Congratulations on “The Burial Tree II.” Can you tell us about the album and the process of putting it together?
KYLE: The process of putting the album together consisted of Rhiis and I writing the majority of the music and then the other guys joined in and added their input. From there we had about 16 songs; some of them were scrapped, others were used in different parts of the album. After that we decided to write all the transitions so the album would be continuous, in a sense, throughout the 14 tracks. When all the instrumentals’ skeletons were complete, we added the lyrics to create a full-bodied sound. Once we went into the studio we began tracking all the music together until we had the sound we wanted to achieve. After all that hard work and with the addition of the album art and the mastering, The Burial Tree was complete.
The simple album cover of a person standing under a single lonely tree is a very powerful image. Where did it come from?
RHIIS: “The Burial Tree” as an album title was chosen a month or two before we entered the recording studio, but we’d been debating over the art for quite a while. We wanted something striking but not ridiculously colorful and vibrant, something that had an atmosphere of its own. I had been looking through all sorts of different artists and art pieces and stumbled upon the website of visual artist Bianca van der Werf. Bianca is a Dutch artist who combines photography with painting, she has experience and talent in both and decided to combine the two for a very unique effect – lots of texture, very moody, brooding art. When I discovered her, I sent the guys a link to her website (biancavanderwerf.com) so they could check her work out. Sometimes it seems like it is a rarity for us all to immediately agree on something, so the fact that everyone immediately fell in love with her work was a good sign. I contacted Bianca and we began corresponding, she’s incredible. We all agreed upon using her piece “The Watcher” as the album cover, and the rest is basically history. A lot of her pieces reflect this very stark atmosphere of solitude, there is a lot of emotion contained in her work and we felt that it perfectly fit the vibe of our music and ideas. As Pink Floyd repeatedly worked with Storm Thorgerson, or Tool with Alex Grey, I feel that a continuing relationship with Bianca will add a sense of continuity to our releases, I hope that our future works can be tied together with her visual representations. She has been an absolute pleasure to work with, I recommend that everyone visits her website and sees for themselves her massive talent.
More after the warp:
Your song structures are very complex and technical. How will these tracks translate live?
ALPHONSO: These songs were made to be brutal live, at least that’s what they told me. These songs are a lot more intense than the tracks off of Volume 1. If we’re already throwing it down with just us rehearsing the album, then I’m sure everyone will do the same when it all goes live. As for being technical, I know I’ll see some kids playing air guitar out there.
I said Ana Kefr was the 1 out of 10 that blends styles and doesn’t end up sounding like a “cluster fuck.” However I never put a genre label on you. Is that what you prefer or is there a genre you would like to see the band placed?
KYLE: Yes, place us under experimetalosophy, a genre we all created in Ana Kefr; which is a genre of music where the band incorporates experimental metal and philosophy into lyrics and a different style of music. This type of sound is prevalent in The Burial Tree and will be even more apparent in our next album.
How important is the band’s chemistry when writing and performing?
SHANE: Very. In order for a band to be successful they have to have chemistry. Our band actually has a great chemistry which made the writing process easy. What made it easier for me was that Brendan and I have been good friends for the last ten years. So having him there made it easy for me to relax and also made it easier for me to click with the rest of the band. I also think writing the album helped our band the most with our chemistry. We learned each other’s tendencies and body language so that when we play live we know what to expect.
You’ve only been around for about 3 years. You must be very pleased with the critical acclaim the band has received so far.
RHIIS: “Very pleased” is an understatement 
I know we’re still small fries in the grand scheme of things, but I’ve intuitively known from the beginning that the second album would be a landmark in the band’s history. I feel like we really found our unique voice in this album, and it has been overwhelmingly great to see such a powerfully positive reaction from pretty much everyone who has heard it. I’ve had my own moments of doubt about the album, not regarding the production quality or musicianship but specifically over the structure and complexity of it all. Part of me feared that we might be doing literally too much, and that no one would understand it. Probably every musician goes through this when they begin sharing their work with others. The songs that were my biggest concerns have ended up being the ones that are praised in almost every review, it basically shows me that I’m clueless. Everything I thought had the potential of being our downfall with this album has been called brilliant. I guess, for me, nothing is ever enough, I’m always applying a very critical ear and eye to our work so I always see room for improvement. It is really difficult to stand back and just enjoy it for what it is, so hearing so many people react positively to the album has kind of boosted my confidence and told my inner critic to shut up a little bit. The reviews and praise have been wonderful, the album has been received so well and it’s just a great feeling to see that something we’ve all invested so much time and money and thought into has been more than worth the stress and sweat.
