German post-metal quartet Below A Silent Sky in 2015 released their debut full-length titled “Corrosion.” For 2016 the band has scheduled quite a few live performances. Read below what they told us about their work.
What made you go for the name Below a Silent Sky?
We have made a long list with different names and then chose the one which fitted the best in our eyes. We think that this name can be implicated with an atmospheric sound like the sky that surrounds our whole world.
How do you usually describe your music?
Atmospheric post-metal without vocals.
What is your writing process like?
The two guitarists gather some riffs at home which are sometimes already supported by a programmed drum machine. Afterwards these ideas are brought to the rehearsals where they are discussed and processed with the whole band. The results of these rehearsals are recorded and get improved at home again. This process continues until we are satisfied with the song.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
Every single band member has it’s own influences in different music genres. The range embraces Jazz, Blues, Progressive, Alternative, Stoner Rock, Doom and of course Post-Rock and Post-Metal. Aside from these musical aspects daily experiences also have an impact on our creative process.
What is your favourite song on the new album “Corrosion”?
Sulfur is actually the song which we all like most because you can go crazy to it and the 7/8 bar part is unconventional and pretty cool.
What makes “Corrosion” different?
We think what really makes this album special is that the songs are constantly developed and no part is repeated. Sometimes we just take a melody or a riff and put it in another context. So the classical song structure verse-bridge-chorus is completely broken up. Furthermore, the songs represent the four elements in a subtile way and incorporate the process of natural corrosion in a deeper dimension.
What should music lovers expect from “Corrosion”?
You can loose yourself in this atmospheric work and discover more details every time you listen to it.
What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?
We have no specific emotion in mind. Everyone can feel or think of whatever the music evokes in their heads.
Which do you like most, life in the studio or on tour?
Honestly both is great fun. In the studio you can see your songs grow and work on the details. On tour you get to know a lot of cool people and you can give everything on stage. This mix of recording in the studio, rehearsing and touring is the right combination of fun, positive stress and creative work.
Pick your 3 favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.
Tool – Lateralus
AHAB – The Boats Of Glen Carrig
Sigur Ros – Kveikur
Serbian “Pink Floyd on steroids,” Wolfram in 2015 released their debut album titled “Music Of The Heathen” which sees this young group exploring different musical styles and fusing them into something original. The band recently spoke for Progarchy about their work.
What made you go for the name Wolfram?
We went for it solely because of the aesthetics behind it. It doesn’t have any deeper meaning to us as a word, it just looks and sounds good when you read it or say it. It has that certain gravitas. However, what we do with it is what gives it power. Names are meant to be built, established, otherwise they are just pretty and useless.
How do you usually describe your music?
We just say ‘Pink Floyd on steroids’ and let you be the judge of things. Honestly, how would you describe something that you’ve worked on for years and years?
What is your writing process like?
It has a lot of trial and error. There are, of course, some cases where everything just clicks and the lyrics start to pour beautifully and concisely. However, there also comes a period where you “waste” days on just one song by mercilessly thinking about it and tying to give it form and meaning, so that you would get just one day that actually bears fruit. Personally, I constantly keep writing small passages, quotes, phrases, idioms, verses and even words which I find potent and appealing; and then I start to weave them as pieces together whilst paying attention to the rhythm and the vibe of the song. It is like a verbal game of Lego.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
This is a tough one, because we are all influenced by a rather wide range of artists… There are tons of small homages in the entire album, some of them are beautifully hidden, while some are blatantly placed in front of your face. Every song naturally has parts which were influenced by some other artist’s or band’s approach to making music, but all of them have our distinctive mark, nevertheless. As film director Jim Jarmusch said, you cannot invent something out of nothing, so you might as well “steal” whatever resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination and make your own version of that experience.
