Rockezine.com interview with Eidolon on Oct 20, 2003

with Glen Drover on Oct 20, 2003


		The new “Apostles Of Defiance” is already your 6th album up to date and another step in the development of Eidolon. Are you happy with the result, and the evolution the band has made during its 10 years of existence? Absolutely! We (Eidolon) are all very happy with the end result, as we believe this to be our most dynamic and strongest album to date! As far as an evolution from one album to the next, I think we have been very consistent in doing so. Each album seems to elevate in terms of song writing, performance and production. The overall package basically.
		The album is more aggressive than its predecessor “Coma Nation” but can you briefly tell in your own words what the fan can expect to hear on “Apostles Of Defiance”? I think in some ways it is similar to “Coma Nation”, but it is defiantly a heavier and darker album. It’s a very dynamic album that has something for everyone. Lots of energy!
		It’s again an onslaught of powerful riffs, how do you guys keep on coming up with all these killer riffs? Good question, the music just seems to flow with no problem and I’m sure it will continue!
It’s a very dynamic album that has something for everyone.		The keyboards seem to have again totally disappeared. Was this a conscious choice or just a natural result of the increased aggressiveness of the album in general? Well, there are actually a few songs that have keyboards, but the patterns are in a lower key, so they do not appear really strong in the mix, but they are there. To be honest, there are more keyboards on this album than any other album we have done.
		Singer Pat Mulock joined the band just before “Coma Nation” and was a great addition to the line-up. On this new album I have noticed that Pat’s voice sounds different, mostly lower. Would you like to comment on that? Yeah, he does sing songs on this new album with more variety in styles. Shawn also does a little bit of vocals as well, like the chorus in the first song “Scream From Within” and a little in a song called “Demoralized” as well as the singer from the Toronto based band Eclipse Eternal, who provides some of the death-type vocals on the album. We noticed that these songs really needed more dynamics, aggression and variety in style, so we knew what we needed to do in order to produce the proper results. We always do whatever the song calls for. For example, if a song or section calls for more extreme vocals, etc, we will do it. The same goes for the music; whatever each instrument needs to provide to compliment the song, as we do have a variety of different styles of songs within metal.
		I personally liked “Apostles Of Defiance” but how have the reactions been so far? All the reactions have been amazing! Very positive. It seems that most people agree that this is our best album to date!
		I presume that you have recorded the album yourself again, or have things changed since “Coma Nation”? Nothing has changed, except the usual studio upgrades I do from year to year. All the albums we have done have been recorded and mixed in my studio, called Eclipse studio. Andy LaRoque (King Diamond) did the mastering on this new album and “Coma Nation” at Los Angered studios in Gothenburg, Sweden.
		Metal Blade is releasing a special limited 2 CD version of “Apostles Of Defiance”. What does this limited edition offer and how limited is it? The bonus CD is the first CD Eidolon ever recorded, which is an album called “Zero Hour”. It was recorded in 1996 and was released independently. There have been a lot of people asking about those older albums (the other being an album called “Seven Spirits” from 1997) and Metal Blade had asked us about this idea of releasing one of those albums as a limited version with the new album. We thought it was a cool idea, so we agreed to it and decided to release our first album. Once that version has sold out, that will be the end and then Metal Blade will press the new album on its own.
		Can you tell us a bit more about the concept behind the album? Looking at the artwork, it seems to me it’s even darker than before. Well, lyrically, this is not a concept album; each song has its own story to tell. As far as the front cover, it’s a very simple concept. The Chain dude (as we call him) is the evil overlord and the four main figures you see on either side of him are his main apostles and the masses you see in the background are also followers, in hell!
We are still very hungry and the best is yet to come from Eidolon!!		Will we see Eidolon on a European tour now or hasn’t Metal Blade decided on that yet? We have not been asked by Metal Blade about any European touring for the moment, but we are very hopeful for the near future. We understand that the record companies really have to watch their money in these times of this entire stupid internet burning of albums, but there seem to be signs of this problem being corrected, so we hope to be in Europe in the very near future.
		A European tour to support your album could have a huge impact on the band. Fact is that metal is a whole lot more popular in Europe than it is in the States or Canada, or am I wrong? Oh yes!! It would help us in a tremendous way. And yeah, Metal lives in Europe, that’s for sure!!! The States and Canada are OK in parts, but cannot be compared to Europe. The goal of Eidolon in the beginning was to be signed to a good metal label in Europe, more so than North America.
		You played on Wacken Open Air, how was the experience and how was the reaction of the crowd? The experience was just great! Great exposure for the band and we had such a good time and the reaction was great as well. We know we made some new fans that day, that’s for sure!
		Any hopes or wishes for the future of Eidolon? Well, like most other bands, you hope to continue to grow in popularity and continue to produce strong albums. We are still very hungry and the best is yet to come from Eidolon!!
		Anything you always wanted to say, but never got the chance to say? Thank you to all that have supported us in everyway, we appreciate this more than you will ever know! Hope to see you soon on tour!
		Thanks a lot for this interview and good luck with the release of “Apostles Of Defiance”! Anything you want to add to this interview? Thank you Frank!!! Glen Drover
		(Frank van de Voorde)