For over thirty years, Kat Gillham has been a big fixture of the UK metal scene, from her early days as the vocalist in death metal band Morstice to her current day activities in the metal bands Thronehammer, Uncoffined and Lucifer’s Chalice and metallic d-beat group, Winds of Genocide. Her latest project, Nine Altars, sees her venture into the world of traditional doom metal featuring entirely clean sung vocals – forgoing her ferocious growls for an altogether more melodic, yet still crushingly heavy, approach.
Kat is something of a living metal encyclopedia, and it’s clear from the first listen of Nine Altar’s fantastic debut album ‘The Eternal Penance’ where the influences come from.
Featuring long, drawn-out epic arrangements, Kat explained that she had wanted to do a traditional doom metal band for quite some time, paying homage to long-time favourites Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and St Vitus.
Forming back in 2018, Kat (who handles both drums and vocals on the album) is joined by guitarists Charlie (also of Lucifer’s Chalice) and Nicolette (also of Uncoffined) and bassist, Jamie. Live drums will be handled by the experienced Dave Lyons, making Nine Altars something of a Durham metal supergroup.
As far as their place within the UK metal scene is concerned, Kat explains that while doom metal is currently going through something of a purple patch, she sees Nine Altars as offering something different: “We are definitely quite different from a lot of modern UK doom bands” she says: “We are a unique entity in having our roots firmly in the traditional ‘80s/’90s epic and traditional doom metal sound.”
Indeed, Nine Altars do offer a sharp contrast to the currently popular sludge and death-doom scenes currently dominating a lot of the UK underground, and certainly nail the old school vibe perfectly, not only sonically, but with their use of classic doom metal imagery, with Durham’s stunning religious architecture featuring heavily on their artwork.
Going forward, Kat explained that the band intend on rehearsing to become gig-ready in order to promote their album, with dates across the UK and Europe on the agenda. The CD of ‘The Eternal Penance’ is available now on Good Mourning Records (UK) whilst a vinyl release on Germany’s Journeys End Records is also in the works.
Summarising the band’s mission statement, Kat confidently exclaims: “WE ARE THE NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY DOOM METAL. DOOM OR BE DOOMED!”
For further information about Nine Altars, head to Facebook.com/ninealtars.
