– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
Kevin:  Hello!  Thank you for your interest in A Flourishing Scourge.  We’re currently ramping up to the release date of our first full-length album, “A Flourishing Scourge”, set to be released on June 9th.

 

– First off, could you make some history of the band?
Kevin:  Of course.  The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Tye Jones and the band’s original drummer, Josh Keifer, in 2013.  After writing a few initial songs and defining their sound, I joined in 2014, with lead guitar player Andrew Dennis joining in early 2015.  From there, it’s been non-stop.  We began playing live almost immediately, and then took that first batch of songs written by Tye and Josh and put them on our demo EP, As Beauty Fades Away, which was released in September 2015.  After that, we parted ways with Josh, and took the interim time to complete the songs for this album.  We hit Gojira’s Silver Cord Studio in June of 2016 and have spent the last year mixing and mastering, as well as doing some regional touring.  After using Samus Paulicelli of Decrepit Birth to cut the drums for the album, we hooked up with our newest member, Elijah Losch, to complete the current line-up.

 

– How could you describe your sound?
Kevin:  It’s definitely the intersection of classic prog, death metal and black metal.  Personally, I don’t think we really sound like anyone out there, which I find refreshing.  Given our balance of acoustic and atmospheric passages, coupled with the more traditional metal sections, we’re most commonly associated with bands such as Opeth and Enslaved.  Our influences and interests are so diverse as individuals, that I truly believe there’s a little something in there for everyone, however it may take a few spins of the songs to really pick out the passages that resonate most with a particular listener.

 

– What are the band’s main musical influences?
Kevin:  We draw from so many places.  I’m probably the more traditional progressive rocker in the group, and count anything from Pink Floyd to Tool to Rush and Opeth as my primary influences.  Tye and Andrew have diverse musical backgrounds as well, and I feel they really bring the traditional aspects of extreme metal to the forefront.  However, from a purely metal standpoint, I think all of us would list Metallica and thrash in general as the common bond between all of us.

 

– How has the feedback for your new album been?
Kevin:  It’s really been amazing.  While we are very satisfied with the song writing, you can never really quite predict what the response will be outside of your inner circle.  We started rolling out most of the songs in our live performances over the last year, and the response has been extremely positive.  We decided to pool our resources to make the best album we could make, and that included being the first indy band to record at Gojira’s new studio.  That gave our music exposure to Joe Duplantier and his network of industry folks, all of whose opinions were very encouraging, and really validated the work we’ve put in bringing this project to light.

 

– And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome?
Kevin:  Absolutely!  Time will tell what the greater reaction is to the record but, personally, I know that we put everything we had into these songs, and I really think we’ve done a great job capturing the true essence of our sound.  We didn’t have to compromise at all in the songwriting or recording and production, so it sounds exactly as we have envisioned it.  Typically I grow tired of hearing projects I participate in, but ever since we got the masters back, the CD hasn’t left my stereo.

 

– How could you describe this opus in just 3 words?
Kevin:  A Sonic Journey

 
– How was the production process for your new release?
Kevin:  Very satisfying, and very educational.  All of the members have released some sort of music in the past, but this was the first time we really took the whole process outside of our basement.  We were able to hook up with Silver Cord right as they were opening for outside recording, so, being first, we really got a lot of extra special attention (and patience!) from Jamie Uertz, our engineer and mixer, who had just completed work on Gojira’s “Magma”.  Gojira was even gracious enough to let us use some of their personal gear, which was really exciting from a fan perspective.  Mixing took a little longer than expected, but that’s the glory of being independent and on your own timeline.  We were able to give this project the extra time it deserved.  After that was completed, we sent the mixes to Sweden to be mastered by the great Jens Bogren, who, again, gave us very valuable insight into the mastering process and returned what we feel is an amazing final product.

 
– And how does the songwriting process work?
Kevin:  Most of these songs were in some sort of form when Andrew and I joined the band.  Tye had basic riffs and arrangements complete for 4 or 5 of the songs when we first formed the core line-up.  For those songs, Andrew and I wrote our respective parts and added them to the core structure, and it gave them our signature sound, if you will.  A few of the other songs were completed in rehearsals as we prepped for the studio.  Going forward, I think the process will be a little different as we all sit together to create new songs from scratch.

 
 – Finally, what are you near-future plans?
Kevin:  The album will come out on June 9th.  We’re going to play a few release shows locally, then will take a couple months off to enjoy the summer.  We’ve spent the last two sequestered in our basement writing and rehearsing, so we’re due for a break.  After that, we’ll start rehearsing again in the August and September in preparation for a fall tour later this year.

 
– That’s all from our side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Kevin:  Thank you very much for your time and interest and for your continued support of original music!  Presales for the album are currently open on Bandcamp, and you can check us out on our web page, www.aflourishingscourge.com.  Cheers!

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