ADON's journey from friendship to music creation led to a unique blend of blackened death metal. Their debut EP 'Arkane' and upcoming album showcase their thematic storytelling and cinematic sound.
1. What
inspired the creation of ADON, and how did the band come together initially?
Nath and I
have made music together since we were teenagers, but mostly for ourselves or
our friend groups. I think we came up with the band then. Since then, we've
always connected through our love of similar music and stayed in
touch over the years and every so often would send each other ideas. Over the
pandemic, we decided to put some of those ideas to the test and start releasing
music indepently.
2. Can
you share some insights into the themes and concepts explored in your EP
"Arkane"?
On our EP
'Arkane', we took a few of the songs that we had initially written that felt
like they belonged together most, re-wrote them and rearranged them and
developed a theme based on what got us both into extreme metal in the first
place; black metal!
Lyrically,
it's mostly based on Arthurian imagery and concepts, and stories of legend that
could have been. The song Arkane roughly supposes a story of a dark Merlin
figure exacting revenge after being banished.
3. How
was your experience working with Endarker Studio in Sweden for the mixing and
mastering of your EP?
Devo at
Endarker was great to work with! He gave a traditional black metal sound to our
songs that harkens back to the classics that we grew up with.
4. What
sets ADON apart from other bands in the blackened death metal genre?
I think
what sets us apart is, for lack of a better term, a 'cinematic' sound or
quality. The inclusion of elements from other extreme sub genres of metal also
creates an ebb and flow throughout the songs so that they sometimes feel
progressive. There are also keys/synths mixed deeply throughout and when
combined with everything else, creates a layered and varied listening
experience.
5. Could
you elaborate on the collaborative process with musicians like Kyle Schaefer,
Chris Beattie, Justin Sakogowa, and others on your debut album?
All of the
guest musicians were friends first or became close friends quickly and during
the collaborative process and were chosen specifically for their unique
abilities. The inclusion of flute by Ember Belladonna on 'Axiom' and 'Adon' was
deliberate from the get go as we wanted an ethereal sound for those songs in
particular that we hadn't heard before in similar music. Each of them was
placed deliberately based on their individual sound and the album is all the
better for it!
6. How
did the recording process for your self-titled debut album differ from that of
"Arkane"?
'Arkane'
was sort of like a proof of concept. We each tracked at our homes as best
as we were able (including James). I think the sound we got out of it was
great primarily because of James' ability to record and edit his own
performances and Devo at Endarker being able to re-amp and enhance the sound in
his studio. For the album, we tracked all of the major guitars, bass and gang
vocals at a friend's studio in Hollywood. All of the other instrumentation was
recorded individually by the musicians themselves and James had an upgraded
setup compared to when he tracked the EP. The album has a huge sound, and
Dave Otero did wonders in being able to mix it all together.
7. What
can fans expect from your debut album in terms of musical evolution and
thematic exploration?
Musically,
it is quite different and broader in scope than 'Arkane'. Thematically, it is
similar in that we like to tell stories around a specific idea. In this
case, the title track is a classic tale of an ancient king playing god and
getting more than he bargained for. All of our songs revolve around ideas of
the apocalypse and the cosmos and how small we are in comparison to such
monumental events and happenings.
8. How
has ADON evolved since its inception, particularly with the addition of session
drummer James Stewart?
We make
whatever music we feel like making at the time...that's how we came into things
and that won't change. Our music for us is just an artistic expression.
Exposure, recognition, financial gain...all of these things are just cool
bonuses to us, should they even happen at all. This is a part of our
ethos. James adds a level of clout that we wouldn't have been able to attain
without him though, and to us, we're just lucky that he liked the
music enough to track for us! His sound is exactly what we hoped for. We
haven't released anything without him, and we of course hope that he'll be open
to tracking more with us!
9. Can
you discuss the significance of dark fantasy and violent legend in your music
and storytelling?
Humanity
seems to have a propensity of repeating itself, and throughout history, it does
so violently. It's a concept that never runs dry. We think a great way of
exploring that truth about us is through story.
10. What
challenges did you face while creating your debut album, and how did you
overcome them?
The
challenges of making the album were myriad....from learning softwares,
engineering skills, olde english pronunciation, technology failures, etc.
Every artistic endeavor can sometimes feel like one big problem that needs to
be solved and this was no different. However, the process is its own reward! It
was a joy making it all come together and we can't wait to get started in
earnest on the next release.
11. What
are your plans and aspirations for ADON in the near future, considering the
unique sound and narrative style you've developed?
While we
have loads of plans, plans often change! We hope that we
can find a way to play a show or two with the album lineup (however impossible
that might feel at the moment), or perhaps do a cinematic multi-cam recording.
Of course we are also writing new material, and will most definitely be
releasing more music. Our experiment paid off in our own minds and we proved to
ourselves that we could make this happen, so there's no reason to not do it all
again. We'd love to make more video content as well...a dream would be to
produce a short film-esque music video for the title track in all of its 17
minutes of glory! \m/
ADON (@adon_metal) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire