With their debut release "Through the Eyes of the Burdened", Descend bursts onto the scene with an album that is as hard hitting as it is diverse. The songs are crafted and performed with expert musicianship, combining technical brilliance with strong song writing skills. The entire band took their progressive death metal stride into full on effect and then some when discussing this debut and more.
1. What type of band are you and how did the band come to be?
Justin:
We are a metal band, I guess you could say we are rooted in progressive death metal.
The band was formed in 2003 by our guitarist Andreas Lindström. Since then the band has gone
through a few lineup changes. In 2009, the current lineup that you see today came together
and since then we have released "The Reckoning" (2009), "Through The Eyes Of The Burdened" (2011)
and we are currently working on our second full length record "Wither".
2. Where did the name Descend come from and does it mean anything for the band itself?
Andreas:
I came up with the name Descend when we started the band back in 2003. I was 16 years old back then and thought it sounded cool! I hope that our listeners feel that they "descend" into the world of Descend when they listen to our music, but other than that, there is no specific meaning behind the name. Or is there..?
3. How does The Reckoning differ and compare to Through the Eyes of the Burdened?
Justin: The Reckoning was our first record as a five piece band. So, there was a lot more room
for us to be creative. The difference with The Reckoning and Through The Eyes
is the sound, production, and the song writing.
Andreas: We recorded and produced The Reckoning all by ourselves. The drums were programmed which gives the EP a certain sound. I also think those songs are among the most epic we have written, especially Flaws of Symmetry and The Reckoning. The songs on Through the Eyes are shorter and in my opinion slightly more "to the point", if you get what I mean.
Justin: With Through The Eyes of The Burdened, those songs were written over a 1 - 2 years period. With the addition of Supernova Records backing us it obviously opened some doors for us in terms of distributing and releasing the album worldwide. We recorded the album with Daniel Abela and Joseph Smyth at Escape Route Studios in Essex, United Kingdom. The artwork was handled by Travis Smith.
4. Was your songwriting and recording process any different than usual for this CD?
Andreas: The songwriting process was slightly different this time. For Through the Eyes of the Burdened, the songs were mostly individually written by different members. For Wither, we had some jamming sessions and tried to write and arrange more together. I wanted the songs to feel slightly more coherent than they do on Through the Eyes of the Burdened, and I think we succeeded with that. We were not afraid to repeat parts to really make the most out of the riffs. The recording process was the same, basically. We all went down to Legacy London studios in different sessions to lay down the parts, and we worked with the same producers as last time. The recording sessions were quite stressful this time around, mostly because we had more music to record (damn long songs!) and were more picky about playing really tight this time around. We also did self-recorded demo versions of all the songs before entering the studio, which enabled us to get a better view of how the songs would turn out.
(See studio sessions via our YouTube www.youtube.com/descendofficial)
5. How has the band’s sound evolved from release to release?
Andreas: I think we have focused more and more on the general flow in the songs for Wither. Like I said before, I think The Reckoning had a really epic feel with long, melodic songs. Through the Eyes has shorter songs but each song still contains many different parts and quite a lot of clean stuff. I do not really have a feeling yet for how Wither's sound will be, but I think (and hope!) it will feel coherent and flowing. It will also feature a few quite long songs.6. What inspired the album title? Is it a concept album?
Nima: How things tend to wither if you don't take care of them. What "things" you might wonder? That's up to the listener.
7. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Nima: The album title and its meaning sums it all up pretty well, I think.
8. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Andreas: Yes. Usually we come up with riffs and song ideas at home and send them to each other. Then the rest of the band can say what they think, add stuff or ditch it all together, haha. We use a program called Guitar Pro which is good for writing down ideas and showing each other how to play the riffs. After that, we try out the ideas and arrange them into songs in our rehearsal room. In that sense, we are a rather democratic band and everyone contributes during the songwriting, even though the original ideas for a certain song might come from one person only.
9. What are the plans for new music have anything in-store?
Andreas: As already stated, we have our second full-length album Wither coming out soon. I think it contains our best stuff to date, but I guess that is what bands always say!
10. What are your expectations for the CD?
Andreas: Since we are not signed to Supernova Records anymore, we hope to attract the attention of a good label who can release and distribute the album. We also hope to be able to support the release with some touring, which is already in the planning.
11. How did you get signed with Supernova Records?
Andreas: Justin gave a copy of our self-produced EP "The Reckoning" to his friend who worked at the label. He took interest and signed us.
12. What's the music scene like in Sweden have any band recommendations we should check out?
Andreas: The general music scene in Sweden is very much alive, there are so many bands here considering the relatively low population. I read somewhere that Sweden has the most metal bands per capita in the world, which might very well be true! For a metal band in Stockholm however, it can be hard to find good gigs if you are not a big band. There are very few promoters and venue/bar owners interested in putting on extreme metal bands, unless you are willing to play for free. A Swedish band that I think everyone should check out is Väsen. They play traditional Swedish music with a modern twist. It is not metal, but these guys are some of the best musicians Sweden has to offer. I saw them live here in Stockholm a while back and it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. They play more intense than most metal bands these days, and it's all acoustic! Brilliant stuff.
13. What image do you think your music conveys?
Andreas: The image of Nima doing his famous "pirate scream". Maybe featured on the next record?
Justin: I think that is up to the listener. We write music we enjoy and that speaks to us.
The message or image it conveys varies from listener to listener.
14. How do you describe your music to people?
Andreas: We describe it as progressive death metal.
15. How many band t-shirts are in your personal collection?
666!
15. Out of those t-shirts which would you say is your favorite that you would just wear all the time, everyday, etc. And why was it your favorite?
Justin: I have a Dismember t-shirt from their 20th anniversary concert here in Stockholm. It's a pretty cool t-shirt.
Nima: I think I only have My Own Grave t-shirts so I guess those are my favorites All three of them. Wait a second, I have a Hammerfall t-shirt as well, Legacy of Kings, but... MOG shirts are still my favorites.
16. When you go out in public or your hanging around with family or friends do you wear all black or is your attire totally different than the average metalheads.
Justin: I don't think we're restricted to black ... That would be boring. I think what we wear both onstage and off stage is the same in all honesty. We don't go out of our way to portray ourselves as "Metalheads" but we don't hide the fact the we are metalheads.Music isn't about the clothes you wear.
17. What are your plans for 2013?
Nima: We plan to release our new album of course, and to play the new songs live. We are in the process of booking a UK tour for the summer, so if you live there, be sure to come out and see us!
18. Is that your final answer?
Yes.
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