Country: Italy
Misteyes is an
Italian band, it's curious because they are like a big family, seven members, and
because their music has seen a constant evolution from their beginnings and
they still leave the door open to new influences. Although formed in 2012 they
have already many things to tell.
Hello guys, let’s
start talking a little about the history of the band. Misteyes was at the
beginning a black/death metal band. But you have changed your style recently,
how was it?
Hi! Yes, the project
started with a black/death metal sound, even if it already had more melodic
influences. The change was quite natural. We were satisfied with the
compositions talking about the extreme part of our music, but we wanted also
the explore more the melodic and symphonic part of our sound and we could do it
only adding a proper keyboard player (before the guitarist Insanus took care
also of some keyboard parts) and clean vocals.
So, I guess there is
a big difference between your single “Brains in a Vat” (2013) and your new
album “Creeping Time, right?
Yes and no. In "Creeping Time" we added many
influences (especially gothic and symphonic elements) but without refusing the
old extreme sound that is kept also after "Brains In A Vat". Moreover
we are a very varied band, with different songs from ballads to heavy songs, so
in "Brains In A Vat" we were very limited for the line-up but also
because it was only a single. On the contrary, we had all the space we needed
to express ourselves with a full-length album like "Creeping Time".
What has been the
contribution of new members Hyde (keys) and Ainwen (vocals) to the new approach
of Misteyes?
It was really essential. Hyde (a part from being a great
keyboard player) is a great musician and helped a lot for the composition and
above all for the arrangements of the songs. Ainwen is a very talented singer
with a personal timbre, but she is also very good in using many different
styles (clean, opera, etc...), so for her it was easy to adapt to the different
songs and, at the same time, she always added a touch that then became a real
trademark of the band.
Italy is a country
with a long tradition in Metal, moreover Italian dealers are reknown for their
ability to sell whatever they wish to anyone at any price hahaha. So, in your
Metal style what part is more important, the commercial side or the
aggressiveness of traditional Metal?
Our music is based on opposites and contrast and even in
this particular case, we can say that both sides are part of our music. We
surely don't play a very traditional metal, the melodic and
"commercial" part of our music is very important. At the same time we
surely didn't refuse our black/death origins and you'll find many "more
traditional" kind of influences with their aggressiveness still present in
our latest works.
Well, talking about
your first full-length, “Creeping Time”, how long did you work on it?
It took a lot of time of work. Basically right after the
release of "Brains In A Vat" in 2013 we started the composition of
the songs but we hadn't a real plan for the future. When Hyde and Ainwen joined
the band, we realized that we had a lot of good material, enough for a proper
album. So, for all the time in 2014 e 2015 we firstly started working on the
songs and the arrangements, then the recordings in the studio and the work was
completely finished only at the very end of 2015.
Yes, it's true, it's not always easy to get an agreement
with seven people in the band. However, the fact that everyone of us has very
different ideas and musical tastes and that everyone can express it within our
music, we think it's our strong point and that adds a lot of variety and
personality to the band.
If you had to choose,
which is the most important element in your music: voices, guitars, keyborads,
...? Because you play in many different fields...
It's really impossible to answer this question for our band!
There is no a primary element or one that is more important. No element is
great enough alone, but it's the collaboration between all them that is the
strength for us. We can say that the most important element is the cooperation
of the single parts!
One of the things
that has surprised me more is your versatility. For example, we get a track as
Creeping Time with a clear symphonic style and others as Brains in a Vat or The
Prey more in the death metal side
Yes, it's true! We try to have a versatile and varied sound,
in order to explore all our influences. We play what we like and we like both
brutality and melody, in any case we think we have some trademarks that unite
all the songs that make them recognizable. On the other hand, this variety is
also due to the fact that this is our first album and we are still searching
for our sound, so we explored many possibilities. Now, for the future material,
we are working to make the sound more homogenous, without losing our influences
and originality.
What are your
favorite songs in the album and those more demanded by the fans in your gigs?
For us it's really
difficult to choose within our creations, however there are songs like
"The Prey" that we like particularly and we have a lot of fun playing
live. On the other hand, during our live shows we saw that the song
"Inside The Golden Cage" is really appreciated while other longer
songs like "Winter's Judgment" are more suited to be listened on CD.
Talking about gigs,
how true are your shows compared to the studio sound? because some of the songs
seem not that easy to play live...
We worked a lot in
order to play the song live the more similar possible to the cd. It was not
easy, but with the help of some pre-recorded sequences (for some orchestral and
choir parts) we are satisfied with the result, having a sound really comparable
to the cd with all the arrangements, but without losing the impact and power of
the live show.
What are the lyrics
about in your album “Creeping Time”?
All our lyrics are mainly about introspective and
philosophical considerations about the human nature. In this album most of the
lyrics are related to the theme of time and we chose the title "Creeping
Time" for this reason.
What bands have
influenced your sound more deeply?
There are many bands
that influences us. On the extreme side of our music we can talk about bands
like Dark Tranquillity, Death, Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir, while for the
symphonic influences band like Epica, After Forever, Kamelot and Therion. But
we have also inspiration from different sub-genres like progressive/avantgarde
(Arcturus, Unexpect, ...) or doom (Draconian, Candlemass, Katatonia, Anathema,
...) and we noticed that on many reviews some of our atmospheres are compared
to the ones of King Diamond.
A wide range, indeed.
Misteyes is a band from the region of Piedmont, so how do you see the Italian
scene nowadays?
Well, this is an hard question! We have a great culture
especially in the underground scene, with a lot of bands and also some very
good ones! But, as we sometimes tell, here there are more metal bands than
metalheads! Not many people support the new emerging bands, so we don't have
the same possibilities as in other countries. In any case, we are strong and in
the years some Italian bands succeeded to obtain international exposure like Lacuna
Coil, Rhapsody or, more recently Fleshgod Apocalypse. As we are not having much
support from our country, we really invite metalheads abroad to looking for
Italian bands, in every sub-genre! There are really talented bands here ready
to be discovered!
Do you have any
touring plans for this 2016?
No, we have not planned a proper tour for 2016. We are
having some single shows to promote our first album in Italy and we hope to
bring our music also outside of Italy in 2017!
Finally, how can the
fan, from anywhere in the world, get a copy of your new album?
Sure, if you want a
physical copy of the album you can check our webstore (http://misteyes.bigcartel.com ) or
simply asking directly to us on our fb page or with an email to misteyes.band@live.com . If you want
to download the digital version, you can check this links: Bandcamp: https://misteyes.bandcamp.com/releases
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/misteyes
Thank you very much for your time, we wish you
a big success!
Thanks to you for this space!
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