them, and it was always cool.

Doom Metal appears to be going through somewhat of a resurgence with old classics being re-released, new bands forging new ground. What is your take on the health of the genre as a whole?

I think that at once it's doing better and worse than it ever has. It's cool that bands are forming and old groups are getting some attention. But at the same time there is fewer of the old guard around anymore. I try not to worry about things like that anymore. I just want to make the best music I can. If people want to call it Doom Metal, great. I no longer worry about what to call it. I guess I've changed a bit in that regard I'll always love bands like Iron Man. That's what Doom Metal is to me. But before it's Doom - it's awesome. I think that Doom needs to come into the fold of Heavy Metal. Really in the end there are only two types of music: good and bad. And there is a LOT of bad music out there. Bands like Trivium that just sound like synthesized versions of older bands. Groups like The Sword that just offer up watery imitations of the real thing. Style means less to me know that substance. I want bands that have a lot of depth in their sound, whatever that sound may be.

Personally, I think that Dio needed to stay on his own! Dio's solo stuff is god like. He doesn't need Iommi any more than he needs Ritchie Blackmore, That said I think the songs are amazing! I mean how could they not be Iommi is a god and so is But in a perfect world Dio would be doing Dio, Ozzy would be doing Ozzy and Iommi would have Tony Martin in Sabbath still creating great records! Iommi probably sold the name to Sharon Osbourne to make sure that he'd be comfortable in his old age. Not a bad idea, but sad that he's lost the band that he claimed as his for damn near 40 years! Dio... the collaboration is just going to be great. It's a real shame that Sharon won the Ozzy Vs. Sabbath war like that. Personally, Sabbath was always ahead... maybe not in record sales. But Sabbath's albums are all great. Forbidden is the worst, and that's still a good album. No matter what you hear. Headless Cross is a fucking hammer of an album.

But is seems that the whole Ozzy roadshow is now all about cash! He sold his soul and somehow that has rubbed off on latter day Sabbath reunions...or at least I thought so.

Oh totally. It was an embarrassment. That's what sort of ruined the whole "Reunion" idea you can't go backwards in time. You can't revisit things. In the end the Sabbath reunions are not flattering images of the band that created a musical movement. We all need to resist the urge to always look backwards. There are a lot of killer bands out today that have the same spirited music that we had in the 70's and 80's... they shouldn't be neglected in some stupid nostalgia trip.

The only other question I had was really where do you stand on those that feel genres like Stoner or Sludge is bastardization of true DOOM?

I think they are looking at it the wrong way: Stoner and Sludge come out of the punk scene. A lot of stoner bands cite The Melvins and the AmRep scene as influence... and Sludge all comes from EyeHateGod. These are bands that basically took what metal bands were doing and ran with it. True Doom Metal is a part of the Heavy Metal movement. There is basically nothing in common between the two, save for Sabbath... And Sabbath inspired everything. You'd never have Metal or Punk without them, really... they created the idea of dark or negative rock music. I don't think that a band like mine has anything at all in common with a band like Weedeater... we are just different beasts. Comparing us to them is like comparing a watermelon to a cucumber if you follow me. If someone is a fan of Weedeater and a fan of TGoS... awesome. I don't like that stuff... I hate that stuff. I don't listen to it. But I can't make other's minds up for them.

Well that sort of covers everything I had. Just conscience I don't want to take up to much of your time. Any words for all The Gates Of Slumber fans out there?

To all the supporters of The Gates of Slumber all I can say is thank you from the bottom of my pond! I love meeting you guys: when we started down this weird road all we wanted was your respect... and having that makes all the effort worth it. You fuckers rule! Thanks for doing the interview with us.