Interviews – Page 24 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Third Ion

Third Ion have recently released their début album 13/8bit. Theirs is a brand of Progressive Metal that’s a little different form the norm and very enjoyable because of this. I downloaded the latest data on them…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Hey, I’m Justin Bender, guitarist/producer for Third Ion, a progressive metal band full of nutty space nerds.

Give us a bit of history to Third Ion

I’ve know our drummer Aaron for about 5 years, and we always talked about doing a project together. We live about 6 hour drive from each other, so it took a while for us to get our shit together and actually start a band. Now that we have though, it has been snowballing and we have a really good pace going on. I’ve known Mike for a few years too, and he was my bass player of choice, even before a single riff was recorded. I am still so thrilled he wanted to start a band with Aaron and I! Basically the band officially formed around this time last year, once we figured out who we were going to have sing, and Tyler has been a great fit!

What are your influences?

Mainly Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Alice In Chains, Tool, Opeth, Faith No More, Pantera, Saga, Toto, Satriani, Rush, Katatonia,

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

A band from my area, Sparky, just put out an album called #Humanimation and it is incredible. I love it, and I can’t stop listening to it. I’m not just saying it because they are my friends either! It is legitimately one of my favourite records right now.

What did you want to achieve with your album?

Our main goal was to write whatever came to mind, with a really “no rules” approach, and to incorporate musically, visually and lyrically whatever nerdy things interested us at the time. I didn’t have huge hopes of getting signed or anything, I just really wanted to make this music for the love of it. The fact we got a deal and it’s been getting a lot of attention is a total plus, though, and if people enjoy it that makes me very happy.

Are you happy with the end result?

Absolutely!! I am especially proud of the artwork, which was done by my best friend. We are almost done writing the second album as well, and a lot of it is recorded already too, so as happy as I am with the first album, I haven’t sat back and really enjoyed it as I dove right into album two.

How does your songwriting process work?

I’ll drive to Aaron’s studio for the week and we will record drums and guitars as we write the music. It’s a very cool and open way of working. Very expressive, I love it. Plus, he brings out all my best ideas. There’s just something about him that makes me come up with guitar parts I would never come up with on my own. He is the best writing partner I have ever had, bar none. Due to this process, there are a LOT of “first take” magic moments that ended up on the final mix. That seems to happen more and more as we write, as well.

On 13/8Bit we managed to write one song together (PDM) with Mike all in one room, but him being in Vancouver makes that much more difficult. For album two he has contributed a ton of great riffs, he emailed us a bunch of ideas, that we have used. So then after Aaron and I track in Winnipeg, we send Mike the stems of what we did and he does bass and keys and sends it back for me to mix. I write the lyrics and Tyler comes up with most of the melodies. I can just put words on paper and trust that he will come up with something I love. It’s a very easy operation, all in all.

How and why did you decided to incorporate a video games/chiptune influence in your music?

We all really love the 8bit and 16bit classics that we grew up playing. I think every one of us knows Megaman 2 like the backs of our hands. Metal bands sing about all kinds of things from dragons to demons to mutilation and horror, so really it feels like there are no rules. Which we dig, so we incorporated it simply because we felt like it.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

That’s another one of those “nerdy thing because I just felt like it” kind of answers. As an artist, I’ve always felt more comfortable with my guitar than with words. I feel like I can say more with music than lyrics, and I never really aspired to be a lyricist. When I listen to music, I rarely even pay attention to the message, I get absorbed in the sound of it all. So, being like that, I just write what comes to me and what interests me. I covered black holes, sci fi particle weapons, video games and even some politics on the first record.

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

I think maybe Zero Mass because it’s the first song we wrote, and the main heavy tech riff with the little keyboard stings is just so fuckin’ cool. I’ll always be very proud of that one.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

So far the next record has a lot more technical stuff, a lot more insane drum ideas. I plan to record more vocal harmonies, but maybe not, we’ll see how that plays out. We also want to do a concept record to cover the backstory of our mascot character “Dr. Zero” who is featured on the cover art. So, album three or four will be that album.

What’s next for Third Ion?

We have a few shows lined up for July but after that it’s just more work on album 2, and planning more shows for the end of the year, with hopes to tour more extensively in 2016.

Interview with Bloodscribe

Bloodscribe have a produced an extremely satisfying first album with Prologue to the Apocalypse. Spreading the word about his band and all things Bloodscribe is their vocalist Jasan…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We’re a 5 piece death metal band currently made up of Jasan (vocals), Joseph (Guitar), Michael (Guitar), Jesse (Drums), and Dennis (Bass).

Give us a bit of history to Bloodscribe

Bloodscribe was formed by Jesse and myself (Jasan) in 2004 strictly as a way for us to spend time and have fun with music, never did we imagine playing so many shows and getting as far as we have now. After a few member changes we seem to have reached a pretty solid line up that has giving the band the sound we have today.

Where does the name come from?

The name was actually completely made up by Jesse after skimming through and dictionary and seeing the word “describe” and simply added “blood” to it. There’s no real wow factor to the name and in no way is it related or influenced by Lamb of God.

What are your influences?

We all agree on 3 major influences, Dying Fetus, Disgorge, and The Black Dahlia Murder.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

We all listen to different thing aside from metal if you’re open minded then definitely check out.

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

The goals for this album are endless and by no way have we set limits going in to this album but we definitely want to play some shows out of the country.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

We’re certainly happy with the end result but we have already raised the standards for the next album.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Well the lyrics are influenced by current events in society as well as ongoing ones, one big topic for us is religion and its weakening influence on its followers.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We all tend to have our own unique ideas which we bring to practice to share and build on as a band. We usually pick one idea and grind it out till we’ve written something we all agree on.

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

We all really took a liking on “Enslaved by Deceptions” because it really portrays the sound we are going for thus making it an easy choice for our first single and video.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

We’ve actually already started writing for the next album and feel we are headed towards a heavier and better plotted sound that will make an impact in the metal scene.

What’s next for Bloodscribe?

For now we plan on really pushing the album by promoting and touring as much as possible, while doing that we will continue to write and hopefully have some new material to go into the studio with in the near future.

Interview with Unhold

After releasing their fourth album – Towering – Unhold are in a great position with such a strong album under their collective belts. I wanted to find out a bit more information and background to this impressive album. Let’s delve in…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We’re four guys and one gal: Daniel on drums, Leo on bass, Miriam on piano/synths and vocals, Thomas on guitar and vocals, and Philipp also on guitar and vocals, I’ll try to answer your questions on behalf of the band.

