Metal Bulletin Zine: interview: Distant Past

Distant Past (Switzerland)

This feature on Distant Past, a melodic heavy metal band from Switzerland, includes official information about the band and also an interview. Their new album is called “Rise of the Fallen.” Below you will find the link to hear the complete album by this melodic/traditional/prog metal band. Supporters of melodic metal in general will want to get more acquainted with this band for sure, due to the band's history, experience and overall quality.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION

Distant Past was founded by Adriano Troiano in 2002. Together with guitarists Alain Curty and Christof Schafer he works in his rare spare time in his home studio on songs that will appear as albums at some point. The singer on "Utopia Void " is former Emerald singer Jvo Julmy, with his unique voice and melodic oriented songs with some progressive Elements as well as Thrash-Metal Influences.

BIOGRAPHY: Distant Past is the brainchild of Adriano Troiano. After leaving “Emerald” in 2001, he formed his own group “Evil Eye” the same year. The group featured Alain Curty on guitar and Kaspar Zwirner on drums, two of his school friends. After being disappointed by the direction the band was taking, Troiano opted to drop out his own group, to concentrate on a Studio project, which eventually became Distant Past. Setting up a studio at his home he contacted a few friends to make his first recording experiences. The fist Album “Science Reality” was finished in 2003. Right after the completion of this album, Troiano immediately started to work on the follow-up “Extraordinary Indication of unnatural Perception” which was released as a retail CD in 2005. Guest featured Christoph Schafer on guitars (who also worked on the first album) and new singer Reto Guggisberg, next to Zwirner and Curty. The brothers Michael and Thomas Vaucher of “Emerald” also made guest appearances on the Album, which would pave the way for Troiano to return to their band in 2006.

The recording process of the “Alpha Draconis” took shape in 2008. Joining him on his most sophisticated and aggressive work to date were: new drummer Al Spicher and new singer Angelo Schafer (Remote Lane). The CD features guests Andy Bächler (ex-Emerald / Tar Queen), who drums the 13-min Epic “the Serpent”. In 2011 the downloadable single “Touched by the Gods” was released as a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio. Featured on these songs was former Emerald Singer Jvo Julmy. He continued working during 2012 with Distant Past on songs, of which a collection has been released in 2013 as a new album entitled “Utopian Void”. The Focus was laid on more melodic songs and catchier songs, although some progressive references remain. The songs of the last album “Utopian Void” were mixed and mastered by Metal legend VO Pulver. The Reviews were very positive and hailed the return of Jvo Julmy. The new Album “Rise of the Fallen” goes even further adding Gloryhammer Singer Thomas Winkler. Both battle vocally in a fight of biblical proportions: The Temptation of Satan against the Son of God. The Goal: to rule Mankind. Who will win or are both on the same side? The album offers Heavy Metal, the way it was ment to be and sounds very chatchy, more accesible to human ears. An album like no other!

REVIEW excerpts:

"Distant Past succeeded to producea high quality heavy metal album, which has a really great sound and features very capable and convincing musicians. The record probably needs some runs more than usual, but thanks to the existing variety, it has many things to be discovered and is definitely a successful Metal Album."

"The Work of the two singers is good, often alternate in the same song to emphazise the duality of the lyrics ("Scriputral Truth" and "End of the World"). The guitars riffs chasing each other in efficient powermetal mode, the efficient and precise rhythm section always ready to make the changes of time required by the songs. An ambitious work, well produced, that presents us with a sparkling group, full of ideas and ready to rule the modern metal scene."

DISCOGRAPHY:

Science Reality 2003

Extraordinary Indication of Unnatural Perception 2005

Alpha Draconis 2010

Utopian Void 2014

Rise of the Fallen 2016

INTERVIEW

Hello! What can you tell us about the metal life in Switzerland for Distant Past?

Metal-Life in Switzerland is o.k. Of course, we are not mainstream and the scene is pretty small, so everybody knows each other. It makes it easier to connect and offer gigs

Who are the members of the band?

