1.Thanks for taking the time to talk to The Metal Times! You have a new album out, Tell us about it!
The album is called "Shadow And Flame". It's a Tolkien reference to The Balrog. We all love a bit of fantasy and sci-fi, plus the term rings true on our material. Theres a lot of red hot Death Metal rage on this album, but a lot of dark emotion too.
We started writing the album immediately following the release of "Your Possible Pasts" last year, after bringing in Adam and Jake to complete the lineup.
Having a full lineup has really helped as that EP was just written by me and Paul. The drummer we worked with back then only brought negativity into the process, which really hindered what we wanted to achieve.
With this, it's all about enjoyment. If one of us wants to try something, we try it. It's why we swap up writing, singing and composition roles all the time, creativity knows no bounds.
2.Where was it recorded? Is all the material new?
We have carried one track forward from last years EP, "Eyes Of Glass". That track got us a lot of good press and support and was the only track that's strong enough to compete with the new stuff.
Similarly "Dressed In You" was written in it's entirety about 8 years ago, but never released. We figured now would be an ideal time to unleash that on the world.
As with any writing process, sometimes you bring forward riffs, lyrics, patterns etc that you've been toying with for years, sometimes even decades but never used. There's a few riffs like that in the songs and a few sets of lyrics that have been dragged from the depths.
3.What is the biggest difference between your last release and the new one?
Variation and emotion are the probably the two biggest differences from a thematic perspective. That and it's just infinitely heavier. Adam does our production and the guy has brought out a phenomenally heavy sound.
As i mentioned before, if we want to try something, we just go and do it. There is no "I'm the vocalist so I sing everything" for one thing. That's literally the reason I transitioned from Bass to Vocals many years ago, I was sick of working with people like that
There's definitely no "We can't play or say that, because it's not Metal". Can you imagine the state of modern music if groups like The Beatles had put boundaries around their creativity and their roles within the bands? We're all multi talented and multi instrumental, so we use that to make sure that we have the best fit.
4.Are you signed to a label? , If so which one and how did they help or support the process?
Dwarrowdelf Records was initially formed by Paul, as a means of distributing his Dinenthal material. Last year with Pauls agreement, I took hold of the label in name to try and expand our facilities out to include Merch, PR, Videography, Post Production and expand our roster. We have all these facilities in place, meaning we are our own support network.
Naturally the pandemic has put a lot of the expansion plans on hold, especially the plans to expand the roster.
5.What has been going on with the band between albums? Did you tour?
Getting ourselves in a position to be able to gig was the primary concern. Obviously with current world events that's completely off the table now for the forseeable future which was really unfortunate.
In some senses though, it's proved our writing method, as there was a lot of bouncing ideas back and forward on emails involved in our writing due to us having families, kids etc. That's a method that all bands are having to adopt now in order to stay creative, we already had that communication down and refined.
6.Do you have any new members?
8Yes, after the release of "Your Possible Pasts" we parted company with our original drummer and drafted in Adam and Jake on guitar and drums respectively. Those guys have been gigging together since they were kids, so their chemistry is absolute dynamite. It was an old project of theirs that I was also involved in that yielded the song "Dressed In You".
As well as bringing a huge amount of talent and diversity to the sound, Adam is also an excellent studio producer. Having a different methodology in the mix to contrast against Paul has led to an evolution in the sound that we're extremely happy with.
7.Who produced the new album and how did they effect the album?
Yeah, as mentioned above Adam and Paul are responsible for the production. Essentially, Adam deals with the mixing and production of the music, and Paul produces and mixes the vocals, which are then brought together for Adams final mastering. They both have an amazing ear for sound.
8.Some like to record naked or in the dark with candles , Did you have any strange studio practices?
No, totally boring I'm afraid. Beers and cups of tea is about as weird as our recording sessions got.
9.Of course tell us where to pick up your album and how to learn more about you.
We have all the relevant download channels and social media. Naturally due to their artist support, we'd prefer people to download via bandcamp. Not being able to generate funds from gigs had stalled up a physical release, so there's a couple of merch links below too.
https://dwarrowdelfrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC77g7oZ_ZYxt0jev0oDRhnw
https://www.facebook.com/officialacherontiastyx/
https://www.teepublic.com/en-gb/user/dwarrowdelf-records
https://www.cafepress.com/profile/dwarrowdelf_records
10.What is your plans now that the new album is out?
To get people to listen to it!
We're extremely proud of the quality of the material on this album. Each of us has been active in music since we were kids and we all agree that this is the best stuff any of us have put out.
