Line Up:
Oliver Lynch On Vocals
Vince D.Will On Rhythm And Acoustic Guitar
Jimmy Doyle On Lead And Bass Guitar
Guest:Brooks Farris On Drums
Well,Friends of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have in all its emotions, the interview 192 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talked to a German band that mixes Gothic Rock with influences of very industrial sounds.The main detail is that the band has strong influences in the 80s, in addition to dealing musically with men's mental problems, apocalyptic scenarios, melagomania, voodoo and worldly disappointments.However, this all came to a small end in 1995. But that end ended in 2019, as they decided to try again and this time, more experienced, they made their first album titled Subtle Seduction.Three years later, seeing that this maturity reached its peak, the band presented in July last year,its second album entitled All The Way Down.The band in question is called Poisoned Hestia, we want to thank the band and the Polish producer Solid Rock, the producer for presenting us this work and the band for answering our humble but important questions. Let's go to a song so that the interview happens.
A1:Talking about the composition work in All The Way Down?
Poisoned Hestia:One thing to mention here is probably, that we don't create the songs while jamming together. For the songs that Jimmy writes,he prepares the demos himself at home and I would give a few suggestions for fine-tuning and usually add the lyrics. For the songs I write,Jimmy usually adds the lead guitar and solo parts later. So we are starting from different angles,but in the end it’s always a joint effort.
A2:Really,there are a lot of delusions in faith and the band was perfect in dealing with it.But do you think this exists more in creationists than in people who believe in god and are not creationists like your interviewer?
Poisoned Hestia:We are of the opinion that it is generally not a good idea to believe in anything without thinking, no matter what it is.Uncompromisingly following a daring idea can be dangerous. It is therefore important to know the facts and to question things and form your own opinion. This topic of course is also a very good breeding ground for our lyrics.
A3:Not that I don't like the gothic and industrial vibe of the band. But do you believe that one overlaps the other or do they coexist in the band?
Poisoned Hestia:It's incredibly difficult for us to name our style or to find a category for it.I don't think that we're one of those typical gothic bands, because they often lack the somewhat heavier guitar work that is definitely in the foreground with us.But it's true, Gothic and Industrial complement each other well and are connected to each other at the core.The target groups and fan camps in particular certainly have large overlaps.Since there are influences from different directions in our band, it was only natural that we would weave different styles of music together. In the end,the only important thing is that good tunes come out of it.
A4:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Poisoned Hestia:Yes,Jimmy is a big movie fan. Especially the old classics,be it James Bond or old horror movies. Vince comes more from the fantasy corner, a big Tolkien fan.Personally, I like Tarantino and Scorsese stuff.
A5:I believe that now the band feels more comfortable to answer this question,because I need to ask it since my readers don't have a family relationship with the band, at least,most of them. For what reason, the band ended its first phase in 1995?
Poisoned Hestia:When we formed the band in 1991,we were all not even in our twenties and still going to school.A lot happens at that age,one is not yet settled in terms of life situation and it just happens that individual members developed in different directions than others. There was no quarrel when we split, it just happened that way at the time.
A6:The whole band values its composition and arrangement.But the band has a greater affection for these factors. At what moment, did you feel that this would better qualify your respective works?
Poisoned Hestia:I think the new record shows quite well that we now have almost 30 years more life experience under our belt and therefore naturally approach the topics of composition and arrangement in a more differentiated way than a 20-year-old would do. In this respect it is simply a matter of maturing that is reflected here.Another thing is that a lot of new bands these days are trying to sound like some of the successful artists that are currently in vogue. We deliberately tried to avoid that. We really put effort into finding our own sound. Of course it's influenced by the bands we love and listen to. But we don't try to imitate them. It's more of a mix of sound and tone and vibe that you wouldn't expect to work at first, but which turns out to sound really cool in the end.
A7:Does the third song, the only one I haven't heard,have any reference to Area 51?
Poisoned Hestia:The third song on the album is "Radiation Trip". In principle, the inspiration for this came from the TV series "Chernobyl", which we felt particularly intensely since we can still remember the incident quite well from our childhood. In the text, however, this catastrophe is also used as a metaphor for the careless use of nuclear energy and the exploitation of our planet as a whole.
