Vûlom is a young band from Kaštela, Croatia swarming with ideas of blending melodic phrases and crushing heavy sound with depressive soundscapes. Inspired by doom giants like Saturnus, October Tide, Dawn of Solace, Hamferð, etc. We are trying to find a unique expression of our views towards the world and emotions (Source: Vûlom's official Facebook page).
Photo: Leo Nakić
Tell us more about your beginnings, when was the band founded, who are the members etc.
We were founded on the 13th of February 2018... I mean, that is the day our soon - to - be band WhatsApp group was created but we see it as the day Vûlom was founded. In a couple of days we had assembled all members, had our first ideas for the name and logo. Finally, we settled on Vûlom - a word taken from The Elder Scroll franchise's dragonspeech meaning "the dark, darkness" which we thought was a cool easter egg since we wanted to play some kind of doom metal.
Speaking of the genre, we didn't want to be limited by traditional "borders" of a subgenre since all of our backgrounds were completely different (ranging from classical music and jazz to the deepest holes of black metal). Hence, we tried to create our unique and recognizable style, in which we, in my opinion, succeeded. When asked about it, we say that we play "atmospheric melodic blackened death/doom metal".
The idea of a band has been brewing for years before, since some of us know each other for 10+ years, but we finally managed to form a functional band in 2018. Vûlom was formed by me (Sandro - rhythm guitar) and my friend Jan (lead guitars) while drinking coffee in a local caffe where our soon - to - be vocal worked as a waiter. Unfortunately, all other members changed a couple of times in these 3 years. And finally, last year I moved to Zagreb because of work and our vocal decided to seek his luck in Germany and we thought that was it for Vûlom. But since we worked so hard, we decided to keep Vûlom running between me and Jan (with session vocals from our friends).
The last full line - up was:
Vjeko Dražin - vocals
Sandro Radan - rhythm guitar
Jan Karlović - lead guitar
Ivan Alfirević - bass
Duje Šaran - drums
Photo: Leo Nakić
In 2019 you released a studio album which was recorded, mixed and mastered at your own studio? That was a lot of work, I imagine. Is that the idea for the next album too or would you like to sign with a label?
Well, technically You can't call it a studio - we had a couple of mics (Shure SM57 and a condenser mic, which I don't even know what brand it is), a budget audio interface, a free version of Reaper (a DAW we settled on), a bunch of free plugins and one quality guitar tube amp all our guitars were recorded on. I was in charge of the recording process, setting up the gear and tracking the whole thing, while Jan did all the mixing and mastering. All in all, it was a fun experience, but also hard work. Everything we knew about recording, mixing and mastering came from the internet. The album, as it is now, is far from perfect and we are aware of it, but it is and will always be our love - child. A lot of good memories tie us to it.
We can't tell You exactly how long the recording process was because, as we came up with a song, we would record it in a few days. Of course, all songs went through a series of editing some song parts.
In the end, the album dropped on 30th December 2019. In fact, we left it uploading while we were out on small concert in our local metal club.
Looking back, we would probably change a lot of things about it, but at the time it was such a fulfilling feeling to create something you could call your own, something other people from around the world would maybe enjoy.
For now, we are not signed to any label but if there was an opportunity we would gladly accept it.
Where did you play live? Will there be any more concerts soon?
Two times we played at our local metal club "Eks" - the first time with our friends from The Countess (Sinj) with just a few songs we we managed to come up with by then and the second time promoting our album after its release; and as part of the festival St@rt. We were invited to play on KRV (Kaštelanske Rock Večeri) twice, but due to Covid19 pandemic the festival was postponed indefinitely.
With our current situation being only a recording band (I sincerely hope only for now) we won't be playing any shows soon, even though it is an unforgettable event in all our lives - seeing all the people listening and enjoying our music.
Photo: Anđela Radan
Are you working on new material and what are your future plans?
We have two unreleased songs recorded just before life dragged us in different directions. For now, the songs aren't mixed nor mastered but I think it could soon change. Also, I and Jan have quite a lot of song ideas only waiting to be recorded.
If you want to share something else, feel free to share.
To whoever reads this, keep your inner child alive and don't ever give up on your dreams and music because that are a few things that define you.
Thanks a lot,
Sandro Radan
Vûlom
Photos: Anđela Radan
More about the band:
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Photos: Leo Nakić / Anđela Radan
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