Well,Friends Of Aristocracy!
Line Up:
Vince Anastasi On Drums
Brandon Lucking On Guitar
Brandon Aitchison On Bass/backing vocals
Reinier Vandenbosch On Vocals
Itus
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will follow, in all its emotions, the interview 125 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talked to a Canadian band that makes a spectacular mix between Sludge and Death Metal. A very pleasant partnership of styles in the ears of the owner of the page. His demand is high, but this band met that demand.We are talking about the Canadians from Itus and who show us their full album titled Sturgeon. What is an answer to Primordial held in 2020. Before the interview, we must thank the band for the answers and also for the fact that they grow as a band not only in sound ,but the fact that new people are on this project. The initial chat is over!Let's go to one of their songs and the Interview we do from now on!
A1:Talking about the composition work in Sturgeon?
Itus:Writing Sturgeon was a very organic experience for all of ITUS' members, because it all just flowed out of us in one day of jamming together. Brandon Lucking came in with some very neat hooks that we leveraged for the song. As the song progressed on that day, Reinier had been writing lyrics and working his phrasing for the vocals. It was a very natural creation from the members of the band and from our producer Luc Chiasson who engineered, mixed and mastered Sturgeon.
A2:How to realize a scary and sinister atmosphere?
Itus:A ITUS contratou uma equipe de filmagem de dois homens chamada Wavelens Media, que foi capaz de utilizar a experiência de Reinier como ex-aluno de uma escola de cinema, e juntos os três trabalharam em um set de filmagem muito focado, mas muito relaxado. Foi uma experiência sem estresse para a qual todos os envolvidos puderam contribuir.
A3:What does the band interpret as apocalyptic guilt?
Itus:Apocalyptic guilt may be Reinier's interpretation of man's struggle with its own self destruction. He says that most people as they get more desperate, cling to religion and rhetoric to justify their uninformed opinions and they project their own short comings as blame on other people. If the end of days is caused by human hands, who is to blame? In the end we end up back where we started, with only pain as a friend.
A4:Why is horror so beautiful for Itus?
Itus: Horror as a genre is a place where we feel at home as artists and we are fans of horror ourselves. We get to explore owr own deepest fears and darkest humors. We find it is our way of connecting to fans as humans on an emotional level.
A5:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Itus: Nothing specifically has inspired the band in terms of literature or film aside from some ideas from sci-fi and a bit of astrology, and beyond that we look to other music and artists. We don't intend a theme for our songs or music based on other work except for the occasional Warhammer reference. ITUS tends to write all of its songs in a very organic process. Reinier does draft upon draft of lyrics by himself until it works for him and then he pitches it to the rest of us. Brandon Lucking writes when he feels like it's the right time, shows us some new riffs and we start to build those into songs.
A6:How come emerged the invite to KO?
Itus:KO is an old friend and almost a sort of mentor for our drummer Vincent Anastasi. KO is a very charming and enjoyable presence to work with and be around. ITUS was more than ready to bring him in as a character in the story and he was happy to help.
A7:Although I like it, what were the decisions that led to this work being called abrasive?
Itus:Abrasive would be how we might describe Reinier's harsh vocals and our almost 'death metal' sound on Sturgeon. To some people the lyrics in Sturgeon may come across as blasphemous as well.
A8:Why the band have this name?
Itus:ITUS is a slang term for 'food coma' or having eaten too much and putting one's self in a lethargic state from eating. Reinier and Brandon Lucking who started this project were struggling with what to call their band. ITUS came up after they had a huge lunch during work, because at the time they worked together at the same company. They both ate too much and so they decided the band should be called ITUS.
A9:What´s the idea behind artwork´s album?
Itus:The artwork was painted by Brandon Lucking's uncle in 1978. We had other art commissioned for our EP which did not meet our standards, but Brandon remembered this painting specifically from his childhood and his uncle was very supportive in allowing us to use it. 'Primordial' is a term often applied to the development of our planet earth, and we felt that this painting embodied what the earth may look like early on in its chaotic life.
A10:What would the 2022 Itus say to the 2018 Itus?
Itus: ITUS now would say: write more music and back to work you slackers.
A11:What band mean with “bait dude” character?
Itus:Reinier says the bait character was a device to help give a reason for Reinier to wake up and reinforce the idea of hunting a prized fish.
A12:This album is conceptual?
Itus: The album is still being conceptualized.
A13:Besides Christianity, what are the biggest enemies in the story covered in Sturgeon?
Itus:Christianity is the core enemy defined in Sturgeon's lyrics, but religion and war among other things are mentioned. The appeal to faith is always a fallacy when used to justify a conclusion in the absence of reason.
A14:How come emerged the invite to Dexter Forbes?
Itus:Dexter Forbes is the guitar player of Apogean. Luc Chiasson connected us to him while we were recording. Dexter came in that day while we were recording and filmed a drum play through video of Vincent Anastasi playing sturgeon. The play through video will be released on ITUS' YouTube Channel. Dexter has become a great friend to the members of ITUS.
A15:Point differences between Primordial and now in “Sturgeon”?
Itus:Sturgeon saw the involvement of our official drummer Vincent Anastasi, who had an influence on the writing Sturgeon from his capacity. Brandon's influences have begun to lean more into hardcore, so we believe we are evolving from doom metal into our version of sludge metal. If that makes sense.
A16:Death, Sludge go together. But, is one of them higher than the other in their sound?
Itus: Arguably the right fusion of music generates something new and also enjoyable. We are hoping to strike the right balance among our own musical influences to establish our own niche in metal. We all attended college and university and we all hold day jobs. We intend ITUS to be our way of escape to the land of sludge and doom metal, and enjoy ourselves in the process.