Sunday, February 18, 2018

Beyond The Styx interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?

A lot of work, we're a DIY band you know.
We're doing mor than 69% by our own: to the booking of our upcoming tour to the the merch design, via our new abum preorders.

It's a long process. But as they say: "No pain. No gain."



2.You have a new album coming out near the end of February, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

We have fundamentally evolved musically over the last 3 years.

The live forge a lot of things. Even we're always the same I think ... Our way of sounding has changed.

The departure of Anthony (former - lead guitar) for his side project: AO, related to our desire to perform a music ever more hardcore and much more catchy for live (whatever the kind of venue where we perform); necessarily influenced the composition of this album.

We want to share more than just music with our audience. We have something else to say and to interact with them. Hardcore is definitely more than music.

The meetings that we have been doing in recent years have revolutionized the way we compose music: more raw, more incise, more violent. Like the world around us.

The arrival of Victor (lead guitar) combined with the experience of David (rhythm guitar) gives a kind of 90's Hardcore Metal crossover in our musical expression, combined with our respectives fields of influences: Death Metal Oldschool, Hardcore Modern, Metalcore Oldschool and even Mathcore ...

Our progressive and modern influences belong to the past, now.





3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

"STIIGMA" addresses various crucial issues in this dark period of our history, such as: the arms race, the animal cause, the migration crisis, the media trap, the hypocrisy of international politics, the dystopia ...

So many topics that continue to animate the insatiable flow of this torrent of energy!

Take a look to our lyrics, that's definitely less metaphorical than during Leviathanima.

It is no longer time for us to hide.





4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Beyond The Styx'?

This is not the first (nor the last time) that I am asked this question.

It is not a nostalgic mythological delirium as many people tend to believe ... It's more a kind of philosophy: "Who are we? Where we stand on the border of the two worlds that split the Styx? Are we dying people waiting for the living or the living waiting to die?"

A whole lot of questions related to what makes the essence of our beings: life and death.





5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

The best shows are often the most surprising.

Places where you do not expect much and where the alchemy between the crowd and the band suddenly takes shape.

In France regions such as Brittany or Alsace have offered us some nice surprises in this area. For overseas, Holland where we have a little over turned by the past we had also reserved a warm welcome!

Describe our shows?

A French expression says: "We can not be at the window and watch the world go".

It would be best to take the step and come to our meeting on stage.

One of the best live reviews I read was describing us as "a torrent of energy". I think that introduces us rather well. For the rest, I'm waiting for you!





6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

To be sincere: yes!

More in France, that goes without saying...
Already more than twenty gigs and several festivals of national fame. Take a look at the "STIIGMA TOUR 2018".

And if not a few touches in Europe for the end of the year, probably even festivals for 2019 ... Hope this will happen by then. We look forward to defending STIIGMA beyond our borders!





7.The new album is coming out on 3 different labels, can you tell us a little bit more about it?

It's not exactly that.

Let's say that Klonosphere is indeed our national label, but our physical distribution is mainly through Season Of Mist (which did not sign us).

Regarding Diorama records, it's a different story. That of a beautiful meeting between hardcore metal fans. They are the worldwide distribution of our new album in tape format from Indonesia.

An exceptional country that we are looking forward to discover ...





8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of metalcore and deathcore?

We have very good returns from America, Germany and Japan where we already sell, even if we can not still tour there for now.

England, Canada, Indonesia, Spain and Eastern Europe are also quite present in streaming ...

I don't think we talk a lot to deathcore fans, we don't have deathcore technicals codes or deathcore bands values. We leave that to others.

We are a hybrid "hardore metal" band, metalcore if it's easier for some ...
But the Metalcore (just like the post Hardcore) have been soiled by years of mainstream stereotypes, and the simple fact of evoking these music genres now causes me nausea.

Even if fortunately for us some bands still ardently defend the essence of this extreme music.

I think finally, that we address ourselves not only to the aficionados "deathcore" and "metalcore", the returns of the audience in gigs proves it to us.

We are speaking more to the passionate about live music than to the fans of media appearances.





9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

As I have said in the past, most likely in something harder, ever more violent, dark, incisive, groovy and exacerbated.

The "powerful and corrupt" men of our society don't do each other any favors, they reassure themselves. We neither!

The experimental will always have a place to play in BTSTYX ...

We do not want to lock ourselves in the shackles of Hardcore Metal. But when simple things sound, nothing serves to make it more complicated as long as it remains spontaneously heavy. That's Rock!





10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Lots of things...

We are 5 members with tastes and colors of literally different influences ...

If I had to summarize in only about ten groups our few common influences over the last 3 years, I would spontaneously say: Harms Way, Hatebreed, Sworn Enemy, Walls Of Jericho, Nasty, Orange Code, Sepultura, Knocked Loose, Power Trip, Cancer Bats, Slayer ...

Outside the fields of extreme music, we really listen to everything from classical to hip-hop music.

Not to mention our disproportionate passion for the flute and the music of the 80s.





11.What are some of your non musical interests?

We are a team of teachers and social workers ...

We are therefore necessarily activists, because of our professionals activities.

News, the social divide, geopolitics, ecology, the animal cause ...

And more relaxing things for the mind: fantastic, horror and comedy cinema, good food (vegetarian especially!), video games, mangas, comics ... With a lot of dark humor on the road.





12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Support the difference & the different forms of artistic expressions.

Don't be subdued by the medias.

Open your mind. Support your local scene.

Hardcore is more than just music. Together we can everything!

See you soon on tour!




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