Beyond
The Embrace
Beyond The Embrace offered
us one of the most complex and unique sounding albums. "Insect Song" has
a very special atmosphere that is due to the singer's warm and flexible
voice and the 3 - yes you read right - guitarists. The band's lead guitarist
Oscar Gouveia is here to answer lots of interesting questions based on
and around the band...
1.FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR "INSECT
SONG"! COULD YOU PLEASE POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S
HISTORY AND INTRODUCE THE CURRENT LINE UP?
Well the most important moments in the bands
history would have to be some of the tours we’ve been on like opening for
such bands as Opeth & Lacuna Coil, Helloween, Iced Earth, & Prong.
Our current line-up is Shawn Gallagher – Vocals, Oscar Gouveia (myself)
– lead guitar, Jeff Saude – guitar 2, Alex Botelho – guitar 3, Chris Parlon
– Bass, Kevin Camille – drums.
2.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST WITH YOUR MONIKER
BEYOND THE EMBRACE? HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH IT?
We aren’t suggesting anything. I think it’s
just a cool band name. I believe our old bass guitarist Adam Gonsalves
came across it in some Opeth lyrics, and everyone thought it would be a
great name.
3.YOUR MUSIC IS VERY DIVERSE AND UNIQUE. YOU HAVE
AN ORIGINAL SOUND AND WE HEAR YOU MIXING ELEMENTS FROM VARIOUS METAL GENRES.
HOW DID YOU CREATE THIS SOUND? HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO ESCAPE THE ORDINARY?
WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION OR NOT?
Well we just melted all of our influences
like a lot of the Swedish melodic metal that we love and we infused it
with the metal we grew up on, like old Metallica, Megadeth and so on. It
was a conscious decision for the most part at first but as the band progressed
it has taken on its own life force.
4.YOU REMINDED ME OF BANDS LIKE METALLICA, EVERGREY
(ESPECIALLY ON THE VOCALS), SENTENCED, IRON MAIDEN AND IN FLAMES. DO YOU
AGREE WITH THE ABOVE MENTIONED BANDS? WHICH OTHER BANDS CAN BE FOUND AMONG
YOUR INFLUENCES?
That’s a very good guess. Some of my other
personal influences are Children of Bodom, Pantera, and Opeth to name a
few.
5.IN THE REVIEW I WROTE I DESCRIBED YOUR MUSIC
AS DARK, ATMOSPHERIC THRASH METAL WITH SOME CLASSIC METAL AND DEATH METAL
TINGES. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS DESCRIPTION? IF I ASKED YOU TO DESCRIBE
"INSECT SONG" YOURSELVES TO THE READERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? WHICH
WORDS WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
I think that’s a pretty good description.
I would say “Insect Song is Modern Metal Masterpiece that will rise above
all other albums you own” .. just kidding, haha. I personally don’t
like to describe my own music. You did a better job than I would have.
6.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHAT KIND
OF TOPICS INTRIGUE YOU TO TALK ABOUT? WHICH THINGS INSPIRE YOU?
That’s a question better suited for Shawn
since he writes all the lyrics, but what I get from all the songs is that
there isn’t really much of any message or ideology in them. Shawn writes
about life and how shitty it can sometimes be and I think that a lot of
people can relate to his lyrics and somehow feel better knowing that they’re
not the only ones that feel the way they do.
7.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY WITH THE ALBUM'S TITLE
"INSECT SONG"? I FOUND THE TITLE QUITE STRANGE...
I believe that Shawn is trying to say that
it’s not about insects exactly, it’s about people today and what they’re
evolving into by following both social and popular trends. Insect is a
term Shawn always uses when describing certain people like this.
8.I LIKED THE VOICE OF YOUR SINGER, BECAUSE IT
IS VERY FLEXIBLE AND WARM. HE BOTH USES CLEAN AND BRUTAL VOCALS. WHY DO
YOU DO THAT? DO YOU WANT TO EXPRESS A CONTRADICTION OF EMOTIONS OR SITUATIONS?
9.WHAT KIND OF PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST
COMPOSING? DO YOU HAVE TO BE IN A CERTAIN MOOD IN ORDER TO CREATE THE EXACT
FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS YOU WANT? DO YOU AGREE WITH THE SAYING THAT THE ARTISTS
SHOULD WITNESS PAIN OR LOSS IN ORDER TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE?
Sometimes that is true, but other times it
just flows out of you like a well and there are too many ideas for the
song we may be working on at the time, other times it’s harder and you
have to dig deep. My ideal place to write songs is in my home studio. I
can accomplish much more by recording my ideas as they come out.
10.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR TOURING? WHICH BANDS
DO YOU THINK BETTER MATCH WITH YOUR MUSICAL SOUND?
At the moment we don’t have any definite touring
plans. We seem to do really well with fans of real metal.
11.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST AND WHICH
THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHICH IS YOUR TRADEMARK?
I think the best part of our music is that
we try to give every song we write its own life and personality. The worst
part about our music is that sometimes it can be harder to write for 3
guitar parts as opposed to just 2 but 3 guitarists with a lot of twin guitar
harmonies and driving rhythms is our trademark.
12.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Damn that’s a tough, but a good one haha..
If it were an emotion it would be an anger driven desire. If it were a
painting it would show a city being enveloped by an enormous wave from
the sea.
13.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF WE LIVED IN A WORLD WITHOUT
MUSIC?
Die! And probably fish a lot.
14.WHICH IS THE FUNNIEST OR STRANGEST QUESTION
YOU'VE BEEN ASKED?
IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW? (But it’s a damn good
question that took me almost half hour to answer).
15.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING
AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Thanx for the interview, to your readers:
check out our website www.beyondtheembrace.com
for news, tour dates, and downloadable music. And go out and buy INSECT
SONG so we can come tour Europe!
Christine Parastatidou
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