Give us a bit of history to Unhold

Unhold was born from the heads & hearts of four teenagers, we decided to get instruments and give it a shot. That was around 1990, ages ago. At first we just jammed around, occasionally riffing after bands like Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, Entombed. We started making our own songs pretty quick, that was more leaning towards Death/Thrash Metal. After the first couple years and a bunch of shows we gave it a more serious thought, changed our name to «Unhold». Around 2000 our original drummer decided to quit, we were lucky to have Daniel join, he also was from our little community who listened to heavy music and visited shows out of town. We released «Walking Blackwards», our début. That already had elements of Noiserock and Stoner on it. Not the heaviest production, though. 2004 we released «Loess», I think the angriest of our albums. That as well as «Gold Cut» (2008) was recorded with Serge Morattel in Geneva. We toured with that album for a good two years, then got back to work on new material. In 2012 we celebrated our 20 year anniversary, had a lineup change and started working to finalize the fourth album.

What are your influences?

Sometimes it’s hard to distinct between bands that we just purely like to listen to and bands that actually influence the way we do our music. Definitely there’s bands like Neurosis, Unsane, Black Sabbath, Helmet, Clutch, Melvins, Kyuss that made an impact. Younger bands also of course don’t pass us without notice, we’re often referred to bands like Isis, Kylesa, Cult Of Luna and the like, but they’re more like a big cousin with the same ancestors, than an actual influence.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Let me think, what was played and discussed in our van… Royal Thunder, Chelsea Wolfe, Watter, Type O Negative. I’d personally recommend Ty Segall’s «Manipulator», Mojave Lords «Unfuckwithable», pretty much everything by Killing Joke…

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

I think the main focus was to implement the new members and the new elements into an existing skeleton framework of songs. To take Unhold and make the next natural/logical step.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Yes! Very much so! We took a bit a different approach this time, recorded locally with Remo Häberli at Hidden Stash and mixed/mastered remotely with Latch Manghat from Gonga and Andy Henderson at Retrosonic Studios in Bristol. Perhaps with the new lineup we also instinctively took a step aside from a full on cutting edge metal production, more basically thinking about rock songs when editing and mixing.

What’s your favourite song on it and why?

That’s really hard to say. One song that excites me a lot is «Southern Grave», because it strikes a new chord in regards of songwriting and the use of vocals. Maybe we’ll see more stuff in that manner in the future, who knows.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Generally our lyrics are more focused on the inner realm of being a human in this day and age. For me personally «I Belong» is probably the track I have the strongest relation to because of the story it tells. When I tell people I’m a quarter native american they ask me if I can hear trees talk… good fun! Specifically it describes my attempt to relate to the past, although geographically dislocated I feel a strong connection and I try to find words to describe what goes through my head. Every human being has an urge wanting to belong, to be remembered, recognized, to leave a trace of some sort. The song also deals with the slow and quite silent passing of a rich culture and tradition.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We have a pretty democratic way of working on songs, basic ideas come from individual members, yet we also have a jam-based method where we gather pieces and bits. The process can be time-consuming, but I think we gain a closer relation to the resulting song in the end, you know which piece belongs where and for what reason. We’ll see with the new members if that still suits best or if we find new ways to come up with material.

As you have multiple singers in the band, how do you decided who sings which part?

Basically who comes up with lyrics gets to vocalize the song. With «Southern Grave» we made an effort to actually explore our voice-range a bit, which was exciting and also a challenge, but I think we’ll try to investigate further what we can do as a «choir».

How do you see your songs/direction developing for your next release?

It’s a bit early to foresee what it’s going to sound like exactly. Our aim and hope is to make the new material even more dense and entangled. Having all instruments from the beginning contributing to the building of the song. Maybe also start with the voices for a change or maybe pursue a theme/concept for the whole album. The first song we made since finishing «Towering» came pretty natural and all in almost one evening, so I hope there’s more up the sleeve!

What are your thoughts on the current state of the wider Metal scene and your place within it?

All in all it’s good to see that the good and strong stuff survives. Younger kids dig the newer Metal a well as the old classics. As long as Metal allows a certain amount of innovation and renewal I think it will keep evolving and stay exciting. When you’re in it for such a long time it’s interesting to observe who and what survives. For the kind of «Metal» we make there seems more and more an established niche evolving with festivals and a loyal following. We’ve always been a bit between scenes, since we also don’t really have one back home it’s not such a big deal. Although I sometimes miss to have a couple brothers in arms, so to speak.

What will the future bring for Unhold?

We hope for a broader audience, good opportunities to play live and tour. For sure also a next release, we’re looking forward to have more exclusive time to write new stuff and experiment.

Thanks!

Interview with Epi-Demic

Epi-Demic’s recent split with Solanum – Passages to Lunacy – proves that there’s plenty of life left in underground Thrash Metal in 2015. Adam was kind enough to answer some questions about the band and what they’re up to…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Epi-Demic is a group of three guys from Calgary Alberta Canada playing a furious style of Crossover/Thrash Metal. Adam (that’s me), I play guitar and do the vocals, Kyle plays bass and Aaron plays the drums and does backup vocals. We have all been friends since high school when we started hanging out and playing music together. All of us were into Old school Hardcore Punk/Thrash Metal/Crossover and we wanted to start a band in that style. When we started jamming we wanted to create a sound that was heavy and aggressive but also unique and all our own. In the beginning learning how to play our instruments the music had a hardcore punk feel to it but as we got better as musicians it developed into a Crossover/Thrash style. The three of us have been playing music together for almost 10 years. We love what we do and hope to do it for a long time to come.

Give us a bit of history to Epi-Demic

Aaron and I started jamming when Aaron got a drum set and started practising. I had jammed with a few other people with no real results, but when me and Aaron started playing something clicked and we knew we had something that we could develop and put some work into that would be good. After a while we began looking for a bass player, we tried a few people out and kept writing material. Kyle had been playing with another group at this time, which eventually disbanded. In 2005 Aaron and I asked Kyle to jam with us and Epi-Demic was born. As we started to form a sound and an identity as a band we set our sights on getting a set together and playing some shows, eventually we landed a show at a local bar but there was a problem…I was still a minor! We managed to sneak around that roadblock for about a year with the help of a fake I.D. and a little luck, and we have kept going from there. Since then we have played many, many local shows, toured the west coast of Canada and the U.S., released a demo (The Plague Begins) and a full length (Madness) and have had a lot of fun doing it.

