PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
It has been a while since the last release and there has been some line up changes for the band;How has the band progressed as a whole and individually since This Age of Silence?
I think we’ve all matured musically since TAOS, definitely in regards to writing. I think the songs on this album are more to the point, their more specific yet still retaining all the eccentricities that give Anterior it’s sound. I think we’ve really found our groove with this record. That has been helped along with the addition of Steve on full guitar duties, his style of writing has really thrown something new into the mix. We still retain quite a strict ‘no nonsense – no shit’ approach to writing, everything has got to be the absolute best it can be before it’s considered good enough to make it on the record. I think that’s quite a good trait to have when your thinking about a sophomore release, everyones heard what you can do before and you have to raise the bar even higher to make a further impression on people.
Can you comment on what were the main influences for the new album?
The main influence for the album was quite simple. Write the best sounding songs possible haha. I think lyrically there were quite a few things I wanted to express when I wrote the theme’s for the songs. It’s always a really exciting and challenging process writing lyrics. I usually take the theme and ideas to the rest of the guys first, to make sure i’m not conflicting any moral position they have on the particular subject in question. Once that’s a go it’s all out! There were quite a few different arguments and critiques aired with this album, ranging from Religion and it’s financial impressions upon people, all the way to racism. It’s got a real broad subject matter. I suppose the main influence for the album was inward reflection. Taking time to really look at your own life and realise where your heading. I would love to think that people can read through the lyrics and apply the scenarios to their life, I think you can actually engage way more with people when they can reference themselves into the theme of the song.
Having taking a great deal of time to write, produce and master the new album, how did you make the choice of what tracks made the final cut?
The choice of what tracks were going to make it onto the album was made at the demo’ing stage really. It’s at that point where we knew what songs were good enough and which ones weren’t. Some of the riffs go into the ‘riff bag’ and make make it out on the next one, that did happen once or twice with this record, there were a few riffs and ideas that didn’t make it onto TAOS but with a little tweaking they emerged on the new one. Having more time to write the songs usually means more and more gets thrown away, at least for us it does. The delete button has had quite a bit of use during the writing process haha.
Working on the album with produced Scott Atkins, how was that for you?
I don’t think we would have had the same results if we’d gone with anyone else. The guy is a dream to work with. He was everything we wanted as an engineer and producer. We’re all quite militant about external input when recording an album but this time we really let Scott in, and personally I think that was a brilliant move. He’s added his input definitely, and it’s paid off. His past discography speaks for itself, he really knows his shit. The other great thing about Scott is his personality. He’s uncompromising and a real taskmaster, but he’s so easy to get along with, after spending just a few hours with him we all knew that he was going to be a great guy so spend time with, he’s a great friend aswel as an awesome producer.
Can you tell us about how the title for the album came around?
The title came about purely because of the albums inspiration. (I think that’s going to need a little explanation haha) We wanted to use a quote with each song, a quote that really summed up the theme and point to the lyrics. After using 9 quotes (all of the authors happen to be dead) we realised that we were pulling a lot of inspiration from people that have died, and hence the title ‘Echoes of the Fallen.
What are the favourite tracks off the album for the band?
I’m not sure if I can truly answer this question on behalf of everyone. For me however, my favourite tracks would have to be Tyranny, The Evangelist and To live Not Remain. Tyranny explores a slightly different style than everyones used to and I really enjoy how refreshing it is. The evangelist I like specifically because of the lyrics, i’m quite proud of that one. To Live Not Remain, well I like that one because it turned out to be a really good strong track
Is there a particular one track that you would say is going to be a signature live song to perform?
I think To Live Not Remain will be a strong live song, we’ve played it live for a number of shows and it’s gone down so well. It’s a classic ‘Anterior’ track and I think anyone who knows us is going to really get behind that one.
You recently played Sonisphere, sharing the bill with some big metal names, set list debuted four new tracks from the album, and how did these go down with the crowd?
Yeah, Sonisphere was awesome, we had such a good time. The new songs went down a treat. It’s always interesting to see how people will receive new material but I gotta give it to the Sonisphere crowd, they were brilliant, one of the best crowds we’ve ever had the fortune of playing for. Even when it started raining.
What has the remainder of 2011 and next year got in store for Anterior? Can you enlighten on any future tour/festival plans for 2012?
We recently got added to the bill on the September/October Sylosis UK tour with Malefice and Chapters, that ones going to be brilliant, we toured with Sylosis at the beginning of the year and it was outstanding. Malefice we’ve know for years, their good friends of ours and it’s going to be ace to share a stage with those maniacs again. Chapters, i’ve only just heard of, but I was blown away with what I heard, that just makes waiting for this tour to start even harder. We’re also headlining a 1 day festival in Cardiff later on in October. As for late 2011 and 2012 we have quite a few things in the pipeline but i’m not allowed to say anything at the moment (sorry).
thanks very much
Luke Davies
