{"id":17729,"date":"2013-08-19T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=17729"},"modified":"2013-08-15T23:04:23","modified_gmt":"2013-08-15T13:04:23","slug":"as-angels-bleed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/08\/as-angels-bleed\/","title":{"rendered":"As Angels Bleed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>From Bio: Having survived the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012 and with the bands line-up finalized, As Angels Bleed really had no choice but to abandon the sanctuary of Hell\u2019s Gate and bring their brand of symphonic vampiric metal to the stages of the world. Joining Valhallian vocalist Avelina De Moray and shred guitarist Von Lehmann on their odyssey will be drummer extraordinaire Frankie Macri and bombastic bassist Jack Savage. \u00a0If you only ever do one thing between now and your \u201cend of days\u201d, be sure to experience the full impact of As Angels Bleed live. Your immortal soul will thank you<\/p>\n

We had a great chat to Avelina of As Angels Bleed who introduced us to the band, their sound, imagery and the creation of their amazing debut self-titled album.<\/p>\n

For someone who has never heard of you before, what\u2019s the best way to explain the sound and style of As Angels Bleed?<\/strong>
\nOK, symphonic, gothic metal with bombastic gothic themed production with melodic female vocals, so anyone that enjoys Nightwish or Lacuna Coil should definitely check us out.<\/p>\n

Influence wise musically, who stands out for you as why you do what you do?<\/strong>
\nDefinitely Type O Negative, I remember listening to \u2018October Rust\u2019 for honestly about two years and playing it over and over and over again and just finding new layers in their production and just going this music is crazy, it\u2019s energetic and it\u2019s really calming and it had a lot of layers and we knew that we wanted to make music as calming or deep production wise as that. Maybe Nightwish as well, so yeah Nightwish have been a big influence for us s well, and when you put on the record, it\u2019s like \u2018whoa, it\u2019s not the normal four piece rock and roll, it\u2019s really deep, and I always talk about the layers, but what a lot of people mention to us when they say they\u2019ve listened to the record, they\u2019ve listened to it four or five times and they\u2019re like \u2018wow, I\u2019ve never heard that church bell before or the church organ\u2019 and I think that\u2019s really special that you can just put it on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing just that, listening to it over and over for a bit now and it just sounds like you\u2019ve been doing it forever\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah *laughs* we\u2019re taken back when people say that, but at the same time a lot of people don\u2019t actually know that it\u2019s technically our fourth album\u2026 Von and I produced two or three other albums that never got released when we were kind of searching for our sound, I think that\u2019s what makes us a little bit special, I agree, our first album sounds like we\u2019ve been doing it for a very long time but it\u2019s also very pre meditated if that makes sense?<\/p>\n

So what steps did you take to ensure it was as perfect as it can be for what you wanted to release?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* really I think we just got lucky\u2026 we wrote one song from memory, I think it was three years ago when we were song writing, I think it was \u2018Desire\u2019 and we came across something that we just knew was special. All the other songs were a little bit more like the Finnish band \u2018HIM\u2019 a little more pop orientated, but when we wrote the opening riff to \u2018Desire\u2019 which was a little more Nu-metal, we said \u2018we\u2019re onto something here\u2019. Also I think when I stopped trying to copy other vocalists as well and go with maybe my limitations, that\u2019s a good way to say it, like I don\u2019t have the range of the girl from Nightwish, so when I stopped trying to do that and work within my comfort zone the music got better as well as I found that I was writing songs that were way too high that I couldn\u2019t sing, and it kind of stressed the sound a bit, but as soon as we came down and were in my strengths that really helped the song writing as well.<\/p>\n

