{"id":1979,"date":"2011-03-15T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=1979"},"modified":"2012-02-18T02:36:30","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T02:36:30","slug":"feature-across-the-sun-03-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-across-the-sun-03-11\/","title":{"rendered":"ACROSS THE SUN – Descent & Discovery (March 2011) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ACROSS THE SUN – Descent & Discovery<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nMarch 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

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Across The Sun (l-r): Sam Hafer, John Malloy, Alan Ashcraft, Brandon
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Melodic metal act Across The Sun formed in 2004 in Portland, Oregon, the result of high school friends coming together. Regional performances comprised the outfit\u2019s initial outings, Across The Sun cutting its inaugural demo in 2005. A showcase with Victory Records subsequently occurred in 2006, which is where the collective met manager Mark Bubb. \u201cOriginally the name Across The Sun basically meant to us how far we\u2019re willing to go to chase our dreams, to see where our dreams will take us across the sun,\u201d discloses Brandon Davis, vocalist for Across The Sun. \u201cOver the past couple of years since we met our manager Mark Bubb we\u2019ve just been exponentially getting more and more big, playing bigger shows and more important events. That basically culminated in signing with Metal Blade last summer and playing the New England Metal Fest in Massachusetts.\u201d<\/p>\n

EP This War<\/em> arrived in 2006. \u201cWe recorded it with a guy named Stephan Hawkes in Portland, Oregon; it had six tracks and was self-produced, self-recorded and pretty low budget,\u201d the singer reports. \u201cIt\u2019s really what first shot us into the public eye. There\u2019s a lot of people that don\u2019t actually have that EP, and that\u2019s why we actually put it on iTunes just recently \u2013 because we\u2019ve had a lot of people asking for it. We haven\u2019t played any songs from that EP for quite some time \u2013 probably three to four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about maybe re-recording the tracks or doing a remix and remaster on all the old EPs and doing some kind of special release with all the old tracks, but that\u2019s not happening any time soon. We\u2019ll definitely announce it if and when it\u2019ll happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore EP Storms Weathered<\/em>, meanwhile, saw the light of day in 2008. \u201cSome bands get better and better as the releases go along, but some bands tend to change this and that,\u201d Brandon surmises. \u201cFor us, over the years as we\u2019ve been releasing EPs, we\u2019ve just been getting better and better as musicians and evolving our sound. I think that with this new record, we have just found our niche and found really where we\u2019re at with our sound. I think from now on it\u2019s just a matter of developing that sound and seeing how far we can take it, so yeah, I think that Storms Weathered<\/em> was quite an improvement in every way on This War<\/em> and the same with Pestilence & Rapture<\/em>, and then of course the new album.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later in 2009 through Authentik Ink, third EP Pestilence & Rapture<\/em> was released. \u201cPestilence & Rapture<\/em> compared to the other two I think is a lot darker, a lot heavier, and that\u2019s the first release we had our guitarist Sam Hafer for,\u201d the frontman exclaims. \u201cHe is so much more musically developed than any other guitarist we\u2019ve ever had. On that record, we were able to really explore our musicianship and really explore the kind of music that we can write. I think that in every way musically, we all just stepped up on that EP and that\u2019s the EP that really got us international exposure. It\u2019s really what brought us attention from record labels and the higher ups, so I think in every way that EP is so much better than the first two just because we were able to explore so much more musically when we got Sam in the band. Before that, we were just kind of amateur (laughs). But yeah, Pestilence & Rapture<\/em> was a lot darker, a lot heavier, a lot more evolved skills-wise and a lot better musically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several whole North American tours, including the Loch Ness Monstour with No Bragging Rights, a tour supporting Throw The Fight, dates on the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest, Transmission Fest and more took place throughout 2010. On July 13th that year, it was publicly announced that Across The Sun had inked a record contract with Metal Blade Records. \u201cWe had been working with our manager for about a year then, and with Sam in the band and with our new sounds, new musicianship and everything, once that came out it was all too easy to just have something for a record label to listen to,\u201d Brandon concludes. \u201cThat\u2019s where we all thought \u2013 including our manager \u2013 \u2018Ok, now we can move forward. We actually have something where we can play with the big boys now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Across The Sun\u2019s union with Metal Blade Records was cemented in the shape of inaugural full-length album Before The Night Takes Us<\/em>. \u201cA lot of bands have one to two members who write everything,\u201d the vocalist notes. \u201cWith us, it\u2019s not that way. We write everything cohesively; we always write as a unit, and especially for this record. It made it really organic sounding, and it made it flow very well. Especially for us, we feel like writing as a unit definitely gives it a sense of validity and it also allows everyone to take ownership of each song. Writing as a unit means everyone has their own say; it takes a little bit longer for us to write a record, but in the end the way we write definitely turns into a better end product. By the end of writing the album, we were a lot tighter as a band both musically and personally. Yeah, that\u2019s pretty much the writing process for us as far as that goes. I write all the lyrics myself \u2013 that\u2019s pretty much the only thing that isn\u2019t a cohesive effort. I write everything lyrically, but everything else is written as a unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> explores coming to terms with one\u2019s own demons, confronting those demons and ultimately conquering those demons. \u201cThose demons are just life events, things that\u2019ve happened in my life personally,\u201d Brandon confides. \u201cThat\u2019s what I like to write about mostly, just reflecting on all the things that\u2019ve happened in my life. Unfortunately I\u2019ve been through a lot of hardships as many people have, so I feel like writing from the heart and writing from my life experiences allows a lot of people to relate to me in my lyrics and what I\u2019ve been through. I\u2019m pretty much a positive guy despite all the bad things, so when I reflect on them and when I write I like to write from a positive standpoint, basically saying \u2018This happened, it sucked, but I\u2019m not gonna let it drag me down.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Blessing In Disguise\u2019 is a tribute to my aunt who passed away a couple of years ago for example \u2013 she was basically my other parent. I didn\u2019t have a father growing up, so she and my mom were it. When she passed away I kind of lost it for awhile, and that was basically my reflection on that whole experience. \u2018Ghost Of Grandeur\u2019 is a song for my father; it\u2019s a way of saying \u2018I\u2019ve tried and tried. If you\u2019re not gonna stick around, I\u2019m gonna move on and I\u2019m gonna be better for it.\u2019 I\u2019ve had a lot of struggles not having a dad growing up, but that\u2019s kind of my final hurrah as far as that goes. You never know what the future holds as far as that goes with my dad, but for now that\u2019s just my final say on the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

