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By: Myron Schmidt
A few years ago I got introduced to While Heaven Wept via their Vast Oceans Lachrymose album and I was instantly a fan. I was excited when I got the chance to review their newest release and even more excited to have the chance to ask some questions. Stranded At Aphelion is certainly a departure from what they have ever done, but the results speak for themselves and we are left with a glorious piece of music. Tom Phillips graciously speaks at length about all things Suspended At Aphelion and gives us a glimpse into one of the year’s most exciting releases.
(((o))): Thank you so much for taking time out to answer a few questions. I really hope to catch you on tour and experience this one live.
Tom: Thank you for the opportunity! Very much appreciated, and we do hope to see you on tour as well!
(((o))): Talk about the origins of Suspended At Aphelion? It is quite different from things you have done in the past?
Tom: It’s both everything and nothing like the past really; it was a natural evolution that genuinely transpired without any plan or preconception, quite literally manifesting exactly the way you hear it on the album – at least the harmonic and topographic structures…but it’s the former aspect that elevates it beyond anything else we’ve channeled – being heavily rooted in late 20th Century Classical harmony (specifically Eastern European composers such as Pärt or Gorecki) as opposed to riffs and power chords. Still, atmospherically, emotionally, and aesthetically it’s the culmination of 25 years in one song. I realize that dynamically it appears to be worlds apart, given it’s largely “mellow” nature, but I personally recognize the parallels going all the way back to Lovesongs Of The Forsaken.
As far as where it came from…your guess is as good as mine! I mean, its not as if I naturally gravitate towards these kinds of chord structures…it was mind-blowing for me, as if some unseen force was moving my fingers! I know that sounds cosmic, but it’s true; never once have we done anything consciously, intentionally, or forcibly…it always has to come from the heart and revelation. What I can tell you is this: I’d just recently channeled the final song for another album, which we ultimately set aside for the time being in favor of Suspended At Aphelion, and it was the direct precursor to this madness. Really, I think it all goes back to Finality from 2008 – that’s the only semi-recent work that’s been released (all of the other songs tend to date back 10-15+ years on all of the albums prior to Suspended At Aphelion) – and the first to really feature this kind of modern harmony. After that, there were a few other songs on said “skipped” album that were of this ilk, so I suppose Suspended At Aphelion is simply an extension of these things. For the sake of understanding the chronology (I know it probably seems like a huge jump from Fear Of Infinity to Suspended At Aphelion), basically all of the material that’s still “waiting in the wings” was channeled between 2009-2011, while Suspended At Aphelion unfolded between the last week of December 2011 and March 2012 (though Part 4 developed further from the solo piano part mid 2013, and Part 10 was reconfigured/freshly channeled in February 2014, after Zonder had already recorded the original finale).
(((o))): Were you nervous about taking this kind of a risk, departing from what you have done in the past?
Tom: I was quite sure that some folks holding onto the past and those who prefer their music to be more riff-based…or simply not evolving WITH us…they wouldn’t be likely to “get it”…but quite frankly, we can’t ever concern ourselves with that; we have to follow our hearts, heed the music itself, and insure that whatever we do is sincere and inspired. Suspended At Aphelion is the first song that the entire band was on the same page about, unanimously – I mean, we had two albums to choose from, and everyone involved felt strongly that we pursue Suspended At Aphelion first. Not that the other album is lacking by any means; it’s just a different animal, and in some ways closer to paths we’ve already traversed – or any number of our colleagues out there could do…and personally, I love those songs too…but Suspended At Aphelion was so…otherworldly, unique, and it felt like this music demanded to be heard.
The fact is, the longer we exist, the more music we release, the more people will diverge on their opinions…we’ll never please everyone, and we don’t even try…I believe that if WE feel it, believe in it, that if it comes from the heart and soul, it’s far more likely to resonate with SOMEONE, than if it were catering to some contingent that wants us to replicate an album we did 5 or 10 years ago ad nauseam…which is never going to happen, but even if for some reason it did, then you’d have another group of fans that complain about things staying the same. You know? It’s like we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t…it’s the same deal as far as criticism…one cannot really take it to heart or be swayed by it, good or bad…as this would surely poison the well. Thus, when all is said and done, as long as we never compromise, remain true to ourselves first and foremost, we’ll be ok…maybe losing some, gaining others…but again, while Suspended At Aphelion IS different, it’s still clearly and obviously While Heaven Wept; anyone who feels like we’ve turned our backs on the past, clearly never understood While Heaven Wept to begin with. It’s still sincere, extremely melodic, layered, symphonic, intense, heavy – albeit emotionally more so than musically – and epic…perhaps a different ratio of existing elements, but it’s far from “night and day”!
Anyway, those craving more bombast and riffing, fear not, there’s plenty more of that to come in the future, and every album really is an entity unto itself.
(((o))): How was the recording process different than say Vast Oceans Lachrymose or Fear of Infinity? You have so much going on here.
