James Kirn
Blazon Rite
I've been doing pretty good! Staying very busy. Thanks for reaching out for the interview! Really appreciate it.
It definitely slowed down the rehearsal / recording process. Things were postponed as you can imagine but ultimately it gave us time to really hone these songs which made the recording process easier when it actually happened. We couldn't really develop as a live band because of the shutdowns, but we're hoping to play one or two before the year ends!
It never really entered our mind to stop being a band. I think the pandemic gave people a chance to sit down and discover new music in all their free time, so people were listening to the E.P. and buying the vinyl. Our label, Gates of Hell Records, were excited to push forward so we just ran with it. While we couldn't play as a band for a while, I never stopped writing songs and getting ready to deliver the new full-length album.
Yeah, I definitely was excited to get the full-length going once we got such a good response from the E.P.. I had already been writing material for the full-length even before the E.P. was released haha I never stop writing riffs so I'm always excited to keep going. I think we play a style of music people are excited for and I think it offers a nice distraction.
The concept for the E.P. came so organically and with ease that once I started, it just snowballed. With this album I didn't want to limit myself to the confines of one story. I wanted to explore different worlds, moods, landscapes and characters. The E.P. was a cool adventure, but I wanted to offer the listener a bunch of stuff on this album. Mystical forests, crazy nature, brutish creatures, betrayal, battle and love.
I would say the level of detail and depth I put into the lyrics. They're all different concepts but I feel like ultimately all the songs could take place in the same fantasy world. The same kingdom, if you will. Different stories from different aspects of the same world. I will say musically, there is a lot of variety and different types of riffs but at no point is it random or out of place. I think we did a good job of making these songs just feel right together.
Once I had finished writing the title track "Endless Halls of Golden Totem", I decided to take the visual concepts of this song and put them on the cover. They were striking in my mind with endless halls, golden statues, a lush forest outside and cultish figures. After I conceptualized the idea for the cover, I sent it to the master, Matt Stikker, and he absolutely nailed it and took it beyond what I ever expected. I wanted it hand painted like old-school fantasy art so it worked out perfectly. Hopefully, the music can match the ultimate lore of the cover! haha
I feel like this album will show people we are serious about crafting songs and sounding professional without losing our sense of fun and adventure. We definitely don't take ourselves too seriously but we want to be respected for what we bring to the genre. I hope people just respect our songwriting.
I don't think so. I definitely try not to incorporate anything that parallels what is going on in the real world. I do this type of content for the purpose keeping it separate from what's going on in the world around me. The closest thing I would say would be the lyrics for Endless Halls of Golden Totem where I speak about the things we all go through. In a metaphorical way I address that people are blindly following along with ideals and dogma and getting trapped in echo chambers and social bubbles. We all can fall victim and I just wanted to slyly address that.
Haha Mainly the cultish figures that roam its halls and travelers being lured in by promises of bliss and happiness. The Endless Halls of Golden Totem really stand for anything we blindly go into or follow without knowing the consequences or thinking about other perspectives.
That's a really hard question to answer because I feel like every song is influenced by a different band. I'll state the more important ones. Judas Priest, Helloween, Slough Feg, Pagan Altar, Rush, Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Witchfynde
It pushed me to write different styles to create different moods on the album because I wanted to make a point of offering a lot with this album. I wanted to push myself to not just write a bunch of crazy riffs in row, but to make it all have a purpose and really make sense together. I feel like each song is its own world you're stepping into. It definitely helped us realize we work together really well on taking the songs to the next level and bringing each of our own touches to things which tend to always make the songs I write much better.
I just wanted the album to sound more professional. The E.P. was awesome but it was very raw and lacked overall great tone. We spent a lot of time on guitar tones and then our producer Will Mellor took the tracks to another level with his mixing and mastering prowess. We think we achieved a proper balance on this record.
I think we just want as many people to hear our music as possible because we think there is something in our new album for everyone. Ultimately, we can accept that we are a niche band and we're definitely fine with that! We are niche music lovers and that is fine with us. So many legendary bands started out as niche and rose to giant cult status.
I think you can tell we tried to take things to a new place with our riffs on this one. I think people like us for our weird and interesting riffs and I think we delivered. I believe we offer a unique sound within the subgenre. I think we bring out some unexpected vibes that conjure some different feelings.
I definitely wanted to go heavy Judas Priest banger vibes on this one but then quickly switch it up with some Lizzy dueling guitars. Once I had the driving and hard main riff I knew I wanted to soften it up and take it to left field with the leads in the middle to just mix it up a bit. I think it worked. I'm glad you did too. I also went out of my way to make it simple and fist pumping. I wanted the chorus to be memorable and something you could yell at a show. All very influences by Priest foot stomper!
Put Down Your Steel ( Only for the Night) was a song I didn't expect to turn out as one of my favorites. I wrote it as a slower, more groovy and playful song and once we recorded it became clear it was gonna stack up with the rest. Once Pierson laid his leads and solo's down, it made me laugh cause it turned into one of my favorite songs. Its catchy and just straight forward and rock and roll. It has that 80's vibe and I love how it came out. The lyrics are over the top and just fit it perfectly.
It was great. We did most of it in my basement, so we got a chance to take our time and just really flush it all out. It was definitely different, but very fun, personal and relaxing. I think in the end it worked out for best that we had the time to just relax and get it all down the way we wanted without the studio pressure.
I love the way it came out. I knew I just wanted it to be cleaner and more punchy with a very distinct and clear distortion sound. The drums sounded huge and heavy and the leads cut through and pierce the soul. I didn't have a specific sound in mind, I just wanted to try and have it sound as professional as new bands like Megaton Sword or Gatekeeper.
Thanks so much Lior!
More results...
