Nuclear war Now ! Artist -Ares Kingdom interview up
1. For 20 yrs now Ares Kingdom has been slaying the metal underground. What keeps the band fresh and keep going?
Our main motivation is to write and play the music we most want to hear, and we have great chemistry together which our 23 years proves!
2. How has this digital age changed the way bands like Ares Kingdom creates, promotes and expands your visions ?
There are advantages and drawbacks to life now versus the 1980s and 90s. It's easier than ever to record albums, hear new bands, etc, but knowing which ones to invest time in is the trick. There's less mystery about bands now, too, which is OK...although I did enjoy not knowing much about my favorite bands back then, I have to admit.
3. Nuclear war now! Has been your home for many many years . What makes you keep coming back to them?
We have a fantastic working relationship with NWN. Obviously it's a very stable and consistent label...which after the chaos of the many label changes we endured during the OFC years we really had no patience for. The extra layer of worry about a new label for our next release was a ridiculous headache, and we were keen to lose it!
4. In 2019 is the studio or live performances more important to band over all these years?
Now that the album is released, we're shifting focus toward live shows and tours. This will keep us occupied for the next couple of years while I write for the next album. Speaking for myself, I love the composition process very much, and that's what I'm getting back into now.
5. By the light of their destruction is there a theme or story behind it?
The material on 'By the Light of Their Destruction' picks up where my old project, Vulpecula, left off in 1999 - but with Alex on vocals instead of me. I decided to go this direction musically and conceptually even before the official release of 'The Unburiable Dead' in 2015 since I felt that album was the apex of what AK had formed to do. Vulpecula's focus was, of course, different from AK's, and coincidentally just before V split, Mike had joined. With that in mind, it's not a stretch to say 'By the Light of Their Destruction' is pretty much what a new Vulpecula album would have sounded like in 2000!
Our reputation until now has been that we focus on war, conflict, history and philosophy. By embracing Vulpecula, we bring in astronomical/cosmological elements, but even Vulpecula embraced those other concepts as well, so this new album works perfectly no matter how you choose to look at the band and its evolution!
6. Thrash or Death metal which do the band members feel aligned too?
I don't think any of us care about those labels enough to choose one over the other. We're so old that we still think in terms of thrash and death metal having a natural crossover.
7. What elements of Order from chaos do you think still live on with Ares Kingdom?
Obviously we're 2/3 of OFC, and I write music which the band rehearses in exactly the same manner as happened back then, so I think those are the main elements that have survived unscathed. The method has served us well for a long time!
8. How does political or religious views have people view Ares Kingdom very differently that the band really are?
If I understand your question, it's whether people have ever misinterpreted AK? Not that I know of!
9. Are there new bands currently impressing member of Ares Kingdom? If so tell us please?
For my own part, I'm really into crust/stenchcore like Fatum, Lifeless Dark, Femacoffin, Weald, Agnosy and a few others. AK tends to play with cool bands pretty often, so that's always a plus.
10. If you were offered a larger label deal with like Century media or Nuclear Blast would it even be an interest? Or is NWN truly the home for Ares Kingdom?
I doubt it. AK values our freedom and independence above all. Those bigger labels usually want to own everything about your music for decades, and we're used to controlling and owning everything about ourselves, even while we are proudly on the NWN roster.
Obviously, those bigger labels would bring more significant public visibility for AK, but ultimately, extreme metal isn't a reasonable career path - especially at our age, so the money theoretically involved really would be fleeting. In the end, we're in this because metal is what we are, not because it pays our mortgages or anything like that.
In our early days - circa 1997/8, we were approached by Venom's manager, the late Eric Cook for his fledgling label, as well as Earache's subsidary label Wicked World, but we passed on both contracts because of the level of control each label sought. Being courted by Venom's manager was one hell of a compliment to us and something I like to brag about, ha ha!
11. Where do the members of band see the future of extreme metal heading? Will the underground thrive ?
I expect the underground to continue on with all its little dramatic sideshows, but above all I'm hoping to see the emergence of more great young bands!
12. If you could cover any song and make it an Ares Kingdom song what would that be and why?
We've already done that! We adopted Slaughter Lord's 'Die By Power,' and the guys in SL seemed to have no problem with it - Steve Hughes even sent us an old Slaughter Lord press packet with lyrics and other stuff to show his support, ha ha! Fantastic bunch of blokes...RIP Mick Burke!!!
13. Questions on guitar tone you have this balance of thrash and death metal . Is it hard to never cross the line?
Not difficult at all, really, I always use a Marshall JCM 800 50 watt in the studio so I get a consistent sound. Of course, as with most guitarists, most of a person's 'sound' comes from how they play more than the specific equipment they use
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14. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here.
Big thanks for the support, it's deeply appreciated! You can catch up with us anytime - as well as find merch - over at our website (new CDs and shirts just arrived!), www.areskingdom.com and of course our Facebook page.
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