Death metal act Embryo discusses their latest EP "Promo 2K-XIV" and progress with their next full-length album, and playing some summer festivals and so much more! Guitarist/Bassist Uge discusses that EP, the album, and shows.1. First off, please introduce yourself and what you do in the band.
Uge: Hi! I'm Eugenio (Uge), the guitar player of the band.
2. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Uge: Embryo was formed in 2000, I've always wanted to form a extreme metal band, a couple of my friends had the same idea, so I asked Roberto to join us (vocals) and we started to play a lot of death metal.
We recorded a demo and a promo CD in the early years, and in 2006 we published our first album "Chaotic Age", but despite many positive reviews , I was not really satisfied. There was still something that did not work as I wanted. So in 2008, Embryo found the right direction with a drastic change of line up - Simone joined the band on keyboards (I think he's the soul of the band) and Reynoldz behind the drums. Reynoldz has been a great step forward for the band. With him, I could play my riffs without problems, he's always been very intuitive and from this union, in 2009, the album " No God Slave" saw the light; the album was released in 2010 via Rising Records. " No God Slave" was the album that I always wanted, I think we reached a good level with that record, I consider it perfect ... extreme in the right way but never boring .... I loved composing, recording and releasing " No God Slave". Now we are preparing the successor of that record , and I'm sure we can do even better.
3. Why did you want to go and call yourselves EMBRYO? What is it about that name, that just made you say "this is the name for us".
Uge: It was a lot of fun choosing the name "Embryo". When we had to give a name to the band we all had various ideas. They were all great and it was impossible to select the appropriate name. In the same moment we discovered a record by Theory in Practice, "The Armageddon Theories", we loved that record, the sixth track on the album is called Embryo. We were in a phase of "embryonic", we did not know exactly what kind of death metal to play, but at that point, that track opened our eyes.... Embryo was the perfect name!
4. How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Uge: I would define my style as death metal, it would not be complete, because I hate to add other musical styles so we as Embryo play extreme metal that's all. There are so many bands whom I get inspiration from, a few would be; Meshuggah, Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project, Chimaira, Carcass and many more.
5. What comes first when writing and recording your music, the lyrics or the instrumentals or both?
Uge: When we compose and record music, the most important thing is the instrumental part. I take care of all the songwriting, composing all the guitar riffs and assembling them into songs, then it is all part of drumming and bass. Then Simone creates the lines of keyboards that complete the main structure of the songs. At the end of all Roberto proceed with his vocals, the latest lyrics were all written by him.
6. Who writes the songs out of everyone, do you all partake or does one of you do the most work?
Uge: I take care of all general writing songs, Roberto writes and arranges lyrics and vocals. All arrangements overall are then defined by the band.
7. You decided to go with just 3-tracks for your EP "Promo 2K-XIV" - why just the 3 in particular, what makes these 3 the ones?
Uge: Honestly, there is no particular reason, we thought that 3 tracks were enough, the tracks are different, but all of the mold of Embryo.
8. Why go with calling it ""Promo 2K-XIV"? What does the "2K-XIV" mean and represent for this release?
Uge: Haha it's very simple. These songs will be a part of the next album. We did not want to name an EP on the thought of promotion. So we wanted to call it Promo 2014. But when we thought let's name it with Roman numerals that would be charming. So here came the idea of Promo 2K-XIV it means 2014.
9. Who was the creator behind the EP's album artwork, why a butterfly, what did the butterfly do to you?
Uge: The creator of the artwork is our keyboardist Simone. He was also involved with the previous album artwork, created the graphics of our official website, social network pages, he is very good with what he does. The butterfly colleague is a little bit of everything. We use the butterfly from 2002, consider it as a king of symbol. Before it becomes a butterfly it was a maggot that created a bump which came to life. This was a reminiscent of an embryo in a different way than usual. We had linked it all from the start.
10. What about producing, who helped you shape this release into what it's become?
Uge: Well, surely Oscar Burato at Atomic Stuff Recording Studio was a great help, he immediately knew the direction of the band and he did a great job in the production and engineering of this EP. He found the right sound and the right groove... he totally got our idea!
11. You will begin the recording process for your next full-length album this summer, do you know what you plan to do, and have everything prepared and ready to go?
Uge: Yes. We will record our new album at the end of May. We have a clear idea for this album, we are ready, we thought about everything .. we are artistically mature for this new chapter.
12. Do you know who will be producing the album, what it's going to be called, and what the album artwork will be?
Uge: The new album will be produced by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio in San Marino. We also have an idea for the title and the cover but it is not definitive we're still thinking.
13. Will you be going on a conceptual direction with this album or will there be a theme for it?
Uge: This album crosses deep moods, it will not be just a concept but almost. Some songs will address the same topic.
14. When can we expect to see it released roughly do you have an idea?
Uge: Probably next summer. We hope to release it between July and August maybe September.
15. Oscar Burato, will be on hand to help you find a label, on getting it out into the open. Does he know what label will be the right one for you or you guys haven't set your eyes on the prize yet.
Uge: Yes, Oscar and Stefano at Atomic Stuff are doing a great job. I hope they'll find the right label for us. There would be some that would be perfect, I hope we can reach 'em. But at the moment we have no official proposal, we hope to receive a good one soon.
16. You will partake in the Total Metal Festival this summer, what else besides this fest will you guys be doing in terms of shows and touring?
Uge: Yes, we will take part in the Total Metal Festival, we'll play a few songs from the new album, I'm excited, cannot wait! We are waiting for more confirmations for another BIG summer festival... we'll update you as soon as they post the official bill!
17. Would you like to say anything else that you may have not gotten to have a say in?
Uge: What can I say. Support us, support Embryo, follow us on social networks, come to concerts and buy our albums. Thanks for this interview!
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