Thanks to simply accept solution the interview, you have been a suggestion from Rhiis Lopez from Ana Kefr, you’re really superb guys.
GROUNDCAST: To warm up, inform us how everything began?
Sam: neatly, means again in 2005, my good buddy Sean Culver introduced his drum set over to my house due to the fact that he wasn’t allowed to play it at his condo, we jammed on tune from video video games we liked, and shortly thereafter my neighbor Harrison Reese brought his guitar over, and Sean asked his brother William Culver III to play bass. It wasn’t long ahead of we had been jamming a couple of times per week and writing authentic song. In nowadays we have been strictly an instrumental band, taking part in closely melodic innovative steel-esque track that was once primarily based around the keyboard. i think not like most different bands, we never tried to mimic another band, or tried to slot in any explicit genre or fashion. We had been completely authentic, and it used to be a time of discovery and development for all people on our respective contraptions. The lineup nowadays is totally completely different apart from for myself, but Xanthochroid used to be all the time about pure musical expression, and that has by no means and will never trade.
GROUNDCAST: What are your influences?
Sam: i have at all times taken a lot of thought from movie and online game track, and i think all of us have that in well-liked. i like up to date composers like Stravinsky, Messiaen, and Bartok. so far as different bands, my favourite metallic bands have at all times been Moonsorrow, Opeth, Wintersun, Emperor, and Dimmu Borgir. not too long ago i’ve been being attentive to quite a few fingerstyle guitar music like solar Kil Moon and artists like Antoine Dufour and Sergio Altamura; who have been a big affect on my acoustic guitar taking part in. Moonsorrow remains my biggest influence so far as composition goes, the depth and intricacy of their compositions is something I aspire to.
GROUNDCAST: you’re a completely different black metallic band, what’s the method to do something new?
Sam: i believe we stand out in the black metallic scene as a result of there are so many bands that just attempt to sound “trve” and imitate the sound created in the early ninety’s as a result of in the event that they stray from that path, people in the scene reject them. i love quite a lot of the early black metallic bands particularly Immortal, Emperor, and Burzum, however to me they are simply bands who wrote cool tune, they’re inspirational in many ways, but the track is what’s necessary. We use ways like tremolo picking, blast beats, and high-pitched screams which remind folks of different black metallic bands, but we dont focal point on the problem of being a black metallic band too much. the way in which I write song has rather a lot to do with what i love to listen to as a musician, and little or no to do with what black metal is meant to sound like.
GROUNDCAST: you’re recording your debut album, what can we predict?
Sam: Haha, well it is onerous to sum up briefly, however i will are trying. i believe this album comprises an enormous vary of musical tactics which have not been heard in metal ahead of. The composition and preparations of thematic subject material throughout the whole album is something I’m very proud of, and one thing i believe is very unique. All of Xanthochroid’s lyrics stem from a fable world we have now created, songs like “The last Relic of Axen” refer to a character who hails from the land of Axen who discovers his immortality. On our upcoming album, the story has been rather more developed, and musical subject matters that reoccur all over the entire album consult with characters and scenarios from our story. there is a stage of compositional cohesiveness that i’ve never heard from another band, and that i’m very excited to peer how folks react. The album has an enormous dynamic vary, extra brutal and technical than our EP, and with even calmer and extra atmospheric breaks, and beyond that there is a enormous range of harmonic selection from one track to the next. Our song “In Putris Stagnum” has one of the most nastiest, yet unusually infectious harmonic rigidity we’ve ever provide you with. we now have some actually superior choir arrangements and our orchestras sound better than ever. we have now recorded and re-recorded this album, spent numerous hours writing orchestrations, guitar arrangements, and lyrical topics, and i will be able to’t wait to release it. we are looking at a late 2012 release date, most probably December.
GROUNDCAST: you have an 8-bit model of “The final Relic of Axen”, how seemed the idea to try this?
Sam: neatly that’s no doubt our video game song influence. I saw all these 8-bit variations of steel songs popping up in every single place YouTube and concept they sounded superior, i thought it would be cool to have one among our own. It was an actual ache within the ass writing out every little section and each little drum hit though!
GROUNDCAST: we’re within the internet generation, everyone can obtain the whole thing free of charge, what do you take into consideration it?
Sam: i think it’s nice for small bands like us to get our music out there, people are more likely to hearken to it if it’s free. We gave our lovers the way to download our EP free from our bandcamp, or pay alternatively a lot they want, you could also torrent our EP or hearken to it on soundcloud, fb, and youtube.
GROUNDCAST: What are the plans for the band after the release of the 1st album?
Sam: we’re planning on occurring tour. We additionally hope the press best as much as our album unlock will help garner some label pastime to help with the discharge and travelling.
GROUNDCAST: Do you will have any other band or project that you would like to share with us?
Sam: yes! other band from glorious nation ESTONIA referred to as for all time EPIC DRAGON on youtubes can also be discovered historical heart, EPIC DRAGON, never DIE all best three songs ever heard any band the arena! song made for experience from mankind no longer SATANIC WARMACHINE.
Our different band is referred to as Epic Dragon, it is kind of a funny story and sort of awesome. Its like kids of Bodom, Dragonforce, Nightwish all in one. actually it is a mockery of conventional music construction, and it demonstrates how easy it’s to make mainstream-sounding steel.
GROUNDCAST: how will you describe the sound you do?
Sam: Like I mentioned sooner than, our sound has little to do with what genre we may just belong to. We are attempting our very best to include all our knowledge of music
conception (without getting too abstract). but unquestionably a huge think about our sound is the usage of voice prime, now not just with our choral arrangements and orchestra parts, however we follow voice resulting in plenty of our guitar parts as well. i feel this is what leads individuals to say our song has a “classical” sound, which I consider most of the time. but it’s no longer like we limit ourselves with strict principles to practice both, if we like the way it sounds, then we do it. another more explicit consider our sound is the usage of modal and blended-mode team spirit. Our tune “Iced, In Extremis” makes use of a mix of the phrygian and natural minor scales, while also the usage of quite a few major 7 chords, which i feel gives it an extraordinarily particular sound with some nice dissonances.
GROUNDCAST: Are you musicians and live along with your song or do you’ve got some parallel job?
Sam: well myself and the drummer Matt work at a small music store the place we teach classes on guitar, piano, drums, bass, and even flute haha. Our guitarist Brent works for a file label called Gitbam data, it’s a punk label and he’s their sound engineer. Our bassist Will worked as a veterinary assistant, and now he has moved upstate to finish college, so he’s not in the band in the meanwhile. David doesn’t work. It sounds superior, however we are all truly bad.
GROUNDCAST: The heavy metallic scene is passing through a mass of bands that sound equal, what do you are making to swim in opposition to the tide?
Sam: i feel we stand out as a result of we center of attention so much on the tune as a substitute of trying to be “metal”. It’s in point of fact easy to imitate your favourite bands, and that’s more or less what the entire Epic Dragon project is about. It’s enjoyable, but it’s also ridiculous and no longer actually one thing lets commit ourselves to. in truth, we’re simply making music that we wish to hear; more often than not it sounds pretty “metallic”, however that’s as a result of metallic is the perfect!
GROUNDCAST: Thanks on your time guys, now the gap is yours to assert something to the GroundCast’s readers.
Sam: any one who is reading this, please lend a hand us get the word out about our new album! we are doing the whole lot we can to make this a huge free up, however any individual who has any recommendation or connections is welcome to e mail us at [email protected]