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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 4 years

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Spiritbox: the post-metalcore trio set to own 2021

Genre-fluid Canadians Spiritbox are channelling all sorts of horror into their ever-evolving sound

Whether they’re immersed in true crime podcasts or creating horror in their music videos, genre-splicing Canadians Spiritbox – named, quite literally, after a device that supposedly helps you contact ghosts – immerse themselves in all things unusual. “It’s weird but I’ve always been interested in dark stuff,” says vocalist Courtney LaPlante. “I think it’s an anxiety thing; it’s a way for me to explore things that make me anxious, but in a ‘safe’ way.”

Following their 2017 self-titled debut that established a love for progressive metal, their more recent singles Blessed Be, Rule Of Nines and Holy Roller eagerly indulge other stylisations, borrowing a few metalcore-styled riffs and dropping in nuggets of industrial sounds. Courtney takes a page from her inspirations Deftones and Tesseract, stressing that Spiritbox won’t be limited in their creative endeavours by the pressure to be conventionally heavy.

“What those bands both have in common is fluidity,” she explains. “They can pretty much do whatever they want throughout the song; it can become heavy, they can do screaming vocals, but then also the song can take a turn and be very beautiful, uplifting and melodic. There’s never a sense from their fans of, ‘Oh, you guys sold out, you have singing!’ or like, ‘Oh, this is too heavy.’ Those are the bands that are my biggest inspiration as far as not having boundaries of how they sound.”

Spiritbox’s journey is something the singer describes as a “very unique band experience, unlike the traditional way.” Founded by her and husband Mike Stringer, the band is a labour of love born from the frustrations of Courtney not finding her identity in her previous music. She and Mike played in metalcore crew IWrestledABearOnce, and Courtney has opened up about that time and how the lack of creative input weighed heavily on her.

“It was weird; we were out playing shows [with IWABO], playing these songs nobody on stage wrote,” she explains. “[It was] like, ‘What is this? I don’t want to do this, I don’t connect with this song.’ It just hit us after a couple of years that we wanted to have our own identity and start fresh, make our own music.”

Courtney gushes that her latest venture has garnered a reaction that even she couldn’t anticipate, saying “it’s found an audience and they’re growing with us. The freedom of having a new band is like the freedom of having no baggage and having no preconceived notions of what it should sound like. It’s been very freeing for me.”

Courtney’s career gave her two pivotal entry points into the industry, both at the start and end of the 2010s. Transitioning from the internet’s sparse resources of pirating sites to a world of online, 24-hour accessible streaming or Youtube videos that can teach anyone how to be a sound engineer in 10 minutes has certainly refined her approach to music.

“I’m very happy with how technology has taken us now,” she says. “I literally don’t think our band would exist without the technology and the accessibility of today. We’re almost as DIY as you can get. We do send music out to be mixed and mastered, but we record everything and edit it ourselves. We’re all in our late 20s, early 30s and we’ve all collectively toured a lot. I can’t afford to go on a DIY tour across Canada. Like, if we have one bad tour I’ll just be ruined and our band will have to end. We’re DIY, not by choice, but by necessity.”

You might already be familiar with Spiritbox following the viral success of Holy Roller, smashing rock radio charts, earning more than a million views on YouTube and nabbing more than twice that many streams. Courtney is still unable to wrap her head around it all, especially considering the whole song was written in two hours. “It was just something that was fun for us to play on tour!” she laughs.

Touching back on their love for all things horror, Courtney explained that the Holy Roller music video was actually inspired by Ari Aster’s blockbuster folk horror, Midsommar. “That movie is scary towards the end,” the singer says. “Honestly, one of the most chilling parts about it, to me, is just the main protagonist: how she’s unsure if she’s losing her mind or not, because that’s something that resonates with a lot of people who are battling a mental illness.”

Courtney describes how other real-life situations, like losing a family member, can also be the things that keep you up at night. “That honestly stuck with me a lot in the movie,” she says, “even more so than all the visual horror. We wanted to explore something like that. It’s something that I find even scarier than a ‘scary movie’ because it hits closer to home.”

The next release on the horizon is something for fans to get excited about in 2021. “We’re going to put out a full-length album,” Courtney reveals. “[It means] we don’t have to have every song we create feel like a single; we can experiment more and have more fun exploring different song structures. I just feel like, over the last couple of years, everyone in the band has decided that we also sometimes want to have fun when we’re playing our music!”

#Courtney LaPlante #Spiritbox #2020 interviews

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patricksilvrrozartistry · 7 years

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Current Music Obsessions: March 1 - 15, 2017

It's that time again! I have A LOT of honorable mentions this time around since I still have a bit of songs in my watch later playlist, which probably will never change. Anyways, here they are.

Aeranea - Any Other Way Endless - Destroy My Life Aura's Seers - O Pastor (Madredeus) Divergent - Outsider Shadowrise - Atlantis Walk in Darkness - A Way to the Stars Chaostar - Tazama Jua Purest of Pain - The Solipsist Ayreon - Everybody Dies (live) Grigori 3 - Awakening Last Days of Eden - Fallin in the Deep Hardcore Anal Hydrogen - Jean-Pierre Omega Diatribe - Spinal Cord Fusion Visions of Atlantis - Book of Nature Rivers of Nihil - A Home 7 Days in Alaska - Lost at Sea The Atlas Moth - Galactic Brain Dream Ocean - The Last Dance Dream Ocean - Somewhere Untouched Qveen Herby - That Bih Melted Space - The Dawn of Man (I'm Alive) Hydra - The Last Swan feat. Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus in Musica, Tragul) Ihsahn - Arcana Imperii Temperance - Of Jupiter and Moons

And here are the wonderful main obsessions.

