"The Soil Bleeds Black is not a typical ensemble posing renditions of traditional medieval folk songs but is rather a neo-medieval band portraying medieval themes and attempting to revitalize a forgotten age in a new era of thought and music. All of their hymns are original and exclusive. This is their goal and endeavor as artists of the musical trade".

I believe this is the first time you have talked to Russian speaking readers. Please introduce yourself to them (history of the band, line up, discography, achievements, philosophy, etc). Don't forget to tell about yourself.

Mike: Indeed, it is the first time we had an opportunity to speak our words to the Russian audience via printed matter. Vae Solis Webmagazine (Russia) had the first chance to explore our project, The Soil Bleeds Black. To introduce ourselves I shall first mention all band members: Myself: Mike Riddick (age 22), my twin brother: Mark Riddick (age 22), Eugenia Houston (age 23), and Amanda Blickos (age 18). Our band originated with myself and my twin in the year 1992, however we added Eugenia into our project in 1994 when our band finally took on the sound we now compose. We only recently added Amanda to our ranks as a vocalist and flutist. Our philosophy as a band is to express ourselves and to embody the totality of the human condition as filtered through medieval contexts. In essence, we seek to represent all of which is medieval through our own personal insights, experiences, and desires. This calls for a well rounded concept that endeavors to manifest a complete Middle Age environment. Our present discography is as follows:

"Summoning the Dragons of Wyth" Cassette EP, Dark Age Productions (USA)

"Because the world is so untrue, I go my way so full of rue" Cassette LP, Dark Age Productions (USA)

"The Kingdom and it's Fey" Digipack CD, Vinyl Gatefold Double LP, cruel Moon International (Sweden)

"March of the Infidels" Digipack CD, Draenor Productions (Austria)

"May the blood of many a valiant knight be avenged" Digipack CD, Draenor Productions (Austria)

Compilation Appearances:

"Seventh Key Creation Vol.1" Cassette Compilation, Seven Key Creations (USA)

"Nightshade Compilation Vol. II" Cassette Compilation (USA)

"Vivid Dreams Vol. I" Cassette Compilation, Vivid Dreams Productions (USA)

"An Dorcha Crionnacht" Cassette Compilation, Dark Age Productions (USA)

"The Dark Ages" Double CD Compilation, Arborlorn Music (Germany)

"Baited Breath" 2xCasette Compilation, Live Bait Recording Foundation (USA)

"Storm the Palace" CD Compilation, Verdelet Media (Italy)

...more forthcoming!

There are three of you in the band (I: The question was asked before they added Amanda). Please describe the process of music making. Who writes the lyrics, music...

Mike: The music making process can vary. It usually begins with myself or my brother composing the primary structure of the song (usually my brother), and then I shall add on elements or melodies and finally Eugenia will assist in touching up the song in its final stages with her voice and other assistance. Now that Amanda has been added to our group she may accomplish the same process Eugenia utilizes. In terms of lyrical scripting, both my brother and I construct these, through we sometimes invite others to write scriptures for us (e.g. Bard Algol from Cernunnos' Woods and Joe Lyons from Australia). The lyrics all deal with domain of that which is medieval through it is inclusive of our philosophies and ideas.

Mark: The keyboards or guitar are often the base of each song. Once those are recorded we add additional parts such as flute, tambourine, six fold bow, vocals, claps, mouth harp, recorder, samples, medieval weaponry, etc...

You and Mark are twin brothers. In your opinion, is it better for music writing or is it worse?

Mike: Yes, indeed we are twin brothers. As twins, we find it very efficient to compose music, as our musical visions coincide almost precisely. Having composed music together for almost ten years, it is very easy for us to work together on compositions and creating new ideas. Our minds work on a level of relation that I believe is lacking in most other groups. This allows us the capability to work quickly and with fulfilled expression.

Let's talk about your music. I heard only one of your albums, unfortunately. When I listen to it I imagine different pictures of the past: in a pub, battles, etc. Do those songs illustrate different sides of life or is there a link between them, a concept?

Mike: Yes, our songs illustrate various sides of the human experience. You listed as an example pub and battle scenes. A pub would be a social gathering for joyous festivities whereas the battlefield is a place that the mind can experience complete fear and aggression. We like to explore all facets of human empiricism and place them in a medieval setting, thus allowing a sort of stage or musical environment providing the medium for our conceptual project.

