A Breach of Silence has become a fresh addition to the metal scene with it's band additions and upcoming showcases, these guys are ready to start sharing their brutal melodic music with audiences around Australia! With some real depth of abilities and experience in the band mixed with talented, vibrant and aggressive new young members ready to start showing their flair for awesome breakdowns mixed with lyrical genius.
But it doesn't stop there, the band has recorded their debut album with Fredrick Nordstrom and Henrik Udd (Bring Me The Horizon, I Killed The Prom Queen, In Flames)!!! The lyrics interpret the depth of this emerging metal core band and new front man Rhys Flannery is screaming the lullabies that make metal brutal to all ears that dare to listen!
Guitarist Mat "Cossie" Cosgrove took the time to discuss this debut release and some backstory on the band themselves.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in A Breach Of Silence, and how long the band has been together.
Mat: Hi, I’m Cossie (Mat) and I play guitar in A Breach of Silence. The band has been together since 2009, so around 4 years now.
2. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?
Mat: The band was a concept in 2008. We come from Brisbane Australia. Some of us even grew up from the outback in Australia originally. I knew Blair (our clean singer) through some friends and I knew he could sing power metal and had a pretty good voice. So I wanted to model a newer sound around that and get Blair’s voice to do something a bit different and unexpected. Hence the falsetto’s you hear in “There Will Be blood” and “Dawn to Rise”.
Sure people will either hate or love it, but you will get that in any genre, and if we have people talking about us, I don’t think that is a bad thing. In Australia the momentum is picking up very quickly over the past 12 months. So after a bunch of line up changes we pretty much settled in late 2011 and started writing our debut record. We contacted Fredrik Nordstrom from Sweden to see if he was interested.... He was.... and the rest is history. I have to give props to that guy as well. We were really unknown, and for someone with huge credibility on the line he took us on. Not only is he a great producer but a very cool dude. That goes for his Partner in crime as well, Henrik udd (who apart from being a Swedish Viking I would recommend any band of any size to record with him). Those guys not only take band’s songs and make them sound good they teach them how to write them correctly. So a lot props to those dudes for pushing the best out of Kerrod, Blair, myself and Stix.
From there we released our album and basically from being unknown have built a loyal fan base in a very short amount of time through a lot of hard work. We had a vocalist change straight after the recording of our album which was difficult. We parted ways with Corey and he was replaced with Rhys, who has sung with the band ever since the official release of our album in Australia.
We are now touring constantly nationally in Australia and now are setting our horizons since being signed overseas. Originally I came from the outback in Australia. You learn a lot of life things when you are isolated from the nearest civilization (40km away from the nearest town of 7000 people). RESPECT is the biggest. And I think that has helped us gain fans and a lot of friends along the way by showing respect. We have been very grateful to all the people that have helped us this far and they will never be forgotten either. From here we are writing our new album and going back to see Freddy and Henrik in February 2014.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Mat: Brisbane, Australia. Music scene is fantastic. There are so many good local bands. We recently toured with Born of Osiris and Upon a Burning Body, and they were amazed in each city we went to the quality of the local bands. Not only local bands but there are bands that are now doing huge things over in Aus and the world. A bunch of them from locals to international successes are:
• Lagerstein (pirate metal)
• Feed Her to the Sharks
• Northlane
• The Amity Affliction
• The Construct
• Infiltrator
• Thy Art is Murder
• Bound for Ruin
• Polaris
• Down Royale
• Make them Suffer
• Dream on Dreamer
• Buried in Verona
The list goes on and on and on.
4. How did you guys come up with your band name?
Mat: The band name was a name I used for a mini festival I put on in country Queensland, Australia. I loved the name and always wanted to use it for a band name if the opportunity came up. It did and the rest is history.
5. Tell me how does it feel to be a part of the Eclipse Records family? How did you guys get signed to this label?
Mat: It feels fantastic. Chris is a great guy and has been in the industry for a long time, so he has seen the rise and fall of many labels. This makes me feel comfortable, as he has our best interests at heart. We got signed by a simple package in the mail. We sent out a lot of packages and emails. We got bites from a few, but Chris was the first to show a real sign that he wanted to work for us hard. He cared more. That’s the feeling I got and I wanted to run with it. He has a formula of developing bands and I like that a lot. His successes in the past speak for themselves. He takes on just a few and then works hard and helps them develop to become successful artists. And at this point in our career that’s exactly what we need. The opportunities that we will have in the coming 12 months are going to be amazing and we are really looking forward to that. Being a part of the Eclipse family is really a dream come true for all the lads.
6. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
Mat: We give subtle messages in our lyrics about life experiences, but form them in a story as such. Take “Night Rider” for example. That song on the outside is about an outlaw gun-slinger from hell that is there to take the bad guys to hell. The song is really portraying the message that nobody is perfect, and you can have done bad things in the past, but it’s up to you and you alone to turn that around and that you can do it. In a sense a part of you can die but that leaves room for another part of you to breathe life. We like to look at things in a fun way and base our messages through stories.
7. Is it important for you to paint visual pictures with the songs?
Mat: Absolutely, the more people can relate and imagine things the better connection and liking the will have to your music. We have powerful images in songs such as “Night Rider”, “There Will Be Blood” and “Dawn to Rise”. Images of the story we are telling and also allowing people to think about the images they can relate to when the lyrical content is being sung. With the contrast of the screaming and clean singing (in a power metal style) it draws people in.
8. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
Mat: So many, but I would say the boys favorites are:
Iced earth
As I Lay Dying
Killswitch Engage
Iron Maiden
Devil Driver
Parkway Drive
Slipknot
Pantera
Misery Signals
Manowar
Lamb of God
9. This album was produced by Fredrik Nordstrom and Henrik Udd and recorded at the HK Studios in Brisbane, Australia, what was this whole process like for you guys?
Mat: The process was intense but amazing. We recorded that whole album over 14 days. Pretty amazing in itself really. With their help from demo’s to recording it was a great process overall. The guys pulled apart our songs and helped us re write things we would have never thought of. We learnt more in 2 weeks then we have in 10 years in song writing. An amazing experience and something I will never forget. People always try to go on the cheap. But you always pay for what you get. And that experience was priceless.
10. Who did the cover art for Dead or Alive and how much input did you have on it?
Mat: I have a good friend from Romania that does our artwork. Gab, is the most talented dude I have come across. He not only puts the pictures I have in my head down on paper, he makes them better than what I am thinking. So basically I give Gab the idea he goes away and draws it. It’s a perfect working relationship. The guy is truly a talent and is now starting to get recognized by a lot more people since he has completed artwork for us. Rad dude as well. We met randomly through one of the drawing competition websites. He won a comp I had put up and I didn't want to use anyone else. So I got his contacts and we went from there.
11. Is there any story or concept behind the Dead or Alive title?
Mat: There is a story behind the Dead or Alive concept. As I am from the Outback in Australia, I wanted to relate the stories we were telling with a country and western theme background. My experiences with this growing up have occurred in two ways. Watching westerns with my dad my whole life and the other is coming from a large ranch in the country. I wanted to portray life experiences through that our songs in the medium of country and western life. Hard work, no favors, and life is tough but it is what you make of it. My Grandfather and Father were also outlaw types. They got away with a few things and did a few things that would put them into that category, quite interesting really and unbelievable because they are two men I have the most respect for in the world. Very hard working, very kind and will stand up for what they believe in. However from their experience I grew up with a very open mind to life, but with very good morals and respect about things. Life is hard in the bush and people have to rely on each other, so you need to really gain a respect and kindness about you to survive. So a lot of the songs about life experiences through different sorts of stories. A fun and cool way to get our message across.
12. What would be the cinematic equivalent of Dead or Alive?
Mat: Clint Eastwood. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. That movie came up with firsts for everything. It was the iPod to the MP3 player. Honestly who has a 3 way quick draw??? Clint Eastwood does. Badass and very cool.
13. Select two songs from Dead or Alive and what inspired the lyrics.
Mat: “Night Rider” – My childhood and the stories associated with that coming from the outback.
“There Will Be Blood” - That life is hard. You make of it what you want out of it. Sometimes things get very tough and you really have to dig deep to push through. But if you do there is light at the end of the tunnel and great things can come with hard work. There will be blood but no remorse......... Push on and don’t give up.....ever.
14. What are your expectations for the CD?
Mat: Honestly if 1 person purchases, I am happy. We did this album because this is something we all wanted to do regardless if we ever sold it or released it. When people come up to us at the end of shows and shake our hands. That feeling is the best, as they love something that you have put your heart and soul into. It is an amazing feeling. If we can tour off the back of this CD in the States, that will be our goal.
15. You released a video for the song "There Will Be Blood" can you tell me about the song and video's concept?Mat: Well as explained before, the song is about life and its tough situations that you have to face. If you never give up and push through then things will happen for you. There will be blood split along the way but that is just life. You need to push through and things will be fine. So it’s really about giving the message that life isn't easy but it can be very enjoyable. You just have to take the good with the bad and move forward in life always. The video concept was really fun. It involved the story of robbing a bank. All of a sudden we are wealthy and on top of the world. Then 1 small thing can go wrong. In this case “greed” and then everything fell apart very quickly. It shows us fighting among ourselves and nearly throwing ourselves off a cliff fighting for money. But once the money is thrown away off the cliff, we realize what we were doing and move on to rebuild what we had in the first place. So basically the message is. You can be on top, but it takes one silly move for everything to crumble around you. However it’s not the end of the world. You can rebuild and you can push on. Very positive stuff really.
16. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?
Mat: They expect a new video clip coming soon for “Night Rider”. We worked with a film crew that have done huge blockbuster films and we are excited for it to be released. We have done some very cool different stuff in it. We have another national tour in Australia with our Swedish buddies “Adept”. We are writing for our second album now and will be hitting the studio in Feb 2014 for a release in mid 2014. Very exciting stuff. We are teaming up with studio Fredman again.
17. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Mat: The holy shit surprise they get when they hear how different some of it can be. Especially when Blair lets rip a rob Halford falsetto. As people do not expect them. When we play live people’s faces are always good to see. Their mouths wide open and a look to each other knowing what they are thinking before they speak to each other. Which is “Holy shit did you just hear that”. It’s fantastic.
18. Any final words of wisdom?
Mat: Strive for your dreams and never give up. People have a nature of being haters, but ultimately more people will like what you’re doing if you don’t give up. Hard work does pay off, so believe in yourself and enjoy yourself at all times. Opportunities present themselves all the time. It’s up to you whether you open that door or leave it shut though. Sure everything isn't easy but it sure does feel good once you look back and see what you can achieve over a short period if you put your mind to it.
Some links to use at your discretion:
For more info on A Breach of Silence:
www.eclipserecords.com/a-breach-of-silence
Stream A Breach Of Silence via Soundcloud:
http://snd.sc/14gDmsD
Pre-order CD from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-or-Alive-Explicit/dp/B00DZTCM4A
Music Video ‘There Will Be Blood’:
http://youtu.be/0WnCmiYzkBU
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