For those that took a liking to Empyrean Asunder after my review, systematically I wanted to provide an interview with the band's founder Jerry Barksdale and singer Olivia Asunder so you could get to know the band a little bit more.
To start this off, I should give you a little background information..
Jerry Barksdale a.k.a Eroxthis Asunder, started Empyrean Asunder in 1999 with the demo, "Wrought in Dreams," which was a *very* different sounding Empyrean Asunder from what you will hear today; it was done with a bunch of death metal guys and they wrote some doom-y atmospheric metal. Through that very demo--which is also downloadable for free on their site, along with all their other releases--you can see why, that when the band was reformed in 2012 that he had sought out Olivia Asunder. On the demo there's a display of stringed instruments and she enveloped Jerry's vision perfectly. She can play violin, sing, scream, and has a growing stage presence.
After the demo, it wasn't until 6 years later in 2005 when the band released their debut album, "the Human Virus." On this album you will hear the band toying with their influences and trying to hone in on their own sound. Not quite there yet, but as you listen from now to the beginning, you can hear the elements of today's Empyrean Asunder coming together.
Given the length of time between the demo and the first album, there's presumably a vast difference between the two. It wasn't until the sophomore album, "Love At Your Own Risk," (2006) that the band began to hone in on their sound. Slowly developing a formula that would later be known as the foundation of the band's sound. The band secured their first remix by the reputable industrial artist Razed in Black. You will recognize the title track of the record and the Aftermath.
2008 saw the last release of the first incarnation of Empyrean Asunder with an album called, "They Call Her the Cure." BAM! The first track happens to be the first track on the Hate EP as well.
After venturing through the first incarnation of the band's discography, you discover that 3 out of 5 of the songs on 2013's, "Hate," EP were previously written by the first incarnation of the band. Meaning that Olivia didn't write those songs but she was able to do them with conviction, and that they are re-recordings.
Enough of me talking about Empyrean Asunder, let's hear from Jerry & Olivia themselves, get a little background information on them, their musical tastes and inspirations,
Okay, Jerry, let's start with you--being the founding member of the band, who or what song inspired you to pick up an instrument and start writing music?
Jerry - ''I was raised by five people growing up each with a very different taste in music so from an early age I was force fed the likes of Chuck Berry, Mr. Mister, Faster Pussycat, Conway Twitty and Pink Floyd also when I was a teenager I randomly purchased two albums..Ministry "Twitch" and Napalm Death "Death By Manipulation", for no reason other then they had cool names. It was this very specific combination of music and the elements and ideas they espouse which inspires the music I write. My grandfather tinkered with the guitar so he was my initial inspiration, the riffs in Stray Cats "Stray Cat Strut" and some swing remake of Elvis' "Love Me Tender" really solidified my future as a musician. I was probably about 10 at the time but it was certainly a defining moment in my life.''
When making Empyrean Asunder, what influences did you draw together to create the sound you wanted? It's obvious you have eclectic taste in music, given the fusions of so many styles of music, from doom-y experimental black metal, to industrial, stringed instruments, glitch, EBM, and even some dub-step. Can you name specific artists from each of the genres you infused together?
Jerry - ''I actually listen to very little of the aforementioned genres. Sure there are a handful of bands that I enjoy but generally I listen to mostly oi punk, atmospheric rock, and electro. However I'd say you could draw a parallel between My Dying Bride "Turn Loose The Swans" (doom), Arcturus "Aspera Hiems Symfonia" (black metal), Skinny Puppy "Last Rights" (industrial), Mendelssohn "Violin Concerto in E minor" (classical), Beborn Beton "Truth" (synthpop/EBM), Crisis "Deathshead Extermination" (metal) and as far as dubstep is concerned I actually don't listen to that at all. I've heard a few of the sounds and really enjoyed the thick bass so I just stole that idea and threw it in a song or two.''
