Why did you decide to create the band? Why did you choose the name Aetheric Existence, what does it mean to you?
We always wanted to make music together, (Essentia and Aetheris) and have a friend who is a great drummer that we worked with on our first album before he stepped down. Back in 2016 we jammed some riffs that Aetheris wrote with said drummer and ended up making 2 full songs, “Nameless Graves” and “Unhallowed”. Things shifted, so we decided to take those two songs we wrote and run with it. We had written enough material for an album and decided to produce our first, self titled release, “Aetheric Existence”.
As far as the name, we came up with “Ethereal Existence” originally because we wanted a name that had the contrast between the materialistic and the spiritual/cosmic. We realized that this name was far too close to Carach Angrens song “Ethereal Veiled Existence” although we did not mean to come so close. The name was changed to Aetheric Existence, which we like a lot more, so it all worked out!
Although the band was born in 2016, it was not until 2019 that they released their first album “Aetheric Existence”, what happened in the band in these three years until they had their first album ready? How was the composition and recording process of this first album ?
As I stated before, we did a lot of jamming with a drummer and were not really sure if it was going to go anywhere. We really formed towards the end of 2016, around December so more like 2017. There was a lot of time where Essentia and Aetheris had a lot going on in their lives and didn’t make Aetheric a serious thing until around 2018.
With the arrival of 2021, your second album “H o r r i f i c a” sees the light, what have you changed in the compositional and recording aspect with respect to the previous album? What brand of instruments have you used for the composition and recording of the album?
We decided to write an album that was meant to be one cohesive bundle of songs that really go together. The first album was sort of a stitched together Frankenstien, if you will, of songs. Horrifica was written within maybe 3 months or less and was really meant to be an album of true horror stories. We really focused on the cinematic/creepy sounds with long intros and stories that fit the mood.
As far as branding and equipment, Aetheris uses Schecter Keith Merrow KM-7 MK-II 7-String for 90% of the guitars, A Prs Paul Allender for leads and a Fender Acoustic. Essentia records vocals with a Lewiit LCT 240 Pro and records and programs the orchestra with a Novation Impulse 49 Keyboard. We also use Reaper as our Digital Audio Workstation and a lot of Kontakt Plugins for the orchestral and synth elements in our music.
“H o r r i f i c a” offers a black metal sound, with death elements and also some symphonic touches. How would you define the sound of the album for those who have not heard them yet?
At the end of the day, Aetheric is horror metal to us. We may venture into different avenues of metal such as black, death or symphonic but we really just like those elements in there. We write music to reflect the horror within the stories, to add a sense of edge, urgency, intensity or even vast emptiness. These words are said about the album in the physical album booklet “This is Horrifica, a vile entity of horror:
“We hope to greet your ears with darkness, grief, and visceral visions. The compositions on this album are a collection of stories, some known, some dusted off and others crafted solely for the purpose of this album. The themes stretch from cryptids to classical literature to otherworldly occurrences. You'll never know what kind of story is waiting for you next…”
One of the essential elements of the music is "Horrifica" is related to the terror that it manages to transmit, the whole album has a very successful setting on the musical plane, who were your main influences when defining the sound of the album?
Well, I think it goes without saying that Carach Angren have always been a huge influence on us and definitely on Horrifica, but we try to use different, more traditional elements in our songs to really differentiate ourselves, such as repeating chorus sections, our more North American themes in many songs, and influences from other bands.
Another very careful aspect of your proposal is the theme, offering twelve stories, one for each song in “Horrifica”. How did the idea of working on an album covering twelve horror stories come up? How did you approach the writing of the lyrics? Where did you get the inspiration for these stories?
We did the same on our first, self-titled, album but to not as much of an effect. This time around, we didn't know how many songs we were going to have exactly but we knew we wanted it to be a lot. We wanted it to be over an hour and it's about 1:15:00. It's a long one but it's almost like two parts... Tracks 1-6, and then 7-12, or at least it’s easier to listen that way!
We wrote all the songs very close together in comparison to the writing of the first album. All twelve songs were written within 2 or 3 months of each other and were meant to really fit together. We wanted a very heavy theme of long drawn out intros on Horrifica, and it turned out exactly as such. We only have a couple songs in there that just sort of start, but that more reflects their own stories.
