(Our doom-addicted Russian contributor Comrade Aleks returns with another interview — and this time he talks with guitarist Jonathan Bates from the critically praised Dallas band Elliott’s Keep. We’ve got music from the band in here, too)

Elliott’s Keep is a strange example of an original and professional band who have stayed in the shadows despite all of their merits. This Dallas-based trio have worked in their own way, composing a tight and both epic and sinister mix of thrash, progressive, and doom metal since 2006. Their third work Nascentes Morimur was released in November 2013, and since then I have been immersed in this record, listening to it time after time. In the end, I found myself thinking that I needed to spread the word about Elliott’s Keep further, and these thoughts disturbed me until I finished this interview with Jonathan, the man with the black distorted guitar.

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Hail Jonathan! The third Elliott’s Keep album Nascentes Morimur was released in November 2013.  What has happened in your lives since then?

Greetings again, Aleksey!  Things have settled down a bit after the busy times associated with the release of the new record.  We played locally and have been starting to work on new songs.

Nascentes Morimur shows the band’s strongest sides and it took three years to write, record, and release it. Can you tell us the story of this release?

After releasing Sine Qua Non, we dealt with various life issues, including a significant vocal paresis for Ken that sidelined him in that aspect for nearly six months.  We also took time to build our own practice studio, which is now a convenient and efficient asset.  As we composed and polished the songs for Nascentes Morimur, the months did turn into years and, before we knew it, three years had passed.  As with each of our albums, we recorded with J.T. Longoria at Nomad Studio in Dallas.  That was a four-month process, through tracking, mixing, and mastering.  Once that was finalized, Joel had the art ready and it was off to duplication and release. Continue reading »