In this interview, we delve into the depths of "The Crescent King," the latest concept album from LIVLØS. Vocalist Niklas and guitarist Franz discuss its cosmic narrative, artistic evolution, and fan expectations.
1. The Crescent King marks your third
full-length album, and it's described as a concept album with a cosmological
narrative. Can you tell us more about the story behind "The Crescent
King" and what inspired this theme?
Niklas - Vocals: The story follows the titular character, The
Crescent King, as he and the remaining living people search for a new planet to
call home and to rebuild as a species. In the beginning he is viewed as a saint
and the savior of humanity and with the faith from his people he sets out to
succeed, no matter the means and cost. As their journey through outer space
gets bleaker, the king and his people grow desperate, which slowly turns to
deception, greed and madness. In the end, the cycle of human hubris continues and
though they succeed in creating their paradise in another galaxy, they also end
up being the cause of its destruction. The story is told between a shifting
point of view between the king and an unknown character that reveals itself at
the end of the story.
Franz came up
with the idea of the concept being a space odyssey and I had this title (“The
Crescent King”) that I wanted to use. So I took his space odyssey idea and
combined it with my title to create this original sci-fi fantasy story told
through the album. There are of course a lot of different inspirations that
helped me with the world building and some concepts within the story, but I
didn’t have any direct inspirations for the story itself. My primary influence
for the world building and individual concepts within the story are the worlds
and universes within the games developed by FromSoftware like Bloodborne, Elden
Ring, Dark Souls and Armored Core.
2. The band has grown significantly since your
debut album Into Beyond in 2018. How do you feel your sound and approach to
songwriting have evolved from that debut, through And Then There Were None, and
now with The Crescent King?
Franz - Lead guitar: Like any other band, we started out wanting to
sound like our heroes and therefore wrote songs that had that kind of riff or that
kind of melody. That resulted in an EP and a debut album sounding a lot like
other bands rather than ourselves. When we wrote ATTWN, we had a more conscious
approach in terms of finding a “sound”, so everything was more streamlined,
though we still didn’t know exactly what we
were looking for. For this record, The Crescent King, we did a lot of planning in every aspect of the
release, and songwriting was no exception. We went all in on the conceptual
part and all riffs and structures had that space/medieval/baroque frame in
mind. That, together with the fact that we’ve just matured in terms of
songwriting in general, makes the more focused and hardhitting LIVLØS you hear
today.
3. You worked with renowned producers Jacob
Bredahl and Brad Boatright for this album. How did their production and
mastering impact the final sound of The Crescent King?
Franz - lead guitar: We’ve worked with Jacob since our first EP and
still have no intentions of altering that deal. He knows us. He knew our sound
before we knew it ourselves. There is no LIVLØS uniqueness without his touch.
He has a very “no bullshit” approach to his productions and uses his producer
magic instead of abusing it. Brad Boatright has also been our mastering guy
since that EP (with the exception of one single), and has a talent for making
the beast sound even bigger and more violent. I think you’ll have a hard time
finding a production with his mastering where he hasn’t achieved that. That’s what we’ve always gone for, and that’s
what you hear the prime example of on this record.
4. The album artwork by Eliran Kantor is
striking. How does the visual element of the album tie into the themes and
narrative of The Crescent King?
Niklas - Vocals: Eliran did a great job in capturing both the
concept and narrative. He chose to capture a single specific moment in the
story - the end where The Crescent King sits on his grand Throne of Cosm while
his cosmic paradise devours itself. It almost seems like this universe is
melting like wet running paint. His artwork is simply stunning and even though
we had high expectations when we chose him to do our album cover, he blew us
away with this piece.
5. LIVLØS is known for combining heavy grooves,
melancholic melodies, and progressive elements in your music. How did you push
these musical aspects further on this album?
Franz - lead guitar: It’s become second nature for us to write and
play within those parameters, so it’s more of an instinct instead of a
conscious choice. When you’ve spent so much time together in a rehearsal space,
on tour, and so on, through the years you become more of a unit rather than
individuals. I believe it has made our sound more “precise” and experimenting,
as we know what we can expect of each other and therefore know how to write and
play well together - more than ever.
6. Your second album was notably darker and
more ambitious. Does The Crescent King follow a similar trajectory, or did you
take a different approach with this release in terms of mood and atmosphere?
Franz - lead guitar: Both yes and no. ATTWN dealt with very personal
matters and conflicts and was written, recorded, and produced during a very
trying time for everyone in the band. Therefore I tend to think about that
record as the “darkest” one. However, “The Crescent King”’s sonic atmosphere is
immensely more sinister and heavier, though it does lighten up from time to
time, when the big melodic parts really open up. It is, by all counts, more
dynamic and more ambitious, than any of our records.
7. You’ve had the opportunity to perform at
major festivals like Copenhell, Inferno Festival, and Tallinn Music Week. How
have these live experiences shaped the way you write and perform your music,
especially for this new album?
Franz - lead guitar: Whenever I’m writing stuff for the band, I have
this crowd photo hanging above my workstation - It’s from our first show at
Copenhell in 2018. Either when I’m jamming a new riff or listening back to the
mix of a demo, I always look up at that photo and think; “Could I imagine
playing this in front of that crowd?”.
If the answer’s anything else than “Hell yeah!”, it’s going in the trash can. I
also very much do this because that
photo is instantly connected to all the live experiences we’ve had as a band -
big and small, good or bad. Every single one has taught us something for the
better of the band. What works, what doesn’t.
8. With The Crescent King being a concept
album, do you have any specific plans for incorporating its narrative into your
live shows? Should fans expect a thematic or visual performance when you tour?
Franz - lead guitar: For the time being, we’ve had great experience
incorporating the new tracks in between older tracks on the setlist. We’re
gonna keep doing that for the first part of our upcoming live shows, but we do
have something special planned in the future for this one - so stay alert!
9. You've toured extensively across Europe and
Scandinavia, playing with bands like Konvent and Implore. How have these tours
and your expanding international presence influenced LIVLØS as a band?
Franz - lead guitar: It has certainly given us a bigger sense of
accomplishment and acknowledgement as a band. We still get a lot of messages
and comments from fans all over the globe, expressing their fandom. It’s both
very humbling, very gratifying, and kind of scary at the same time, haha. It’s
like we’re still living inside our own 16 year old head, dreaming about being a
touring, recording, and recognized band on the international scene. We still
sometimes can’t believe that we’re actually there
- and still have so much more we wanna do.
10. Lastly, with The Crescent King set for
release on October 4th, what are your expectations or hopes for this album in
terms of how it will resonate with your fans and the broader death metal
community?
Franz - lead guitar: While writing this, the album has already been
out for almost 2 weeks, so let me answer with that in mind. Our expectations
have been all over the place, as we’ve been sitting on the finished album for
almost 2 years. And honestly, by the time it came to the week of the release,
we didn’t want to expect too much. We’ve simply been let down too many times,
when our hopes have been too high. BUT! The reception of this album has thus
far been the most positive and heartwarming we’ve ever experienced. We’ve had
so many interview requests, magazine coverage, radio play, and media attention
in gereral that it’s been kind of hard to keep up, haha. But the best part has,
without a doubt, been all the personal messages and comments we’ve received
(both individually and on the band site), and of course the moshing,
headbanging and craziness felt from the crowds when we’ve been playing the
songs live. I know it sounds trivial, but we don’t care: Our fans really are
the best in the universe, and have stuck with us through thick and thin. For
that, we owe them everything.
Post a Comment