Jessi: Seeing that SOTHIS is a forged outfit of uniquely varied individuals, do you think that this gives the band a sound so unlike bands in the States but more so in a European flair?
Dross: While it is true that the members of SOTHIS are very unique individuals we are also very much alike. I don’t think that our personal individuality reflects as much on our music as much as our love for the genre does. I think that most Black Metal bands from the United States find their biggest influences to be bands like Darkthrone that have a lot of attitude and an almost punkish feel to them at times. They also tend to be more influenced by the Swedish Black Metal scene that focuses on raw aggression. SOTHIS on the other hand takes more influence from bands like Emperor and Immortal. We tend to be more influenced by the Norwegian Black Metal scene and focus on combining both melody and aggression.

Jessi: How would you explain the SOTHIS sound to someone that has never heard of you before?
Dross: We are an aggressive Symphonic Black Metal band. I often describe our sound as “evil church.” We try to create an atmosphere that makes you subconsciously think of religion and evil simultaneously. We are melodic in our aggression and we focus on writing good songs instead of impressing other musicians. You can expect creative beats, fast double bass, blast beats, strings, church organs, choirs, unique melodic guitar riffs, driving bass and vocals that vary in pitch and rhythm while also sticking to the traditional Black Metal style.

Jessi: Since SOTHIS is a Los Angeles based act, do find it difficult for local support with black metal considering the most bands from LA are one of either nu metal or other various forms of music?
Dross: It is not difficult to find support in Los Angeles. We have, in my opinion, a great underground scene. The health of any metal scene is determined by whether or not there are people in the local scene that are ambitious enough to get involved. In Los Angeles we have Keeper Magazine, Iron Room Events, Benighted Entity, Hate War Productions, Dark Realm Records and Quadrivium Records. Not to mention we have a lot of cool Black Metal bands here like Nokturne, Sumeria, and Abyssmal Nocturne just to name a few. As far as Nu-Metal goes, I couldn’t even tell you what is going on with that. I’m so out of the mainstream at this point I don’t even know what is going on with it. I do notice a lot of dirty looking kids with Beatles hair cuts (laughs). I’m not sure what that is though. I keep reading about all these new subgenres like Screamo, Metalcore, Fashion-core, and all of this bullshit but I’m completely lost when it comes to that shit.

Jessi: How did SOTHIS come into existence?
Dross: I met Scathe at the Los Angeles Recording Workshop in the summer of 1999. We were talking and discovered that we had an incredible amount in common with each other when it came to music. From there we started jamming and then we started placing ads to locate other members. It got pretty brutal trying to find guys that had talent, equipment, image, transportation, jobs and the same goals and influences that we had. At one point we even considered moving to Europe because of the difficulty we were having. After about four and a half years of searching the SOTHIS line up is complete. You can read about all of the grueling details on our websites Bio page. There you can see the 30-second TV commercial we ran and the magazine ads and everything. I’m telling you, it would be pretty hard to live in Los Angeles and be an active Metal head going to shows and so forth and still miss reading one of our “Musician Wanted” ads. I wouldn’t be surprised if we qualify for some Genus Book of World Records award for most ads placed to complete a line up (laughs).

Jessi: Any various forms of influence on the band musically?
Dross: All of the members of SOTHIS are into most of the different sub-genres of Metal. I don’t know how much of that influence crosses over into what we play. We tend to stay very focused on who we are when we write material. We started off five years ago with a very focused goal about how we wanted to sound and that goal is only becoming more clear.

Jessi: As far as reviewing the band’s demo, I had to say that it was professionally well done and the music was a big additive bonus, was there anything that the band wanted to do differently in the recording?
Dross: We wanted to make the most professional sounding demo we could possibly make because we made this CD in order to gain label support. We ultimately wanted the labels to think “if they could make a recording of this quality with a small budget and limited resources imagine what they could do with a real budget and all of our resources available to them.” I can tell you that there is one thing we wish we could have done differently. We wanted to make this CD with a complete line up already in tact but we just couldn’t wait any longer. We really wish Zereth would have been able to have laid the bass tracks for it, but he’ll have his opportunity to crush soon.

Jessi: How long did it take to record? Are there any plans to release an EP the near future?
Dross: It took us about one hundred hours to record and mix the CD. Those one hundred hours was spread over a seven-month period due to several obstacles we were forced to overcome. We have mailed out our CD to all of the major magazines like Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Metal Maniacs, Anvil, Terrorizer and so forth in order to get it reviewed. Once we have got a bunch of reviews, we’ll be submitting to record labels and waiting for responses from them. If everything goes according to our plans the next release will be our debut LP. We are hoping that our debut LP will be released by March or April of 2006 so we can hit all of festivals in the summer of 2006.