In saying you \u2018lost it for awhile\u2019, are you referring to substance abuse or anything of that nature Brandon? \u201cI\u2019ve never done anything like that \u2013 it was just emotional anger. Sometimes when everything just seems to be getting really bad, I just shut down and shut out the world for awhile. Nothing like substance abuse or anything like that. I\u2019m a very social person, I\u2019m a very happy person, always doing things, and always hanging out with people. Sometimes when things then get really, really bad, I just remove myself from society in general (laughs). Just hanging out on my own and doing a little reboot, recharging the batteries if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

By comparison, Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> is darker in nature than Pestilence & Rapture<\/em>. \u201cWe had a lot more time to write this album than we did Pestilence<\/em> especially,\u201d the singer reveals. \u201cWhen we started writing Pestilence<\/em> we were about a week and a half into writing; we had maybe a song or two written, and then we had our first label say \u2018We wanna get behind this, but we want you to release it before the tour.\u2019 At that point the tour was in like four weeks, so we had to write a six-song EP and record it in four weeks. For that it was really good, but with this album we had a good three months so just having that time alone allowed us to really explore everything, leaving no stone unturned and just doing our thing even moreso than we were allowed to before. I definitely think that this album is a step up, for sure. We feel like it\u2019s a really solid release generally really, but especially for our kind of music. We\u2019re really proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musically speaking, Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> seeks to claim the \u2018heavy metal\u2019 tag. \u201cMostly we\u2019re in the metal genre,\u201d Brandon confirms. \u201cI think the leads are pretty much in every kind of genre as far as metal goes; we have the heavy parts, we have parts where there\u2019s mostly singing, we have clean guitar parts, we have strings and we have synths \u2013 there\u2019s one song where we have a Rhodes piano. We have so many different ideas and instruments; everything from hardcore to melodic death metal to hard rock, In Flames-type stuff. Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as well, Brandon feels that Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> boasts improved song structures. \u201cI think we\u2019ve always been really good with that,\u201d the frontman ventures. \u201cAnyway, once Sam joined the band that\u2019s really when we came into our own, which was with Pestilence<\/em>. I think since then, we\u2019ve definitely continued with the arrangements. I think the arrangements are solid, and there\u2019s not a whole lot of back and forth and confusion. You can listen to it front to back and take it all in quite easily, I think. Even though sometimes we do have technical parts \u2013 some parts that are a little bit off the charts \u2013 but not so much that somebody couldn\u2019t really relate to it, and not so much that somebody couldn\u2019t really enjoy it. I definitely think the song structures are solid, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

