Axamenta
Wywiad przeprowadził Wouter Roemers
Blasting forth from their melodic black – and doom metal past with a superbly crafted blend of progressive and dark metal, Belgium's Axamenta is swiftly gaining a reputation as a band with some undeniable international potential. With the "Incognation" EP being a teaser of sorts, Axamenta now strike back with the gargantuan conceptual epos "Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture". Sven Deckers, guitarist for Axamenta, talks with us about the sheer difficulty of getting the album released, the intricate story behind the album, the band's foray into progressive territory, working with Pain Of Salvation's iconic Daniel Gildenlöw and their long-awaited rise from the underground.
Hi guys! Thanks for talking to us. How's everything in the Axamenta camp as of late?
Hello, thanks for inviting us. Lately everything's being ok, we're through some hectic times now for a while, with the cd finally being released. The summer's pretty calm, we'll see what gives after the heat.
After much delay and anticipation your new record "Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture" has seen worldwide release through the resurrected Shiver Records. How would you describe the reactions it has gotten so far, from fans & specialized press alike?
The reactions have been really, really great! Lots of people from around the world leave us messages in our guestbook or in our mailbox, saying they really love the album, that's great! It's really nice to see your work being appreciated. Of course, you hope for it - but you're always at least a bit uncertain.
It also has been quite a hassle finally getting this thing released. At one point you were signed to Holland's Karmageddon Media, later it was rumoured Mascot had picked the band up – and not that much later your former contractor LSP (now back named Shiver Records) announced the release of this record. Axamenta never had much luck with labels, it seems?
There were some problems, indeed. Due to bad communication everything got massive delays, and at one time when we were in the LSP store, we were offered an alternative. We compared the odds and at that time it was very clear to us what to do. So, we did.
Prior to this album you also released the "Incognation" EP, can you tell us how exactly it fits in with the conceptual story at hand here?
"Incognation" was an excerpt from the concept story that had been written almost fully before we even started writing songs. We wanted everything to be connected, so we kind of had to have our 'fil rouge' before we started doing anything. The 3 songs on that EP are just smaller parts from the bigger whole, which is featured on EAITT.
So, how is the deal you inked with Shiver Records working out a second time around? Are they in the position to properly market, distribute and adequately promote the record on the market, they seem to have a lot of bands – not all with international potential - on their roster?
So far, everything has been going really well. They've put a lot of work into this album and we're really glad we have been given the opportunity to sign this deal. They're all great guys, we know them from a few years back, there's good communication. No complaints here.
I understand you've spent no less than 2 years working on this magnum opus and with the best people in the business. It was recorded at Jacob Hansen Studios in Hvding, Denmark by Jacob Hansen. Mixed at Studio Fredman in Göteborg, Sweden by Fredrik Nordström and Patrick Jerksten. Mastered at The Mastering Room in Göteborg, Sweden by Göran Finnberg. To say that you were on to something with this particular record would be the understatement of the year. Share you thoughts with us.
Somehow, we always manage to make a near-to-impossible to-do list. We're nitpickers, we want to go far, over the top even if possible. And so you create a lot of work for yourself. F.I., as I mentioned before, we wanted everything to be connected; the artwork, the music, the lyrics, the atmosphere, even the songs in relation to one another. So what you get is, when you change something in song A, you sometimes had to adapt song B in order to keep the connection. Everything is based upon the storyline. The music and lyrics had to fit the particular mood the story tells at that time, no plot holes or inconsistencies, etc... Changing something here, had impact on 2 or 3 aspects there. So far for the wrapping-part. Content-wise, we really wanted to have decent song structures and dynamics as well. Putting so much effort in writing the album, we couldn't go to a studio that wouldn't match up to the massive load of energy we put in it. We checked out some of the options, and finally got to Hansen and Fredman.
How were the recording sessions at the Hansen Studios in Denmark? Jacob Hansen is currently one of the most sought after producers in the extreme metal scene. He even contributed a guitar solo to 'Ashes to Flesh'. Do you have any exciting stories to share from these sessions?
Jacob is a really cool guy, and very relaxed to work with. We had a lot of fun there too, but mostly, when being isolated from civilisation (it was really a very small town), you can really focus on what you're doing there. Exciting stories would include our bassist shutting himself out of the studio one night, so we had to call the security company to come and open it up again. Going to the local fair and having a lot of drinking fun. But most of the time we worked, worked, worked.
On 'Threnody For an Endling' you also got none other than Pain Of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlöw for some guestvocals. What did it take the band to convince him to lend his vocal talents to enrich this record?
Daniel Gildenlöw is a big icon for the greater part of the band, and it had always been a dream to have him sing a song of ours. We mailed him the ballad in pre-production with the lyrics and an intro to the band and our perspectives about the album, and so he agreed on doing the song. First few times he sent us his studio takes, were one of the most amazing moments ever to me.
"Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture" is a high-speed blend of progressive -, dark -, melodic black - and equal bits of traditional heavy - and death metal. Don't you feel that this is a bit too much to take for the average metal fan?
That's where we were a bit uncertain about at first too. The album was written over 2 years, with a changing line-up even in between. Obviously, this leads to different influences. But now most people think it's great it's so diverse! It is hard to categorize the sounds, but this might be an advantage too. The next album will probably be more in a chosen direction, though.
