With:	Ross King
Conducted by:	RaduP (e-mail)
Published:	09.11.2024
Band profile:	Countless Skies

Countless Skies is one of the first "new" melodeath bands I discovered when I first got into the genre, alongside obvious big names like Insomnium, Dark Tranquillity, Amon Amarth, and most relevant, Be'lakor. That might explain why my review of Glow is one of my only melodeath reviews. So seeing that this band would be the opener for a tour that was not only headlined by a band from my country but would also stop in my country felt surreal. I already reviewed the concert itself, but I failed to mentioned that I inquired about the possibility of an interview, and me and the guys convened that our schedules would be more fitting for an email one rather than a video one.




Radu: Thanks for doing the interview with us! How was the experience of touring with a Romanian band? Did they teach you any curse words?

Ross: It was honestly great fun touring with Bucovina. They're all such lovely people, and we had a fantastic time on the bus with them. They’re super easy to get along with, and they could drink like fish! It was great working with a professional band like them because it made everything run so smoothly, and they had a lot of stories to tell from the many years they've been together as a band. We didn't get them to teach us any curse words though, missed a trick there!

Radu: Other than obviously playing Romania, is there anything else that you took off your bucket list after this tour?

Ross: We finally got to play in France for the first time, which was really cool! Our first show in France was at Fensch Viking Festival. We were the only non-viking band and had to play on the second stage, but it went really well, we had a great time and a fantastic response. The other two shows were in Nantes and Lyon, and they also went well. Nantes, especially, had an incredible crowd, and we even had a day off to explore the city and enjoy the amazing cuisine. That was definitely a highlight of the tour.

Radu: Did you ever actually cover "Countless Skies" the song, or would that be too tacky of a move?

Ross: No, we’ve never covered that song, and I don’t think we would - it’d feel a bit tacky. Sometimes we mess around with “Sun’s Delusion” at practice, but that’s about it. We really love Stone's Reach, though; I think that might be Be'lakor's best output, in my opinion.

Radu: Do you ask yourself before any interview whether the interviewer will ask anything about Be'lakor?

Ross: No, and honestly, a lot of interviewers either haven’t heard of them or haven’t made the connection. I do think it’s something we’ll probably never fully escape as long as they’re active though, haha. But we don’t mind!

Radu: Can you tell us a bit more about how Resonance came to be? Will we get more of Arianna Mahsayeh or other guests in a live setting?

Ross: Arianna performed cello on our second album Glow, and since then, we wanted to perform those parts live with her. When we were invited to return to MetalDays to play on the second stage, we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring her along to play with us throughout the entire set. After a few warm-up shows with her, we realized it really worked, sounded great, and we wanted to capture that. So, we recorded a music video at Gusto Studios in Luton, where we took the opportunity to record not just one song but five. Mark and the crew did an amazing job, and if you haven’t seen it yet, definitely check out the full performance video for “Glow.” Our “Tempest” video was actually a finalist for Best Music Video at the New York International Film Awards, just narrowly beaten by Sabaton!

Radu: Why was the song "Glow" divided in three tracks on the original record but then remained a single track on the live in studio one?

Ross: "Glow" is a single 20-minute song, but these days people tend to avoid listening to songs that long, and might skip it altogether. So, for the original version, we broke it into three parts to give it a fighting chance. With Resonance, we figured people might already be familiar with the song and could appreciate a version without breaks, so we released it as one continuous track.




Radu: How's progress on a hopefully upcoming record?

Ross: It’s going well, we’ve written about nine songs. We still need to work on lyrics and polish everything up, but we’re hoping to enter the studio next year. We’re really excited to show people what we’ve been working on and see how they react to the progression of our sound. It’s not wildly different from what we’ve done before but, like the shift from New Dawn to Glow, there’s definitely an evolution in our sound.

Radu: What about a new Denali?

Ross: It’s in a similar situation, everything for the Denali album is written. We just need to find the time, book a studio, and get it done. I’m excited to release this one because the new tracks that our guitarist Gren has written sound massive. There might even be a 20-minute song on this album too, but since it’s death doom every song will be at least 10 minutes, haha.

Radu: Is there a specific artist or piece of music that you can pinpoint as the one that, upon listening to it, made you decide that being a musician is what you wanted to do?

Ross: When I was a kid my dad introduced me to classic rock bands like Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi, and Queen, which definitely sparked my desire to become a musician. James' dad is a big fan of Genesis and other prog rock bands, which influenced him more toward progressive music. I think the moment we decided on our sound was when we discovered Insomnium and their album Above The Weeping World, I just knew that was the direction I wanted to go in. We were fortunate to recruit Phil early on, and he comes from a very varied musical background but has always been a singer and a performer for as long as I've known him. And well, Nathan just loves blast beats, doesn’t he?

Radu: If you could have any living director direct a music video for a Countless Skies song, who would it be?

Ross: That’s an interesting question! I’m not sure, but maybe Christopher Nolan. Then again, the video would probably be over two hours long, no one would understand what's going on, and it would completely distract from our music, haha. So maybe that’s a terrible idea.

Radu: Anything else you'd like to add for our readers?

Ross: We’ve just hit the milestone of 10 years since releasing our debut EP and four years since Glow, so we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s supported us and allowed us to keep going. It really means a lot. Hold on a little longer, we’ve got a new album coming and we think you’re going to love it. Hopefully, once it’s out, we can hit the road again and play it for as many people as possible. Cheers, and we’ll see you soon!