‘Metal was never meant to be mainstream’

Sheraz Ahmed of the doom metal band, Dionysus, talks about his band and metal to Pakistan Today. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and festivity. Does this transcend into your music or influence the band in any way or was it just an interesting name you wanted to go by? Well, the name has nothing to do with our music. It just seemed interesting to me at that time.
How did the band form? After breaking up with my previous band because of the direction it was going to, my younger brother Umair Ahmed and I decided to form a band so that we could do what we meant to the first time we picked up the guitar. That was the summer of 2010. Found other guys and we started jamming. We found an event page for the Mosh Pit on Facebook, called the guy there, got ourselves hooked up and did that show. That was the first time people noticed Dionysus.
What are your main influences and what genre do you categorise yourselves into? There are many bands which have influenced our music. To name a few: Katatonia, Saturnus, Anathema, Novembers Doom, Decomposed, Asphyx, Empyrium, Ulver and Agalloch, October falls, and the list goes on. I don’t think we’re going to stick to one genre, but yeah Doom is always going to be our main field of interest. Our song ‘Burial Ground’ is a death doom song and ‘Glimpse of the Beloved’ is neo/dark-folk instrumental. Another song that we’ve written, ‘Embracing the Unknown’, is also a neo/dark-folk instrumental. And the song we’re currently working on is totally different from these three, so yeah.
You’ve recently changed your drummer. What led to this and is it a change for the better?
Well, yes because the previous drummer, Samad Rahim, was a pure progressive fan. And Doom/death wasn’t his thing. Well I believe he did a pretty good job on ‘Burial Ground’, but that was it. The new guy, Omair Soomro, on the other hand is totally into what we listen to and is a very devoted guy. We’re currently working on a new song with him. But the sad thing is he will be going to Karachi sometime this month for a long period of time and we’ll be looking for a drummer again. So if there is anyone who is interested in playing our type of music, hit us up.
It’s refreshing to see Pakistani metal bands rise up against the unfavorable odds plaguing our country. What are some of the problems that you faced while recording off and on the set?
Well, you don’t have many problems when you have everything you need and you know what to do with them. I don’t think any Pakistani band should have a problem in recording and all, because that’s part of being in a band. No one is going to come to you and record your song; you have got to do it on your own. We didn’t learn it from anywhere. Neither did the other bands recording songs these days. When I recorded my first song, I didn’t even know what a metronome was. But with time we’ve learned. Our bassist Waleed Ahmed produces all our songs. And I’d like to tell to all the bands that are looking to get their music recorded to contact us.
The fact that bands are actually coming up with their own music and not just covering artists is a pleasant step towards making metal mainstream. Do songs of yours such as ‘Glimpse of the Beloved’ have any personal significance? What exactly influences your lyrics?
I am someone who listens to music just for the kick of it and to while away time. It has a certain spiritual effect on me. And I feel it. So whenever we write a riff, we just try to feel what it is expressing on its own without the words and then I try to write lyrics related to the feel of the music. So at the end of the day it’s our music which influences our lyrics.
In Pakistan and generally most parts of the world metal is no longer mainstream and if it is it’s so softcore that it’s embarrassing for metalheads everywhere. What are your views on this?
Well as I don’t listen to modern metal, I don’t care where it is going either. And another thing, in my opinion metal was never meant to be mainstream.
Are you pursuing further education alongside Dionysus or is it your main project?
That’s a totally weird question, since I am getting yelled at by my mom for not preparing for my CA entry test as I answer your questions. And of course we’re pursuing further education. I just finished my FSc and will do CA now. Hamza Khan (vocalist) is in the second year of his BSc economics, Umair and Waleed have just passed their eleventh grade. Omair Somroo has done his A’levels and now will go to some university. So yeah, music is just a side thing, Dionysus is my main project though. I’ve got two bands as a side project with Hassan Umer, namely Foreskin and Multinational corporations.
Any album coming along the metal community should look forward to?
Yeah, we’re currently working on an album. But will release a four or five song EP before it. And we’ve decided to release it in a CD-R format. So look forward to it.