Scott Taysom
Cloak
We just got back from our first tour of "The Burning Dawn" cycle which took place in North America with 1349 and Uada. It was a fiery explosion of chaos and hell just as it should be. The new material was very well received.
To me, darkness is the uncharted territory within the physical and metaphysical world that one must enter to be truly free. The path to spiritual liberation is a lifelong journey, and a final goal that I believe can't be reached until after life ends. It can only be strengthened during the lifetime of one who is willing to live outside the barriers of the flesh. To spot an illusion is difficult, but it becomes more apparent the more you open your heart to the darkness. That being said, in more literal or mundane terms, we plan to conquer everything in our path and destroy all that stands in our way. Carving our own path through the medium of art and music has been our life's work, and Cloak is the pinnacle of it all. It's a vessel to explore the darkness, spirituality, strength and discipline. "The Burning Dawn" is an even stronger effort towards these concepts that were explored initially with "To Venomous Depths". Both of these works serve as different explorations of this sort of energy and determination.
The album deals with a threatening and dark presence that resides just below the surface, waiting patiently to strike. There is a very sinister feeling that lives throughout the album, sometimes it can be more apparent and at other times it hides its face but is certainly there. It could take multiple listens to hear what may have not been obvious the first few times, but there are certainly new sounds and energies that will appear with each new listen. It all depends on what the listener is willing to take in.
The reception during the North American tour has been exceptional. We can't wait to bring the show overseas in the not so distant future.
Physical products of course are our preferred method of promotion for our albums. When you buy the record you get all of the art and the packaging which we put a lot of effort into. Touring is also a preferred method of presenting the music in the most aggressive and forceful way.
There's no restrictions in the way that we write music. So who knows, we could do an album that is totally different from the two we have already put out. It depends where we are in our lives and what we want to do with our art. I think mixing the aggressive with the melodic is something we do really well. That sort of balance makes for a wide range of emotions that I think is important to capture when you dig into what our music is all about. All emotions in life are important.
I think we just became better and more confident song writers as a whole. We emphasized on both the gloom and the aggression, which culminated into a final piece that is dark but also inspiring in a way.
It's so hard to say one or two particular things that inspired us. It could be anything from a Danzig song to a shadow that a tree casts in the Autumn time. Becoming one with the music has already happened very early on in our career, so that wasn't hard to achieve. At this point we look inwards for inspiration, and that is an endless energy which is everchanging.
One of us will come up with an initial concept or structure for a song and then we go from there. We let things build naturally and we've learned that forcing songs usually goes very wrong. One thing that did change on this album is that we didn't think too hard about the structure or certain parts of a song, we just let the music flow and whatever came to us at a certain moment usually stuck.
It's not something we really think about or care about. We do what we do, and we aim to be the best at it.
Scott: Standout songs to me have always been "A Voice In The Night" for its simple and mesmerizing groove, "Into The Storm" for its relentless aggression but somber ending, and "Where The Horrors Thrive", which I think may be one of the best songs we have ever written. A very special song on the album is also "Lifeless Silence". It's a bit different, yet extremely haunting. That song is so powerful to me and contains some of the most sinister energies on the album, both musically and lyrically.
I said that as soon as we finished it, which was actually pretty early on in the song writing process. It all started from a simple riff that Max was strumming before we started rehearsal. That lead riff became the chorus and we just built the song from there. Music is magic, you never know when inspiration will strike. In this case it was accidental but no coincidence.
It was the perfect line up to go out with. All 3 bands offered something different, but at times similar. We played venues that we haven't, but that kind of stuff doesn't really matter. The performance is the key, and we put on the best show we possibly could every single night. It was exhausting but so rewarding.
This will be our first time touring in Europe so it will be a brand new experience. I have no expectations, we will just do what we do best and hopefully connect to those who are willing to listen.
We've always had high goals. We'll continue to write, tour, and expand our live show. I want to conquer lands that most bands tend to skip, I guess you can consider that a goal.
After "The Burning Dawn" was written and recorded, we haven't attempted or even had time to write. We want to focus our energy on the wave of this album and ride it until it feels natural to begin the next album process.
Today I listened to both Vargrav albums, very dark black metal from Finland. It stays true to the 90's style that was coming out of Scandinavia. Most of the new releases that are held so high by metal publications I personally think aren't any good. I really can't think of any right now that I liked.
Nothing set in stone other than some small festivals and one-off shows. We'll see where the year takes us. No rest for the wicked!
Thanks for the interview.
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