Hailing from the English Midlands, its finest stoner doom outfit ALUNAH are finally back in the studio and have now unveiled first and exciting details about a brand new album, which is set to see the light of day in early 2017 on Finland's cult label Svart Records! 

The charismatic band with their nature inspired, psychedelic and doomish spirit are currently working in the Skyhammer Studios with CONAN's Chris Fielding, to record their 4th studio album. But while they do, ALUNAH have now unleashed first and hotly anticipated details from their upcoming record titled 'SOLENNIAL'! ​The album will feature guest appearances from Crippled Black Phoenix's Charlotte Nicholls and Oily Toys' Rich Harris, along with our first recorded cover - "A Forest" by The Cure. 

The tracklist of Solennial will read as follows:

1. The Dying Soil
2. Light of Winter
3. Feast of Torches
4. The Reckoning of Time
5. Fire of Thornborough Henge
6. Petrichor
7. Lugh's Assembly
8. A Forest

For 10 years, since first coming together back in 2006, Alunah have trafficked in a blend of the earthly and the unearthly. Over the course of their three albums – 2010’s Call of Avernus, 2012’s White Hoarhound and 2014’s Awakening the Forest – the four-piece have been a constant force of progression into an individualised take on psychedelic and organic heft. Their material has never lacked structure or groove, but with the melodic vocals of guitarist Sophie Day ever at the fore, they keep an eye toward the ethereal as well.

As they always do, Alunah are moving forward. Sophie, guitarist David Day, bassist Daniel Burchmore and drummer Jake Mason have just recently signed to Svart Records for the early 2017 release of their fourth album Solennial, which they are currently recording with Chris Fielding (Conan) at Skyhammer Studio, also owned by Conan’s Jon Davis. Following in the footsteps of Svart alums Hexvessel, or Jess and the Ancient Ones, Alunah arrive at Svart Records preceded by a reputation for blending nature worship and heavy vibes with a grace that few can match, basking in a sun-soaked spirit of beauty and decay, folklore and deeply personal expression. 

Look for them to expand their sonic palette with their upcoming album Solennial, set to be released in early 2017 on Svart Records, and see them build on what they’ve accomplished before in their rich, engaging sound that seems to be always wandering and never, ever lost.

To shorten your wait on Alunah's brand new album, catch the band live on the following dates:

20.10.2016 UK – London, Devonshire Arms
21.10.2016 NL – Tilburg, Little Devil
22.10.2016 NL – Into the Void Festival, Leeuwarden
28.10.2016 UK – The Coal Vaults, Coventry 

For More Info Visit:
www.facebook.com/alunah.doom
www.alunah.co.uk
www.svartrecords.com

Hailing from the English Midlands, nature inspired doom band ALUNAH have signed a worldwide deal with SVART RECORDS!

For 10 years, since first coming together back in 2006, Alunah have trafficked in a blend of the earthly and the unearthly. Over the course of their three albums – 2010’s Call of Avernus, 2012’s White Hoarhound and 2014’s Awakening the Forest – the four-piece have been a constant force of progression into an individualised take on psychedelic and organic heft. Their material has never lacked structure or groove, but with the melodic vocals of guitarist Sophie Day ever at the fore, they keep an eye toward the ethereal as well.

As they always do, Alunah are moving forward. Sophie, guitarist David Day, bassist Daniel Burchmore and drummer Jake Mason have now signed to Svart Records for the early 2017 release of their fourth album, yet untitled, and are set to record in September with Chris Fielding (Conan) at Skyhammer Studio, also owned by Conan’s Jon Davis. 

Following in the footsteps of Svart alums Hexvessel and Jess and the Ancient Ones, Alunah arrive at the label preceded by a reputation for blending nature worship and heavy vibes with a grace that few can match, basking in a sun-soaked spirit of beauty and decay, folklore and deeply personal expression. 
"Svart are a label that I have followed for a long time, they introduced me to some of the music I listen to the most, in particular Hexvessel and Jess and The Ancient Ones. As a band we feel very honoured to form part of their rich heritage, and are excited to be starting a new chapter on such a well respected and diverse label." vocalist & guitarist Sophie Day comments on the recent signing.

Look for them to expand their sonic palette with a brand new album, set to be released in early 2017 on Svart Records, and see them build on what they’ve accomplished before in their rich, engaging sound that seems to be always wandering and never, ever lost.

- Biography by JJ Koczan, PR by Mona Miluski.

Soph and Dave
1. Paradise Lost - "The Plague Within"
2. Myrkur - "M"
3. Royal Thunder - "Crooked Doors"
4. Undersmile - "Anhedonia"
5. Gentleman's Pistols - "Hustler's Row"
6. Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats - "The Night Creeper"
7. Slow Worm - "The Inverse Ascent"
8. Chelsea Wolfe - "Abyss"
9. Ugly Kid Joe - "Uglier Than They Used Ta Be"
10. The Prodigy - "The Day Is My Enemy"

Printed reviews, features and adverts from magazines as we have them.

Thanks to Queens of Steel for what is possibly our first "Awakening The Forest" review! We've had this roughly translated (below) and it's a great first review!