What are your influences

Like I said earlier we all started off listening to Hardcore/Crossover/Thrash music in High school when we started Epi-Demic so that was our main influence. Musically We’re into bands like: Cro-Mags, Warfare, Autopsy, No Mercy, English Dogs, Dr. Know, Ludichrist, Attitude Adjustment, Possessed, Demilich, Exodus, Overkill, Artillery, Excel, Beyond Possession and Asphyx just to name a few. My band members are an influence to me, they inspire me to play better and write better stuff all the time. Life in general is an influence for me for sure, the world around me both the good and bad definitely play a part in the music and lyrics I write.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Here are 10 albums I’m really into right now:

1. Anacrusis, “Suffering Hour”

2. Autopsy, “Acts Of The Unspeakable”

3. Corrosion Of Conformity, “Technocracy”

4. Fear, “More Beer”

5. Morbid Angel, “Gateways To Annihilation”

6. Sodom, “Mortal Way Of Live”

7. Demilich, “Nespithe”

8. Excel, “Split Image”

9. Broken Bones, “Trader In Death”

10. Pestilence, “Malleus Maleficarum”

What do you think about the current state of the Thrash Metal scene in 2015?

Overall it’s doing really well and is healthy in my opinion. I think the scene is the scene, It’s usually really good but it can suck at some times. Sometimes you go to a show and have a blast sometimes it’s populated by dick heads and that can be a drag. Bullshit aside, I think it’s a good thing that there are bands both new and established playing thrash in 2015 and there are venues for these bands to play and for people to go enjoy themselves. I think that there is good music coming out right now and some that’s not so good but that’s not a new thing. Sometimes it feels like there are bands that go for a style that is derivative of things that have been done to death already. I like bands that don’t go for the lowest common denominator and push the envelope, thankfully there are bands like this in the thrash scene today.

Epi-Demic Band How did your new split with Solanum come about?

The split with Solanum was sort of a spur of the moment kind of thing actually. Epi-Demic had not planned on recording a split at all, but a friend of ours showed us their demo and we really liked the music. We got in touch with them and they sent us a few copies of their album and we sent them a few copies of ours. After that they decided to do a short tour of the west side of Canada so we helped them out by hosting a gig for them in Calgary, a few months later we went out to Winnipeg where they are from and played a couple of shows. Along the way the idea for a split came up and we were all into it so we made it happen. It all came together very quickly and it was a lot of fun to do.

What did you want to achieve with this new release?

First of all we wanted to make an album that was heavy! The songs we chose for the split are songs that we have worked very hard on, and put a great deal of practise and thought into. Now that the album is pressed and available at http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd103.html we want to take it as far as we can and get it into as many ears as possible. The split has received some very positive reviews so far which is good to hear, hopefully it will get both bands more exposure on an international level as well as at home.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Absolutely! It’s everything we wanted it to be. Both bands put down some killer material that speaks for itself when you hear it. The production is raw and gritty, which I think helps the album as far as the atmosphere goes. The cover art is something that really stands out to me and it could not have turned out better. It’s a haunting image that fits the title of the album “Passages To Lunacy” perfectly. The whole process from meeting the guys from Solanum, to recording the songs, getting the album together and finally releasing it has been a very smooth process. We had high expectations for the split and so far it has delivered on all fronts.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Epi-Demics lyrics deal primarily with the darker side of being human and the world around us. On the split in particular the lyrics are about suffering and pain. “Time Is Running Short (Dying On The Cross)” deals with the psychological pressure placed on people in this day and age, and how giving up in a tense situation is the worst thing that one can do for oneself. “Famine” is about starvation and hunger in all of its wicked forms. “Nuclear Dream” is about us as humans losing our way as a people and needing to make changes and start again. Finally “Stewing In Misery” is about depression and desperation, and wanting to break away from these negative feelings at any cost.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We write all of the music together for the most part, when one of us has an idea we jam it out and see where it goes. As we get a feel for the song we add new parts and experiment with different ways of playing things until we get it the way we want it. Once we have the music written we practise it until it’s ready to play live. At this point I take the song and explore the overall feeling of it until I create a theme for the lyrics and figure out what I want to say. After the lyrics are completed once again we practise it over and over until it’s ready for performance. We don’t force anything that we feel isn’t working, we like to let the music come naturally.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

I can see the music getting more textured and complex in the future, the foundation of the band will always remain the same, crossover is what we play and that will not change. I think as we progress as musicians the songs will get more intricate even if we didn’t want them to, maybe they will get longer maybe not. Bottom line is that we will always play fast, heavy, aggressive music. It’s hard to say exactly what Epi-Demic will be like in the future but you can rest assured that it will intense and unique in its brutality.

What’s your favourite song on the split and why?

Good question. From Solanum’s side I would pick “Manipulated”. The song is sheer insanity and has some really cool riffs and grooves. Cam’s vocals on it are hard and unforgiving. If you like to bang your head make sure you check this song out. On the Epi-Demic side my favourite song is “Nuclear Dream”. From the opening riff to the last, this song is something that I’m very proud of. The duelling vocals between Aaron and I really worked well on this song, and every instrument comes through and plays its role well. This song took some time to write, so finally hearing it recorded was very satisfying to me. I also feel like the lyrics are some of the best ones I have ever written, and for that reason I would say it’s my favourite on the album.

What’s next for Epi-Demic?

Epi-Demic is going to have a busy year. It is our intention to record and release a new full length album before the end of summer 2015, the majority of the songs have been written already but we want to do a couple more to really fill the album up. In addition to the new album we hope to do a tour of the east side of Canada and the east coast of the United States this summer. Starting in Calgary and going all the way to the tri-state area will be a large undertaking but we are optimistic and excited to break new ground in cities that we have not played before. We’ve done most of our shows on the west side, so to go play uncharted territory is something we need to do. And as always we will keep the underground spirit strong, piss on fashion, and assault eardrums everywhere we go.

Album stream: https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/passages-to-lunacy-split

Order CD: http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd103.html

Epi-Demic facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplaguebegins13

Interview with Cold Snap

Cold Snap’s latest album World War 3 has rekindled my interest in Nu-Metal in a way that I would have thought impossible in 2015. But here they are nonetheless, playing music that they believe in passionately and making a Hell of a racket in the process….

