French Power/Prog Metal band Amon Sethis will release their 4th studio album Part 3: Dawn Of Apocalyptic World on February 21. Julien Tournoud, vocalist and founding member of the concept band centred around Ancient Egypt spoke with Metal Express Radio about this new album, its creation, the story behind it and his other projects. To know a lot more about this unique band, keep on reading!
Metal Express Radio: First of all, I wanted to ask you how things are going at the beginning of the year, and as you’re about to release a new album with Amon Sethis called Part 3: Dawn of an Apocalyptic World, can you go back a little bit to the genesis of the band and explain how this new album fits into the whole story?
Julien Tournoud: Yes, everything is going well. We’re really excited to release this album because it’s always a great experience to release an album. It’s called Part 3: Dawn Of An Apocalyptic World and it follows Part 0 (ed: Part 0: The Queen With Golden Hair) which came out at the end of 2020. To place it in the history of Amon Sethis, we’re going back to where we left off after the second album, Part 2: The Final Struggle, because the third album was more the genesis of the Amon Sethis character and concept. Now we’re rewriting the story and unfortunately, it’s going badly. That’s why this album will be a bit darker. It will be released on 21 February 2025.
Amon Sethis is a bit on the frontier between ancient history, the ancient history of Egypt and fantasy. Where does this passion for Egypt and mythology that you’ve decided to set to music originate?
I’ve always been passionate about history, I have a Master’s degree in Ancient History. (Not necessarily focused on Egypt, more on the Roman and Greek periods) but I’ve always been very interested in Egypt. There’s a period of about a hundred years where there are very few historical traces. I thought it would be a really good idea to make up stories around that. And then, in a modest way, a bit like Tolkien did, to create a whole universe based on that era, while being free to create certain things. By creating intrigues, things that might seem logical in the context of everything that happened historically, it allows us to invent some pretty original stories.
In this concept that you’ve created, which historical figures actually existed during the 7th Dynasty, and which ones did you invent?
I’ve done a lot of historical research into this, the end of the Ancient Empire. I mention, for example, Pharaoh Pepi II, who was a pharaoh who really existed. In fact, he was the longest-reigning ruler in human history. He is said to have had dozens of grandsons, which led to a decline in administrative power. And so the whole story I created about the 7th Dynasty was derived from that. In particular, I mention rulers who would have existed during the 7th dynasty. I’m specifically talking about Neferkare and Nitocris. We’re on the threshold of legend and real history, but the names are mentioned in certain writings.
Amon Sethis’ last album Part 0: Nitocris the Queen with Golden Hair was a prequel. So this new album follows the albums Part I: The Prophecy and Part II: The Final Struggle. As you said, things aren’t going well. So what is at stake on this new album?
At the end of the second album, we focused on the twins being reunited and Amon Sethis being freed from his curse and becoming somehow a good guy. They share the north and the south, the red crown and the white crown. So we start with the idea that the pharaoh brothers have many sons. And all the sons of these two pharaohs are obviously trying to seize power. And all of a sudden – and this is potentially one of the leads as to what really happened during this 7th dynasty. In other words, sovereignty was so anarchic that everyone was proclaiming themselves pharaohs. So that’s the idea behind the story on this new album. And I took this idea from another part of history called the Tetrarchy. In the 5th century A.D., the Roman Empire was so big that it was divided into the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire, but for obvious reasons that didn’t work. After about twenty years, everybody wanted to be emperor. Indeed the sons of Amon Sethis and Ateravis are going to cause trouble in the administrative chaos of Ancient Egypt. There were also rebellions left and right. I wanted to create a sort of a Game of Thrones set in Ancient Egypt.
Amon Sethis have just signed to Seasons Of Mist. What kind of changes does this mean for the band? Has this allowed you to work differently on the new album?
