Spanish thrash metal band RETADOR returns with their highly anticipated album Earëndel, blending aggression, melody, and cosmic inspiration. We delve into its creation, themes, and the band’s relentless journey.
1. Congratulations on
your upcoming album Earëndel! The name is intriguing—what inspired
the title, and how does it tie into the themes of the album?
Thank you very
much, the title of the album is inspired by the song of the same theme, when we
play Earëndel we have the sensation of floating in space so far from reality
that it seems that we are in the depths of the cosmos, Earëndel is the farthest
star distant known to date, 12.9 billion
light years away, also it inspired us for the cover... it has no relationship
with the other titles on the álbum.
2. Your
debut album was a massive success, gaining recognition not just in Spain but
globally. How did that reception shape your approach to writing and
recording Earëndel?
Earëndel's
composition has been composed in a natural way without considering that our
album has been sold in Japan, Mexico or Turkey for example, what we were clear
about was that this new album had the difficult mission of surpassing the first
work, the It's true that we have invested many hours of work in all the
instruments to make this happen, we will see what the fans and the media
think...
3.
You’ve worked with Dan Swanö for mastering again on this album. What makes him
the right fit for RETADOR’s sound?
working with Dan
Swanö again has been easy, with the first album he did a good job for us and
that is a good reason to repeat again. All know who is Swanö and what he did/do
this person in the world of metal, working with him is ensuring the difficulty
of mastering an album like ours.
4. The
advance single has already created a buzz. Can you tell us a bit about the
song’s creation and its significance within the album?
We hope so,
generates to much good stir, (ahahaha) musically “Asesino” (Killer) is bluntly
direct and with a lot of anger, it expresses the desperation and revenge of a
person, who could be a father whose the madness takes him over for the damage
that a psychopath or child molester has done to his son, the justice is always
very light and does not give him the correct punishment, so the father with a
knife in his hand, will do true justice!!
5.
Thrash metal often thrives on live energy. How did your extensive touring and
festival appearances over the past two years influence the sound of Earëndel?
The sound
of Earëndel is the result of 2 more years of maturity of the band, we have
played with very good bands which has motivated us personally to improve in our
compositions, trying to mix the intensity, the melodies, the technique, the
speed with more ingredients we believe that we have made a very good album for
lovers of thrash metal and for the other metal genres.
6. With
songs like Lux Ferre and Terror en la Noche, the
tracklist suggests a mix of light and dark themes. Can you share more about the
lyrical direction and inspirations behind these songs?
I don't
know if they are light or dark, it is clear that they are intense, very
intense!! Lux Ferre mixes the rebellion of a young man/women who does not
follow in his father's footsteps and says “father, forgive me for not being
like you” and at the same time makes a “ wink” to Lucifer since in a way he
also revealed himself against his father, Terror in the Night is a more
fictional lyric where in the darkness of the night some creatures come out in
search of human souls, if they find you, you will have nothing to do, and there
are stupid and insane people who try to stand up to them, but it's nonsense, they always win….
7.
Returning to Moontower Studios for this album must have felt like revisiting
familiar territory. How has your experience there evolved from your debut album
to now?
The first
time we were comfortable, but this time it has been without a doubt much
better, working with Javi Félez is very comfortable, he already knew how we
wanted to sound and we have all been involved in making this album better, we
already had clear ideas about what we wanted to do and what we didn't, the
first one was a little crazier, this one has been much more meditated, thought
out and worked on all part by part.
8.
Spanish thrash metal has been making waves lately, and you’ve become one of the
leading bands in the scene. What do you think sets RETADOR apart from other
bands in the genre?
Yes, we
believe that there are many Thrash metal bands with very good compositional
levels, perhaps what differentiates Retador from the vast majority mainly is
that we sing in Spanish, we know that it was and is a challenge, but it is
something that we had clear when we did Retador, also without leaving the
“Thrash” style we added some melodies that others band don't do and we don't start the song at 180 bpm (For example)
and ends at the same tempo (all the song the same) we try to make emotions,
melodies, intensity, speed flow….
9. What
challenges or surprises did you encounter while creating Earëndel,
and how did you overcome them?
The main
challenge was to equal or improve the previous album, we believe that we have
achieved it, but it is the media and the fans who have the last word, this
album has been much more elaborate and not just any riff was valid for this
album, there has been very difficult songs to play and interpret, but there was
not to much mystery, to overcome is rehearse rehearse and rehearse….
10.
Looking ahead to the release on January 21st, 2025, what are your plans for
promoting the album? Can fans expect a tour or special performances to
celebrate the release?
We will try
to interact with all the media and with the fans, to try to go as far as
possible, obviously the way we like Is to be able to do concerts and see the
reaction of the people in live, we already have some concerts and small tours
for 2025, (including several dates in the United States) but the agenda is
still open and we would like to cover many places, what we always say, for
Retador there are no kilometers...
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