Order of Orias are procurers of their own destiny. Two years after their first material came-to-light, formed through a series of rough cuts, this Australian quintet placed themselves in the path of World Terror Committee productions with the hope of gaining an ear.
Their moment of whim came to fruition as the iconic German-based label took up their call, laced with the blackened brush of defining new material.
Shortly after the release of debut LP, Inverse, CVLT Nation chats with bassist Robert Prain….
CVLT: Why do you think World Terror Committee were drawn to you on this level?
PRAIN: “On our earlier releases, apart from the fact they weren’t as well written, the material’s lack of maturity made it hard to get our music out to a broader audience. Once we sent this album to W.T.C, which was a real shot-in-the-dark because they had canned releasing any new bands at the time, they heard it and signed us straight away. Bit of a shock, because they said we were going to be the last band they sign. Since then, they’ve been really supportive. We did most of the recording ourselves and the label helped out with everything else. We were able to get exactly what we wanted really, in terms of the artwork, product and sound. If it wasn’t for the label, I don’t know how the album would have gone on. We couldn’t have asked for anything better for an underground band.”
CVLT: This release took on a very D.I.Y approach, with a majority of the album recorded from a home base. Why did the band choose this approach, over studio time, for your debut?
PRAIN: “We did the drums from a studio base in Melbourne, but everything else was recorded using gear at Dave’s place. We definitely weren’t rushed, as far as studio time and cost was concerned. Which meant we could really focus on the playing and achieving the sound we wanted, without rushing through things.
“Also, in terms of writing, it was very different from the usual for us. Early on both Grant (Hamono; guitar) and Dave (Adelberg; guitar) wrote most of our music, but with Inverse Dave just sat down in his room and laid a majority of it down. When he brought it to the table, we found we actually didn’t have to add too much – just fleshed it out a bit. It was good, because we followed the concept of not having too many cooks in the kitchen kind of thing. The result was we had a lot more clarity in our songwriting, rather than jumping all over the place with different styles. Which was exactly what happened on our demo (Offering, 2009) and EP (Birth, 2009) – which is still yet to officially be released.”
CVLT: Adelberg also took on mixing duties for Inverse. Who else was brought in to help create the immense sound on this release?
PRAIN: “Dave was joined with sound engineer Colin Spencer – actually Anthony’s (Spencer; vocals) dad – with the German Peter In De Betou from Tailor Maid Production behind the mastering. He did the Secrets Of The Moon last album, Privilegivm (2009). We really loved the sound of that album had. So we got in contact with them and World Terror Committee was quite happy to foot the bill for us.”
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Ash-and-Sparks-1.mp3|titles=Ash and Sparks-1]
CVLT: You spoke of a newfound maturity in the songwriting department. Why was there a push for the band to have a wiser approach to the new material?
PRAIN: “Our earlier stuff was all over the place. It didn’t reflect songwriting we admire. Those which have a great structure and a journey behind them. This album does that, I think.”
CVLT: The material draws inspiration from movie soundtrack composers like Clint Mansell, James Newton Howard, and Marco Beltrami. How has this played a part in developing the more grandiose aspects of the album?
PRAIN: “Dave’s musical taste ventures into quite a lot of soundtrack music. Some of the more dynamic parts of the album draw on that. Connecting the dark moodiness to the chaos. There are plenty of other bands that do their blasting non-stop, which is kind of cool to a point, but it does get a bit boring. Whereas, we still listen to the album on a regular basis ourselves and we still enjoy it.
“We also took the opportunity to slow everything down. This album is the first time we’ve done that. The whole effect evokes an oppressive feeling throughout, weaving between doom and the extreme.”
CVLT: Lyrically, the album takes an overwhelming nod towards transcendence. How does Inverse strive to look for the positive, despite being shrouded in more oppressive themes?
PRAIN: “Each member of the band has their own beliefs and ideologies about existence. But Inverse is about personal ascension; where each of us wants to go in life and how each of us tries to achieve that. Whether it be through spiritual or physical actions. As Anthony is the man behind the lyrics though, there is also an gnostic element and references to scripture behind it all. Though this isn’t to the extent that some other bands do.”
Inverse is out now through World Terror Committee.
New Comments