Join us as we delve into AxamentA's journey with their upcoming EP 'Spires' after 16 years, blending progressive metal and cinematic elements.
1.
Congratulations on the upcoming release of your EP "Spires" after 16
years! How does it feel to finally share new music with your fans?
Very exciting! We
hope most of them remember us and are as eager for this material as we are to
finally present it to our listeners. It’s been hard to reach out to those fans
after such a long time, when we called it quits in 2008 youtube and facebook
already existed, but we weren’t on it ... So we effectively had to start from 0
followers and try to rekindle the vibe with all those people who once bought
our album or watched our shows.
2. "Spires" has been described as a blend of progressive metal and
cinematic elements. What inspired this unique fusion of genres?
Well, we have always loved the atmosphere of movie scores. The imagery and
mood it conveys to the listener is unique and difficult to capture with other
music genres. As we wanted to tell a story with this EP, we decided early on
that we would infuse the music with cinematic elements.
3. Could you tell us about the creative process behind "Spires"?
How did you approach crafting such an epic and immersive listening experience?
It started as a joke during the pandemic “Hey what if we would release
another song, wouldn’t that be funny” ... I know ... our humor leaves a bit to
be desired. For some reason, I started writing a story and immediately
gravitated back to the “Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture” concept story from back in 2006,
it’s a standalone story but it exists in the EAITT universe.
Then came the idea, since the story was quite big for a single track, to turn
the track into a 15-minute epic, with 5 chapters that could stand on their own,
but would form a coherent musical experience. I started working on it, and
around 6 weeks later, I had a 17 minute track ready that I showed the rest of
the band. Then we started with the most difficult task, turning the concept
story in lyrics and vocal lines, especially the clean parts took months to come
up with as we don’t really have any experience in that. After more tweaking the
next months and adding the vocalparts the 17 minute track morphed into a 23
minute behemoth.
4. Ian, as the lead songwriter, you've worked on trailer music for Hollywood blockbusters.
How has this experience influenced AxamentA's sound and approach to music?
Well it has influenced the writing process immensely. Writing for trailers
gave me a unique skillset that I wanted to combine with modern progressive
metal. It also taught me how to approach writing music differently. In
production and trailer music, you are expected to have a full track ready and mixed
in between 2-5 days. Sometimes with customwork the deadlines are even tighter,
so I had to seriously adjust the way I was working. Gone are the days of
waiting for inspiration, I can now sit at my desk with my cup of coffee and
pilot a new track in a few hours.
5. "Synopsis," the first single from "Spires," is set to release on May 10th. What can listeners expect from this teaser of the EP?
“Synopsis” as the name says it, is a condensed version of Spires. In 2024, as a band, you have to play the algorithm game, and that means releasing a single, so Spotify knows who you are as a band. As we only have one 23-minute track, and 7 acts with no clear beginning and ending, we needed to “Frankenstein” a single. We have a few main themes running through the track, of which we chose one and build a song around it. We now also have 1 track which can be used in Spotify playlists, or for radio. I don’t think they are eager to use 23-minute tracks :-)
6. The single "Synopsis" offers a glimpse into the larger narrative of the EP. Can you share any insights into the overarching themes or story behind "Spires"?
“Spires” touches on the story of our 2006 concept album “Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture”. It's set in late 19th century London and tells the story of Father Harold O’Callahan, a priest who is consumed by shame and guilt over the loss of his younger brother from when they were just children. In an attempt to counter this burden, Harold joins the clergy and lives on in a church near the Westminster Bridge. Now he faces a new challenge when horrid events start to happen in his church. The EP deals with themes of loss, faith, guilt, repentance and death.
7. "Spires" clocks in at just over 23 minutes long. What challenges did you face in condensing such a rich musical journey into a concise EP format?
Well it was quite the task. As mentioned before, especially the lyrics and clean vocals proved to be giant time pits. We continuously had to revise the story to make it all fit. Also, we changed a lot of music details and lyrics so they fit as perfectly as possible and enhance each other. Probably something most bands do, but for us it was a foreign concept.
8. AxamentA is known for pushing the boundaries of modern metal and challenging conventional norms. How does "Spires" continue this tradition of innovation?
We already planted a seed with our previous album for the direction we wanted to evolve in, with songs like “The Omniscient” and “Ashes to Flesh”. Add a couple of extra years to that, and gaining tons of experience in writing trailer music, we ended up quite a few leaps from where we left “Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture”. The orchestration has become much more “organic”, and is even purely made out of atmosphere and sound effects at times. We also have a loooot of easter eggs spread throughout the EP.
9. Your previous album from 2006 received acclaim, along with performances at Graspop Metal Meeting. How has the band evolved since then, both musically and personally?
Well it’s a long time ago, I assume everyone will evolve in a timespan of almost 20 years. When we quit AxamentA we were still kids, now we have 13 kids ourselves between all of us. The technology has also changed dramatically since then. We try to sit together once every month, but all the rest is done online. It seems to work for us.
10. Beyond metal, the band members' musical interests are diverse. How do these varied influences shape AxamentA’s sound and contribute to its uniqueness?
For this EP, I wrote all the music, so what you’re hearing is my current take on metal and more importantly what music I’d like to listen myself. In the future there will be a lot more collaboration as our other guitarist Sven has picked up the guitar again and wrote some killer tunes already, which we’re going to flesh out in the coming months.
11. AxamentA has returned with renewed vigor after a hiatus. What factors contributed to the decision to reignite the band's creative spark?
I believe the pandemic sparked a whole lot of reunions. During the pandemic Heavy.BE a Belgian youtube channel/Facebook group did a top 100 best Belgian metal songs of all time. We were caught by surprise that people still remembered us 14 years later and we were voted to place 50. Due to the pandemic we all had this bottled up energy that needed to go somewhere, and this sparked the idea of restarting the band.
12. As you gear up for the release of "Spires," what are your hopes and expectations for how listeners will receive the EP?
Well for one, I hope they’ll like it, and I really hope we don’t come off as a boomerband that wants to revisit their glory days, I believe we are releasing an EP that clearly sounds like it was written and recorded for a 2024 audience. It’s by far our best work to date.
13. Finally, what lies ahead for AxamentA? Are there any future projects or collaborations on
the horizon that fans can look forward to?
We have some very cool ideas in the pipeline. If everything works out as planned, fans should hopefully not have to wait long for new material.
14. Ian, you've had diverse experiences in your musical journey, including playing in Algeria with the band Suhrim back in 2004. Considering this unique experience, would you love to return to Algeria with AxamentA, and if so, what makes performing there special to you?
Playing in Algeria ranks in my personal top 3 of coolest experiences ever, the crowd was absolutely insane. And we were treated like rockstars while Suhrim was just a cool underground band from Belgium for which I replaced the guitarplayer as he was afraid of flying (if I remember correctly). I would be delighted to come back, however AxamentA is currently a studioproject and we have no plans to do live gigs … but never say never :-)
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