1) Glasya - Heaven's Demise

Randomly found this song on YT one day and holy tits is it powerful. I'm pretty sure this is their first single, and if that's the case, they sure know how to make a bold first impression. These guys seem very promising, so I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on them.

2) Masqued - The Light in the Dark

Learned about this band thanks to FemME mentioning that they're on this year's roster for the festival. They're a pretty great band from the States. They're a bit power metally, but I can't be for certain since this is the first song I've ever heard from them. Their front woman has really powerful and unique voice. Definitely gonna look more into them.

3) Seven - Until the Light Takes Us

This is one of the stand outs off their latest album. It has more of an experimental feel to it than their typical progressive metal sound and I love it. It packs such a powerful punch for something that seems so simple. This is what amazing mixing can do.

4) Marshmello x Lil Peep - Spotlight

EDM isn't my thing, but when I saw that this was a collaboration with Lil Peep, I had to check it out. I'm still a noob when it comes to his music, but everything I've heard I've really enjoyed. This is no exception. It hit me right in the feels when I saw this too, knowing that he passed away just a few months ago. Anyways, this song is great and the video is a great piece of art. I'm a huge fan of the colors and the saturation.

5) Graveshadow - Widow and the Raven

This is their first single off their upcoming album and I'm so excited for it. I learned about them shortly after Heather parted ways with Helion Prime and found out that she uses way more of her vocal talents with them. Homegirl's got some impressive growls and has such a great range with her cleans. This song is so great and I can't wait to hear more.

6) Aura's Seers - Meu Medo

This is hands down my favorite song that they've released so far. And the video is absolutely STUNNING. Sienna Sally's voice is absolutely wonderful and you can hear a lot of her range on this track. I just LOVE the blending of prog rock and trip hop with their sound. I hope to make music very similar to this one day. Who knows, maybe her and I might collaborate one day. One could only dream.

7) Oceans of Slumber - No Color, No Light feat. Tom Englund (Evergrey)

Of all the songs that they dropped prior to the album's release (which I already listened to and it's fucking amazing), this one stands out the most. Not just because it's a duet, but the atmosphere of the song is so different and we get to hear a different side of Cammie's voice. Something soft and pretty. It's such a simple touch, but it's so moving. And Tom's voice here on this track adds to its beauty. Such a beautiful and haunting track.

8) Shadowside - Alive

I can't remember how I came across this song, but I found the video and the song blew me away. This is such a powerful symphonic-ish power metal track. Their front woman has such a strong voice that it caught me offguard when the chorus hit. It has such a great vibe to it and is wonderful to jam to. Definitely am gonna look more into these guys.

9) The Eden House - Misery

Rekindled my love for this song after listening to their latest album. It's such a pretty track with their newest singer, Louise, takes the lead on. Such a great way to introduce her. I love how ambient their music is, it's so pretty. With the lyrics being rather dark, it adds a really nice contrast. Highly recommend this track.

10) Spiritbox - The Mara Effect, Pt. 3

I was so fucking floored when I found out that iwrestledabearonce broke up. I looked across their social media and found nothing about them breaking up, they just seemed to have disappeared. But I found out that Courtney and another member started this band. I think this was the direction that they started taking IWABO, but figured that it'd be better to start a new project instead of transforming a band's iconic sound. This is some djenty prog right here and I need more of it. It's so fucking good.

11) Dimmu Borgir - Interdimensional Summit

There are so many mixed feelings about this track. Dimmu are making their comeback and this is the song they dropped. It's not their best and is completely different from what they've done in the past, but I love it anyways. It has a symphonic power metal kind of vibe to it that I'm really digging, but that's why a lot of people don't like it at all. It's nothing like they've done before and is a bit cheesy, but I like extra cheese on my pizza. To each their own, but I really dig this. BUT I am hoping they release a ballbuster soon.

12) Hallatar - Dreams Burn Down feat. Aleah Stanbridge (Trees of Eternity)

This song is absolutely gorgeous and a great one to end the album. For those who don't know, this band is a tribute to the late Aleah Stanbridge. I'm guessing this was meant to be a ToE song, but wasn't able to be completed, so Hallatar came in and gave it the life it needed. This song is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I cried the first time I heard it. We miss you so much, Aleah.

13) Sin Deadly Sin - Your Heaven

I rekindled my love for this track. It's such a great gothic metal track. I really need to hear more from them with this being the only song I know by them. It's so haunting, especially the last minute of it. It's so entrancing and just sends so many feelings through you.

14) Sarasvati - Released to Aion

This is their latest single and it's amazing. I wonder if this means an album is coming soon. Anyways, if you enjoy progressive doom metal, definitely listen to this. Chela's haunting, low voice and Joe's blend so beautifully together. I can't wait to hear more from them. I haven't heard a dud from the yet.

15) In Flames - When the World Explodes feat. Emilia Feldt (live)

Another song I rekindled my love for. I'm not too familiar with In Flames, but if they have more songs like this that feature a soprano, I need to hear them. Their voices blend so beautifully together. And don't get me started on the last minute or so. Emilia fucking killed it. Such a gorgeous song.

16) Persefone - Aathma part IV. Many of One feat. Merethe Soltvedt

Aathma was a pretty cool album, but this and Living Waves stand out the most to me. This song is so simple, but simplicity can make an absolutely gorgeous track. Merethe has such a pretty voice and fills this song with so much emotion. A perfect way to close an album. I also love that it's about a soul returning to the stars. Love songs like this.

That's it for the first half of March! Let's hope I can keep up with staying below 20 main obsessions for a while.

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