Alternative Metal band Vexes are set to release their new double album entitled Imagine What We Could Destroy lll If Only Given Time on June 17th. Vexes’s guitarist (who also handles keyboards) John Klagholz took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about the band’s upcoming album, how this new album compares to the band’s first album Ancient Geometry, the band’s unique sound, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: The bands upcoming album entitled Imagine What We Could Destroy lll If Only Given Time is set to be released on June 17th, what can you tell fans about the album?
Klagholz: The album is a culmination of nearly 3 years of discussing how we wanted to follow up Ancient Geometry. We went through so many personal trials and tribulations during the time since releasing Ancient Geometry that we really wanted to focus on getting to the heart and soul of the band, and the music that we grew up listening to and being influenced by. We were aware of the comparisons that people were making between us and certain bands so we really wanted to be as receptive as we could to as many ideas as we could. I think that collectively this record is about as proud of a creation as we could possibly be, and we really hope everyone that liked AG will LOVE this record. There is truly something for everyone within the 24 songs on IWWCD /// IOGT.
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being a double album featuring 24 songs?
Klagholz: The writing process was a totally different animal in relation to the process with Ancient Geometry. Obviously as we were really ramping up the writing and early demoing sessions, Covid arrived, so that really threw a wrench into the works as far as us being able to get together to bounce ideas off of each other. Luckily we were able to meet up sporadically in and out of imposed lockdowns to write and track when we could, but I’m sure we faced much of the same issues that bands all over the world did. It was and still continues to be a very strange and unique reality we find ourselves in from early 2020 until now. The things that we went through both personally and collectively really shaped the lyrical content of the record and hopeful listeners will get a glimpse into the time and space we were in while composing this record.
MER: How would you compare this to the bands previous releases?
Klagholz: Since we’ve really put out a limited amount of material thus far, we would think that people that enjoyed Ancient Geometry will most definitely enjoy IWWCD /// IOGT. It’s not a major departure from AG in the fact that we tried to do our best not to deviate from what it is that we do, which is try to write emotional hard driving and experimental music while trying our absolute best not to take ourselves too seriously. As we mentioned earlier, there were definitely some major comparisons to some of the bands we admire and look up to, so it may not have been a conscious decision, but we tried to build upon that foundation while still letting “us” shine through. We followed much of the same formula as Ancient Geometry as our new record was still recorded, engineered and mixed by us, and mastered with Mike Kalajian at Rogue Planet Mastering, so we’re hoping that listeners find that quality and honesty in the recording is still there.
MER: The band recently released the single ‘Low Choices’, what kind of feedback have you been able to receive so far?
Klagholz: We’ve gotten amazing feedback so far on both ‘Beyond the Sinking’ and ‘Low Choices’, it’s truly humbling and gratifying to know that after such an extended period of “silence” from us, that people were even still interested in giving the new songs a listen. We’re really encouraged by the feedback and comments so far and we cannot wait to release more singles and finally get this record out there in mid-June 2022.
MER: Do you feel like Low Choices gives the fans a good idea on what to expect from the new album?
Klagholz: We would like to think so. There is most definitely a bit more of an ambient and keyboard/electronic element to many of the songs on IWWCD /// IOGT, while still keeping the grit and heaviness of most of the songs on AG. We’ve tried to broaden our horizons a bit on the songwriting aspect of things, and we really talked about focusing our attention on that with the new songs. We had many songs that we thought we had considered a finished product, but that’s one of the best (and worst) things about writing and producing your own music; sometimes it can be difficult to know when to say “when”… in this case coming back and reviewing the finality of some of the tracks might have been a good thing, because we were able to pare down some parts and give a bit more focus to some of the songs.
MER: What do you see as far as plans for the band after the album release?
Klagholz: We’ve been working hard since recording was completed earlier this year to really hone our live show in anticipation for attempting to get out on the road and finally get to play these songs for as many people as possible. Not knowing what the future held for touring bands in the past 24 months has been a scary proposition, but we’re hoping that we can do our absolute best to prepare the live aspect of our band and get to as many places as we can run the future.
MER: Is there anyone that you hope to tour with that you haven’t yet and why?
Klagholz: We have so many influences and there are so many amazing live bands that we look up to, it would really be impossible to nail down one or two. We would be honored to tour with any number of them!!!
MER: How would you describe your sound to anyone that’s unfamiliar with the band?
Klagholz: That is a great question, again seeing as how we have so many varying influences. It’s always a slippery slope trying to describe your own music to someone, for fear that you come off as sounding pretentious or bloviating! It would be fair to say that we like to explore every facet of multiple types of music, be that metal, hard rock, experimental etc. Dynamics are HUGE for us, so we try to incorporate as much emotion and energy as we can into each song, and on our new record, we think that you will find a song or two that you might be able to ALMOST but not quite identify with a certain genre. It might sound really strange and counterproductive as a band, but we really try to make the listening experience as uncomfortable as possible in spots, but then hopefully we always find a way to resolve that along the line.
MER: What is one album from the band you would recommend to a new fan and why?
Klagholz: It’s hard to recommend one certain record over another, but we feel like people will most definitely hear an increase in songwriting and quality with IWWCD /// IOGT as opposed to Ancient Geometry. Whereas we might not have had the foresight to branch out as much as we were capable of on AG, the new material might offer a far better representation of what we hope to achieve as a band. That being said, we hope that listeners will give ALL of our stuff a chance (even the cover songs we did a few years back!!)
MER: What type of message do you hope to deliver with the bands music?
Klagholz: We went through so much both individually and as a group in the past 4 years and we think that shows in the lyrical content of the new material. Some of the songs are hopeful and optimistic, but in all honesty the better part of the songs from a thematic standpoint are about the fragility of the world and of the people within it, and how we treat that fragility with such irreverence and disdain and without care. We’re becoming enveloped by ourselves in a way, and that shows in the events and occurrences on a seemingly daily basis. We think that the message overall of the new songs is that we are running out of time, and perhaps that’s not altogether a bad thing.
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