{"id":5480,"date":"2012-05-16T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-05-16T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=5480"},"modified":"2014-07-29T16:38:33","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T16:38:33","slug":"feature-allegaeon-05-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-allegaeon-05-12\/","title":{"rendered":"ALLEGAEON &#8211; From The Stars Metal Came (May 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title\"><strong>ALLEGAEON &#8211; From The Stars Metal Came<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"smalltitle\">Anthony Morgan<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt\">May 2012<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeon2012promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Allegaeon (l-r): Ezra Haynes, Corey Archuleta, Greg Burgess and Ryan Glisan<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Fort Collins, Colorado-based death metal outfit Allegaeon formed in 2008, guitarist Ryan Glisan its founding member. Ryan graduated from college, deciding he would attempt to gain employment as well as pursue a musical career. Allegaeon was founded by the American as well as a high school friend who no longer appears in the line-up. The group\u2019s 2012 line-up includes no original members besides Ryan, its membership completed by guitarist Greg Burgess, vocalist Ezra Haynes, and bassist Corey Archuleta.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just started playing local shows with some people,\u201d remembers Ryan Glisan. \u201cAs we got better and better we just found people to either replace the people that had left, or we just kicked people out as we were wanting to try to find people that would better suit where we wanted to go. That\u2019s how that started. At some point or one another, we ended up with the line-up that we have now basically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Allegaeon\u2019s provisional moniker was Allegiance. \u201cWe had left it up to an old guitar player to look up if there were any other bands with that name,\u201d the axeman explains. \u201cWhen he did he had spelt it wrong, and of course nobody else had spelt it wrong when they were looking it up. We thought that we were the only band with that name, and six months down the road I just remember looking around on MySpace or something and finding out there were a bunch of other bands with that name. We decided to change it to something similar, but different. Basically to cut a long story short, that\u2019s how we came up with Allegaeon. Part of it stems from the old name, and we just threw the aeon on the end to make it a little more unique I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Independently issued, an eponymously titled four-track EP arrived in 2008. \u201cMost of those songs were songs that we had already written,\u201d Ryan tells. \u201cRight around that time though is when we got Greg \u2013 our other guitar player right now. One of the songs he contributed and the other ones were songs that we had been playing for a little bit. At that point we decided either we were gonna try to put out a decent demo, or just give it up. We were all getting to that age where we had jobs and all that stuff, so we recorded the EP, spent a decent amount of money on it, and recorded the four songs that we thought we liked the best. Interestingly enough, right after we put it out we started getting contacted by some labels. Inevitably, I think it was less than a year later when Metal Blade actually contacted us saying that they were interested. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMetal Blade wanted those four songs to be on the first record. We didn\u2019t have a huge fanbase back then, but we had enough people that knew who we were. We felt it would cheapen the CD by putting four songs on there that people already knew. We knew that we had ten pretty solid songs, so we just decided that we wanted to have all new stuff on the CD versus four songs that people had already heard before. That actually did pretty well for us though, that four-song EP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of Allegaeon\u2019s 2008 EP undergoing a re-release is remote, however. \u201cThat\u2019s a good question. We always will have those songs available for digital download, but I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll ever re-release it,\u201d the mainman admits. \u201cWe probably won\u2019t ever have Metal Blade re-release it to be perfectly honest, because they are the only songs that we actually own. If we were to re-release it at this point, I\u2019m pretty sure that they would get the rights to them. Seeing as how bands don\u2019t make a whole lot of money off of songs, it\u2019s kind of nice to actually get a 100% of the money that people spend on those songs. We\u2019ll probably try to keep those for ourselves. Every now and again, if we have some extra money maybe we\u2019ll throw that towards getting some physical copies made again. For now and the foreseeable future though, it\u2019ll probably just be an iTunes download.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeon_fragmentsofformandfunctionlarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was revealed on December 1st, 2009 that Allegaeon had inked a record contract with Metal Blade Records. \u201cI think that was the offer we took more seriously than the others,\u201d Ryan enthuses. \u201cSome of the others were labels we hadn\u2019t even heard of, or the deals were really, really weird. We had actually flown out one of the guys who works for Metal Blade to come to see us at one point; he was really cool, and gave us good advice. There was just more of a friendly atmosphere and kind of a friendly vibe that we got from Metal Blade, kind of more so than some of the others. I think that\u2019s why we ended up going with them, because we just liked the people involved a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a little hesitant to say who they were, but we had had interest from two other labels that I would consider pretty big metal labels. Again though, Metal Blade just seemed to be the most serious about it from what we could tell at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given the metal subgenre Allegaeon mainly occupy, it\u2019s arguable that Metal Blade was a greater fit for the group. \u201cYeah, I think so,\u201d the guitarist concurs. \u201cWhen it first came out, it seemed like a lot of people were saying \u2018Metal Blade are just signing some other band that sounds exactly like all the other bands on their label.