1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Vince : The first album has been released on September 2018, that's the moment when we started to prepare the future live version of this record, it was fun. Actually this project started in studio, we enjoyed playing the songs live, it sounded a bit different, the sound started to change already. From the 1st March 2019 until the lock down we played over 25 shows, it was great, we met a lot of great people who invited us, we are very grateful. At the early beginning of the fall we started to compose the upcoming album « Quietude Hostile » which was recorded in the summer of 2020.
2.This March you have a new album coming out, musically how does it differ from your previous release?
Vince : I think this new album is a continuity of the debut album in terms of composition. What differs from the first release is the way we created it. The first album has been made in one week, this one took us a year. We spend some time to « mock up » the songs in the Lower Tones Place Studio that owns Ed (guitar), where the first album has been made too, we took some time to think about the production, the sound, we tried a lot of recording technics with Ed to build the sound we wanted, then finally recorded the songs. We didn't want to rush any step for this new album. The sound of the band has been matured during the year of gigs and this is what we can hear on « Quietude Hostile ».
Neil : The sound has been a part of the composition very early in the process. It is more organic and this makes a huge difference with the first album.
3.I know that the band's name means 'Ask (to) The Dust' in French, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
Neil : The book of John Fante is a common stepstone for all of us. It's crude tone with it's specific writing rhythm fits in the dark, disillusioned mood that is the main material of our music. It is contemporan, doesn't give any political message, but has a cold gaze upon the human beings and the society.
4.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Neil : The artwork was made by the very talented french photographer Aurélie Raidron. She works with old out-of-date argentic films, and her work fitted perfectly with the color of the album. We wanted to make something different than the painting on the first album, and we are very happy with the result. It is gloomy, undefined, cold and threatening.
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Vince : We had the chance to play on a lot of great shows. I liked the first shows at Nantes and Clermont-Ferrand because, according to me, they changed the way we played this music. It was more brutal, more instinctive. It felt more natural to me. And this is the way I would describe our stage performance, brutal, instinctive, natural.
Neil : We try to give on stage the heavy doom energy that we want our music to give. We are working on new things for the shows to come but we cannot tell anything yet about it ! One of the most crazy shows we've played in is the Arrrgh Kollektiv Fest in Dubaï. Crazy guys in a crazy city ! We feel very grateful for the opportunity we had to play there.
6.The new album is coming out on 'My Kingdom Music', how would you compare with this label to your previous label 'Argonauta Records'?
Neil : We are grateful to Argonauta for the first release, but we had some issues that we won't discuss here. Krys (singer) already worked with My Kingdom Music with his other projects (Omrade, Ophe), and the connexion was easy. Francesco (My Kingdom CEO) is a great guy and does hell of a work with his label, we are very happy to work with him.
7.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, sludge, doom and post metal?
Neil : The reactions on the first album were good, because most fans of those genres are open to a wide range of sounds. We cannot predict how this album will be received though. Time will tell.
8.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future ?
Neil : We are discussing about the next things, but we cannot tell anything for the moment.
9.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Neil : Our influences are very wide, from Mayhem to Neurosis with many influences of past and present scene. For the moment I am listening to Harakiri for the Sky, Ilsa, Bethlehem and Darkthrone.
10.What are some of your non musical interests?
Vince : I'm curious so a lot of things...
Neil : Books, comics and martial arts./
11.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Neil : Thanks to all of you webzines who make the scene alive by spreading the music. We hope that we all come back to normal soon.
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