In MOTH’s case, we have electronic moments which remind us of the Knife, Trentemøller and Björk, it has Tool’s dark atmosphere, Deftones’ unorthodox approach to metal music, Pink Floyd’s psychedelia, Massive Attack’s mellow trip hop beats, Fink’s beautiful acoustic guitar play, dropped guitar tunings of System of a Down, Mastodon, and other lo-fi bands, catchy harmonized pop vocal lines, narratives, dubs, chants, etc. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Consciously or unconsciously, we melded everything as much as we tastefully could and gave it our own signature.
What is your favourite song on the new album “Music of the Heathen”?
Definitely ‘Revere’, because it was made last and it shows to us just how much we’ve grown up over the years when it comes to making music. It makes us all giddy when we think about the sophomore album we’re planning to release hopefully this year.
What makes “Music of the Heathen” different?
It would pretentious to claim for ourselves that our music different. You can call it different if you wish, but we are not in a position to do that. Frankly, nobody likes those kind of people, unless they genuinely are a piece of work…
Bottom line is we do not always limit ourselves to just one approach to making songs, instead we also try to tastefully combine many influences (we want all our songs and albums to differ from one another). We strive for both simplicity and complexity, all in good grace of music. This is because She is supposed to be about constant exploration, not just figuring out one pattern and sticking to it for the rest of your life. That would just be dull.
What should music lovers expect from “Music of the Heathen”?
We are all nature-worshipers, and just like any other human being, we intuitively reflect on our fragility compared to Her, but over time, we realized that this is just a façade – something ‘deep and meaningful’ you tell people to gently get them off your back when they ask you this question.
In fact, this album is definitely much more than just a collage of our regular mind-numbing perplexities of life. It is our sanctuary, our therapy, our “haven of sounds”. It is about the raw sensation we get when we play that music live, how it truly makes us feel powerful, defiant – godly, even – and out of place with reality. It is one beautiful form of escapism, a drug like no other with rather pleasing side effects; and we want to share it with everyone else.
What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?
The track ‘Babel’ on the album can thoroughly answer this question with a little satire… Even if we deeply wanted to project an emotion and expect the listeners to feel or act the same way we intended, it would still be impossible to accomplish that. So why bother? It would be like making “propaganda” music, where everything is arbitrary and rigid in terms of interpretation. No, listeners can do with it whatever they want. We know which emotions gave birth to these nine songs on MOTH, but what they become when the audience reacts to it is beyond our control.
Which do you like most, life in the studio or on tour?
Both of these lives have their perks and disadvantages. When you are young, hungry and eager, you just want to conquer everything there is to conquer. Going on a tour is something every kid dreams of the moment he or she starts dabbling in rock music. It must be a thing of age… When you get older, then you probably get tired of the constant travelling and exposure to a myriad of people, so you crave to make your music more intimately, inside the studio. Since we are relatively young and immensely impatient, the tour life is definitely something that fascinates us at the moment, mainly because we have never experienced it properly… yet.
Pick your 3 favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.
Anything that spells S.O.S. (Abba, Rihanna, Jonas Brothers, the Breeders, etc.) is fine, because nobody wants to get stuck on a desert island, let alone bring only 3 albums to keep his or her head sane… Either we take everything we own, or stay off the island and drown!
Atmospheres from Belgium will remember 2015 mostly for the release of their sophomore album “The Departure,” and quite a few live performances. Guitarist Stef Exelmans talks for Progarchy about this new material.
Hey guys. How are you doing?
Very good. Released our new album about a moth ago and we are getting extremely good reactions so far!
You released “The Departure” back in November. How do you feel about the release?
We were very excited to see how people would react to this album, because we tried a bit of a new approach this time. It’s always a bit of a challenge to release a 2nd album, because now you have the first one to compare it to. In the end we did exactly what we wanted to do with this album, so we are happy with the way it turend out! Luckily a lot of other people feel the same way and that’s a mission accomplished for us.
How much of a challenge was it to work on the album?
Since the first album, we wanted to reach a new level with the band and the music. There certainly was some experimenting with new sounds and ideas. What was clear from the beginning, is that THE DEPARTURE was going to be more post-rock influenced.
How is the progressive metal/djent scene in Belgium these days?