"Conocidos inicialmente como ALUNAH, la banda británica liderada por la vocalista Sophie Day decidió cambiarse el nombre a ALUNAH un par de años después de su creación. Pues bien, tras ello han publicado una demo, un EP, un split y tres discos de estudio, el último de ellos titulado “Awakening the Forest” y publicado a través del sello Napalm Records. El sabor setentero de los temas se puede apreciar a través de algunos acordes psicodélicos que introducen un apreciado colorido dentro de un oscuro patrón musical. La lentitud en los ritmos de esta obra que combina el Doom Metal y el Stoner hace que tengas que disfrutar cada pista con calma y tranquilidad, saboreando cada segundo como si fuera el último. El alto nivel de Groove, los solos rockeros y el estilo de cantar tan retro de Sophie, completan una notable obra que como ya he dicho con anterioridad, hay que saber catar con calma y sin prisa alguna. Puntuación: 8/10"

http://www.queensofsteel.com/2014/09/alunah-awakening-the-forest/

a) Who r the guys in the band - different characters? 
I’m (Soph Day) the vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Dave (Day) is our lead guitarist, Dan (Burchmore) is our bassist and Jake (Mason) our drummer.

b) Your favorite bands / musicians 
My favourite band is The Doors. I also love Big Brother and The Holding Company and Janis Joplin’s solo material, Hexvessel, Ahab, Jex Thoth, Nick Drake, BB King… all kinds of different things there.

c) What kinda music do u really hate? 
I’m not a fan of power or symphonic metal.

d) Which records would u take to a lonely isle here u only have a cd player? 
Portishead’s back catalogue, “The Giant” by Ahab, “Cheap Thrills” by Big Brother and The Holding Company, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” by Black Sabbath, “Morrison Hotel” by The Doors and “No Holier Temple” by Hexvessel. I could go on and on…

e) What else would u need? 
Family photographs, contact lenses, a guitar, paper and a pen. I’m vegetarian but I reckon I’ll have to learn to eat meat and fish too…

f) Funniest tour experience? 
DeserFest Berlin was perhaps the best time we had on our last tour. We had quite an early slot, so spent the time afterwards drinking - some of us more than others. We spent the evening with members of various well known bands, spoiling the well behaved reputation we have built up haha.

g) Worst or most embaressing situations? 
I think the worst involved a public toilet in a Polish hostel, and two men – one defecating in a shower, and the other masturbating into a urinal. As you can imagine, I made a hasty exit. Grim.

h) Best concert u´ve ever seen?
That’s a difficult one. I went to see The Doors twice when they reformed with Ian Astbury on vocals, and both times were amazing. I’ve seen Sabbath a few times, but their last Birmingham gig was incredible. Soundgarden at Download Festival is also up there with one of my favourite gigs. The Kyuss reform gig was also amazing. However, I’m generally not a fan of big gigs, some of the best gigs I’ve attended was in pubs back in the late ‘90s, early ‘00s when I first got into this type of music - watching Mastodon, High on Fire, Orange Goblin, Sixty Watt Shaman, Spiritual Beggars, Nebula, Truckfighters, Brant Bjork etc in tiny rooms was awesome.

i) Best newcomerband? 
I’m not really aware of many new bands that are coming up, but our friends’ new band Ki are very cool, some of the guys used to be in Moghul. Also, they’re not really a new band but I really enjoyed Monolith Cult’s debut album “Run from the Light”.

j) Nicest holiday? 
My honeymoon in New Orleans and Memphis was easily the best and coolest holiday I’ve ever been on.

k) Happy about... 
My life at the moment. I have a great husband and family, brilliant friends, a job I enjoy, a band I’m loving being in and generally having great experiences.

l) Disappointed about... 
I’m not really disappointed in anything, but I wish my dad could be here so he could hear the new album and share the experiences with me. He passed away just after “White Hoarhound”, so he got to hear that album.

m) Where did u grow up? 
Brownhills, West Midlands, England – 12 miles North of Birmingham.

n) Favorite food? 
I absolutely love Indian and Moroccan dishes.

o) Can u cook? 
Yeah, I love cooking. I cook a lot of dishes from scratch, and like experimenting with different cuisines. I’m vegetarian but I don’t mind cooking meat for people.
 
p) Your idols, influences? 
My parents and nan are my idols. They brought me up well, and gave me lots of amazing opportunities.  

q) How was school? 
I loved school, without it I wouldn’t have been able to go to university – which were some of the best days of my life.

r) Still have “normal” jobs? 
Yes, we all work full time alongside the band.

s) What are the most important things in life?
My family, friends and dog are the most important things in my life. Alunah is also very important to me, as it allows a creative outlet and a break from the mundane. Getting the balance right between family/friends and the band is also important.

t) Would u be a good politician? 
No, neither would I want to be.

u) Any bad habits? 
I tend to talk over people too much, rather than listen to their full sentence. I’ve noticed it since doing video interviews, so I consciously try to avoid this now.

v) Does your family support your musical success? 
Yes, they’re great. All of our parents and siblings attend our gigs, Jake’s parents are perhaps our biggest fans. 

w) Do u believe in god? 
I don’t believe in the heavenly god, but I do believe there’s something else - I haven’t figured out what it is yet though. I have an A-Level in religious studies where my main subjects were Buddhism and Old Testament. I’ve read various Pagan, Christian, Satanic and Buddhist texts in depth - religion interests me, but I’m not someone who practices anything, or attends church.

x) In what else do u believe? 
I believe in the power and beauty of nature, and I believe in myself. You can’t really deny either of those.

y) What is most important 4 u? 
Family, friends, my dog and my band. If I have those, I’m happy.
 
z) Last statement? 
Thank you to everyone who has supported Alunah, I hope you enjoy the new album. Remember, we are merely hairs on the bollock of the world!


http://www.heavy-metal.de/?id=28006

Here is the first trailer for "Heavy Bough". The video will feature Alunah and George Sanderon, and is directed/edited by Rhodri Thomas. Enjoy!