The complex vocal arrangements made me think of Canadian technical metallers Into Eternity every once in a while. I guess you consider this a compliment?
I'm sorry, I don't know Into Eternity, but "complex" is a good buzzword to us, so thanks!
How long did it take to write the orchestral, soundtrack-like arrangements and incorporate the synthesizer/piano pieces into this rather progressive and complex piece of dark metal that Axamenta has gained domestic notoriety for in the last years?
For like a year, most of Ian's time went to arranging and writing these parts. It was an intense job, and he was even finishing the last lines when we were at Jacob's.
Besides being lead guitarist, part-time clean vocalist Ian Van Gemeren is also writing the majority of the orchestrations now that bassist Sven Janssens exited the picture?
Ian already did most of them. Sven completely wrote 'Ravager 1.6.6.3.'. I did the greater part of 'Shackles Cross' but all the rest is Ian's.
Van Gemeren has contributed his guitar work on a session basis to many local underground acts in the past. Now that Axamenta is growing exponentially each day, I guess we can consider this a thing of the past?
For the bigger part, yes. Though, he is filling in for Jan [guitarist, who left technical death metal combo In-Quest recently, ed] as we speak. But it's not purely because of us, real life in general takes a lot of time too.
The record is divided into three chapters, two consisting of 5 tracks each and one lone trilogy. Care to elaborate on the engrossing conceptual story that ties together these 3 chapters?
The story is about a man, called William Blake, who is found one night screaming and running mad in the streets of London. He claims to have discovered the true architecture behind the universe (how he did that would take us too far), and is proclaiming doom-theories, which no one believes. He is then arrested and brought to a mental institution, where his sister Audrey visits him. He tells her his story, and after months of doubt, she starts her search for the truth. The things she collects and keeps in her room, made the artwork for the booklet. The story has lots of stuff going on. Ian tried to juggle with philosophical theories, an adventure story throughout time, an epic battle between good and evil, psychology, technology, mysteries and plot twists. But most importantly the story is interwoven with the duality between reality and fiction: everything is based on real facts, so, just like Audrey, the reader/listener can ask himself what he'll consider possible, plausible or even real.
This William Blake character you mentioned earlier, is this the real-life English poet, painter and printmaker (November 28, 1757–August 12, 1827) that wrote "The Marriage Of Heaven and Hell" and "Milton: A Poem"? Or is the protagonist's name rather something incidental?
It's incidental, yes. We gave him a second given name to "break the link". We weren't aware we were that close to something real with our character.
The title is a fitting summary of this all, why go for such a long and difficult title?
Peter came up with the title. It links to the architecture behind "The All" in the first place. The "ever" part implies that the chain of incarnations, playing a central role in the story, is everlasting, repeating perpetually. And the "I" is also taken out separately, because in the course of the story, it is revealed that everything actually evolves around one and the same person. If we had written "everarchitechture" in 1 word, it would loose a lot of meaning.
Belgian veteran epic (black) metallers Ancient Rites also recently released their new epos "Rubicon" through Season Of Mist. Never considered forging a road alliance with them, both bands share a similar history of a black metal foundation, but growing beyond that scope and into a more potent entity over the years?
Who knows what the future will bring?! So far there are no plans in the making yet.
With a record this strong under your belt, I guess you're going to take this thing on the road all over Europe? What are the current touring plans in support of this impressive new album?
Well, none so far. We'll be spamming our butts off in the Netherlands, with the good Aardschok & Oor review, and see where that'll lead us
Won't Shiver Records will do their utmost to get Axamenta on some decent tours to get some much needed international attention and exposure?
I am sure they are behind this release as much as we are. As soon as something pops up, we'll fix something. It's better to wait a little while until a bigger band is on tour and join them for a while, than to go on an own tour, I think.
How has the rather close-minded black metal community reacted to the album so far? I guess you're the genre's favourite whipping boys in the domestic scene?
We didn't really go and spam around there anymore, because we know it wouldn't make much sense. We're totally untr00. Though some kinda liked it, and that's nice to hear.
I also noticed that during your most recent Graspop Metal Meeting appearance and your cd-presentation at the Biebob in Vosselaar, Belgium the band appeared in a similar style of clothing. All were wearing black pants, black shirts and a white tie. Is there any specific meaning behind that gimmick?
When you want to create an atmosphere, you have to go into every aspect. Also the band's image live. We're not the most necro-frostbitten band around, and this outfit was something we all liked. It actually started as an outfit for the celebration of the new album, but we got good responses to it, so now we're keeping it when the setting is right.
Axamenta works with two booking agents apparently, Black Box Bookings & Shockwave Agency. Where can interested promoters reach you to book the bandin their country?
Those bookers have their own "territory" so to speak. But anyone can reach us directly too, of course. We don't have any exclusive contracts with any booker.
Thanks a lot for talking to us. If there's anything you want to say to conclude this interview, here's the space!
Thanks a lot for your interest, and to all who haven't heard the album, come visit us at www.axamenta.com ! Cheers!
Site: www.axamenta.com
Booking: info@axamenta.com
