Metal Coven - Metal Interviews

Don: Burning Skies falls into the metal sub-genre of metalcore, yet the band utilizes more grindcore and death metal elements and stylings than anyone else. Do you think this sets Burning Skies apart from most of the bands in the metalcore genre?

Laim: I hear a lot of bands sounding very similar trying to have nice melodic chorus and breakdown verses. It`s not a formula we want to employ. We just like to create music that we enjoy playing and sounds good.

Don: On Murder by Means of Existance the track "Thrash Gordon" seems to be injected with serious amounts of thrash. Is the band fond of the thrash scene and paying tribute or is Burning Skies just being nostalgic?

Laim: We didn`t set out to write a tribute to thrash metal. We wrote the music first and then Merv wrote the lyrics. I guess he was thinking along the same lines as you when he heard it so turned it into a tribute.

Don: A song called "Emo Assassin"? You guys are my heros! What influenced this track? Do you think the title will alienate some scene kids?

Laim: Ha ha. The current trend of emo bands look and sound exactly the same, it`s style over substance and that`s something which we`re not really into. We`re not really worried about alienating kids who like emo as i doubt they`d like our stuff anyway.

Don: What struck me most about Murder By Means of Existance is the drumming and the production. Not only is the drum production thick, but the drumming is amazingly furious. Also the guitars have a serious low-end grind that has the band leaning towards a death metal sound. Do you think the heaviness of the drumming and production will attract more extreme fans while winning over the fans used to the rather poorly imitated Gothenburg sound of most metalcore albums?

Laim: We hope everyone finds something to like about the album. We listen to lots of types of heavy music and hope most people do too. You don`t have to limit yourself to liking one particular style.

Don: Aside from the production, Burning Skies has more complex riffs and structures and an almost lack of the famed "hardcore breakdown." Do you see the band evolving past the lable of metalcore? Burning Skies certainly isn't following the metalcore rule book.

Laim: As i said before, we just write what feels natural. We don`t set out a formula for song writing. The next album could be a 60 minute beatdown if that`s what we`re feeling works. We don`t want to follow trends just because that will make us sell more records.

Don: How come every metalcore band is compared to Hatebreed these days? To my ears, Burning Skies sounds nothing like Hatebreed.

Laim: I don`t know. We sound nothing like Hatebreed.

Don: Who are Burning Skies influences?

Laim: Bands ranging from Iron Maiden through to Discordance Axis.

Don: Murder By Means of Existance is a strong and solid release. Where does Burning Skies go from here?

Laim: We`ll be doing much touring and we`ve just started writing again so there`ll be a new album at some point in the future but i think it`ll be a while yet.

Don: Any opinions on the rise in popularity of metalcore and how metal seems to be returning to the mainstream or at least getting more mainstream attention?

Laim: A lot of the bands who get most of the attention are the ones with the chorus` and the styles hair. Hopefully people getting into these bands will want to check out the lesser known acts so in that way, it`s a good thing.

Don: Any thing else you'd like to add?

Laim: Thanks for the questions. Hopefully meet you in person one day.

Burning Skies Website