Jessi: How would you compare SOTHIS with other Scandinavian extreme black metal bands?
Dross: We definitely have a lot of similarities to Scandinavian Black Metal. We are very melodic and atmospheric and that is exactly what Norwegian Black Metal is known for. At the same time we tend to be very aggressive and that is exactly what Swedish Black Metal is known for. I don’t really have much to say about the other Scandinavian countries, as they don’t seem to have a really defining factor to them yet. We are continually compared to European Black Metal. People seem to be shocked that we are from the States.

Jessi: Any plans for shows for SOTHIS in the near future?
Dross: Absolutely. As a matter of fact this is our main focus at this point. We are really busting our asses getting everything in order. We are training our stage crew right now and doing some showcases. As a matter of fact we did our first training session last Saturday and the crew did a stellar job. I think that people are going to be quite entertained when watching us live. SOTHIS is a band that covers every detail. We try to make sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed. If everything goes smoothly we will be booking gigs in April and hopefully hitting stages in late April or early May. I suppose that will be determined by the quality of the gigs that are available to us once we are ready.

Jessi: Upon listening to the demo one can almost hear a Borgir influence, has anyone ever compared SOTHIS to Dimmu? If so, why?
Dross: SOTHIS has definitely been compared to Dimmu both visually and sonically. First let me deal with the visual similarities. We have had our visual concept of SOTHIS planned since the beginning of our formation in 1999/2000. Unfortunately for us it took almost five years for us to complete the line-up. When we first started, Dimmu was doing their gothic/metal thing and didn’t use spikes. Then they went into their whole Matrix look if you recall. We were completely bummed when the new album came out and with that came the new look with the leg gauntlets. What can we do though? We are just pressing on as planned instead of abandoning who we know we are. As far as the sonic comparisons go, we really like what Dimmu did with their keyboards on the first four records. I think the keyboards, are likely what reminds people of Dimmu when hearing our music. Dimmu’s old keyboardist Stian Aarstad has got to be both Asperia’s and my favorite Black Metal keyboardist outside of maybe Charmand Grimloch of Tartaros.

Jessi: Any side projects for SOTHIS?
Dross: None of the members are involved with any side projects. I don’t think that any of us have time for side projects to tell you the truth. Various members of the band have been approached for session work and side projects but we simply do not have the time. All six of us are completely dedicated to SOTHIS and SOTHIS only.

Jessi: If SOTHIS had a chance to play with any bands on a concert bill what bands would they be?
Dross: I would choose a bunch of bands that I know are weaker than us so that we would blow them all away (laughs). Seriously though, it would be an honor to share a stage with Venom, Emperor, Immortal, Dimmu, Old Man’s Child, Satyricon, Mactatus, Mayhem, Carpathian Forest, Anorexia Nervosa, Seth, Marduk, Borknagar, Gehenna, Svartarhid, Arcturus, as well as others I’m currently not recalling. By the way, since this is all fantasy and some of these bands have retired and so forth, lets throw in Darkthrone (if they played live) and Bathory (if Quorthon was still alive and if he played live).

Jessi: Favorite past times?
Dross: I can’t really pin point a particular point in time that I would call my favorite past time as far as SOTHIS goes. I think my favorite times with the SOTHIS members are when we are all just having a BBQ, drinking beer, and listening to Metal and just hanging out together. Hopefully I’ll get to do another interview with you when our first full length comes out and then you can ask me this question again. By then we should have some good gig stories and obviously a record deal. While signing our lives away for two CD’s will be somewhat depressing, I’m sure that day is also going to qualify for my favorite past time.

Jessi: Any final words to those out there waiting to be taken over by SOTHIS?
Dross: If you have not heard our entire CD or if you just have not heard us at all, go to our website www.sothis.us and listen to the music. You will be able to download the entire CD in MP3 format from that location for free. This offer will most likely only last until the CD is licensed to someone here in the States. If you believe our goals and our music is worthy of your support then purchase a CD and support American Black Metal.

Jessi: How would you describe SOTHIS in 5 words or less?
Dross: The music: Dark, Aggressive, Symphonic Black Metal. The musicians behind the music: Die Hard Heavy Metal Fans!

Jessi: Wanted to say thank you for your time and sending you extreme metal success in the future. Thanks for putting out a killer demo! Way to go :)