What’s your name and what do you do in Cold Snap?

My name is Jan and I am singer, lyrics writer, frontman, booking agent, video director and actor 🙂

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

I am a theatre, movie and TV actor in Croatia, and I have been singing for Cold Snap from the beginning, in 2003. I oversee the day-to-day management aspects of Cold Snap as well. Cold Snap is something I care about most in my life, and that`s why I want to give my best.

Give us a bit of history to Cold Snap

In 12 years we played more than 300 shows and 3 European tours. We have performed with Suicide Silence, Soulfly, Disturbed, Blind Guardian, Dead By April, Limp Bizkit, Pro-Pain, Ektomorf and many more on many festivals including Wacken Open Air in Germany. We have 3 LP albums and more than 10 high production videos. After 12 years we can finally say that we have a good label backing our band – Eclipse Records!

What are your influences?

Pantera, Machine Head, Korn, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Slipknot and many more.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Maximum the Hormone from Japan, Hactivist from UK, and In This Moment from the USA!

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

We want to share our music with everybody, in essence we are a “live show” band, however it’s also important to get our studio album out to the public. We want to have a bigger fanbase, play bigger festivals, and we want to progress. However, we will play the music that we love, not something that is popular right now. That’s not music, that’s “licking someone’s ass”.

Cold Snap Band Are you happy with how it turned out?

Yes, we are sure that Eclipse Records is the right label for us and for World War 3. We believe if we continue to cooperate in this way with them, that soon we will have some big news to talk about.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

My lyrics are about everything that I am living through, all I can think about, all that strikes me, and all that concerns me. All these (mostly negative emotions), I put on paper and together with the other band members, we turn it into music. Topics I enjoy writing about are social, family, political, about the rights of all living beings.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We do most of the work together in our rehearsal room. Leo (the guitar player) is the most creative one, he does all the crazy riffs and he brings all of that to rehearsal so we can make it even better. We also share our ideas via e-mail between our rehearsals, inspiring or “provoking” each other so we can be creative when we see each other in person at rehearsal, in other words, practice continues for us even while we are not at practice.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

We have 3 new songs that we can’t wait to play live. In our new songs we are putting some weird electro sounds and samples that Leo is working on. We have new and faster circle pit moments with breakdowns that will break your neck. Soon we will share some new stuff from our rehearsal room on our You Tube channel…

What’s next for Cold Snap?

This year we will play more than 30 shows in Europe, mostly festivals, we will film a new video for a song “Monster”, so in 2016, we hope that our fans will be able to see us on tour in the United States of America as well!

Website: http://www.ECLIPSERECORDS.com/cold-snap
Facebook: http://www.FACEBOOK.com/ColdSnapOfficial
Twitter: http://www.TWITTER.com/ColdSnap_hr

Silent Killer Music Video: http://youtu.be/kXNkutuOFd0
Buy iTunes: http://smarturl.it/clds-ww3
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/4FsmpbbLO0pzSpmZBI9pLQ

Interview with Ctulu

Ctulu are re-releasing their 2011 album Sarkomand, and what an album it is. Arne Uekert and Mathias Junge answered some questions and filled in the blanks…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Arne: I am Arne Uekert, guitarist and vocalist in Ctulu.

Give us a bit of history to Ctulu

Arne: Ctulu was founded in 2004 in Northern Germany with the aim to create fast and dark, yet melodic extreme metal.

What are your influences?

Arne: I’d let the listener decide on this point.

Mathias: Most people would say, it’s black/death metal in old Swedish style of the 90s like Dissection or Naglfar, but during the time of making music we created our own style called ”Seastorming Extreme Metal”.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Arne: I am listening a lot to Totenmond – Tonbergurtod at the moment. You may miss the point of the lyrics when you’re not speaking German, but the music is one of the heaviest and most evil I’ve ever heard.

Mathias: At the moment, there’s is nothing I would like to recommend.

Sarkomand is a few years old now but is being reissued for your 10 year anniversary – tell us about this.

Arne: The CD version is practically sold out and we always wanted to go vinyl. It was just a logical consequence.

Mathias: ”Sarkomand” is predestinated for this cause. A 45 minute manifest of pure violence and horror in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft! Who knows his stories will like this release. The album was loved by the fans right after release and is sold out for a while! Now it’s back on 12” vinyl and a must have for every Extreme Metal lover.

Since the album was originally released, how do you feel about it now – is there anything you would change or do differently?

Arne: Most unexpectedly I’d say that I wouldn’t. Actually this desire is normal, but I think this album works perfectly this way. The length is good, there are no fillers and I think each track stands out on its own. For me, this is still our best album.

Mathias: No, there is nothing I would change, for me it has everything what a good Extreme Metal album needs.

Ctulu Band What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

Arne: Mondsucht, definitely. I think it’s a good track to end an album with and I like the atmosphere it creates a lot.

Mathias: Good question…it’s hard to say…if I have to choose I would say Blindes Chaos, because in this song all the components of Ctulu‘s Extreme Metal are combined.

How do you feel you fit into the wider Black Metal scene, and do you feel differently about this now than when Sarkomand originally came out?

Arne: For us, Sarkomand was the ultimate evidence that we’re actually NO black metal outfit. Some reviews even counted this album as death metal. Freie Geister (our début album) earned a lot of harsh criticism because it is so very “unblack”. We wanted to make a statement with Sarkomand. This is extreme metal, this goes beyond death/black/dark metal or whatever.

Mathias: Well, we actually never associated ourselves with the Black Metal scene, because from the beginning till now, we never got religious (Satanic) influences in our lyrics or use any symbols of that on stage or in our artworks. We got nothing to do with any religions, that‘s why we call our music ”Extreme Metal” and when Sarkomand came out in 2011, it wasn’t different.

What can you tell us about the lyrics? Would you change them now?

Arne: Sarkomand is kind of a concept album about the Dreamland cycle by H.P. Lovecraft. Reading the “Dreamquest of unknown Kadath” will help you a lot diving deeper beyond the surface of the lyrics on this album.

