Interview With American Haunting, Symphonic Groove Metal "Timeless Haunt"

Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement, the Head of the magazine, how are you today?

I’m working my day job, and I’m not a rockstar, so average at best lol.

Dark For Life was out on March, 2021, can you tell me about the songwriting and production behind the album?

The songwriting is done in a way to emote a specific creepiness, or dark vibe. The structures themselves are the result of an equal collaboration done by the entire band. Lyrically, all songs are written by Unknown. His style of writing is so dark that it’s meaning may be hidden within the melody of the vocal placement. What you think might be a happy song, is so emotionally dark that it might take you by surprise. An example of that would be the song Sands of Agony from our first album.

Timeless Haunt – “Dark for Life” album track listing

Geisterton
Embrace the Haunt
Dark for Life
Sinful Girl
Pain
526
Not For Me
Wicked Game
Night Crawler (Judas Priest Cover – Bonus Track)

Was there any concept behind the album?

No. We just wanted to write songs ghat were not just dark, but also listenable to a general audience. Tastefully dark would be our motto.

The cover art has the darkness of a millennium, a great work on the cover art, can you tell me about the making and theme behind the art?

Well, we hired Felipé Machado to do our art for the album. He is famous for doing cover work on bands such as Helloween, and Gamma Ray amongst many other top tier metal bands. The idea was presented by our keyboardist, Don, and then grew into what it became. In the end, the meaning behind the baby being protected by its mother, as the demons claw for possession, became something more personal for Unknown. As he puts it, “The baby represents me, being protected by my mother from the forces of evil (my father.) Ultimately, she fails and I am consumed by the darkness of my upbringing, making me the man I am today. It’s about life’s unchangeable inevitabilities.

8 awesome tracks of pure metal greatness in the album, totally brilliant work from you guys, how do you feel about the outcome?

If you ask any band, I believe they would all say that there were things they wish they could’ve done differently or better. The same goes for us. Although we are extremely happy with the album, it was a shame that a lot of it was written remotely during the pandemic. However, we were all present in the studio at the time of recording. In any case, we highly appreciate your compliment!

Formed in 2018, with an EP and a full length album, how do you feel about the road you traveled so far?

I think we did our best to create our sound. We are trying desperately to be as original as possible while still staying true to our metal roots. Now that our sound has a solid base, our next goal is to keep pushing to be as original as we can, and to keep writing high quality music while not overplaying for the sake of competition.

Can you tell me about the band, the formation and how you got together to make something so beautiful in the art of metal?

To make a long story short, Unknown ran into Tommy Eye, who he hadn’t seen in years, at a random gas station, and started talking music. They had known each other for years but never collaborated with each other. Turns out Tommy knew a bassist, (George) and the three met at Unknown’s house to discuss what we had in mind. Unknown had already known drummer John Jez through previous projects, and quickly it came together. George originally played bass and keys on the first album, but we desperately needed a keyboardist. Turns out my neighbors were musicians as well, and they “knew a guy.” Enter Don Fortune. From there, the lineup was complete. It has undergone two guitar changes since it’s inception but we have recently filled it’s vacancy with ex Benedictum and current Spiritual Sickness guitarist Ed Mischke.

How has the touring been and what would be the touring plans for 2022?

Now that the lineup is complete and we are able to move forward, our main goal at this point is to write and record the 3rd album. After that, the goal is touring overseas, where our main audience seems to reside. Eventually a North American tour might benefit us as the name grows.

The Unknown Vocalist is making me know more about him. Can you tell me a bit about The Unknown Vocalist?

He’s very dark. His mind is filled with some of the darkest thoughts I’ve ever heard in a lyricist. I’m not talking about “Satanic lyrics dark”, but a dark that can reside in the corners of most people’s brains. He’s good at expressing those thoughts and bringing them to light. He works extremely hard to push TH, and the man hates failure. It’s been extremely tough on him finding a new guitarist to fill the void. On that note, he’s a very misunderstood, humble, fun loving guy, who doesn’t think he’s good enough to compete with the best singers in metal. As a matter of fact, he still takes voice lessons.

Can you tell me about the musical direction of the band and songwriting focus?

With Ed in the band, we expect the band’s sound to change a bit to become more raw and brutal, but without changing its listenability appeal. His guitar work is extremely impressive and he’s a true professional who can help propel TH to a new level. As far as songwriting goes, we have a surprise in the works that we cannot reveal at this time, but it’s something a bit different and fun. It won’t encompass the entirety of the new album, but we believe a certain fan of a specific time of year might be thrilled about it.

Can you share some of the great moments you had since the beginning of the band?

As far as playing out, we are very selective, and feel that our time (at this point) is better spent writing, recording, and promoting as much as we can. The great moments for us are hearing how people that don’t even necessarily listen to metal, are embracing our style. The support we get online from around the world is ridiculous. It’s grown much faster than I had anticipated. To me, those are the great moments!

What are the plans for 2022?

Releasing the new full-length album, and getting ready to take the show on the road. Hitting major markets such as Baltimore, NYC, and Philly, and doing our best to get into an overseas tour. Big things are in the works, but I feel it will take until the end of the year to really show.

Finally what would be the message for the fans?

We’ve had some unexpected lineup changes since the release of Dark for Life, and things have gone stale over the past 6 months or so, but if you hang in there, I promise you that we will be back better, and stronger than ever! Thank you all for your unwavering support!

The Band

Unknown Vocalist – Lead & Harmony Vocals, Demonic Chants, Sinister Laughs
Ed Mischke – Obscene guitars from Hell
George Dimitri – Extended Range Fretted & Fretless Basses, Piano & Keyboards, Harmony & Back-Up Vocals, Bellow Growls
John Jesuele – Thunderous Drums & Haunting Percussion
Don (The Wizard of) Fortune – Piano, Keyboards, Organs, Strings, Assorted Evil Sounds