Will we see a “Burial Tree III” or are you going to move on?
SHANE: Well the reason there’s a two behind The Burial Tree was to show that it was Volume 2. Our first album was titled Volume 1 and at the end of the album it asks you to please insert Volume 2. When we started discussing about the album we decided to call the second album something more than just Volume 2. Rhiis came up with the idea of The Burial Tree and thought it would be a cool concept to put the 2 behind it as a reminder that this is Volume 2 to all the fans. Will we make a Burial Tree 3? I doubt it, but we will always keep it as an option.
I’ve read online about certain political/religious views of the band. Can you explain to our readers (who have been asking) why these views are so controversial.
RHIIS: Well, we’re not exactly quiet about our views on religion, we’re all atheists, agnostics and/or humanists, and the lyrical content I write reflects this. Ana Kefr is Arabic meaning “I am infidel,” and the name fits the band and the concepts behind the lyrics. A lot of metal bands are against religion, this is nothing new to us, but we really like to get involved in what we see as important issues. We are regularly a part of free thought events like the Atheist Alliance International convention, where a lot of huge names in science, entertainment and philosophy (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett; even Bill Maher was there!) come together in the name of logic and reason. Where other bands sprinkle in irreligious sentiments among themes like zombies and Satan, we stick to our ideals and don’t swerve off the path. Not every song is about religion, that would get old fast, but I personally like to see Ana Kefr as a thinking person’s band. Sure, some people will get into it and will ignore the lyrics and just enjoy the brutality of the sound, but I think the fact that there is an actual philosophy and a lot of thought behind the lyrics will appeal to those fans who not only want good music but also something that will get them thinking, something that they can conceptually connect with and relate to. There is this huge scene of Christian metal, everyone is humping the Jesus bandwagon these days, and it is very, very important that an alternative is available. We are in no way a reaction to that Christian trend. Non-believers are rising in numbers, I think we’re at a point in history where science has finally made it impossible for religion to ignore it, and so many people are losing the chains of faith and are embracing a more liberated, enriched humanist philosophy. I don’t know of any other bands offhand that really do what we do, but I believe we aren’t the only band who is part of the breakers of that free thought wave. The enlightened minds of new generations need art that doesn’t reflect Bronze Age ideals and barbarism, but instead the freedom and philosophy of 21st century humanism. We are, musically and conceptually, a step in that direction.
Is Ana Kefr about the music or the message?
BRENDAN: Ana Kefr is about both. If you are asking about which comes first then it would be reasonable to say the music since we are ultimately musicians with an opinion rather than philosophers who can tinker around on some instruments. When you consider the work of many great historical artists such as Pablo Picasso and Francisco De Goya, you’ll find that there was a lot of hidden messages regarding politics and ideology in their paintings, but you would never consider them to be political idealists before being great artists. But the message and the music of Ana Kefr feed on each other and drive what we create. When you listen to everything that this band has put out, you can easily see that a lot of hard work and thought has been put into the musical content as well as the lyrics.
Tell us some of the band influences, both metal and non-metal.
BRENDAN: Well as a band we all have our unique favorites. I wouldn’t consider these artists to be the musical influences for Ana Kefr, but they have helped shaped us all individually as musicians. One aspect about what I feel makes this band truly unique is how we have five individual musicians, with five different backgrounds and tastes. I know that Rhiis is a big fan of Tom Waits, Mr. Bungle, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, and various different brutal death metal and black metal bands. Kyle likes a pretty interesting selection of music. He listens to a lot of hip hop and dub step, but he also likes bands like A Day To Remember, The Human Abstract, Periphery, and Oingo Boingo. Shane is a big fan of progressive music. His ultimate favorite is Dream Theater. He also likes Symphony X, Megadeth, Frank Zappa, Metallica, and Pink Floyd. Alphonso is a big fan of the Roots, System of a Down, Hatebreed, Mastodon, and various other underground hip hop artists. As for myself, I’m a fan of Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Tool, All That Remains, The Human Abstract, Pantera, Atmosphere, Gym Class Heroes, City and Colour. I listen to a lot of classical music too. We collectively are all a big fan of progressive metal bands such as Opeth, and Between the Buried and Me.
We ask this question to every band we interview. Living or dead, past or present: who would you love to share the stage with?
ALPHONSO: Mastodon!!!! Opeth, Gojira and Between the Buried and Me are some of the bands I would love to share the stage with… I’m sure the guys agree on some of these.
Martell
|
|
Tweet