When I was a young lad, just saying heavy metal was enough to know what kind of music I was into.
Nowadays, there are more metal sub-genres than I could ever personally name.
So, this term, progressive metal came to be. Well, when you look back at the founders of Heavy Metal, weren't they already progressive?
Tony Iommi would play more riffs than anyone could count before you blinked! Look at Steve Harris and Adrian Smith...those two riffed out like nobody's business. Metallica went more progressive on their second album.
I guess I don't like this term, but I do love the music. Today we hear from Unleashed The Archers on the eve of their new album and tour....
Glacially Musical: I like to start off with just general housekeeping. Tell me about how the band
started?
Unleash The Archers: It all began in late 2007.
The band that Scott (drums) and Brayden (former guitar) were playing in had ended so I approached them with the idea of starting something new with myself as the vocalist.
They both were enthusiastic about it so we started writing music together…
We found another guitar player and our bass player on the interwebs and played our first show in May 2008!
After that it moved pretty quickly, we released a self-titled demo at the end of 2008 and then our first full length in 2009 and toured Canada tons and eventually North America and just kept working our asses off to build a fan base! We actually have a Wikipedia page now that goes through it all, which I thought was pretty cool! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unleash_the_Archers_(band)
GM: What about influences?
UTA: Personally I am very much inspired by Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson specifically, as well as Daniel Heiman from Lost Horizon, and Rob Halford, Matt Barlow, Jonas Heidgert, Geoff Tate and Kai Hansen.
As a band we draw our influences from all over the place; lots of Maiden and Lost Horizon, but also a little Devin Townsend and Soilwork and Dragonland and so many others…
We never limit ourselves with specific genres or styles.
GM: Your songs are so huge and diverse. I can't understand sitting down and writing one of those epics. Do you start with a piece here and piece there and put it together like a puzzle?
UTA: The songwriting process is very much a democratic one, so each of us has a say in all the parts and what the end result will be.
Often Andrew or Grant will come up with a riff or the better part of a song and we will all jam it out together; decide what stays and what goes, where certain parts will lead next, what kind of feeling we are trying to inspire.
Songs like Dreamcrusher and Frozen Steel just kind of wrote themselves… The riffage just flowed and we let it take us where it wanted to go ;)
GM: When will you start touring this record?
UTA: In September!
We will be touring through the Eastern US and Canada, as well as hitting some central cities. Then in spring we are planning on heading over to Europe, but nothing is solid at the moment.
We would love to get down to South America and into Asia as well, but that’s farther down the road I think. Next year we’ll probably hit up the western US again as well, because we toured there last year but without the new record.
We made quite a few friends on that tour so can’t wait to hang out with them and share the stage with some of the rad bands we met!
GM: Is it hard to be metal in British Columbia? But seriously, how does the Canadian metal scene
compare to the American one?
UTA: The Canadian metal scene is very tight knit; most of the bands all know one another and have
probably played at least one show together at some time or another.
It’s not hard to be metal hahaha, it’s just hard to be noticed. You really have to work hard.
You’ve got to be ready for those 18 hour drives between each main city and you need to have the ambition to tour as much as you possibly can.
We started by building a solid Canadian fan base and they are so amazing and so supportive and we would be nowhere without them. It’s seems easier to tour in the US, so many cities all so close together with huge populations!
In Canada even after you drive forever you still only end up at a city with 500,000 people in it… I think US bands might have an easier time of touring but the market is definitely flooded, so the competition is more intense.
GM: Did it feel any different recording with this lineup compared to previous ones?
UTA: Oh yeah, Brayden was always the one that kind of had the eagle eye on everything.
He knew what was supposed to happen when and he would keep us all in check. Without him we were kind of scattered and disorganized, but we got the hang of it and sorted it out in the end.
He’s very disciplined, so without him when we got into the studio it was like wooo party time haha.
Let’s just drink and hang out which was really not good for the old bank roll hahaha…
So we reigned it in and got down to business; we had to learn how to do it without him very quickly.
Performance wise, he was actually the one that recorded my vocals so it was just like it always has been, only better, because he had an objective opinion on everything and pushed me to do my best.
We’ve always worked really well together, but to be honest I think a lot of why the record sounds like it does was thanks to him.
Even though he’s not in the actual band he will always have a place with us!
GM: I'm hoping I see you guys here in St. Louis soon. Is there anything else we should know?
UTA: Well we might just be booking a show there as we speak…
According to the way the tour schedule is shaping up we’ll probably be coming through around the 5th or 6th of October, if all goes as planned!
Would love to meet in person so please come say hi! And anyone else that reads this; we never hide backstage so don’t be afraid to come introduce yourself and have a chat
Other than that, hit us up on facebook if you have any questions, and check out our newest music
video if you get a chance! That’s about it I guess!
Facebook Link
Youtube Channel
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