Majesty. Power. Epic. Folk. Carving their way through the Australian metal scene like a viking longship through tempestuous seas is Brisbane’s Epic Folk Metal powerhouse, VALHALORE. Founded by guitarist Anthony Willis and vocalist Lachlan Neate in 2013, VALHALORE has been making waves with their unique brand of metal since their live debut in late 2015. Drawing upon elements of Melodic Death, Power, and Symphonic Metal, as well as folk music and cinematic scores, VALHALORE weaves a musical tapestry that is both breathtaking and awe-inspiring. With haunting melodic passages, crushing riffs, and heartfelt lyrical journeys, VALHALORE awakens a sense of majesty within all who hear them. We talk to vocalist Anthony Willis about the band.
Metal-Roos: Tell me a little about the origins of the band, how did you all meet?
I met Lachlan at my first university, where I had to record a band for an assignment. My project partner knew Lachlan, and brought in his band. We got talking, and that’s how I met our vocalist. Lachlan knew Matt personally from his school, and I met Sophie at my old work where I used to teach guitar. Morgan messaged the band when we were on the hunt for a drummer, and I actually found Lucas on a Brisbane music metal page and messaged him about playing guitar for us.
Metal-Roos: There are 6 members of the band, but its sounds a lot like there’s more, how did you find your sound?
We want to strive for bigger and better. The more layers and dynamics we can put into our music, the more ‘epic’ it will be. I guess it has just been a long few years of experimenting with what sounds ‘right’ for our songs.
Metal-Roos: Australia isn’t known so much for Viking metal, how did you come about this style of epic metal?
I was influenced by bands such as Wintersun and composers such as Peter Crowley. They all have a magical and mystical quality about their music – something I was drawn to. I just so happened to find people that were also drawn to these qualities!
Metal-Roos: How did the recording of such a big album go? Were there many challenging moments faced during the process?
Voyage Into Eternity took four years to write, record, and release. Mind you, throughout that time we were still finding our sound, finding band members, emerging as a new local band… So I suppose four years seems reasonable considering everything else we have done. There were always challenging moments when recording/mixing, and then of course distributing the album. But we have learnt from all these experiences. Best casno bonuses here best first deposit bonus australia view here
Metal-Roos: Is there a certain instrument that defines the Viking sound?
‘Viking’ specifically, I would say war/taiko drums.
Metal-Roos: If you had an unlimited budget for one gig, where would you go and who would be your tour buddies?
Madison Square Garden, and we would have Amon Amarth, Eluveitie, Wintersun, and Lagerstein as our tour buddies.
Metal-Roos: Does the band collaborate on the writing of the music?
Since the new line-up formed in 2017, there will be much more collaboration with the writing of music – can’t wait!
Metal-Roos: Are there any challenges for the band touring around? You’re about the embark on tour shortly, what can the metal heads who see you expect?
Yes, especially financially and with our schedules sadly, but we are doing the best we can at this stage. The metal heads can expect a show like no other – we have refined our album tour show to be an experience, rather than just musicians simply playing songs for a crowd.
Metal-Roos: The sound of the band is very similar to an epic battle movie like braveheart or some thing huge like that was that the intentions when writing the songs … to be so grand and full?
Absolutely! Braveheart actually was an influence for us – especially with the uilleann pipe used in the main theme. We love full/epic sounding songs, and we think we have done that for our album Voyage Into Eternity.
Interview Date: 2017-03-30
Interviewer: Adrian ‘Dren’ Barham
