The Bridge of Light gives wings… Lead into the sea where you’ll be joining me…

Are you ready for some old school, dark and heavy-as-hell Doom Metal on The Headbanging Moose this month of February? If doom is what you love, I’m sure you’ll have a blast with our metal chick of the month, the badass, raven-haired Julie Simonsen, drummer for one of the most infernal and Stygian bands of the current European scene, the unrelenting all-female Doom Metal entity known as Konvent, an up-and-coming act that will surely become a driving force of primeval doom not only in their homeland Denmark, but anywhere else where obscure and devilish extreme music is properly appreciated. Having said that, fasten your seat belts and enjoy our humble tribute to a woman who albeit might be taking her first steps in her music career, has all it takes to conquer the hearts of metalheads form all over the world with her unique charisma and undeniable talent behind the drums.

Born and raised in Frederiksværk, a small town in the Halsnæs Municipality on Zealand, in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark, but currently residing in Søborg, a neighbourhood in Gladsaxe Municipality, located some 10 km northwest of central Copenhagen, Julie said she was feeling bored at school before joining Konvent. She said that after she moved to Søborg she attended some sort of “left-wing hippie music college” (which I believe is a school called Det frie Gymnasium) where she was supposed to play angry punk music, therefore getting more involved in the local punk and metal scene. After her graduation, she worked at H&M and even in the zoo where she sold ice cream, and now apart from her career with convent she is also currently working in a warehouse for an online clothing store.

Julien mentioned in one of her interviews she started playing drums when she was around 12 or 13 years old, getting her first drums from her parents and then starting taking lessons. Her father introduced her to the music by Kiss when she was a little girl, when she was only around 6 or 7 years old, and she instantly fell in love for it, saying she thought at that time Eric Singer was really cool with the makeup and everything else. As a matter of fact, that was actually the real reason that inspired her to play the drums. A few years later, after she started playing drums, Julie also started taking guitar lessons, which by the way it’s still a thing for her, but of course drums have always been her top priority.

It was at the end of November 2017 when our dauntless drummer joined Konvent, the all-female Doom Metal sensation formed in 2015 in Copenhagen following in the footsteps of Candlemass, Paradise Lost, Cult of Luna and Black Breath, who all unleashed the bleakest horror on mankind in the early 90’s, having already appeared with the band at several festivals such as Aalborg Metal Festival, Metal Magic, When Copenhell Freezes Over and Roskilde Festival. Kovent are currently comprised of Rikke Emilie List on vocals, Sara Helena Nørregaard on the guitars, Heidi Withington Brink on bass and, obviously, Julie Simonsen on drums, having released a demo in 2017 (still with their original drummer Mette Marie List), and just a few days ago their debut full-length opus entitled Puritan Masochism, via Napalm Records, a massive extreme metal highlight of early 2020 (which will obviously be reviewed at The Headbanging Moose soon) conjuring up a deserved revival for the whole death doom genre. Julie said the four girls in the band already knew each other from the Copenhagen metal scene, as the scene in the city is not actually really big, with most people knowing each other from concerts and other events. In addition, Julie said that when Konvent first got together, they didn’t want to commit to any specific genre, simply deciding to call their music “Primitive Death Doom” due to the slow rhythms and riffing combined with Rikke’s Death Metal-like vocals.

When asked about the recording process for Puritan Masochism and what lessons the band learned from their live performances that were applied to the album, Julie said that the whole recording got better and better as they got more and more comfortable with their instruments, having more control and more creativity while writing music, consequently becoming more fun, more relaxed and more instinctual. She also said it was indeed a very lengthy process at the beginning, especially due to all the concerts and rehearsals happening at the same time they were writing and recording material for the album. The girls had a very strict deadline, saying they wrote the last song for the album on the last day before the recordings, but that after all the pressure somehow contributed to their creative thinking and they were happy with what they took with them from the studio. If you want to get a very good (and infernal) taste of Konvent’s undisputed doom from their new album, with Julie smashing her drums beautifully, take a very good listen at the songs Trust and Ropes Pt. II, and don’t forget to also purchase their music directly form their BandCamp page. I’m beyond certain you’ll get addicted to their devilish creations.

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Highly influences by some of the most obscure and talented bands and artist from the extreme music universe such as Anaal Nathrakh, King Diamond, Candlemass, Mantar, Monolord, Alunah, Solbrud, Dirt Forge and Black Breath, Julie was questioned if she still feels the influence of Metallica’s own Lars Ulrich around Copenhagen and in Denmark in general. well, she said there will always be a comparison to Lars due to the fact she’s a drummer from his homeland Denmark, but she doesn’t really know if that’s a compliment. There’s this “love-hate” feeling due to Lars’ arrogance, but she still likes him and his style, saying he’s some sort of “goofy uncle” for all drummers, complementing by saying that he’s still a big celebrity in Denmark and that he’s not seen in public that often, as opposed to the guys from Volbeat who are always around town.

