by Vpower
The Band: Cruthu
Country: United States
Answers
by: Matt
Fry (drums); Dan McCormick (guitars); Ryan Evans (vocals)
CRUTHU is the Gaelic word for Creation. They
found the right name for the band and the rest was flowing into a traditional
doom with an epic touch and “old style heaviness” which makes it so tasteful.
The signing of Ryan Evans for the position of vocalist completed the circle and
definitely pushed the band forward. So, here they are, delivering their debut
album "The Angle Of Eternity" and already working in their second
full-length, but for now let’s enjoy this very first and firm step.
Hello guys, the band was formed in 2014, Cruthu
you named it… what is the meaning behind it?
(Matt):
When Dan and I started jamming in 2014 we had a vague idea of a direction. The
band developed very organically from there. After writing a couple of songs and
realized that we actually had a band, we started thinking of a name. We wanted
something that portrayed what we were about, but that you didn’t immediately
know what we sounded like just from the name. After a lot of thought we came up
with “Creation”. I liked the retro vibe to it. We realized that there had
already been a band called The Creation. I don’t remember who had the idea, but
someone suggested we find out what “Creation” was in a different language. It
turns out the Gaelic word for creation is cruthu. We immediately liked the
sound of that, and it wasn’t taken. So Cruthu was born.
You are releasing your first full-length
"The Angle Of Eternity", before that you have recorded a demo, right?
(Dan):
Correct, our first full-length titled "The Angle of Eternity" is
seeing an official release through The Church Within Records based in Germany. Prior to that we recorded a three
song demo in early 2014 more or less to archive our sound and progress.
In your new album we find a change in the
vocalist position, and not small, because you have replaced female vocalist
Teri Brown by Ryan Evans, how was it and has it affected your sound?
(Matt): The
vocalist change from Teri to Ryan may have been the most profound the band has
seen. Teri did a great job on the demo, but lyrically, we needed a shift. I met
Ryan at a show he was playing in his other band Seritas and he completely blew
me away. Over the course of time we all became friends. We ran into problems
finishing the vocals for what would be “The Angle of Eternity”. Dan and I asked
each other if we could have anyone to sing on the record, who would it be? We
both said “Ryan Evans”. Turns out he was thinking the same thing and was more
than happy to join the band. He re-wrote the lyrics to the songs which brought
a more cohesive flow. I knew it was the right decision the first time I heard
the recordings with Ryan singing.
"The Angle Of Eternity" includes six
songs, how was the recording process of the album? Any especial challenge
during the sessions?
(Dan): We
recorded the sessions completely in house at our studio we call The Black
Lodge. It provided a familiar atmosphere and gave us complete control over the
process. We tracked everything to analog rather than digital in order to give
it that tape vibe and everything went fairly well. I think the biggest
challenge we had was finding the right vocalist to replace Teri. Instrumentally
the record had been finished and was more or less shelved for about a year
before Ryan brought new life to it.
Doom meets 70’s heavy metal could be a raw
definition of your music?
(Dan):
Absolutely. I started this project with Matt with the intention of playing a
mix of doom and heavy 70's music.
(Ryan):
Thanks! Yes, I think that's a fair and to the point description of our sound.
I think we also find some NWOBHM source,
similar to great bands as Pagan Altar or Witchfinder General, which means a lot
to me personally
(Ryan):
YES! We are all huge fans of both bands, and we take it as a big compliment.
The NWOBHM sound has always been a huge influence on me. It's proven to be as
important to me as doom, and being able to meld the sounds has been really fun
and rewarding.
Doom Metal, as every subgenre nowadays, is
overcrowded with bands around the globe, but actually if you have quality you should stand out sooner or later and this
"The Angle Of Eternity" should go in that direction
(Ryan):
Doom has grown so much in the past few years, and it's really cool to see so
many kinds of doom as well. We haven't seen as many that call themselves
Traditional Doom, which what we call our style of doom, so while we aren't
reinventing the wheel we can manage to stand out a little in such a wide and
varied genre.
(Dan): With
there being so many bands in the Doom genre nowadays, I think it's important to
preserve the music that came before us and pay homage to it. "The Angle of
Eternity" hopefully comes across to the listener as just that and if the
quality of the record stands the test of time than I feel we will stand out in
an ever growing genre.
Any song you are more proud of?
(Ryan): All
of them.
(Dan):
First and foremost I'm proud of this entire record for the effort everyone involved
has put forth. On a more personal level the title track has special meaning and
I'm very proud of the end result.
Clearly based on the doom land, will you keep
this way or you are a band prone to changes or variations in your sound?
(Matt): We
all have pretty diverse tastes in music in the sense that we don’t just listen
to doom, and I think that inevitably some different influences will creep into
the sound. I am proud to say that I play in a doom metal band, but I don’t
think any of us feels restricted by the style. I feel like as we grow as a band
and continue to write, the songs will only get better and more varied.
(Dan):
We're currently writing for our next release and there's already a progression
in sound. Ryan is now part of that process from the start so we're already
hearing our sound evolve.
(Ryan): The
upcoming album may be more NWOBHM than AOE, but we will always keep our doom
roots.
Awesome news. What are the lyrics about?
(Ryan):
Most of my lyrics are based in the worlds of the books I enjoy, authors like
Poe, de Maupassant, Lovecraft, and Bradbury as well as horror and gothic horror
themes.
The artwork by Dan McDonald Studios with its
grim style really fits your music…
(Ryan):
I've loved the cover art from the first time I saw it, I think it fits
perfectly.
(Dan): Yes,
Dan McDonald did a fantastic piece for the record. Our original bassist Scott
Lehman worked on the art concept with Dan whom he had known growing up. Scott
shared some of his art with us and we felt confident in working with him. He's
created a sketch of the cover before painting it. I'm amazed at how well it
complements our sound. He's an amazing artist and I encourage you to check out
his work.
We only find a guitar in the band and no
keyboard, enough for the gigs?
(Dan): We
used the bass pedals from an old Conn organ on part of the record but
otherwise we haven't really experimented too much with keys. The live shows
have always been just guitar, bass, drums and vocals so I haven't really seen a
need for them yet.
(Matt):
Technically there is no keyboard player in the band and the songs aren’t
missing anything when we play them live. We wouldn’t be against adding keys in
the future, but for now we haven’t really needed them.
Talking about gigs, something programmed?
(Dan):
Right now we've been rather active playing shows locally and in the region
while writing in between. We've been discussing planning some touring in the
near future following the release of our record and would like to focus more on
that in the upcoming year. If the opportunity to play Europe or other markets outside of the
states presents itself we're going to do our best to accommodate it.
It will eventually happen for sure. Thank you
very much for you time guys, if you wish to add something…
(Cruthu):
Thanks for taking the time to interview us and we appreciate you all in the
world of Doom and Metal. Special thanks to Oliver Richling at The Church Within
Records for taking us to the next dimension!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario