Kalisia
Kalisia, a very interesting name but an almost unknown band! Hailing from France this combo wants to impress all of you through its very interesting musical content, something that you heared about 15 years ago; a time when Cynic, a very well known band, was considered to be too much involved in that kind of progressive and psychedelic Death Metal and failed thanks to an almost total unrecognition!!! The same thing was happening almost in the same time in Europe, this time Kalisia being the band that had received an unrecognition. But as you can see people change, and the U.S. Death Metal masters are back with the long, long awaited brand new album almost in the same time with the french combo; th last one releasing the new opus after 13 years of silence, and if you want to know more Paul Masvidal from Cynic was present to help his friend Brett to record a masterpiece album called "Cybion"!!! So I considered that would be interesting to know more things about Kalisia and "Cybion", and as you can see I get in touch with Laurent which seems to be a very nice person and look what I found concerning our subjects...
Arcana Noctis: Ça va Laurent? :) How are you and how are the things going on for you now that the new album, the second one after a long period of silence, 12 years almost, "Cybion" was finaly released?
Laurent: Hello Raul, thank you for introducing us to the Romanian Metal fans! You are right, it's been about 13 years since we made our first release, "Skies". That IS a very long time, so you can guess we are very happy to finally announce "Cybion"! We spent so much time and efforts in this, and it happened to be so difficult that we sometimes thought we would never make it... Even today, it's a bit hard to realize it's done actually! But we're having more and more requests for mail orders or interviews, so it helps seeing things as they are ;-)
Arcana Noctis: I'm very sure that you are almost unknown here in Romania, so I would like you to tell us the most important moments from your career if you don't mind!
Laurent: Well, we formed back in 1994 and quickly began composing Melodic Death Metal songs with lots of progressive influences, which was quite new at the time! The next year we released a 4 song demo tape, "Skies", which had such a great success that the French label Adipocere released it as a CD the next year. The 1500 copies quickly sold out, and we had the opportunity to play live with some great bands (Emperor, Samael, My Dying Bride, Therion, Eldritch, Crematory, Bal-Sagoth, Sadist, Misanthrope...) I guess very few bands with only a demo were as cherished as we were! We even appeared in the best French band selection of various magazines!
Arcana Noctis: Could you please tell us why did you delayed the second effort almost 12 years? Because in my point of view, even if Brett is a very redoubtable producer that doesn't mean to forget the first love?!
Laurent: We never forgot our first love! We started to compose "Cybion" quickly after "Skies". But the project was really huge, and we were very perfectionists. Way too much probably. We also had several things going on in our lives, so we couldn't rehearse as often as before. The project was sometimes stopped for months. All the music was written by 2003, and we started to record it at that time. The troubles we had were mainly technical from that point, as producing such a complex album required knowledge and equipments we didn't have. But Brett wanted to do it, certainly for him the best way to learn and become the producer he is now. Once he has produced "Cybion", he can record and mix almost anything else!
Arcana Noctis: Now, can you introduce our readers in "Cybion"'s atmosphere by telling us the most important things about this album?
Laurent: "Cybion" is a one song science-fiction concept. Yep, an album made of one single song, lasting 71 minutes. It's fully progressive and has plenty Metal styles mixed together, and lots of vocals styles too. The result is truly unique, and although it's been composed during such a long period, it is qualified as Avant-garde by many. It has lots of details and a clear but also powerful sound.
Arcana Noctis: As you said before, you consider this creation as a one and only piece, what do you mean exactly? Is this a concept album or an ordinary one but made by a very intelligent & brilliant mind?
Laurent: No, this album is not ordinary, that's a sure point. "Cybion" was composed as one big song, and that's exactly what it is. And I'm not the right person to tell you if we're either brilliant or very intelligent, we just wanted to tell a story and put it into music, without any limitations. As in any books, there are chapters in this story. "Cybion" has four parts that chain together, and you will find many melodies and many rhythmic elements that come back in different forms from one part to the other.
Arcana Noctis: Could you please tell us what exactly do you want to express with such an interesting and intelligent musical style who seems to be something taken from another time and space?
Laurent: We just wanted to compose a good sounding music that would illustrate the concept's story, nothing more. Our style is natural to us, we never tried to do this, it just happened! But what you're saying is a great compliment, because indeed our music is mixing so many influences together that we think it becomes almost out of time.
