THE CIMMERIAN

“Let me tell you of the days of high adventure...and heavy fuckin’ metal!”--The Wizard (paraphrased)

Yes indeed,the barbaric days sword and sorcery and the crushing riffs of heavy metal have always been joined at the hip since the earliest days of metal. Many are the bands who have told tales of sword-slinging adventure and foul wizardry, from BLUE ÖYSTER CULT to HIGH ON FIRE and from MANOWAR to MANILLA ROAD. But there is always room for one more. Thus we have THE CIMMERIAN.

Obviously named in tribute to Robert E. Howard’s lusty barbarian Conan, this California trio is very well suited for “the days of high adventure”. They are heavier than one of Hannibal’s war elephants and there is a kind of ancient feeling to the riffs that  conjures up feelings of those days when a man’s fortune and fame relied on his sword arm. Even if the band’s lyrics weren’t in tribute to barbarian times, there is a quality to the music that brings that time to life.

THE CIMMERIAN’s bombastic debut “An Age Undreamed Of” is everything a metal reaver could want. Upon hearing this massive slab of warfare, I made an oath to speak to the band. Lo, and my quest was answered ...bassist/vocalist Nick Rocha found time to put down his battleaxe and speak to Wormwood...

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES Greetings and hails to THE CIMMERIAN! Which came first for you guys...the love for heavy music or the interest in sword and sorcery topics?

NICK ROCHA: Hey, thanks so much for the chance here, this is bassist/vocalist Nick Rocha. Speaking entirely for myself here, I think it might have been sword & sorcery first before I even had a concept of what heavy metal would be. I was 5 when I first encountered stuff like Conan the Barbarian and I was/am a big fan of books so that’s where I first escaped to. The other two guys in the band I think might definitely have different answers to this.  

WC: . I understand the roots of the band lay in a crossover group called SEPTIK ONSLAUGHT. Did SEPTIK ONSLAUGHT gradually evolve into THE CIMMERIAN or was it a completely separate project?

NR: Guitarist David Gein and I were in SEPTIK ONSLAUGHT for a few years and we’d actually put out a couple of EPs with that project. We’d only really played one show live and were kind of wanting to do a bit more. We both had previously played in other doom projects, he was the bassist for the East Coast band BLACK PYRAMID while I was playing with the West Coast band called DEATHKINGS, since he and I are both fans of both doom and thrash, we decided to make it a new project and to mix up our combined past musical efforts along with stuff we might enjoy that’s not necessarily doom or thrash but still fits well within what we would come to write and play. And thus, THE CIMMERIAN.

WC:  You found your drummer David on Craigslist? The guy just flat out slays on the drums! Was he your only choice for that position?

NR: David, or Butcher as we tend to call him, did indeed come to us via Craigslist. We had put up a pretty basic post and honestly, didn’t expect anybody to really reply to it. Surprisingly enough, a few folks sent in emails, some with some really impressive resumes including folks that played in some established grind core bands and the such but Dave’s email I believe was the first we actually got and replied to. When he came to his first try out, he was in such a good mood, had the chops behind the kit and best of all, brought in some Halloween candy. We didn’t need to try anybody out after that, guitarist David and I thought that was a great first impression and yes, he’s a freakin’ beast behind the kit.

WC:  Obviously you have a love of Robert E. Howard’s Conan. What are some of your favorite tales of the barbarian from the North?

NR: Again, the other guys might have differing opinions on this but I’m one of those spoil sports that actually likes all of the Conan stories, from Howard and up to and including all the pastiche stuff. Sticking to Howard though, the “Hour of the Dragon” is easily the most epic of Howard’s original stories. “Red Nails” is brutal as hell but you can’t forget “Phoenix on the Sword” as it is the first Conan story.

WC:  Can you see yourselves doing a concept album set around one big Conan adventure?

NR: Yeah ,definitely, the thing is, there are so many stories set in that world, there is so much lore, some of it really unexplored in maybe some of the early stories which is why I also enjoy the pastiche stuff, it expands on the OG stories. But yes, there are some ideas to that effect, taking one of the stories and making one entire album dedicated to it but I guess folks will have to keep listening to what’s coming up for us.

WC: You also draw on other sword and sorcery characters like Elric and Darkwolf from the “Fire And Ice” movie. Have you got your eye on any other warriors to write about? Or will you create your own original characters that belong strictly to THE CIMMERIAN?

NR: There will definitely be mention of other sword wielders in other songs, both real and otherwise. Charles Saunders is one of my favorite authors as well, he is known for the sword and soul character of Imaro, easily one of the most underappreciated in the genre. There’s also a huge amount of writers in the grim dark and s/s genres that have a lot of one off stories that I enjoy that I’ll definitely pull influence from or even reference. Some real world folks that might pop up in songs will most likely include Genghis Khan, one of the most fascinating characters in history. Plus, Robert Howard also had other characters he wrote on that also fall in line with what we like yelling about. 

