by Vpower
The Band: Sanhedrin
Country: USA
Answers by:
Erica Stoltz (bass, vocals), Jeremy
Sosville (guitar)
Originally self-released, SANHEDRIN ‘s debut
album “A Funeral For the World” quickly gained recognition and called attention
from Cruz del Sur to release a very especial vinyl version. The trio produced a
self-titled demo in 2015, but it wasn’t until “A Funeral For The World” did the
band come into their own. Learn more about their first album and the things to
come in the near future from these great American band.
Hello guys! On april 27th you are releasing
again "A Funeral For The World", I say again because you presented it
already last year, how was it?
J: We self-released the album in September of
2017, with all aspects of the release being handled by the band. Through the
classic “word-of-mouth” of the underground, there has been a great response and
a lot of support and we decided to partner with Cruz Del Sur so that this
record and our next can reach a wider audience.
Is there any essential difference between your
“selfedition” version and the 2018 version through Cruz del Sur?
J: The Cruz
Del Sur version will be pressed on classic black vinyl, and will have an
embossed version of the original cover art. It will also include a download
card. Our self-release was done in limited quantities on color vinyl and with
simpler outer packaging. We are excited for this new and improved version!
Sanhedrin is a band from Brooklyn with members
from bands as Black Anvil, Lost Goat, etc. Has that influenced your sound or
Sanhedrin is completely a new story for you?
J: Sanhedrin in a new story as you say. While
all 3 of us have past and present involvement in other great bands, what
happens between us in this band is itself unique and special. That said, the
experiences of playing with other people in the past, present and future
certainly enrich the experience of being a member of Sanhedrin.
E: It was
over 10 years between Lost Goat and Sanhedrin. I was playing in a garage band
with that did not require the power of my Ampeg SVT and 8x10 cabinet. When I
dusted it off to play with these guys I was so glad I kept that equipment. The
sound of my rig was perfect with Jeremy’s guitar tone.
A powerful combo. What we are going to find in
your first album "A Funeral For The World" is a huge collection of
classic after classic songs
J: Thanks for the kind review! With this album,
we really found a way to add a collection of songs that each have their own
identity while fitting well as a playlist with one another. We have a variety
of influences as a band and as individuals, and we think the record reflects
that well while maintaining a common thread.
All the songs except one in your 2015 EP are
now included in your debut album, right?
J: All but one song, “Saints and Sinners,” were
re-recorded for the album. The 2015 release was more of a demo than an EP in
our opinion. When we decided to make an album, we decided that 3 of the demo
songs fit well and also deserved the sonic treatment of our engineer Colin
Marston.
I also appreciate that you cover different
styles in your album, from heavy metal, even some darker songs related with
doom or stoner, and also some hard heavy tracks as Massive Deceiver… Where do
you feel more comfortable?
J: We feel comfortable in exploring what we can
get out of our musical partnership. It just so happens that all 3 of us have
very diverse tastes in music, and it converges to hear the many sounds you hear
on our album. Our core is hard rock and heavy metal, and we write music that we
want to hear and play.
E: I’ve
played in a lot of bands and I really appreciate the musical relationship we
have. Its a strong work ethic making for some great song writing. Someone
described us as ‘song based’. I think that is a really good description.
I would even talk of some light progressive
heavy metal a la early Queensrÿche, as in the great songs Faith Healers and No
Religion, which I really love
J: Thanks! I’m personally a huge fan of
Queensryche, so I take that as a compliment. That said, any similarities in our
songs are more subconscious than conscious.
E: I have
never explored Queensryche until people started comparing my vocals in
Sanhedrin to Geoff Tate’s. It is some very cool shit.
Truly the similarity with Tate is fanstastic in
some moments. So, with all that variety one might think that this is kind of
your first approach and you are still defining your style, or this is something
to stay in following records?
J: We are still developing, and will always be
exploring new territory so long as we’re a band. There are a lot of aspects
of the “A Funeral For The World” that
will carry over to future works, but we are also expanding our sound and our
abilities. None of us are interested in remaining stagnant creatively.
Erica Stoltz also plays bass, what was first?
The bass or the singing?
E: I have
been singing my whole life. Bass playing came later.
Sanhedrin’s punch would no be complete without
Jeremy Sosville stellar performance on guitars. Personally, I love the last
solo of the album in Die Trying
J: Thanks! That particular solo has a unique
inspiration actually. For the tone and vibe, I was trying to pay homage to
Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic. He’s incredibly underrated and I have Nathan to
thank for exposing me to him. Of course, the song itself is quite a different
vibe from anything he wrote.
What are the lyrics about in the album? Any
general subjetc?
E: So far I
have written all the lyrics and they range from autobiographical to Sci -Fi
fantasy to how difficult the human condition can be.
The cover artwork has a nineteenth-century air
and opportunely you haven’t change it for the vinyl edition
E: We were
inspired by this piece of iron that I found in France. It was on the ground in a cemetery
where some of my family is buried, a winged hourglass, tempis fugit, time
flies… We wanted the cover to reflect a gravestone for the funeral.
"A Funeral For The World" was
originally released last year, are you preparing songs for a second album? Can
you give us any details?
J: We are currently hard at work on writing the
next album, which we hope to release in the Spring of 2019 on Cruz Del Sur.
Musically, we are building on what we learned from this album out now and we
are quite happy with what we have come up with so far.
Great news. And finally, will we have any
chance to see you defending "A Funeral For The World" through Europe soon?
J: We recently announced that we will be playing
Hell Over Hammaburg in March of 2019. We hope to do some touring around that
same time as well. The record has been very well received in Europe and we definitely want to perform
over there and meet all of our new fans.
E: We want
to play in Spain!
Yeah! \m/