There is not really a scene to start with in Belgium. First of all, we are a very small country and it’s more focussed on pop/commercial music. We do have some nice metal festivals, but those are also more oriented to the mainstream metal. What is funny, is that ATMOSPHERES has more followers in the US and France for example than in our own country… Anyway, we try our best to please everybody with our music and we love doing it! It’s all about the music and having fun, no?
What is your opinion about the new wave of metal bands?
Awesome! It’s good to see that every generation brings their own ideas and influences into metal. Some good, some bad, but in the end it will all serve it’s purpose to great music. That way it will always evolve and we don’t get stuck listening to Metallica or AC/DC.
Can you tell me something about your influences?
Nobody in the band actually listens to a lot of metal. We are into a lot of genres that stretch from rock to electronic music, to movie soundtracks, to jazz, to pop,… Anything can be an inspiration, as long as it feels good.
What are you listening to these days?
I can only speak for myself of course, but I really dig that new Tesseract album. Also, I love Koan Sound, Gustavo Santaolalla, Helios,… Too many to choose from!
Your five favourite records of all time?
1. Karnivool – Sound Awake
2. Limp Bizkit – Chocolate starfish and the hotdog flavored water
3. 30 Seconds to Mars – This Is War
4. Animals As Leaders – Animals As Leaders
5. Blink 182 – Blink 182
And the list goes on…
Can you tell me a little bit more about the gear you used to record “The Departure”?
The drums were done on a Gretsch kit and Meinl cymbals. All natural sounds. Bass was done on a Fender JB 5string through a Tech21 VT Bass, straight into the computer. The guitar used was an Ibanez RGA8 with Bare Knuckle pickups. All guitar sounds come from a Line6 POD HD Pro, in combination with a Strymon BigSky Reverb unit. Vocals are a combination between a Shure green bullet and an AKG C414 BXLS, switching back an forth between the two for the effect. All mixing and mastering was done in ProTools.
Besides the release of the album, are there any other plans for the future?
Of course! We are not thinking about quitting… We always have some ideas lying around to work on, so new music is already being made! Also, we like to play a bit more live shows. Working on that 🙂
Any words for the potential new fans?
Try to give it a few listens if you never heard of us. You will end up in a major trip and there are cookies at the end! We promise.
In 2015, Tempe, Arizona based prog death metal band Kardashev returned with a new album titled “Peripety.” In the interview below, they tell us about the new material.
Alright, first things first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
Life is extremely good! We’ve really enjoyed the small amount of down time that we’ve had over the past month.Its kind of like getting home from work and you finally get to sit on your favorite chair. Of course, we don’t want too get lazy, either!
Speaking of new music, you have a new album. What can people expect from Peripety?
We do indeed! We tried to make Peripety an emotionally moving experience. It was important to allow people to really soak into the album while also keeping the fast and aggressive moments that we really enjoy in metal. But truthfully, its hard to say what people can, or will, expect. We really want each listener’s experience with Peripety to be unique. So, the best answer is that people can expect a meaningful experience from the album. Where they go from there…who knows?
What was it like working on the album?
It was a really interesting process. Writing Peripety put us all to some serious technical and mental tests. We spent a lot of time writing music that was out of our comfort zones, and allowing the songs to develop as they needed to. The whole process stuck to one rule – “If it sounds good, it is good”. We tried to stay away from any decisions based on what would be popular or appeal to any demographic. Of course, in the end its unavoidable to write without at least some thought of whether or not people will like it. We set out for Peripety to be a very honest album, and so there was no room for settling on riffs that we didn’t like, or for walking on eggshells with each other. If a take needed to be redone, we said so. If the lyrics didn’t fit, we rewrote them. Luckily we all were able to see the big picture and keep our egos in check.
Are there any touring plans in support to “Peripety”?
We really want to play the album live, but we aren’t entirely sure of what our approach will be. We have toured before, and its a tricky business. We’ll put it this way – if we find or create an amazing tour opportunity, we’ll definitely take it. Otherwise, we’ll mostly be playing “weekend warrior” types of shows in the neighboring states.