A8:What kind of cultism does the band address on this album?
Poisoned Hestia:The song "Flames Await" is essentially about the Waco massacre that took place in the 1990s and thus clearly shows the dangers of sect cults in general.That is basically what we have worked through with the words on this one.
A9:I agree that Poisoned Hestia is a very different story from the 13th Floor. But can this new story say it learned from what happened before?
Poisoned Hestia:We're still the same people, we still like most of the bands that we liked back then and that inspired us to start our own band. But it's just a whole new phase of life in which we are currently located and this will be reflected accordingly with "Poisoned Hestia". In this respect, we definitely learned a lot through our live performances back then with “13th Floor”, but above all through the 25 years of additional life and music experience since then. That definitely did the new songs good.
A10:I'm glad the band considers itself more daring.But why do you believe that?
Poisoned Hestia:We definitely wanted to take a heavier approach with the new album, simply to avoid making the mistake of recording the same record twice.So we sat down and decided that the second record has to be an evolution, a further development and definitely has to sound different than the first. In any case, all Poisoned Hestia trademarks are still included.If you will, “Subtle Seduction” (our debut album) was our 80's homage and now with “All The Way Down” we celebrate the 90's.
A11:What's the idea behind artwork's album?
Poisoned Hestia:We liked the title "All The Way Down" and the associations it triggers so much that it became the leitmotif for the album before we even started to work on it.With the cover it was a little different.We really wanted an appropriate imagery for the title, something that graphically captures the content well. In addition,it had to be a visual highlight, an eye-catcher that still has an effect when scaled in different sizes.We had an incredible number of ideas on how to implement this concept and it really took us a long time to agree on a final artwork,but we are all very satisfied with what came out in the end: a spiral of doom, pointing right into a nuclear reactor.
A12:Is there a possibility, even if remote, of Brooks Farris being hired by the band?
Poisoned Hestia:We will definitely be working with Brooks again in the future,but it is unlikely that he will join the band, simply because of the great geographical distance:He lives in the USA and the rest of the band in Germany.But our mode of collaboration via the internet and cloud services worked really well. Above all, Brooks understands our music and really brings an enriching element to it. Therefore, there will certainly be another collaboration soon.
A13:How band arrive to Modern Nihilism Recordings?
Poisoned Hestia:We found Modern Nihilism's Timothy through the internet. He produced his own band and presented the songs on YouTube and that's how we became aware of him. We got in touch and he was excited about the idea of mixing and mastering our new album and we are more than happy with the result. He carved out exactly the roughness and sharp edges we wanted for the songs.
A14:How does voodoo enter the band's musicality?
Poisoned Hestia:Voodoo is the theme of the fourth song on the album, called "Stitches". There's a certain Southern Sludge to the track, so we thought it obvious to link those subjects here. Listeners who follow the lyrics carefully will understand the hints.
A15:This album is conceptual?
Poisoned Hestia:No, it's not really a concept album in the classic sense.But it was important to us that, despite the sometimes very different songs, there was a common atmospheric theme throughout the album.
A16:The band feel differences between Subtle Seduction and now in All The Way Down?
Poisoned Hestia:While we sort of refreshed our back catalog on the first album,all ten songs on ATWD are completely new. It was important to us that it appeared like it was made of one piece, that the tracks mesh well and that everything fits together thematically.Stylistically,the titles are deliberately a bit rougher and more edgy, there are a little fewer electronic components and this time we worked with a real drummer (Brooks Farris, Guest Appearance).
A17:What mental illnesses are addressed on this album by the band?
Poisoned Hestia:The theme of mental illnesses is also a motif that we used for a song text. In this case "Don't Believe". Here again, attentive listeners will notice that the protagonist is telling the story from the perspective of a loony bin inmate. With that in mind, you should always consider a certain level of abstraction, because the song’s lyrics are not our expressed opinion on world events, but are actually often told from a certain perspective and therefore usually have to be regarded as ambiguous.
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