Interview Apallic

 Apallic, a band founded in 2014, is a group of musicians who had already gained experience by playing in other bands before coming together to make music. They added their singer Eike in 2015 and have recently released their album "Edge of Desolation". In this interview, they talk about their band's founding, writing and recording process for their latest album, and how it differs from their previous album. They also discuss the themes and characters covered in their music, their creative process, and how they manage to incorporate melodic elements into their music while maintaining the aggression and brutality of death metal. Lastly, they talk about their live performances and how they differ from their studio recordings.

1 Can you tell us how Apallic was founded and how you met?

A: Well, Apallic was founded 2014 among friends who just wanted to make music together. Everyone had already gained musical experience in advance by playing in other bands before. In 2015 we  completed the band with the addition of our singer Eike.

2. Can you describe the writing and recording process of your last album "Edge of Desolation"?

For the most part it can be summed up with the word "digital". Since we wrote the album at the time of the corona pandemic we had to work on it separately. We all set up to a personal "home office" to record the music and had regular skype sessions to discuss. Our guitarist Frank and our bassist Kristian already had some good experiences with home recording, so we had the appropriate knowledge in the band. 

3. How does "Edge of Desolation" differ from your previous album "Of Fate and Sanity"?

The current album unlike the previous one is not a concept album with a complete story. The new songs have some overarching themes, but they are not directly related to each other. We realized while writing that we wanted to give the album more epic and melodic depth, like in the last song on our previous album, "A Taste of Lethe". We already knew the direction in which the next album should go. „Edge of Desolation“ takes the listener on an dynamic journey full of atmosphere, melodic interplay between guitar, bass, drums and vocals and lets you out of its spell at the end with the song "Solitude". 

4. Can you talk about the themes and characters covered in "Edge of Desolation"?

Some of the songs actually have an overarching theme just like „isolation“ or turning away from humanity which can be found for example in the lyrics of the song "Bow to Nothing". Some songs also have a reference to greek mythology just like on our last album. Another song is about the human psyche in relation to depression.  Our current album picks up on multipe topics but has a loose overall connection.  

5. How does your creative process work? Is there a member who writes most of the material, or is it a collaborative effort?

It has to be said that our bass player Kristian is a damn creative person and has been providing a lot of raw material lately. Each of us thinks it's totally great. Nevertheless, you have to look at the things you have worked on like an uncut diamond that only becomes perfect through our joint work.  For example, our drummer Dennis has a lot of crazy and unusual ideas on how to support the riffs with different rhythms, which then give the whole thing a special touch. We work out the lyrics together in the process and our two guitarists are talented and manage to incorporate their unusual riffs from the melodic/progressive/black metal area.  In summary: The first single spark develops into a common great fire.

6. What was the inspiration for the title of the album "Edge of Desolation"?

Our goal was to give our album a special name that partly coincides with the themes of the songs. Since this has been humanity's departure towards nature so the direction was already somehow clear. In the end a funny metal band name generator on the internet actually helped us to find the last pieces of the puzzle and so we were able to give our album the name "Edge of Desolation".  Not kidding! 

7. Can you describe the musical influences that inspired the sound of "Edge of Desolation"?

Everyone has their own personal influences, which is also good, otherwise it would be too monotonous. Some of our influences are Belakor, Enslaved, Insomnium or At the Gates. So you can say that we have many influences from the field of Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal and also Black Metal. This mixture makes our album "Edge of Desolation" something special. 

8. How do you manage to incorporate melodic elements into your music while maintaining the aggression and brutality of death metal?

That's a good question. We don't even notice this challenge anymore in the process of songwriting. 

We just write stuff we like and when the album is done, we fully notice what we created.

9. What has been your biggest challenge as a band so far, and how did you overcome it?

Our common and greatest challenge was the Corona pandemic, as the regular personal meetings could not take place and we needed to find a way to continue as a band and to write new material. 

10. How has your music evolved since your inception and the release of your first album?

The first thought we had when we finished "Edge of Desolation" was: Is this really us? We don't mean that in a negative way, but we were simply overwhelmed by the progress we have made together since the first album. We don’t like just playing a typical style of music, we wanted to write more complex, atmospheric, epic and melodic music and in the end we were totally satisfied with our work.  We've evolved together and you can clearly hear that compared to the previous album.

11. Can you talk about your live performances and how they differ from the studio recordings?

About the live performances: We have already played on the smallest stages, where there was just room for the drums, and also on larger festival stages with several hundred spectators. In every situation we always felt the same, namely the anticipation of playing and always giving the utmost. About the studio recordings: We recorded all our releases in the same studio so far, which was great. But let’s see what will happen with our next album. You just cannot compare playing live and recording in the studio. In the studio you create, on stage you present the results combined with a powerful appearance.

12. What advice would you give to aspiring musicians and bands trying to break into the music industry?

From today's point of view, it is almost impossible to survive financially from music alone so it is important to see this as a hobby and to not lose the fun in the process. Don't exhaust yourself and always be careful not to get into contact with the wrong people who unfortunately there are too many on the Internet.  More and more scammers are gathering on social media sites and trying to take advantage of aspiring musicians. Take care of it! 

13. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your band and how have you adapted to the situation?

We adapted relatively quickly to the unusual situation. As mentioned before, we met more digitally than in person to work on the new album. Of course, we were also worried about each other's health and always made sure that we always appeared tested negative at face-to-face meetings. Now that this pandemic is over everything seems the same as before as if it didn't exist. We don't even talk about it anymore which feels kind of crazy.   

14. What are your plans for the future, and what can fans expect from Apallic in the coming months?

We mainly concentrate on the work for the third studio album currently. We will also play a few concerts. 

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