While we’re on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
We had the amazing opportunity to play in The UK this past July, and it was an awesome experience. We played at UK Tech Metal Fest, and it definitely made us want to travel more. Truthfully, we would love to go anywhere. If there are Kardashev fans in Germany, Norway, Japan, Singapore, Peru, or any other place, we would absolutely love to meet them.
Who and what inspires you the most?
This is a really hard question. If we stripped all of the things we love the most down to the core, the answer would probably be simplicity. It may sound a bit silly, but the things that move us the most are the things that are free and accessible. Playing an acoustic guitar next to a fire, a long walk or car ride, the act of giving something away, these are all beautiful things that are often overlooked. Nature inspires us quite a bit as well. The paintings that make up the album art are landscapes and sunsets. The music video for Lux is made of aerial shots of mountains and fields. The chorus for Somnus references the monsoons in the Arizona desert. The nature of things as they are can often be absolutely breathtaking.
What other genres of music do you listen to?
Across all of us the common genres are probably ambient electronic, folk, some indie, tons of movie soundtracks, and even the droning sounds of Nest and Saåad.
Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
Of course! The biggest impact on this album came from the ambient, droning music that we listen to. We loved the idea of letting some songs create an atmosphere by allowing them to go on for a long time. Why rush when you can savor?
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
Only how thankful we are! When we started this whole Kardashev thing, we had absolutely no idea where it would go. Every success we have had is truly because of all of the amazing people we have met through our music. So if anyone reading this has shared our music, told a friend about us, or even just said hello to us at a show – know that we truly do appreciate you.
Lars Alatalo is a guitarist of Swedish band Pointless Fate, who in 2015 released a debut EP “Touching The Void.” We asked Lars set of questions, and here is what he says about the band’s work.
Alright, first things first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
Things are pretty good, we just finished a small tour in Serbia which was amazing and everyone in the band is eager to get out and play again and write some new music.
Speaking of new music, you have a new EP. What can people expect from “Touching the Void”?
Yes we recently released our first EP. People can expect a dark, heavy and sometimes brutal journey filled with great riffs, melodies and rhythm changes with a little progressive touch.
What was it like working on the EP?
All the songs on the EP was written some time before we even started talking about recording so the writing of the songs when pretty smooth and then we just had to pick which songs we thought would fit the EP the best. When it comes to the recoding of the songs it also went kind of easy and didn’t take that much time because we had been playing live a lot just before we went into the studio.
Are there any touring plans in support to “Touching the Void”?
Yes we have already been to Serbia in support of Touching the Void and now we are looking for more places to go and play.
While we’re on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
I think everyone in the band really would like to tour in Japan and the US.
Who and what inspires you the most?
When it comes to writing music I take inspiration from many different bands and genres both in metal but also outside of it. When I write lyrics the inspiration comes from other places such as religion, philosophy and my own experiences. When it comes to who inspires me, that is a difficult question. I take a lot of inspiration from people like Ronnie James Dio, Jim Morrison and Tony Iommi inside of music, some people who are not musicians also inspires me for example Richard Dawkins.
What other genres of music do you listen to?
I listen to most genres within rock music, I like bands such as Pink Floyd and Dire Straits, outside of rock I love the music of Simon & Garfunkel as well as Bob Dylan. But my favourite band outside of metal would definitely be The Doors.
Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
It absolutely have, many of the bands I mentioned earlier have inspired me so much. Among my favourite guitarists come from bands that don’t play metal like Robby Krieger from The Doors and Mark Knopfler.
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
The pleasure is mine! Stay tuned for more music and more gigs to come!
Greek composer and multi-instrumentalist Spyros Charmanis released an album under the name None Other titled “Than The Common Plague” in September. In an interview for Progarchy, he tells about the process that informed the record, and more.
Hey Spyros. How are you doing?
Hello Progarchy! I am doing well and I hope you do too!
You released “Than The Common Plague” recently. How do you feel about the release?
