It is impossible to understate the significance of Nintendo in the world of video games. Say what you will of their draconic business practices or underpowered hardware, the fact is that the house that Shigeru Miyamoto built has stood the test of time for one reason: they make really, really good games. Though the company’s coffers have been full to burst largely thanks to everyone’s favorite Italian short king and electrified mouse, 1986’s The Legend of Zelda spawned a series that established an air of artistic legitimacy not only to the Nintendo Entertainment System, but the medium as a whole. The mainline entries—personal preferences aside—have earned near-universal praise over the title’s 38-year life by pushing boundaries while maintaining a sense of familiarity, all wrapped in some of industry’s most breathtaking music and visuals. And it’s with one of the highest-rated chapters, 1998’s Ocarina of Time, where Kelly Schilling—guitarist and vocalist for progressive doom outfit Dreadnought, as well as today’s player character—began her adventure in digital escapism.

This lifelong love of fantasy in gaming couldn’t help but manifest into the art Schilling would go on to create. After discovering the like-minded Jordan Clancy [drums] and Kevin Handlon [bass], the quest into the Kingdom of Hyrule proved to be anything but a solo quest. During the press cycle for 2017’s A Wake in Sacred Waves, Schilling described each of the band’s albums as loosely based on elements and encouraged the listener to equate the band’s discography to the franchise’s many temples. Perhaps not as on-the-nose as something like DragonForce’s “Power of the Triforce,” it could be surmised that the Denverites have so far explored the Forest/Earth Temple (2013’s Lifewoven), the Wind Temple (2015’s Bridging Realms), the dreaded Water Temple (A Wake in Sacred Waves), the Fire Temple (2019’s Emergence) and most recently the Shadow Temple (2022’s The Endless). Ahead of the Dreadnought’s appearance at this weekend’s Metal & Beer Fest in their hometown, Schilling was kind enough to sit down with Kill Screen’s co-nerds, leaving them to wonder which temple will be sought out in their next album.

What was your first gaming experience?
I’m trying to remember that far back. I used to watch my brother play video games—he’s 4 years older than me—so that’s probably the earliest, is watching him play on N64. I think we had a Super Nintendo as well. So, maybe watching Mario, watching him play GoldenEye or Zelda games on that. That’s probably my first introduction to gaming, and then slowly I started playing on N64. That’s really where my childhood and my love for gaming began, was with that console.

When you were watching, were you thinking, Wow, that’s so cool, or were you like, What is this nonsense?
I was like, “Whoa, this is so cool! What’s going on?” I thought the interactiveness of it was really cool to me as a kid. All games are kind of world building—you get transported into another planet or another world or something—and as a kid, that’s all you want to do. All you want to do is play and be in a different world than reality. That’s kind of what drew me into video games. It’s like watching a movie, but you’re actually controlling it and playing around with it.

Do you remember any particular titles when you were a kid where they were super fond memories?
Definitely [The Legend of Zelda:] Ocarina of Time. That’s probably [the] biggest influence of a video game for me as a kid, because I used to watch my brother play that a lot. And Super Mario 64. I was a big Nintendo kid. I didn’t really get PlayStation or anything like that until I was a teenager. But I would say those were probably the two biggest titles. I played a little bit of Super Smash [Bros.], too, but Mario 64 was also one of my favorite games and one that I liked watching my brother play. He also played some Star Wars games and stuff like that, but I was always more so drawn to fantasy and slashing stuff more than shooting things.

Ocarina and Super Mario have definitely aged a hell of a lot better than any of those Star Wars titles on the 64.
Totally! I can go back and still play it!

What have you been playing lately and what are the games that you typically prefer to play?
I’m still kind of playing the same fantasy Nintendo games mostly. Although not Nintendo, I just finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I thought it was awesome. I also played the second Horizon [Horizon: Forbidden West] not too long ago. I actually skipped the first game because I just ended up getting the second game. It took a minute for me to get into the story. I did research it a little bit. I’m a weirdo and I don’t mind spoilers, so I was like, OK, what’s up with this story? I read about it and then started playing the second game. I really liked that game, too. I played that maybe two or three months ago and then Final Fantasy VII Rebirth after that. Those were my two most recent games that I’ve started, and I think I’m going to go play the first Horizon now.

