Thursday, May 15, 2014

Interview with The Antikythera Mechanism!

Genre(s): Progressive Metal/Deathcore
Location: Atlanta, GA

PSAB: Where does your band name "The Antikythera Mechanism" come from, and what exactly does it mean?

TAM: The Antikythera Mechanism is an Ancient Greek analog computer/astronomical calender that would predict star patterns and eclipses. Its origin has been dated back to the 1st century BC however technologies similar to this device aren't found again until the 14th century.  
Being a progressive metal band, we use the name to help try and keep us thinking ahead of the curve. To keep us writing material that we all enjoy but also writing unique material that we think our fans haven't heard much of, within the style of music we play.

PSAB: Your lyric video for your song "Depths of Europa" recently came out. How has the feedback been for the video and song?

TAM: So far the reactions have been really positive and encouraging, which is obviously great. We're just now getting a chance to break into this underground scene with our new music. Even so, we're still making our way. The people that have found us and reached out have been nothing but kind and we're extremely grateful for such a positive response.

PSAB: You're currently working on a new album, titled Pathos. When can we expect that album to drop?

TAM: Pathos came out on April 1st of this year. It is a 5 track EP that mainly touches on ideas of space, consciousness, and perceived reality. We wrote this album out of an exciting surge of interest from all members about what life truly means and what humanity's place is in the universe.  

We spent most of 2013 writing, recording, and perfecting this music. Bradd Schlosser of In Motion Recordings in Athens, Ga was a great producer to record with and we were also quite fortunate to be able to have Brian Hood of 456 Recordings in Nashville, TN to do the mix and master.

PSAB: How is the metal scene in Atlanta, GA?

TAM: It's really thriving right now. All of our members came from various projects in and around Atlanta. In this last year, we've started noticing more and more people showing their support: from local musicians, promoters, and fans in general. We are very happy to be a part of this scene and glad we can contribute to its growth and having great bands to push us to constantly better ourselves.

PSAB: What has played the most influence on your music? This can non-music related.

TAM:  This new EP has been a really great experience. It was exciting writing songs that worked on every level. Musically and lyrically, together and separate this album really turned out better than we could have hoped. Music evolves when the artist does. That being said, it's hard to say as a whole what gets us motivated towards writing. However, we were motivated to write something that we hope will capture peoples interest, song by song and also as an entire idea.  
Musically I'd say we're influenced by bands as recent as The Contortionist and The Faceless to bands that have made their everlasting mark on the metal and rock scenes over the years, such as Meshuggah, Tool, and Pink Floyd. We try and pull from all styles of music and just write what we would like to hear on an album.   

The works of people like Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Dr. Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have truly helped bring the complex universe to everyone's fingertips including our own. I'd say that these people among many others have been our biggest influence into the concept of this EP.

PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to your fans?

TAM:  Every single one of them! Any person that has ever seen us, heard us, bought any of our merch, purchased our album, or even just given our music a listen. Now more than ever, fans are the only thing that keeps music alive! So we're really thankful for everyone's love and support.  

A special thanks to our good friends Will Herald and Patrick Antos. Without their continuous help we wouldn't be where we are today. So big shout out to those guys.

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