My name is Adriano and I founded Distant Past (bass + Lyrics) as a studio project in 2003. We’ve come a long way since then. Our singer Jvo was with me in Emerald, a long time ago. Guitarists Alain and Chris, have been with the band since its inception. Then drummers we had a few. At the moment it's Emerald's Al who did the album. Unfortunately, his replacement quit. He appears as guest on the new album. Our friend David contributes some guitar solos on the last few albums. On the new one we have Thomas from Gloryhammer guesting on vocals. I was with him in Emerald after Jvo left.

What would you say is your genre?

Our music is classical heavy metal with a lot of influences. They compared our newest release to US-metal and Scandinavian melodic metal. The progressive influence were more dominant on our 2010 release Alpha Draconis, but are still there. I always refer to our music as melodic heavy metal.

How many recordings do you have and what can the listener expect from Distant Past?

Well, the first two albums were mere demos, my first recording experience. I did all the recordings in my own home studio. The newest output «Rise of the Fallen» is by far the best produced and recorded so far. I always collaborate with VO Pulver of famed Swiss thrashers «Gurd» in terms of mixing and mastering.

Listeners of the new album can expect a very epic Concept album, where the forces of good fight against the forces of evil. I guess I was successful in producing an album you can listen to back-to-back without the lyrical concept disturbing the flow. The album is available everywhere, you can download it via itunes, bandweb, etc. But for best experience get the cd with the lyrics.

Was it difficult to start a metal band in Switzerland, meeting the right people and finding an audience?

The audience will always be there, but it has shrunk since I first performed in front of Swiss audiences. I was always a fan of good lyrics and metal band like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and so forth. I enjoyed listening to their albums and research the themes and was always fascinated by the artwork. So when I had the chance to do it on my own, I wanted listeners to have the same experience. I met Mike from Emerald in 1996, their band needed a bass player, so I bought an instrument and learned their songs. I wanted to be in a heavy metal band, so I found one and soon enough I started my own project.

What would you like to see in terms of support for your music?

I really hope people are gonna buy a cd, so they can experience the whole concept with the lyrics and artwork. As well, I hope there will be people who download the album for free and like it, are gonna buy it or the next cd in the future. There are few record shops left, you usually don't discover new music in an online store. Anyways, I think free downloading is killing music. Big bands will survive, but the mass of bands who can't afford to tour will suffer and ,like this band, in the end will have to stop, as it costs a lot to sustain a band and produce good quality outputs, that cannot be upheld with zero income.

Do you plan to tour?

We will only play one off shows, as the new line up consists of some people borrowed from other bands.

What compels you to make you music? Support is hard to come by and there are practical matters, like time and finances, that make having a band difficult. Why drives you to do it?

Nowadays, I'll be happy to answer your questions and read comments and reviews of our recorded work. I will never be able to make money with music, it costs way too much, so it will always be an expensive hobby. The money you get for shows or sold items does not come close to what you have to invest. I sincerely hope, that people are picking up the new album, there are millions of band out there against we compete, so any exposure is success.

What are the topics of your lyrics?

Well, lyrics were always important to me, so typically they have some heavy content, no lighthearted stuff. Mostly about conspiracies, legends and mysteries of the world. Distant Past only works with songs like «Gods of Space», «Sirius», Osiris Head» and «Kingdom of Shadows». Where as in the newer outputs there are some more general themes. The new concept album is a piece about the Temptation of Christ, the Deluge and the Crucifixion with new twists and alternative ideas. The listener can dig deep and find out hidden meanings and think about the statements made.

What other Distant Past news do you have?

At the moment we are rehearsing for the one-off show, that will be taped and some visual content will find its way to the internet, I'm sure.

Me and Jvo are working on a new project called «Age of Disclosure», where we guest and maybe do some shows in the future. Stay tuned, the album is recorded and it will come out soon. Thank you all for you support!!

Check out "The Road to Golgotha" and "End of the World" from the new album!