Pretty happy, and I’m sure everyone feels that way about their recent work! It came together nicely and easily and the packaging came out great. The overall result makes me proud – in the non-narcissistic way- it utterly justifies the amount of time it subtracted from my life and I’m glad I did it!
How much of a challenge was it to work on the album?
It was quite challenging, I can say that! As with each concept album, aside from the freedom it can give the artist to explore and develop, there are traps and pitfalls and the hardest thing to achieve is cohesion throughout. I won’t say I achieved it, that probably is for the listener to decide, but I can say that there was a great deal of care and meticulous planning on my part so that the music, the story and the book resemble a complete work of art. And I use the term ‘art’ because I believe that every record potentially serves as an art proposition, not because I’m having delusions of grandeur or anything!
How is the progressive rock scene in Greece these days?
It’s there, but you have to know where to look. I mean, there are great prog rock stuff happening but I feel that the hip thing to do here right now still is the ‘stoner / southern rock’ type of thing. With which I don’t have a problem mind you, most of them are really awesome and absolutely rewarding to see live.
What is your opinion about the new wave of rock bands?
I fear my knowledge of this ‘new wave’ is minimal…There are definitely some new bands that I love, such as All Them Witches for example, and I do like the fact that they’re able to do what they do. I think every ‘new’ band knows it has to work harder to stand out due to the rising ‘competition’ and the plethora (I’m Greek, I can use that word!) of options out there, which of course works to the advantage of those paying attention, as they are rewarded with truly wonderful music!
Can you tell me something about your influences?
I can tell you that they’re not as many as I’d like! Some of them are pretty standard, some are pretty shameful, some are just plain pretty! I keep trying to find more time to listen to music, but that’s modern life for you I guess. The newest thing I started exploring and felt quite ashamed I haven’t done that all this time was King Crimson. I do love that there’s an entire back catalogue for me to devour though!
What are you listening to these days?
If I go to the studio now and check my playlist, there’s King Crimson and All Them Witches I mentioned earlier, the latest Triggerfinger album and my friend’s Methexis latest effort.
Your five favourite records of all time?
Oh no! High Fidelity is going to answer that for me: ‘In the club or at home?’! Kidding aside, I doubt I can produce a permanent list there, so many things to consider! Do or do not, there is no try I guess. In fear of it being ultimately frail and subject to change, I’d say definitely The Dark Side of the Moon, Grace by Jeff Buckley, Photo Finish by Rory Gallagher (as this was my first Gallagher record), King for a Day by Faith No More and the Court of the Crimson King should be there at the top, and I truly feel bad…
Can you tell me a little bit more about the gear you used to record “Than The Common Plague”?
That should be somewhat embarrassing! There was a little Alesis Multimix board I came to despise fiercely and a Fender Frontman 212 amp housing a Telecaster Highway One, a PRS SE Singlecut and various guitar effect pedals and a cheap Epiphone bass guitar going straight to the board. The more proper gear I used was a Pearl custom drumset mic’ed with a collection of Shure sm57’s and a couple of AKG condenser microphones, which also doubled for various other duties such as vocals, a Takamine acoustic guitar, percussion and the lot. I also used a musical saw and a custom made string instrument paired with an analog delay for soundscaping effects, and then various plug-ins in the computer.
Besides the release of the album, are there any other plans for the future?
I did a couple of acoustic sets (played with an electric guitar and amp) along with my cousin who also sings, I hope we’d get to do that more – she is great and it was quite fun! I also hope that new music will start forming in my head soon, I really miss the sentiment!
Any words for the potential new fans?
A sincere thank you to them for choosing to pay attention. And to you, people of Progarchy for the nice talk!
Buy “Than The Common Plague” from Bandcamp, and follow Spyros Charmanis and None Other on Facebook.
Ste Van Holm has been recording and releasing music actively for the larger part of 2000’s, and he tends to shift to a new music style with each of the records. So far, he released six albums, and his latest experimentation is a progressive rock concept album titled “Tesla,” which celebrates the life and work of famous physician Nikola Tesla. Holm, who is a physician himself, talked for Progarchy about the new album.