We recently sat down with Jon at The Sunday Rock Show on BCFM Radio in Bristol. You can listen to our interview at around 29 minutes in on the 22:00 06/07/14 tab.

http://www.bcfmradio.com/sundayrock

Thanks to Paul (Hornet) at BPR for this interview, we had a top laugh! Sme of it got lost in transcription (Roadkill Fest being our personal faves), but he did have our Brummy accents to contend with!


Hornet (BPR) - Hi Alunah and welcome to the next of our BPR Interviews and thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Doom is quite a diverse side of Metal, what was the first thing that lead you to going down this route ?

Soph Day (Vocalist/Guitarist, Alunah) - We originally started as a stoner band, we loved listening to bands like Roadsaw and Kyus also bands like Soundgarden and Orange Goblin. We loved the riffs and sounds they made and we found ourselves emulating that sound, but forming our own sound that defines us as Alunah. But we listened to more and more bands from all genres we decided this was the way to go. If you listen to our stuff you can hear that stoner rock influence, with the classic rock and doom as well. When people just refer to us as a doom band, theres so much more to us than that. There are bands out there that are, and love that label, but we don`t want to be part of that scene.

Hornet - Do you listen to doom yourselves ?

Soph - Yeah we do, Not as much as some people, but I like a lot of the 60's and 70's stuff, but I like to hear something that is original, Monolith Cult are brilliant, A band that doesn`t just copy a doom riff and try to sound like Ozzy Osbourne. They have to be doing their own thing.

Hornet - Have you heard any thing by a band called Draconian ? They are an excellent band from Austria that draw a song out for 7, 8 even 10 minutes, now its depressing stuff, but in every chorus line they have a killer riff or vocal that just knocks you over.

Soph - No not heard of them, that sounds like a band called Ahab, it takes their songs 2 or 3 minutes to get going then you sit up because suddenly they`ve upped the anti. They use screams and shouts which I don`t usually like, but they do it so well. The guy who does our albums, Greg Chandler, is in a band called Esoteric, they`ve done some incredible stuff thats classed as doom.

Hornet - I suppose all you bands get lumped into the nearest genre. The old chestnut like, they sound like Bon Jovi sort of thing?

Soph - `laughs` Jake, our drummer, would love that LOL. But no ones going to say that about us!!!

Hornet - What is the one album you've ever heard and you've thought `if I could make music of that class, I`d die happy' ?

Jake (Drummer, Alunah) - Michael Bolton's 'Soul Provider' ( Every one laughs) 

Soph - I`m a little bit jealous of Ahabs album 'The Giant'. I listen to a lot of Rose Kemp.

Dave (Guitarist, Alunah) - Although its obvious, anything by early Sabbath.

Dan (Bass, Alunah) - We are trying not to emulate anyone else, we are carving our own sound out. Uncle Acid have got their own unique spin on a sound of their own.

Hornet - So, are there bands out there that are saying Alunah have their own spin on a sound that's totally original, i'd say their name if asked the last question ?

Soph - Yeah i'd like to think so.

Jake - Nothing is totally original, its all been done, but you can at least have a 5/10% spin on your sound.

Soph - I think if you`re a music fan, you start a band, you are going to draw influences on stuff you like, its just unavoidable, I've heard about bands that say we haven't listened to any music for 6 months to clear our minds of our influences before we wrote our album. And although I'd love to do that, I would go mad. But sometimes when i`m struggling with a song I go back to one of my favourites to see how they did the harmonies or whatever i`m looking for, more often than not you don`t use what they've recorded, but it inspires you to write something that fits nicely.

Hornet - Is there something out there that if it got wiped off the face of the planet, you'd barely shed a tear ?

Soph - Iron Maiden for me.

Dan - Eddy Grants 'Electric Avenue' (laughs from everyone)

Soph - There`s many bands out there you're supposed to like, but I just don`t !!!

Dave - See that's just it with us, Soph don`t like Maiden, but I do. I love them.

Soph - See, I go for bands with great vocalists. I love it when they go in for that Major or minor key when they mix it up. Like doing the blues and suddenly throw in some doom. I was listening to a band called Pist On and the way he sings just sends chills down my spine. Very basic melodies but it's the way he writes them and where as I`ll say WOW did you hear that, Dave will be listening to the guitars and the sound the Amo makes.

Dave - Well you know that's what draws me in really.

Hornet - What did you listen to on the way down here (The Unicorn, London)?

Dave/Soph/Dan/Jake 'all chipping in' - Sound Garden, Heart, The Stones and Audio Slave, quite a mix really. 

Dan - Everything but Doom really!! 'all the band Laughs'

Hornet - So were you trying to stay up on a high or something ?

Dave - No not really, before hand we were listening to Kiss.

Soph - Well watching Kiss, I think we were trying to get ideas for our coming video.

Hornet - How much do you like touring, and do you prefer home or abroad ?

Soph - I love playing abroad, but touring I could do every day for the rest of my life. Not necessarily with these guys (Band laughs). We haven`t played abroad too much but we did a show in Paris last April, we also played a tiny club in Poland on a Wednesday night and it was a bigger crowd than we usually play to in England. There is a video out there somewhere of us doing 'White Hoarhound' and halfway through we stop singing and the crowd takes over, they were all singing so loud and clear it bought tears to my eyes.

Hornet - Have you got any superstitions?

Soph - Regarding the band?

Hornet - Well, you know before going on stage and recording, that sort of thing?

Soph - When we`re in the studio we just all get there at the pre arranged time and get the kettle on. Then its either Pot Noodles and Pork Pies then we have a chat till we are all ready to get up and start.

Jake - Musically its usually a 'head nod' from whoever starts that first song and either the guitar or drums will start and were off.