Mathias: The lyrics are about nightmares and other Lovecratian themes. If we would change something, we wouldn’t be Ctulu anymore.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

Arne: The songwriting was done by our lead guitarist Mathias Junge and our former drummer Jan Westermann (now active in the Greek outfits Released Anger and Diablery). I just added some second guitar tracks here and there. The lyrics were written by Mathias and me. About the songwriting itself, there’s actually nothing all too special to say. The tracks evolved very naturally and were finished very fast.

Mathias: The songwriting process is split between Arne and me. If we have new material, we work it out together with both guitars and then all the other instruments will follow.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

Arne: We’ve started to work with tracks written by both Mathias and myself now. We work longer on the single tracks now and we’ve found a better way to record demos, so the songwriting has changed a lot since Sarkomand. I think this will help the music get to the point faster now than it did three years ago.

Mathias: I don’t want to make any predictions, we will see what happen in future!

What’s next for Ctulu?

Arne: We’re working intensely on our forthcoming album that we hope to record at the end of this year.

Mathias: We working on a new album and the first live shows for 2015 are confirmed!

Thanks for your time! (From both)

Interview with All Seeing Eyes

Trinity Road by All Seeing Eyes is one of my favourite releases of 2104 and is a real treasure trove of delights for any Metal fan. Singer/guitarist Ben Colton, (also of Neverworld), was kind enough to give us a bit more background to this exceptional group.

What are your influences?

All our influences are quite different I’d say within ASE. Mainly within the metal genres but personally I just love great, well written, well played music. I have a huge CD collection and I think it’s probably fair to say all of it has influenced me in some way or another. I tend to lean towards music’s unsung heroes. I really admire bands like Fates Warning and Winger. Both genius, both criminally underrated. Both have never really repeated themselves but somehow they have retained their own sound. That is something that’s really hard to do. I’m big on a lot of bands though. Stuff like Van Halen, King Diamond, Crimson Glory, Redemption, Circus Maximus, Dan Reed Network, Thin Lizzy, Ratt, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Manowar, etc. It’s pretty much an endless list. I’m also very influenced by the music of the director John Carpenter. He’s a very clever guy musically. I love music that can tell a story or just surround you in an atmosphere. John’s music definitely does that. Very simple stuff on the surface but it’s captivating, eerie and just plain awesome!

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Well there’s several great bands out there that definitely aren’t getting the attention they deserve. I just mentioned Circus Maximus and Redemption. Two absolutely amazing prog bands. Every bit as good as Dream Theater in terms of musicianship and quite frankly much better song writers in my opinion. Never self indulgent. It’s all about the story, the music, the song. All Prog fans should be listening to them. As for good old heavy metal, there’s 3 bands that spring to mind. Wardrum, Hibria and Neuronspoiler. Mind blowing musicians. Stellar vocals. Great songs. What more can anyone ask for?! If you haven’t heard of them before go and check them out. You won’t be disappointed.

What’s the meaning/concept behind the album title?

Initially ‘Trinity Road’ came about as a private joke really. No one else will find it funny so I’ll spare you the finer details! We just used to go to a shop a lot when we were kids and the road opposite is Trinity Road. The title comes from that but we sat around one night and just thought of this concept of a road splitting off into 3 destinations, 3 different outcomes if you will. It’s like you’re at a crossroads and the future is down to you. You have the power. Make the right choice. We just sorta came up with the theme for the art work in our heads and just thought yes! That’s it!

Talk to us about the album artwork.

Basically the picture depicts the present and the future on the horizon. The road to the left leads to darkness. Apocalyptic, bleak. Like a nuclear wasteland. Straight ahead leads to an endless life of monotony. Watching TV, going to work, not thinking much. To the right leads to enlightenment. A bright future. Happiness and fulfilment. We really liked the premise behind it and thought it would make for a great cover. I think we were right. John Vincent took our idea and made it happen brilliantly. He’s a very talented artist and went above and beyond on the art for us. We are all very happy with the outcome

What did you want to achieve with Trinity Road?

Pretty much as much as possible. I’m a realist, I wasn’t expecting anything really but the reaction has genuinely blown me away. From the media and the fans, it’s just been so positive and already made the project worthwhile. Ideally I’d like to reach a much wider audience but that is hard. I understand why. It’s an over saturated market and people don’t often like going out of their comfort zone, especially with music. I’m fairly confident that most metal/rock fans would get something out of the album but it’s hard getting people to listen. We’ll keep trying, reaching out and hoping people bite. I mean we aren’t greedy, the album is available for a great price and there’s a couple of reasons behind that. One is we don’t want to rip anyone off and secondly we want to sell as many as possible! We hope the price tag serves as an incentive for people because at the end of the day you won’t find a double disc extravaganza like Trinity Road anywhere else. It’s 1 hour and 48 minutes in length, it’s completely different and it’s waiting to be discovered

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Musically yes I consider it my finest hour to date. We worked really hard on this. We wanted to make an album with great depth and that didn’t repeat itself. I think we’ve achieved that. As a musician I pushed myself like I’ve never done before. Both vocally and guitar wise. I don’t think I could have done it better than I did and the same goes for Kenny and James. We wrote and performed to the absolute limit of our abilities. The challenge is to better that in the future!

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

I guess you could say they cover various themes from love and life right through to government manipulation and the NWO. We like our music to have a message or tell a story. There’s a couple of deeply personal songs on there about stuff that has affected me in a big way. I’m quite happy with how it turned out lyrically because I’m not a big fan of writing them! I often dread that part of the writing. Sometimes it comes easy but most of the time I end up sitting there for bloody hours listening to the same songs/riffs over and over! Anyway quite a few people have said the lyrics really get to them, make them think. That’s great. Couldn’t ask for more than that

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

Well the three of us had worked together previously about 8 years before in a power metal band called Sentinel. We know each other well. I think we just hit a creative boom (hence why there is 18 tracks on the disc!) and the writing process just came really easy in terms of ideas. It was a cool environment to write in. No pressure whatsoever. We just had a lot of fun, had a lot of laughs and just got on with the task in hand. We knew what we wanted to achieve at the end of it. We wanted a quality product, a selection of songs that were all different. It was just a great experience to write without any rules. There was no one saying well we can’t do this or that because people won’t like it! So we got together a lot and just let the music flow

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

That’s quite a hard one. I really like all the songs for different reasons but if I had to pick two tracks I’d say ‘Trinity Road’ because it’s just completely different to anything I’ve ever heard before and ‘Wild Life (The Tribe)’. ‘Wild Life’ is a track that kinda sums up the project. It’s got a bit of everything in it and I think it’s pretty infectious too. Proud of that one. It nearly didn’t happen because Kenny and James couldn’t stop laughing when I was trying to write the intro and using my acoustic as a bongo! I’m glad I persevered!