From that, name five albums off the top of your head that you couldn't live without:
Jerry - "Anathema "Hindsight", Anathema "Weather Systems", Raised Fist "Dedication", Cock Sparrer "Back Home", Daniel Johnston "Welcome To My World", and here recently I've really been digging the stuff that CHVRCHES is writing."
I'm not ashamed to admit I don't have the largest vocabulary so I had to look up 'empyrean' and 'asunder' to try and piece together what the band name could possibly mean, since the name was so alluring. I pieced it together as 'heaven split into pieces.' Is this correct? If not, what does it mean to you and why did you choose it?
Jerry - "The literal translation yes "Heaven split into pieces", but I see it as more of the war in Heaven, the eternal schism between 'good and evil'..not necessarily a religious war but an internal one..I guess it's easiest to use the cartoon imagery of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, both making convincing arguments and forcing your allegiance. The struggle of knowing what you must choose verses what you want to choose and when to sacrifice one for the other. desire or loyalty, hate or love, apathy or sympathy, when to fight for an ideal or when to leave it for the grave. Basically the decisions we make that haunt us for the rest of our lives and the unwavering, ever nagging question of, 'What If I made the other choice?'"
After listening to the Hate EP, I had to go dig up more information about you guys; it was interesting to find out that the band has an extensive back catalog before the Hate EP; which we can refer to as the first incarnation of Empyrean Asunder. While listening through it all I could hear 'all the pieces' of Empyrean Asunder coming together. Do you think there's a reason the first formation of the band didn't garner more attention?
Jerry: - "The earliest era of Empyrean Asunder (1999) barely made it out of the studio intact. We knew what we wanted to accomplish and that vision wasn't realized. I think the songs were testament to our musical immaturity. The ideas are strong and well ahead of it's time but we didn't have the musical fortitude to follow through with those ideas. The later era of Empyrean Asunder (2005-2008) also failed for lack of maturity. We had a strong vision, the dedication and follow through but we were attempting to blend the low-fi DIY single take recording process found in punk rock with electronic music and it really didn't work out as we wanted. The songs are strong but we certainly didn't know how to blend the raw edge of punk with industrial. We stayed with it for a few years and managed 3 releases, a ton of incredible shows and a lot of great memories but ultimately our failure to garner wider exposure rested solely on our inability to realize our ideas."
The last recordings of the first incarnation stopped in 2008, what led up to the break up?
Jerry: - "We had signed with a small label and the deal soured..we ended up basically tossing our final release and that destroyed our creative drive so we put an end to that era of Empyrean Asunder and immediately started an alternative electro-rock band Alice In The Aftermath, played a great show with Slick Idiot..I really think Alice In the Aftermath had potential but the stench of a failed Empyrean Asunder still lingered and after just 2 shows we called it quits."
Previously in a conversation we had, you mentioned to me you had your eye on Olivia as the potential vocalist for Empyrean Asunder, how did you find her? Is that what led up to the reincarnation?
Jerry - "I stalked her on Facebook, haha. An acquaintance had tagged her in a picture and she was pretty so I clicked her profile. She had some videos posted of her singing and playing the violin. Immediately I was convinced that she was going to sing for me or I was going to spam the hell out of her FB until I was blocked. She was and is the reason behind the new Empyrean Asunder. I knew immediately that her talent was what was needed to realize Empyrean Asunder's potential."
It still blows me away that she just turned 17 when Hate was recorded! WOW. From listening to the first incarnation, I could definitely piece together why she fit the mold perfectly. As I mentioned before on the demo there was a display of stringed instruments, in which Olivia plays one of currently and certainly has the potential to learn more instruments in the future if-so-desired, and I kind of felt like the first vocalist--which was a male--had some kind of feminine air to the vocal presentation. It seems to flow a lot better with Olivia's vocals.
Olivia, given your vocal range and presentation, who are your main sources for inspiration?
