THOUSAND YEAR RAIN - The Ultimate DIY Operation

January 14, 2013, 11 years ago

By Kelley Simms

thousand year rain feature

Charlotte one-man band THOUSAND YEAR RAIN, led by multi-instrumenatlist Thomas Sankt, is the ultimate DIY operation. Sankt’s passion and determination to create the type of music he wants to play, minus a band, is what drives him.

Sankt’s life calling was determined at the age of 12 after he first picked up a guitar. He’s self-taught, and although he doesn’t claim to be a lead player, he’s more rhythmically-inclined, which also lead him to take up the bass and drums as well. Whether emulating someone else’s or creating his own, Sankt feels at home making music.

Thousand Year Rain’s music is a combination of gloomy death metal and ’80s-inspired goth with equal amount of aggression similar to bands such as SLAYER and NILE to melancholic moods from bands such as THE CURE and BAUHAUS.

“Much like anybody else who’s really a music fan, more so than a metal fan, everything you listen to seeps into what you create. What still really moves me is stuff like Slayer, which is very angry. There’s a vitriol to it that’s just so intense. It’s very visceral. With the goth stuff, specifically the Cure and Bauhaus, it’s the exact opposite of the extreme. You want to feel something. Whether it’s sadness or love loss, or whatever it may be, you’re feeling something. Anything that’s emotive, whether it be angry or sad is what I try to do.”

After the band’s all vocals sophomore release, Witchery and Bloodshed, Sankt has chosen to go back to an all instrumental release on its third studio album, Prelude to the End Time. The songs on the new album have an ebb and flow to them and they tell the story of the song without using words by choosing the right riffs and melody.

“It felt like the story that was being told with the music could mean and be what ever you wanted it to. If you were in a good mood, it could pick you up, if you were in a bad mood, it was aggressive enough to make you drive faster!” Shankt says with a chuckle. “When stepped up to write these songs, I knew that I wanted something that would move. If you heard these songs, and you’re into metal, it doesn’t matter if there’s any words or not, the groove that’s in those riffs is going to move you. and whatever it is that’s in your head at that time, if you’re sad, angry, happy, whatever it may be, it’s just going to intensify it. So I knew that the riffs had to be strong enough to make you think, to make you move and to mean whatever you want it to mean.”

Sankt has stated that this will be Thousand Year Rain’s final full-length album. He’s still not looking to be in a band, but where he goes musically in the future is still uncertain.

“I’m probably going to take six months off and not practice, not play and leave it alone completely. Then probably come back in six months when all the inspiration is built back up and punch out about two or three songs that are inspired by whatever happens to me over the next six months and pour my emotions out and let it be in those two or three songs and release an EP. I think the two or three songs that end up on that EP are going to be every bit as strong as what I’ve done before and I hope that it’s actually stronger and I hope there’s something new to be said, whether there’s vocals or not vocals. I just hope that there’s something to be said, and if there is ... the world will see it.”

For more details visit Thousandyearrain.net.



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