Arcana Noctis: The second part of this digipak contains an extra bonus named "Origins"! What can you tell us about this one and why did you choose to replay the old demo "Skies"?
Laurent: First of all, we did not replay "Skies"! Brett just undusted it by a remix, that's all. I truly think it sounds better now, and fans will be happy to hear the difference. After "Skies" come covers of four bands that influenced Kalisia in its early years. Cynic – "How Could I", which is the only Cynic cover to date as far as we know, then "A Fortune In Lies" from Dream Theater. These two bands were our main influences at the time when "Skies" was composed. Emperor – "I Am The Black Wizards" is coming next. We used to play this song live in '96, so that was a natural choice. And the covers end with "This Dazzling Abyss" from the French band Loudblast. We were big fans of them, and because this song is great and hard to find (it was released on a compilation) it made a good choice. All these covers gave us the opportunity to have prestigious guests come give a hand, but we'll talk about it later.
Arcana Noctis: I assume that the lyrical concept fits perfectly with the whole album, but what is all about in your point of view? And I'd like you to tell us what is all about with this genuine language called Kal?
Laurent: "Cybion" is a real concept: the lyrics, the cover design and the music are totally linked, each element is part of the experience. The story is difficult to summarize, as it flows through many, MANY years! It tells the future of mankind and the universe through a central character, Keiji, which has become an immortal. The Kal language was created by Brett because we needed an appropriate language for some parts (choir...) and Latin had no reason to be used in our story! So he created a new language from scratch. In the story it's an universal language, used by all intelligent beings in the universe.
Arcana Noctis: Now, do you agree to talk about a little bit about your guests? Tell us how did you managed to bring togheter musicians such as: Angela Gossow, Arjen Lucassen, Paul Masvidal, Ludovic Loez, Charly Sahona and many more! Are you working through the internet with all your guests? Because as I can see this is a comon and usual manner to work with persons from the 4 corners of this world!
Laurent: You are right, most of the work happened over the internet, even if Brett met most of them. I cannot tell you exactly the story behind each participation, as it is often complex and we sometimes don't even remember very well how it happened!! They are all due to Brett though, as a producer he has lots of contacts in the music business.
Arcana Noctis: Now try to tell us a few things about your musical style, because this is something I've never heard such things before?
Laurent: People say we play "Melodic Progressive Death Metal". It's probably a good way to have an idea, but our style is much more than that! We sort of mix all Metal kinds with any good influences we can find, in Classical, Rock, Electro, Pop etc. But as I said before this is not a voluntary process, it just comes naturally. We have almost all types of vocals, it keeps switching all the time. The Death Metal term is employed because of the aggressive vocals, but there are so many others... we even have a female singer, Elodie. She comes from the band Auspex.
Arcana Noctis: Is this brand new album called "Cybion" a normal continuation of your previous materials, or it is something you developed in the latest years?
Laurent: We started composing for "Cybion" as soon as "Skies" was done. We even played the first minutes of "Cybion" live, for the opening of a gig in... '97 (I think)! There's a video of this, we should put it online! So you see, the composition really started a long time ago...
Arcana Noctis: Because you decided to create this album on your own, is that true that there are no labels interests in your work? Is this something too modern for these days as it was a long time ago with Cynic?
Laurent: It is true that no label was ready to put money in "Cybion", as we wanted a huge packaging (digipak, 36-page color booklet, 2 CDs...) and sell it at a very low price... This isn't very compatible with making money! But finally I think it's probably better this way, because we have full control, no one is trying to tell us how we should do things. I don't think we would accept it anyway, freedom is something of the utmost importance for us. And that's probably also what makes our music what it is...
Arcana Noctis: Can you tell us about the feedback that you received until now concerning this creation? Are you satisfied with the outcome, now that Season Of Mist decided to help you a little bit with the promotion of this album?
Laurent: Having Season Of Mist for the distribution is great, even if our agreement only covers France. But we also sell directly to people all over the world through our website, and it works pretty well I must say! We're having quite a lot of orders, and the feedbacks are fantastic! This is very motivating.
Arcana Noctis: What are you going to do in the future to promote your band, because it's very hard to develop on the stage such things? Are there some live dates or we must consider Kalisia just a studio project?
Laurent: We will go on stage. But at this time, we need to invest in some specific live equipment, because rehearsing and playing live are very different things. So no, there is no date to announce yet! But be sure we will play "Cybion" live as soon as we can afford it!