Olivia - "My main inspirations are Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Rob Zombie, and Lady Gaga. (Keep in mind I'm a singer as well, and I for sure have some sort of a "popstar" living inside of me somewhere.)"
That's badass! I love Lady GaGa too. I really want to catch her live, at least once. Do you think you could every convince Jerry and the rest of the guys to do a Lady GaGa cover if you wanted to? And if you were able to, which song would it be?
Olivia - "I would love to do a Lady Gaga cover! I think Jerry would let me do that, but I honestly have no idea what song I would cover. Scheiße would be sweet!"
Who was it that made you say, "I want to be a vocalist," when you were little?
Olivia - "I never aspired to be a vocalist, actually. I've loved to sing since I was a couple of years old, and my love for it just kept me practicing and learning as I got older. I would always sing along to Cyndi Lauper, Celine Dion, Cher, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin.....my parents had completely different tastes and it just mashed up in my little head. Haha. I didn't realize that I had the capability of being a vocalist until middle school when I fell HARD for Alice in Chains. Layne was the one who made me realize that I probably wasn't supposed to be a pop singer because I could do some really weird yet awesome things with my voice.....that's when everything changed!
From that, what are five albums you could not live without?
Olivia - "Oh shit this is hard.
I can't live without all of Alice in Chains' albums, but if I had to chose one it would be Jar of Flies.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Emilie Autumn - Opheliac
Enya - A Day Without Rain (Childhood memory, man. Her voice is beautiful.)
Mary Magdalan - R.I.P."
How did you feel when Jerry approached you about Empyrean Asunder?
Olivia - "I honestly didn't know what to think. Haha. It was so exciting; yet I didn't really believe that I would be what Jerry was looking for. But little did I know that Jerry was about to make my dream of being a vocalist come true.....And somehow become one of my best friends as well. Hah! (Awww. So fucking cheesy.)
Did you have any prior experience to Empyrean Asunder?
Olivia - "Empyrean Asunder is the first legitimate band I've been in. Other 'bands' I've been in were just the usual bullshit middle school ideas my friends and I concocted. I have been performing/speaking in front of people for the majority of my life, though. I have sang in talent shows, played solo violin recitals, karaoked several times and even performed in award banquets. But that's as much experience as I've had up until last year."
How long have you been playing violin? Do you have ideas to incorporate it into songs that you're just itching to get out?
Olivia - "I've been playing violin for 10 years; I started taking private lessons in third grade.
Of course! we have some new ideas we're working on now."
Is there a set target audience for your music? Do you want both metal heads & goths into your music? Is it both? Like, you would open up for Mushroomhead if given the opportunity at any point, right? And the same with someone like KMFDM, or Combichrist.
Jerry - "I certainly don't want a target audience. We share the stage with metal acts as well as industrial acts and everything in between. I have a general disdain for scene mentality and bands that feel it necessary to appeal to a particular set of people. I don't like the constraint inherent in a scene. I find it stifling, suffocating and frankly boring. My initial appeal to electronic music was that you had no constraints and no preset formula, you could make it up as you go. I find that an inherent element within this sub-genre. There's room for unlimited creativity..there are no boundaries. Why would anyone wish to create artificial barriers by pigeonholing themselves within the limited scope and vision of a scene."
Olivia - "No, there isn't a set audience. I want anyone to enjoy the music we create; no matter what they consider themselves. We're dark, we're weird, and we like to keep things interesting. Scene affiliation isn't a concern of ours whatsoever. I would love to open for Mushroomhead, Combichrist, or KMFDM. We play shows with all kinds of bands of different genres and that's how we like it."
What would be your dream show to play?
Jerry - "We've opened for some of the bigger names in the industry and sounded like shit, were treated like shit and had an overall terrible time. On the other hand we've played to 20 people with unknown local bands and have had the times of our life so really give us a decent sound, a handful of people who appreciate what we're doing and some fun, interesting bands and we're good."
