First of all, congratulations for your new creation, an interesting progressive melodic death metal, will you please tell us the story of the band, how it all start?
First of all thanks for the kind words and thanks for this opportunity for this interview, which is my first ever interview, so I'm really excited to do this, so let's go!
I've been playing the guitar several years before deciding to do anything self made. I started working on my own music, around 4 years ago under a different name, which won't be disclosed here, since it's horrible and your ears don't deserve to go through that kind of pain.
In 2019 I decided its about time i stick with the new name "Astora" and get more serious about writing. And then in 2021 in February i released my first full lenght album "The First Flame". And 6 months later we're here.
How will you described your new creations?
If i had to describe it, it's my second full lenght album, in general it's Melodic Death Metal, but each song has its own spice which makes it unique. For instance, the track "Fractured Time" has elements and sections a kin of Post metal, while a track like "Metamorphosis" has more of a Melodic Death/Doom sort of sound.
The album follows the structure of interchanging between one melodic death metal track and one more focused on death metal track, giving the album lots of variety and keeping the listener interested and invested.
Is there good compositions or bad compositions on it? (in my opinion they aren’t)
Praising my own work would be arrogant, and saying its bad wouldn't be smart. So I'd rather remain quiet on that and let the listeners ears decide on that.
Would you be so kind to explain what every song is all about?
Praise The Sun - Melodic Death Metal, driven by melodies, references to Dark Souls
Inferno - Groovy Death Metal track, heavy breakdown, Gojira Influence is very noticible.
Metamorphosis - Melodic Death/Doom track, focusing more on Melody and harmony.
Cerebrum - Blast beats and Death metal, but also a melodic section or two.
Blind Slaughter - Inspired by 90s Swedish Melodic Death Metal (At The Gates, In Flames, ...)
Hannibalize - Death/Doom, Combining OSDM with Gojira-esque riffs, thematically about Hannibal.
Fractured Time - Slight Blackgaze sounding, Melodic and emotional ending.
In The Absence of Mind - 12 minute epic track to close out the album. Interesting progression, the theme of "Fractured Time" carries over to this song as well.
What themes do lyrics approach?
Lyrics approach themes like nihilism of humankind, personal issues, time and death, and a few Dark Souls references sprinkled within.
The productions it is also very good, did you have good time in studio?
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered in my "home studio", which consists of guitars, interface and a bunch of vst plugins.
Even though it's only 6 months after the release of the first album, the actual sound of the album is much much improved. You live and learn through mistakes made in the past.
What can we expect from your new album, will be in the same line with your latest?
Metamorphosis is a whole lot different than the first album. First the production sounds way better and the songs are more coherent. When it comes to the actual songs, there is a much bigger focus on melodies and harmonies than before. There isn't that much mixing of genres within songs, I'd rather made each song unique. However one aspect that is missing from the previous release is Black metal-esque type sections.
What hobbies do you have except music, by the way your favorite musicians are?
Don't really know if its a hobby, but i love following and watching NBA basketball and rooting for my guy Luka Dončić and Dallas Mavericks.
Also if you are familiar with Dark Souls, you can safely assume i like gaming and Dark Souls 1 is my favourite game.
Opeth is my favourite band and has been for a long time. There is something special about them that no other band or musician is able to capture unlike them. Love their composition, songwriting, consistency and diversity of their discography. Other bands I'd like to mention are Gojira and Harakiri For The Sky, which you can hear those influences of those bands in this album.
The cover illustration is interesting, who’s ideas were and the meaning?
The cover artwork was made by Hhichdesign. He did an excellent job and did exactly what was asked of him. In the upper mid is a Darksign taken from Dark Souls(the eclipse), sorrounding that are debris. In the middle is a man praising the Darksigm with his wings made out of its own flesh (inspired by the tv shos Hannibal). There is no real meaning its just things i like and that fit thematically.
In the end, you have the final word for all our readers…
Thanks for reading, hopefully i convinced you to check out my music and if you do, I sincerely hope you enjoy it, because thats what its all about. And i want to thank again for this wonderful interview!
Praise the Sun! \[T]/
Interview by Ionut Dimitriev
Answers by Gedo
August 2021