Glaswegian technical deathcore merchants From Sorrow To Serenity have been blazing up and down the UK following the release of their debut album Remnant Of Humanity with established acts such as No Sin Evades His Gaze and Fit For An Autopsy. We caught up with vocalist Gaz King and guitarist Steven Jones at Tech-Fest to find out more.
How was your set?
Gaz: Good man, absolutely amazing.
This is your second time here at Tech-Fest, how did it compare to last time?
Steven: The improvement in scale was huge. The audience was fantastic, it was a lot of fun.
Remnant of Humanity came out in March, you’d been sitting with the material for a long time, how’s the response been and how do you feel about it now?
S: The response has been great, we’re really happy with the album and what we managed to achieve with it and now we’re just focussed on what comes next. Anyone that’s been following us over the last year or so knows that Gaz is our new singer now, and with the album having a new vocalist we really just want to push forward.
New vocals are probably the most notable change to the band since the recording of Remnant of Humanity. Gaz did a guest vocal spot on i9 from the Antithesis EP, was it a no brainer to bring him into the fold?
S: Absolutely yeah I would say so. We all knew he was a great frontman, the way things worked out we couldn’t be happier, I don’t think it could have worked better.
You have three pretty notable guest vocalists on Remnant of Humanity in Scott Kennedy from Bleed From Within, Aaron Matts from Betraying The Martyrs and CJ McMahon from Thy Art Is Murder, how did they all come to be involved?
S: Funnily enough Scott from Bleed From Within, we know him well, that was just a case of saying “we’ve got this bit, we reckon you’d sound sick on it”, and to be honest it was roughly the same with the others, we know Aaron now and we got in touch with CJ about it as well. They were really great to work with, it was really easy and they absolutely nailed their parts.
How do you feel the sound of the band has changed since the Antithesis EP?
S: I think the sound has changed a bit, just trying to go forward – if I was to go back and listen to Antithesis it does sound like a first release. I think that it actually helped us by doing an EP first rather than album because we got to break in the audience and say this is what we sound like whereas the album is more like this is where we’re going. I think the progression has been big, and we’re just going to keep progressing with Gaz on board, and we’ve got a new drummer now – he’s awesome so we’re just going to keep pushing forward.
In terms of establishing your new lineup, do you see yourselves recording any time soon?
G: We’re recording bits and bobs just now, playing with different sounds and stuff like that, I’m really enjoying it, it’s really good recording together.
S: It’s been awesome: we’ve just been demoing some new ideas and things like that. I won’t say we’ve got new material but we’re definitely working on stuff and it sounds great so far.
As you said before, you’re now a four piece. Your ex-guitarist had a great live presence, how have you tackled having fewer focal points in a live setting?
S: That’s actually a great question, it’s funny how it worked out. Without saying there was anything bad about being about being a five piece, I actually feel better now as a four piece.
G: So much more room in the van.
S: Even in terms of stage space, and the tightness of our performance has improved, we’re all on the same page, it feels like we’re connected. I’m not worried about Gaz, Andy or Ian messing up, and in terms of sound we’ve done a couple of things to make sure we don’t lose out on the sound of a five piece including backing tracks and a couple of bits and bobs to do with my rig.
You did the Illusive music video with David McCourt and it’s pretty cinematic. How important do you think it is for bands to release music videos that are more than just them playing in a room together?
G: I dunno man, I think that video is absolutely amazing. So much must have went into it.
S: Yeah it was hard work, lots of props and costumes. We had the idea for it about 6-7 months before actually filming it. Once we decided we were going to film it we set a date, and we had a month to get everything together. But to answer your question, I don’t (think it’s important), it’s up to you. We had a message we wanted to send and we thought “let’s do something a bit different”, but there are plenty of bands whose music videos are just them playing and that’s cool, but at the same time I think it’s good to have some substance.
This is Tech-Fest’s biggest year, what separates a festival show like this from a normal show?
S: In terms of the UK, we haven’t played Download or anything like that, so this is the only festival experience we have, and really it’s just the scale of everything is much bigger. Even last night in Sheffield with Fit For An Autopsy, it was almost like a function room, there was still a 100 kids crammed in this room, but you come out here and there’s 200 folk watching you. The organisation as well, everything runs on time – it’s a great experience, well run.
How important do you think Tech-Fest is in terms of sustaining a community within the scene?
S: Personally I think Tech-Fest being a thing separates tech metal sets it apart from any other community. In terms of metalcore, you don’t have a designated metalcore fest in the UK, deathcore is the same, whereas tech fest there are guys here saying “we love this kind of metal, we’re going to put on a big event and loads of people are going to show up”, and that’s an awesome thing.
We couldn’t agree more – thanks for chatting to us guys!
Interview by: Josh Graham
