Artist: Asylum Pyre



Origin: Frankreich

Genre: Progressive Melodic Metal

Label: Massacre Records

Link: http://www.asylumpyre.com

Bandmembers:

Vocals – Chaos Heidi
Guitar, Vocals– Johann Cadot
Guitar – Hervé Schiltz
Bassguitar – Julien Peuch
Keyboard – Tony Decaillon
Drums – Vince Kreydaer


Time For Metal / Rene:
Greetings Asylum Pyre,
You released your actual Output Fifty Years Later on 7th December, 2012, the reason, why we want to ask you some questions. First of all: Please tell our readers, who you are, just for the case they don’t know you.

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
Hi! First of all, thank you for allowing us to do this interview! So, we are Asylum Pyre from France. The band exists since 2006. We play Melodic Metal with hints of prog, symphonic, acoustic, ambient, speed, power... Melody and emotions are the main threads to our music. It has always been difficult to put a short name to our style for us and for reviewers! So, listen to our music and tell us!


Time For Metal / Rene:
You started your Band in 2006 and since then you released a Demo called Whispers Of The Power in 2007 and your debut Natural Instinct in 2009. What experiences could you use from these releases for the production of your actual album?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
Concerning the creation of music: always have people out of the band that is able to understand your music and your universe but who is also able to evaluate and criticize your music with sincerity. Don’t close your mind and accept other people visions. Many people are able to create the basics of music but this music is taken at a higher level with other people’s help! Use experienced people that talks with their mind and inexperienced people that talk with their hearts! But all this does not mean you must forget what you want to do with your music. Take advices and use them to get your music better but don’t change the spirit of it, if you see what I mean.

The other thing is that you have to work, work, work and work again! Never give up! Making an album and making your way through music business is not only a matter of music... You have to deal with people, management, money, graphics, websites, concerts organisations, etc, etc.... Life! Lots of people forget these points...


Time For Metal / Rene:
To give your German fans a better insight into the development of Fifty Years Later I would like to speak with you about the different steps of the development of your newest creation. Let’s start with the song-writing: Where do you get new ideas for your songs and how do you combine them?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
Most of the time, I come to the band with a song structure, vocal melodies and lyrics and then we arrange the songs together. Sometimes we add or cut parts. Sometimes we change a melody or a riff. We try the songs in rehearsal and on demos again and again till we have something we all like and then in the studio... we change everything because we can test more possibilities!!! Sometimes other band members bring ideas and we complete the song and arrange them together like on The Herd or Just Before The Silence. As far as I’m concerned I don’t know where I get new ideas. I just play or think and it comes to my mind!


Time For Metal / Rene:
Some of our readers asked us what the deeper sense of your lyrics are and if their own interpretations are identical to yours. Could you tell us something to each track of Fifty Years Later, so your fans can compare?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
I try to make the lyrics as clear as possible. I don’t like when people say: “I let the listener makes its own idea”. When I read that, I think, this man has no meaning in its lyrics, he just puts words together and has no message. That’s too easy. That’s why I try to make the message clear. I’ve travelled a lot in the whole world, I’ve read a lot and searched for information and now I’m really afraid about the future of our planet.

In the introduction Will You Believe Me?, I speak to people who says that ecologists are too pessimistic. I just think ecologists are, sadly, realistic... So I set a character in fifty years from now on and make him speak about current years. The message is : “you should have listened to me!” In Dead In Copenhagen I talk about the conference of Copenhagen back in 2009. The whole world was waiting for real decisions about our future and nothing happened. Everything has been ruled by economical decisions... This song is dedicated to Raoni and his fight. In The Frozen Will, we meet a girl who has lost faith in life and people... but we tell her that she’s not alone to be down and that maybe we could help her... In These Trees, I speak about the destruction of the rainforest. This song is dedicated to Francis Hallé, a French scientist who has spent his life fighting for the rainforest. And I totally agree with him. In The Herd, the subject is the active laziness... People who spent their energy closing their eyes not to see the evidence... Fisherman’s day is dedicated to all the people living on islands who will soon be drowned by the water rising and whose main resource, fish, is being destroyed by intensive fishing... Against The Sand is about a couple united till the end and that faces life and planet destruction together... It’s also a song about time that makes us grow old... and... you see what I mean. Any Hypothesis is kinda different, it is about all the questions we have and that have no answer... On any of these subjects, any hypothesis is possible. These are questions that comes to my mind here and then, and that are someway related to our life and our planet. Just before The Silence is dedicated to some poor ecologists that have been killed in South America because they were... ecologists! So a danger for some people and economical interests. So I imagine them when they received the threat letters... what could have been in their mind at that moment. Finally, Fifty Years Later is just a vision of what could be the Earth in fifty years... Not a very nice place to live any longer... It’s been a long answer but the question asked for that!


Time For Metal / Rene:
What kind of feeling do you have as a musician after finishing all the hard work to create a new album and hold it in your hands like a baby? And how do you deal with the knowledge that a lot of days will pass until the CD will be released?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
I’ll make this answer short so as to balance the previous one! At the end we are just exhausted and empty... And waiting for the release is just... a frustration and a torture!!


Time For Metal / Rene:
Finally, the day of the release is reached, the first metal heads go to their favorite retailer (or use the internet) and buy your new CD. The first thing they will see is the great artwork, which we could see in the news a few weeks ago. Did you create the cover by yourself or did you hire an external artist?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
We hire an external artist. His name is Alexandre Chaigne. He also did the cover of our first album. He is very talented. We discuss a lot together starting from our basic idea and then he creates something that really pictures our world! Thanks again to him.


Time For Metal / Rene:
Normally, after finishing a new album, the next step is going on tour and presenting the new stuff to the fans. What is about you? Do you take some downtime or do you travel instantly to the stages all around the world?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
All around the world is not exactly what I would say today. It is really hard and expensive to do it. So, sadly, so far we have just planned a dozen shows in France and are starting to organize shows in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany or Italy. The whole list is available on our website: http://www.asylumpyre.com


Time For Metal / Rene:
In Germany you cannot imagine a summer without Metal Open Air Festivals. Can we see you guys on one or two festivals this year?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
Unfortunately, it is not planned yet but we would really hope so!


Time For Metal / Rene:
Like mentioned before, you guys started in 2006 and can look back to seven years of experience as a band. Are there any outstanding positive or negative experiences in your business, which you can tell our readers?

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
Sharing your taste of music with people when you do shows or when you chat or answer an interview is for sure the best part of music world. Playing with DORO in front of a sold-out venue... was amazing!
The worst part is that, like everywhere else, money rules... And nowadays with illegal download it is worse than ever. So you have to fight and make sacrifices everyday of your life. As I already said before, music business is not just about music, it is also about management, sacrifices and money. You have to be solid to face all this... Music and talent are not enough... not to mention people who would be able to kill to meet the success!


Time For Metal / Rene:
Thank you for your time, you can now use the last words to talk directly to your fans and our readers! I wish you a successful year!

Asylum Pyre / Johann:
We are really looking forward to come and play in Germany and everywhere else. Hopefully it will happen soon! We want to meet you guys and share our music and energy with you. Thanks again for this interview from the deepest of our hearts! Hail!