Our first featured Meet The Band artist in 2025 is the L.A. doom/thrash trio The Cimmerian. Their full-length debut album is An Age Undreamed Of. Vocalist/bassist Nick Rocha introduces us to his band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of The Cimmerian.
Nick Rocha: Back in 2021, I and guitarist David Gein decided to switch up musical styles from a previous band we were doing a bit, met up with drummer David Morales and found a pretty good heavy groove. Ever since then, we’ve been writing a bunch of music and playing shows around the Southern California area as much as possible.
Describe the songwriting process for An Age Undreamed Of…
Through the time we began playing together, guitarist Dave would bring in ideas to the rehearsal room and in typical Cimmerian style, we’d all flesh it out together and hammer away at the song so that it can fit exactly what we what it to sound like. Some songs were finished a lot quicker than others but these were all a result of our first couple of years playing together and finding out what we liked doing as a band.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
For me, it was definitely being as prepared as we were. There was no hesitation on any of our parts and we all knew pretty much what needed to be done as we’d been rehearsing these songs and in some cases, playing them out for a couple of years by that time. Once we stepped into the studio, it was just a matter of doing it one more time. I’m really proud of how smooth that recording session was and it’s always fun writing and recording with these two.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
I think maybe making sure we were definitely satisfied with our recorded parts, but I think all the folks that record must have similar experiences. Not necessarily second guess themselves but more check with the other people around them to make sure it’s good and all. I also think we do this to make sure the other guys in the band are into what we all individually play, which we definitely are.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
We most always call our music doom thrash. It’s the best tag we could come up with, especially given our influences. We also sometimes call it barbarian metal or sword and sorcery metal. We mix other elements but I think doom thrash is pretty spot on, given that we primarily use doom and thrash as our baseline.
What inspired the album title?
The title is a direct quote from Robert E. Howard, my main lyrical influence. It’s taken from the story “The Phoenix On The Sword,” which also happens to be the first published Conan the barbarian story. It’s also a line used in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie, as uttered by the legendary Mako at the start of the film. I thought that line lent itself pretty well for a collection of stories (our songs).
What lyrical topics do you cover?
As mentioned, the collected works of Robert Howard are perhaps the primary influence but we also tend to mix it up with a lot of historical fiction and non-fiction as well. Anything that is remotely sword and sorcery, somewhat mystical but not overly fantastical. I also love mixing in real world influences or origins on literary subject matter and writing about them in that manner. And of course, movies from these same topics are huge influences: Conan The Barbarian, Fire & Ice, Deathstalker are probably obvious influences.
How did you come to sign with Hyborian Rage and Black Voodoo for the CD and vinyl releases?
Hyborian Rage Records is actually our own imprint, it’s what we’re going to use to collectively distribute all of our music and anything else we might come up with. We began what we hope will be an ongoing series of singles that we’ve called the “Sword & Sorcery” series that we’ll be releasing when we finish the songs for each entry. We’ll also be putting out some cool shirt designs that we think folks into this music will be into. As with BVR, they are good friends of ours and have worked with a bunch of bands in our scene here in Los Angeles. I’d always wanted to do something with them and in turn, they were wanting to come back from their hiatus, so we planned this very cool looking vinyl package and there it is. Things worked out pretty cool in that there is this cool record and we get to work with some great folks to put it out.
Are you a vinyl collector?
Yes, we all pretty much are in the band but I definitely am. I love how tactile an experience it is, where you get to hold the record, place it on the turntable and let it play while you either scan the insert for lyrics or some other tidbit about the band or just vibe to the music. As many others used to do and probably still do, it’s all a ritual. Plus, it feels pretty cool knowing that there’s a slab of vinyl out there that my buds and I had a hand in creating.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
As with any of our music, I’d just like as many people to get to hear it as possible. I happen to think we play some cool tunes and know that anybody even remotely into this type of music, whether it is the heaviness of it, the familiarity of the style we play or the subject matter, there’s something to hook you in. It’s a great representation of the music we make, we have fun playing it and I think it comes through in the album, all we need and would like is for folks to give it a shot.
What has been your most memorable The Cimmerian live show?
We’ve had some pretty cool shows in both L.A. and Bakersfield, where folks didn’t really know what to make of us but then after getting pummeled by our music, were super into it. We’ve had little circle pits break out so near the stage, my mic almost takes me out as I’m trying to sing or people slam on the stage we’re on, the entire thing starts trembling like a mini earthquake. Pretty cool stuff.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
We’re always looking to play more shows, with anybody, in our general area of L.A. As I said, all we need is people to give us a shot and we’ll give you a cool show. We’re definitely into touring, but that’s also changed and gotten a bit more expensive but we’d love to visit other areas to make noise in. Maybe this coming. Year, we’ll start venturing out to other nearby states, make some noise for other folks with new friends.
What are some of your non-musical hobbies and interests?
Speaking for myself here, ever since I went blind, I decided to focus a bit more on my personal writings. I’m working on several books, some a bit more biographical, one more straightforward fantasy\sword and sorcery and the last a Mexican western type of book. Aside from that, I intake a lot of books, trying to go through at least two a week and of course, movies when I can still enjoy them.
What’s currently in your heavy musical rotation?
This year has been a good year musically. High On Fire (another big influence on us) released their latest album, Cometh The Storm, which is a 10/10. The latest Amarok, Resilience, is also a fantastic record. Those folks make some amazing music. The last couple of re-recorded versions of the old Sepultura classics by the Cavalera brothers were also great. Lastly, I would say this new album by this band that is really good called The Cimmerian, everybody should definitely check that out!
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Just want to say thanks for the opportunity here, I invite people to visit our socials, just look for The Cimmerian on everything, we’re also on Twitter/X as @barbarianhorde and of course, visit BVR/Black Voodoo Records to get your copy of our new album. We’ll eventually get on releasing Sword & Sorcery Vol II, a new EP with some new covers are also in the works but we’ll be popping up live as much as we can. Make sure to play loud, wear ear plugs, read a book and crush your enemies!
(interview published January 11, 2025)
