Interview with Frosttide — “We have the chance of forging our path to happiness.”

A little while ago Frosttide released “Decedents”, an EP they released to support them through their Japanese tour. This EP got them a deal with Out Of Line Music, who gave the Finnish metal act the chance to a new mix and remastered EP, set to be released on 30 November 2018.

I had the chance to talk to keyboardist Felipe Muñoz about the new EP. Read the complete interview below. 

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Hi Felipe! Thank you so much for taking the time. Frosttide has been around for quite a while and therefore is quite known in the Finnish metal scene. Can you give a brief history of the band for our international audience?

The band was formed in Jyväskylä back in 2009. After releasing 2 self-published EPs, “Dawn Of Frost” (2010) & “Our Journey” (2012), we got signed by the record label NoiseArt Records. During our years with NoiseArt Records, we released our debut album “Awakening” (2013) and its follower “Blood Oath” (2015).

For the release of “Awakening”, we embarked on our first European tour, Heidenfest 2013, together with EnsiferumTurisasEquilibrium, and Suidakra. We also supported Ensiferum on their Unsung Heroes France tour in 2014. For “Blood Oath” we played a Finnish tour supporting Ensiferum and took part in Paganfest 2015 tour with WintersunTurisasHeidevolk and Obscurity. The band played its first headliner show at Bridge Blast Metal Festival in Switzerland in 2015 and played at Tuska Open Air 2016 among other shows.

A year after our second record, we parted ways with NoiseArt and also had a lineup change. We started working on our third album as an independent band but we had a change of plans due to the opportunity of our first Japanese tour. We decided to postpone the recordings of our third album and, instead, recorded an EP in order to offer new material for the shows in Japan. This EP called “Decedents” (2018) was once again self-published. The record label Out Of Line Music heard the EP and was interested in signing us. Now we are part of that label and we are releasing a remixed and remastered version of the EP called “Decedents – Enshrined” on 30th of November!

As you mentioned you are releasing the new version of the EP “Decedents – Enshrined” soon. Can you tell us a bit more about the songwriting process?

As with the previous two albums and single, our guitarist, Juho wrote most of the music and lyrics for this EP. I wrote the music and lyrics for the song “Final Hour”. Our process consists of listening to the demos that we have gathered together as a band and then we select the tracks that fit best for the concept of the album. The next step is to rehearse the selected tracks with the entire band. Some of the songs may remain very close to the original demos and other will have structural changes and new arrangements. It is great that all band members are keen to contribute with arrangements and add their musical influence to the songs making them more versatile.

Regarding the orchestrations, most of these are written when I am doing the keyboard arrangements. I have the mindset of composing the keyboard parts as a symphony orchestra but also incorporating the synthesizer elements such as big pad sounds, arpeggiators, and analog leads. Once I have tracked all the keyboard parts, I check the final arrangements with Juho and we work together on the final details by using sound libraries for more realistic symphonic sounds that cannot be achieved by using keyboards. Juho is also able to write orchestral arrangements, which is of great help! He brings great ideas to the final orchestrations!

The theme of the EP surrounds around the theme of death. What are the songs about and how do they fit into this concept?

Death is an interesting topic. Just as life, death can have a different meaning among people. It can be peaceful, bitter and sorrowful. The variety of emotions surrounding this concept can be related to the sonic landscapes and feelings shown in the songs. This gave us the possibility to create separate stories revolving on this concept. When writing the lyrics of these songs, the stories told are also influenced by moments and events that we have experienced in our lives.

“Ocean’s Peace” is the intro track that brings the dark atmosphere of the EP and unfolds into an epic vibe. It represents the feeling of drowning. As you hold your breath while sinking towards the bottom. The light beams are still visible from the surface. You cannot hold your breath any longer. As you gasp for air, your lungs fill with water and a tremendous sense of euphoria embraces your entire body. At the same time, the light beams become weaker until it is dark.

The intro is connected to “Tranquility”. Here we go back in time before “Ocean’s Peace”. This fast tempo song filled with epic and melancholic melodies tells the story of a man’s view of the world after living a hectic life full of battles and wars. Living in peaceful times, it is difficult for him to find a new purpose in life to fill that empty void. As he stares at the waves by the shore seeing how his reflection dissolves, it also reflects the thoughts about his life. Everything is falling apart. Since there is no meaning to live anymore, he stares at the horizon and heads towards the sea to finally find peace.

“Carved Into Ice”, a bombastic heavy song tells about a horde that sailed on a mission towards the far North. The farther they go, the colder it gets. As the temperature goes below zero, the sea begins to freeze leaving them trapped in the middle of the open sea with no route to escape. Everyone knows what their fate will be and their only hope is that the winds howl with more strength to move the ship.

All hope is lost. Staring at the starlight sky, everyone just waits for the end knowing that soon they won’t feel cold anymore. The only reminder from this tragedy is the sculpture made by the snowstorm of the ship and frozen crew.

“Final Hour” is the “Epic Ballad” of the EP. In this lifetime we have the chance of forging our path to happiness. But sometimes we set so much focus into it that we leave our loved ones and true friends aside. This obsession leads us into a toxic environment of self-destruction and isolation. Sometimes what we look for is closer than we think. We realize that our time is running out but it may be too late to go back to the life we once had.

“Revenant” is the heaviest and most aggressive track from the EP. The story of this song is about a warrior that was abandoned in the frozen plains. Left to wander where there is no daylight and the cold is deadly. When he dies, his spirit merges with the cold and darkness, becoming the polar night.  He is the one who decides the fate of whoever walks these plains and will only cease to exist after everyone who abandoned him is dead.

The EP was made as a support for the tour in Japan, your latest full-length album dates back to 2015. You already mentioned before the EP you were working on a new album. Are these tracks going to be part of that?

We started working on our third album already in the beginning of 2017 and released the single “From Dusk To Ascend” later that year. Due to the Japan tour, we decided to record an EP with new material and with a different concept than the one for the third album. So the songs from this EP won’t be part of our third album. So far there is not a release date planned. But the next step is to complete the recordings for our third full length!

What are your plans now after this release, are you having some shows in Finland, Europe or anywhere else in the world?

So far we have confirmed only one show in Berlin, Germany for next year. We hope to get more dates in order to promote this EP. We are very happy how the songs turned out to be and we hope that we can bring these in the live format to as many people as possible. On the other hand, we have to continue with the third album recordings in order to release it in the near future. Exciting times ahead!

I hope to catch you somewhere on the road! Thanks for the chat, Felipe! Before we wrap up, do you have any last thoughts for our readers?

Thank you for your support! We hope you enjoy our new EP “Decedents – Enshrined” as much as we did recording it! Make sure to follow us in the social media channels for more updates regarding future releases and shows. Cheers!

Links
https://www.facebook.com/Frosttide/
https://www.instagram.com/frosttide
https://www.frosttide.com