Hey Ste. How are you doing?
I’m doing fine, thank you!
You released “Tesla” in November. How do you feel about the release?
I feel pretty good about it, actually. I feel I did what I could with it, and right now I don’t think I would do anything different. That might change, though. When I listen to my earlier albums, I allways want to change something. When I was about two thirds through the production I felt very different about it. I was about to give it up and do something else. But then I went to see Steven Wilson on his Hand.Cannot.Erase tour, and when I came home that concert had given me the power to finish the project.
How much of a challenge was it to work on the album?
The challenge for me is allways to find out what to do. When I finish an album, the easiest thing for me would be to do some more with the same sound and feel. But I get bored so easily if I do something that sounds like something I’ve done before. It usually take me three years to do an album. The first year is spend with crippling self doubt and useles demos. Then after about a year something happens, and an album starts to crystallize. And the last year is spend recording and mixing.
This time the biggest challenge was to stay within the boundaries of the concept.
How is the progressive rock scene in Denmark these days?
Oh, it’s terrible! There’s not much of a following of progressive rock in Denmark these days. Steven Wilson plays here from time to time. Steve Hackett just played here, and King Crimson pops by in september next year. Apart from that, the progressive acts seems to skip Denmark on their tours. I had to go to Germany to see Peter Gabriel.
What is your opinion about the new wave of progressive bands?
It is great that progressive rock is back! I have to admit, that I still prefer the acts from the seventies, but I might just be nostalgic. I think Steven Wilsons work is absolutely amazing, and he is truely progressive in that he doesn’t imitate the sound of the old progressive giants. I’d like to see much more music like that!
Can you tell me something about your influences?
My influences depends on my perspective. Musically I’m inspired by other music. But conceptually I can be inspired by anything. It could be a scenery, a photo, a film or something totally different. I usually start the work on a new album by making a mock up cover. Then I ask myself ‘how does an album that look like this sound like?’. If, as the case was with the ‘Constructions’ album, I think it looks like an industrial album, then I start to listen to a lot of industrial music, and from there I create my own interpretation of that genre.
What are you listening these days?
Steven Wilson’s Hand.Cannot.Erase has been a favourite since its release, and I still listen to it a lot. But apart from that I’m listening to the new Jean-Michel Jarre album. That’s not progressive at all, but I’m not narrow in my taste. Or at least, I try not to be.
Your five favourite records of all time?
Oh wow, that’s hard… only five picks…
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Mike Oldfield: Amarok
King Crimson: Red
Peter Gabriel: III (Melt)
Storm Corrosion: Storm Corrosion
Can you tell me a little bit more about the gear you used to record “Tesla”?
Sure! My main instrument is a Gibson L6 which is a few years older than me. Most of the guitars you’ll hear on the album is that one, but I also play a barytone guitar on the album. Then, for the first time in many years, I play Chapman Stick on a few of the songs. There’s Mellotron all over the album, but I also use it’s lesser known cousin, the Orchestron. You’ll also hear the sounds of french experimental instruments Ondes Martenot and Cristal Baschet. And there’s hang drums and theremin as well. Some of the more funny parts to do was to incorporate static and other electrical noises on the album. I build a Jacob’s Ladder which is often seen in the background of Hollywood films that features a mad scientist. It is basically just two strings of metal placed a few centimeters apart, and when high voltage is applied a bow arc starts to climb up the strings. Another thing I build was a Tesla Coil, which is an antenna for transmitting power. I used it to make musical sparks which can be heard on the track ‘Voltage Control’. Everything was recorded on Propellerheads Reason software.
Besides the release of the album, are there any other plans for the future?
Yeah, I plan to play some concerts in the summer of 2016. But we’re still working on it.
Any words for the potential new fans?
To any potential listeners, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you, that you use your time listening to my music.
Listen to “Tesla” on Bandcamp, and buy if you like it.
