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Interview with
THE ASCENDED

(23rd September 2021)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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The Ascended are taking back metalcore! The genre “metalcore” has been claimed by bands that simply do not fit the label. The band states, “We don’t have a stylistic home because so many bands have adopted the title of this genre. We fit closest to thrash bands in this modern era, which is definitely not a bad thing; they riff like we do, but back 15 years ago, in the glory days of true metalcore, we would fit right alongside all of those bands.”

If you look at the bands that really owned this genre back in the mid-2000s compared to the bands that are calling themselves metalcore now, you couldn’t even have them on the same lineup. The Ascended are here to bring back the riffs to metalcore, to bring back traditional breakdowns, clean vocal choruses. Everything they Love about classic metalcore that fans of true metalcore love, they are bringing back with this record.

‘The Dark’ highlights their most impressive work to date, displaying refined technical prowess, while still holding true to themselves and what they have been over the past 5 years.

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How did the band come together? Is there someone who is a “driving force”, or do you all make decisions together?
We come from a small town so we all kinda knew each other so over a course of 3 months the band was formed, starting with Me (Mat), and then Beau (our drummer of the time) and then Corey and Braden followed. Id say im the “driving force” if you will, often songs etc start with me as well as i manages the band.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
True Metalcore! Our sound is that of 2005-2008, the glory years of metalcore. I think people resonate with us because we give them something to grab on to, be it the groovy riffs or the melodic chorus’s, its just good fun music.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today? 
Me personally, Trivium. Ive always been inspired by Matt Heafy in particular, the way his career has developed and obviously the music they play.

Your new album ‘The Dark’ has just been released/! Describe its origin and evolution. 
It has! Its been a 3 year project really, we all know the world isn’t what it used to be currently, its very hard to do a lot of things so yeah, 3 years in the making, we were able to record 2 or 3 songs at a time and eventually the record came to be. Because of that, being 2 at a time over 3 years there was a sort of, natural progression in the song writing and i think it really shows in that every song feels different yet belongs.

What does the album title ‘The Dark’ represent?
It represents whatever you, the listener interprets it as. Thats sort of the idea, we all have our own interpretation of darkness and can all relate to it in some way and in a more immediate sense, for me, a lot of this record came from a dark place.

You say The Ascended are taking back Metalcore. How so?
Metalcore isn’t what it used to be, that genre tag is lost, has been adopted by so many bands. Were taking it back to where it belongs, to the origins of the genre, as i mentioned before, that 2005-2008 era, thats metalcore, not this new wave of Australian “metalcore” so we’re here to fly the flag and pay respect to the genre as best we can.

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Any tours or events coming up soon? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
Well, we’ve got an Australian run with Desecrator and Harlott, its being re-jigged as we speak but that will be our focus next year. Thats wht were looking forward to, playing shows again and this live sho we’ve got planned will be the best yet, a refined set list, better stage show and visuals. Its going to be next level, fans are n for a treat.

How has COVID affected you to date? What have you introduced to balance the losses from missed events?
Like everyone, we cant see each other, thats been the hardest, we cant practice or even celebrate the album release together. We use Zoom to catch up and do live streams but its not the same. Losses are part of the game unfortunately, having a new record out has helped but we don’t really care too much about the money, its connection to our fans we miss the most and we do that by playing shows.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
As above, Trivium! To play along side and with my inspiration, the reason i started music, would be a dream.

Do you have any long-term aspirations as a music artist? 
We’ve ticked off a lot of things to be honest, were very lucky to have had the carrer we have, i think next is to tour somewhere like the states or Europe.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
Just seeing people get in to the music, the smiles, the cheers, the headbanging the unity, arm in arm fans. Seeing people enjoy what we do is amazing. Career highlight, our hometown album launch of the last record back in 2018 was amazing, people singing back the words to songs just released, the support of friends family and locals, it will always be one of the best shows of our career.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – all time – Ascendany (Trivium) of the last 2 years – Shaped by fire – As i lay dying
Artist – Trivium
Movie – Lord of the rings
Place to visit – Adelaide
Venue to play – Evelyn Hotel Melbourne
Food – Chicken Parma
Drink – Great Northern
Person in History –  Tolkien
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?)  I have a witcher chest piece, pretty cool

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CD & digital order HERE

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Follow THE ASCENDED
Website – Facebook  Instagram

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AMNPLIFY – DB