As far as writing goes, the lyrics come after. We write songs instrumentally and as we go we set moods, themes or potential ideas for the songs. Once they are recorded we go back and really settle on solidifying themes, and then add orchestral elements to enhance those themes and write lyrics fitting the story to the riffs and sections of the songs. Sometimes we rearrange songs as the lyrics/vocals are being done to better fit the story, or the other way around, to better fit the song.
The inspiration comes anywhere from classic literature, to cryptids. From urban legends, myths and even just from things we dream up ourselves. We did have some songs that were not set in North America, but a theme on this album was to keep it a bit more “local”. The overall graphical theme of the album is the legend of the Wendigo, which we saw fitting for the theme being North American urban legends. We feel a portion of the songs, however, do really fit stories in other places such as England and France.
Somehow and saving the distances what is offered in your last album can remind you of the work of bands like Carach Angren among others, especially for the way in which you cover and raise the theme of terror, which bands have been an influence for you clear when defining your sound?
Some of our influences include Behemoth, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, and Septic Flesh. We also have a lot of influence from bands such as Trivium, Fit For An Autopsy, Shadow of Intent, and The Black Dahlia Murder. A lot of soundtracks from both films and video games, as well as classical music has influenced us as well.
There are many bands in which themes related to Satanism are totally linked to a style such as black metal, however this is not your case, how important is it for you to be able to treat a theme a bit far from conventionalisms? The music over the lyrics is of the same importance to you, or is there a priority?
To us, both the music and lyrics are equally important. In our case, the music is created first, with an idea of a theme or a story, but the music is ultimately what sets the scene for the story. Sometimes things work perfectly for songs completely by accident as well, and we add to them to even further enhance the story.
Is there the possibility of taking your proposal to a stage? Would it be very difficult to transmit all the intensity and atmosphere of “H o r r i f i c a” live?
It would be a challenge, but not one we aren't willing to face. We could do it with just the two of us and backing tracks and all that but obviously the best option would be to recruit people that are really interested in bringing it all to life.
How is the black metal scene in New Hampshire? How do you see the health of black metal in the US today after such an interesting year in terms of releases?
Most black metal in New Hampshire is solo or studio projects anyways, but 2020 definitely did not help the music scene in New England in general. There are alot of cool bands from neighboring states and from all of New England. We haven't been to too many shows recently but hope to get out to some soon the more things open up.
Who was in charge of the design of the cover for “H o r r i f i c a”, what does it represent and how does it relate to the content of the album?
It was made by Mustapha Design Dz and was a piece he already had but edited for us to better fit the theme of the album. We thought it looked great and changed the hue to blood red as the color theme for the album this time around.
"H o r r i f i c a" has been self-released in digital format, is there a possibility of a reissue in a physical format? Was there no interest from any record label to edit the album?
There is actually a physical release on blackenedpromotions.com as they take care of all of our merch along with the physical editions of Horrifica. The digital versions of both of our albums are on our bandcamp and also on streaming platforms. We have a Wendigo T-Shirt and Joggers over on Blackened Promotions and have a pre order going right now for our “These Fields Once Green” shirts, so if you're interested in a physical edition of Horrifica or any merch, check it out at blackenedpromotions.com
Given the interest generated around the new album, are you already working on new songs with a view to an upcoming album? What are your plans for the immediate future?
Yes, as I mentioned, we have started work on a Concept EP and on a third album. The EP is very close to completion and we have a lot of the writing done as well as story ideas for the third album already. We're not sure when anything will be out, but keep up on our instagram and our facebook to check out new music and merch!
Thank you very much for the time dedicated to Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Aetheric Existence the place. I hope the questions have been to your liking.
We would just like to say thank you for the interview and thank you for checking out our music! If you enjoy it, follow us for news on our new material coming out soon.
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Sons Of Balaur – Tenebris Deos (Transparent red vinyl, Limited to 100 copies) 11,99 €
Transparent red vinyl in gatefold.
Limited to 100 copies.
First cat. number appearing on gatefold spine, second cat. number appearing on front sticker.
Barcode appearing on front sticker.
