Orbital Soul System Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?

I've been interested in cosmic music for a long time. Since I've heard Arcturus "Sham mirrors" and Samael 'Eternal' (still my favourite cosmic metal album) I was trying to find some more space metal albums. There were not so many of them and the balance of guitars and synths was not the one I was trying to find. After some years playing in different bands as a guitarist (Rakoth is the one that should be mentioned) I decided to start creating the cosmic music I'd like to hear all this time. So I left Rakoth in 2008 and started my cosmic metal project. It was supposed to be only studio one-man band (as it is still nowadays), so I had to learn to play bass, work with synths (I don't use virtual synths, only real ones) to perform vocals and many other... The demo of two songs (Into the sun and Eternal voyage) was done in 2010, the process went slow and the album was recorded only in 2017. 

2.A few months back you also released an album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

It's hard to describe clearly. It's a mix of black, doom,death and modern metal from my opinion. Maybe with some ambient parts. I must say that it became a problem on particular moment with the promotion because it is not so 'doom' for doom-metal fans, not so 'black' for black metal fans etc. The thoughts about this point  for the second album seem to be scary for me :) But there will be more black metal parts definitely.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the newer album?

To tell the truth all the the lyrics has been written in one day, so I didn't achieve the lyrical level I'd like to. Some of songs describe inner thoughts and human's self-contemplation (Into the sun, The path, Hollow), the title song "Eternal voyage" describes the thoughts of a space rescue boat lost in the deep space. Someday I will definitely make a concept-oriented album.

4.You also had a solo project a few years ago called 'Orbital Dawn', is 'Orbital Soul System' a continuation of your previous project?

Yes. Orbital Soul System is a rebranding of Orbital Dawn. The album was recorded in 2017 but didn't get a good mixing and mastering. So it was half-released as a demo-album of Orbital Dawn project. My brother Alex Zalessky started to study sound engineering and in 2020 he asked me to give him my tracks to see if he could do some good sound for the album. And the result was very cool (I must say that the recording in 2017 was not performed very correct for great mixing) so I decided to release the album now.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Orbital Soul System'?

The meaning is the question of similarity between human soul and universe. And I like the sounding of "Orbital" word :)

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

The artwork was made by MOSAEYE ART&DESIGN. The idea was mine, I would like to place the image of the rescue boat from the title song. So it came that way. A damaged space ship doomed to eternal wandering in the universe...

7.With this project you record everything by yourself but have experience working with a full line up in a previous band, how would you compare the two?

It was fun and interesting to play in a band but the current format of working on music is as convenient as possible for me. I feel free to make what I want and when I want, to experiment as much as necessary. The only negative thing is the lack of opportunity to play live shows. So I would like to stay alone in music creating  but taking some session musicians for live shows in the future is possible.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I would like to get signed on a label really able to bring my music to more listeners. So I'm interested in labels with really good promotion. I didn't really try enough to get signed with the debut album, we'll see if my second album will arouse some interest from such labels. If not- ok, I'll stay independent.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal?

The reaction is quite good. Many people really like the album. Some of them didn't like the sound but tastes differ, many people say that the sound is very good. I like the sound of this album because it's really heavy and not so unpolished as it used to be on plenty of modern records. Many of them notice the real COSMIC spirit and the originality.

10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

I hope to create some music that will outlive the creator. The music that will become something special for some people.  Maybe I'll make another project to play electronic music parallel to Orbital Some System in future.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Too many of them. Some music can be influential for you even if you are not huge fan of it. As some really influential bands I should name Arcturus, Ulver (great fan of synth-pop Ulver, hehe), Emperor (Anthems and Eclipse), Bad Sector, Pink Floyd, Theatre of tragedy, Soilwork (Peter Wichers), Mayhem, Samael, Meshuggah, Scream Silence, Covenant (swedish synth-pop band), Royksopp. I'm listening to plenty of bands nowadays. From late Bring me the horizon to Atrium Carceri and Rome. There are many interesting bands and styles, it's bad if you are caged just in 5 styles... As for black metal: 90's and 00's bands plus some modern bands as Raventale, Darkspace...

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Be really thinking, feeling and strong ones.  

https://orbitalsoulsystem.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Orbitalsoulsystemofficial/
https://open.spotify.com/album/6GAd8pgJ30hpR7A3PCPCzY