Eschaton is a technical death metal band and their new album “Sentinal Apocalypse” is just BRUTAL!!! In this interview guitarist and co-founder, Joshua Berry gives the readers some background info about the band and will discuss the new record in detail.
Hi!! First I want to say thanks for answering these questions. Can you introduce yourself and give the readers a little background on Eschaton? (For example when did the band start, how you guys met etc etc)
What’s up, this is Joshua Berry, guitarist and cofounder of Eschaton. Jason Viteri (vocals), Pat Pattison (Bass) and I were in a band named Thousand Silent way back in 2003-2004. I had to leave the band for college but I knew I wanted to work with those guys as they are amazing dudes with brilliant musicianship, so when I came home Jason was the obvious choice as a front-man for Eschaton and Pat joined the band after he left Straight Line Stitch. Jared (guitar) is of course my brother, someone who I share a bizarrely intuitive musical connection with. He was always a part of the writing process but officially joined the band around the release of Sentinel Apocalypse. We met Darren through our Wake of the Ophidian engineer/producer Rob Gil, and since then have grown extremely close as musicians but also as friends as I lived with Darren in House of Grind Studios during the writing and recording of Sentinel Apocalypse.
“Sentinel Apocalypse” is very brutal and I really like the songs. Can you explain how the writing process is within Eschaton?
The songwriting process begins with the Berry brothers writing guitar parts. Unfortunately Jared lives in California so guitar pro allows us to communicate effectively through this stage. Unlike during the Wake of the Ophidian writing process, Darren was an influence conceptually during the guitar composition phase for Sentinel Apocalypse as I was living with him and bouncing concepts, riffs and ideas off him for feedback. Once preproduction guitars are tracked Darren writes programmed drums which go through a few rounds of edits and improvements. Typically solos are next to be tracked, followed by a conjoined effort by me and Darren on bass. Pat joined after Sentinel Apocalypse was recorded, so he will have more input going forward. We then send the songs to Jason for vocals. He brings the majority of the lyrics and ideas to the studio where Darren and I collaborate with him to enhance the songs to the best of our ability. We do our mixing and mastering in house, getting some input from Jon Jenkins, a longtime sound engineer and friend of Darren’s, as well as some interludes from Justin Sobers, an old friend Darren made at Berklee.
The lyrics on “Sentinel Apocalypse” are also very interesting. Can you explain a little more what the lyrical themes are on “Sentinel Apocalypse”? Is there a main theme going through the album or has each song a different theme?
Sentinel Apocalypse is not a concept record, but there is some connectivity thematically. We touch on the evils of the human race that have infected the Earth and how evil both brings out the worst in us but also our survival instincts (Immortal Mutilation, The Beast is Embedded). Some songs (Behold the Nexus, Sentinel Apocalypse, Interngalactic Annihilation) speak to the consequences of our actions both individually and as a species, suggesting that our undoing is our own fault and deserved. A few tracks (Cognitive Hatred, Animus) speak to a more personal level of turmoil and the search for freedom from unwelcome oppressors.
Unique Leader Records is one of my favorite labels. They always discover new killer bands. How did you guys come in contact with Unique Leader Records and are they doing a good job promoting the album?
They were one of our favorite labels as well prior to signing with them, and yeah, they do sign some of the sickest new talent in metal. We came in contact with them because Darren’s project Pillory was signed with UL. We sent them some music and the interest sparked some conversations. I think they have done quite well promoting the album, we were generally unknown before signing with them so we credit them a great deal to the exposure we are enjoying recently.
Are there any touring plans for promoting your new album “Sentinel Apocalypse”?
I am still in graduate school at the University of Florida and all the guys are working so financially pulling away from that and our families may be challenging. We hope to tour, our label would love it, so we will work on making it happen at some point.
What do you guys do when you’re not busy making brutal music?
School, work and family mostly. Darren and I follow MMA and football, Jared and I love soccer. Darren runs House of Grind Studios and works with lots of bands. Jason, Pat and Jared work all the damn time in the restaurant industry. I just had a daughter, am in grad school full time while working at my internship and graduate assistantship.
What are your top 3 albums of all time? What are your favorite bands and what are you currently listening to?
Top 3 albums of all time??? Jeez. That’s not easy. Going back to the days where my tastes were still forming I’d say three very influential albums for me were Metallica’s And Justice for All, Sepultura’s Roots Bloody Roots, Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes.
I’m currently listening to Spawn of Possession, A Loathing Requiem, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Shokran, Soreption, Altered Beast, Pillory, and Beyond Creation.
Thanks for taking time answering these question! Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Expect some evolution in Eschaton. We haven’t peeked yet and we are excited to bring more menacing compositions to our listeners moving forward.
(c) Rottendamned
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