The UK’s From Eden To Exile might be familiar to some already, not least because they have included a blistering track on our latest covermount CD and played Bloodstock back in 2015. We also discovered when we spoke to them about their latest release Modern Disdain that they’re a refreshingly thoughtful bunch too.
“From Eden To Exile began in 2012 after the break-up of Apparitions Of The End, a thrash band from Banbury. This band had the privilege of touring the UK extensively and even supporting the mighty Napalm Death, While She Sleeps, TRC and many more,” say the Midlanders about their formation. “After our Bloodstock appearance in 2015 we had a slight set-back due to parting ways with founding members, Mike Thomas and George Ellis. The band recruited vocalist Matt Dyne and Bassist Joey Jaycock (Reign Of Fury guitarist) to complete the lineup and began writing and recording Modern Disdain in 2016.”
And what of the name – does it signify anything special? “The band name really sums up mankind’s current state, in a world of advancement and perfection (Eden), we have a willingness to continually wage war and suffering, dragging ourselves into hell on earth (Exile). Our main aim is to just write music that truly makes you feel something. We like to write freely without confining ourselves to a specific sub-genre of metal and like to think that we can produce tracks that cater for all the best parts of metal and not stick to a brief as such,” they continue. You can always check out a track from the band on issue 079’s covermount CD, and we suggest you do in fact. The band continue: “Lyrically we explore mankind’s willingness to not only wreak havoc and suffering, but also its ability to abandon its humility and traditions, especially when it comes to religion and ancient beliefs, in the never-ending quest to rule and be superior over one another. We appear to use religion as a form of control and violence instead of upholding its original spirituality, which is even more important to maintain in such a negative time as now. We also explore the individual’s struggles in a modern era of suffering with tracks like ‘Volatile’ and ‘Sentiment’. These tracks reflect a thirst for violence and negativity within each of us as a result of a rapidly degrading society and world.”
In what way do they think they stand out? “Sonically we like to think that we differ from others with our blend of metal genres and not sticking to a specific brief. Our tuning is only one step down (D Standard) for the nerds out there! We feel that in a metal world where everything is getting lower and lower and guitars are sprouting more and more strings, holding our own and producing equally heavy music on a six-string in a standard tuning is just as appealing. Overall we have the clarity and riffs of a thrashy/ tech band like Sylosis but we have an edge with Matt Dyne’s death metal, low end vocals. We are lucky enough to have played with and know some amazing bands like Divine Chaos, Krysthla, A Trust Unclean, Harbinger, When Reasons Collapse and many more, and they are the guys who really influence us. It’s a really exciting time in the metal community as bands are literally raising the bar and pushing those around them to step it up, and so on. There’s a great feeling of helping each other and although it is a competitive market, there’s no feeling of rivalry or competition between bands at the lower end of the spectrum. As far as ‘bigger’ bands and artists that influence us, there are too many. Our music taste within the group is so broad it’s worrying. Between us we listen to anything from Northern soul to grime. The obvious influences I suppose would be bands like Lamb Of God, Sylosis, Protest the Hero and many more but as I said, the real influences are those around us.”
From Eden To Exile have included a track called ‘Sentiment’ on our latest covermount CD, taken from their Modern Disdain album, which is out now on Attic Records. It’s a great illustration of what the band can deliver sonically, so we ask them to tell us a little more about it: ‘Sentiment’ is loosely inspired by a poem called ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning. The song follows the story of a deranged and paranoid young man, who after meeting the love of his life began to prey upon and manipulate her insecurities and weaknesses to make her succumb to his every need. When he begins to fear that he may lose her, he puts a plan together to keep her forever in his possession. After years of emotional torture how could she resist salvation, to be preserved in youth forever, to stay beautiful and pure? And more importantly to the man behind it all, to stay faithful? Needless to say, weak with self hate and depression, the mind of a once strong and stable woman was broken. Through fear and deception the megalomaniac executed his plan to perfection leaving nothing to chance.” A happy story then. “Lyrically this track loosely fits the narrative of the rest of the album, from the point of view of an individual’s inner struggle with modern day issues that are increasingly common in society. The track is the final track from the album, and we believe encapsulates all the best elements of not only the album but metal as a genre. Riffs, breakdowns, melodic sections and powerful vocals.”
Clearly, this is a band who are professional in their approach to songwriting, so does this extend to reccording? “We were lucky enough to meet a guy called Neil Hudson back in 2014. He’s a local legend and is best known for his work in Gutworm and his current band Krysthla. As well as being a vat of knowledge he has some serious skills in songwriting and producing, and he was the only choice for us when recording our album. We have before tried to self-produce and be as DIY as possible but if you want quality and another dimension to your sound, having someone like Neil is absolute gold dust! His studio, Initiate Audio and Media has produced some excellent work and we feel so lucky to have met him and had the opportunity to record with him. We were able to just focus on performance and produce the best sounding album possible because of his calm but precise approach. Have a listen to the album and find out for yourself!” Oh we have. What do they get up to as a band out of the studio? “We have been lucky to play some pretty amazing shows, including the O2 Academy in Birmingham, and Bloodstock Festival 2015! They stand out but we’ve played some great shows up and down the country to some amazing crowds. We have a headline tour coming up in late August/early September with a band called Vendetta which is in support of the album release and we literally can’t wait!” The full tour dates are shown at the end of the feature. Other than that, what’s the band’s ultimate plan? “We just want to play as often as possible to as many people as possible! We’d love to get back at Bloodstock Festival and hopefully onto many others. We are having more exposure than ever before and are seeing the doors gradually open and it’s just great! We recently secured a guitar pick-up endorsement with Zombie Dust Pick-ups (Raging Speedhorn, Divine Chaos etc.) and we have a few more exciting things in the pipeline regarding endorsements and opportunities. We are already in the process of writing album #two, and we can’t wait to get back into the studio; but first things first, tour and bash some ears in with Modern Disdain!”
How can ZT readers hear more? “We are on all social media platforms and have new videos available on youtube. You can listen on Spotify and keep up to date on our website. We have everything from latest news, shows and merchandise available from our facebook and website.
Band name: From Eden To Exile
Formed: 2012
Origin: Northampton
Current release / demo: Modern Disdain (Album)
Track #9 on issue 079’s covermount CD: ‘Sentiment’
Catch From Eden To Exile live:
24/08/2017, The Attic, Ashford
25/08/2017, Flairz, Hastings
26/08/2017, Met Lounge, Peterborough
27/08/2017, TBA, TBA
31/08/2017, Wheatsheaf, Banbury
01/09/2017, The Anvil, Bournemouth
02/09/2017, Prince of Wales, Kettering
03/09/2017, Prince Albert, Brighton
From Eden To Exile is:
Tom Kelland – Guitars (Apparitions of The End)
Liam Turland – Drums (Apparitions of The End)
Mike Thomas – Vocals (Apparitions of The End)
George Ellis – Bass
Mike Bell – Guitars
Connect with From Eden To Exile:
fromedentoexile.bandcamp.com
fromedentoexile.co.uk
facebook.com/fromedentoexile