So there aren\u2019t a lot of flourishes where Across The Sun\u2019s members show off a bit then Brandon? \u201cWe do have a little bit of that,\u201d he admits. \u201cI think we\u2019re all really talented musicians, and I think that we all like to shine a little bit. Shane our keyboardist really comes into his own on this record; instead of being a background instrumentalist like he has been in the past, we\u2019ve been really pushing him to be more like a second guitar or more like a rhythm guitarist. On this record he really stands out more, and even has a really awesome solo in one of the songs. Then of course Sam\u2019s a shredder; we always leave a lot of room for him to try to do his thing, but that\u2019s gonna become our sound anyway over the next few years. We love that definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Across The Sun (l-r): Sam Hafer, Alan Ashcraft, Brandon Davis, Shane
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Behind the production chair for Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> was Daniel Castleman (whose curriculum vitae credits include As I Lay Dying, Winds of Plague and Impending Doom). \u201cThat was cool, really cool,\u201d the vocalist remembers. \u201cHe\u2019s a really laid-back guy; when you talk to him outside of the studio, you wouldn\u2019t think that he\u2019d be so laid-back. He\u2019s very hard on you in a good way \u2013 he leaves no stone unturned. He\u2019ll make you do the take a billion times until you get it perfect, instead of being lazy like a lot of people will and just kind of fudging it. We really like that a lot because we\u2019re the same way \u2013 when we did our first three demos \/ EPs, we were the same way. We didn\u2019t have a producer or anything, but we always made sure to be hard on ourselves and be really precise with everything done to our standards. When we got in the studio with him, we didn\u2019t know what to expect. We were the same way, so we worked really well because of that. Also, we\u2019re real fun guys; we\u2019re really funny, we like to joke around and he\u2019s the same way. It was a fun atmosphere but at the same time really getting down to business, even moreso than on any other record we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaniel Castleman was surprising for by me,\u201d Brandon continues. \u201cApparently he told me that he\u2019s worked with a lot of vocalists and he didn\u2019t know what to expect with me. During the whole process of recording the vocals, he was blown away just by how proficient I am in the studio. I was completely open-minded and ready for anything \u2013 all ideas \u2013 and I always am. Every time I would do something or I would have an idea, he pretty much thought it was the way to go. We worked closely together him and I and he was blown away, but as far as bringing anything out of me I really can\u2019t think of anything. At the risk of sounding egotistical, he just told me \u2018I don\u2019t even need to be here \u2013 you\u2019re amazing\u2019 and I was like \u2018Wow, that\u2019s really awesome.\u2019 I was blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps Daniel made sure your vocal takes were up to standard Brandon? \u201cYeah, definitely. I\u2019m the same way; when I recorded vocals without somebody there who knew what they were doing, I would be the same way. I would wanna take a million takes before I got it perfect, and he\u2019s the same way. We were almost of the same mind; every time I knew that I was sharp or every time that I knew I missed a note, I would say and he\u2019d respond \u2018Yep\u2019 or we would say at the same time. We were pretty much on the same level the whole time, so it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording sessions took place at Lambesis Studios in San Diego, California, studios owned by As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis. \u201cIt\u2019s not his home studio, but he owns the studio for sure,\u201d the singer clarifies. \u201cIt\u2019s the studio that has his name on it; he does all the As I Lay Dying records there, and Impending Doom and Winds Of Plague and a lot of good bands. It was really awesome recording in a space where a lot of bands that we look up to have recorded their albums, especially Castleman. He\u2019s done all the As I Lay Dying records, so having somebody behind the hilt that really knows their stuff was really, really awesome. It was quite an experience for us; we\u2019ve never had anybody so knowledgeable and so experienced behind the hilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before The Night Takes Us<\/em> was released on March 14th, 2011 in Europe and subsequently on the 15th in North America, all through Metal Blade Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in March 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ACROSS THE SUN – Descent & Discovery Anthony Morgan March 2011 Across The Sun (l-r): Sam Hafer, John Malloy, Alan Ashcraft, Brandon Davis and Shane Murray Melodic metal act Across The Sun formed in 2004 in Portland, Oregon, the result of high school friends coming together. Regional performances comprised the outfit\u2019s initial outings, Across The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-across-the-sun","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4299,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions\/4299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}