Young Luxembourgish metal band Soulhenge put out a new EP recently titled Anachronism. The band’s guitarist and composer Milian Steffen talked with the Moshville Times.
What made you go for the name Soulhenge?
When we were a little instrumental band 4 years ago, we were called „Microwaves From Space“ because it was a funny name. The fun isn’t gone now, but for practical reasons, as we officially formed a full band, we looked for a shorter name and took the name of one of our songs as the name for the band!
How do you usually describe your music?
I don’t like labelling us as „djent“, because we don’t exclusively want us to be “djent”. I’m also very careful with the expression „progressive metal“. Many people these days consider that, when you use a 7- or 8-string guitar, you are automatically progressive, but I think that’s not correct. Bands like Dream Theater, The Contortionist or Haken – they deserve to be specified as progressive metal. We are mostly playing 4/4 or 3/4, pretty straight forward stuff, we focus more on sound and song structure. Since you have to name a genre for your music in any case, we describe us neutrally as „modern metal“.
What is your writing process like?
I’m writing all the instrumental stuff alone at home. So I produce a complete song before handing it over to my bandmates so that they can give their input. They usually dig it so much that not much changes before we start writing lyrics for it. So technically, the instrumental songs are not made by combining everyone’s input simultaniously but by myself working on my own and then adding input from others later. This may sounds weird but that’s how we proceeded since the beginning and the recipe seems to work.
Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?
Bands we look up to are Monuments, Periphery, After The Burial, Veil Of Maya… We are miles away from their complexity, but still, it’s those bands which keep us going and dreaming. In our genre, sound is a major factor. So these bands not only influence us by their writing but also a lot by their sound and appearance.
What is your favourite piece on the Anachronism EP?
That’s hard to say, I like every song in a different way. I think though, that the first track, “A New Dawn,” is the one that gets me every time I hear it. It’s the oldest song of the 4 and therefore also has a nostalgic connotation for me.
What makes Anachronism different?
As a local reviewer of our EP said: we’re not re-inventing the wheel here. Realistically seen, we are one of the countless bands in the big ocean of underground metal. Nevertheless, I think that this EP is loaded with many different elements, which form in combination a unique experience. Speaking geographically, Anachronism is indeed different from all the other music in Luxembourg, which is a big factor for us.
What should music lovers expect from Anachronism?
Well you can expect a nicely arranged 4-track EP that is pretty easy to listen to, but also very interesting to analyse in detail. Of course, we also put a lot of effort into the sound. It’s tight, low and heavy, yet warm and round. You will hear very ambient and beautiful ages, mixed with heavy rhythms, followed by well-structured solos, which aren’t extremely complex, but catchy. Speaking of vocals, our frontman has an impressive range going from screams and growls to beautiful clean lines.
What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?
Music is our expression of joy in life, and we hope to give the listeners some of that with our music. Ideally, our audience should feel the awe that we have when we are on stage but we’re aware of how hard that actually is.
Which do you like most, life in the studio or on tour?
Unfortunately, we have never experienced any of those things! I’d probably love both, but maybe I’d be the studio guy a bit more.
Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.
Ghost Atlas – Cold Soul Coma, Erra – Augment, In Flames – In Live We Trust (Live Album)