Tom: It was just as detailed, hours spent under microscopes, never “mailed in”…but there was a very conscious decision to insure it was as organic and dynamic as possible. We wanted to distance ourselves even further from the Pro-Tooling and inhuman perfection prevalent in this day and age, as well as avoid participation in the “loudness wars” – which, in the past, we were guilty of, albeit unknowingly; there’s always this aspect of insuring an album is at the same level as everything else that’s coming out around the same time…that’s all we ever did: compare levels to something recent like Heaven And Hell, Green Day, The Killers…as well as some of our favorites from Rush, Immortal, King Crimson, etc…and then try to insure we were in the same ballpark. THIS time, we threw all of that out the window; we don’t have to “compete” this far into our career, and it was far more important that we do THIS music justice than concern ourselves with what anyone else was doing…especially considering there’s not likely been any album anything like this in the past 10 years, if ever – I honestly don’t know, but I’ve never heard it, and I’m rather “worldly” in this regard owning well over 10K albums.
Anyway, there was a much stronger emphasis on expressive performances than ever before…I mean really insuring everyone involved was feeling it and “digging in”, as opposed to just playing the correct notes…and we actually wanted to capture the imperfections as well as the markings, nuances, human details – the breathing, finger noise on the strings, the bows on the other strings…letting the drums ebb and flow, etc. The impetus for all of this was the fact that most of the musicians were laying down tracks to machine precise MIDI reference tracks initially or reading sheet music…and as we replaced said reference tracks with live performances, it moved further and further away from the impossible to the perfect imperfection that we ultimately achieved!
(((o))): Who did the bulk of the lyrical writing and what was the inspiration for those lyrics?
Tom: I’ve been responsible for the lyrics of While Heaven Wept since the beginning of the band, and Suspended At Aphelion is no exception. I don’t really spend time on politics, social issues, there’s no religious influence, and while I enjoy a good book or movie like anyone else, I just never felt comfortable writing fiction or tackling topics that I had no business addressing; when all is said and done, very early on, While Heaven Wept became a vehicle for catharsis, healing, and expressing things that I couldn’t seem to do otherwise… Suspended At Aphelion is simply another chapter in the aural diary of my life. Everything we’ve ever released has dealt with actual life experiences, real people, genuine emotions, personal struggles, and whatever life has thrown my way… Suspended At Aphelion is detailing a very specific personal journey that was lived through in the past couple years (having already addressing everything prior via the other albums).
As for what it’s all about, aphelion is the furthest point from the sun…and in this case, the sun represents anything that we aspire to, dream of, fight for with passion, fire, vigor…this could be pursuits of a spiritual, romantic, or philosophical nature…I suppose also material…could be the quest for the meaning of life or struggling to achieve sobriety. It’s going to mean something different for everyone, but the gist is, sometimes despite all of our hope, faith, strength, effort, resources, some things are simply beyond our reach. The front half of the album mostly deals with one such pursuit, and the rest is a journey through the subsequent emotions we traverse on the road to acceptance…very similar to a cycle of bereavement. In the end, while acceptance is in fact achieved, in this case, it is a somewhat bittersweet as despite being cognizant of that which is untouchable, the yearning remains. It’s pretty deep, to make an understatement!
(((o))): What was the hardest track to nail during your recording process and why?
Tom: You know, I don’t recall any particular passage of this song standing out as a challenge in and of itself; we all had a couple years to prepare for the tracking of the album, and even though some parts were abandoned in favor of spontaneity while laying it down, that also seemed effortless. Kevin, the engineer on this album (and 2003’s Of Empires Forlorn) is so efficient and we had such synchronicity that everything just layered in as if by design. Feel free to ask some of the other band members or guest musicians, but I can’t say anything is jumping out. If anything, for me, it’s always more the production side of things that is laden with perils…being that we often have a hundred layers and a lot of keyboards (which eat up SO many frequencies). The vocal melodies didn’t “come” as easily…until we actually exerted LESS effort and allowed the music itself to guide us, but actually tracking them? It may have been hard for Rain to understand some of my nit-picking while it was going down, but ultimately, even that was an inspired and exciting couple days! I wish I could give you a better answer here, but this was honestly the most pleasant, least stressful recording experience I’ve ever had!
(((o))): Which of the instruments proved the most difficult to achieve your desired result in the mix?
Tom: Approaching this from the production side of things, I think the hardest thing was finding the right levels for the electric guitars and choirs; everything else seemed self-evident…and all we wanted to do was insure that EVERY note on every instrument was clear…we managed this without question, but I feel like we were still a little conservative in the aforementioned areas, and I’ll be addressing those for my own sake sooner than later – even if a third mix is never made public.
For a while now, we’ve been cognizant of carving out a space for everything so there is a good amount of separation between instruments, and any infringement is either intentional or simply unavoidable. The thing to understand about While Heaven Wept music is that it is approached as if choral in nature, so any given downbeat, it’s the summation of all the instruments – including the voices – that we’re striving for, hence the lead vocals aren’t always obvious as an independent melodic line – though they ARE, and the other instruments are usually providing counterpoint, support, and countermelodies beneath. But, yeah, the keyboards are easily the most difficult to work with, and always have been…and like I said, the guitars are less prominent – more of a “team player” on the mix we released, but dealing with these carefully, every note, nuance, and part is audible and represented!
