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Be'Lakor

Wywiad przeprowadził - Wouter Roemers
After the more than commendable debut "The Frail Tide" in 2007 Melbourne, Australia-based Be'Lakor returned recently with the formidable "Stone's Reach". This new album artfully combines the best of death metal, folk metal and dark metal into an epic sounding whole. Masterful Magazine talked to Steve Merry (keyboards, samples) about the band's latest record, their deal with Prime Cuts Music and how Australia has shaped their musical output. Hi! Thanks for doing this interview with us! What are you and the rest of Be'lakor currently up to?

Our pleasure! Well, at the moment, we are busy playing gigs around Australia to promote Stone's Reach. We're also doing a lot of work online, sending the album out to reviewers and so on. We are also working our day jobs.

Since this is your first interview for Masterful Magazine, could you provide us with a brief history of the band up till now?

Sure. We started back in 2005. Most of us were already friends, jamming together and writing riffs here and there. We recruited the remaining member (Jimmy, drums) via the internet, and since then we haven't looked back. We spent about two years playing together and writing the material that would eventually become our debut album, The Frail Tide. This was released in 2007. We put a lot of effort into sending that album out as widely as we could and having it reviewed around the world. This helped to generate some interest in Be'lakor. After playing quite a few gigs we quickly returned to song writing, and this of course culminated in the release of our latest album in 2009.

Be'lakor is a daemon in the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop game. Are you guys avid players of this tabletop game that you decided to name the band after a character?

Three of the guys used to play Warhammer, but I think they've stopped these days, mainly because we're all so busy with work, and the band! We chose the name because it was a little different and it sounded nice.

Australia has gifted the global metal scene some unique bands over the years. From progressive and psychedelic death metal acts Alchemist, Alarum and Psycroptic, to the well established war-metal bands as Abominator, Deströyer 666, Gospel Of the Horns and Razor Of Occam to something more melodic and atmospheric like yourselves and, for instance, Ironwood. What makes Australia such a fertile breeding ground for highly original sounding bands?

To be honest, I have no idea! I think there are probably some very creative and talented bands in most countries around the world. Having said that, Alchemist are definitely a fantastic and very original band! Some other great Aussie bands that are on the rise include Ne Obliviscaris, The Ocularis Infernum, Okera, Rainshadow and Separatist.

Is it difficult operating as an atmospheric death metal unit in a country where heavy metal bands are neglected or reviled even by the alternative music press and industry?

I think it can be, at times. There is a strong underground metal following in Australia, but metal has absolutely no commercial power in this country when you compare it to the popularity of metal in Europe, for instance. We have found that, within metal, our style seems to be classed as being quite European. This has meant that some Australian fans have taken a while to realise that we are indeed from Australia. It's been great to have some interest in our music developing in Europe, though.

"Stone's Reach" is released by Prime Cuts Music, the foremost metal label in Australia. Your first album "The Frail Tide" was self-released and distributed by the band. With the incredible amount of promotion you've invested into that debut record, did Prime Cuts Music recognize that there was a global audience for Be'lakor?

Prime Cuts has now got a very wide range of bands on its roster, and they seem to sign bands which they like, on the strength of the music rather than on a purely clinical commercial decision. That's a great thing because it provides an outlet for some really creative and diverse bands. I am only speculating, however, because we haven't really asked Prime Cuts to explain their reasons for signing us in great detail.

If you ask me, "Stone's Reach" is a big step ahead in terms of song writing and production, you worked with producer duo Warren Hammond and Phil Forbes at Pennydrop Audio and Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne - how much time did you invest in the recording process?

We invested a great deal of time and effort. It was actually a very gruelling and arduous process. Every band seems to say that, but it's true. We began the preparations for the recording way back in July or August of 2008, when we were still writing the songs, because the task of making the click-tracks for the songs needed to be tackled. This was in itself a demanding process, involving much refinement over the rest of 2008. We then hit the studio in January of 2009, very well-prepared, but still with another 3 months ahead of us. It dragged on a little bit because, for about a month, we had to share the studio with another band. Then there was of course the mixing, and we were all getting quite fatigued and a little stressed by that stage, because we needed to start preparing for the launch and subsequent tour. However, things as a whole did go very smoothly, and we couldn't have been happier with the work done by Warren Hammond, who was the main producer and "guiding force" throughout the recording. He has great attention to detail and is committed to working at a high standard.

