Perth melodic folk metal veterans Claim The Throne are on a wave of buzzing activity right now. The band recently celebrated 10 years together, went off on a tour to Japan, joined Finnish symphonic band Wintersun on their Australian & New Zealand run of shows and more recently released their latest album “On Desolate Plains” which we described as being “Devastating, epic and scorching”. Further reviews cemented our own thoughts that Claim The Throne have released their strongest effort yet and on the back of such positive feedback, the band are set to tour Australia in support of the new release.
On what the band plan for the tour, Vocalist Brendon Capriotti tells us that amidst the drinking, laughs and banter, they can expect a show oozing with energy. “Being that it’s a tour for our new album, there will be plenty of songs from that! Also we love hanging around before and after our sets to hang out, have some beers and watch the other bands too.” The tour follows a recent run with Wintersun last year which Brendan also says was incredibly good fun. “One of the biggest inspirations for all members of the band, so it was a total privilege getting to play alongside them through Australia & Japan. Everything about going to Japan is off the chain. The food, the people, the crowds, the drink prices. Our fill-in bass player had 4 minutes sleep one night.”
On the Australian front, Claim The Throne are no strangers to the local metal scene across Australia. Many may know the band’s guitarist Glenn “Dysie” Dyson from Soundworks Touring who helps bring over international extreme metal acts regularly but the band collectively have forged a reputation as an entertaining and crushing live band for many years now and who know how to work a crowd and put on a solid performance. When asked where some of his favorite spots in the country to play are, Brendan says the main cities including their hometown of Perth are always highlights. “Amplifier in Perth is always killer for our hometown shows, Enigma in Adelaide is always rowdy, and Bendigo Hotel in Melbourne is a ripper for local mini-fests.”
“On Desolate Plains” is the band’s 5th album, released on October 13th last year which follows the epic and critically acclaimed “Forged In Flame” which came out in 2013. Of course any new album expands the back catalogue to a somewhat problematic issue when it comes to picking out a setlist for a tour which Brendan concedes can be difficult. “Now with 5 releases to our name, it is extremely hard. Especially when we only have 30-45mins for our set! We need to balance what each member wants to play, what the crowd wants to hear, and what works best in live scenarios.” When asked how the songs will go over live and whether they think about that when they write and record them, rehearsals seem to be where they find out which ones will make the set. “Not so much during the writing process, but we start getting an idea of that once they’re coming to life with the recordings. Once we start jamming for gigs we know what will work best live.”
The new songs flow between the extreme side and experimental side with chorus lines that make you want to have a drink of ale or Guinness, a signature aspect of Claim The Throne. On the process for writing and recording the new songs, it was a fairly relaxed time which gave the band a stronger focus and the ability to take care of most of the workload themselves which ultimately resulted in a very cohesive but familiar effort. “We gave ourselves extra time for pre-production, meaning more time to spend on songwriting and improving musicianship“, Brendan explains. “It was enjoyable that way without rushing too much, and our drummer Ash Large took the reigns with a DIY home recording. The only thing done in the studio was drums, which was handled at Underground Studios in Perth with the help of Al Smith from Bergerk, he also handled the final mastering. We wanted it to be an extreme metal release, whilst still maintaining the epic stuff and melodies that we’ve been known for in the past. We also wanted to prove how much can be done on an independent DIY scale and are proud of what we’ve achieved pre and post album release. It’s our heaviest album to date, a fair bit faster and a lot going on. But it’s certainly still got some catchy stuff in there and still sounds like a Claim The Throne album.”
The creative process can be filled with frustration, excitement and maybe a little pressure which can work either in favor or not to bands but everyone deals with all those kinds of emotions and processes differently in their own way. “I’m a pretty organised person and get stressed fairly easily, so the more I can work on before crunch time the better”, Brendan explains. “That being said if I don’t have any lyrics written yet and know vocal recording is the next day then I can smash them out pretty quickly.” When asked what it feel like as an artist waiting for the songs they have lived with for some time to get released to the fans, there is both a sense of excitement and relief. “Definitely a lot of excitement to be able to share what we’ve been working on and seeing it come to life”, says Brendan. “Especially with this release it took ages for us to get it out there, so also a bit of relief when release day comes.”
The album also comes with a couple of new surprises in the way of guest appearances which was revealed to be a new element for Claim The Throne. “The album also has two guest appearances which is a first for us. Dean Arnold from Primalfrost and Vital Remains through a killer solo into ‘Where Night Passed And Sunlight Shone’, and John Ryan of Suffer In Rot provided some brutal vocals to ‘Harbinger, Scavenger’.”
Conceptually Claim The Throne always retain a storytelling aspect in the lyrics and music which gives an epic type of feel to the songs. “On Desolate Plains” continues that but with a more Aussie flavor to it which Brendan explains. “The whole album is essentially a similar concept and matches up with the cover art. A journey of desolation through the harsh Australian desert. A man is lured into the deep nothingness, dehydrated and hallucinating, grasping for a stream that he can never reach, and feasted upon by the bird who lured him there.” Musically however while it does throw a little Aussie touch to it, largely nods it’s head to more Scandinavian sounding styles. “Musically, bands like Wintersun, Moonsorrow & Dissection are the most influential for us. We have always loved themes/concepts too such as those from Viking/Folk bands but we like to add an Aussie tinge to it.” Brendan continues, “For me personally, I have a blast doing ridiculous Moonsorrow-inspired screams like those in the chorus of ‘Where Night Passed & Sunlight Shone’.”
