We recently covered Echelon’s excellent new album Vivito! Creato! Moritor! (read our review here), so we took the opportunity to catch up with the band and ask them a few questions. Check out what we asked below.
Could you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band?
Φ.Ω.: We are an avantgarde black metal band from Austria.
Δ.Ρ.: 5 guys and we’ve been making music for a decade now…
Π.Σ.: We tried to forge our thoughts into music and founded the band in 2013.
Φ.Ω.: We distillated our thoughts and out of this created our debut LP
Δ.Ρ.: Vivito! Creato! Moritor! which was released on January via Gravity Entertainment.
So 2014 has just begun – what’s in store for this year when it comes to Echelon?
Τ.Φ.: Our first LP was released and we are heading for the release of our third music video.
Δ.Ρ.: A Video which is a prequel to Tod Und Teufel.
M.X.: The whole concept of the LP gets another facet to its complex story.
Φ.Ω.: However, the concept is explained with a lot of details on our homepage anyway.
M.X.: One article per song, just to briefly formulate our thoughts and to give a better insight on everything.
Π.Σ.: And at one point in 2014 we will definitely be starting to work on a new album.
Τ.Φ.: Just to summarise, a new video will be released, we are going to play a lot of live gigs and we also start to work on new material.
What went well about 2013?
Δ.Ρ.: That we found our musical centre.
Π.Σ.: Maybe a bit too generalized but I think it: actually everything.
M.X.: Founding of the band, recordings, concerts, label, homepage…everything went exceptionally well.
Φ.Ω.: Yeah, the founding of the band…the most crucial part.
Τ.Φ.: Gravity Entertainment becoming our label was a wonderful moment.
Π.Σ.: Yeah, a real lucky find.
Δ.Ρ.: And with Cursed Records we have another incredible partner concerning our merch.
M.X.: We can say that the last half-year was awesome concerning the band as well as for us personally.
And what perhaps didn’t go to plan?
Τ.Φ.: To be honest, we are no real pessimists.
Φ.Ω.: If there is something not working accordingly to the plan, we just change the plan.
Δ.Ρ.: Adjust the parameters and start over with the realization.
M.X.: I think this could be the reason why we do not remember stuff that didn’t go well.
Î .Σ.: The maxim is: If something isn’t working, change it
Δ.Ρ.: If I remember really, really hard, there were some little issues that delayed the recordings.
Φ.Ω.: But nothing worth mentioning.
Where do you see the band at this time next year?
Φ.Ω.: After one hell of a concert season we are going to write new songs.
Τ.Φ.: Maybe even in the studio.
M.X.: Or maybe even released?
Π.Σ.: We are not a bunch of slowpokes.
Δ.Ρ.: We are constantly working on ideas and concepts.
M.X.: I think we will have finished an intense process of working.
Φ.Ω.: Who knows what topics will be next!
Τ.Φ.: A selection is already made.
M.X.: You can’t wait for inspiration.
Δ.Ρ.: The amateur waits for it and the professional gets it done.
Î .Σ.: To answer the question: We don’t know it yet but we will definitely conquer new fields.
Δ.Ρ.: A new geography of the musical globe we just try to discover and map.
You recently released your debut album Vivito! Creato! Moritor! – what was the writing and the recording process like for it?
M.X.: To quote Orwell: Like a boot kicking your face…
Δ.Ρ.: again…
Î .Σ.: and again…
Φ.Ω.: But though really educational for each and everyone of us.
Τ.Φ.: Not only musically but also on a personal level.
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, but it took us a long time from the idea to the finished concept.
Π.Σ.: 3 years of changes, start overs, and rewriting.
M.X.: A walk on the edge.
Δ.Ρ.: On the edge of a deep, black hole…
Τ.Φ.: Which is constantly digged by humanity.
Φ.Ω.: A trip into the minds of those who painted war…
M.X.: Those who suffered through it…
Δ.Ρ.: Died…
Π.Σ.: And survived.
Were there any songs that were more of a challenge to complete?
Î .Σ.: There was one song, I can’t remember which one it was, but I was drunk on the previous evening and so the recording was somehow…interesting.
M.X.: Yeah I remember when you rushed out of the studio!
Π.Σ.: Not that it was the song.
M.X.: I think it was Strappado, the last song for that day.
Π.Σ.: Aye, I just had a few over the limit and it came the moment when my stomach just said no.
Φ.Ω.: I think this was not the direction the question was heading to!
Δ.Ρ.: I don’t think so as well, haha!
Τ.Φ.: For me it was Totengeigen because I had to change the whole lyrics of the song shortly before the recording.
M.X.: We just rearranged the track during our studio session and added a few parts, therefore the old lyrics where sort of inappropriate.
Δ.Ρ.: Not rhythmically correct anymore.
Φ.Ω.: I had a rough time on Vor Mir Türmen Sich Die Scherben.
