1 - Hail DÄRKM@STËR ! Firstly, can you introduce Atonement to our readers?

- Hail child of the night!
ATONEMENT was formed by me in the summer of 1997 with only 4 elements, (guitar, vocals and 2 keyboard players).
Later, joined the band a drummer, bass player and another guitar player. We started to play Doom Metal.
At the present time we play Melodic Black Metal.



2 - Why did you choose “Atonement” as name of the band?

- Well… It’s a nice name don’t you think? (laughs)
In 1997 I was reading a book about “ATONEMENT”, and I said to myself: “Hey! ATONEMENT is a good name for the band!”.
I introduce the name to the band members and they just loved it.
Of course we had other choices, but we never had an agreement about a name for the band.



3 - In the beginning, Atonement was playing doom metal and you have released your first demo called “The rehearsals” in 1998. Are you satisfied with this first demo ? What was your objective at first?

- In my personal opinion, I’m not satisfied with the first Demo, but I like the songs and we still play some at our gigs like: “Believe” & “Brave Till The Grave”.
Our first objective was to show our songs to the fans.
We had lot of gigs between 1997 & 1998 and our closer friends always asked: “For when the ATONEMENT first Demo?”. So we did it.
After that, we were invited for interviews on Metal Radio Shows, we received invitations to play in Brazil, our songs played for a long time on the local Radio Stations and we had some reviews on specialized magazines from Portugal and Brazil.

4 - “The rehearsals” is an excellent doom metal demo. What are your doom metal influences?

- Thank you.
At that time our influences were Crematory, My Dying Bride and Moonspell.
The press even considered us like Moonspell at their first and second albums.



5 - The sound of this demo is quite bad. How did you record the songs?

- Yes it is a bad recording. It’s like a live gig without the applause (laughs).
We record it with a friend that had some recording stuff and it was recorded in a garage with only 3 mikes.
We were new at this process. We had never recorded before. It was all recorded in one night.
We didn’t have money to go to a professional studio, so we choose to record “The Rehearsals” like this and because it was a rehearsal. That’s why the name of our first Demo.



6 - The atmosphere of the songs is very sad and depressive. What do your lyrics mean?

- You’re right. Very depressive.
The lyrics talk about how persons can be bad and evil to each other.
Those persons think that they can be like a God and rule the world.
To resume, people are very proud and don’t see the truth around them, and they just wanna go to the top and don’t mind about anyone else. When they aren’t useful anymore they are throwned away.


7 - Then, you had lots of problem concerning your line-up and your style of music changed. Now, Atonement plays melodic black metal with heavy metal influences. Why did you change your style of music?

- Yep. That’s right.
We had some problems with the line up.
Our drummer and the 2 keyboard players leave the band by personal reasons, but we still are friends.
I wanted to change the style cause I wasn’t satisfied with our first style of music. It was boring for me to play Doom Metal. It was very slow and depressive and I wanted something more aggressive, so I formed a new band with the remaining members and some new.
At that time I played drums, but that project didn’t go far.
In 2001, my brother, (drum player), return to the band with new and fresh ideas and we all agree to change to a more aggressive style of music.



8 - In 2003, you have released your second demo called “Beyond the shrine of doom” which is excellent in my opinion. Are you satisfied with this second demo?

Yes. I am satisfied with “Beyond The Shrine Of Doom”.
It was recorded in a “real” studio with a “real” producer at Soprano’s Studios in Gafanha da Nazaré – Aveiro, with good material.
I am very happy with this recording cause it’s our sound.
We had lot of fun recording it. We had a great time there and we did exactly what we wanted with no restrictions.



9 - What are your black metal influences?

- Our Black Metal influences are: Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child, Emperor, Anorexia Nervosa… It’s basically it.



10 - The sound of “Beyond the shrine of doom” is good. How did you record the songs?

- I already answer that above.
We recorded the songs with pro-material, in a good studio and with a great professional producer (Carlos Bola).



11 - What do your lyrics of “Beyond the shrine of doom” mean?

- The lyrics from “Beyond The Shrine Of Doom” talk about the destruction caused by the believes of all religions, and our way to see and deal with that obscure world that is religion.
The words of God are thinked and told by men and not by God Himself and everyone have their own way to expound the same issue.



12 - You have made a video for “Exhumed anguish” which is very nice and funny.
How did you make the video?

- (laughs). It’s very funny. I laugh all the time I see it.
“Exhumed Anguish” video was made with some parts from our gigs we did between 1998 and 2003.
We choose the best scenes, put them on our computer, join them with a movie maker program and we put the “Exhumed Anguish” song.
The credits of that video go all to my brother, (drums), that worked many hours on it.


13 - Are you in search of a label? When will you release your first album?

- We are searching for a Record Label and we already had some meetings with a few Labels.
There’s one in particular interested in ATONEMENT.
We still are in negotiations.
Let’s see what future will tell us.
As you can see, I cannot tell you everything about that subject, but I can tell you that is a Label outside Portugal.



14 - What do you think of the success of Moonspell in the world? What do you think of the Lusitanian metal scene in general ? Can you recommend me some good Lusitanian bands?

- I give my congratulations to Moonspell cause they are the only Portuguese Metal band with success outside Portugal and well known in all the world.
They are doing a good work. I love in particularly the last album. They returned to their roots.
The Lusitanian Metal scene is growing and there are more Metal bands and fans in Portugal.
I just regret the lack of support and places where to play.
I can recommend you a very good Lusitanian Metal band called “ATONEMENT” (laughs).
Now without jokes, you can find good bands like Grimlet, Tomb Of Gods, Tribasativa, Enchantya, Requiem Laus, etc… and of course Moonspell.



15 - Do you know some French metal bands?

- Yes I do know some French Metal bands, well… only 3 (laughs).
I just know Anorexia Nervosa, Furia and Penumbra. Good bands by the way.

16 - What are your objectives, now?

- Our objectives now are to have a deal with a Record Label and to get our music to more audience as possible. We are working on that very hard. We take it seriously.



17 - Any last word?

- First of all I would like to thank you for this opportunity.
I hope that Lusitanian Hordes never die and that ATONEMENT and all other Lusitanian Metal bands achieve their goals.
Last but not least, visit our official web page at: