Några snabba - The Vala

The Vala är ett gäng amerikanska talanger som jag tror kommer att gå långt om de bara vill. De spelar en blandning av tidig skandinavisk death, black metal och mer traditionell metal. Och dom gör det förbannat bra!
Just nu kan man från bandets MySpace ladda ner deras demo "Tremulous - The Great Ash Awaits", en 4 spårs demo som sparkar din håriga rumpa lång jävla väg. Missa inte!! Detta gör bandet för att sprida sin musik, och dom uppmuntrar till att ladda ner och dela med sig av demon till alla ni känner och några till, så gör gärna det. Hinner ni inte ladda ner låtarna kan man även maila bandet via deras myspace så mailas demon till er. Även vi på Recensenten från Heldvete kan maila demon till er om ni hellre vill det. Hör bara av er så skickar vi den så snart vi hinner.

Demon i fråga består av låtarna:

1) Tremulous - the Great Ash Awaits
2) Amidst the All Consuming Flame
3) Serenity - the Calm before the Storm
4) The Sanctuary of Hodmimir's Forest

Jag tog chansen att få göra en kort intervju med herrarna i The Vala, och nedan följer den:

Can you tell us the background of The Vala? How did it all start?

The Vala was formed partly out of frustration for the stagnancy of the current US scene. It started out as three guys (Brad, Erik, and I) wanting to play a traditional style of metal mixed with Scandinavian influence such as Viking, Death, and Black. When we picked Chris up, we began experimenting more with atmosphere utilizing the keyboard as a backdrop to lead harmonies and dueling with the guitar. The hardest thing about starting this band was trying to find others who had a keen interest. We released two EPs from 2006-2007, gaining only a 4th member after the first was released. Erik wanted to focus more on school and ended up moving to Oregon before our 2nd was released leaving our hope for continuing on a bit bruised. We treaded on, however, gaining attention of other local musicians where we ended up acquiring Metal Matt Martin and Ryan Vance at the beginning of this year. Since The Vala’s inception, all of the original members have grown as musicians and people - constantly educating ourselves and improving/learning techniques. We formed this band to try new things, to let our creative processes go at will. With a full band, we brought all of our influences into the melting pot. Our music will always be different (not drastically) from the last album, because progression is the only thing that can keep a band interesting.

Your music seems to be pretty influenced by the northern early scene. How much have the Scandinavian scene affected your music?

Heavily. Metal, as we say, is the chief export of Scandinavian countries. Dissection, Bathory, Emperor, Enslaved, Mercyful Fate, Marduk, Skyfire, Einherjer, Kalmah, Dismember, Eucharist are all pinnacle forces that have influenced us and if you listen closely, you can hear each. Heavy Metal wouldn’t be the same if never embraced and perfected the Scandinavians.

Are you interested in northern mythology, or is it just how things have come out?

The original idea for the mythology came from Brad, as both he and Erik are avid fans of Einherjer. None of us, as far as I know, are practitioners of any religion but the culture and mythology of the Viking Era is extremely fascinating. Being a History Major, I find it absolutely awesome that I can be in a band that supports and promotes my interest of history, and culture. Scandinavians take pride in their heritage – that passion is something that drives and influences us.


You have decided to put up your demo for free download on internet. What do you hope to achieve with this?

More exposure. We do not want to become the next radio friendly pop band by any means, but to target an audience you have to give a little incentive. Hopefully someone can burn our stuff and get it going in the underground trading distro – even if we gain one fan that appreciates us musically and as artists then we have done our job. I think it is a little pretentious to horde your music as an unknown and beginning band only letting people buy it from you. If you want to get people listening, you cannot act like Lars Ulrich – give them something credible to listen to so they know their future investments aren’t going to be a waste!

What are your future plans?

Currently we are trying to schedule more gigs to help better our performance, and get us comfortable playing live again. Most of us are seasoned veterans coming from a list of local bands before The Vala but as said earlier – some of us haven’t played out in over two years.

We are also writing new material in hopes to record a full length by the end of the year. The music is in the same vein as “Amidst the All Consuming Flame” and “Sanctuary of Hodmimir’s Forest” so we are confident fans will enjoy this – judging by reactions about the demo. It’s time consuming with a social life, college, and other things – but we are confident and determined to deliver the best product we can!

What do you feel about the scene in USA today? Is it easier or harder to "hit"?

The US scene is stagnant. There really are no redeeming qualities to US metal in comparison to the abundance of greatness in European. Did you ever notice that the bulk of our friends on myspace are from Europe and beyond? There is a reason. Speaking in general terms, because there are GREAT US local acts and AWESOME dedicated fans, the abundance of kids today would rather worry about how well their little sisters shirt fits on them or how they can outdo their friends with finding something more brutal or heavy – it’s pathetic. We enjoy what we play and if it doesn’t “hit”, we’re not going to be too concerned. The US Metal scene needs to have a face lift.

Any last words to your listeners?

Thanks to everyone for the constant support! You all have made it worthwhile. Stay true to yourselves and keep supporting underground metal!

Frågorna är besvarade av Jeff Bauchamp - sång och gitarr.
Så, nu när ni läst detta klart, surfa genast iväg till The Vala's myspace och ladda ner demon. Detta är en seriös Missa Inte-grupp!

http://www.myspace.com/thevala