Prog metal purveyors from Pescara in Italy, Fake Heroes came up with their second studio album “Clouds” in September 2015. This new release opens many doors for this great, young band and we can expect more great things from them in the coming years. The band talked for Progarchy about their work.
Where does the idea of the band’s name comes from?
“Fake Heroes” refers to all the useless things that we worship in our lifetime and that takes attention away from what is really important.
“Fake Heroes” is a concept. It concerns people that follow false ideals, shallow and foolish things instead of enhancing important issues.
How did you go about forming the band?
Our band formed in February 2012 from the ideas of our guitarist and composer Draft Djentleman.
We were born from the ashes of our previous post/grunge band called Too Late To Wake.
When Draft felt the need to create different and modern music he involved the same band but a new singer.
Fake Heroes is a band who is not afraid or ashamed to make a music that mixes rock music with popular rock/metal sound such as alternative rock/nu-metal/djent. How do you manage to do that?
We firmly believe that being able to combine different musical hemispheres creates what is sometimes called “personal sound.” We think we have done it in our own way: the wide variety of influences has led us to a true personal musical journey. This made it possible to combine the industrial metal with prog metal. And then, let’s face it, our choruses are POP.
What topics do you explore in your lyrics?
There’re not main themes in our lyrics. We usually speak about abstract themes or deep feelings trying to explain what we live during personal interior sensations.
In the past we have talked about our society and economy analyzing all the effects that they have on human beings.
Fake Heroes is a great band who loves to have live performances. I would love to know how do you guys feel just before the shows, you know, you hear audience, people talking, soon you will be on that stage. Singing your songs… How does it feel?
Playing own music live is one of the best sensation that a musician can feel in his life. It’s awesome to see people singing your songs, enjoy your music and to feel something that make all as one. Seems rhetoric but not at all.
How does a Fake Heroes live performance look like?
Our show is like a little trip to places we already know, but that we never tire of admiring .
Are you satisfied with the reactions of audience?
Yes, fortunately we were able to communicate our passion and humility, so the audience feels at ease and think to have fun.
Are there any bands or musicians you would love to share the stage with?
There are several bands with whom we would like to play live: Skyharbor , TesseracT, Circles, Dead Letter Circus, Twelve Foot Ninja, Textures …
They’re the bands that have given us the biggest influences.
Is there anything you want to share with our readers?
Please share our music with people that can appreciate it! It’s very important for us to have your help. Thanks for the questions and your attention.
Listen to Fake Heroes’ new album “Clouds” on Bandcamp, and join the army of their fans on Facebook.
Esperoza is a symphonic extreme metal band from Chisinau, Moldova. The band is on the verge of releasing their new album titled “Aum Corrupted.”
Alright, first things first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
V: Life is interesting and perfect.
Speaking of new music, you have a new album. What can people expect from “Aum Corrupted”?
V: People can expect dark and innovative music in this album. From slow doomy songs up to black/death. Also we made a lot of experiments on this album and you will hear them.
What was it like working on the album?
V: It was exciting. Almost all drum trucks were recorded at night after work and all angriness and energy were caught by microphone.
Are there any touring plans in support to “Aum Corrupted”?
V: Yes we plan to have gigs, festivals and tours for this release.
While we’re on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
V: Good Question. My dream is US and Canada tour, because there is a lot of people who like metal music. Also Europe is our goal too, we had tour in Balkans ( Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine) and we want to go further.
Who and what inspires you the most?
V: My biggest influence is Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy, he inspired me in every aspect of music.
What other genres of music do you listen to?
V: I love Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal etc.
Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
V: Main influence on me is Progressive Metal and different types of progressive metal, rock, jazz.
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
V: I want to say thanks to our fans who listen and support experimental underground metal. Keep on Rockin!
I don’t think that Swedish progressive rockers Beardfish need any introductions. The band that released eight albums since their formation in 2001 and toured worldwide is one of the leading acts of the contemporary prog.
The band’s founder and multi-instrumentalist, Rikard Sjöblom has been part of the other bands and projects over the years, and he is currently readying a solo album titled “The Unbendable Sleep,” due in February 2016.