\u2019 Whether that\u2019s true or not, I think they have a couple of certain styles of bands that they seem to sign a lot. I think definitely our new CD has gone away from how we sounded back when we signed, but I think it works. I think a lot of those new bands that they have are bands that I could see ourselves touring with \u2013 it would work well. I think style wise, it works. There are definitely other labels that have that kind of technical, more European vibe, which is how people describe us a lot of times. There are definitely other labels that have bands who do some more things than us, but I don\u2019t know. I think Metal Blade\u2019s been good for us. I think it works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inaugural full-length <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em> surfaced in July 2010. \u201cThe first record was kind of a mix of really, really new material, and really old material,\u201d Ryan notes. \u201cAs far as the sound it\u2019s kind of all over the place, but somehow it still kind of works. When we made that CD in Denver at the same studio where we had our EP made, we just had a good time recording it. Most of those songs were all pretty much done, so we were really quick in the studio and knocked them out as fast as possible. It was our first time doing a full CD, so it probably took us a little longer than it normally would\u2019ve. At the time though, we were really happy with it; we thought it was a step up from our EP. I would say most people thought that as well. I know that there are some people out there who still like the EP more than anything, but you can\u2019t always please everybody.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking back on it now, I\u2019d say definitely our new CD is much better than our first full-length <em>Fragments<\/em>. I think our new CD is a bit better, more well rounded, but I have to say that for what <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em> was, I think we\u2019re all still really happy with it. We kind of look at that as being a pretty solid first release for us. Obviously when you look back on things you can think of a million things that you\u2019d wanna do better, but for what it is I think we\u2019re all still really happy with it. It was a good experience, and it has done well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeonryanglisan2012promophoto.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Ryan Glisan<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>An abundant wealth of performances didn\u2019t accompany the release, though. \u201cWe just seem to have something that always comes up,\u201d the songwriter laments. \u201cWe\u2019ll be about to go on some tour and it\u2019ll be either we can\u2019t do it, or the tour doesn\u2019t happen, or they lose the booking agent. It\u2019s just seemed like it hasn\u2019t quite worked out super well for us with tours so far, but we did do about six weeks of touring last summer for it. Previous to that I think we had done random shows here and there, mostly around our home state of Colorado with a little bit around the West Coast. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t say that we always had huge, huge turnouts to the shows, but for a band that was pretty new we played all over the US. Some shows weren\u2019t great, but there were shows in some bigger markets like LA, New York, Chicago, and New Orleans where we actually had some really, really good turnouts. A surprising amount of kids were there to see us, kids who knew the words to all the songs which is odd for me because I don\u2019t even know the words to all of the songs. We definitely could\u2019ve done more shows, but we did do some. Like I said, we did about six weeks\u2019 worth of touring, which isn\u2019t a lot. But yeah, I\u2019d say overall, for what it was and how long we\u2019ve been around we\u2019re pretty happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sophomore full-length <em>Formshifter<\/em> underwent issue during May 2012. \u201cWell actually, the funny thing is that with the second record we didn\u2019t really have a whole lot of time to get it done,\u201d the axeman divulges. \u201cWe got off of our last tour at the end of August 2011, and within basically a week of getting back home we and Metal Blade I guess decided that we wanted to have a new CD out or at least finished by the beginning of 2012. Really, we had from the beginning of September to the end of November to get that album ready to go to the studio at the beginning of December. We only had two or three months to finish working on songs and lyrics, get artwork done, and decide which studio we wanted to go. It was kind of a mad rush to get that CD done, so it wasn\u2019t like our first CD <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em> where we had developed these songs over a couple of years. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was literally a couple of months that we tightened the songs up, got the lyrics done, and worked on the solos and everything. It was actually kind of stressful because we had to do all that in such a short amount of time, but I don\u2019t know. Sometimes it\u2019s kind of a blessing because when you have all the time in the world you sit there and nitpick on songs back and forth forever, and you don\u2019t ever make the decision that the song\u2019s done. This time around we had to be like \u2018Okay, this song is done. We have to move on and finish another song.\u2019 Yeah, it was stressful and it was a rush. I think we ended up making a pretty good CD in the end though, which is all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consisting of wholly new material as opposed to a conglomerate of older and more recent compositions, <em>Formshifter<\/em> arguably flows better overall. