Interview with Epic Mind, Progressive Metal Band from Netherland

Interview with Epic Mind, Progressive Metal Band from Netherland

This’s interview with Epic Mind. Check it out.

Tell us about Epic Mind?

We are a Dutch progressive metal band based in Utrecht and have just released our debut album, ‘Through the Labyrinth’, under own management. Raoul (guitars) founded the band in 2008, Folkert (Drums) joined in 2009, Leon (Vocals) in 2012, and Jari (Bass) in 2016. We are now focusing on the promotion of our album by playing as many gigs as possible.

What are lyrical themes of Epic Mind?

Our album’s theme is about the struggles of life, as broad as battling cancer (Perfect War Machine), betrayal of people you know (Depths of the Unknown), or personal development (The Voyage). For some lyrics the true meaning is hidden within the lyrics, for others it’s more evident J.

What are your influences?

There are so many bands that we have come to love and respect, and everyone in the band has been influenced by different bands. Looking at our music I think the main influences are Dream Theater, Ayreon, Threshold, Haken and Queen.

How did you choose the cover artwork for "Through the Labyrinth"?

We wanted the cover art to reflect the theme of the album, which is that you cannot plan every step of the way in life. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances lead to unexpected places.

Raoul came up with the idea of a small boy standing at the entrance of a labyrinth, with in the distance a bright and happy place as well as a dark and grim place. The labyrinth symbolizes the routes and choices in life, and ultimately you will end up in a good place (white castle) or a bad place (dark castle).

Through someone we know we found Kerim Akyuz, who created the artwork exactly as we wanted it.

How were the songs written?

Our writing process was two-fold. On the one hand, we had jam sessions during which we came up with new ideas and developed riffs brought from home. Songs such as Epitome and Depths of the Unknown were written largely in this way. On the other hand, song writing was conducted by Raoul at home, in which he wrote the guitar and keyboard parts and basic drum and bass sections, which would later be worked out by Folkert and Nathaniël. Denim Recipe is a good example of this song-writing method.

How did the recording process go?

Since we were going to release the album under own management we couldn’t really spend a lot of money on renting a studio and record there for a few weeks. So, a lot of things were recorded in our home studios (like Guitar and Bass), Drums and vocals, on the other hand, were recorded at Mass Audio because we felt this really improved the quality. Overall the recording took us about a year, but mainly because we were still finishing/retouching some songs when we had already recorded the first songs. After everything was recorded Folkert mixed and produced the album and handed it over to Arnout Leene, also from Mass Audio, for mastering, who did an awesome job at it!

What are your future plans?

This year we really want to focus on playing live and getting our music out there. We learned a great deal from writing and recording and really enjoyed it, so we may very well start working on a new album in a year or so.

Are there any countries you’re interested in touring or performing in? Why?

We have only performed in the Netherlands, so the first step for us would be to get some gigs in our neighbor countries (Germany, UK, Belgium). The dream would be to tour in the USA, South America, Asia, but we have to be realistic and see what happens with the album J.

What bands would you like to play alongside?

Dream theater would be really awesome, but perhaps a little too ambitious. Other bands that we are big fans of and would love to play alongside with are Haken, Leprous and Threshold.

Any last words?

For the readers: If you haven’t yet, check out our album ‘Through the Labyrinth’! You can support us by ordering our digital album through Bandcamp or a CD through our website. Keep an eye on our Facebook page and website, too, because we hope to announce our gigs soon.

Epic Mind:

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