Interview with Vortex
Vortex is an Orchestral blackened melo death metal band based in Canada formed in 2015, All answers by Dany
Alicia
Can you Introduce the band?
Dany
Vortex is what we like to call Orchestral blackened melo death. In 2015, the 5 of us decided to form the band because all our other projects were dead or not going very well. We all had studio and live experience and soon had the offer to join PRC Music, our late Label. Our vision was to create music that would have dynamics and a strong melodic side while retaining the essence of what death metal is. Lighthouse, our previous and second album, was our first orchestral work and it was more on the ambient/dramatic side. The new album’s songs are still melodic/orchestral but much more aggressive and some of them have a black metal influence. Our goal was to create songs that would have a greater impact on our live shows, aggressive songs work well live. We feel the album is a good combination of aggression/melody, and ugliness/beauty.
Alicia
Where did the name come from
Dany
We come from a French part of Canada; I wanted a band name that worked in French as well as in English. At the time I was looking for a name I was reading a lot about science, especially about Physics, general relativity, black holes, all that kind of stuff. That’s how the name came to me, an interest in physics and the need for a bilingual name.
Alicia
You have an album coming out can you tell us about the recording process. Our music incorporates a lot of orchestrations so the process of writing and recording an album is complicated. When writing we must make sure the songs are at the right tempo and that we really like the structures. When entering the studio, the orchestral parts are all done and ready to be mixed so it’s impossible to change anything in the songs, we must be very careful about little details when doing pre-production demos. Our new album, The Future Remains in Oblivion, has 169 individual tracks, it’s a huge challenge to have everything planned and ready before entering the studio, but the artistic part of it is fun and satisfying.
Alicia
Do you have plans to tour this release
Dany
We are releasing The Future Remains in Oblivion on June 9, the same day we are playing The Gaspesian Metal Fest in Quebec. For the rest of 2023, we are going to play a lot in Canada with AETERNAM and for some other shows with Strigampire who just won the Canadian Wacken Battle of the Bands. Our goal for 2024 is to tour parts of the US and Europe.
Alicia
Can you tell us about the music scene where you’re from
Dany
In the province of Quebec, the scene is not as strong as it used to be but it’s one of the strongest in Canada. There are about 50 bands producing albums and playing live on a regular basis, most of them are great and very professional. The fans are still showing up to the shows, but the crowd is smaller and getting older and older. Some kids still listen to Metal but nowadays more of them listen to mainstream and hip-hop.
Alicia
Was music something you’ve always wanted to do
Dany
After a brief hockey career, I started playing the guitar, only for fun and because I’m a huge fan of music in general. But you meet people who have the same passion and get together with your instruments and after a while, you want to find a drummer to jam Slayer and Pantera songs. Like many musicians, my first band was playing covers in clubs but nowadays my interest and motivation are 100% driven by the magic of creating original songs and playing them live for our fans. I don’t have any interest in playing something else than originals, the creation process, the studio work, or playing our own songs live on stage, this is what’s interesting to me. There is nothing as much satisfying as creating something original from scratch with people that you love and have a musical connection with.
Alicia
How has tour been?
Dany
In late 2022/early 2023 we played with AETERNAM on The Canadian Symphonic Assault tour. It was great, we had a lot of people showing up to the shows. We are good friends with AETERNAM and like us they have orchestrations, so our two bands fit well together.
You can check out Vortexs music and social links below