Soph - I did get in the habit of having a honey and lemon drink or a whiskey before going on stage but it was more a habit than a superstition.

Hornet - Any particular Music festivals you'd like to be part of ?

Soph - I'd love to play HELL FEST in France. There`s a lot of small bands there that are sort of on our level. Then there`s a lot more that are Metal legends. We played Hard Rock Hell last year and there was a lot of classic rock acts there but then there were a lot of Stoner and Doom bands there too. But I think the people there were a bit confused having us play at 3 in the afternoon in broad daylight. But we had a brilliant weekend, It was an excellent experience for us all so I would say Hell Fest and Roadkill, that's in Tilburg Holland. 

Hornet - Could you expand on Roadkill a little ?

Soph - Yeah. its a Doom/Stoner/Psychodelic festival. W'ed love to do Bloodstock and Download as well, those are just up the road from where we live.

Hornet - Do you think those fests are far away for you now, in terms of the popularity of the band ?

Soph - I hope not, I mean we've done both the Dessert Fests in Berlin and London. We also did one in Copenhagen called Heavy Days in Doom town. And we haven`t had confirmation yet, but we are hopefully doing one called Tricko, its in a huge tent in Bedfordshire. Its actually a Biker festival where only old Bikes and spares are for sale and there are numerous side atractions like a Drag Racing strip and a circus etc.

Hornet - So, whats the biggest gig you,ve played to date ?

Jake - Dessert Fest in Berlin

Hornet - If you could choose a six band line up for a gig, and Alunah are one of the bands, which five bands would you choose to share the stage with ?

After many minutes of discussion Alunah came up with ...

The Doors
Paradise Lost
Big Brother and the Holding Company
KYUS (original line up)
Soundgarden

Hornet - Could you name some up and coming bands you think should make it in the music industry ?

Soph - God, that's a good question. The band that are playing third and second on the bill tonight who are 'King Goat',we played with them in Brighton a while back, we only got to see them do two songs but they were excellent and 'Obiat', mind you they've been around for years. 'Monolith Cult', we all love them they're a brilliant band, both live and their albums. We liked a band called 'Kang', when they were still going. when we found out that several members of 'Kang', 'Lazarus Black Star' and 'Solstice' we knew they would be good. 'Serpent Venom'and 'Stubb', he`s like the ghost of Hendrix with a 70's vibe. Its difficult, when you play a gig with a band you've never heard of, and when you talk to them they tell you they've been around for 10 years.

Hornet - A couple of questions to humanise you to our readers. What makes you happy ?

Soph - WHISKEY!!! (band laughs)

Dan - The Band!!!

Jake - This week, we were stuck in the studio all last week and we were like recording all the time. Where, as this week, we got out and played live to people every night.

Soph - Dan is fairly new in the band, but we started in 2006 and since then we have had so many ups and downs. We`ve had deaths, weddings and the everyday stuff. I`ve lost my Dad, Nan and Grandad but at the end of the day we all get together in the studio and for a couple of hours you forget every thing outside the studio, and I love that. But I do love a Whiskey!! (band Laughs)

Hornet - On the other hand, what really annoys you ?

Soph - The Band ! (every one laughs) As a band we give everyone we play with the respect they deserve. But we also deserve respect in return. If we lend another band a drum or Mic stand we would expect a 'thanks' and that they look after the equipment we've had the good grace to let them use. Sometimes we don`t get anything, THAT really annoys me, It probably annoys me more than it should really.

Jake - People who mess us about really

Soph - Yeah that's right, people who mess us about. But I think there`s a lot of idiots in the music business, unfortunately.

Hornet - I'm sure i'm one of them ???

Dave - Not at all 

Hornet - Thanks Dave!!!

Soph - Beer often heightens the idiocrasy and the tension rises.

Dave - Nothing annoys me, apart from Soph (band laughs)

Soph - We`re married by the way

Hornet - Yep, I did my homework and revision and I came to the conclusion you two should have your middle names changed to GREY

Soph - What like Soph Grey Day ?

Hornet - Well, its just so Doom (small laughs) Do any of you like any of the mega nerd films such as Star Wars or Lord of the Rings etc ?

Dave - I love the original Star Wars films and Lord of the Rings and the follow on to The Hobbit

Soph - Lord of the Rings is alright, but the original Star Wars definitely.

Hornet - So what type of film would you say you liked ?

Dave - I like Horrors, really low budget ones too, films like Susperior but the classics like Evil Dead and Halloween as well.

Soph - You like that Poultra-geist too Dave (many laughs)

Dave - Yes, I like Poltergeist, the Zombie Chickens and The Cottage, thats a classic.

Hornet - Poultri - guiest and Zombie Chickens, I`ve heard they`re not very pheasant, `groan` !!! And , on that note i'll get my coat ... Taxi !!! No seriously, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and i hope you have a great gig tonight.

Birmingham's ALUNAH are reaching new heights in their career. Having signed with Napalm Records, and with a new album on the way, Danny Sanderson sits down with Sophie and Dave Day to talk the new record, the UK's affinity with the Doom Metal genre, and their fascination with Pagan culture.

Hi there guys, how are you doing?

Sophie Day (Guitars, Vocals): Yeah, thanks, we're doing fine.

And how is the tour going so far?

Sophie: It's been really good so far, really brilliant.

Dave Day (Guitars): Yeah, it's been really good.

Sophie: We've got tonight and tomorrow left, we're coming to the end of it, but it's been really good. We've had great gigs every night, so, yeah, it's been cool.

I've been told by a friend of mine to ask you about something. Do the words "Poland" and "Toilets" ring any bells? 