Olivia - "My dream show to play would be to open for any of the bands that inspired me to be a performing musician. Rob Zombie is for sure one of them. I would croak if I got the chance to open for him. Haha.
I would hyperventilate if Empyrean was ever on a bill with Emilie Autumn and The Birthday Massacre. I want that SO bad!"
Are you guys interested in working with a record label, have you made any contacts to any?
Olivia - "Jerry handles all of that. Haha but yes, we are looking into record labels."
Jerry - "I'm certainly open to working with small to medium sized labels. We do have some label interest. I'm not sure what will come of it if anything but we've talked to a few different labels. Right now we're putting the finishing touches on our full length "Serpent," once we finish we'll shop the final sounds to a few people and see what comes of it. I also have no problem self releasing which really eliminates all of the stress of securing label partnership."
What can we expect from Empyrean Asunder now? It's been a little over a year since Hate.
Olivia - "Our new album 'Serpent' is so close to being finished that we can taste it. Brace yourselves."
Jerry - "'Serpent' is nearly complete, a few more days and it will be finished. New songs and ideas are already floating around and I'm trying to integrate the new members into the writing process which is sure to expand our already diverse sound."
Well Jerry and Olivia, thank you for your time, is there anything else you'd like to say to our Brutal Resonance readers out there?
Jerry - "Visit our page, download our CD's for free. www.empyreanasunder.co.nr and www.facebook.com/empyreanasunder "
Olivia - "I guess this where I'm supposed to say 'make sure to like and follow Empyrean Asunder on Facebook, Reverbnation, our website....' I hope Jerry has all of this info because he's the master/operator with all of that. Haha!
But in all seriousness do please check us out. I think some readers will dig what can come out of a 100 lb 5'4" Indiana Gal."
Thanks again! It was pleasure learning some of the background information about Empyrean Asunder. I hope y'all have a great show at home *and* in Chicago on the 2nd U.S. Leg of God Mod's False Face Tour, and remember, David Shock, Co-Owner of WTII Records is from Chicago and will be at the show. ...Blow him away!
To start this off, I should give you a little background information..
Jerry Barksdale a.k.a Eroxthis Asunder, started Empyrean Asunder in 1999 with the demo, "Wrought in Dreams," which was a *very* different sounding Empyrean Asunder from what you will hear today; it was done with a bunch of death metal guys and they wrote some doom-y atmospheric metal. Through that very demo--which is also downloadable for free on their site, along with all their other releases--you can see why, that when the band was reformed in 2012 that he had sought out Olivia Asunder. On the demo there's a display of stringed instruments and she enveloped Jerry's vision perfectly. She can play violin, sing, scream, and has a growing stage presence.
After the demo, it wasn't until 6 years later in 2005 when the band released their debut album, "the Human Virus." On this album you will hear the band toying with their influences and trying to hone in on their own sound. Not quite there yet, but as you listen from now to the beginning, you can hear the elements of today's Empyrean Asunder coming together.
Given the length of time between the demo and the first album, there's presumably a vast difference between the two. It wasn't until the sophomore album, "Love At Your Own Risk," (2006) that the band began to hone in on their sound. Slowly developing a formula that would later be known as the foundation of the band's sound. The band secured their first remix by the reputable industrial artist Razed in Black. You will recognize the title track of the record and the Aftermath.
2008 saw the last release of the first incarnation of Empyrean Asunder with an album called, "They Call Her the Cure." BAM! The first track happens to be the first track on the Hate EP as well.
After venturing through the first incarnation of the band's discography, you discover that 3 out of 5 of the songs on 2013's, "Hate," EP were previously written by the first incarnation of the band. Meaning that Olivia didn't write those songs but she was able to do them with conviction, and that they are re-recordings.
Enough of me talking about Empyrean Asunder, let's hear from Jerry & Olivia themselves, get a little background information on them, their musical tastes and inspirations,
Okay, Jerry, let's start with you--being the founding member of the band, who or what song inspired you to pick up an instrument and start writing music?
