If you love expansive, atmospheric post-hardcore then you need to turn your attention to French quintet Fall of Messiah, who recently released their fourth studio album S E N I C A R N E through Holy Roar Records. We caught up with guitarist Ben Defer to find out more, including his first musical memory, the band’s ambitions and why you might be surprised by their live show.
Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your band.
Hi! I’m Ben and I play guitar in Fall Of Messiah. We are a post-hardcore band from Saint-Jans-Cappel (Northern France) and we just released our new album S E N I C A R N E on Holy Roar Records.
How did the band form and how long have you been together?
The band was formed through the friendship of Matthieu, Sylvain, Pierre and Martin who are all from Saint- Jans-Cappel and I joined seven years ago. FOM released their first EP (How To Build A Chariot) in 2007, but they had been playing music together since 2005.
Can you remember the first time you realised you wanted to make music?
Personally I would say the first time I saw Slipknot‘s Disasterpiece live. Immediately I wanted to be a drummer and I ended up many, many years later playing guitar, at first in a Ska band (ahah) and later in different hardcore bands.
Who and what are the band’s main influences?
I think we would all have different answers, but I can safely say that Thrice, Pianos Become The Teeth, Envy, Birds In Row and Rolo Tomassi are definitely in our main influences.
What do you aim to achieve as a band?
Definitely getting better at what we do. By that I mean that S E N I C A R N E is by far the release that we’ve put most of ourselves into, and we definitely don’t know what direction the next LP will take, but we want to be proud of what we do.
For those who are yet to see you live, what can they expect from a Fall of Messiah show?
I would say do not expect to see a post-rock show because we are all hardcore fans, especially for the energy on stage. A friend of us once described us as “Mogwai played by hardcore kids”. We try to give everything we’ve got on stage no matter what the venue is.
What’s next for Fall of Messiah?
Finding a way to tour and to do live shows safely, to present S E N I C A R N E in Europe and the UK (or anywhere else). We love to be on tour as much as we can, we love to play in new places, make new friends, find new bands, and spend time together.
Fall of Messiah‘s new album S E N I C A R N E is out now via Holy Roar Records, available to stream or purchase HERE.