First of all, we’re very happy to be working with Season of Mist, which is a major label not only in France but worldwide. They have offices all over the world, and they’ll be able to distribute our music pretty much everywhere. It’s going to change our way of working a little bit in the sense that since we’ve been self-producing. We’ve been doing everything ourselves through our website, for sales, merchandising and communication. So it’s really on the more commercial side that it’s going to help us. In other words, all the sales of albums, CDs and vinyl will be much easier to distribute without us having to do it ourselves. After that, it gives us an essential calling card because we’re going to benefit from the label’s network to be able to stand out and meet new fans, so it’s really great in that respect. I think it’s going to help us take things to another level.
So the third album you released a few years ago was already a big step forward for the band. It was very very accomplished, ambitious in terms of structure, songs, orchestrations and atmosphere. You set the bar pretty high for this new release. What did you want to achieve musically on this new album?
As you said, the previous album Part O was really successful and we’re still very proud of that album. It was really challenging to reach the same level and quality as that album. We wanted to have that continuity but also bring in a slightly different touch and we were attached to the darkness of the story being told. This album is a lot darker, so we wanted to focus on that a little bit more, with riffs that are maybe a little bit sharper, a little bit darker, but also in terms of the orchestrations, the atmosphere is really dark and morbid. But we’ve kept the trademark we developed on the previous albums, with very catchy, epic and melodic choruses and darker, more convoluted parts. I think you can truly recognise the Amon Sethis style on this new album, but there’s a change of atmosphere with a darker side.
You orchestrate the whole concept and narrative of Amon Sethis, but how do you go about composing the songs? Are you alone at the wheel or do all the band members contribute?
I’m 100% focused on writing the lyrics, the songs and the concept. My other colleagues trust me 100% with that. As far as composition goes, I’d say it’s truly a team effort, so we usually start with either a guitar rhythm or ideas from the keyboardist, who is a very skilled composer. And then, the alchemy happens with the personal touches of each musician, so the bassist adds her own part, and so does the drummer. But we start with a primary articulation from the guitar and keyboard. On the previous albums, I also did a bit of songwriting. This time, I didn’t do as much, but I was more involved in the arrangements, saying ‘I don’t want this to be too long, I’ve got some things to say, we need to add this or that’… I’m mainly in charge of this aspect, although the others have their say of course.
Was it a desire on your part and the rest of the band to make something more condensed, or was it more of a subconscious decision not to make songs that are, say, 23 minutes long?
I know what you’re talking about: the 25-minute song “The Final Struggle” was always a dream of ours to do an epic piece like that. It’s done, we’ve done it, it’s great. I’m not saying we’re never going to do it again. Why not, if the opportunity arises? But it didn’t come to mind for this album. We’re also adapting a bit to the current trends, so even though we do Prog, people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so we’re adapting to that. It’s true that doing shorter tracks means you can be more effective and you can have a larger audience. So for this album, we’ve decided to do tracks that are, shall we say, a bit more traditional in length. But that was already the case for Part 0, where only the last track is 10 minutes long.
One of the most original songs on the album is “Kubalatawa”, what does that mean? What is this song about?
Kubalatawa is the city of the dead. It’s a mysterious city. We’re really in the realm of legend here, we don’t know if it ever existed. We can make the connection or cross-reference it with the film The Mummy, which talks about a city of the dead and so on. That’s sort of the idea. The son of the pharaoh Amon Sethis, who wants to stop the rebellions and the weakening of the power, has heard about certain things that are happening in this famous mysterious city and he just wants to go there to awaken the city of the dead and the army of the Pharaoh Seth – who will not return on this album but on the next one.
On the previous album, there was a very orchestral side, which is still there, but maybe a little less. On the other hand, what is quite new on this album is the use of choirs.
I’ve always been a fan of choirs. I think it gives a really epic, majestic and sometimes dark edge. It all depends on how it’s composed. But I found it interesting. In the intro, I did a lot of backing vocals. And especially on the single “At the Threshold of Doom” where I put 40 voices in the chorus. It gives depth and grandeur and I find that interesting. I would have liked to have used a bit more on the previous album, but Elliot Tordo, who did the orchestrations, had wisely tempered my enthusiasm, at the time. But this time I thought it was a good idea, so I took the liberty of doing it.