How do you see your position in the wider Power/Heavy Metal musical framework?

I don’t know really. I guess it doesn’t really matter how I perceive us. We are what we are. I just hope people like it and see us in the same light as the greats! Obviously I want us to be held in that regard but saying that we need to back up this release with another and it has to be better. There’s a lot more work to do

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

I’m excited right now. We are literally about to hit the studio again now so it’s gonna be interesting to see what we come up with. I think at this stage we are likely to make a more progressive album this time round. I don’t like the idea of treading water as a musician. If you can’t better what you did before then there’s no point. I think we can. We are better musicians now and the new songs will definitely reflect that.

What’s next for All Seeing Eyes?

Another album although this one won’t be a double! We’d like to follow this up quickly so we are hoping to get another 8-10 track album done in the next 6-7 months. It’ll be difficult because I’m also in the middle of writing the new Neverworld album too. Keep your all seeing eyes peeled and we’ll keep you posted on the albums progress! Watch this space.

Interview with Sarpedon

Sarpedon have just released their début album Anomic Nation, an album that takes Progressive Metal and drapes it in Extreme Metal influences with dramatic, powerful vocals. Definitely a band to watch out for. I wanted to find out a bit more about this impressive band…

Give us a bit of background to Sarpedon

Carl, Eirik, and myself started the band a few years back, to be honest I don’t remember exactly but I think it was in 2006. The line-up was a bit of a mess at times but we released two demos and were gigging quite frequently around Norway, and began eventually recording what would later be “Anomic Nation” around 2009-2010. However, due to several fuckups with former members, different priorities, other bands, day jobs etc., things stalled “a bit” (several years, to be honest) – but in 2013 we together with Børge Finstad finally managed to get the mixing done, and after the mastering from Peter in de Betou was finished it didn’t take too long before the deal with Inverse was in place.

What are your influences?

For songwriting – Savatage, Nevermore, Queen, Rainbow, Blind Guardian, Symphony X, Emperor. For guitar playing – Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Brian May, Nuno Bettencourt, Ritchie Blackmore, Criss Oliva, Eric Johnson, Andy Timmons, Jeff Loomis, Dimebag Darrell, André Olbrich (etc etc etc).

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

The new Blind Guardian album (and very much so) – other than that I’ve had a Swedish kick lately with Lefay and Tad Morose, Extreme due to Nuno being in Oslo for the Nobel Prize concert. It’s a shame he only did “More than Words” on that occasion, but I don’t think Malala would appreciate “He Man Woman Hater” or “Mutha (I don’t wanna go to school today).

What did you want to achieve with Anomic Nation?

Lifetime sponsorship for Burgundy red wine and maple syrup pancakes! No seriously, it’s actually a slight sense of relief to finally have the album out, due to former frustrations and the way too long time it took. The reception has been very good, and hopefully we’ll be able to continue in a more constructive manner this time around, have a bit of fun, do some gigs, and eventually make a new album.

Sarpedon2 Are you happy with how it turned out?

YES! 🙂 Haha, no but we are. The songs had been with us for so long so we had almost lost the ability to hear if the music was actually any good at all – but the response has been so good that it gave us back the belief in what we are doing. Even when we got the record deal and decided to release the album the plan was basically to release it, do a gig or two and then call it a day. But now we will make (at least) one more album, do as many gigs as possible and really have some fun with it all.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

There are different subjects, but also some recurring themes. A few songs are about specific incidents – “Dead Birds”, for example, is about a horrific series of suicides in a certain area of Wales a few years ago. The number “17”, which is sung several times, is the number of young people that had committed suicide in Bridgend in Wales at the time of recording, the number has increased since. “Lusk Letter” deals with the Jack the Ripper mystery, which has always fascinated me – George Lusk was the man who received the infamous “From Hell” letter in October 1888. One recurring theme is the little man against the big society – “Anomic Nation”, “The Claustrophober”, “My Mysteries…” 1 and 2.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

I do most of the music – although the only songs I’ve written entirely on my own and then presented to the band as complete pieces of music are “A Seed of Evil” and “My Mysteries Unwind Pt. 2”.The rest of the band are also heavily involved in the arrangements and also contribute both riffs and melodies for several of the songs, and of course Eirik comes up with most of the vocal stuff himself.

In my review I comment on the Black Metal influence on your sound. Can you expand on this?

There is definitely a black metal influence – Emperor is one of my favourite bands, and Carl and Andreas have basically only played in black and death metal bands until Sarpedon came about (and still do – Endezzma, Unspoken, and others). In a way Sarpedon is about incorporating all the different influences we have and musical styles we enjoy into one band, and it’s definitely refreshing for me as a guitar player and songwriter to be able to use riffs and harmonies which maybe belong more in other genres than in “traditional” prog/power metal.

Sarpedon3 How do you see your position in the wider Metal musical framework/genre?

It was Eirik who came up with the slogan “Declaring war on progressive metal as we know it”. And without trying to be overly arrogant or anything we try to create our own little twist on progressive metal – which is a genre which, inevitably, is not very progressive any more. We’re not the most technical band out there, but we try to put heavy riffs and drumming with both thrash and black metal influences, into a context with strong melodies which might hint at Broadway/West End influences, atmospheric synths and huge choirs.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

To quote one big hero of mine – “MORE IS MORE” 🙂 We will begin working on our next album next year, and I think we will use “Anomic Nation” as a starting point and then try to do a bit more of everything. The choirs will be (even) bigger, the riffs will be heavier, the melodies will be catchier, we will incorporate more dynamics –

What’s next for Sarpedon?

We have our release party in Oslo on February 14, celebrating Metal Express Radio’s 30th anniversary – then we’ll see what more gigs show up before we begin writing songs for the next album. It’s been a blast to finally hold a proper Sarpedon CD in our hands, and to hear that people actually enjoy what we have come up with. We’re really enjoying playing together, and hopefully there’s more fun to come in the upcoming months and years. And thanks to you Nigel for taking the time to do this interview and for the review you gave us – we sincerely appreciate it! 🙂

Thanks!