Jerry - ''I was raised by five people growing up each with a very different taste in music so from an early age I was force fed the likes of Chuck Berry, Mr. Mister, Faster Pussycat, Conway Twitty and Pink Floyd also when I was a teenager I randomly purchased two albums..Ministry "Twitch" and Napalm Death "Death By Manipulation", for no reason other then they had cool names. It was this very specific combination of music and the elements and ideas they espouse which inspires the music I write. My grandfather tinkered with the guitar so he was my initial inspiration, the riffs in Stray Cats "Stray Cat Strut" and some swing remake of Elvis' "Love Me Tender" really solidified my future as a musician. I was probably about 10 at the time but it was certainly a defining moment in my life.''
When making Empyrean Asunder, what influences did you draw together to create the sound you wanted? It's obvious you have eclectic taste in music, given the fusions of so many styles of music, from doom-y experimental black metal, to industrial, stringed instruments, glitch, EBM, and even some dub-step. Can you name specific artists from each of the genres you infused together?
Jerry - ''I actually listen to very little of the aforementioned genres. Sure there are a handful of bands that I enjoy but generally I listen to mostly oi punk, atmospheric rock, and electro. However I'd say you could draw a parallel between My Dying Bride "Turn Loose The Swans" (doom), Arcturus "Aspera Hiems Symfonia" (black metal), Skinny Puppy "Last Rights" (industrial), Mendelssohn "Violin Concerto in E minor" (classical), Beborn Beton "Truth" (synthpop/EBM), Crisis "Deathshead Extermination" (metal) and as far as dubstep is concerned I actually don't listen to that at all. I've heard a few of the sounds and really enjoyed the thick bass so I just stole that idea and threw it in a song or two.''
From that, name five albums off the top of your head that you couldn't live without:
Jerry - "Anathema "Hindsight", Anathema "Weather Systems", Raised Fist "Dedication", Cock Sparrer "Back Home", Daniel Johnston "Welcome To My World", and here recently I've really been digging the stuff that CHVRCHES is writing."
I'm not ashamed to admit I don't have the largest vocabulary so I had to look up 'empyrean' and 'asunder' to try and piece together what the band name could possibly mean, since the name was so alluring. I pieced it together as 'heaven split into pieces.' Is this correct? If not, what does it mean to you and why did you choose it?
Jerry - "The literal translation yes "Heaven split into pieces", but I see it as more of the war in Heaven, the eternal schism between 'good and evil'..not necessarily a religious war but an internal one..I guess it's easiest to use the cartoon imagery of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, both making convincing arguments and forcing your allegiance. The struggle of knowing what you must choose verses what you want to choose and when to sacrifice one for the other. desire or loyalty, hate or love, apathy or sympathy, when to fight for an ideal or when to leave it for the grave. Basically the decisions we make that haunt us for the rest of our lives and the unwavering, ever nagging question of, 'What If I made the other choice?'"
After listening to the Hate EP, I had to go dig up more information about you guys; it was interesting to find out that the band has an extensive back catalog before the Hate EP; which we can refer to as the first incarnation of Empyrean Asunder. While listening through it all I could hear 'all the pieces' of Empyrean Asunder coming together. Do you think there's a reason the first formation of the band didn't garner more attention?
Jerry: - "The earliest era of Empyrean Asunder (1999) barely made it out of the studio intact. We knew what we wanted to accomplish and that vision wasn't realized. I think the songs were testament to our musical immaturity. The ideas are strong and well ahead of it's time but we didn't have the musical fortitude to follow through with those ideas. The later era of Empyrean Asunder (2005-2008) also failed for lack of maturity. We had a strong vision, the dedication and follow through but we were attempting to blend the low-fi DIY single take recording process found in punk rock with electronic music and it really didn't work out as we wanted. The songs are strong but we certainly didn't know how to blend the raw edge of punk with industrial. We stayed with it for a few years and managed 3 releases, a ton of incredible shows and a lot of great memories but ultimately our failure to garner wider exposure rested solely on our inability to realize our ideas."