Sophie: Oh Yeah! \[laughs] Who's you friend, is it Adam? Do you wanna know this story?

What is it about? 

Sophie: OK, last year we went on tour to Europe, and we played Poland. And we turned up at the venue and it was like a big hostel wasn't it?

Dave: Yeah.

Sophie: And they were really conscious of me and our tour manager, because we're both women, and they were asking "Do you want separate rooms?", they were quite conscious about our privacy, you know, making sure we were OK. And then I needed to go to the toilet, and this was when we'd just arrived, we were waiting to check in. And they directed me to the public toilets and when I walked in, there was a man masturbating in the sink and another one shitting in the shower!

Dave: You know, like squatting in the shower.

Sophie: Yeah, and I was thinking, "seriously, you've gone to all this trouble to make sure us women were looked after" and then this was going on in the public toilets at about two in the morning in this really seedy toilet in a town in Poland. But the best thing was that the next morning, they even gave us a private shower, probably because there was shit all up in the public ones, so they gave us this private shower for us lot to use because of the fact that me and Liv were women, basically, and I got told off by the maid. She told me off for walking in the shower barefoot not wearing any sandals, and I thought "That's the least of your worries.

Dave: You know, when there's blokes wanking and shitting in the public toilets down the street. \[laughs]

Sophie: I bet you wish you'd never asked now. \[laughs]

What are your key influences for the music you write? 

Sophie: \[to Dave] I think we've got similar influences, haven't we?

Dave: Yeah, well, what got me into this sort of music was listening to all the old, original Stoner bands, stuff like Kyuss and Orange Goblin, stuff like that. But before that I was listening to a lot of Black Sabbath and Heavy Metal. And I suppose bands like Saint Vitus. Bands from a few years back, like Khang, who kind of went on and did stuff with Lazarus Blackstar. Oh, and Monolith Cult.

Sophie: We're influenced by a lot of the old bands, but we're also listening to a lot of the newer bands that are coming up. But we try not…

Dave: You know, we don't want to stereotype ourselves.

Sophie: Yeah, we don't listen too much, or it'd be harder to be original. You know, you hone in on certain bands and you tend to start writing like them, don't you. For me, I listen to stuff like Janis Joplin, Robert Plant, you know, stuff like that.

Dave: But recently we've been listening to a lot of Ahab and stuff along those lines, so there's quite a lot of different styles we check out.

Sophie: And then Our drummers a massive Iron Maiden fan and stuff like that, so there's quite a cluster of different influences. I think when you listen to our music you can tell that there's a lot of different styles. We get called a Doom band but we're not just that, we have other things going on, but I suppose people have to call you something, don't they? But, you can hear a lot of, I don't know, I guess it's a bit stereotypical, but Black Sabbath in our music. We are heavily influenced by them.

Dave: I mean their the original Metal band.

Sophie: Yeah, you can't really come from Birmingham, listen to this kind of music and not listen to Black Sabbath.

It's interesting that you mentioned Khang and Lazarus Blackstar just now. In my opinion, a lot of the best Doom and Stoner Metal in this country come from either Wales, Birmingham and more sort of Yorkshire. I mean, I'm from Bradford, and I know Rich, who's now in Gods of Hellfire, but used to be in Khang and Lazarus Blackstar in their early days. 

Sophie: Yeah, he's a really good guy is Rich, we're really good mates with him.

But my question is, do you think that this kind of music suits those places I've just mentioned, and do you think that those sort of bands write that kind of music for a reason related to their hometowns? 

Sophie: I think that when you look at Wales you've got bands like Acrimony. And when you listen to Acrimony songs, you listen to it, and you can picture what they're looking at, you know, stuff like the valleys, and it's clear that they're influenced by their surroundings. Black Sabbath always said that they were influenced by their industrial surroundings. So I think it really does help. I mean, it's quite rural where we live, you know, we're out in the countryside, so a lot of our songs are influenced by the things I see like that. So I think if you take your surroundings in… and a lot of people say that they don't see their surroundings in that way, and other people do. I think with certain kinds of music, in certain areas do gravitate towards those kinds of music.

How did you get signed to Napalm Records, and how did it come around? 

Sophie: Well, we released "White Hoarhound" on PsychoDOOMelic Records, and I think that one of PsychoDOOMelic's distributors was also linked with Napalm Records, so I really think that they in initially received our CD's to distribute themselves. So I think that's how it came about. And so they heard us, and contacted us about distributing our stuff on vinyl. And we spoke to them and we of course took them up on that, it'd be stupid not to, and I think they wanted to see how well it sold, basically, and how we worked as a band, you know, see what kind of people we were, to see if we were busy and see if we worked hard. And they eventually said to us that they'd like to put out our third album, and they sent over a contract and we had negotiations with them. But our European booking agents, Sounds of Liberation, have a lot of ties with Napalm Records as well, so we signed with Sounds of Liberation and did the DesertFest Burning last year, which was sort of our first big gig with them, really. And I think Napalm knew about us through that as well.

Dave: And we were getting a lot of publicity in Germany.

Sophie: Our PR Girl, who now works for Napalm Records too, really propelled "White Hoarhound" for us in Europe, and we got a lot of press. Like, we weren't covered in Metal Hammer in England, but we got quite a good feature in Metal Hammer Germany. So she got us quite well known over there, and I think all of that combined to cause them to prick their ears up, basically. And now Mona's working for Napalm too.

Dave: So it's good all round.
 
Do you have any details regarding the new album, the writing and the recording process? 