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of something that we\u2019ve been wanting to focus on more, to always have \u2013 and not only within the whole CD but within songs \u2013 as good a flow as possible,\u201d Ryan acknowledges. \u201cI would say the new songs definitely are more along the lines of where we want to try to go in the future more so than any of the last CDs, because all those songs on our EP and our first CD were written over such a long period of time that there was never really one phase of the band that those songs were written during. So yeah, I think overall there is a much better flow to the CD and the songs are a lot more cohesive than they have been previously.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeonezrahaynes2012promophoto.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Ezra Haynes<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think four years ago, we were just trying to figure out what kind of band we wanted to be. We knew that we wanted to be metal and heavy and do a lot of fast stuff and groovy stuff and solos, but that isn\u2019t always necessary transferred into a style per se. I\u2019d say four years ago we were just searching for a sound. We were searching to see if we could be more than just a local band playing local shows, but in the future I think we really will try to make it into a viable business really as much as possible, more so than guys that just sit around and write songs. We want to be able to make money doing it. I think that\u2019s everybody\u2019s dream, to be in a band where all you have to do is focus on writing music, playing music, and making money which seems to be constantly harder and harder these days. I think along with that, we want to continue to strive to carve out our own little niche in the metal world, whatever that might be. I think we\u2019re gonna go down the path that we have been that mixes technical aspects, some catchy aspects, solid songwriting, and all the stuff that we do. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully we can continue to develop our own sound in the future. If we can be more of a unique band, actually make some money doing it, and expand our fanbase, I think that\u2019s really our ultimate goal. Obviously none of us cannot have other jobs, because we all have to have jobs to pay the bills. It\u2019s just always increasingly hard these days for metal bands to just be in a band and not have any sort of other income, so that\u2019s something that we aspire to. That\u2019s yet to be determined, but that\u2019s the ultimate goal. With anybody that plays music or does anything with the arts, to be able to support yourself and probably a family with money that you make is your goal. So yeah, that would be an awesome goal. We\u2019ll see if we ever get there though.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In discussing <em>Formshifter<\/em>, the mainman stated that the outing \u2018applies certain elements that weren\u2019t present on the previous record.\u2019 \u201cMaybe I miscommunicated that,\u201d he concedes. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily breaking any new ground for us as a band. I would say that I think we focused more on just the grooviness, heaviness, and the feel of the songs. Whereas <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em> was just a little bit more straightforward, fast and heavy, I think the new CD is a little bit&#8230; I hate to use the word emotion, but there\u2019s a little more feel, a little more groove, and a little more emotion. There\u2019s some different flavours of some things though, where we\u2019ve added some classical guitar or some pretty heavy stuff, and some staccato rhythm type stuff that I guess we didn\u2019t do on the first CD. There\u2019s definitely some flavours in there that are different, stuff that points towards what we want to do in the future I guess and stuff that we haven\u2019t done a whole lot of in the past. I don\u2019t know if that really answers your question very well (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Musical elements prevalent on <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em> have been carried over into <em>Formshifter<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had blastbeats, a lot of solos, and I guess what we would consider to be catchy choruses and actually fairly standard pop or rock style song structures,\u201d Ryan pinpoints. \u201cIn that sense, it\u2019s very similar to our EP or our first full-length. They have all that; there\u2019s still a lot of blastbeats, heavy stuff, and a ton of solos. We still really focused on songwriting, and trying to make the choruses cool and catchy, stuff that people can relate to. In that sense it\u2019s very, very similar to our first two CDs, but I would say for most people who listen to it it doesn\u2019t exactly sound the same. There are some different aspects that we\u2019ve added to the songs this time around. I think mostly it\u2019s just maturity really, just getting better at writing songs. That\u2019s what\u2019s really changed from our first CD to this CD.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeon2012promophoto2.