WC:  Is there another meaning to your lyrics other than just love of battle and sword and sorcery? Something that might apply to modern times?

NR: Superficially, yeah, the lyrics are pretty dedicated to whatever story it is we’re telling in the song but there are also for sure themes that can be carried over into maybe something a bit more real and personal. For example, one of the reasons I enjoy the sword/sorcery genre is because there is such a dependence on the self or on each other, in the cases where the characters are grouped up, which also makes it more relatable. I like placing myself in the situation of the storyline within the song, and since most of those ‘battles’ are metaphors for what we as people encounter, I use it as motivation, to conquer whatever is deemed a problem, learn from it and continue. 

WC: . I’d describe your sound as HIGH ON FIRE colliding with MANILLA ROAD in MOTORHEAD’s back yard. What are some of the musical influences you draw on?

NR: That’s a great description right there, HOF/MANILLA ROAD and MOTÖRHEAD are bands we collectively enjoy and very obviously pull influence from. Guitarist David is very much into bands like IRON MAIDEN, THIN LIZZY, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, and a whole slew of those gritty 70’s rock bands, similarly, drummer Dave is into LED ZEPPELIN, RAINBOW and the likes. He’s into drummers like Cozy Powell. Me, I’m into HOF and MOTÖRHEAD, BLACK FLAG and of course, the MISFITS/SAMHAIN so there’s a lot to play with as far as influences.

WC: You’ve got a very epic sound. Could you see the band adding symphonic or orchestral elements...something like Poledouris’ “Conan” soundtrack?

NR: Thanks for that, I think we have a pretty big sound as well! That’s for sure something we’ve talked about, either incorporating the original soundtrack into our live show would be wild and something we could do for sure. I’ve also thought about getting some music conjured up with a bit more of a middle Eastern flair or something that would lend itself to telling our stories a bit better. There’s a joke between us that I like music ‘from places’ so incorporating stuff like that is on the list for stuff we will implement once we can.

WC:. Does THE CIMMERIAN play live much? Any festivals or tours worth noting?

NR: We try to play as many shows as we can book but we’d certainly like to play more. We haven’t done any festivals aside from the Midstate Metal Fest pre show in Bakersfield which was fun as well and a pretty eclectic  lineup. We would dig a chance at more festivals so hopefully we can start jumping on some more this coming year, another goal is to start making it out to the East Coast and make some noise out there.

WC: If you guys could curate your own music festival, who would be on it?

NR: Probably bands we enjoy that are still around and bands that we’ve done shows wit. That’s a lot of bands since the three of us like so many different styles, even from one another, and of course, we’d like to bring along the bands we’ve already played shows with so we can have fun with them all.  

 WC: Have you got an idea of what might follow “An Age Undreamed Of”?

NR: We’ve got an idea, yes. In fact, we’re already on the second installation of our ongoing single series we call “Sword & Sorcery”. We released “Volume 1” of that on cassette and already have the next two songs for that 2nd entry. We’ve also already started around ideas for the second album. In addition, we’ve got some tunes set aside for a split we’d like to do.

WC:  Are you involved in any other bands or projects?

NR: All of us are, guitarist Dave is in a band called THE SCIMITAR which is in that stoner/doom vibe, drummer David is in a band called ANGELFURY which is that melodic heavy metal style of music and I’m in a couple of bands that I’m trying to keep around such as DEATHKINGS and DEMONIA.

 WC: If you could have dinner with any 3 people from history, who would they be?

NR: I’d have the Weird Tales 3, that is: Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft. I know they all corresponded with one another but if I were a witness to them just throwing ideas around and talking shop, that would be cool.

WC:. Has THE CIMMERIAN ever had any “Spinal Tap” moments where things went wrong that you could share with us?

NR: Not at the moment thankfully. That movie rules but we’ve been lucky to have shows turn out pretty good, aside from being too loud for the venue we were at once,..we pulled the plug on that one ourselves and just went home. I’m totally blind so I’m sure one day I’ll get myself into a silly predicament of getting lost amongst guitar stacks or something.

WC:Any final words for the faithful?

NR: Yes, thanks for the opportunity here, hope people dig on it enough to check out our music. We have a lot of fun making it and playing it, so hope folks enjoy it. Check out BVR who were awesome enough to release our album “An Age Undreamed Of…” on vinyl, released on Jan 10th, and make sure you check us out on all the streaming platforms as well. Find us on Fb/IG at TheCimmerianOfficial and on Twitter at BarbarianHorde. Take much care of yourself, each other and read a book, play music and have fun.

THE CIMMERIAN