THE HEAVY METAL CITADEL

Dan Elkin of Echoes of Gloom dives into the creation of The Mind’s Eternal Storm, exploring the raw emotion, atmospheric soundscapes, and influences behind his introspective black metal project. From gear choices to the underground Australian scene, this interview captures the soul of a rising one-man band.

"Be yourself, no rules. Stay true to your identity. Keep on recording, making albums and play live."

“I see myself much more in an amphitheater or an abandoned castle in the middle of nature, setting up the show like a sort of sequential tale, staged with scenery and animated sequences in the background, preferably with an accompanying orchestra.”

“We have always done music on our own terms and not being afraid of how people would take it.”

“Deitus is the knife in the back of man.”

One could think that living under the impression of Nazis about 70 years ago should have left an impact, but that’s just wishful thinking. Fascism works because it’s so easy to blame others, and fighting against this will always be a nuisance in the view of these people.

“Lithopaedic came from a dream that Frank had. Lithopaedic deals with discovering an alternate self in a parallel world, and challenging or reckoning with that self. Afterward a stronger version of yourself emerges at the behest of some mysterious force of chaos and change.“

“Technology has ruined everything already, now it will even ruin art. We are doomed as a species, and we deserve it. Fucking stupid arrogant humans. We have way bigger things to worry about than the metal scene.”

“All of the artists that are worth their shit, they maybe had like ups and downs in their career, but the only way that they've ever been satisfied is by knowing internally that they made something that they really wanted to make that was unaffected by any sort of, outside influence.”

“Finding fans who have tattooed our logo or cover art on themselves has been pretty crazy. I’ve had fans come tell me how they wanted to kill themselves and my art has helped them with that.”

“I did care a lot when I was younger what people thought of me, but I do not anymore...I don’t judge anyone for their choices or for what they like or do. When you accept that, I think it's way more easy to just go through life curious and make out of it what you want.”

“I'm inspired by topics like the middle ages, nature and very personal, dark things that happened in my life. ”