Interview with Valdrin

Valdrin’s début release Beyond the Forest is an atmospheric Black Metal delight with none of the pomp and plenty of bite and an all-round highly enjoyable listen. Vocalist/guitarist Carter Hicks provided some background information to this compelling album…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

My name is Carter and I play guitar and do vocals in a black/death metal band called Valdrin.

Give us a bit of history to Valdrin

Valdrin was formed in 2010 and spent the years of 2011 to 2012 recording the debut album Beyond The Forest. The line-up during the recording was Carter Hicks: Guitar/vocals, Avik Subedi: Guitar, James Lewis: Bass. We released the album on bandcamp in February 2013 and eventually on a digipack cd format limited to 100 copies. Ryan Maurmeier joined on drums in early 2013 and Avik left the band in the summer of 2013. In early 2014 we signed to Blast Head Records and they released Beyond The Forest on CD. Since then we’ve played out as much as possible to spread our message and our dark story to those who are willing to understand it. We are currently working on new material and trying to expand to playing in other territories.

What are your influences?

Metal wise, mostly 80s first wave black/death, early 90s black/death stuff, thrash and traditional metal of course. Bands like Bathory, Destruction, Sarcofago, Sodom, Dissection, Windir, Sabbat (JAP), Sigh, The Chasm, Possessed, Order From Chaos, Morbid Angel, Immortal, Voivod, Mercyful Fate, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost…etc, the classic essential extreme metal to us. My favorite band along with Bathory would probably have to be Pink Floyd. My favorite composer is Nobuo Uematsu. Ryan (our drummer) shares these same influences with myself. James also has a deep background in the blues. With a lot of these influences we’ve been able to craft our sound and find our identity. We listen to all kinds of music of course, but these artists that I just named have given us all that inspiration we needed to create our own identity. We’ve noticed our identity from the early stages of the band, and since then we’ve mostly looked inward for inspiration as opposed to looking outward.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Bands like Order From Chaos, The Chasm, Cenotaph, (old) Morbid Angel, Inquisition, are some bands that have been favourites of mine in the recent years. I still gain influence from most of the classic bands I named above as well. However, discovering an album like Procreation of the Inner Temple by The Chasm was life changing. Never before had I heard something so truly ancient and majestic sounding. The strange melodies, the dusty recording, it just sounded otherworldly. That’s the music I like the most. I remember hearing it for the first time with our old guitarist Avik, around 5:00 AM after a long night of drinking….the perfect state of mind to hear that album! I get fascinated by cryptic recordings that are hard to decipher, not just bestial black/death…but stuff that actually has a lot of depth and articulation underneath the lo-fi sound. Albums like Stillbirth Machine and An Ending In Fire by Order From Chaos had this same quality and they are some of my favourite albums.

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

Well calling it new isn’t possible for us. Yes, it is new to the world, but to us its over 4 years old. I’m definitely proud of the album though. We all had goals that we wanted to achieve through the album and I think we accomplished most of them. I specifically had a certain indescribable calling to make an album taking place in an abyssal underworld. The inspiration came when I heard Bathory – The Return…… an album that changed my path in life, and still to this day is my all time favourite album. That was the first piece of metal I’d ever heard that took me away from where I was standing at the time of hearing it. It oozed pure darkness and evil, and it instantly clicked with my imagination. I wanted to make a soundtrack like that, to the blackest of black worlds. I know that obviously Beyond The Forest sounds nothing like The Return…. and that’s a good thing of course. That album, along with some old RPG games I used to play as a kid on MS-DOS, provided most of the inspiration to create The Orcus underworld in Beyond The Forest.

My favourite track is Beyond the Forest, an epic and empowering song. Tell us a bit more about this one.

Beyond The Forest was actually the last song written on the album. It was compiled with most of the left over riffs that had not gotten into other songs. The song really just wrote itself. I remember James getting behind the drum-kit at the time and helping guide me through the song. Of most of the songs, that one came out the most natural. I remember writing it very fast, but spending a good deal of time on the lyrics. I still view those lyrics as some of the most important I’ve ever made. It really sets up the premise of the story, and I’m very proud of what came out of that.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Definitely. Being a musician is like a creating a timeline for yourself. It connects you to the most pure feeling you had at each point in your life. Yes, when I look back, there are a million things that could’ve been done better. But there is no use in worrying about the past. What’s done is done and I’m certainly proud that it has reached so many people.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Without going into great detail, I can say this: the lyrics are conceptual and based on what we call The Wolf Ausadjur Mythos. This mythos is collectively inspired by all forms of spirituality fused all into one story. Its a re-interpretation of the creation story, only with human beings as the conductors of the spirit realm(s). The story looks into man’s evolution out from the wild with emphasis on one key point: the evolution of inventive thought, or imagination. This power is to be considered the most crucial factor in the creation of tribes, language, culture, civilization…etc. These are all by-products of our ability to imagine what’s not there and replicate what’s in our minds using the natural tools we have on earth. Most importantly from imagination comes the conception of good and evil. In our story, these concepts are literal forces created by the human mind, using the conduit of what we call The Spirit Genome. This is a metaphysical organ within the brain that allows us to access the powers of good and evil from the dimensions that we have created. These worlds are known as The Orcus (latin: underworld) and The Aurae (latin: heavens, or light). The story of Beyond The Forest deals with our protagonist, Valdrin and his descent into the underworld of the Orcus and the subsequent journey that follows. Everything else can be described within the lyrics on Beyond The Forest.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process, and how do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

The songwriting process usually begins with me making a basic skeleton of a song. I’ll usually program some drums based on what I believe would sound good over each riff. After that, I sit back and let the song tell me what’s happening in the story and that’s where the lyrics come from. Once I show the song to the rest of the guys, we go through a process of trial and error in figuring out what works best for song. Recently however, we’ve written a lot more material together in the rehearsal room and often James and Ryan have ideas about where the song should go. Its becoming a more collaborative process due to us all fully understanding our concept and having faith in each other’s abilities.

What’s next for Valdrin?

We are working on recording our new mini-lp “Two Carrion Talismans” it should be finished somewhere in mid 2015. We are also playing often in new territories and looking to put together a tour around the mid-west and east coast. We have many plans in the future and we are very driven to deliver our new music unto this world. Hails to all our supporters! We cannot wait to conqueror more territories and spread our netherworld metal!