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Allegaeon (l-r): Corey Archuleta, Ryan Glisan, Ezra Haynes and Greg Burgess<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Formshifter<\/em>\u2019s riffing slightly differs to its predecessor. \u201cI would say that our first album had a little bit more death metal riffing, or a little less groove-oriented riffing,\u201d the guitarist analyses. \u201cThe first album had a lot more picking and a lot more of those pedal tone style riffs, whereas the new CD kind of went back more towards \u2013 as far as the songs that I wrote \u2013 the stuff that I used to listen to, stuff that I always thought had really cool riffs like Nevermore, Pantera. It was less about being heavy or trying to be this brutal death metal band, and more about just trying to have a good, solid groove that really lets the vocals stand out. With the songwriting on the new one, it was actually a little easier because I just kind of went back to how I used to do things. I just laid out a cool drum beat by programming drums on a computer while I was writing the songs, and just jammed out on the guitar. I just work on putting in some different notes to see which sounds the coolest, and that was pretty much it. I don\u2019t particularly think too hard when I\u2019m writing songs; if it sounds cool then I keep it, but if it doesn\u2019t then I delete it basically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Death metal is arguably the category Allegaeon falls under. \u201cThat\u2019s funny, because rarely do two consecutive people say that we\u2019re the same thing,\u201d Ryan observes. \u201cIn one interview someone will say that we\u2019re a tech death band, and then in the next interview someone will say melodic metal. Then there are other people out there that just say we\u2019re straight up death metal. Obviously none of those really apply because whenever we go into a section of a song that might be straight up death metal, very quickly it changes to something&#8230; and it\u2019s not done on purpose \u2013 that\u2019s just how we write. Whatever we think works best for that particular moment in any song is how we do it. I don\u2019t ever really categorise us personally as anything, but to the average person, yes I would say death metal probably tells the story of who we are better. To the person that doesn\u2019t know the difference, that\u2019s probably what they think we are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A wide spectrum of guitarists influence the composer\u2019s playing. \u201cI started off when I was younger listening to a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, <a href=\"\/site\/megadeth-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\">Megadeth<\/a>, and Pantera,\u201d he recollects. \u201cThose were the bands that I started off listening to, but then as you get better most guitar players go into three different directions. One is classical, two is jazz \/ blues, and then three is the metal route. I ended up going the metal route, so in the mid to late 90s I got into death metal bands like Morbid Angel, Death, and all those bands. Towards the end of the late 90s, early 2000s \u2013 which was my favourite era of metal \u2013 I got into all the European bands, and other bands which fit into that genre. Bands like Nevermore, Arch Enemy, Soilwork, and Opeth, and even bands like Symphony X and Dream Theater, Strapping Young Lad. A lot of those bands had some melody, but also had really heavy, fast stuff. Those are my metal influences. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeon_formshifterlarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not particularly too fond of a whole lot of newer bands, especially a lot of the American bands that have come out in the last handful of years. I would say both me and Greg the other guitar player. As far as really what influences our playing, there\u2019s a lot of those 80s thrash \/ 90s death metal, late 90s \/ early 2000s European bands, and then the progressive metal bands like Symphony X and Dream Theater. Then there\u2019s all the virtuoso guitar players like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, so it\u2019s kind of all over the place. I\u2019m really into other music that\u2019s not just metal, but I can\u2019t really say that those bands necessarily influenced me in my metal playing. I just like to listen to a lot of other stuff as well. That\u2019s a pretty broad perspective of what\u2019s influenced me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Ryan isn\u2019t particularly fond of newer American metal acts, many such ensembles have penned album contracts with Allegaeon\u2019s record label Metal Blade. \u201cI hear what you\u2019re saying, but it\u2019s not like I personally dislike the people in the bands,\u201d he stresses. \u201cI\u2019ve met and hung out with a lot of bands where I don\u2019t particularly care for their music, but the guys are all so really cool. It\u2019s not anything personal, but just musical taste. Everybody gives Justin Bieber a hard time, but if I were to sit and hang out with him I\u2019m sure he\u2019s not a bad kid. I have nothing against him; he\u2019s just doing what he\u2019s doing, but the same goes for other styles of metal that I don\u2019t particularly care for. Somebody likes it, because obviously they wouldn\u2019t be popular if they didn\u2019t. To each their own; everybody\u2019s got their own tastes. If I don\u2019t like it then so be it, but I don\u2019t have any hard feelings about bands that play music that I don\u2019t care for getting big, or getting signed to labels or anything. It doesn\u2019t bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Formshifter<\/em> was recorded at Lambesis Studios in San Marcos, California with producer Daniel Castleman, Castleman having previously worked with the likes of As I Lay Dying, Carnifex, Impending Doom, and Winds Of Plague. \u201cIt was actually really, really good,\u201d the axeman exalts. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a lot of time to talk to him beforehand because he was super busy. We didn\u2019t know him due to living states apart, but once we got in and actually started working with him I really liked how he operates. He wasn\u2019t at all about trying to change our music, so he didn\u2019t try to take the producer role so much. He told us \u2018Look, you guys are the band. You guys are signed, and obviously you\u2019re doing halfway decent because you guys know what you\u2019re doing. I\u2019m not gonna try to change it. I\u2019ll give some suggestions here and there, but I figure you guys know better than I do.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was all about trying to capture all the parts as quickly as possible, and get them to sound as good as they possibly could with the time that we had. He\u2019s a really cool guy, and did a really good job. We\u2019ll probably go back to him again, because we enjoyed working with him so much. We actually got along with him really well. We spent a lot more time than we had anticipated with him, because of something else that happened. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeoncoreyarchuleta2012promophoto.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Corey Archuleta<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThere was another band who was there while we were there, and the singer kind of threw a temper tantrum because he thought that they were gonna be the only band there. He didn\u2019t want to give up using the places where the band sleep, and didn\u2019t wanna share with us. Basically because of this other band we had to go actually record at Tim Lambesis\u2019 house \u2013 the singer of As I Lay Dying \u2013 which was way far away every day, and we all had to sleep at Daniel\u2019s house. We had to actually all pile into his apartment and crash with him, so aside from the recording process we actually all hung out a lot outside of it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whole chain of command wasn\u2019t happy from us to Daniel to Tim, who obviously owns Lambesis Studios. They weren\u2019t too thrilled about the situation, but it was what it was. If we were to have been assholes then we just would\u2019ve been no different than he was, so we just decided to keep our mouths shut and try to make a good CD. I think we did. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was one of those things that sucked, but in the end the CD came out really awesome anyway. As far as our band goes, we never made a big deal about it. That was basically what happened. Nobody necessarily liked the situation, and I felt bad for Daniel because we were the second band in a row that he had to have live in his apartment with him because of this other band. It was a newer band called&#8230; Oh man, I\u2019m totally blanking on the name of it. It was a band that had members from other&#8230; I shouldn\u2019t say big bands, but it was kind of a side project band. I honestly cannot remember the name right now. It\u2019s not a band that I would ever listen to; they\u2019re kind of the more poppy deathcore bands. I honestly can\u2019t remember the name of the singer. I had no desire to talk to him, so I didn\u2019t commit it to memory really. So yeah, it wasn\u2019t what we expected but it ended up working out in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Science lyrically occupied the majority of tracks featured on <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even necessarily mean for that to happen \u2013 it just kind of did,\u201d Ryan confesses. \u201cWe all write songs; I think on this CD Ezra wrote maybe a handful, I wrote like three, and I think Greg wrote a couple as well. They\u2019re not all about science on this one, but there\u2019s still definitely a couple of songs that are. There are a couple of songs about religion. There\u2019s one song called \u2018Twelve\u2019 that he wrote about a murder trial basically, about a couple that basically raped and killed young girls and then went to trial. It just very loosely talks about the situation, and then how because of plea bargaining one of them ended up getting much less time than the other because she made a deal with whoever it was that was trying the case. It\u2019s kind of all over the place this time around, and not so much about just one thing. So yeah, without going through each song that\u2019s about as detailed as I can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/allegaeongregburgess2012promophoto.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Greg Burgess<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>As was the case for <em>Fragments Of Form And Function<\/em>, Colin Marks handled cover artwork duties for <em>Formshifter<\/em>. <em>Formshifter<\/em>\u2019s artwork happens to be simpler, however. \u201cThat was definitely on purpose,\u201d the mainman confirms. \u201cColin has always done a very fast, good job for a very reasonable price. The first album is obviously very detailed, and it\u2019s very open to interpretation with what it actually means. There\u2019s a lot going on. We wanted something that was basic this time. It was still kind of cool, and still kind of made sense for what we thought would make sense for us. I just think there should be a contrast really. We didn\u2019t want to have every CD look or sound the same by any means. We just wanted something that was completely different than the first one, and so we decided to go a little more simplistic. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the next CD will have a black album cover that just has literally nothing on it. That isn\u2019t totally true, but it\u2019ll have a snake on it and a name. You get my point. I don\u2019t know. I guess it is what it is. We decided to just basically have our A logo made out of bones and metal parts. It kind of relates to the first CD a little bit, but it\u2019s a lot more simple. We were actually really excited with it. He did it in like maybe a day or two. We\u2019re happy with it. It\u2019s pretty basic compared to the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Formshifter<\/em> was released in Europe on May 7th, 2012, in North America on the 8th and in Japan on the 16th, all through Metal Blade Records.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview published in May 2012. All promotional photographs by Donovan Roubsouay.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ALLEGAEON &#8211; From The Stars Metal Came Anthony Morgan May 2012 Allegaeon (l-r): Ezra Haynes, Corey Archuleta, Greg Burgess and Ryan Glisan Fort Collins, Colorado-based death metal outfit Allegaeon formed in 2008, guitarist Ryan Glisan its founding member. Ryan graduated from college, deciding he would attempt to gain employment as well as pursue a musical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allegaeon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480","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=5480"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5516,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480\/revisions\/5516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}