Sophie: Well, the title hasn't been released yet. There is a title though. We're doing a video in about a month's time. And we've had Michael Cowell who's illustrating the album for us, and he's coming down, we're shooting a video to introduce the artwork with him and everything, and then Napalm are going to put that out \[online], and the name will be announced in that. But we're playing three songs off it tonight, so you'll get a taste of what it's going to be like. We've literally finished recording it on Monday night, and we're starting to tour it on Wednesday, so we've had a few days off recording it. But yeah, we've gotten a new bass player since the last album, and he's coming up to having been in the band for three years. So in the last year we've been writing the new album with him, as well as him learning the old songs for playing live. It's been the most enjoyable writing process so far.

Dave: Yeah, definitely.

Sophie: And the same goes for the recording process. And he's come from bands that are a bit folky, he's done Heavy Metal bands, he's done Glam bands, he's been in a real mixture of bands, and he's a great songwriter. So he's matched us really well. Dave writes most of the riffs but Dan's been coming up with some riffs too.

Dave: You know, if one person is writing it can get a bit generic, but if a few people are writing you get a really good sound.

Sophie: I mean, with most bands, they might write something, like twenty songs and choose eight for the album, whereas we've only written eight songs, and then we've gone, OK, these are the ones that are gonna go on the album, and taken the weaker ones and really crafted them. We want this album to be made of music that we think is amazing. It's all killer, no filler. It's not meant to be background music, we want people to actually listen to these songs, because we've spent a lot of time on the individual songs. And for the recording process we've worked with Greg Chandler again, and he's the singer of Esoteric, so he really know the Doom genre; He's been doing Esoteric for… God knows how many years, and he writes soundscapes, which is really amazing music, and he's put a lot of work in with mastering it and making sure it all sounds right. And he'll suggest things too, like he'll listen to a songs and say "maybe this bit could be improved by fixing that melody there on the guitar". And he's kind of become the extra member of the band now. And we recorded this album in six days, and it's just going off to be mixed and mastered now. We wanted the recording process to be much quicker, because of course we all work full time, and we didn't want to just be stealing weekends here and there. We wanted to go "Right, we'll live in the studio for the next six days", and then work ten to twelve hour days, so the process was really intense. We'd finish some songs and certain sections would have completely changed, because Greg might have gone "Well, this bit doesn't fit here, take it out", and we rewrote things in the studio, and its been really enjoyable.

What does the name Alunah mean? 

Sophie: It's a bit of a boring reason really.

Dave: We changed it because we were originally named Aluna, without the H.

Sophie: Jake  Andrew originally came up with the name because he's a really big fan of the band Mindfunk, and I think they had a song or an album called Aluna, and he liked the sound of it. So we decided to call ourselves Aluna. And then obviously we looked into the name and we found that it had a lot of connotations with the sun and there was a moon powered clock that was being developed called "Aluna", and it was the name of a God in some countries, usually a Sun God, and so we decided to adapt that to what we sing about. And then we had a letter sent to us from a band called Aluna, shortly after we released our first EP, which had literally just been sent off to be distributed, it was on its way to the shops, and this band contacted us and said that they were going to sue us, basically, because they owned the copyright for the name Aluna. And they said we could either pay them a certain amount of money or stop using the name Aluna. And when we got this letter, we had about five hundred CDs going off to HMV with the name Aluna on the cover! So we had to recall them all and re-sticker them, and after a lot of letters back and forth, they decided to let us put the H on the end, so that it sounded the same but wasn't breaching their copyright. So we had to recall everything, and re-sticker them as "the band formerly known as "Aluna""; we'd only been together for about a year or so, and then having to add the H on the end. But it's the best thing that could have happened to us really, because there's nothing else called "Alunah" now.

Dave: It's original.

Sophie: There's a lot of Jewellery shops around called "Aluna" and other businesses like that, but the new name is more original.
 
What are the lyrical themes on the new record? 

Sophie: Well, it's based around nature, basically, but between the last album and this album, I've unfortunately had quite a lot of death in my family. My Dad died, then my Nan died and then my Granddad died, so that is also reflected in the music. So even though I'm singing about very natural themes, there's a lot of melancholy attached to it and there's certain songs where I'm singing about, for example, the plague, and about different versions of Heaven, the idea of rebirth, about coming back, so there's a lot of dark themes, but not in a dark way, it's in a much more positive way. So it's a mixture of that and Pagan matters like the Green Man of the Woods and Herne. And I'm a little bit obsessed with Yew trees, and how they have been used and portrayed throughout history. So a lot of the lyrics are very "English", very nature based, but there's also elements which discuss death, but in a positive way.

So would you guys consider yourselves Pagans then? 

Sophie: No, not really. It's just a topic that really interests me.

Dave: [motioning to Sophie] I mean, you wrote all of the lyrics on this album.

Sophie: It's just so that interests me. I'm fascinated by it. I studied religion at school for my A-levels, and read a lot about Buddhism, and I'm really interested in religions. I'm not religious myself, I mean I love reading about all kinds of religions, but paganism is the one that speaks to me the most. I don't go out and practice it, but I've got a lot of books on it, and I like the idea of living your life by the seasons, and appreciating nature, that is something that I actually do. But I don't practice Paganism. I think a  lot of the connotations to do with Paganism are naturally within me, but I don't actively go out and practice it. But it does interest me, definitely.

I noticed that you guys were selling cassettes today. Do you think that "older" musical formats like cassettes and vinyl are making a comeback? 

Sophie: I think people are yearning for the olden days, aren't they?

Dave: And a lot of music fans place a lot of value on something that is physical, you know.