Julie and the other girls from Konvent were also inquired about the current state of the Danish metal scene, being asked about which bands from Copenhagen they would love to play with or see live, and their answers included several incredible bands from the beautiful capital of “Danevang” such as Dirt Forge, Solbrud, Alkymist, Møl, Afsky, Morild and Dying Hydra, among others, which by the way they said all made them feel very welcome to the scene, especially Dirt Forge with whom they had the pleasure to play with several times in the past few years. They complemented by saying the Danish scene is a very familiar one, as most bands know each other in some way and everyone is extremely friendly and helpful, also saying there are countless concerts happening everyday at different small venues and mentioning other Danish bands like Konvent that are branching out to the world and getting more and more attention such as Baest, Slægt and Møl. Hence, if you live in Copenhagen or if you’re visiting the city in the near future you should definitely try some of their best venues for some first-class underground doom and other heavy styles, including Ungdomshuset, which is the local youth house in Copenhagen, as well as the bigger venues such as Vega or Pumpehuset, also referred to as “The Bomb House”, whenever they put on metal, and Loppen, at the freetown Christiania in the middle of Copenhagen (which by the way Julie doesn’t feel one hundred percent safe as in the rest of the city), where Konvent has already taken their stage by storm.

As we’re talking about the Danish scene and venues for live metal performances, it’s obvious that Julie and the other girls love to play their music live and tour as much as they can, something that’s expected form any good metalhead. For instance, one of their biggest dreams was to perform at the biggest music festivals organized in their homeland, the exceptional Copenhell and Roskilde Festival, which they ended up doing in the same year, in 2019. Julie said it was truly unreal to be part of both festivals, saying they were extremely nervous and restless before the shows, and also mentioning that because they were supposed to play at a really early spot, at around 2pm, they didn’t think there were going to be so many people attending their concert. She also said they’re absolutely pumped for their first round of international concerts, including shows in Germany, Sweden and Norway, as well as international festivals such as Gefle Metal Fest in Gävle, Sweden, In Flammen Open Air in Torgau, Germany and the HRH Vikings – Chapter III in Sheffield, England. When asked about which countries or festivals apart from the aforementioned ones they would love to play, our stunning drummer said they definitely want to play at the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, also citing other major festivals like Brutal Assault, Sweden Rock, Hellfest and Eindhoven Metal Meeting. In addition to all that, Julia also mentioned Konvent have been receiving tons of positive feedback form all over the world, from countries and regions like the United States, Canada, Japan, Eastern Europe and South America, with the fans from the United States and Eastern Europe being the most excited with their music so far. If you would like to witness the power and obscurity of Konvent live, go check some YouTube videos such as their performance of the songs No End and Bridge at the Kaldet Fra Dybet III festival at Ungdomshuset, in Copenhagen, in February 2018; playing the song Puritan Masochism at Copenhell in 2019; and their full performance at When Copenhell Freezes Over at Vega in January 2018, where you can enjoy Julie smashing her drums in songs like Chernobyl Child, Tracks and Squares. Also, don’t forget to check their short and sweet “tour report” from their 2018 mini-tour in Germany as a support act for the bands Monolord and Firebreather, and Julie herself inviting us all to join them at the 2018 edition of Metal Magic.

When Konvent are not doing music, the girls like to do some distinct and fun activities either by themselves or together, with their curiosity about the world inspiring them to take walks in the nature, listen to science podcasts, travel the world, spend quality time with their friends and family and read books by authors like Dennis Jürgensen, Dan Turèll, and Patty Smith. As none of the girls smoke weed, they can only recommend some traditional Danish dishes to us fans, such as their famous Smørrebrød, an open-faced sandwich made with rye bread with loads of different toppings on it, and the Danish pastry called Snøfler. And lastly, when asked if they’re worried about all the work that Konvent might generate for them, Julie said that all the girls are trying their best to align their tasks and responsibilities as a band to their non-Konvent work and studies, and that of course one day they hope they can make a living from Konvent. In my humble opinion, based on the fantastic job done by the band so far with both their demo and their newborn full-length spawn they’re on the right path to stardom, and I can’t wait to see Julie and her bandmates slamming our heads with their pulverizing doom in North America in a not-so-distant future.

Julie Simonsen’s Official Facebook page
Julie Simonsen’s Official Instagram
Konvent’s Official Facebook page
Konvent’s Official Instagram
Konvent’s Official YouTube channel