The artwork, design and lay-out for "Stone's Reach" is even more lush and extensive than on "The Frail Tide". Once again you've worked with Sheri J. Tantawy for the outstanding cover artwork. The album really is a complete package: the music, the artwork – it all fits perfectly!

Thank you! We appreciate that, because the artwork was indeed something that we took very seriously and put a great deal of energy into. Sheri is a very professional person and she did a great job, as always. We had spent many weeks searching for the perfect images on the internet, and then seeking permission from the various artists to use their imagery in the booklet and on the covers. We definitely believe that an album needs to be, as you say, a complete package, where all of the elements work together.

Many bands seem to take it a little too easy when it comes to the lyrics. Would you say that the lyrics are almost as important as the music?

Yes, we value good lyrics, and we like writing lyrics that are interesting and which at times require some closer examination on behalf of the listener. We try to strike a balance between aggression, reflection and observation. Our lyrics rarely express an opinion, though – they usually tell a story, or describe a natural setting. We are yet to write an album with a strictly unified lyrical theme (a concept album, I guess), but that might be something which we try one day.

Musically, "Stone's Reach" contains a lot of diversity and the album is quite engaging. I like the balance that the band has between intensity and aggression but with an emphasis on progressive leanings and technical finesse. How difficult is it to find that balance?

I don't really know how to answer that one! We do talk a lot about getting the songs right as we're creating them, often stripping them back and re-structuring a song several times. The riffs come from various members, each with their own style of writing, which contributes to the variety you will hear in any given Be'lakor song. Personally I always hope to see us write songs which manage to be melodic enough to be catchy and memorable, but different and creative enough to hold one's attention across many listens, with new aspects of the song emerging over time.

Describe the atmosphere within the band now. It's apparent there has to be a strong level of chemistry considering how well-written the new album is…

We're all great friends. It's a fun thing to do and we enjoy meeting up twice a week at rehearsal. We're happy with the way our music is going, but obviously we also want to keep working hard and continue to push things as far as we can. Having been working together for 5 years, we know exactly how all of the other members work, what is expected, and so on. So it's a very productive and positive situation at the moment.

How has MySpace and the Internet impacted your band and do you think downloading helps or hinders the young and developing artists?

We have relied heavily on the internet in spreading the word about Be'lakor; Myspace, last.fm, youtube, facebook… these are all very useful and important tools for a band - especially when we are based in Australia and many of our fans seem to be based in Europe! We initially encouraged any and all downloading of our music, and we're still pretty open to that, but we have also started to sell our songs on iTunes. We understand that people will always download music, and that's fine, but we also appreciate it when people buy our albums online, or download from iTunes.

How do you perceive the advances of technology and the internet changing the music industry in the future? Will the CD as a product become a fanatic's item like the LP is nowadays? Will record labels become redundant? What effect will it have on festivals and tours?

I think your point about CDs becoming the LP equivalent may already be happening! Bands are now offering deluxe digipack editions, and fans seem to be in need of more and more persuasion to buy a CD. Those who do still buy CDs are without doubt the most passionate music lovers, who enjoy collecting albums in CD form - as much for the artwork as for the music. I think that things will continue to evolve, and new technologies will further change the way that music is delivered to fans. Record labels will need to adapt to these changes. We have already seen that some of the biggest global labels are suffering, because the "pop" albums that they were once selling are not being purchased anywhere near as much. I think that this is because the people who were buying those CDs were never really the committed music-loving sort of people, so they are just as happy to download the music.

Thanks for the interview! Anything else we might have forgotten to mention? The last words are yours.

We'd just like to say thanks for interviewing us, and for supporting Be'lakor in Europe! \m/

Booking: www.myspace.com/belakor
Info: www.primecuts.com.au/


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