Sophie: I think with the tapes we were contacted by Cosmic Tomb and they wanted to know if we wanted our debut album re-released, and they kind of asked us if we'd like to release anything on tape. Because we're ties with Napalm, we can't release anything new with another label, but when Cosmic Tomb got in touch to re-release the first album, Napalm were more or less like "Of course you can do whatever you want with that album, we had nothing to do with its production", so we went ahead and decided to bring it out again on tape. I mean, none of us even own a tape player, so when we've been selling these tapes, we don't even know if the music is on there yet! \[laughs] But that's one of the things that, while we've been out on this tour, people have been buying more of, and people are really interested in it. So, fair play, you know. We've nearly sold out of vinyl's, I think we've got a few left, and the same goes for tapes, but we've got tonnes of CD's left.

Dave: Well, the actual album is sold out, we've only got seven inch vinyl's left.

Sophie: But its odd to see that the CD's are actually selling the least. It's just the retro thing I think.
 
I mean, I think it's gone a bit more full circle. It's evolved from Vinyl to cassette to CD's to MP3's and digital downloads, and now people are moving back to buying vinyl again. 

Sophie: There was a guy in Brighton who bought a cassette tape and he was absolutely over the moon with it. He said he didn't own a CD player, but he had a vinyl player and a cassette player. And he even said that albums still sounded amazing on his cassette player and he couldn't wait to hear the album on it. But I remember tapes sounding awful.

Dave: Yeah, really horrible.

Sophie: But I probably had a really cheap tape player.

I agree. Before I set off here today I was listening to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and it is a really old copy, so it sounded really muffled and it was like listening to it with my hands over my ears. 

Dave: Yeah, the tape will have deteriorated over the years.

Sophie: I mean, that's the downside of them, but they're kind of the thing of the moment for a lot of people. It's the only tape cassette we've released I think.

Dave: yeah, it is.

Sophie: So fingers crossed, we'll see what happens. It should be interesting.

And final question guys, do you guys have any plans for after this tour is done? 

Sophie: We are filming a video…

Dave: We're also going back to the studio to do some of the mixing. We've just got to add some backing vocals too and the albums finished.

Sophie: And after recording the video, we'll be doing loads of promotion for the album, we're releasing it in Autumn and then we're going to Europe for two weeks in Autumn to promote that. So it's gonna be like June, July, August just doing loads of rehearsals, because on tour we'll be playing pretty much every song on the album, so it's got to be spot on. So there's a lot of promotion for that, we'll be doing loads of interviews like this. So it's pretty constant.

Do you have anything to say to your fans? 

Sophie: We just want to say a huge thank you to our fans for supporting us, because we've got some pretty die hard fans out there. I mean, we once met a guy who had come to London all the way from Glasgow to see us.

Dave: Yeah, he'd been travelling around to come and see us too.

Sophie: He'd been out to every date on the tour, taken time off work and been staying in loads of hotels across the country. I mean, that feels really bizarre, really, when I think about it. So yeah, a really big thanks for all your support.

Thanks for your time guys

Sophie: Thanks for the interview!


http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/musicians/interview-sophie-day.htm

"In light of the high saturation of great bands playing this event, headliner's ALUNAH appear to have a great task ahead of them winning over the crowd and getting them moving one last time. And they certainly succeed at this. Their crushing Stoner Doom goes down incredibly well with everyone, and although they don't exactly get any mosh-pits or crowd surfers, the heads of all assembled are swinging pendulously in unison, like some kind of drunken metronome. Their set is made up by quite a lot of new tracks, although songs like "Call of Avernus", "Belial's Fjord" and "White Hoarhound" are there to sate the needs of their fans.

Setlist:
1. Bricket Wood Coven
2. Dementer's Grief
3. Call of Avernus
4. The Scourge and the Kiss
5. The Heavy Bough
6. White Hoarhound
7. Belila's Fjord

These sort of all day festivals are great for fans and bands alike, and in venues like the Star and Garter these types of events are even more amazing. I'd be more than happy to watch any of the bands on this bill again, and I hope that the opportunity to do so comes by very soon. Every band, from the headliners right down to the opening band, appear to be on the rise, so catch them if you can at a venue near you."

Read the full review of the all dayer:
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/worldwide_live_shows/alunah-star-and.htm

"When you go out for a night of dark deep depressing doom the last thing you want to see is the sun beaming down on you with a smile wider than Cheddar Gorge. That was the case at the Asylum though when it was very difficult to adopt the customary gloomy exterior on such a cheerful pleasant evening in Birmingham.

When local favourites Alunah took the stage they even had to contend with the flickering sun penetrating the high Asylum windows enabling us to see a little bit more of Soph and the band than we have become accustomed. Alunah have been firm favourites of the Birmingham underground scene for a while now, but like an exceptionally good pint of real ale, it’s time for others to be let into the secret.

Alunah have been a fixture on these doomy Asylum nights for a while but the good news is that the band have a tour of their own in the pipeline along with a further jaunt around these isles in support of a yet-to-be-named headline act. They were only able to squeeze in a four-song set but quality over quantity is an approach that usually works and Alunah have that in spades.

The grinding disparate pounding signalled the familiar intro to ‘Demeter’s Grief’, a chilling necro nightmare of a song delivered as always with polish and gentle persuasion by vocalist Soph. Alunah conjure up majestic wispy harmonies but while laced with the essential sorrowful doom ingredients ‘Demeter’s Grief’ has the capacity to ignite, with a frenzied mid-song escapade. The band have a new album out later in the year, via Napalm Records, and we got a taste of what to expect with a new track in ‘Bricket Wood Coven’ before finishing with two angst filled Alunah classics. ‘White Hoarhound’ has a kind of purity running through it with Soph’s haunting cries setting hairs on end but as always with Alunah the sense of evil and the hand of darkness is always within reach. With the Asylum now bewitched by the spells being cast on stage, Alunah closed with the compelling ‘Belials Fjord’. They are back at the Asylum next month along with headliners Purson, on a bill creaking with doom."