The last recordings of the first incarnation stopped in 2008, what led up to the break up?
Jerry: - "We had signed with a small label and the deal soured..we ended up basically tossing our final release and that destroyed our creative drive so we put an end to that era of Empyrean Asunder and immediately started an alternative electro-rock band Alice In The Aftermath, played a great show with Slick Idiot..I really think Alice In the Aftermath had potential but the stench of a failed Empyrean Asunder still lingered and after just 2 shows we called it quits."
Previously in a conversation we had, you mentioned to me you had your eye on Olivia as the potential vocalist for Empyrean Asunder, how did you find her? Is that what led up to the reincarnation?
Jerry - "I stalked her on Facebook, haha. An acquaintance had tagged her in a picture and she was pretty so I clicked her profile. She had some videos posted of her singing and playing the violin. Immediately I was convinced that she was going to sing for me or I was going to spam the hell out of her FB until I was blocked. She was and is the reason behind the new Empyrean Asunder. I knew immediately that her talent was what was needed to realize Empyrean Asunder's potential."
It still blows me away that she just turned 17 when Hate was recorded! WOW. From listening to the first incarnation, I could definitely piece together why she fit the mold perfectly. As I mentioned before on the demo there was a display of stringed instruments, in which Olivia plays one of currently and certainly has the potential to learn more instruments in the future if-so-desired, and I kind of felt like the first vocalist--which was a male--had some kind of feminine air to the vocal presentation. It seems to flow a lot better with Olivia's vocals.
Olivia, given your vocal range and presentation, who are your main sources for inspiration?
Olivia - "My main inspirations are Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Rob Zombie, and Lady Gaga. (Keep in mind I'm a singer as well, and I for sure have some sort of a "popstar" living inside of me somewhere.)"
That's badass! I love Lady GaGa too. I really want to catch her live, at least once. Do you think you could every convince Jerry and the rest of the guys to do a Lady GaGa cover if you wanted to? And if you were able to, which song would it be?
Olivia - "I would love to do a Lady Gaga cover! I think Jerry would let me do that, but I honestly have no idea what song I would cover. Scheiße would be sweet!"
Who was it that made you say, "I want to be a vocalist," when you were little?
Olivia - "I never aspired to be a vocalist, actually. I've loved to sing since I was a couple of years old, and my love for it just kept me practicing and learning as I got older. I would always sing along to Cyndi Lauper, Celine Dion, Cher, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin.....my parents had completely different tastes and it just mashed up in my little head. Haha. I didn't realize that I had the capability of being a vocalist until middle school when I fell HARD for Alice in Chains. Layne was the one who made me realize that I probably wasn't supposed to be a pop singer because I could do some really weird yet awesome things with my voice.....that's when everything changed!
From that, what are five albums you could not live without?
Olivia - "Oh shit this is hard.
I can't live without all of Alice in Chains' albums, but if I had to chose one it would be Jar of Flies.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Emilie Autumn - Opheliac
Enya - A Day Without Rain (Childhood memory, man. Her voice is beautiful.)
Mary Magdalan - R.I.P."
How did you feel when Jerry approached you about Empyrean Asunder?
Olivia - "I honestly didn't know what to think. Haha. It was so exciting; yet I didn't really believe that I would be what Jerry was looking for. But little did I know that Jerry was about to make my dream of being a vocalist come true.....And somehow become one of my best friends as well. Hah! (Awww. So fucking cheesy.)
Did you have any prior experience to Empyrean Asunder?
Olivia - "Empyrean Asunder is the first legitimate band I've been in. Other 'bands' I've been in were just the usual bullshit middle school ideas my friends and I concocted. I have been performing/speaking in front of people for the majority of my life, though. I have sang in talent shows, played solo violin recitals, karaoked several times and even performed in award banquets. But that's as much experience as I've had up until last year."
