Sons Of Cain Interview

Genre: Heavy Metal

Country: Guernsey

Questions by: Nick Parastatidis

Answers by: Vincent Le Gallez (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards)

Site: Sons Of Cain Bandcamp

1. Hello. How are you? How are things in the band’s camp at the moment? 

Hi Nick, we all good. We’re focused on promotion of “Seven” right now and in planning phase of the next album.

2. Ok this is our first interview. So let us speak a bit about the band’s past. Who and when had the idea to form this band? 

We had played together as a Rock & Metal covers band for 10 years before we decided to do something different. 

3. What motivated you to form SONS OF CAIN? 

Drummer, Keith Wilén – had said once that it would be cool to do our own stuff, so in 2014 we decided to stop gigging and work on this concept I had rattling around in my head.

4. Which are the biggest problems that a metal band has to confront when it starts? 

For us the problem is always time, as we all have other commitments. 

5. Was it easy for you to find a line- up from the start?

We had played together for such a long time, but when we performed “Seven” we needed another guitarist. Guernsey is a small place but we have a high concentration of talented musicians, so it only takes a couple of phone calls or Facebook message to find what you need. Lee from STONE ’EM ALL stepped in to help us.

6. Cain of course is according to bible the first killer. How did you decide to use him as part of the band’s name and who are his sons? 

OK here we go. Great question by the way! As human beings we are a contradiction, what we say and what we do are seldom the same. In this album though we perpetuate some of the warnings in the Bible relevant to the Seven Deadly Sins, but on the other hand we are saying turn away from religion as blind faith can be more destructive than no faith! Adam and Eve sinned with the forbidden fruit routine, but Cain was the original Badass! (according to the Bible anyway). With that in mind and to quote my own lyrics, “If you believe that we are all Sons of Cain, would it be strange to bathe in the blood of your kin. Do you believe that only sinners remain, if that is true is there only darkness within?” To answer your question, according to Christianity we all are Sons of Cain, but ironically we don’t share this view. Careful now you’ve just taken a step into my mind. Turn back while you still can :)

7. I read that you started as a cover band. I would like to know what kind of bands you covered and if these are amongst your influences. 

From SABBATH, ZEPPELIN, CREAM, HENDRIX and GARY MOORE to FOO FIGHTERS, MUSE, SMASHING PUMKINS and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Over the years we moved in many directions, but playing metal is what gave the most satisfaction, so it was a logical progression for us when we became Sons of Cain.

8. Some characterize your sound as power metal and others as heavy/hard rock. Personally speaking I think that the album has its own personality and yet breathes out a strong BLACK SABBATH and RAINBOW feeling. How would you describe your sound to a person that hasn’t listened to you yet? 

I would agree with your assessment. We listened to a lot of SABBATH as we played a lot of it. It is really interesting that you mention RAINBOW, as I used to have a copy of “Difficult to Cure” on vinyl and I listened to that over and over again as a kid, so subconsciously perhaps? We didn’t set out to create a particular genre, we just had a concept and each song evolved. Overall I think you summed it up perfectly.

9. Recently you have released your debut album entitled “Seven”. Does the title have to do anything with the 7 deadly sins? 

Not an original idea, it has been done before and I am sure it will again. What we wanted to get across is that as human beings we haven’t really changed, in each track we give modern day examples that are as relevant to our vulnerabilities today as they ever were.

10. From the title of the songs I think that the band is influenced lyrically mainly from religious concepts. Am I right? 

You’re kind of right, as the intention was for people to jump to that conclusion. However, in the intro and outro tracks, a little tongue in cheek, we suggest an alternative origin. 

11. What things inspire you to write lyrics about? 

Things that concern me, like the conflict that exists between the free thinkers and the dark oppression of organized religion. 

12. Can you tell us in few words which the main idea of each songs that you have included in your debut album is? 

OK so here is a brief on each song, just to warn you there are no happy endings, it’s much like the old testament in that respect! :) No One Else – (Lust) A guy obsessing over a girl, but when he finally builds up the courage to tell her she freaks and in the struggle he is overcome by his lust and he kills her.  The Hunger – (Gluttony) I tried to write this song so that it suggests at least two different stories, so the interpretation of what this song is about is down to the listener. Did that sound really pretentious? OK try this; listen to the song and think that it is a song about an eating disorder. Then listen to it again and fantasize about Vampires. Hopefully people listened to it and heard something different. Magic Man – (Greed) Again a little duplicity here as the main character in this story behaves much like an evangelical preacher, but he isn’t selling salvation, he is promising riches and is feeding on their greed to con them out of what little they have, which leads to his demise and the rise of the next Magic Man. This is a metaphorical representation of the financial crisis. Lazybones – (Sloth) Basically this is about a benefit scammer, someone who is getting everything and doing little for it. He gets what’s coming to him. Don’t Invoke My Wrath – (Wrath) This is the battle between western society and the middle east, drawing similarities from the crusades and referencing recent conflicts and 911. In this song we directly compare the fundamentalist behaviors of the US & IS, concluding that they are the opposite sides of the same coin. Butterfly – (Envy) There is a long story here, but the easiest way to explain this is to ask you to remember the character Buffalo Bill from the Silence of the Lambs. What this song aspires to is to challenge you to see him as the victim. A transsexual living in a world that can only see him as a monster, so he became one. I am a God – (Pride) This song is about a guy who thinks he is the coolest guy around and now middle aged he still thinks he’s got it. When he eventually realizes that people are laughing at him, he kills himself. There you go I am sure that has cheered everybody up. Just wait until the next album

13. The cover of your new album is really impressive. Who is the artist? 

The artist is the very lovely and talented Cristina Tanase from Bucharest and Imperius Designs (https://graphicriver.net/user/imperius)

14. How is it connected with your music? 

We ran a competition on 99Designs.co.uk over only 7 days. We had over 50 entries and this was the clear winner. When I asked Cristina how she came up with it, she said that when she listened to the intro, she imagined that what she designed is where the Sons of Cain were standing. It was comforting to know that there are people out there as crazy me.

15. Why did you decide to release your work on your own and not find a label to do so? 

We just wanted to get the music out there and in the 21^st Century that made isn’t that difficult. 

16. What do you want from a label to offer you in order to sign a contract? 

We have zero expectation for where this could take us, but we are listening and will go wherever it takes us. 

17. The internet gives everyone many possibilities to promote their work, but also so many releases pop up every day. Aren’t you afraid that this might also be negative for the band? 

The fact that everyone can do this easily, means that you get lost in crowd.

 18. Which are your thoughts about it? 

Never stop promoting, be everywhere.

19. So far, how have the press and fans accepted your new release? 

Surprisingly, all reviews of the album and feedback from fans have been really positive. Not one negative word, well an Australian Magazine said my vocals were a little rough around the edges, but that’s OK they always will be. 

 

20. Which were the weirdest and which the best comments that you have received so far? 

One of the funniest comments came from a friend who having just listened to the album looked at me with a look of surprise and said, “Well it’s not shit!” A Dutch fan said he loved everything about the album and if he had to pick a favorite it would be, and then he listed nearly all of them. Other than that your earlier assessment of the album is right up there.

21. Thank you for answering my questions. Hope to see you here in Greece for a live. Please close the interview in any way you like… 

We set out to complete this album and we have. We hope people like it and we hope they would like to hear more from us. We have begun work on the second album that has a working title “Taken by Monsters”, but the speed in which we get this out there is largely dependent on the success of “Seven”. We have fans in Greece, we have posted a few albums and t-shirts there now. If we can make a gig happen in Greece, we will. I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you to you Nick and all at Behind the Veil. Vincent – SONS OF CAIN