UNEARTH (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for your time. What’s currently going on in the UNEARTH’s camp?
We are getting ready for the release of our new album «Darkness in the Light» as well as getting ready to start touring to support it. We are on the Rockstar Mayhem festival in North America all summer, then we head to Europe to headline the Hell on Earth tour, go directly to Australia from there to play on the Soundwave Revolution Festival tour and then to Japan for a short tour as well as a couple more Pacific Rim countries. We’re also already planning more touring for after those tours to continue to support the new album.
– Your latest «Darkness in the Light» was released a few days ago so, to start getting a bit into it, what’s does its cover artwork represent?
Many of the lyrics deal with the s
truggles that life throws at you. That said, the cover represents a person drowning and getting pulled down to the darkness below, yet the person is still striving for the top and reaching towards the surface and the light.
– I think it fits some of the lyrics in the album, and the same goes with the album’s title. So, how do you think the album’s
name express some of these lyrics?
Life is full of battles, tragedies and dark times and the lyrics on this album speak about those times. There is a sense of hope within some of the songs to continue to battle through those trying times, but it is an album where you can reflect and vent that anger and frustration that life deals you.
– In «Darkness in the Light» we can find more solos, and I think is, in general, a more guitar-driven album. Was there any concrete reason for this?
Buz and Ken are just getting better with every release, so the progression of the guitars is just a natural thing. They are both very talented players and their writing and playing is constantly improving.
– How did you approach the creative process for the CD?
This album was a very focused effort by the four members of this band. We have always been a five piece, but have had a revolving cast of drummers over the years. This time we decided to write the album with a drum machine and just focus our ideas and efforts between the four of us. Ken and Buz always write the riffs while Slo and I give our input on direction and structure. Once the songs are put together I then write lyrics 
and vocal placements and then we record the ideas. We would demo these songs, send them via MP3 to Justin Foley and have him throw down his ideas and send back to us. Once we approved his ideas we then went into the studio and tracked the record with Justin on drums and the rest
of us individually.
– It seems this record breaks with the general trend on your previous «The March» and has certian similarities to your 3 first albums. Was this something intended?
We really wanted to combine elements of each of our first four albums. We really wanted to give our fans a taste of everything we are known for while also furthering our sound into a more modern record. There are elements of that hunger and youthful energy from «The Stings of Conscience», the brutality and catchiness of «The Oncoming Storm», the speed and darkness of «III: In the Eyes of Fire» and the groove and song structure of «The March». We combined all those elements, added some more melody and brutality as well as more guitar driven sections (especially solos) and came out with a final product we are all pumped about.
– For example, Ken has delivered some clean vocals. Did this have something to do with the aforementioned in the question above?
We took a seven year hiatus from recording clean vocals on our albums, but our song «Endless» has remained a staple in our live set due to it being a fan favorite. We never want to try and be a band that has clean vocals in every song, but we wanted to bring it back in a few songs to just add another weapon to our musical arsenal. It isn’t over done and it seems to fit well in the few songs that have that element.
– This album was, once more, produced by Adam D, so I guess you guys are satisfied with his work…
Yes we are. This is our fifth album and he has recorded and produced four of the five. He is a good friend that knows our personalities, strengths and sound so well that he is pretty much an extra member of our band. He is less emotionally involved in the songs because he isn’t a writer for
us, so he can be brutally honest when it comes to how he feels about the songs and each part. Having that trust, knowledge and honesty can really help the recording process for any band.
– Some months ago Derek left UNEARTH; what happened?
When we sat down last summer to write the new album, the four of us knew we wanted to get some of the speed and intensity back that we had on our previous albums before The March. Derek is a great drummer, but he is more of a pocket drummer that strives on groove and more rock based songs. Bringing that speed back wasn’t something that was working out so we had to part ways with him. The move is best for both parties involved and I’m sure we’ll be friends for a long time.
– And Justin Foley stepped in the studio. How was working with him like?
He’s great. A long time friend of ours that has talent that is mostly unmatched in the metal world. He goes a bit unnoticed at times because his main band, Killswitch Engage, plays a more straight forward style. He definitely has flashes with KSE, but the speed and technicality that he is capable of is not a big part of their style. For us, he really brought everything to the table. There is speed, tech, groove, etc… throughout the entire album and we all feel it is the best overall drumming we’ve ever had on an album.
– And how’s going the drummer situation? Will Justin join you on tour? Will you look for a new drummer…?
Justin is starting the touring cycle with us before he returns back to his KSE duties. He’ll be playing the Mayhem Festival in North American this summer as well as joining us in Europe for our headlining tour for «Hell on Earth». After that we have a guy named Nick Pierce touring with us.
– Finally, what are your future plans (beside the shows and tours you have confirmed thus far)? What can we expect from you from now on?
We have a ton of World touring lined up for the rest of the year (Australia, Japan, Pacific Rim, more North America) and even plans getting ready 2012. Besides us being constantly on the road, we’ll just continue writing, recording and playing. This is what we love to do and we plan on being
at it for a long time to come.
– That’s all, thank you once more for your time. Feel free to add some final words to our readers.
Thanks for the coverage of the new album. Most importantly thank you to all of our fans around the World for the support over the years. A lot of bands come and go quickly, but this is our 10th year of being a full time touring band and without the constant support we wouldn’t be here. You all fucking rule. See you on the road soon.