How long have you been playing violin? Do you have ideas to incorporate it into songs that you're just itching to get out?
Olivia - "I've been playing violin for 10 years; I started taking private lessons in third grade.
Of course! we have some new ideas we're working on now."
Is there a set target audience for your music? Do you want both metal heads & goths into your music? Is it both? Like, you would open up for Mushroomhead if given the opportunity at any point, right? And the same with someone like KMFDM, or Combichrist.
Jerry - "I certainly don't want a target audience. We share the stage with metal acts as well as industrial acts and everything in between. I have a general disdain for scene mentality and bands that feel it necessary to appeal to a particular set of people. I don't like the constraint inherent in a scene. I find it stifling, suffocating and frankly boring. My initial appeal to electronic music was that you had no constraints and no preset formula, you could make it up as you go. I find that an inherent element within this sub-genre. There's room for unlimited creativity..there are no boundaries. Why would anyone wish to create artificial barriers by pigeonholing themselves within the limited scope and vision of a scene."
Olivia - "No, there isn't a set audience. I want anyone to enjoy the music we create; no matter what they consider themselves. We're dark, we're weird, and we like to keep things interesting. Scene affiliation isn't a concern of ours whatsoever. I would love to open for Mushroomhead, Combichrist, or KMFDM. We play shows with all kinds of bands of different genres and that's how we like it."
What would be your dream show to play?
Jerry - "We've opened for some of the bigger names in the industry and sounded like shit, were treated like shit and had an overall terrible time. On the other hand we've played to 20 people with unknown local bands and have had the times of our life so really give us a decent sound, a handful of people who appreciate what we're doing and some fun, interesting bands and we're good."
Olivia - "My dream show to play would be to open for any of the bands that inspired me to be a performing musician. Rob Zombie is for sure one of them. I would croak if I got the chance to open for him. Haha.
I would hyperventilate if Empyrean was ever on a bill with Emilie Autumn and The Birthday Massacre. I want that SO bad!"
Are you guys interested in working with a record label, have you made any contacts to any?
Olivia - "Jerry handles all of that. Haha but yes, we are looking into record labels."
Jerry - "I'm certainly open to working with small to medium sized labels. We do have some label interest. I'm not sure what will come of it if anything but we've talked to a few different labels. Right now we're putting the finishing touches on our full length "Serpent," once we finish we'll shop the final sounds to a few people and see what comes of it. I also have no problem self releasing which really eliminates all of the stress of securing label partnership."
What can we expect from Empyrean Asunder now? It's been a little over a year since Hate.
Olivia - "Our new album 'Serpent' is so close to being finished that we can taste it. Brace yourselves."
Jerry - "'Serpent' is nearly complete, a few more days and it will be finished. New songs and ideas are already floating around and I'm trying to integrate the new members into the writing process which is sure to expand our already diverse sound."
Well Jerry and Olivia, thank you for your time, is there anything else you'd like to say to our Brutal Resonance readers out there?
Jerry - "Visit our page, download our CD's for free. www.empyreanasunder.co.nr and www.facebook.com/empyreanasunder "
Olivia - "I guess this where I'm supposed to say 'make sure to like and follow Empyrean Asunder on Facebook, Reverbnation, our website....' I hope Jerry has all of this info because he's the master/operator with all of that. Haha!
But in all seriousness do please check us out. I think some readers will dig what can come out of a 100 lb 5'4" Indiana Gal."
Thanks again! It was pleasure learning some of the background information about Empyrean Asunder. I hope y'all have a great show at home *and* in Chicago on the 2nd U.S. Leg of God Mod's False Face Tour, and remember, David Shock, Co-Owner of WTII Records is from Chicago and will be at the show. ...Blow him away!
Apr 13 2014
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