As I said, I have only one of your albums (I believe it's the only album in Belarus as well). Please tell us about your other albums. Describe them a bit.

Mike: Our debut album, "The Kingdom and it's Fey", was released by Cruel Moon International (otherwise known as Cold Meat Industry, Sweden). This debut recording featured our two past cassette releases on Dark Age Productions as well as multitude of other tracks. The overall sound of that album had dreamy aspect to it, through still being very medieval of course! Our second album, "March of the Infidels", is perhaps our most synthetic work, as it lacks traditional instruments. This album is very clear in terms of sound, and it's perhaps our so-called "battle album", as it has a number of tracks regarding medieval battlecraft and warfare. Our third album, "May the blood of many a valiant knight be avenged", is a sound crossection of synth and traditional instrumentation using more female singing and introducing Mark's male singing. It is our truest medieval composition to date, and is very raw in nature (as if it were being played live on the side of medieval street corner!) At the moment we already have more than enough music written for our fourth album which we are currently seeking out a label to release it. One can expect a much cleaner sound in coincidence with almost pure traditional sound (very scarce use of synthetics). The vocal approach is somewhat different as well, because Eugenia is using her operatic sound on this new music (which is not present on past recordings), not too mention the fact Amanda's new voice will be present as well.

Mark: "May the blood of many a valiant knight be avenged" is a recitation of the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We attempted to portray this romantic comedy in the appropriate setting by sampling from various Arthurian films and by utilizing a more natural sound. The tale of Sir Gawain and the green Knight is an Anglo Saxon Work written by an Unknown author between the dates of 1375-1400 (as estimated) and is divided into four parts (as is the album, respectively).

You play medieval European music in America, in the days of the Internet, nuclear weapons, cloning, etc. Isn't that strange?

Mike: It is odd for us to come from America and to play music that belonged to a European history. However, it must be understood that our individual roots stem from England, as we are very closely tied to this country in terms of our bloodlines (having three relatives on the Mayflower, from both sides of family). America is a very superficial place to live whilst Europe has a rich culture, inevitably making it more approachable in terms of devising a musical endaviour. As for the Internet and technology, I welcome it intirely, as I believe it shall influence the world as whole in terms of establishing a potential global economy and then a potential global community. It is not very hard these days to write to someone in Russia from America, as it was in the past. As for nuclear weapons, they may possibly provide extinction for our human race, which may come inevitably (especially when considering the philosophy of Puissance...which I find intriguing by the way). Cloning is another interesting manifestation, that is, what it can imply in terms of ethics and medicine. We are entering a very complex age and it shall take complex minds to adapt to it.

Every musician must evolve, but you play music of the past, which means you play a copy of the music which is done already. Does this mean you don't have room for experiments or new elements if you want to keep a sound as authentic medieval music?

Mike: This is very interesting question. It is true that if we wish to convey truly authentic medieval music then we would be limited as musicians. However, it would not limit us in terms of having the possibility to explore more and varied instruments of the medieval age. When we began The Soil Bleeds Black, we used only a synthesizer to create our songs, yet since we have evolved as a band we have added new instruments like true percussives, flutes, penny whistles, mouth harps, pipe chanters, etc... all of which we have picked up with no training and learned on our own. This allowed us to evolve into new instruments we would have otherwise never experienced as musicians, so I would say that there is potential to expand one's capabilities as a musician through it might not necessary imply an extensive evolution of the music itself. There is however, the possibility to branch our project into various other genres. Though this has already been done by many groups as it is. Take for example Merlons of Nehemian who compose medieval music in a rock vein, while there is White Willow composing medieval sounds in a progressive rock style, and Faith & the Mouse making medieval music with gothic appeal. The list can go on! We simply want to play medieval music with no ties to other genres (through we may do this on occasion in a very subtle manner). When we feel the need to branch off as musicians we always erect side projects as a result. As my brother and I have numerous side projects being worked on, as I shall describe further below.

What do the 3 periods before "The Soil Bleeds Black" mean?

Mark: The three periods, in English grammar, is called an elipsis. An elipsis means that something came before it. This is representative of the past, or in our case, the Middle Ages.

