Interview Venice Revive

Venice Revive's 'Another Now' is a journey through grief, blending symphonic elements with metalcore. In this interview, Omer Cohen shares personal insights, musical evolution, and future plans

1. Congratulations on the release of "Another Now"! Can you share the inspiration behind this emotionally charged single and its connection to the five stages of grief?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: The song describes my own emotions while I had to deal with the loss of my father. The five stages of grief are written from my own perspective, when I experienced them.
For example, the pre choruses express depression, but in the second pre-chorus, I repeat it and break it with the rhythm guitar while the vocals are getting angrier - as a way of showing the grey areas in between and to mix feelings from different stages.
Another good example is how we ended the song with the slow and melodic, yet heavy breakdown. to express the 5th stage, acceptance - but show that I'm not quite there yet.

2. The track marks a significant evolution since the band's inception. How has Venice Revive evolved musically and emotionally since forming in April 2022?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: When the band was formed, we actually weren't even symphonic. While recording one of our songs, our producer added a violin in the choruses' background that follows the rhythm guitars' chords just to make it more interesting, and we fell in love with it immediately, we started writing our own orchestral pieces of our songs right after.
The songs were written a couple of years prior to the band's inception, the earliest one actually dates back to 2015, and our songs went through a couple of cycles of re-writing to improve them as much as we can and adapt to today's sound.
We evolved, but we still wanted to pay homage to where we came from. The upcoming album is going to feature a more modern sound, like Another now, and some more old-school sounding tracks, like the previously released "This is How it Ends".
When it comes to emotionally evolving, my dad passed in 2020. This emotionally changed the way I write and the emotions I was trying to express through my music, which affected the upcoming first album's sound overall.

3. Lead vocalist Itay Shabat delivers a powerful performance. How did you channel the emotions surrounding grief into the vocal delivery, and what was the collaborative process like in creating such a poignant piece?

Itay Shabat, Lead vocals: I was trying to find the right balance between clean & distorted vocals. Furthermore, I was trying to find where to sing cleanly while the guitars were playing fast & heavy riffs, like the pre-choruses for example.
The process of creating this song was actually rough, Omer was the one dealing with loss and I was trying to do the best I can to work with him & convey those emotions we were trying to express.
 It took a lot of effort to get the vocals to where we wanted them to be, but we believe we created something amazing in the end.

4. "Another Now" is dedicated to the memory of rhythm guitarist Omer Cohen's father. How did this personal connection influence the creative process, and what impact does it have on the band's dynamic?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: This takes me back to thinking about how the band evolved as a whole. In the years prior, I was a teenager, writing songs that were fast & energetic, because I liked fast & energetic songs.
My dad's passing, as expected, changed something within me. I started writing my heart out on a paper, I started listening even deeper to the songs on my playlists and was trying to understand what emotions they were trying to express through the music, not just their lyrics - and I soon followed.
When it comes to the dynamics within the band, they're the best band members a person could ever wish for and I appreciate them greatly for that, past and current members.
We had some things to discuss, some adapting and some sacrifices to be made from all sides, but they were so supportive, when it came to getting me through it, and offered themselves to find solace & peace in the songs we wrote.
Bar Lilos, Daniel Vegh, Itay Shabat, Ofek Cohen, and all our past members reading this - Love you so much.

5. The orchestral arrangements in the single are haunting and intense. Can you walk us through the decision to incorporate symphonic elements and how they enhance the overall narrative of the song?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: Symphonic elements are a part of who I am now, actually. I always viewed symphonic pieces as epic, they gave me goosebumps. Great examples are soundtracks for video games and movies, I believe violins are an amazing way to express emotions and make the listener feel what the composer tried to express. 
When I write songs, I write my heart out, there is always a narrative and it's important to me that our listeners will understand it - I'd be honored if I heard that my songs helped someone deal with the challenges life throws at us.
When it comes to "Another Now", it's indifferent. I use the harp, piano & the violins to express even deeper emotions than what I could express with just guitars.
It's just me though, there are amazing guitarists out there who express themselves perfectly through their guitars, like Bar Lilos, our lead guitarist, for example.
I personally feel that I need the violins to feel, so I express it like that in my own songs.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and I choose to use my weaknesses to compliment my strengths.

6. Bass guitarist Daniel Vegh mentioned wanting the track to be a journey for listeners. How did you approach crafting this musical journey, and what themes or moods did you intentionally explore within the track?

