
Dear Progressive Rock Journal readers, today we have the pleasure to talk exclusively with the Israeli band Obsidian Tide, young and gifted with original Prog Metal sounds.
> It is a pleasure to be able to talk to you about your project, how are you?
Thank you for doing this interview, we love the Progressive Rock Journal. We’re great, thanks 🙂
> Tell us a little about your group, how did the group form and where did the choice of your particular name come from?
Back in 2012 Oz had written a few songs (which would later make up most of ‘Debris’) and wanted to take it to the next level – form a band to play them. He found Erez in an online forum and they played together for a couple of months, and then Shachar joined in to complete the band lineup. We also worked with another musician for a short while, who did vocals and rhythm guitar, but that didn’t last long.
So about the name, we were playing together for sometime, and figured it was about time we found ourselves a name. We sealed ourselves in a room and decided we wouldn’t leave until we found a name! We scoured books, games, movies, anything we could find. After a good chunk of the day we left the room settling for Obsidian Tide! It also made some sense with some of the things we’ve already written, so it turned out just fine!
> Your sound mixes hard sounds with more progressive traits, is it a studied choice or was it born naturally by playing and trying?
We are all inspired by metal bands that have growls and also by bands that don’t. And some bands that do both , so naturally we feel like doing both.
We usually don’t do “studied” choices; we just play whatever feels right. If we later have to analyze what we played in order to augment it we sometimes do, but we almost never start there.
> Yours is a particular and original sound, are there any groups or sources of inspiration that most mark your compositions?
We truly believe that what makes our sound unique is the fact we manage to incorporate the musical elements we find attractive and appealing, metal and none-metal. We come from different backgrounds, and we all love music in all its merits. Oz is really into emotions and vibe in general – proggy, technical, heavy and atmospheric music. Shachar really likes progressive music of all kinds – older things like King Crimson, newer prog metal like Alkaloid and other oddities such as Snarky Puppy, which Erez also really loves, alongside old school artitst like Jimi Hendrix and Camel. so naturally, all these makes our sound and music to be quite interesting and original.
> Your album “Pillars of Creation”, which is having a well-deserved success, tells of a journey of a man in search of enlightenment, tell us a little more about the concept theme.
The story begins with the main character going through some kind of spiritual ascension in the title track, ‘Pillars of Creation’. We wanted to give that special vibe but we were careful not to go into specifics too much; we believe the listener can complete the details in their mind with their own interpretation. The next 5 songs are about things she experiences and witnesses from her new position and perspective. In the last song in the album, ‘Magnanimous’, the character cracks and decides to make some changes in the world in order to make it better in her eyes.
Each of the middle 5 songs of the album take their inspiration from different things. A very prevalent prominent one is the Kingkiller Chronicles book series; both Seven and Hiraeth were heavily inspired by the books as Erez and Shachar are big fans.
We already heard different interpretations to our songs and we’re always happy to hear what people think. Let us know what you think of the story and how you see it!
> The album features thick guests and refined instruments such as flute and violin and saxophone, what contribution did these guests give to the album?
For some of the parts we already knew what we wanted; for others, the guests put their own input into it. Most of the guest solos were written by the guests themselves. The flute solo in ‘Seven’, for example, was entirely Danielle’s idea; we didn’t even think about having a flute solo in that part!
For the saxophone solo in ‘Magnanimous’ we actually tried several different musicians; eventually we went with Omri because we liked the solo he wrote best.
> Given the presence of guest artists on the album, will you face live performances involving the same artists?
We perform with a computer, programmed to play everything we don’t have with us on stage – rhythm guitars (when Oz has a lead part), backing vocals, and also our guests’ parts. When we can, we play live with Danielle Sassi (flute) or Yuval Gur (violin), but they’re not always available, so the computer handles their parts. The other two guests don’t live in Israel so it hasn’t really happened yet, but we never say never!
> Given the success achieved in many listeners, they wonder if there are programs regarding concerts and live, in order to listen to your music live. Do you have any plans about it?
We’ve already had dozens of shows here in Israel, and we definitely plan to perform abroad. Other than ProgPower Europe 2020 nothing is written in stone yet, but keep an eye out!
> A work that has been well received by critics and the public, how difficult is it to propose certain sounds in your country and what is the musical situation?
There are a lot of metal band in Tel Aviv, and really all over the country.
Although Israel is in general a religious country, there are no real voices against metal music or even bands with satanic motifs.
That might be due to the fact that the metal scene is very small and also the lyrics are in almost always in english.
We have a group of dedicated fans/friends in here.
> “Debris”, “Pillars of Creation” were your first two albums released, do you have plans for other material in the studio or is there already something in the pipeline?
Yeah, we are working on our second full length album these days. About half of it is already written already!
> Greeting and thanking you on behalf of Progressive Rock Journal and its readers, I ask you if you have anything you would like to add?
Thank you Jacopo for taking the time and interest in us, greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank our fans for all their support. If you like our music please support us by buying merch on our bandcamp page, following on social media and most importantly, tell your friends! We could then tour in a city near you.
We thank the band for the opportunity and wish them the best for their career. Below all the band Official Links.
Obsidian Tide – Pillars of creation Album Review: https://progrockjournal.com/obsidian-tide-pillars-of-creation-album-review/
Obsidian Tide |Official Website|Bandcamp|Facebook Page|Twitter|YouTube Channel|