(((o))): Are you playing Suspended At Aphelion start to finish live? How is it being received?
Tom: That’s something that we’re going to have to deal with on a case-by-case basis really; of course it’s something that all of us want to do, but it would be presumptuous and pompous to do this in a supporting role or at a festival; it really would have to transpire in a headlining scenario or at an event where it is specifically requested…I mean, a 40 minute song (not even taking into account our penchant for improvisation) is a lot to ask of ANY audience, but certainly “safer” if it’s our own.
We also have to consider the fact that we’re not Iron Maiden or Metallica; we can’t get away with forcing a new album down anyone’s throat and shunning our past works…there’s 25 years to represent, and even if each album is an entity unto itself, the bigger picture is that ALL of the past material still resonates with us and will never be neglected. And we couldn’t overlook some things even if we wanted to really…I mean, people wouldn’t let us leave the stage without ‘Vessel’ or ‘The Furthest Shore’, you know? So, when all is said and done, we’ll find the best balance that we can for the majority of the shows of the future, but Suspended At Aphelion complete is something that will have to wait for stars to align – even if I personally would rather do that full on, straight away!
(((o))): What does the rest of 2014 and 2015 hold for While Heaven Wept?
Tom: There’s really not a whole lot happening for the remainder of 2014 other than the North American release of Suspended At Aphelion tomorrow (November 18th), and the cataloging of material that has been channeled since the realization of Suspended At Aphelion; we’re not really keen on touring during the winter months due to the fact that we can’t risk Rain falling ill, nor getting stranded in some remote location away from our jobs and families.
In 2015, I hope we’ll be hitting the road to support Suspended At Aphelion – that’s the plan anyway…mostly focusing on the EU, but we’re open to all possibilities. Really waiting to hear from promoters and our agencies to see what the bottom line is. Otherwise, we’ll be moving toward the tracking of that other album I mentioned before – the one we skipped over – as I don’t want to let that material hang in limbo for too long; it’s very obviously the bridge between Fear Of Infinity and Suspended At Aphelion – very much a METAL album, and considering the newest material (post- Suspended At Aphelion) is even more insane, best to lay this stuff down while it’s still something relatively fresh, you know?
(((o))): Do you see While Heaven Wept keeping on this same musical journey or do you see them going back to other parts of your past?
Tom: We’re always going to be moving forward, never backwards…even if the realization of this other album is our of order chronologically, it’s still “new”…so it won’t be too much of a backstop, despite being very much riff-oriented and 95% epic metal. Other than that, based upon the material that’s been channeled in 2014…it’s even more harmonically complex than Suspended At Aphelion, but less… “serene”…in fact, in some ways, it’s downright disturbing…in a 70’s King Crimson kind of way…but also beautiful (also in a 70’s Crimson kind of way). Almost everything in the pipeline right now is more metal than Suspended At Aphelion or Fear Of Infinity…so I’m sure that will cheer some folks up…but it’s closer to the last three in nature than the earliest material. There are plenty of bands that cover territories we’ve already explored, better than we could do now if we tried to, so it’s best that we just continue to follow our hearts wherever they lead. Rest assured, there won’t be any drastic changes – we still listen to the same things as always – same influences, different ratios…so it’s like…if one While Heaven Wept album resonates, and the next doesn’t, don’t give up as the one after may be more to your tastes again (as far as the audience). But, I wouldn’t count on us ever replicating ourselves, that is for sure. I’ll end this before I allow us to become redundant or if there’s a chance we’ve been swayed by outside opinions.
(((o))): With so much going on in this release, I have to ask what are the top bands you are listening to at the moment?
Tom: You know, during the channeling of all the material since ‘Finality’, I really wasn’t listening to ANYTHING, to insure the purity of our own music…and it’s been so exciting, I didn’t feel the need to fill in the silences with anything anyone else had to offer. I mean, I was actually listening to things like The Killers when I did listen to anything else, as their inherent melancholy hidden beneath pop sensibilities resonates with me, but there’s no way that is ever going to influence what we do. At least not that I’m aware of!
Since the completion of Suspended At Aphelion, I’ve been listening to a lot of music again, but it’s not really anything “new”…still the same old Fates Warning, Cirith Ungol, Bathory albums that inspired us to begin with. Lots of Rush too. Primordial. Aside from their new album, the only NEW music is coming from Hammock, Mono, This Will Destroy You…and Pink Floyd’s The Endless River, which is fucking amazing. Otherwise, I’ve procured all of these King Crimson boxed sets, and purchased FLAC downloads of everything from the 70s that isn’t represented on those (like 115 discs worth – all the studio and live shows they’ve made available), so most of my time these days is spent “going on tour” with Crimson. Also been listening to a lot of Return To Forever and Mahavishnu again too…but mostly the new Floyd and WEEKS of Crimson!