Daniel Vegh, bass guitar: We didn't just want to talk about the 5 stages of grief, we wanted the listener to journey through them. What makes the song special is that, even though there are set stages, we didn't follow their order.
Omer is on the autistic spectrum, he can sometimes experience emotions differently, and he didn't experience the 5 stages in order like most people do.
You'll find pieces from all 5 stages spread around different areas of the song, some parts mix & match and some parts are a grey area.
For example, the pre choruses are a mix between anger & depression, which are the 2nd and 4th stages.

7. The single is described as a blend of symphonic elements and metalcore. How do you balance these two genres, and what challenges or opportunities arise from merging such distinct musical styles?

Omer Cohen & Bar Lilos, rhythm & lead guitars: This is actually exactly why we do it. You're not gonna make it in the music industry if you don't bring anything new to the table.
There are some symphonic metalcore bands out there, and it's quite common today to add violins in metal songs' choruses in any genre.
But, we wanted to take it further, which gave us the option to explore different worlds and fuse them together to make something great.
So many of our friends were skeptical when they heard our plans for the band's genre, but we felt we could make it work, and we really believe we did.
We took the usual symphonic elements artists insert in their songs and took it even further, to create actual symphonic music, and add different melodies that the violins are playing in contrast to what the guitars play.
I personally get goosebumps when I hear the chorus of "This is How it Ends", I hope our listeners feel the same.

8. "Another Now" explores the stages of grief. How do you hope listeners will connect with the song on a personal level, and what emotions or reflections do you want them to take away from the experience?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: I just hope it will help people cope with loss when they'll have to deal with it, or any other negative emotions they might experience.
As aforementioned, I write to express my emotions, and I hope my listeners will understand what I'm trying to convey.
We actually had a band discussion about how we want to end the song, and I insisted on ending it calmly to emphasise it'll get better eventually, no matter what you'll go through along the way.

9. The band was formed in 2022 and has since pushed boundaries in the heavy music scene. What unique elements does Venice Revive bring to the symphonic metalcore genre, and how do you continue to innovate within this space?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: We want to find the balance between modern metal & oldschool metalcore, all while adding epic melodic on different instruments.
Creating our music is actually quite challenging, but our dynamic is special and we make it work in an amazing way.
Ever since Bar Lilos joined the band, he keeps offering the most crazy riffs I've ever heard, he's one of the most talented guitarists I know.
It's actually my job to try to normalize them so the listeners will be able to relate to them and enjoy the music the way we do.
So I guess you can say what we're offering is the balance between crazy riffs & catchy melodies throughout the whole song, not separated between the verses & the choruses.

10. The single is now available on all major streaming platforms. What has the response been like so far, and how do you feel about sharing such a personal and meaningful piece of your art with a wider audience?

Omer Cohen & Bar Lilos, rhythm & lead guitars : It's been out for only a day and the response from our friends & curators has been amazing so far, our friends and people from the Israeli metal scene seem to like it, and the curators we sent the song to have had mostly positive reactions.
We have limited exposure here in Israel as the scene isn't that large and we're geographically disconnected from the rest of Europe, but we truly believe our songs have the potential to gain global recognition and be heard by millions of metalheads around the world.
Omer: "It's always hard to share your emotions and be vulnerable like that, but I keep telling myself, if I'll help even just one person with my music, I'd know I've done the right thing."
Bar: "The more vulnerable you are, the more people you have the potential to help."

11. Can you give us a glimpse into Venice Revive's future plans? Are there any upcoming shows, projects, or collaborations that fans can look forward to?

Omer Cohen, rhythm guitar: Our first album is actually 95% done! We'll periodically release singles from it in the near future and the album should be released in June 2024.
We want to start performing in front of the Israeli metal scene and hopefully increase our fan base, we'll jump on opportunities when they arise.
We had some line up changes, as any new band has. When Bar Lilos joined, we started working on our second album straight away, with heavy input and contribution from his side.
We had a rough & unstable start, but we're gonna get this album out and our fans should know they should expect something new from us not too long after.
When it comes to collaborations, we absolutely love them! People from our local metal scene are really talented, there is someone we worked with on each of our songs in the upcoming album.
On our second album, we hope we could explore even further from the scene and jointly work with big names on our future songs!

12. Lastly, how can fans stay updated on your latest releases and shows? Do you have any final messages or thoughts you'd like to share with your listeners?

Venice Revive : We're really excited to release new music and can't wait for the release dates to arrive, we of course recommend following us on social media and our artist pages on streaming platforms, you can find them all here:
https://linktr.ee/venicerevive
And to our listeners, we want thank you all for being here and being a part of this, bands wouldn't exist without their fans and it's important for us to express our most sincere appreciation to you, we hope we make an impact on you the same way you do on us.