About this new adventure, Rikard talked for Progarchy.
What made you go for a solo project? You had ideas that are not fitting with Beardfish or?
Yes and no, haha! I do write a lot of music and most of the proggier stuff goes straight to Beardfish of course but once in a while I really enjoy doing stuff where I am in complete control. I’ve always enjoyed locking myself in the studio and just work for hours, hearing a song come to life right in front of me. With Beardfish I do write the songs, but we always work together on them and that’s an awesome process, but the solo process is very nice as well. Many of the songs on “The Unbendable Sleep” are in a very different style from what I would call Beardfish though and I had some spare time this fall to record so I just went for it and it came together a lot faster than I would have expected.
What are your expectations from “The Unbendable Sleep”?
I’m just hoping that it’s gonna find its way into the listeners heart (and that its potential listeners are gonna find it, haha!) so I can start working on more stuff, because it’s been a while since I did anything on my own and I noticed that I really miss it! So if enough people like it and buy it I can put that money into recording and putting out the next one – it’s like a little eco system!
What did inspire you to come up with ”The Unbendable Sleep” ?
It was actually because someone had posted one of my older songs (“Rumbling Boxes”) on facebook and it hit me that I really missed recording on my own. So I got inspired to write some new songs and then I had a lot of other stuff going on for a while so I took a break from the material for about six months and after that I just wanted to get going and record the songs. I started with a couple of them and after that some more songs just came to me and all of a sudden I had a new album!
How long did it take for you to create this album?
All in all it took about a year with the writing and so on, but the actual recording process took about a month.
I saw on youtube that Beardfish’s bassist Robert Hansen recorded bass for the album or one of the songs. Are there any other musicians involved in the recording process of ”The Unbendable Sleep”?
Yes! Apart from Robert playing on the last song of the album (I just thought that song suited his style of playing very well) I have the Diamant brothers, Petter and Rasmus playing drums and bass. Petter plays drums on four of the songs and Rasmus plays bass on two. They are all amazing players and they did a fantastic job with the songs.
What are lyrics on ”The Unbendable Sleep” about? Is there a certain concept in the story of the album?
They are mainly just observations and based on what I see and feel.
The unbendable sleep is referring to the image of yourself, or mainly a person’s view of themselves. We all have our own sense of who we are, what we look like and so on. I think most people struggle with trying to live up to something that we think we should be. Many don’t like their face in the mirror. Sometimes it can be that you haven’t seen yourself for a while and then all of a sudden there is a mirror and you’re almost startled at the person staring back at you – is that me? You know.. I thought it could be interesting to toy a little bit with the notion that the mirror image is an entity on its own, forever trapped behind that glass wall, waiting to stare you out and fill you with, well whatever emotion you get from looking at yourself in a mirror…
What are your plans when it comes to performing songs from ‘The Unbendable Sleep’ live?
I noticed that some of the songs work really well in an acoustic setting, so I’ll probably be doing some solo gigs in the spring where I’ll mix stuff from all over my catalogue with Beardfish, Gungfly etcetera. I also have some friends who have said that they would like to play this stuff with me so I’m gonna start poking around for some live opportunities. Look out, we’ll be coming around soon!
Beardfish
What was the biggest challenge in your career so far?
I’ve had a few but the main ones that come to mind is:
1. Learning “Moggio” by Frank Zappa for a cover band called The Homo Zappians, together with Per Nilsson from Scar Symmetry (and then we didn’t even play it!).
2. Joining Big Big Train and learning all those songs, haha! But I really do love the music that (mainly) Greg Spawton and David Longdon are writing for the band, it’s fantastic stuff.
3. The ongoing challenge is just to get out there and play as much as possible, to get my music heard. I’m really terrible at promoting and booking shows and such, so that’s something I should work on.
You are on a level that most of the musicians want to be on. How does it feel?
Thank you, but that’s for others to decide. I feel happy if I’m able to keep doing this, that’s all that matters to me.
Progarchy 