When writing or creating the album, you said it was three or so years, how did the songs come together that has become the end result of the album, was it just a process?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* definitely, a process and re process and re process, we kind of like were initially inspired like me personally by movies, Von is more on the gothic side. Lyrics first usually, and then I found that I\u2019m more a melody person where Von is a more lyrical person which really helps, because I can write lyrics as well but I\u2019m a little bit, I don\u2019t know how to explain it, but Von just looks like he\u2019s been attacked by an alien when he writes lyrics, they just pour out of him, it looks like he\u2019s not actualy doing it where as I need to think about it a little more. A lot of our songs have a theme in the lyrics, it\u2019s very important that our songs have a theme in them before we start song writing, and then we base the song around the vibe, I always like to quote my favourite movie \u2018The Castle\u2019 that Australian one, when the guy says \u2018It\u2019s just about the vibe of it, you know?\u2019<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s all about the vibe and we produce and re produce and that\u2019s kind of why it took so long as well, because we have a home studio we have the luxury of writing songs as we didn\u2019t have a band at the time as well, the song might only be a bare shell and then we put it in the computer and start messing with the production, and we might get to the 50% mark and go nah, we don\u2019t like this and completely reinvent it. For all of the songs of the albums, I could probably sing you two alternate choruses for each song *laughs* and two weeks we left for Florida to mix with Mike Lewis, \u2018Bloody Kisses\u2019 which is going to be the next song we do a video for, has another two choruses that I obviously don\u2019t prefer as we were writing things right up to the point where we said \u2018fuck, we need to stop now because we\u2019re going to America to mix this mother fucker you know?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You mentioned you took it to the USA to mix, how did this trip help to shape the album into what it\u2019s become?<\/strong>
\nI think the main thing was the sonic sound of it, it puts us up there on the same level as some of our favourite bands sonically, I think production wise the guys were really blown away with what we did and they just sat back and mixed it, they said it was quite easy because the files were so neatly prepared, they were like \u2018oh my God, you guys are overly prepared\u2019 they were kind of more used to working with DevilDriver and Trivium where they completely produce the song, but we came with a finished product and they just had to mix it. So they enjoyed that, but they were a little bit like \u2018wow we don\u2019t really need to do much\u2019 and were in awe a little bit, or maybe pissed off *laughs* dependant on what mood they were in, with the amount of tracks the we kind of threw at them. I think Mike Lewis thought we were actually joking when we were speaking to him about mixing the album because we just went to him to get the guitars re-amped in the beginning and we sent him a few songs and he said \u2018wow this shit\u2019s really cool, I\u2019d love to mix it for you\u2019 and that\u2019s how it all started. We said yeah there\u2019s 120 sometimes 150 tracks per song and he\u2019s like \u2018yeah that\u2019ll be cool\u2019 and then we went over there and he said \u2018I thought you were being sarcastic\u2019 and we were like \u2018Nah\u2026\u2019 it was very cool. So to be able to sonically give it that European sound we wanted and to go over there and get that big sound you\u2019d hear on a HIM or Nightwish album and then put on our and have it stand up.<\/p>\n

Oh I would\u2019ve lost money if you\u2019d asked me where you guys were from as I thought you were from Europe\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh thank you, that\u2019s like the biggest compliment to me. I\u2019m not in any way ashamed to say that I\u2019m Australian and maybe like we\u2019re the first band in the country to produce and album like this in this genre *laughs* I can\u2019t think of anyone else that\u2019s doing gothic metal, and a lot of the comments we\u2019re hearing as well, in all of the reviews are pretty much like \u2018you wouldn\u2019t think that these guys are from Sydney Australia\u2019<\/p>\n

So was it easier or harder than you thought it would be in putting it together?<\/strong>
\nDefinitely harder, I know a lot of people say music, yay you\u2019re having so much fun\u2026 but there was a lot of torment and blood put in to this album, like I\u2019m really impatient, I did not think it would not take this long, and hopefully the next album that we\u2019ve started working on won\u2019t take as long *laughs* we\u2019ve worked out our sound now, so we don\u2019t have to write another three albums and scrap them before we write our second one because I\u2019ll be like forty *laughs* but everything will come quicker, the whole process of writing, it was cathartic and everything and once we found our sound and once we started to mix it ourselves for a year and eventually abandoned that idea and contacted Mark and that took another six months, and then we went over there and we didn\u2019t end up getting the mix done while were in Florida and it took him another year and a half to get the files back to us, there was a lot of waiting and then we put the band together and there was more waiting *laughs* so I\u2019m just sick of waiting, so I\u2019m just glad it\u2019s out there now, and today actually we\u2019re released our first video clip and it\u2019s getting some great feedback and it\u2019s really exciting as it\u2019s the first time the word has seen the band. We did photos, I did the photo shoots for myself, I\u2019m the photographer, I did the album cover and did all the art for the band and that\u2019s given the band an identity and really separated it and look really professional, but no one\u2019s seen the band and that\u2019s really important as if they like a band they go straight to YouTube you know, up until today we didn\u2019t have that so that\u2019s exciting.<\/p>\n