Arcana Noctis: Well, that's all for now my friend! Thank you a lot for your kindness and good luck in your activity! What are your final words to conclude?
Laurent: Well, thanks for the interview! But better than words, the best way to discover us is by going to our website (www.kalisia.com) or our MySpace and listen! "Cybion" can be legally downloaded on our website for only 3€... and this gets you a discount for the digipak! We hope people will support this selling process, as we invested a lot in this project and the industry was not ready to follow us in our utopia!
Arcana Noctis: Ça va Laurent? :) How are you and how are the things going on for you now that the new album, the second one after a long period of silence, 12 years almost, "Cybion" was finaly released?
Laurent: Hello Raul, thank you for introducing us to the Romanian Metal fans! You are right, it's been about 13 years since we made our first release, "Skies". That IS a very long time, so you can guess we are very happy to finally announce "Cybion"! We spent so much time and efforts in this, and it happened to be so difficult that we sometimes thought we would never make it... Even today, it's a bit hard to realize it's done actually! But we're having more and more requests for mail orders or interviews, so it helps seeing things as they are ;-)Arcana Noctis: I'm very sure that you are almost unknown here in Romania, so I would like you to tell us the most important moments from your career if you don't mind!
Laurent: Well, we formed back in 1994 and quickly began composing Melodic Death Metal songs with lots of progressive influences, which was quite new at the time! The next year we released a 4 song demo tape, "Skies", which had such a great success that the French label Adipocere released it as a CD the next year. The 1500 copies quickly sold out, and we had the opportunity to play live with some great bands (Emperor, Samael, My Dying Bride, Therion, Eldritch, Crematory, Bal-Sagoth, Sadist, Misanthrope...) I guess very few bands with only a demo were as cherished as we were! We even appeared in the best French band selection of various magazines!
Arcana Noctis: Could you please tell us why did you delayed the second effort almost 12 years? Because in my point of view, even if Brett is a very redoubtable producer that doesn't mean to forget the first love?!
Laurent: We never forgot our first love! We started to compose "Cybion" quickly after "Skies". But the project was really huge, and we were very perfectionists. Way too much probably. We also had several things going on in our lives, so we couldn't rehearse as often as before. The project was sometimes stopped for months. All the music was written by 2003, and we started to record it at that time. The troubles we had were mainly technical from that point, as producing such a complex album required knowledge and equipments we didn't have. But Brett wanted to do it, certainly for him the best way to learn and become the producer he is now. Once he has produced "Cybion", he can record and mix almost anything else!
Arcana Noctis: Now, can you introduce our readers in "Cybion"'s atmosphere by telling us the most important things about this album?
Laurent: "Cybion" is a one song science-fiction concept. Yep, an album made of one single song, lasting 71 minutes. It's fully progressive and has plenty Metal styles mixed together, and lots of vocals styles too. The result is truly unique, and although it's been composed during such a long period, it is qualified as Avant-garde by many. It has lots of details and a clear but also powerful sound.
Arcana Noctis: As you said before, you consider this creation as a one and only piece, what do you mean exactly? Is this a concept album or an ordinary one but made by a very intelligent & brilliant mind?
Laurent: No, this album is not ordinary, that's a sure point. "Cybion" was composed as one big song, and that's exactly what it is. And I'm not the right person to tell you if we're either brilliant or very intelligent, we just wanted to tell a story and put it into music, without any limitations. As in any books, there are chapters in this story. "Cybion" has four parts that chain together, and you will find many melodies and many rhythmic elements that come back in different forms from one part to the other.
Arcana Noctis: Could you please tell us what exactly do you want to express with such an interesting and intelligent musical style who seems to be something taken from another time and space?
Laurent: We just wanted to compose a good sounding music that would illustrate the concept's story, nothing more. Our style is natural to us, we never tried to do this, it just happened! But what you're saying is a great compliment, because indeed our music is mixing so many influences together that we think it becomes almost out of time.
Arcana Noctis: The second part of this digipak contains an extra bonus named "Origins"! What can you tell us about this one and why did you choose to replay the old demo "Skies"?