Are you typically playing on a console?
Switch and PS5 are the two that I have.

Have you had any interest in PC gaming at all? Or is it more just what you can sit down on the couch with?
It’s mostly console. I haven’t really ever been a PC gamer. I mean, I used to play… I can’t even remember. RuneScape, I think? I did that when I was a teen, but I do like sitting on a couch. Or handheld, which is fun, too. But I like being able to have the TV. I’m on the computer so much that it’s nice to get away from it.

What in particular about fantasy keeps you coming back?
I think it’s just so different from the world we live in. And it’s just fun to be in it also, like big world-building stuff. I do actually really like sci-fi, too, like Mass Effect. I watched one of my old roommates play that game and I really, really thought it was cool. I’d like to go back and play it. But I think just the scope of it and the imagination within it. I’m not super into first-person shooter games or things like that. Just for whatever reason, I don’t know. It’s not as pretty, I guess, and expansive necessarily. And maybe I’m wrong—maybe there are games that are like that. But I just kind of like the quirkiness of fantasy. And then with sci-fi, I like the futurism of it.

The Legend of Zelda series has a connection to your band. In the press material for A Wake In Sacred Waves, you said, “Each album is loosely based on an element. Lifewoven was earth, Bridging Realms was ether, and this is our water album. You could think of them like Zelda temples.” [One] could assume that Emergence is related to the Fire Temple and The Endless is related to the Shadow Temple. With this realization back in 2017, was this a conscious decision to think of these albums as associated to Zelda temples or was that just a funny observation that you had at the time?
It is definitely planned. In that quote, I say “loosely” because it always has been kind of loosely based. I think we really started the records as more elements, but then we’re like, No, they’re like Zelda temples! And so now we move forward with them being like Zelda temples. It’s just because that’s what we all grew up with and what connected us all when we were younger and forming the band. We are always playing those games. So, yeah, it is intentional. And even moving forward with the next material, we do have temples or the parts of various games in mind of what we’re going to do.

The Legend of Zelda has gone through a number of style changes over the years. You can talk about all the top-down games, like the first game and the Game Boy games, A Link to the Past, things like that. You can talk about the second game—an outlier—which is more of a side scroller. You can talk about the 3D games. Even the spin-offs, like Hyrule Warriors, which was meant to be more like Dynasty Warriors. Do you have a personal preference between any of these in terms of either visual style, gameplay style, anything like that?
I like them all for different reasons, but I do gravitate now more towards the more modern Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. I like open world. I like being able to go explore and just mess around, do whatever I want, not be stuck with walls, et cetera. Those, I think, are amazing and really have become top of the list for me. But Ocarina, Majora’s Mask, I liked those a lot, especially as a kid, because they were so music based when I was a nerd getting into music as well. I was like, Aw, that’s cool! You can play an ocarina! I do like the look of those old games. I think the more cartoony stuff… I never super got into Wind Waker. I did try and play it, but it wasn’t my vibe. It was fun, but I liked the slightly more realistic graphics than that. There was a newer one that came out—maybe it was Link’s Awakening when they remade that—and it was kind of like claymation. I think that style is really cool, too. But I do prefer more realism in the graphics. I think it sucks me into a world a little bit more than a super cartoony look, like Wind Waker.

In the press materials, you had mentioned that A Wake in Sacred Waves was a step heavier, and then Emergence was even more so. Do you find yourself gravitating more towards the darker entries in the series like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, or is it just the overall fantasy of Hyrule that is appealing to you?
I definitely gravitate more towards the darker sides of it, both graphically and story-wise. Life is dark, and I think it’s cathartic to play games that kind of touch on things like that or that look darker and a little bit grittier. I thought the monsters in Twilight Princess looked awesome. Those were super cool. That is kind of more of what I gravitate towards because I don’t necessarily gravitate towards the typical “You have a princess! You have to save [her]! Ya ya ya!” I like when things look a little grittier and darker. I mean, in a Zelda world, which is only so gritty and dark, you know?