Tell us a bit about the book you\u2019ve created to compliment the album and songs?<\/strong>
\nYeah sure, that a lot of blood, sweat, literally, went into that, it\u2019s 64 pages of basically every artwork I\u2019ve made over the last three years. The idea is that the album is kind of conceptual with the vampiric themes and lyrics throughout it, so we wanted to have something that fans could have in front of them as they\u2019re listening to the album, so the idea is that you put on the album and you\u2019ve got the soundtrack and the imagery as well which is what it\u2019s all inspired by, so if you\u2019re listening to \u2018Carfax Abbey\u2019 there\u2019s an artwork that I\u2019ve done inspired by the same thing that was actually inspiring the music, so there\u2019s just a really uncanny consistency through both things and that\u2019s what the fans see as well. Our manager said recently, he used to manage INXS, he said this is something Metallica would so *laughs* and you\u2019ve release this big book on your first album. It looks amazing, leather bound and silver on the front, I\u2019m really proud of it and I\u2019m a little bit outdone for what I\u2019m going to do on the second album *laughs* I\u2019ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n

How important is the artwork and imagery as a part of the music in your world?<\/strong>
\nWell it actually started with the music and then the album took so long to complete that the art started as a hobby, so you could say that it was an offshoot of the music and why they complement each other, but it\u2019s just another extension of creativity, if I\u2019m not recording or writing, I have to do something creative, and it\u2019s going to be based on shit that I\u2019m into, which at this point in time happens to be vampires. It might be flowers next week or whatever *laughs* but they\u2019re all entwined, and if you look at our house as well you\u2019ll see how it\u2019s all decorated with vampire art everywhere and it\u2019s a big part of our life. It\u2019s not something where we just get dressed up for Halloween and wear black, I\u2019ve always got my makeup done, my whole wardrobe is black, it\u2019s just who we are in the art and the music is just an extension of Von and I at this point in time. It\u2019s definitely a theme, not many bands have a theme these days\u2026<\/p>\n

Are you gigging anytime soon so people can come and check you out?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve already done two Sydney shows, we\u2019re planning to hopefully do a Melbourne show soon, we\u2019re not sure about the other states yet, I think we\u2019re going to do Sydney more frequently and then work our way around, but at this point in time the next big thing is the \u2018Bloody Kisses\u2019 video, we\u2019re planning something special for that, the one we just release today was just footage of us *laughs* much like the limited edition book, it started with this little idea and just grew and grew and grew, like the video we released was simply supposed to be a little lo fi video of us in the rehearsal room *laughs* and just turned into this very cool looking video clip, it actually looks so professional that we couldn\u2019t just call it us in a rehearsal studio *laughs* it would be like \u2018what the fuck? This is how they look in the rehearsal studio?\u2019 but the \u2018Bloody Kisses\u2019 one is going to be the really artistic one to really back up all the imagery that has been presented with my art work and you know, the type of video that someone that listens to the album would expect to see from this band.<\/p>\n

What does the rest of the year have in store for you?<\/strong>
\nThe first things again is the video clip, I can\u2019t tell you the location yet as I don\u2019t want anyone to steal it and also we don\u2019t have permission yet *laughs* but that will be the main agenda. Doing a lot of press and hopefully pushing it overseas a little, as the release is so new so hopefully trying to build up a little more online presence and a following, trying to target Europe as well, more shows, no dates just yet but more shows. Von and I have already started working on the next album so that will be our next point of focus after the video clip and the shows as we\u2019re pretty keen to get our second album out quite quickly.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Sydney, Australia<\/p>\n

Sounds like: <\/strong>Gothic Metal<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Avelina De Moray \u2013 Vocals, Von Lehmann \u2013 Guitars, Jack Savage \u2013 Bass, Frankie Macri – Drums<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> <\/strong>http:\/\/www.asangelsbleed.com
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