Aronious released their monstrous Artisan Era debut album “Persapicacity” and we talked to the band about a handful of things. Enjoy the interview!
TMR: Tell our followers about the history of the band.
We started out in 2011 with a vision to create technical music while maintaining catchy grooves and dissonance. After releasing our EP ‘Truth in Perception’, we kicked off the very extensive writing process for ‘Perspicacity’. We were playing locally forever around the Green Bay scene and after a few member switch-ups, we completed our new album and signed to The Artisan Era for its release.
TMR: What do you want your fans to take away from your upcoming release “Perspicacity”?
We wanted the fans to take away a dark musical journey that is thought-provoking yet inspiring. Our aim was to make the listener feel as though they are audibly witnessing a musical story that evolves throughout the album from song to song.
TMR: What artistic and musical elements did the band want this time around in comparison to the EP?
We wanted to take the sound we were working with on the EP, but make everything much more intense and technical as well as more mature and refined. I (Ryan) had always wanted to put out a concept album so ‘Perspicacity’ was always intended to have each song flowing from one to the next to make the album more ambitious, experimental and also tell an intriguing musical story.
TMR: Explain how you guys got signed. Congratulations by the way!
Thank you! We are friends with some of the people signed on the label. I had shown Colin Butler of Virulent Depravity ‘Perspicacity’ soon after Mark Lewis had finished mixing and mastering it and he really enjoyed it. Colin was so kind as to show Malcolm Pugh and Mike Low the album. Colin notified me that Malcolm really enjoyed it so I reached out to Malcolm and the rest is history! Thank you for putting in the good word Colin!
TMR: Have any shows coming up to support the release?
We do not have any currently lined up, but we are hoping to hop on a tour of some sort soon!
TMR: What artists and bands have primarily influenced Aronious?
Ulcerate, Gorguts, Nero Di Marte, Ad Nauseam, The Faceless, Blotted Science, Meshuggah, Gojira, Gorod, Soreption, the list goes on!
TMR: What was most challenging about the recording of Perspicacity”?
The most challenging aspect was recording the guitars and having everything sounding exactly how we wanted it. We had to go back and re-track some songs because the tuning wasn’t stable when we first recorded it. With some setbacks and having limited time each week to record the parts the guitars took almost a year to have in a state where we were happy with how it turned out. We were perfectionists in that aspect and if anything didn’t sound right we just scrapped it. Outside of that, producing the album ourselves was also pretty difficult just to agree on how we wanted all of the effects to sound.
TMR: What song are you most proud of as a band?
On ‘Perspicacity’ we are probably the proudest of the track ‘A Grim Fate’ just because we are huge suckers for dissonance and groove. That song packs a lot of that in there. We felt it was a good track to include to slow down the pace of the album near the end. This track then leads to ‘Inconclusive’ the album ender, which is another track we are pretty proud of. That song has a lot of hooks and a good climatic ending that fades into a creepy clean guitar and violins to finish the album out.
TMR: Explain the lyrics and themes behind your upcoming album. Where were the influences derived from?
Our vocalist wrote the lyrics to point out the biggest downfalls in humanity, issues with society and potentially where we are heading as a species. The lyrics primarily stem from our vocalist’s views on the world around us and highlights subjects such as the birth of society, technology, the uncertainties surrounding death and the mysteries in regards to life itself.
Categories: Interview, Prog Metal, Symphonic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal