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THE
FIRSTBORN:
Introducing Portugal's Best Kept Secret:
Technical death Metal With a Buddhist Flare.
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I
am not a devout fan of technical music. And when it comes down
to death metal, I like my shit primitive and raw. But I couldn’t
avoid the chops displayed in The Firstborn’s masterful The
Noble Search. Here is a band writing powerful music that is
as many times heavy as it is technical and colorful. Judging by
their tendency to include ethnic melodies and Buddhist themes,
The Noble Search could have ended up as a cheesy turd.
Instead, the record pummels. As of today, The Firstborn are
Portugal's best kept secret. We got in touch with vocalist Bruno
Fernandes, who by the way is more articulate and writes in
better English than most native speakers. Read on and spread the
word.
- First of all, I was very surprised by The Noble Search. What a
great record. Before we get into anything, could you speak a
little bit about the album title, what do you refer to as The
Noble Search?
Then I must
first and foremost thank you for the kind words and the support.
The album title is vague enough to allow for personal
interpretation, although it is literally taken from a narrative
depicting the Buddha's search for the truth, and enlightenment.
However, its meaning can be translated to any context you may
think of, even as a metaphor of sorts for the musical evolution
we're undergoing as a band.
-
How does the band come together?
We have been
around, under several incarnations, for almost 15 years now. It
all started in 1995 under the name Firstborn Evil, back when we
were young and easily impressed by the more extreme aesthetics
that were getting popular at the time. I'm the sole remaining
member from the original formation, and one of the few who made
it to the band's crossing into more mature territory and the
shortening of the name in 2000. It's hard to keep a steady
line-up for this long, people's priorities change and the
commitment required is never repaid in any palpable way, which
makes it increasingly difficult for people reaching their 30's,
with bills to pay, mouths to feed and having other uses for what
little spare time they might have from their more or less hectic
lives. It takes a sort of drive and belief that you seldom find
in other people willing to embrace your particular musical
vision.
-
How is the scene in Portugal now? Any other like-minded bands?
Any other underground bands you'd recommend?
There are no like-minded bands here that I
can think of. Plenty of good bands nonetheless, some
better-known than others... we live in the outskirts of Europe,
so to speak, so it's hard for bands to show their work in the
main "markets" such as Germany and the sort, so bands here tend
to remain pretty much unknown to the general audience outside of
Portugal. It's hard to recommend some bands without mentioning
others, so I'll just point out our label mates
Process of Guilt (whose vocalist Hugo
Santos sung on our album) and invite you to check a
comprehensive listing on Portugal's leading forum,
Metal Underground.
- One thing that got me about The Noble Search was that
it doesn't sound like most death metal albums, however as soon
as you listen to it, you know it is undeniably death metal and
well, other things. When writing what kind of atmosphere are you
trying to capture?
Our writing
process for this album was quite simple, since it basically all
revolved around me. For the most part, I wrote the lyrics
beforehand and then picked up the guitar and tried to capture
whatever atmosphere I wanted to convey in the song, creating the
soundscapes necessary to illustrate the message being delivered.
The challenge lies in producing a cohesive symbiosis between
song and poetry, if you will, without compromising either in the
final outcome. The contrasts between the darkness of solitude
and introspection and the brightness of enlightenment are
difficult to transpose to a musical spectrum that is too narrow,
hence the diversity you find in our music.
- There is a clear eastern influence to your music, what
inspires the lyrics and the riffs. Please explain how do the
songs evolve?
Again,
illustrating the message in the lyrics is the main focus of the
musical backdrop in The Firstborn. We have developed a concept
revolving around Buddhism for the last two albums, and a fitting
atmosphere became a necessity for us. We experimented with
samples and other instruments in the previous album, The
Unclenching of Fists, albeit with a level of naivety that
partially compromised the outcome. We did learn from those
mistakes and undertook a more conscious approach this time
around, also making a point of avoiding samples, performing the
more exotic pieces ourselves or having guest musicians come on
board and lending a helping hand, such as Luís Simões who
handled the Sitar and Vorskaath who provided all the percussive
textures you find in The Noble Search. Also, this
oriental influence has found its way to the song structures
themselves, to the scales we use and partially even to my
singing style. It is not a conscious effort, but a mere reflex
of what the concept inspires us to write.
- Thematically and musically, what would you say differentiates
The Noble Search from your previous efforts?
It is
definitely a huge leap forward for the band in all aspects. We
have refined the approach we first experimented with in the
previous record "The Unclenching of Fists", progressing from it
towards a more mature writing style, whilst maintaining the
so-called experimental edge uncompromised... only using it with
a sort of newfound subtlety. Thematically, we further developed
the Buddhist concept, drawing inspiration from the "Buddhist
Scriptures", a rather loose collection of texts which are very
diverse and often paradoxal. This allowed for less
straightforward songwriting when compared to the previous album,
which was based upon the Tibetan Book of the Dead and required a
more linear approach.
- How long did it take for all the songs in the record to be
completed?
I would say
most of the album was written between 2006 and 2007, and the
recording began in January 2008. There's a bit of a gap between
the release of The Unclenching of Fists in 2005 and
The Noble Search in December 2008, but there are always
drawbacks and unexpected delays which are simply not in the
musician's hands. So we might come across a 'lazy' band, but
this album was actually written in a relatively short period of
time... by our standards, at least.
- The sound of the album is great, did you achieve what you
wanted of the recording? Who and where was it produced? How
difficult was it to capture?
We think so
ourselves, all credit must go to Chris Fielding and Foel Studio,
in Wales. We wanted a warm kind of sound for this album,
something only a vintage studio could offer... and within our
budget, it's hard to find a place like that. Our friends in
Primordial told us about Foel, where they had then just recorded
their latest album To The Nameless Dead, and upon hearing
a rough mix of it we knew we had found what we were looking for.
So a few months later we headed to Wales for a rather long
recording session which was intense but incredibly rewarding on
all levels. We had the invaluable assistance of everyone at the
studio, and also of our percussionist Vorskaath who was there
most of the time and contributed immensely towards the wonderful
drum sound we managed to capture. The Firstborn definitely
aren't the easiest band to record, there's a lot of stuff going
on simultaneously and to balance all that in the mix takes a lot
of time and effort. Chris Fielding's dedication to his craft is
unparalleled, though, and after a marathon behind the mixing
desk we managed to surpass all the expectations we had for this
album.
- What is your opinion of the response that the album has been
receiving?
The reviews
have generally been very good, people have for the most part
been very kind to us and seem to have taken the time to fully
appreciate the album, which is a rare commodity these days with
the avalanche of releases they get every week to review... so we
are grateful for that. It seems, however, that being an
underground band in an underground label remains the biggest
obstacle towards getting a tad more coverage and exposure, and I
truly feel this album deserves to be heard and talked about.
It's not easy standing out among all the records being put out
every week, especially when bigger labels tend to monopolize
magazines and the like via advertisement and expense-paid trips
to glorified listening sessions...
- How do you think that Major Label Industries is handling the
promotion?
They are
doing a decent job, both in terms of promotion and distribution,
which was a problem we used to have with our previous labels -
we got good reviews and did quite a few interviews but then
people had to order the album from the label or ourselves, and I
imagine that would put people off. We will evaluate the whole
process at a later time, since it's all happening quite
slowly... we started the promotion in December and still today
I'm replying to interviews and getting new reviews, which can be
a good thing when it means people are taking the time to enjoy
our album rather than rushing into a review after half a spin.
- I am always looking for new music, what current bands are you
guys digging now? Which classics got you into music?
I would
thoroughly recommend that you check out the projects of all the
people who helped us making this record:
Saturnia, our Sitar-player's trippy
head-music project, the well-know
ABSU
whose Proscriptor McGovern sang on "Flesh to the Crows" and who
made a triumphant return this year.
Zemial, our
percussionist Vorskaath's main band and
the aforementioned
Process Of Guilt
Other than that, our friends
Rudra might
interest you if the blending of the
extreme and the exotic are your thing,
as well as
Yat-Kha. My musical upbringing began
with good old Rock n' Roll when I was a toddler, and I have had
varied tastes ever since... however, I remember first wanting to
start a band during a Samael concert in the early 90's. Celtic
Frost were also inspiring in a ground-breaking way, 'avantgarde'
in the true sense of the word. Nowadays, my inspiration as a
singer comes from a wide range of artists, mostly outside the
Metal genre: from Peter Gabriel to Danzig, you name it.
- What’s next for the band? Tours, more recordings, any new
songs written yet?
Unfortunately touring is quite difficult for us, being a
relatively unknown band and with almost everyone having
complicated personal and professional lives. We will, however,
do a few festivals all over Europe and we'll try to do smaller
tours like we have done in the past, it the opportunity arises.
We are already working on new material, it's all still in a very
embrionic stage but already it sounds promising and yet another
step beyond what was achieved with The Noble Search.
- Last words…
We thank you
again for the kind words and the support, and we hope this
little insight into our universe has made your readers curious
enough to check our music. May our paths cross sometime soon...
until then, keep on reaching for the Perfection of Wisdom.
Official Site
MySpace
Read the Deaf Sparrow review of The Noble Search here… |