“Life is dark, and I think it’s cathartic to play games that kind of touch on things like that or that look darker and a little bit grittier.”

When you’re approaching a Dreadnought album and you’re incorporating these themes from The Legend of Zelda, do you see yourself approaching lyrical themes through that lens, or is it the opposite way where you’re approaching music from a dark lens, therefore you’re getting more of a dark story out of this experience?
I think it’s the latter. We’re trying to move more towards thinking about lyrics and concepts first and then going into it, but I do think we work a little bit better with creating the music and the tone and then the content comes from that. But like I said, we’re kind of exploring the opposite now because we were like that in our early days. And now it’s like, OK, what can we say? What can we actually write about and how can we take these themes and turn that into something musically? So I think we are trying to explore the prior more now. I would say earlier, we did the latter, where we start musically dark and then put the themes to it afterwards.

Was it surprising that you all landed on Legend of Zelda as being a common thread in the band?
No. [Laughs] I don’t know, it’s just what it was. I think me, Jordan and Kevin started playing together when I was 16, 17. And so as teens, we were already playing. And then when Dreadnought actually formed into Dreadnought, [ex-keyboardist/vocalist] Lauren [Vieira] joined and was also a big fan of that. It’s just something that we all were into, and it was an easy thing to think about and to land on because we just had it in common and we’re always playing video games anyways.

Do you ever see yourself running out of influence from the series? I mean, it’s kind of insane to think that this story that’s 40 years old at this point, that you could ever run out of material. Do you ever see that spark fading at all?
Not yet. [Laughs] I think there’s a few different realms that we can go with it. And who knows where we go in the future? Maybe we do move on and abandon the series as being a loose focus for us. I think with Dreadnought, we like being able to do whatever we want with it, and so we don’t necessarily want to be stuck in that box for forever. But I think there’s still plenty of material that we can go towards, for sure.

We’re certainly not trying to paint Dreadnought as a video game band, but if you were to look at a different series in terms of inspiration, have you encountered any other stories that you would find inspiring on a musical level?
Definitely. I think The Last of Us. I watched my old roommate play and that game was awesome. Obviously, the TV series is really cool, too, but I really liked watching that game. Probably the next logical one would be Final Fantasy, because I know Kevin and Jordan grew up with Final Fantasy. What’s funny is I didn’t actually play those games when I was a kid. I just played the new Rebirth and the first one, Remake. I just played those because I was like, I’ve always heard them talking about Final Fantasy VII, I want to get into this and see what it’s like. And so I could definitely see that being another series that we take a lot of inspiration from. Mass Effect, that stuff’s really cool. I think it could go a few different directions.

But what’s funny is after I did play Remake, I went back and played the original game. But I used cheat codes though, because I was like, I don’t have time to boost my characters and do this for hours. I just want to get through the story and see what happens. It was cool to go back and see where it all started from.

The two of us are nerds who grew up with Final Fantasy VII, and that was a big moment in our lives coming across that game. What was it like experiencing the remake first and then going back to the original?
It was cool! I really liked going back and seeing where it came from, because I know the original was such a big deal when it came out. Like you said, it changed your lives, it changed a lot of people’s lives and was really a big thing in the video gaming world. So it was cool to start it where you have what they wanted to do more realized, because we have the tools to make the graphics big and to make everything more fulfilled. And then to go back and see where it started from, I thought it was really cool. I had a fun time going back and playing the original. And it’s also from this lens now where you’re like, Dang, this was a big deal? But it was, and it’s cool to see that.

Growing up in that era of CRT-based graphics and then experiencing something like Final Fantasy VII Remake, how would you say that has impacted your appreciation of fantasy within a video game setting?
I think anything is cool to see how the technology has evolved. I actually was just watching my husband [play through the Resident Evil series]. He went through a phase where he played all the old games, went through all of them. I like watching people play video games when I’m in the same room, but that’s also very nostalgic for me. So I watched him play through all of those and it’s just so cool to see the old graphics and what it can turn into. With movies, when there are remakes, I get frustrated, especially old ’70s and ’80s [titles] because you’re like, This is already the way that it was supposed to be! But video games feel different because I feel like you get to see what they wanted more fully realized.

