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.
The first (electric) guitar hero? Dick Dale, no question.
The king of “surf” guitar, Dale’s technique was equal parts curling waves and Gene Krupa, combined with an utterly unique left-handed, reverse-string approach. His eastern European roots, and his quest for greater sonic force out of his guitar and his amps, also played a major role in his work, and his early 60s versions of Misirlou and Hava Nagila were reverb-drenched instrumental workouts of the highest order, sneaking through the back door of pop music and exerting a seminal influence on what would become the rock guitar pantheon. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page without Dick Dale’s shoulders to stand on. The template Dale created is hard to resist: amped, fast-picked, lightning runs utilizing eastern scales, riding atop thunderous drums. Rock and roll fierce. Done well and with a sense of mare incognitum, instrumental surf rock continues to be one of the most electrifying musics on the planet. While the 1990s lounge revival saw a parallel-track revival in surf music, with groups like Man or Astroman? revving up its retro appeal, in some ways as a genre surf rock has had a much deeper influence in the last two decades on the kind of forward-thinking instrumental guitar music produced by bands like Scenic and Pelican.
The Madeira (Ivan Pongracic and Patrick O’Connor, guitars, Dane Carter, drums, Todd Fortier, bass) conjured these thoughts when I first listened to the band’s latest release, Ancient Winds, a surf rave up that dishes, ostensibly, on the Mediterranean as surf rock epicenter. Using classic surf music as its primary touchstone, Ancient Winds still sounds utterly contemporary. The Madeira takes surf guitar tropes and adds edge, darkness, complexity: this is not a world that is as simple as it might seem. There’s no kitsch here, no hokum or retro, only a serious band that unpacks some serious chops and also works the riffs in a gleefully satisfying way, suggesting Moorish Spain as channeled through a Fender Twin Reverb. The opening track, Journey to the Center of the Surf, is aptly titled, conjuring its forebears with the staccato picking so central to surf rock, balancing dynamics that draw on speed AND more deliberate melodic lines, to draw a broad picture of what’s to come.
Like all the tracks on the album, it leaves you wanting more, which is the Ancient Wind’s appeal: a record where you can land on any track and find a great cut, where the reverb and amplification are so saturated they push the riffs close to the edge, folding them inward until they almost disappear into a beautiful Kashmir cloud; or where there’s a moment of reflection, like on Dawn in Cadiz; or where what seemingly begins as a Ventures spinoff turns into a dizzying variation of chords around a central theme far more complex than initially expected. The percussion and rhythm work complete the songs, filling in details and sympathizing with the moods set by the guitar’s main melodic lines.
I think the caliber of The Madeira’s work exists outside of the friendlier profile surf rock projected at its height of early popularity, of the boy-next-door image of clean cut kids on the beach enjoying sun and surf. Here is the rumble of Link Wray and the speed of Dick Dale, a raw danger that deserves greater exposure and acknowledgement in mainstream rock. Am I saying surf rock doesn’t get the serious respect it should in the larger rock world, that it unjustly languishes as a sidebar in the rock and roll text? Absolutely. While the gonzo humor and good times embedded in its outsize riffs and sonic force will always be part of surf rock’s appeal, the artistry and musicianship on display on Ancient Winds shows there are other shores the surf can land on.
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.
Wonderful news for the first daylight moments of 2016.
Stone And Steel Blu-Ray (Pre-Order)
Stone and Steel documents Big Big Train’s return to live performance after many years as a writing and recording band. Released on Blu-Ray and high-definition download, Stone and Steel features performances of nine songs recorded live at Real World studios in August 2014 and four songs recorded live at the band’s London gigs in August 2015 alongside interview and documentary footage. All live performances are presented in 5.1 and stereo. Running time approximately three hours. The Blu-Ray release includes a 64 page booklet. The release date is March 14th, with Blu-Ray pre-orders being taken from January 1st and downloads being available from Vimeo in March.
I love lists (top 10s, 20s, 100s whatnot) and “best-of” compilations. I think no source has given us a better view of the progressive gems of 2015 than Progarchy. My own opinions are just that—mine. While my “best of” judgment calls are ultimately just my favorite albums from the past year, I think I’ll stick with “best of” rather than “Watson’s Faves.” The music that you might think should be listed, but doesn’t appear here, more than likely means I just didn’t get a chance to listen to it. Dave Kerzner’s brilliant album is not listed because I view it (and first listened to it) as a 2014 release. I’ll skip posting album jacket photos and links. While the list is for “PROG” I also include a few other categories. It was a great year and this is how I saw it: [counting down in reverse order for greater surprise effect]
TOP 20 OF 2015 ALBUMS
Beardfish/ +4626 COMFORTZONE
This band rarely disappoints. The music is riveting only trumped by some profound lyrics.
