KROSIS

“WE ARE REALLY GLAD TO HAVE NEW AUDIENCES ENJOYING THE RECORD!”

BY MURILO DA ROSA PHOTOGRAPHY PROMOTION

With roots in Technical and Extreme Metal, Krosis raises the bar for its heaviness and the depth of its message. Founded in 2014, the North Carolina (USA) group has three studio albums, the newest being released this year. Fueled with apocalyptic and mythological themes, the band was formed by Mac Smith (vocals), Brian Krahe (bass), Nathan Andrew (drums), Adam Thiessen, and Brandon Scurlark (guitars), exceeds all expectations with their recently released album E.V.I.L. With a new approach to sound, the band experiments with elements of Progressive, in addition to the use of Djent techniques and crushing Deathcore vocals. In this way, they build a reflective, moving, and intense work for fans of extreme music. Check out below how was the Rock Meeting interview with these guys.

It's been more than 7 years since the band has been formed, with a discography of 3 albums and the newest release gaining space in the modern metal market. Receiving good reviews from both the public and critics on important

music sites, what is your assessment of this reception of E.V.I.L.?

We are all very satisfied with the E.V.I.L.’s reception. We were looking to mature our sound, which can be risky for many projects as they accrue longevity. Instilling more death metal influences and grounded structures was our goal in achieving this maturity, while still attempting to hold onto our signature sound that we’ve been building for many years. The continued press releases and articles pertaining to E.V.I.L., particularly in international markets, has been a very pleasant experience for us. We couldn’t be happier and are really glad to have new audiences enjoying the record!

With a total of 8 songs, the album's structure divides the tracks by titles that, for the most part, are associated with names as if they were characters that are part of a great story. What is the concept of these nomenclatures?

The concepts of each song title refer to a specific flower that symbolizes the emotions that the main protagonist is feeling throughout the

EP’s story. This has many historical influences from Nordic, Greco-Roman, and Japanese cultures. In addition to its tangible aspects, it is designed to let the listener form their own interpretation through lyrical content and the atmosphere portrayed by the song itself.

“Begonia” is the song that stood out the most among the others, marked by a sound intensity concentrated in the hard crushing mainly of the vocals, but also has its gaps for melodic and melancholic passages. How was the writing process for this song?

This track was actually one of the most challenging songs to put together originally. Our focus was to encompass the characteristics of traditional well balanced song structure with the depth and complexity of advanced theory. The song needed to feel natural, but also highlight the elements of the story through the melodic phrasing and chord voicing.

Being the highlight of the new album so far, “Begonia” has a music video as well, produced by Seek & Strike, with which the band recently signed. In the clip we have a post-apocalyptic style setting with

three main characters. What is the idea implicit in the narrative of the clip?

The idea resonates around the album’s concept and its pairing with our previous installment, “A Memoir of Free WIll.” It is meant to represent the post-apocalyptic world created by the alternate choices of the protagonist and its implications. In summary, the idea is to show an alternate universe as compared to our previous release, in which the character chooses to live on a path lacking virtue and suffers because of it. It is reflected in the images we have shown of his family, which are the two female figures in the video.

Amidst the heaviness of the fusion between Metalcore, Djent and Deathcore that’s proposed by the band, “E.V.I.L.” has several moments with insertions of ambient and industrial sound effects, giving more authenticity to it and creating an almost realistic atmosphere. How did you arrive at this concept?

When we were first putting the concept together, we agreed early on that we wanted to establish the world of the character as vividly as possible. Without any visual cues, it was necessary to create a linear theme for the listeners to follow. The act of world building further instilled the reality

of the character within the songs, and when paired with the lyrics you find that the story becomes much more intricate.

To gather with what is represented both in the songs and the video for “Begonia”, “E.V.I.L.” has a very striking cover art, with a painting style that refers to Renaissance and Surrealism, dyed by very intense colors. What is the relationship between the tracks on the album and the illustration? Conceptually, the album art is tied closely to the EP’s narrative and is meant to represent a world completely lacking in benevolence and virtue (hence the EP title and closing song). This is the result of the character’s choices throughout the story, which are detailed within the lyrical content and are meant to represent the dark emotions within human nature that can prevail if not cautiously managed. The album artwork was constructed by Alberto Filipponi,

Photo - Kevin La Chiana

who did a masterfully immaculate job portraying the atmosphere of E.V.I.L.

At last, the Rock Meeting family wishes to thank you for your attention and would like to know: what can we expect in this new phase of Krosis? Thank you very much, good luck and until next time!

Thank you for taking the time to dive into this new release with us! We had a great time composing this and are looking forward to releasing many more works of art in the near future. We have several releases already planned and in progress, so you can expect more music sooner than later! Thank you, Rock Meeting, we can’t wait to be back with another release for everyone!