Belgian atmospheric/djent/prog metallers Atmospheres came up with their sophomore album The Departure in late 2015, and considering all the it received so far, it’s another masterpiece from this young band. Guitarist Stef Exelmans had some time to answer our questions about the album and further plans.
Alright, first things first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
Life is good when it’s time to start a new year with a new album! Still a bit of a bellyache of all the foor we had for Christmas tough…
Speaking of new music, you have a new album. What can people expect from “The Departure”?
Expect progressive ambient rock, infused with post-rock and djent goodies. This album will take you on a trip away from this earth, right after a apocalypse.
What was it like working on the album?
Fun, of course! We always get so excited when a song comes together and want to release it onto the world asap. Haha. The Departure was a fun album to work on, because we felt like it is representing the band in every way possible. Musically and visually. We did exactly what we wanted with it, so it feels like “us”.
Are there any touring plans in to “The Departure”?
For now, we are doing everything DIY, so we are doing only solo shows. We’d like to get into touring quite soon, but as you probably know, it’s very expensive.
While we’re on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
The obvious answer would be in the US of course. ing a big act there. Going all over Europe is nice too and maybe more realistic for now. Anyway, taking over the world is the goal of any band, isn’t it? ;)
Who and what inspires you the most?
Anything can inspire ATMOSPHERES. We love music, art, architecture, acting, … you name it. There is a specific feel we are going for in the band, so as long as we can find that, it could lead to an idea for a song.
What other genres of music do you listen to?
Everything. (But maybe not One Direction)
Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
Drastically! Actually, I am a bass guitar player that ended up playing an 8-string guitar and Matt is a guitar player, playing bass. This means that we play our instruments in a slightly uncommon way, that leads to different sounds and ideas than you’d normally have. Everybody in ATMOSPHERES listens to a lot of different genres and brings that to the table. We don’t like to be bound by a certain genre and never come out of it. That makes music fun, doesn’t it?
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
Fun fact: Matt (our bass player) does a solo on the 2nd to last song “THE ARRIVAL”.
Atmospheres: Bandcamp | Facebook | YouTube | SoundCloud