Mike: Yes, the actual statement "...the soil bleeds black" is derived from a paraphrased Druidic legend.

The future plans for TBB.

Mike: Our future shall be carry on as a group. Our two female members live in different states than us so this makes it difficult to record very often, but I don't see our group dying anytime soon. We have already existed for five years and we are ready for another five!

I know that you have projects other than TSBB: YAMATU, MOONROOT, etc. Could you tell a bit about these projects?

Mike: yes, we have a variety of side projects. MoonRoot is a progressive medieval fantasia band featuring my brother, myself, and Proscriptor McGovern of ABSU. We shall be recording some material this summer and will hopefully prepare a CD/ LP for Black Widow records out of Italy. Yamatu is my own personal avant-garde occult metal project that has existed for six or seven years. It is very unknown in the scene., through I have released several small rehearsal/ demo compositions/ chapters. In addition, I also have a project named Dragonwynd which deals with fantasy ambient 70s inspired sounds (ala Tangerine Dream, Jacula, Gryfon, Dragon, and Lucifer). You may expect a CD from this project on Profane Elite Productions (Peru) sometime this year. Furthermore, I have recently contributed some lyrical proscriptions and sounds for the second Equimanthron album, so you may expect that in the future as well.

Mark: Another one of our projects is entitled 15 Delights of Dionysus. This project involves myself, my brother, and a friend named Mike Bull. It revolves around the combination of art and the sound. We have already accomplished two live sound sculptures. We built an environment and created obscure ambient/ industrial sounds and displayed them in an art gallery. We also have two official cassette releases, "Thrice is the Divinity of Dark Gods"(split cassette with Italian death-industrialists, Drift - Harmonie Productions) and "The Lament of Virtue" (cassette LP - Slaughter Productions). Both releases are limited and with special packaging.

What kind of music do you listen to? Any favorites?

Mark: I listen to all kind of genres raging from darkwave, gothic, industrial, ambient, experimental, black metal, death metal, progressive, to 80's rock. Some of my favorites include The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud, Sopor Aeternus, Otyg, The 3rd and the Mortal, Storm, Stoa, Arcana, Die Verbanten Kinder Evas, Falkenbach, Cruachan, Absu, Proscriptor, Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Penitent, Tristania, Crystal phoenix, Xerkes, Theatre of tragedy, IISegno Del Commando, Front Line Assembly, Waiting For God, In Battle, Asia, Men At Work, Ataraxia, White Willow, Cryptopsy, Devil Doll, Download, Haujobb, Limbonic Art, etc.

Mike: Like my brother, I also indulge all forms of dark music, with particular emphasis on the experimental genre. I also like 80s rock very much...groups like: Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Cindi Lauper, etc. Lately I have been listening to the new Valefor album (dark industrial), Mondblut (electo-darkwave), Limbonic Art (symphonic black metal), Blackmores's Night (medieval music made by a former member of Deep Purple, and The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud (industrial-medieval-ambient).

Well, now it's time to talk about Dark Age Productions. Please introduce the label to our readers. I know it has a pretty original concept and philosophy. Tell about your releases.

Mike: Dark Age Productions is a label that has existed for four years now. It was initiated by Bard Algol Eriboas of Cernunos' Woods, and he released three Cernunos' Woods tapes before I joined with him (thus merging my label Seventh Key Creations which had released an Equitant tape). Together, he began the vinyl side of Dark Age Prod. with his vinyl release of Proscriptor's "The Venus Bellona" and I continued the cassette side of DAP. Shortly afterwards, Proscriptor McGovern joined in on the label and opened our southern tower, while I maintained the eastern tower and Bard upheld the northern tower. Together we strongly promoted the American occult experimental genre with our limited and Special releases! We have become quite well known for our unique tape releases that provide interesting and artistic packages (as we emphasize the importance of aesthetics accompanying sound environment). We have been quite successful in getting most of the DAP bands signed to larger labels like our own bands for instance (The Soil Bleeds Black, Cernunos' Woods, and Proscriptor) all became part of the Cold Meat Industry side label, cruel Moon international. This was very supportive for our label, as many people found our bands through them. Other groups like Profane Grace (whom we released) became signed to Memento Mori Productions (a side label of Dark Vinyl, Germany), and we also have some other projects that have hopes of being signed to other labels as well. In total, We did almost twenty-five releases. Unfortunately the label has died because my brother and I are too busy with other things and so is Proscriptor with his band Absu. Bard has since started his heavy metal magazine, Battle Helm, Which is gaining high recognition! We all were sad to disband it, but maybe someday DAP will be resurrected.