- Paul Castles

Read full review: http://www.themidlandsrocks.com/windhand-inter-arma-alunah-asylum-2-birmingham-sunday-13th-april-2014#.U1oKTFVdWE4

"With Birmingham’s Alunah to open tonight’s proceedings, the Slade Rooms were in for a treat. That they were onstage not long after the doors opened did little to deter the many that showed up to take a listen and show their appreciation. An apt opening to an evening of diverse metal, the band hammered out their down-tuned melodic and dragging doom/psych/classic rock with all the fervour of a headliner at Bloodstock."

Read full review: http://www.themidlandsrocks.com/grand-magus-asomvel-the-vintage-caravan-alunah-slade-rooms-wolverhampton-saturday-15th-march-2014

So we’re here at the Slade Rooms, could you tell us a little bit about tonight’s show?

Soph: We’re here supporting Grand Magus, The Vintage Caravan, who are really cool and Asomvel

Where was your last gig?

Soph: Bradford at The Vampire. We headlined a gig up there, with Monolith cult, Pig Witch and Space Witch. That’s a lot of witches!

How would you describe your band to somebody who has never heard you before?

Soph: Heavy…Down-tuned…Female Vocals…Groove…A heavy rock band really.

Dan: It’s pretty difficult to describe your own band. I mean there are lots of buzzwords, “Doom,” “Psychedelic,” things like that

Soph: I think there are so many different styles within Doom, you can’t just call yourself a Doom band really. I suppose that’s what we’re described as most!

What would be your ideal show line-up to play? Anybody you’d love to support?

Soph: Black Sabbath-

Dan: You’ve gone with the most clichéd answer!

Soph: So if Black Sabbath called you up, you’d say: “Oh no, sorry, it’s a cliché! I can’t possibly,” would you?

Dan: No no no of course not. (They laugh.)

Soph: But there are lots, we’ve been really lucky and gotten to play with a lot of the bands who have inspired us. For a show I’d love to play… I’ve been listening to a band called Ahab, on Napalm Records. They are blowing me away at the moment. I’m not sure how we’d fit, but it’d be cool to do a gig with them.

Your next album is going to be with Napalm Records as well isn’t it? Could you tell us a bit more about that?

Soph: We’ve pretty much written it, haven’t we?

Dan: Yep, apart from one track. But that’s pretty much done

Soph: It needs to be finished for May, because that’s when we’re recording. I’d say it is sounding heavier than our other albums. There’s more of a theme running through, rather than individual songs. We’ve tried to give it more of a style. It’s a lot more melancholy. We’re tried to create a lot more of an atmosphere with it.

Your Facebook says you’ve been going around for seven years, if you could meet yourselves starting out now, what would you say?

Soph: I’d say, ditch the jeans, ditch the custom band t-shirts and sort your roots out! Haha!  No, when we started, we’d got certain ideas of bands in our heads that we wanted to sound like and went out trying to be like them. But as you start to get to know each other, play with each other- (not in that way!!)- you do find your own style. I think we have that now. We don’t try to sound like anybody else. I think I’d have learnt my craft a little bit more before going out there and doing gigs. Made my vocals sound better and learnt the guitar more.

What would be your best tips for somebody who is just starting out in a band?

Dan: Work hard at it. Work your way up. Believe in yourselves, I suppose. Listen to what people say. Never just accept the good stuff because a lot of people know what they’re talking about.

Soph: That’s one thing that used to really get to me. You’d go on Internet forums and you’d read all of these horrible things that people were saying about you. Being a female in a band, it can get really personal. It used to really bother me, but as I’ve gotten older, I realised if I’m enjoying what I’m doing, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, to a certain extent. You get more comfortable in your skin, so when you do read comments about your abilities, or your looks, or whatever, you don’t pay attention to them.

Dan: There are always going to be differences in opinion.

Soph: You’re not up there to be judged, you should be up there because you’re enjoying it and if people like it along the way it’s even better.

I imagine it’s frustrating that female fronted bands seem to always get judged against other female fronted bands.

Soph: There’s that and a lot of people think of “female fronted” as a genre. To be fair, we were guilty of it when we were starting out. We would describe ourselves as “female fronted doom”. As we went along, we starting thinking “why do we need to point that out?” If people come to our gigs and don’t like the fact that there’s a girl in the band and think “oh, nobody warned us about that!” then that’s their problem isn’t it? You wouldn’t have to point it out if you’re a male fronted band would you?  There are so many cool female members in bands at the moment, you feel less pressured into needing to say that anyway now.

Any final words?

Soph: Thanks to everybody for the support The Midlands have been really supportive. Please check out our album when it comes out!

Source: http://www.midlandsmetalheads.com/alunah-interview-15th-march-slade-rooms-wolverhampton/

Spinning Goblin / Napalm Records have released this free sampler of tracks from Monster Magnet, Zodiac, Jackson Firebird, Bloody Hammers, Conan, The Graviators, Monkey3, Audrey Horne, Lonely Kamel, Glowsun, Pet The Preacher, My Sleeping Karma, Mammoth Mammoth and us!

Download Spinning Goblin / Napalm Records Sampler >>

Thanks to Metal Nation Radio for taking the time to interview Soph for this Alunah special over the weekend. You can listen here: http://cynluscious.podomatic.com/entry/2014-02-23T03_48_42-08_00