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-- Eternal Breath gets shredded again! --

04/02/2020
Stijn Daneels
Interview written and conducted by Stijn “Metal Shredder” Daneels.

During Summer 2016 I encountered guitarist Robin Vancasele and he offered me to shred his band Eternal Breath which I eventually did later that year (read that classic shred here: http://belgianmetalshredder.be/interviews/53). 3 years later I attended the nostalgic metal festival Blast from the Past (December 7, 2019) which was co-organized by the band and with a new album titled “World of Chaos” under their belt, I felt it was as good a time as ever to do a shredder rematch.

I sat together with guitarist Robin and frontman Andy to discuss the making of their latest album “World of Chaos,” sharing the stage multiple times with CAGE and Tim “Ripper” Owens, the strong, solid path that Eternal Breath has walked on since 2015 and the creation of their “Joker” beer! Cheers!
BMS: Hello, it’s great to see you again! I must say that your stage presence has greatly improved compared to when I first saw you perform back in 2016. You all appeared and sounded stronger and more confident and the large, colorful stage banner made your act look more grandiose.
Robin: Thank you! The past couple of years we played several gigs both in Belgium and in countries like Great-Britain, Austria and Switzerland and shared the stage with acts like CAGE, the Three Tremors and Tim “Ripper” Owens. Those experiences have injected us with a healthy dose of confidence and those aforementioned artists have given us plenty of useful feedback. They told us to always pay attention to even the smallest of details such as slightly increasing the volume of our guitar solos to make them sound much better.

Andy: During the shows we performed with them they were always present in the audience to observe our performances and give us advice afterwards. We still remain in close contact with all of them and in fact, we’ve become close friends. True professional and personal camaraderie!
BMS: That’s very heartwarming to hear. All right, in preparation for this interview I’ve listened to your “World of Chaos” album and I must say that, like the earlier “Joker” album, I found it to be very enjoyable but the songs on “World of Chaos” have significantly more finesse, speed, aggression and confidence. I particularly enjoyed those anthem tracks “Fight for Metal” and “Follow your Dream.”
Robin: Back when we were working on the “Joker” album our bassist Aaron and I had just joined the band and all songs for that release had already been written. “World of Chaos” was built by all five of us from the ground up and like I’ve said earlier, we had already been working together for several years and so we had formed a strong, mutual bond with each other.

Andy: Another major change was in our songwriting. Back in the day, when a song was written it was considered finished. Many tracks on “World of Chaos,” however, went through multiple revisions before they were eventually recorded. So we’ve become much more critical of our work than ever before.

BMS: For this album you’ve signed with Sliptrick Records, how did that deal come be?
Robin: We contacted several labels and Sliptrick Records gave us a pretty good offer. And like we did with the album’s production we also wanted to upgrade our distribution and promotion so that’s why we also worked much harder on those aspects as well.
BMS: Did you once again collaborate with other musicians during the recordings of “World of Chaos?”
Andy: The song “The Greatest Loss” features piano and guest vocals by Tiffany Veys, my vocal coach who works at Mind the Voice. That’s all.
BMS: You’ve also got your very own beer. Joker beer!
Robin: Indeed, it was Andy’s idea as a means to further expand our merchandise. The beer was brewed by brewery Maenhout, located in Pittem, near Tielt. We went there one day to try out various flavors and after a lot of boozing and considering we finally settled on the brew that eventually became the Joker beer. It was a very fun and tasty experience.

Andy: The beer has been a solid success thus far, just like the path Eternal Breath has walked on for the past 4 years.
BMS: Yeah, I’ve noticed that things have gone very smoothly for Eternal Breath recently. You must be quite happy with that, isn’t it Andy?
Andy: Hell yeah! I remember the times when my colleagues used to be guys who rather wanted to spend time in bars drinking beers than playing gigs or writing material. Marino and I, the only remaining original band members, are extremely pleased with the talent and dedication that our younger colleagues have shown to us since 2015. Eternal Breath now stands stronger and more motivated than ever!

Robin: Indeed! Recently we’ve converted some of our songs into acoustic form for an acoustic show we’re scheduled to play with Beyond the Labyrinth later this month. And we’re already working hard on new material in order to get a new album out somewhere in the next 2 years.
BMS: That’s great! Anything else you wish to add before we wrap up?
Robin: It was sweet seeing you again! Be sure to have another gulp at our “Joker” beer!

Andy: And be sure to give our “World of Chaos” album another spin! We’re glad you’ve had as much fun listening to it as we had making it!
BONUS QUESTIONS! After the initial interview with Robin and Andy I’ve also contacted drummer Kenny to talk a bit about his Blast from the Past festival!
BMS: How did Blast from the Past 2019 go?
Kenny: It went smoothly! There were a several other events that same day, like 6 or 7 others, but it didn't affect us that much! We had a full venue and that’s exactly what we wanted! It’s crazy to see how this single day event passed so quickly, especially when you realize how much it takes to organize an event like this. It was great to see and meet all the bands! They were really happy with everything so all that hard work has paid off tremendously! The crowd was banging their heads like they had never done before! They were also really happy with the first 2020 band announcement (which is Belgian old-school metal band ACID)! Yeah, 2019 was definitely a blast!
BMS: It sure was! So, did you do anything different compared to the earlier editions of Blast from the Past?
Kenny: Of course! We wanted this event to be as good as possible and we did our best to achieve this. Every year we create a list with small points to improve upon and we work on it to reach our goals. The main things that changed in 2019 were mainly in the backstage area as to make it more comfortable for the bands. Other than that, there were no significant changes.
BMS: What are the plans for Blast from the Past 2020?
Kenny: We're already working very hard on the next edition! Bands are being booked right now and we will give you an update as soon as we can! We now also have a fresh new team! After we had announced ACID for the 2020 lineup (which we did on the festival day itself) people have been continuously asking us whether we already have tickets available, but all I can currently say is this… stay tuned!