I know that you are a very good artist. I saw some of your artwork. The Dark Age site looks very cool too. You design stuff for other bands, so please tell me about this side of you.

Mark: Thank you for the nice words on my art. Yes, I've been actively designing demo covers, album covers, magazine covers, T-shirts, stage drops, etc. for the underground scene since 1991. I started out doing most of my work for death metal related bands & zines but since then I've also worked a bit in the black metal, gothic/ industrial, and darkwave genres. I have graduated from college just recently with a major in Studio Art and am pursuing this as a career. My most recent projects include a comic book for Gothic Studios entitled "Dark Deceit" (which I am doing the inks for). This will be published over the summer and will be available in the mainstream market. Gothic Studios is a new comic book company but I'm quite sure that they'll get a lot of attention as the staff is amazing (including cult gothic artist, Chad Savage & album cover painter, Stephen Kasner to name few)! I am also working with Mortiis on some watercolor paintings to be published in his book (which will be out shortly). I have recently joined the Hellion magazine staff as Assistant Editor. Hellion is a magazine based around extreme underground art and music. This is a high quality publication featuring work by masters as Petagno, Rob Smiths, Tapeworm, and several others.

Mike: I am glad you appreciate the artistic value of our endeavors. The Dark Age Productions website was designed by myself, as I do a great deal of web graphics and design. My brother and I recently completed the official homepages for ABSU and ARCANA. I also do computer graphics and design, dealing with album covers. Lately I have finished the latest artwork for Profane Grace's new album, as well as new Valefor album.

Here in Belarus, Russia, people believe that Americans have very stupid sickness: "we are the best country in the world", "American way", "American means best", etc. When I was in the States, I saw that too: people don't give a fuck about anything but the USA. What do you think about that?

Mark: America is very prideful. We have huge industries here, especially in entertainment. I'm glad to live here but I wouldn't say that it makes me prideful. I am grateful for living in a free country but it seems as though so many idiotic Americans abuse such a privilege as freedom. This is obvious in our high crime rates and murder statistics; it is really quite sad and pathetic.
Mike: American culture has been widely based upon what is known as the "American dream" and it is also one of the reasons why many foreigners come to visit and live in our country (though soon realize that such a dream is truly a lie). American society and it's democracy can at times be advantageous but it does have its many downfalls as with any political system. As for the persons within our country, I'd say that the majority of Americans are solipsistic by nature, that is they are very drawn towards the self and are individualistic, but in a negative sense. Some people in the USA don't care about their country though... usually because they never have bothered to understand who they are or how they got to where they are now. I enjoy America very much, but shall definitely like to visit Europe in the future (maybe even live there for short periods if time).

Well, this is the end of this interview. Please end it in your own way. Any message to our readers?

Mike: Thank you, Igor, for this opportunity for us to speak about our band, projects, and ideas in Legion Magazine! We appreciate all of your support and we invite all Russians to please explore our sounds and contact us. We are always interested in hearing from people. Support the underground movement and Legion Magazine! Until next time...may the blood of many a valiant knight be avenged!

Mark: Fare-thee-well!

�Contact addresses:

Riddick Brothers
604 Third Street
Herndon, VA 20170
USA

Email: riddick@erols.com

Eugenia Houston
Email: puregc@aol.com

Amanda Blickos
Email: childfire@hotmail.com

The Soil Bleeds Black Official Website: http://www.stack.nl/~bobw/music/artists/The.Soil.Bleeds.Black/

Cruel Moon International
Box 1881
581 17 Likoping
Sweden
Website: http://www.coldmeat.se/

Order@coldmeat.se

info@coldmeat.se

Draenor Productions
Vordrnberger str. 20
A-8790 Eisenerz
Austria
Email: napalm@computerhaus.at
Website: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/4765/