Stalwart, active for over two decades, returns after a hiatus with Tempus Edax Rerum, blending groovy riffs and atmospheric keyboards. Guitarist Leonid discusses the band’s comeback and musical evolution.
1. Stalwart has been active for over two decades
now. What motivated the band to make a comeback after the hiatus, and how did
you approach creating new music after so many years apart?
Hi, Leonid
here, guitars/keyboards. Well, it is probably good to start from scratch - 5
years ago I relocated from St. Petersburg, Russia, the hometown of the band
where I lived all my life, to Vancouver, Canada. When my departure was fixed,
we started deciding what to do with the band. By that time, we had a handful of
songs ready or in progress, so we decided we were going to make a new album
anyway. We started recording, but we were not in time to finish it before I
left. After that, things went slow; it was, in fact, a hiatus, but at the same
time, work on the album continued little by little, and eventually, on the very
last day of 2023, the final mix was finished.
2. Your
upcoming album, Tempus Edax Rerum, features a blend of groovy riffs, complex
rhythms, and atmospheric keyboards. How does this new album reflect the
evolution of your sound compared to your previous releases?
I would say
Tempus Edax Rerum is a summary of what we had on all our previous albums. For
previous records, sometimes we leaned into heavier and more straightforward
death metal stuff, like on Annihilation Begins or Manifest of Refusal, and
sometimes into more proggy, complex, and atmospheric structures, like on Abyss
Ahead or Tectonic. But this time, we mixed all our ingredients almost evenly,
keeping in mind creating convincing, memorable songs more than expanding our
horizons with something new.
3. You’ve
worked with renowned producers Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawski in the past. Did
they have any influence on your current album, or did you take a different
production route this time?
Yeah,
absolutely, those guys are incredible producers and amazing human beings; it
was always a pleasure to work with them. We did 4 albums in Hertz Studio, and
every time it was a magical experience. We learned a lot from them during those
sessions, in many aspects, from proper guitar and drum tuning to mixing and
mastering. For this album, however, things went differently, partly due to
circumstances, but mostly because, having that experience behind us, we felt we
were able to do things ourselves and produce the record on our own from start
to finish. It was a long trip - again, partly due to circumstances, but partly
because doing things on your own unavoidably involves some errors and retries.
But anyway, we’ve done it all, including mixing and mastering, and we are proud
of the result.
4. The
Master, your fourth single from the album, has already been released. Can you
tell us more about the inspiration and themes behind this track?
Musically,
I would say this track combines a lot of different things - a groovy
thrash/hardcore-sounding main riff, black-metal-inspired verses, some sort of
melodic death fragment in the middle, "bulldozer" riffage in the end,
plus a cinematic keyboard intro, and, if you could say so, a
"midtro." The lyrics were written by our vocalist Pavel; I would say
they are about the fact that religion often goes hand-in-hand with greed.
5. Your music is known for its intricate
compositions and unexpected twists. What’s your songwriting process like,
especially with members spread across different countries?
Well, most
of the songs on this album were composed while we were still present in the
same location and meeting in person. Nevertheless, our songwriting process
usually involves sitting in front of the computer more than improvising in the
jam space. When you do it on the computer, you can immediately hear it from the
outside and evaluate if it is really good or not. As for myself, I know that if
I render the very first demo of the song and cannot stop myself from listening
to it 5 times in a row, that will probably be a good song and worth further
working on. When you compose new tunes right in the jam space, you sometimes
get fooled by the loud sound and live energy, so in the end, when you do an
actual record, the song may turn out to be not as exciting as you thought it
was. When the skeleton of the songs is ready, it goes to the jam space and we
start rehearsing it live, at least it was so in the good old times.
I also feel
like it works really well to compose different pieces of the song on different
instruments. I can’t come up with on guitar the piece I can do on keyboards,
and vice versa, so combining that really helps make the song diverse.
6. Stalwart
has shared the stage with many legendary acts such as Vader, Behemoth, and Amon
Amarth. What were some of the most memorable moments from those experiences,
and how have they shaped the band’s journey?
One really
great show I can remember was in support of Finnish bands Norther and Finntroll
around 2000 or 2001. At that time, we were just starting out, had just recorded
a debut album, and begun playing live shows, and it was our first time sharing
the stage with international acts. So, it was a new exciting experience; the
atmosphere was great and the crowd was insane! Another memorable experience was
supporting Behemoth in maybe around 2010; it was one of the few times when we
were playing in front of more than a thousand people.
7. With
Tempus Edax Rerum set to release in 2024 or early 2025, what can fans expect in
terms of lyrical themes and concepts explored on the album?
This record
will feature a new vocalist, Pavel "Sarte" Kozhukhovsky. Actually,
Pavel has been with us for many years already, but it is our first full-length
endeavor made together - before that, we performed numerous live shows and
released some cover version singles with him, but not full-scale albums. So
this time, all the lyrics on the album belong to him. Lyrics-wise, it is a
semi-conceptual record telling the stories of a pantheon of dying gods.
8. Since
you’ve already released four singles from the new album, how has the response
been so far from both long-time fans and newer listeners?
Well, to a
large extent, we had to rebuild our audience from scratch. Our previous albums
were released when it was mostly the CD era and streaming platforms were not as
popular as now, so our streaming presence was really minimal. Also, in the CD
era, when you release an album by a local label, you may not really have any
significant worldwide exposure. So we are working on it, trying to expand our
audience, and new people from different countries are discovering Stalwart and
they really like it!
9. Your
sound combines extreme metal elements with a unique progressive edge. How do
you balance the technical complexity with the raw energy and aggression that
your music is known for?
We think a
song should have a heavy riffs foundation, some kind of a rod on which you can
string dissimilar elements. Once you have this groundwork, you can add some
other ingredients, either on top or in between, which makes the material more
intricate and unpredictable and adds some unique feel to it. That’s how we are
trying to do things.
10. Given
the global presence of your members now, how do you manage rehearsals,
recording sessions, and creative collaboration for new material?
This
material was started when we were still together in St. Petersburg, our
hometown. A significant part of the recording was completed before my
departure, then the guys recorded their remaining, then I was mixing it
constantly consulting with them remotely. So yeah, we exist more like an online
project for now, without any actual rehearsal. For the future, we haven’t yet
figured out how we can do it, let’s see.
11. As a
band that has seen the metal scene evolve over the years, what are your
thoughts on the current state of extreme metal, and how do you see Stalwart
fitting into the modern landscape?
In my
personal opinion, which can be slightly different from what other members
think, I feel like metal is doing pretty good nowadays. I listen to a bunch of
new albums every Friday as soon as they arrive, and there is a ton of
interesting stuff. Yeah, sometimes you feel like metal, especially here in
America or Canada, has become excessively complex and sometimes sacrifices
musicality for the sake of intensity, but honestly, overall I like today’s
metal scene more than what it was say 15 or 20 years ago.
12.
Looking ahead, are there any plans for live performances or tours to support
the release of Tempus Edax Rerum? How do you envision bringing this new
material to the stage after the hiatus?
That is the
trickiest question, I would say. Honestly, there are no plans for live
performances at the moment, because it is logistically nearly impossible. So
now we are concentrated on releasing singles and then the entire album via
streaming platforms and having as much exposure as we can, to reach new and old
fans. Once we’ve done that, we’ll discuss how we proceed further as a band.
Let’s see!
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