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By: Andrew Rawlinson
Your intrepid explorer recently stumbled across Countless Skies at Bloodstock Open Air festival in which they were performing on the New Blood stage. After being extremely impressed with their precise brand of Scandinavian inspired melodic death metal I decided to fire some questions at Ross King (vocals/guitar) to find out more about them.
(((o))): Thank you for your time and doing this interview. First of all please introduce yourselves by telling us when you first formed and how the band all know each other?
Ross: Pratt and I have known each other for most of our lives, but only really started playing guitar together in school, around 13 years ago. We first formed a band back in 2009 as Hatespire, when Phil, Marcello (Keyboard) and Nathan joined. We released a few songs online and played a few shows but life got in the way and we went on hiatus. Back in 2012, we reformed under the new name Countless Skies.
(((o))): Your style is a very vibrant take on ‘Scandinavian melodic death metal’ what is it about this style of metal that appeals to you?
Ross: The first melodeath song I ever heard was ‘Man Made God’ by In Flames, which is an instrumental. Back then I was listening to Metallica and more mainstream music, but that song really kicked me in the face. You can imagine how surprised I was when I finally heard a song with vocals! But it grew on me and quickly became my favourite music. The mixture of the heavy guitars and the soaring leads just sounds so epic and powerful, something you just can’t get from other non-metal genres of music.
(((o))): Further to this as a band you proudly wear your influences on your sleeve with the band name taken from a Be’lakor song and logo very reminiscent of Omnium Gatherum, was this a conscious decision from the start or happy accident?
Ross: When we returned as Countless Skies we were one band member short, and wanted to take our music in a (slightly) different direction, so decided it was time to change the name. We wanted something that reflected our style of music, as people kept associating Hatespire with bands like Hatesphere and Hatebreed (which we sound nothing like). We struggled with this for a while until we settled on the song by Be’lakor. Stone’s Reach was a massive influence for us, and I feel it reflects in our music.
As for the logo, this was definitely a happy accident. I can imagine it will need changing at some point, as you’re not the first person to point this out (laughs).
(((o))): Apart from the aforementioned bands who and what else have influenced you?
Ross: We’re very big fans of prog, such as Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Genesis, Cynic, Tesseract, etc as well as all sorts of metal (death/black/doom/folk/power/tech), although I do tend to gravitate towards the Nordic bands.
We are all influenced by a lot of different genres, especially considering our bassist is also an acoustic singer/songwriter in an indie pop band (Spacegoat). I would also say we are quite influenced by fantasy novels and movies, a lot of our lyrics tend to involve nature in some way.
(((o))): You recently played the New Blood stage at Bloodstock Open Air festival and acquitted yourselves very well, what was your experience of the day?
Ross: It was fantastic. The New Blood stage is run like clockwork, you have technicians helping you take your gear on stage and set it up, and then pack it down the other side of the stage. We’d never been treated to such luxury before so felt very taken care of. We have a very reasonable turn out too. Our set clashed with both Ne Obliviscaris and Enslaved so we were fully expecting a lot of the audience to leave half way through, but they stuck around. I think that’s a good sign.
(((o))): You have an album currently in the works, When is it due out and what can we expect from it? Also you have chosen to stick with the same producer (Dan Biggin at HVR Studios). What does he bring to the table for you as a band?
Ross: We currently have 7 tracks written for the album, and we’re also going to be bringing in ‘Ethereal’ from our debut EP and giving it the studio treatment. As for a release date? We were thinking Q1 but it may be a bit later than that now. We are going to visit Danny at HVR at the end of October, he did a great job with our single ‘Solace’, so we’re really looking forward to seeing what he can do with the whole album. He’s also a great guy to work with, very relaxed and patient.
(((o))): Are they any places (venues, countries etc) in the world that you really want to play?
Ross: Bloodstock was one of them. We’re really looking forward to playing Norwich as we have a group of metal friends there. Otherwise, I’d say a European tour would be awesome, starting off in London and then heading around the continent.
(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own festival, who would be the first five bands on your list?
Ross: Oh, this is a toughy. I’d probably have to say Devin Townsend (he’s just generally hilarious and extremely talented), Ghost Brigade (their live sound is impeccable), Insomnium (the new kings of melodeath), Wilderun (something a bit different), and of course, Be’lakor.
(((o))): Thanks a lot for answering my questions. Is there anything you would like to add?
Ross: Yes, we’re playing two awesome gigs in the next few weeks. We’re in the Town Hall in Baldock at 18:40 Saturday 12th September for Balstock Festival 2015 (info here), and we’re headlining Castle Fest 2015 metal alldayer at The Castle Tavern, Luton on 26th September (info here).
(((o))): Countless Skies currently have a 4 track EP and 1 track single available on their Bandcamp page.
