Cryoshock shares insights into their debut album, "The Cold New Regime," exploring themes of coldness, war, and chaos. The band discusses songwriting, production with Dan Swanö, collaboration with DaemorphArt, and their partnership with Ablaze Productions.
1. Can
you tell us about the inspiration behind your upcoming debut album, "The
Cold New Regime," and how the concept came together for Cryoshock?
"The Cold New Regime" isn't a concept album, other than that it
follows the general concept of our songs: cold, war, death and chaos. The title
is the name of one of the songs on the album, and we thought it was a fitting
title. The lyrics to that specific song were written before the recent
explosion of AI technology, but deals with that type of stuff: robots and
computers taking over. So "cold" in this context isn't actually
refering to low temperature, but to the absence of compassion, pity or remorse,
but also of anger, rage, envy etc. Humanity, if you will. Other songs on the
album deal with slightly different themes.
2. With
11 tracks on the album, how did you approach the songwriting process, and were
there any specific themes or messages you wanted to convey through the music
and lyrics?
Lars (guitar) and Martin (drums) wrote all the music together in our rehearsal
room. Most of this took place during the pandemic, so writing new songs felt
like the most constructive way to make use of the time. All of our lyrics are
completly free from political or religious messages, but we usually follow the
themes mention above: cold, war, death etc. We leave it to other bands to sing
about their broken heart or to tell people who to vote for - we play death
metal, so in one way or another the themes should relate to death, right?
3. Mixing
and mastering play a crucial role in defining the sound of an album. How was
the experience of working on the album's production, particularly with Dan
Swanö at Unisound?
The major part of the sound is definitely defined during the mixing stage. Due
to budget constraints, and also due to this being by far the most time
consuming, and therefore most expensive part of the process, we did the mixing
all by ourselves. Since we are amateurs it took us an awful lot of time, but we
are happy with what we acheived. That being said, working with Dan was an
absolute delight. A true professional in every way imaginable. He was super
easy to deal with, gave us some valuable tips, and patiently answered all of
our stupid questions. All interaction was done remotely though, so we didn't
have to travel down to Germany.
4. The
album artwork created by DaemorphArt is intriguing. Could you share the
collaborative process between the band and the artist, and how the visual
representation aligns with the musical content of "The Cold New
Regime"?
Deciding on a concept for the artwork was a painstaking process, as is
oftentimes the case having multiple strong wills involved. We ultimately took
the easy way out - we agreed on a title track, and then gave the artist free
hands. We just gave him a few minor pointers, the most important one being that
we wanted a full cover artwork that brings the front and back of the CD case
together as one. If you have only seen the front cover so far, you are in for a
treat once the CD is available!
5. This
being your first label release with Ablaze Productions, how did the
collaboration come about, and what can fans expect from this partnership in
terms of promotion and support?
We contacted a lot of labels, got a few offers that seemed serious, and decided
that Ablaze Procuctions was the best option for us. Simple as that. We have a
PR agent involved for the first time, and are looking forward to seeing what
that brings to the table. What we need from the label is first and foremost
distribution, which is hopeless to deal with as a band, especially an
up-and-coming one.
6. The
decision to release the album as a digipak CD is interesting. What influenced
this choice, and how does it contribute to the overall presentation and
experience of the music for your audience?
We like the digipak format as it forms a complete visual unit in a way that a
regular jewelcase release just does not. It's almost like a miniature gatefold
vinyl package. Especially with the album cover being designed to cover the
whole outside of such a package, it made much more sense to go with the digipak
format.
7. With
single releases scheduled on February 9th and March 1st, can you give us a
sneak peek into what fans can expect from these singles and how they serve as a
preview for the full album?
The singles are songs that we believe showcase our music in a good way, and
also songs that can stand on their own. Both songs contain a mix of
faster and slower parts, some melodic and some more primitive stuff. The first
single, "Shock Troops", is probably one of the catchier songs of the
album. The second single, "Operation Earthworm", is one of the most
intense ones. But none of them is the fastest nor the slowest song on the
album.
8. Distribution
is a crucial aspect of reaching a wider audience. How are you planning to
navigate the international distribution of "The Cold New Regime," and
are there any specific regions you're particularly excited about?
Most of the distribution will fortunately be handled by the label. Being an
underground label, distribution is mainly done via trade between distros, and
through the label's web shop. They have a lot of cool stuff in there, so check
it out! We will take care of some of the distribution here in Sweden. Regarding
regions, we are excited to see how the home crowd likes the album, since that's
where we have the best chance of scoring gigs in the future. But we are also
interested to see how our music does in the Americas, as the label is located
in Mexico and there seems to be a vital scene there, as well as in South
America, and a lot of interest in metal music.
9. In
addition to the traditional CD release, the album will be available for
streaming on major platforms. How do you see the role of streaming services in
the modern music industry, and how does it fit into Cryoshock's overall
strategy?
That's a really interesting question, and a complex one as well. Being old
farts, we grew up with vinyls, cassettes and CD:s being the only legal means of
obtaining the music we loved. So it is a bit heartbreaking that physical media
is on the decline in favor of streaming services. However, if you try to stop
progress, you are inevitably destined to fail and might instead get crushed by
it. So the other option is to go with the times and try to make use of the new
technology. If there were no streaming services, a lot of people would just
retort to piracy anyway, just like we did with cassettes back in the day. The
difference is that today we have huge hard drives and super fast Internet
connections, so audio files are easily shared, and to many a more convenient
option than physical media. We still love the physical formats though, so we
keep releasing CD:s. And maybe vinyls too in the future, if there's a demand
for it!
10. Beyond
the album release, are there any plans for live performances or tours in
support of "The Cold New Regime," and how do you envision connecting
with your fans on a more personal level through these experiences?
Right now we don't have any shows booked, but you never know what the future
holds. We love playing live, we thrive on the energy of it all, and it is
always great to meet and make new fans.
Thanks for the questions and for bringing up some interesting topics! Horns
up!
Start page | Cryoshock (cryoshockswe.com)
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