Laurent: First of all, we did not replay "Skies"! Brett just undusted it by a remix, that's all. I truly think it sounds better now, and fans will be happy to hear the difference. After "Skies" come covers of four bands that influenced Kalisia in its early years. Cynic – "How Could I", which is the only Cynic cover to date as far as we know, then "A Fortune In Lies" from Dream Theater. These two bands were our main influences at the time when "Skies" was composed. Emperor – "I Am The Black Wizards" is coming next. We used to play this song live in '96, so that was a natural choice. And the covers end with "This Dazzling Abyss" from the French band Loudblast. We were big fans of them, and because this song is great and hard to find (it was released on a compilation) it made a good choice. All these covers gave us the opportunity to have prestigious guests come give a hand, but we'll talk about it later.
Arcana Noctis: I assume that the lyrical concept fits perfectly with the whole album, but what is all about in your point of view? And I'd like you to tell us what is all about with this genuine language called Kal?
Laurent: "Cybion" is a real concept: the lyrics, the cover design and the music are totally linked, each element is part of the experience. The story is difficult to summarize, as it flows through many, MANY years! It tells the future of mankind and the universe through a central character, Keiji, which has become an immortal. The Kal language was created by Brett because we needed an appropriate language for some parts (choir...) and Latin had no reason to be used in our story! So he created a new language from scratch. In the story it's an universal language, used by all intelligent beings in the universe.
Arcana Noctis: Now, do you agree to talk about a little bit about your guests? Tell us how did you managed to bring togheter musicians such as: Angela Gossow, Arjen Lucassen, Paul Masvidal, Ludovic Loez, Charly Sahona and many more! Are you working through the internet with all your guests? Because as I can see this is a comon and usual manner to work with persons from the 4 corners of this world!
Laurent: You are right, most of the work happened over the internet, even if Brett met most of them. I cannot tell you exactly the story behind each participation, as it is often complex and we sometimes don't even remember very well how it happened!! They are all due to Brett though, as a producer he has lots of contacts in the music business.
Arcana Noctis: Now try to tell us a few things about your musical style, because this is something I've never heard such things before?
Laurent: People say we play "Melodic Progressive Death Metal". It's probably a good way to have an idea, but our style is much more than that! We sort of mix all Metal kinds with any good influences we can find, in Classical, Rock, Electro, Pop etc. But as I said before this is not a voluntary process, it just comes naturally. We have almost all types of vocals, it keeps switching all the time. The Death Metal term is employed because of the aggressive vocals, but there are so many others... we even have a female singer, Elodie. She comes from the band Auspex.
Arcana Noctis: Is this brand new album called "Cybion" a normal continuation of your previous materials, or it is something you developed in the latest years?
Laurent: We started composing for "Cybion" as soon as "Skies" was done. We even played the first minutes of "Cybion" live, for the opening of a gig in... '97 (I think)! There's a video of this, we should put it online! So you see, the composition really started a long time ago...
Arcana Noctis: Because you decided to create this album on your own, is that true that there are no labels interests in your work? Is this something too modern for these days as it was a long time ago with Cynic?
Laurent: It is true that no label was ready to put money in "Cybion", as we wanted a huge packaging (digipak, 36-page color booklet, 2 CDs...) and sell it at a very low price... This isn't very compatible with making money! But finally I think it's probably better this way, because we have full control, no one is trying to tell us how we should do things. I don't think we would accept it anyway, freedom is something of the utmost importance for us. And that's probably also what makes our music what it is...
Arcana Noctis: Can you tell us about the feedback that you received until now concerning this creation? Are you satisfied with the outcome, now that Season Of Mist decided to help you a little bit with the promotion of this album?
Laurent: Having Season Of Mist for the distribution is great, even if our agreement only covers France. But we also sell directly to people all over the world through our website, and it works pretty well I must say! We're having quite a lot of orders, and the feedbacks are fantastic! This is very motivating.
Arcana Noctis: What are you going to do in the future to promote your band, because it's very hard to develop on the stage such things? Are there some live dates or we must consider Kalisia just a studio project?
Laurent: We will go on stage. But at this time, we need to invest in some specific live equipment, because rehearsing and playing live are very different things. So no, there is no date to announce yet! But be sure we will play "Cybion" live as soon as we can afford it!
Arcana Noctis: Well, that's all for now my friend! Thank you a lot for your kindness and good luck in your activity! What are your final words to conclude?
Laurent: Well, thanks for the interview! But better than words, the best way to discover us is by going to our website (www.kalisia.com) or our MySpace and listen! "Cybion" can be legally downloaded on our website for only 3€... and this gets you a discount for the digipak! We hope people will support this selling process, as we invested a lot in this project and the industry was not ready to follow us in our utopia!