That’s why it’s really cool to go back and see. It is inspiring to see where something started and then what it could be with more tech. And it was still groundbreaking when they did it, which is cool. It’s not easy for them to make that, and so I really do appreciate where the video games came from. I think maybe younger people, I wonder if they have the same appreciation because maybe they didn’t grow up with those older graphics. I’m not sure. But I know I definitely hold that stuff to heart.

You have no problem flipping that switch in your brain and jumping back to an older game and seeing where it started?
No, not at all, Especially if the gameplay is fun, like we mentioned earlier—Mario 64, Ocarina of Time or something like that, where it does hold up over time. I can go back and play those games, even though the graphics aren’t as good and maybe some of the motion isn’t as pristine as it is now. But I can definitely go back and appreciate what it was and how it started and that it came out at the time it came out, and that’s why it is what it is.

There’s been a few mentions of a Zelda live-action film being made. Director Wes Ball had mentioned a serious adaptation that feels more real to audiences. Is this something you would be interested in at all or is this kind of going a different direction than you would enjoy?
I mean, I’m intrigued. I am curious to see how they do it. There’s these videos that people have made from AI and it’s like what Zelda would look like in a ’50s style and stuff like that. It actually looks pretty sick. I’m like, What if they actually did make a movie like that? But not AI, because screw that—[a film] that’s actually real people and real things. But I was like, Whoa, that’d be cool. When it comes to it being adapted to film, I’m curious to see how it’s done. I’m not going to write it off, but I’m curious to how that would translate. I hope they’d go a darker, more real route, not go too “kids” with it. I’ve always said it’d be cool if there was an M-rated Zelda game. [Laughs] Make an adult game.

Each entry in the series has a slightly different world. You’re still in Hyrule and the rough characters are there, but with each iteration, they change. If they did make the film, would you prefer that they make the film from any one of these individual entries or would you prefer a totally new story?
I think I would want to see it pay homage to one of the existing worlds, I guess. I don’t know, it’s hard to say, though. It could be cool to see some of Twilight Princess, like the monsters and stuff like that. I just want it to look good or feel gritty. It’s hard to put it into words. You kind of, in a way, have to pay homage to like what already exists, but that’s also fan service, too. So I don’t know. That’s a hard question. [Laughs]

It’s hard because, like you said, if the game story is already essentially a movie that you play, but even pre-Breath of the Wild, these are, what? 20, 30 hour games at times, you know? How do you condense a story that’s meant to be played over 20 hours into a 120-minute film?
Totally. With the screenplay, you do have to kind of change how the story is told and put it in fast form and who knows how that’s going to come across?

This year saw for the first time in a mainline Zelda title Princess Zelda becoming the main character, with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Have you had a chance to play it yet?
I have not, but my drummer was literally talking about it at practice yesterday and he said he can’t put it down, that it’s been a really great play. So I do want to pick that up and play it because that’s exciting—you get to finally play as Zelda! She’s not just a hidden Sheik or a secondary character. That’s great.

How does it feel for them to take 40 years to get the main female lead as literally the main female lead in the game?
It took too long, but they’re here now and that’s what matters. They finally got there, you know? I think the one thing that I was never attracted to—but it didn’t ever bother me—was, Oh, she’s a princess! She has to be saved! Oh, no, the man’s got to save her! That’s not a fun story. But since I was just a kid growing up with games, I could always just let that pass. That is exciting because now it’s not really about that. There’s isn’t a woman you have to save now that she’s the main character. I’m excited to play it, I just haven’t picked it up yet.

The Legend of Zelda is a huge, expansive series. If somebody has never played any of the Zelda games, but is interested to play and would be intimidated looking at the list and wondering where to start, what would be your recommendation for a good starting point in the series?
It depends on what you’re into, I would say. If you want a big open world, obviously you can go with the new ones, especially if you like some engineering mechanics where you can create things out of objects. That’s really fun in the new game. [Pauses] It’s just so hard because you could also even start with some of the Super Nintendo games if you just like that old-school side-scroll kind of vibes. I would say start with that. But I don’t know. Twilight Princess is a good middle ground, I think, of everything where it’s really pretty and follows a lot of the same tropes that Zelda has had over the years. I’m biased to Ocarina because that’s what I started with. I’m always going to say play that one. But if you like new graphics, you really can’t go wrong with Tears of the Kingdom. They really did kill it. I didn’t think they could top Breath of the Wild, and then they did. It’s modern and it’s fun, but that can also be overwhelming because it’s such a big world. So, it’s hard for me to recommend.

