FIRSTBORNE

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FIRSTBORNE

Megadeth’s Dystopia in 2016, gave Adler the At the same time, Adler was in the early stages of writing music with guitarist Myrone—whose self-described “soft route and select a well-known singer to As soon as Pradhan sent his vocals to the rest of the band, it was immediately clear that Firstborne had found their lineup. “This is the first time where I was like, ‘Wow, this guy can do a lot,’” Adler recalls. “Amazing

INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER CHRIS ADLER AND BASSIST JAMES LOMENZO BY VINCE BELLINO

When Chris Adler left Lamb of shred” style of guitar playing provided an God after 25 years, the veteran unexpected backdrop for LoMenzo and drummer was looking at a whole world of Adler to work with. The collaborative project possibilities. That experience, coupled with between these three friends would become a Grammy award for his performance on known as Firstborne. freedom to do what he wanted. It would’ve been easy to go the supergroup Adler joined up with the touring cover band bolster Firstborne’s popularity, but the Hail! who perform around the world. It was best choice was easy. Adler met vocalist there that he reconnected with old friend Girish Pradhan last year in India, where he and bassist James LoMenzo, best known for performed a series of cover shows with the his time with acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Black vocalist following drum clinic appearances. Label Society, and Megadeth, although The first time Adler heard Pradhan sing, he during a different period of time than Ad- knew the vocalist was the perfect fit for his ler’s stint with the thrash giants. fledgling project with Myrone and LoMenzo.

things that I had not heard out of one guy.” Unorthodoxy quickly became a key trait in the genesis and future of the group—after the rhythm section’s collective decades of experience with record labels and album cycles, they were happy to do something new with Firstborne—both in their approach to releasing music and a more rock-oriented sound than Adler and LoMenzo’s previous bands.

“I think that there’s something really unique, for me personally and for the other guys, and something really exciting about putting together a band where we have to instill enough trust in what we’re doing,” ruminates LoMenzo.

“I think we see this as a weird opportunity, in that the shackles are off,” he elaborates. “We can just make music without constraining to anything in particular except what we can do together.”

The emergence of COVID-19 wreaked havoc upon an untold number of plans for artists, causing the cancellation of everything from studio time to one-off gigs to months’ worth of touring. Being an international group puts Firstborne in a unique position— the quartet’s entire experience writing and recording has been long-distance, so they were able to get right back to business. Abyss is actually part-two of the story that started with Apex, with some of the former written during the Apex sessions. Vocalist Brittney Slayes helps take me through how the band followed up their magnum opus: “As for where I came up with the story itself, it was very much inspired by the two main characters, The Matriarch and The Immortal. The Immortal is our tragic hero, and The Matriarch is our all-powerful villain. They were both inspired by some of my favorite fantasy and science fiction films, comics, books, and video games. The Immortal was visually inspired by a character from the comics East Of West called Wolf, who is very much your typical lone wolf type. The Matriarch was conceptually inspired by Queen Bavmorda from the movie Willow, with a bit of the ’80s-power-suit-wearing corporate powerhouse women, and a dash of Robocop thrown in [laughs]. I just let the way these two would interact and react to one another determine the story!” Interestingly, Abyss takes place in space, and if the ’80s references didn’t clue you in, the band utilized an unexpected, synthwave influence to help tell this tale. “The synth was extremely important to the story of this album,” Slayes states. “Not just because it helped with the ‘space’ vibe, but also because this album was meant to be “Everybody already has lives in play, so that does take time and energy,” LoMenzo says. “In order to have the ability to just get to it when you can, and that is your focus and your time, that’s the only way a band of us older guys can actually do that efficiently because we can fit it into things.”

Although the technology to produce high-quality recordings at home has been around for many years, Adler admits that there was a lag before many veteran musicians realized the full capability of home studios, as well as the comfort they afforded those with busy lives outside of music.

“We can do those things that used to cost $100,000 a day in the studio in our own rooms with our real instruments,” he says. “I do think that was a bit of a learning curve for everybody that’s been used to it and major label budgets, to have the confidence to be able to do it yourself, and to learn those things, and to put the time into those things because that’s just not what we’ve done before.”

Much to the delight of the members of the band, writing songs via the internet hasn’t come at the cost of live energy. Adler and LoMenzo agree that the recordings don’t resemble demos to them—despite home recording being a different style to their usual method, it’s brought the same excitement to them.

“That’s really what ends up being contagious about the whole thing, when you’re not really strapped to expectations or someone else calling you up saying, ‘Where’s this? Where’s we want and make it the way we want it.” ��

UNLEASH THE ARCHERS

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST WILL CANNING AND GUITARIST REMY VESELIS BY CALEB R. NEWTON

When you’ve released the best Their recipe for success? Instead of releasing a record of your career—literally sequel that plays the same notes, Unleash The entitled Apex—the opportunities for a Archers understand the spirit of what makes letdown are infinite. When that follow-up their particular brand of melodeath-infused is also a sequel, you’re just asking for power metal tick and improve on their already disappointment. For Unleash The Archers, stellar songwriting. Much like the now-legendfailure is not an option. The Victoria, British ary Soilwork, these Canadians allow the music Columbia-based metal group have come to echo the themes and moods of the story— out swinging with their fifth album, Abyss, few bands can touch Unleash The Archers for out now via Napalm Records. emotive, cathartic metal.

that?’” Adler says. “We’re able to do this as much brighter and more positive. I think the synth was a great way to express that as well. Not to mention we are huge into synthwave right now. It is what we listen to the most when we are together it seems, so it was important to us that one of our most-loved genres be present in our own music.”

That positivity is reflected in some inspirational themes, as Slayes is happy to explore:

“The main theme is really the lesson that The Immortal learns, which is that he had the power to fight for freedom within himself all along; he merely had to put the demons of his past aside and focus on the future he wanted to have, instead of accepting the fate others had dealt him.

Too often we allow the opinions and expectations of others to define our own happiness, and we put a pressure on ourselves to be something that we really are not. Only when we truly embrace and adore our true selves will we ever understand that the opinions of others don’t actually matter, and then we can start doing things for ourselves instead of to look a certain way or to come across a certain way. Living that life is exhausting; why do we do that to ourselves? It’s time for all of us to introspect and discover what we truly want to be and do rather than just follow the lead of outdated, archaic social norms.” ��