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, there are songs which work a hundred times without a problem.
Î .Σ.: And when it is time to focus…you vomit.
M.X.: May be true.
Τ.Φ.: All in all, everything went perfectly well, also due to the work of our sound engineer Richi.
M.X.: An exceptional guitarist and head of Thytopia but also an excellent sound engineer.
Which one are you most proud of?
Τ.Φ.: Des Teufels Bluthund maybe?
M.X.: Tough…I thought of Strappado.
Τ.Φ.: Des Teufels Bluthund contains nearly every facet of the album.
Φ.Ω.: So this would be the song that best describes the album?
Τ.Φ.: I’d say so.
Δ.Ρ.: I would not boil the LP down to one single song…
Φ.Ω.: Der Krieg In Mir could do it in my opinion, but it is really tough.
Π.Σ.: The songs follow each other and belong to each other.
M.X.: To take a look on single songs does not really make sense.
Δ.Ρ.: We can say that we agree to disagree.
Τ.Φ.: But we are proud of the interplay of each component.
How would you describe your live show to someone who hasn’t seen you yet?
Φ.Ω.: We enter the stage.
M.X.: Everything has its beginning.
Δ.Ρ.: The murmur of the people stops and the light gets dull, blue…
Π.Σ.: Fog, a voice accompanied by violins and violas.
Τ.Φ.: On the right side the guitar starts.
Φ.Ω.: It smacks into the faces.
Δ.Ρ.: Time is only relative anymore.
M.X.: Everything tastes like copper, blood…there is ebb and flow.
Î .Σ.: The silence breaks everything again…and again music cuts the flesh.
Τ.Φ.: Harmony hunts disharmony.
M.X.: Stamping, forward…forward…
Δ.Ρ.: The guitar on the left fades out, after a musical earthquake.
Π.Σ.: Words and phrases break the silence again.
M.X.: Last act…curtain falls…
Τ.Φ.: Time to reflect the seen.
What would you say the best show you’ve played has been?
Τ.Φ.: Winterschlacht Vienna on 11.01.
Φ.Ω.: The gig was really awesome.
Π.Σ.: Club Wakuum in Graz was also very nice.
Δ.Ρ.: Or Bergwerk Millstadt.
Τ.Φ.: Viper Room in Vienna.
M.X.: Yeah, it was good as well.
Φ.Ω.: All gigs went well.
M.X.: And Judenburg with The Last Warning.
Δ.Ρ.: But actually it doesn’t matter where you are playing.
Τ.Φ.: As long as you play every gig with the same passion and make it special for you and the audience.
Π.Σ.: Exactly, as long as you give 100% for the audience.
Any interesting gig stories?
Φ.Ω.: After each gig we tend to party with the audience!
M.X.: Support Julia who is our angel on the merch.
Δ.Ρ.: Talk to people who are in the location.
Π.Σ.: What is really important to us, I think already a lot has been said.
Τ.Φ.: But as the clock keeps ticking, during late hours we tend to forget.
M.X.: Only our humming head is what is left.
Δ.Ρ.: In Vienna during the Winterschlacht Peter Schön, an exceptional black and white photographer took photos of our gig.
Φ.Ω.: It was also special for him, because he’d never took pictures of a band before.
M.X.: Only landscapes and people during their daily routine.
Π.Σ.: He was also priced for his pictures 4 times.
Δ.Ρ.: But this was new for him.
Τ.Φ.: So, maybe an interesting gig story for the photographer.
If you could collaborate with another band or musician, who would it be?
Δ.Ρ.: With the people from Our Survival Depends On Us, I think this would be an interesting combination.
M.X.: With a big band.
Î .Σ.: With a saxophonist…
Τ.Φ.: Yeah, something that would not fit to us on a superficial level.
Φ.Ω.: Something that challenges.
And if you could get another band to cover one of your songs, who would it be and what song?
Φ.Ω.: If someone choses to cover one of our songs it would be a great honour.
Τ.Φ.: A knightly accolade.
Δ.Ρ.: If I could choose one it would be Kraftwerk.
M.X.: Kraftwerk?
Δ.Ρ.: Yeah, it would be interesting to see what they could make out of one of our songs…
Π.Σ.: Deathspell Omega and the song Der Baum der Gehängten.
Φ.Ω.: A song which could not be further away from this bands style.
Π.Σ.: And this is what makes it interesting!
And finally – if Echelon could put their name to any product what would it be?
Τ.Φ.: Leatherman.
Π.Σ.: All in one and with a sharp blade.
Τ.Φ.: Exactly.
M.X.: I’d say pen and paper…
Φ.Ω.: Whatever you make with it, it is in your hands.
Δ.Ρ.: It depends on yourself.
Τ.Φ.: Fits too.
Π.Σ.: Absolutely.