I [Michael] would argue largely thanks to the Souls series that video games have become, if not more common of an inspiration, a much more visible influence on the metal scene. We’re seeing a lot more bands that are paying tribute to either Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, more out and proud about video games as an influence. You were slightly ahead of the curve with the Legend of Zelda association, at the very least publicly in the press material in 2017. Is it encouraging or exciting at all to see video games be more of an accepted source of influence or inspiration for bands?
I think it’s cool. I think video games are really special and such a cool form of art that so many people have grown up with or just gotten into, it being just such a high form of everything that you could like about art. I think it’s great that people are embracing that they love it and bringing that into their own art because it is so influential. I think with anything that we create, if we are video game players, that’s going to seep into how we look at art and how we create it, so I’m all for it. I’m all for people embracing that and bringing that more into music because video games are such a big world-build, and with music, you’re also world building. You can really take the inspiration for how vast and wide they make their worlds and bring that into your music as well. I think you can really draw inspiration from everything and get new, wild, bigger stories. It helps you think bigger and wider in terms of storytelling. I like that bands are starting to embrace it. I don’t know why everybody was so scared before. [Laughs] Why are we all so shy about it? I don’t know. It’s OK to be a nerd and like video games. They’re so cool.

Especially in this day and age. Fantasy has gone through this massive explosion over the past 5 years even. Everybody can point to Game of Thrones, but you can also point to Stranger Things making [Dungeons & Dragons] cool. How many people are wearing Hellfire Club shirts now?
It’s very interesting. I think it’s good that [there’s] maybe a cultural shift of some sort where hopefully we’re all learning to just embrace and accept who we are and what we like and not be told what is cool and what is not cool, because whatever is cool is cool to you. And if you want to dress up as a wizard and LARP and do whatever, hell yeah, do it! Life is short. Have fun and enjoy the art that exists in the world. I like seeing that people are embracing things more that maybe in the past were viewed as something that’s not cool or right or whatever by certain people.

Especially in the community that’s supposed to be all the social outcasts and misfits.
That’s what metal is. We all felt like social outcasts in school. I mean, maybe not all, but I definitely did. And metal is where I kind of found a home and what embraced me. We should be accepting of everyone that wants to be a part of some world that’s artistic, you know?

Put on that pointy hat and make that dungeon synth band.
Yeah! I’ll listen to it. I love that stuff.

Are there any games that you’re looking forward to that are coming out?
God, I’ve been so busy and I don’t even know what is happening in the world right now in terms of what’s coming out. But I know for me personally, I’m excited to play the old Horizon. I am very excited for the final chapter of Final Fantasy VII to come out. I don’t know if it’s going to be the chapter or if it’s going to be the third, but I am ready for it. So whenever that happens in 3, 4 years, I’m waiting for it. I would be curious if you guys have some games that you know of coming out on the horizon that you think I would like.

I’m always looking for more open world. My bandmate plays Elden Ring. Really, anyone in Dreadnought would be a good person to interview because we all have different tastes and different things that we bring with video games. He thought Elden Ring would be something I’d be into. So, I’m looking for suggestions. You know, this winter, I think I’m going to dive into some games. I just gotta look for them.

The Endless is available now via Profound Lore and can be ordered here.
Tickets to Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver 2024 can be purchased here.
Meet members of Dreadnought as well as members of Frozen Soul, Earthburner, Crypt Sermon, Necropanther and Daeva at the Metal & Beer Fest Checkpoint on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Follow Dreadnought on Bandcamp, Instagram and Facebook.

The post KILL SCREEN 051: Kelly Schilling of DREADNOUGHT and the Temples of Fantastical Doom appeared first on Decibel Magazine.