Interview by Kris Peters
U.S progressive metal outfit Exodus Rising have been making a stir on the music scene following the release of last year's debut album The Book Of Life.
Armed largely with a DYI approach and a firm desire to take their music to a global audience, Exodus Rising first grabbed the attention of HEAVY just prior to the release of The Book Of Life, and we have been listening with a keen interest for more advances from the band ever since.
That came recently with the arrival of the third album single The Fallen, accompanied by a visually stunning music video that captures the intense spirit coursing through Exodus Rising's musical veins.
HEAVY caught up with the band late last week to discuss The Fallen and other developments with Exodus Rising.
"Everybody's been receiving the music - and the video especially - very, very well," vocalist JSlate began. "We included two songs from the album initially, and we included our Overture because it added a lot more depth into it, and then we decided to throw in an extra interlude and put an anime-style type of feeling to breathe a lot more life and a lot more modernity."
Exodus Rising have previously released the singles Blazing Love and Paradise Lost, so we press the band on how The Fallen showcases another side of their sonic structure.
"For Paradise Lost, that was a power metal song," JSlate replied. "That was definitely full power metal and included everything within our diverse repertoire within the album. Which showcased symphonics, theatrical elements and then the classic power metal elements. For Blazing Love, that was more of a ballad - a heavier ballad - and one that was showing love in a different side of that; keeping it a bit more in tempo to prepare people to manoeuvre throughout the remainder of the album. For The Fallen, we included two songs with that. It's very theatrical and cinematic. It includes the cinematic aspect of how we want to approach our music… We want it to feel like a movie, and you're in a story and a place of space and time. For The Fallen, as a single itself, it's metal, but it's more leaning towards the hard rock elements of everything."
In the full interview Exodus Rising discuss The Fallen in greater detail, the music video and what it took to put together, which of the three singles best represents the band's sound, Christianity and heavy metal, how their faith enhances their music, the general accessibility of music and how it transcends barriers, future plans and more.