THE METAL TIMES: LAURA AND VL WITH RFO

Monday, January 25, 2021

LAURA AND VL WITH RFO

Requiem For Oblivion

January 2021

Interviewed by:

Laura Williams

Vinyl Lollipops

Cover courtesy of:

Steve Jacobson

Logo courtesy of:

Noah Scarpelli

(Lordran drummer)

Requiem For Oblivion is:

Mike Scutella - Drums

Steve Jacobson - Vocals/Guitars/Synth/Bass

*As things get back to normal (whenever that may be) and shows become a thing again, we will actively seek a bassist and possibly a second guitarist.

Laura:

What genre of music do you consider Requiem For Oblivion to be?

Steve:

Definitely death metal but we have so many different elements in our music we like to call it hybrid death metal. We include a lot of technicality, atmosphere and slam. There’s even a variety of different styles of vocals, especially on the full length which will be coming out at the end of 2021.

Laura:

What's the ultimate direction for your band?

Steve:

I'd love to have all kinds of things happen. Lol.

We would love to be able to tour at some point but mostly I’d love to play festivals. To have enough merch sales or patreons to make a nice supplemental income. Also, being signed to a major label and/or licensing our music to television and movies. Shooting a few pro videos and recording with a major studio/producer are also on the to-do list.

Laura:

How would you describe your music making process?

Steve:

I'd say the songs typically start with guitar riffs as we are a riff heavy band. Then Mike and I work together to put together our usual sophisticated 'songs within songs' approach. We will usually pick a name for the song from some topic or world situation that has interested us. The lyrics usually come later in the studio while laying down guitar tracks.

Laura:

Why call the band, “Requiem For Oblivion?”

Steve:

I'm a recovering addict so years ago when we were trying to conceive a name for my old band in Sacramento, Forsake The Flesh, I thought of Requiem For Oblivion. It fits perfectly with my past. It's like a funeral for futility because that's what my addicted life was. Much of the lyrical content up until the last album was about addiction, recovery, death, hope, and mental illness, etc. We expanded from personal demons to national issues and now more worldly, esoteric topics.

Laura:

What should fans expect to experience at a show?

Steve:

So far we don't really utilize any type of theatrics, costumes, or etc but what you will get is a solid recreation of our loud, high energy, hybrid, sophisticated, death metal. 'Blast beats and double bass. Riffs to the face' as our shirts say on the back. Lol.

Laura:

Typical question here. Who has influenced you the most via music?

Steve:

I know Mike is a big Megadeth fan but more recently he has had some influence from Beyond Creation, Behemoth, Septic Flesh, etc.

For me a major influence is Rush since my cousin turned me on to them as a kid. I feel like most metal, especially prog and tech styles have branched out from the Rush tree. So they get a lot of props from me.

More recent bands that are favorites are: Nile, Obscura, Hour Of Penance, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Cynic, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Katatonia, Opeth, Fallujah, Ulcerate, Gojira, Aborted and more.

Laura:

How can fans and future fans locate, listen to and buy your music?

Steve:

The new EP will be released on February 13th. Until then you can check out all our other stuff on the following sites:

SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/requiem-oblivion/

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/RequiemForOblivion

ReverbNation:

http://www.Reverbnation.com/requiemforoblivion

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/requiemforoblivion

Bandcamp:

http://requiemforoblivion.bandcamp.com

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/requiemoblivion

Metal Archives:

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Requiem_for_Oblivion/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6PJR1B9BqpBy0z4Qves9JH...

Laura:

Is there anything else you would like your fans to know?

Steve:

Just that we take a genuine interest in our fans and want to interact, even take feedback and constructive criticism from them. We like to mess with them as well. Lol.

Laura:

What's coming up next for Requiem For Oblivion?

Steve:

I'm actually in the studio now working on the full length due out at the end of the year. LOVE this material sooooo much! Head and shoulders above the rest of our stuff I think. Excited for people to hear it. So we'll be teasing that in the next couple months, maybe spring.