Claim The Throne started out in 2016 in the West Australian city of Perth, known for it’s small but passionate metal scene in which the folk metal heroes have become a huge staple of over the years. Their first album “Only The Brave Return” was released in 2008 and it’s been a steady string of shows, tours and fun loving, beer ingesting music since then. On the very beginnings of the band, Brendan says it was really just an excuse to play music and have some fun. “Just a couple friends having a jam with no expectations at all. One thing led to another and we had enough songs to play a live set, got a full band together, got offered a few more gigs and it went from there.” When we very first started, we liked the idea of stuff like Bal-Sagoth, Cradle of Filth & Blind Guardian that had concepts and narrations amidst their music. That probably gave us the idea to come up with our own stories and even write a corresponding fantasy book for our first album. Bands that inspire our music style include those melodic death/black/folk groups like Wintersun, Moonsorrow, Suidakra, Dissection and so forth.”
There have been of course some challenging moments and some great highlights for Claim The Throne over the years, some of which most bands these days deal with and others which are almost once in a lifetime experiences. “The greatest challenge is being able to balance band life vs real life. Juggling five people in the band who have jobs and life outside of music is hard when there is so much to do, especially finding time & money for writing, recording, jamming & touring. Plenty of favourite moments to make it all worth it, I guess if I had to pick one it would be performing on the 70000 Tons of Metal Cruise in USA.” On reaching the 10 year milestone in 2016, Brendan says it’s a proud achievement for sure. “Feels very good. We’re really proud of ourselves with how far we’ve come, but it ain’t over yet and we can still push ourselves further in the studio and on the road.”
Going back to the early days of the band and how things have changed both for the band and in the music scene within Perth, it was an interesting time on both ends which anyone who follows the local scene will know. “When we started 10+ years ago, we came in just at the end of a pretty huge time in the local metal scene where it was pretty standard to get hundreds of attendees at every show“, Brendan explains. “We’ve seen that curve have it’s ups and downs, and plenty of bands have come and gone. The best thing about the Perth scene has always been the comradery of the local music fans, Perth doesn’t get a whole lot of international tours like the east coast does, therefore people have compensated by going to local shows and getting to know everyone. So still now, even with a small turnout at a gig, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll bump into a few people you know which is a nice feeling. There are still a few bands making waves which is awesome, and the upcomers seem to have good support so hopefully they’ll keep at it for the future.” On the overall music scene in Australia, Brendan says the music industry is a bit of a strange place. “There are more promo opportunities than ever before yet it is a whole lot harder to make money. The record label thing is just about a thing of the past and bands need to put in the hard yards to make opportunities for themselves. The Aussie metal scene is great because there are bands willing to make these opportunities happen, and it’s great to see some of them pump out releases then going on tours all around the world. Just hard to make a living out of it unfortunately.”
On that note, the upcoming tour sees the band not only headline a run of shows from Perth and across to the east coast but also sees the addition of a few workshop classes that the band involve themselves in to help others break into the music industry. “Everyone in our band has their own thing that they contribute to the music scene”, says Brendan. “Dysie has been involved in all sorts of touring, promo & networking for a long time, Ash & I run podcasts where we try to help upcoming bands to succeed by learning from our mistakes and getting a headstart with tips we’ve discovered along the way, Jesse is a music teacher, and so forth. So really it’s just an initiative to get both beginners and professionals brainstorming about the best ways to achieve your musical goals and all become better people & musicians because of it.”
On what valuable advice he himself has been given over the years, Brendan throws us a quote from a comedic genius known as the 12th Man. “‘Don’t get bitter, get better’. I think of that all the time, whenever something doesn’t go quite to plan, just cop it on the chin and do what is necessary to improve. There can also be politics and jealousy in the music scene at times, and again, don’t be dirty about others achieving success ahead of you, just figure out what you need to do to rise above.” On whether there is much hope for the rock and metal world and if it can change the world, Brendan remains optimistic. “Rock & Metal musicians just need to keep pro-active and understand how technology can work in their favour. There will always be fans of heavy music, it’s just a matter of being able to reach them. Despite commercial TV & Radio force-feeding crappy stuff, there is a whole world of opportunities out there in terms of music streaming & band promotion. It [music] can make people happier and scratch them where they itch. It can bring people together to share music that they love. It gives people a sense of belonging. Don’t know if that will change the world, but certainly doesn’t hurt.
So on that note, what is the meaning of life then? “There aint any, so just enjoy it to the full and be nice to one another“.
‘On Desolate Plains’ Australian Tour Jan / Feb 2018
Fri Jan 12 – Perth, WA – Amplifier Bar
Sat Jan 13 – Bunbury, WA – Indi Bar
Thur Jan 25 – Adelaide, SA – Enigma Bar
Fri Jan 26 – Melbourne, VIC – The Bendigo
Sat Jan 27 – Bendigo, VIC – Musicman Megastore
Sun Jan 28 – Sydney, NSW – Frankie’s Pizza
Wed Jan 31 – Sydney, NSW – The Record Crate (all ages + workshop)
Thur Feb 1 – Gosford, NSW – Born 2 Rock (all ages + workshop)
Fri Feb 2 – Newcastle, NSW – The Vault
Sat Feb 3 – Brisbane, QLD – The Back Room
