“Initially, I had this idea for starting a band and over the course of three albums turning it from a very, very strict religious band and completely inverting the allegory and showing the exact opposite, which should be a very evil band and see if anybody noticed”, Zebulon Whatley, Sons of Perdition.
Sons of Perdition started as a side-project of a band Zebulon Whatley was playing in at the time, but the side-project eventually outgrew this band and became the main project for him. The band was founded sometime around 2003 in Denton, TX. The band consisted entirely of Zebulon Whatley and the occasional miscreant whom he blackmails into working with him. Sons of Perdition now has a current lineup that consists of Whatley (vocals, guitar and banjo), Lacy Rose (harmonium and piano), Simon Broke (double bass) and Alex Hardie (drums). Whatley grew up in the Piney Woods of East Texas and currently lives in Austin where he continues to wallow in darkness despite the pornographic amount of sunshine.
In an interview in where he was describing the songwriting process for The Kingdom is on Fire album (lead track This Land is Cursed is included on the GothicWestern.com Best of Gothic Western Playlist #3), lead vocalist Zebulon Whatley stated: “When I was growing up, the AM radio stations in East Texas played a lot of hellfire-and-brimstone sermons. Hell, they probably still do. When I started working on The Kingdom is on Fire, I wanted the songs to fade in and out between radio static and these horrid sermons and church hymns (including an a cappella version of All He Wants (Is My Blood) that I recorded). I eventually talked myself out of the idea because I didn’t want the album to be too pretentious, but I kept bits of the concept. Part of the original sermon that I recorded for the overall album later found its way onto Psalm 138. I had recently discovered Those Poor Bastards, so I gave Lonesome Wyatt carte blanche to record a hellish sermon for the song. What’s on there is all him, so I can’t take credit for it. I think he did a bang-up job.”