Interview with Mourning Pyre

The début EP from one-man Ukrainian Atmospheric Blackened Doom project Mourning Pyre made an impression with me. It’s very good – go check it out! I was compelled to find out more…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Hello there, I’m Scott! I am the sole creator and writer for Mourning Pyre. Another one of those ‘one-man’ projects… I figured there weren’t enough of them, so I decided to make one myself! Mourning Pyre is a wide conglomerate of genres, but I suppose it can best be described as atmospheric doom / melodic blackened death. Say that three times!

Give us a bit of history to Mourning Pyre

Mourning Pyre actually came about earlier this year because I wanted a more versatile name to write under. I have a vast array of genres that I enjoy listening to, and I found that sometimes I had more “death metal” songs or more “black metal” songs… so I just wanted a name where I could put all that under one roof, so to speak, and not have to try to think of a new band name every time I write a song. It is convenient for me, but extremely difficult when it comes to trying to explain my ‘kind’ of music to others. Often, I’ll simply say I write ‘metal’ music.

What are your influences?

My main influence is my life. I fully believe that music is my gift that has helped me get through some really hard times in my life. I don’t want to sit here and say that I’ve had it worse than anybody else, or that my pain is worse than yours, but I can say that without the ability to write music, or at the very least the strong interest in music, that my life would be very different today and I’m not at all sure I could say it’d be better.

My musical upbringing was an eclectic one. My grandparents listened to jazz and classical which was a great addition to the heavy metal influences from my parents. As I grew up, I found death metal and black metal in the mid 90’s when I was on a quest for something new and even more brutal. This is about the time I got onto the Internet and used Napster to really broaden my horizons.

If we pinpoint specific genres… 80’s metal, 80’s synth pop, dark wave, trance, black metal, death metal, straight rock, movie scores, industrial, classical, etc.

As you can see, I like pretty much something from everything except rap and hip-hop and those offsets as I don’t even consider that stuff to be music.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Well, it’s hard for me to recommend certain types of bands or music… so I decided to just type the latest bands I listened to from my Google Play account:

Woods of Ypres, Nokturnal Mortum, Faith No More, Cannibal Corpse, Galaktik Cancer Squad, Belphegor, Dark Forest, Arx Atrata, Thrawsunblat, Nine Inch Nails, Aborym, Stuck Mojo, Static-X…

Obviously, I’d have to recommend pretty much anything by Woods of Ypres, though I’m particular to Woods V. Galaktik Cancer Squad, Arx Atrata and Dark Forest might be gems for people out there who want some more atmospheric black metal.

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

The main goal was to get a professional sounding release. I was lucky in that the guy I was working with was privy to the type of music I was playing and the kind of atmosphere I wanted to get from it. I was very particular about drums and guitars and meticulously recorded the guitars. There are videos about that on the YouTube page. However, ultimately…

Are you happy with how it turned out?

This is a tough question. I suppose I could start nit-picking… In terms of a pristine release at studio quality that is listenable? I’d say I achieved that and then some… though I think some of the character of atmospheric music was removed. It’s almost like it is a bit too clean and polished. This is not a knock against the guy I recorded it with, but there are things I wish I could have done differently now that I’ve had time to listen to it about 1,000 times. Overall, the E.P. sounds great and I’m fully proud of how it turned out.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Mourning Pyre isn’t very adept at lyric writing… though I wish I was. I think vocals, singing, and lyric writing is the final frontier that I need to tackle.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

Good question! I actually posted a video talking about how I write my songs on my YouTube channel. Basically, I get the idea and inspiration, and then I go to town. In that video, I showed a very old program called Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 from 1999. I actually have forced myself to give that up and now I am writing new music using Reaper 4 directly with Kontakt and soft-synth patches loaded. This allows me to write in dynamics immediately and get a better feel for what the song will sound like. Doing it this way has lent my music a much more cinematic quality.

From there, I’ll either record it in Reaper 4 or in Sonar X3 Studio. I’m a big fan of Cakewalk, actually. I used Pro Tools 10HD for the Mourning Pyre E.P. and I see no particular advantage to using Pro Tools. I mean, if you have $800.00 to blow on over rated software, by all means!

Tell us about the Classical parts/influences.

As it turns out, my Grandparents were on to something when they exposed me to the Classical greats. I’m quite happy they did so. Classical instrumentation helps add the extra layer of dynamics that makes up for my lack of vocals and guitar ability. At this point, I think it’s the last piece to the puzzle of my music – effectively learning how to create the dynamics with strings and orchestral instrumentation… it’s the human quality in metal that gets lost, I think. I should add, also, that the type of instrumentation is more geared towards film score and not so much traditional classical parts… though I wish I had the ability to do that, too!

Some of the songs on this release have a bit of a Post-Metal feel to them on occasion – Holding My Breath (Until I Die), for example, has a guitar part in it that wouldn’t be out of place on a Red Sparowes record. Is the Post-Metal scene an influence at all?

Big fan of Post-Metal! In fact, there used to be a website called Depressive-INC that has since disappeared. It’s a real bummer because there were numerous bands that I had downloaded from there and really enjoyed. I have, unfortunately, lost the MP3 files and, as I said, the website is shut down. Does anybody know of a replacement?

The thing with post black metal that is interesting for me are the use of the tremolo picked chords. I’m fascinated by the types of chords they come up with. I’m more into the melodic aspect of it, obviously. I like the new release from Deafheaven, ‘White Tomb’ from Altar of Plagues, ‘Tenant’ by Ludicra is pretty good as well. The thing also with this type of music is that I need to be in the mood for something that I can just turn on and fly away with. I like it when a melody takes me away.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

I’m always trying to grow and expand. 2014 hasn’t seen many new songs… in fact; I can say that 2014 has been my least productive year in terms of writing new music since I started writing music 15 years ago. That’s okay, though. I have a ton of ideas and directions to go. The song I’m currently working on has a very cinematic feel in the beginning. I’m also trying new writing techniques (such as writing riffs or leads ‘on the spot’). I used to write songs very quickly when I would get the idea… now I’m allowing that inspiration to flow, but I don’t force myself to finish the song.

I have always envisioned that 60 minute song… a story of some sort… something that would encompass all of the human emotion. I don’t think I’m quite ready to undertake that task yet, but I feel that someday soon I’ll be mature enough musically to be able to put something like that together.

Thanks a lot for allowing me to do this interview with you. I had to sit down and really ponder some of the questions you asked me. It was a pleasure!