Neal Morse/ GRAND EXPERIMENT
Morse has the ‘gold-standard’ for constantly producing beautiful and poignant music that emotionally engages the listener. In a less stellar year would be rated higher.
Glass Hammer/ A BREAKING OF THE WORLD
Ditto my comments on Morse. Every GH album should be purchased as they’re incapable of making anything less than a jewel.
The Gentle Storm/ DIARY
This is a great concept-story which was executed brilliantly in two versions (hard and soft). I’m a sucker for melody and when Anneke sings I hear hints of one of my favorite song-birds, Annie Haslam. A gorgeous and moving listen.
Native Construct/ QUIET WORLD
A blend of heavier progressive rock and progressive metal with enough hooks and stunning harmonizations to make one say “who are these guys?” One my “finds” of the year.
Steven Wilson/ HAND. CANNOT. ERASE
This was in my top three most of the year. What else can I add to what the known universe has been saying about Wilson’s magnum opus? Serious, sublime, reflective, and permanent in its impact. 10/10.
The Dear Hunter/ ACT IV: REBIRTH IN REPRISE
The best reason not to come out with a “best of” list until the last day of the year is so that albums like this don’t slip by in the rush. I only just heard this concept disc (a couple days ago) and it has been listened to almost a dozen times now. This is a fulsome blend of Muse and maybe Coheed & Cambria. I must explore their back discography as their fusion of orchestra rock and classic prog, with a hint of art-rock/jazz, hit me so hard that they vaulted over even Steven Wilson. Along with Native Construct, this is a discovery that makes 2015 so epic.
The Tangent/ A SPARK IN THE AETHER.
Andy and company turn out their best album yet (such an artist that every new release is their best one yet). Andy’s love of music and the progressive genre radiates out in warm love and celebratory life. This is a feel-good album that is returned to time and time again. Was in contention for #1.
Lonely Robot/ PLEASE COME HOME
John Mitchell’s album is near perfect. The infectious melodies, lyrical themes, and exquisite musicianship had this loosely-based concept album of alienation and humanity neck and neck with the following winner.
THE BEST ALBUM OF 2015 – –
3RDegree/ ONES AND ZEROS: Vol. 1
If you are a fan of progressive masterpieces (Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and Rush) you will quickly realize that 3RDegree’s ONES AND ZEROS will be talked about with the same enduring awe as the aforementioned masters of this art. The album is deep and disturbing with a libretto worthy of the best dystopian science-fiction legendary authors. The musicianship is tight and the album’s production and mixing is crisp. If I could have listened to only one album this past year (and a gander at my list makes clear what a bumper year it has been) it would have this one. I’m listening to it right now as I type. Go buy it. Buy copies for your friends…Christmas 2016 is only 12 months away…you’ll probably not find an album this good in those coming 12 months.
And now, to round out my TOP 20:
Gazpacho/ Molok
Spock’s Beard/THE OBLIVION PARTICLE
Tiger Moth Tales/ STORY TELLERS PART ONE
Argos/ A SEASONAL AFFAIR
Barock Project/SKYLINE
Arena/ THE UNQUIET SKY
Red Jasper/ THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW
Grand Tour/ HEAVY ON THE BEACH
Steve Hackett/ WOLFLIGHT
Subterranean Masquerade/ THE GREAT BAZAAR
HONORABLE MENTION
Riverside/ LOVE, FEAR, AND THE TIME MACHINE
Sylvan/ HOME
Sanguine Hum/ NOW WE HAVE A LIGHT
David Gilmour/ RATTLE THAT LOCK
Toto/ XIV
BEST NON-PROG:
POP/ROCK/INDIE, ETC.
Joe Jackson/Fast Forward
FFS/ FFS
The Decemberists/ WHAT A TERRIBLE WORLD WHAT A BEAUTIFUL WORLD
According to Neal Morse’s most recent Inner Circle newsletter, the Neal Morse Band–all except Mike Portnoy, unfortunately–will be meeting this coming month to write a follow-up to 2015’s extraordinary THE GRAND EXPERIMENT. Frankly, I thought THE GRAND EXPERIMENT the finest album Morse has written. I write this as a huge fan of everything he does. So very excited to know what NMB comes up with.
Progarchy 