Minneapolis Post Metal band Earthrise are set to release their long-awaited sophomore album entitled Until We Rest Beneath the Winter Way on October 14th. The band’s guitarist Mike Britson took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about the band’s upcoming album, coming back from the band’s hiatus, plans for the rest of the year, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: The band’s second album entitled Until We Rest Beneath the Winter Way is set to be released October 14th, what can you tell fans about the upcoming album?
Britson: It’s a very intentional album, in contrast to our debut. Whereas Eras Lost came about by jamming a few riffs together and not overthinking the songs, with this album we set ourselves a challenge to be thoughtful and intentional with all of our decisions. An attentive listener will be rewarded with all of the musical and lyrical themes that weave in and out of the album, and we really pushed our songwriting to the limits on this album to make it as good as it possibly could be.
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being the band’s second album as well as coming back from a lengthy hiatus?
Britson: The writing process was so much harder this time around, because we were pretty ruthless when it came to scrapping parts. There are probably about 2 albums’ worth of material left just from the stuff that ended up getting cut… and a lot of it we liked quite a bit, but we had to love it and it had to fit thematically with everything else on the album in order to stay. The result of that was a lot of stuff we liked getting cut, but we are thrilled with the end result.
MER: Have you noticed any changes within the band since playing together again?
Britson: Yes and no – we’re all older with so many more outside responsibilities than we were when we started, so unfortunately the days of hanging out and practicing 3-4 days a week or more aren’t really an option anymore, but at the same time it’s like riding a bike. It doesn’t really matter how long we haven’t played together, once we step in the room we’re back and locked in very quickly.
MER: The band has released two singles from the album, what kind of feedback have you been able to receive?
Britson: It’s been very positive so far, thankfully. Our last show was in 2014, about 4 years before Sam and Jim even joined, give or take, so we’ve been out of the loop for quite a while. It’s been nice to hear that there are people that have been excited to hear that we’ve got new music and happy with what they’ve heard so far.
MER: Do you feel those two songs give fans an idea on what to expect from the full album?
Britson: They do, but as cliché of an answer as it is, this album is definitely best experienced from start to finish. There are a lot of intentional musical and lyrical themes, variations, and callbacks spread throughout the album, and it’s a lot more satisfying to go through the journey in our opinion.
MER: What do you see as plans for the band after the album release?
Britson: We are all extremely excited to play shows again, and creatively energized to see how much further we can push our songwriting abilities. There’s not much better than the feeling we get when we come up with something new together, it’s very rewarding to go on that musical journey together with your friends and experience something new together for the first time.
MER: Who do you hope to tour with that you haven’t yet and why?
Britson: It would be awesome to see Lesser Glow and Glassing play every night – their music is incredibly inspiring. Also Maeth, because we miss them.
MER: What have been some of your favorite releases of 2022?
Britson: In no particular order, these albums all rip. Cave In – Heavy Pendulum, Conjurer – Páthos, Cult of Luna – The Long Road North, Cloakroom – Dissolution Wave, Author & Punisher – Krüller, KEN Mode – NULL, Holy Fawn – Dimensional Bleed, Wake – Thought Form Descent
MER: Since getting back together from the hiatus, what have been some personal highlights for you?
Britson: By far, the biggest highlight has been being able to be in the practice space to hang out, shake off the cobwebs, and play these songs together as friends with the satisfaction of having actually finished an album that seemed destined to never get actually finished. Musically, the songs were almost completely done by the end of 2013. Drums and guitars for the album were recorded at the end of 2018, bass and vocals in 2019, and synth wasn’t tracked until this year – due to an abundance of caution, we haven’t even played the songs all together in the same room yet, just small groups thus far. It’s just really fueling the fire to get back to it – it’s fun to hang out and make each other laugh, and jam some riffs together.
MER: What are some good songs from the band for a new fan and why?
Britson: “Challenger Deep” from our first album is a pretty good snapshot of what we could do at that time and an incredibly fun song to play. From our new album, “Tears of Burning Light” is probably the best representation of this version of Earthrise. The song begins with the launch of Laika, through her death and the thousands of orbits of her lifeless body around the earth.
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