EMQs With Abyss Below
EMQs With Abyss Below
25/06/2025
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Blackened Death Metal project from Oslo, Norway, Abyss Below. Huge thanks to Leviathan for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Leviathan: Hi there. My name´s Leviathan and I play the guitar. Abyss Below was originally founded in 2014 by three friends, myself included, after seeing Fleshgod Apocalypse live at that year’s Inferno Metal Festival. We wanted to sort of recreate that symphonic bombastic fury at top speed and blend it with a more Blackened sound that the likes of Emperor, Dimmu Borgir and those kinds of bands have. Unfortunately, we ended up going our different ways due to creative differences, lack of time and general life stuff and the project was put on ice for the time being. After multiple attempts to revive the beast from slumber as a band endeavour, I decided it was time to resurrect the band as a solo project, which led to the recording of the demo that is out now.
How did you come up with your band name?
That´s a very good question and unfortunately, it´s been way too long so I don’t quite remember.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Originally, the band was formed in the capital of Norway, Oslo. However, I´ve since relocated to Gothenburg in Sweden. I´m sure neither scene needs any introduction given the legendary status that both cities have in the Rock/Metal community, but both scenes have fantastic people and great bands with incredibly awesome music and I´m really grateful to have the opportunity to be part of both.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
The latest release is also the project´s first! A very long overdue Demo that consists of 2 songs that were originally supposed to appear for the first time on the debut album that will hopefully see the light of day sometime during 2026.
Who has been your greatest influences?
Personally, I´d say that while Fleshgod Apocalypse started the initial fire for the project, Emperor and their final album “Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire and Demise” has been pretty important for how the first album/first batch of songs turned out. Not because the songs in question are super experimental in the way that some of the songs on Prometheus are (I´m thinking about songs like ‘The Tongue of Fire’, ‘He Who Sought Fire’ or ‘Gray’), but rather because of how much I listened to the record and took some of the general ideas and what I think is the general mood of the record and applied them to my own material. Most noticeably, I really like the way that songs like ‘Empty’, ‘Thorns On My Grave’ and ‘In The Wordless Chamber’ are constructed and composed and then applied certain chord progressions and riff-philosophies from those songs to my own songs on the upcoming record. We can´t really talk about my influences either without mentioning Dream Theater as well. I got into Dream Theater very early in my beginner years as a guitarist with their album “Images and Words” and then later on “Metropolis 2: Scenes From A Memory” as well as the rest of their discography. I find that the way that their songs are structured, the use of odd meters and super virtuosity and nearly every part of their sound are super inspirational. While I may not sound anything like John Petrucci in my playing, I certainly owe them a lot when it comes to the way I play my guitar and as well as how the upcoming record is structured.
What first got you into music?
I´ve always been a big fan of music and thanks to my parents I was exposed to a lot of fantastic music, like Jazz, fusion, Progressive music, Rock and such when I was a kid. My downward spiral did however start when I was around 10 or 11 or so and I started listening to a lot of Green Day. While Green Day isn’t really the heaviest or ugliest band around by any means I got more open to the sound of distorted guitars, big drums and vocals that weren’t the prettiest because of them. However, at the age of 12 or 13 thanks to an online friend of mine, I was exposed to the first real Metal track that I had ever heard. He showed me Slayer´s ‘Angel of Death’ and it was unlike anything I had ever heard. It was SO angry and filled with rage and the sound… It just drew me in. From that point I was a hardcore Slayer-fan and listened to them pretty much every day, which in turn led me down the path of even heavier/more aggressive music and long story very short, here I am today.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
That´s a fantastic question. From the top of my head there are two. Firstly, I´ll have to say Jonas Ulrik Eide from Messier 16. Their latest release, Death Poems, is fantastic. Compositionally, thematically and musically, it´s an incredible release. Secondly, I would absolutely love to collaborate with Max Engvik from bands like Astaroth and Zustand Null. I love the way he uses dissonance in his riffs, and the general sound of Zustand Null is absolutely fantastic. Heavy, dissonant, with slight progressive tendencies. All the things I like, basically.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
There are so many great festivals in the world and I would be incredibly happy to play at any one of them, but I guess I´ll have to go with the basic and unexciting answer and say Wacken. It’s pretty much the biggest Metal festival in the world and I think it would be so fun to stand on stage and perform there.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I have fans!? Haha. I have yet to receive any gifts, let alone anything weird so I´ll have to say pass here.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you so much for listening to my music, even if you just listen to one track every now and then. It means a lot.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Tough question since there are so many great musicians and “rock stars” that have passed. I did have a very Pantera-heavy period in my life, so I think I´ll go with Dimebag, but then again it would be really cool to have the original Decapitated-drummer back as well.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The most amazing thing about being a musician, I think, is being able to play music with other people. There´s something magical about playing music with your friends that just can´t be matched. Songwriting is pretty cool too. Lyrics writing on the other hand, not a fan. I just find it hard to formulate my thoughts into something coherent and cohesive, unlike the music that I hear in my head.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
That artists and musicians actually get paid for what they do instead of some sleazy record label CEO or streaming CEO taking all the cash.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
It´s hard to mention just one, so I´ll cheat and mention two! Dream Theater’s “Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory” and Emperor – “Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise” are probably my two favourite records of all time.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Ooooo. Tough question. I grew up in the 90´s so I´ve been exposed to all of those early on. I’d have to say that they all have their merits. For convenience, I´ll say downloads (I use a lot of Spotify in my day-to-day listening on the bus and so on), but for actually listening to music on the stereo, I´d say that vinyls are the best.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
The best gig that I have played to date has to be either with Kvesta or with Baphy, since Abyss Below hasn´t performed live yet. Kvesta is a Black-Thrash band (imagine if Motörhead, Darkthrone and Aura Noir had an ugly kid) that I played guitar for while the band was active, and the best gig we played was at this local venue in Oslo called Vaterland. I believe the gig took place sometime during June in 2018. The sound was amazing, the crowd was amazing, the energy was insane and it was just fantastically awesome to play that gig. Just all-round fun, really. The other contender for best gig ever was the gig that I played with Baphy (a Symphonic Black Metal band) at Hulen in Bergen. Hulen is a really, really cool venue that used to be, as the name suggests (The cave), an actual cave. Baphy uses in-ear monitors, so I don´t really know how the sound was on stage, but from what I heard from the people that attended the gig the sound was really good out to the crowd. Once again, just a fantastically fun experience with cool people, fantastic crowd and a fantastic crew that did an amazing job which just made the experience extra cool for us.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the fortune of being a full-time musician, so currently I work in customer service after many years of working a retail-job. However, I have many other interests, though, like literature and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Tough question again! Maybe Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and maybe Ihsahn too? Two of my favourite authors, and three of my favourite musicians. I have no idea what I´d serve them or if they´d get along, though!
What’s next for the band?
So, next for the band is actually getting my head out of my ass and finishing the recording of the debut album, which I hope to have out sometime during early 2026.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Bandcamp: https://abyssbelow.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abyss.below/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAbyssBelow/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dzHCdtCctX9qRSIdgs8g2?si=BFddyKwBQ5it9G6ZglrLBQ
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
Very nice. I´m a big fan of British questions. I´m going to go out on a limb and answer with “a roll”.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you very much for your time as well and thank you for your interest in Abyss Below. I’m really looking forward to the future of this band and whatever it might hold.
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