SOURCE – Before going any deeper I would like to know a little bit about your early days as E-L-R. How did it all start?
I.R. (bass/vocals) – S.M. and I were already friends for a long time when in 2016 the idea came up to share some riffs together. We started sending each other’s ideas and thoughts and it matched very well. Shortly after we started jamming together weekly and a friend of us (Migre le Tigre) joined us on drums for about one year. But S.M. and I moved our rehearsal room to another city and we had to find a new drummer. We already planned the recordings for our first demo “In Splendour & Sedation”, so we asked M.K., if he could play three songs for us. I guess after the first rehearsal together, everyone knew that we belonged together. So, we started to work on our first debut album “Maenad”, signed a label deal with Prophecy Productions and released it in September 2019.
SOURCE – Let’s start with the recordings for the new album Vexier? How did the studio time go? What inspired the album title Vexier?
M.K. (drums) – After a busy 2019 with a European tour and a lot of concerts on the European mainland and some shows in the UK, we felt ready to write new music and prepare ourselves for the second E-L-R record. During the first months of the pandemic, we spent a lot of time in the rehearsal room, where we have our safe space to let things flow. Some songs evolved naturally in early 2020, others took several months and were finalised just before we hit the studio in the same year.
We decided to record the album at Hidden Stash Studios with our long-time friend Remo Häberli, the same studio where Mænad came to live. Beside the quality of his work, Remo always made us feel home and got the best out of us for the record.
We decided to split the recording process in several stages. The first week of recording, early November, all the instrumentals were done. The vocal parts and the sound design was done in several small sessions in the beginning of 2021.
The music of E-L-R weaves a subtle tapestry with diligence and persistence that depicts a labyrinth full of intricate details and hidden treasures. “VEXIER” does not give up its secrets easily and there are many shifts and twists hiding in its sonic shadows as implied by the title that derives from the Latin word “vexare” meaning “to plague, to irritate”.
SOURCE – Now that you have some distance from writing and recording the latest album, Vexier do you hear it differently?
M.K. (drums) – We are very proud about how it turned out. We can’t wait to bring the songs live on stage, since the experience of not only hearing, but also feeling the music will open another layer of VEXIER.
SOURCE – How has the band’s sound evolved/progressed from Maenad to Vexier?
M.K. (drums) – We really wanted to create songs that work on an album, as well as performed live. After all the shows in 2019/2020 we learned what “works” best for us on stage and for the audience attending. We of course also wanted to keep the typical E-L-R mood, just with a little heavier/darker soul.
SOURCE – Do you have different expectations for the album in different parts of the world?
I.R. (bass/vocals) – It shouldn’t matter where you listen to our music. We hope that everyone who’s listening to our album has his own journey with it. We want the listeners to build their own world when they hear our sound. But of course, it would be great to travel around and play in a lot of different parts of the world, specially to meet all the people who like our music.
SOURCE – How did the Fleurs of Decay music video come together and who did you work with on that?
M.K. (drums) – The video ´Fleurs of Decay´ shows a close view on how we are used to creating new material – always exchanging face-to-face energies. This is how the new album “Vexier” came alive. The video was realised by our dear friends of Atlov. They are a supporting force of the band since the early hours.
SOURCE – What do you think about the Brazilian metal scene? Do you know much about our bands?
M.K. (drums) – Apart from the famous metal exports like Sepultura we sadly only know the scene in Brazil from documentaries. But it seems to be huge and we would love to be able to play shows in your country one day. We will do our best!
Oh, actually I attended a show of Torture Squad in one of our favourite clubs in our hometown years ago.
SOURCE – What can we expect as far as new horizons for E-L-R?
I.R. (bass/vocals) – We really hope to play live shows as soon as possible again, to finally perform our new songs on stage and meet old & new friends again. We really miss touring, but we already started to work on new song ideas and are incredibly eager to release more music. A never ending and exciting journey!
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E-L-R
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