At the same time as announcing the new album on social networks, you also announced a while ago that your guitarist was leaving the band. How will you continue without him?
Following this, we got Dede, the guitarist from JC Jess, to play with us for two festivals. And it worked very well. He has been asked to stay with the group. So we’re waiting. We have other offers. But it doesn’t change anything. Whatever happens, we’ve got a lot of dates coming up, to support the album when it comes out. We’ve got quite a few dates in April. Dede is staying with us for these shows at least and we’re very happy with that. We have a very good chemistry with him. So we’re ready, for whatever comes our way.
At the beginning of December, you also released the video clip for the song At the Threshold of Doom, and it’s a very nice and well-made video. Where did you film it?
So it was quite a challenge to make this clip. We booked an escape game in Geneva based on Ancient Egypt. And I think the setting is just great. We used it to develop the story of the song. It’s not easy because you can easily fall into kitsch, but that’s not the case here, at all. I think we truly managed to avoid the pitfalls. Then, we filmed in a cave above Chambéry. So we had to climb up for 1h30 to get there and get some peace and quiet to film the whole thing. We also rented a venue in Amberieux en Buget called Les Triplettes Social Club, which is a very nice venue, so we were able to shoot the live side of things, with the whole band to enhance the images and integrate them into the synopsis of the story of the song. So the result is very good, especially with the fire-eater Lia Jefferson who did a great job, and of course, the whole team of the videographer Pascal Lemoine who did a great job. So the clip is a big success, thanks to him.
The fans have already been able to discover some of the new songs live, there are some dates planned for April, but are there any other dates in 2025, festivals, places you’d like to play or bands you’ll be able to tour with?
We’ve got quite a few dates in April and one in March on the 29th in Saint-Etienne-De-Saint-Geoire, which will be the first date after the album release. We’ve got a date that will be announced, but I can’t say anything at the moment, it’ll be at the end of May, with a very good band. And then, we’ve got a couple of things that will be confirmed over the summer and spring. We’re also looking at the second half of the year. But it’s true that things are moving very, very fast. At the moment, programmations are done fairly early, so we already have plans and ideas for 2026. After that, we’ll be a bit shy until we’ve consolidated the arrival of the new guitarist. Then, we’ll be able to really think things through and book some more dates. But we’ve already got a lot of things planned, so we’re very happy.
On stage, whenever possible, you always have some visual component with the book of the pharaohs, your mask, the pyramid of fire … Wouldn’t the release of this new album be an opportunity to release a live album as well?
We’re thinking about it, it might be a good idea to do something like that. It won’t be in the immediate future, but it could be a plan for 2026 to do a live album. Anyway, it would be about time after 4 albums.
You also recently announced the creation of Booking Kâ Management on your social media. What can you tell about this project?
It’s simply a professional project. I wanted to make a real career change, so I set up my own agency to manage artists and musicians and find them gigs all over France and, in some cases, all over the world. And it’s off to a great start! I look after the group Vanden Place, a prog metal band with a 40-year career. I’m their main international agent. So that takes up a lot of my time. I also represent Eliott Tordo, who produced the Part 0 album. You should know that Eliott is an artist who plays a traditional Chinese instrument called the Erhu, and he happens to be the best Western artist in the world on that instrument. He has 435,000 followers. He’s in demand all over the world. So I do all the bookings for him. But I also have other artists. I’ve got a Scorpions tribute band and a Jean-Jacques Goldman tribute. I have other artists who will be announced very soon. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m only interested in Metal. I’m relatively open-minded. So I think that allows me to discover different networks. It also means that I’m not redundant in that respect and it makes the work all the more interesting, so anyway, it’s a good start. I’m very happy, it’s a lot of work but I’m very passionate about it.
To wrap this up, what’s the most important thing for fans of Amon Sethis to remember in terms of dates and news?
For fans of Amon Sethis, the date to remember is February 21, 2025, when the album will be released. Fans can already pre-order the album on the Season of Mist website. There’s either a 10-track single CD version or an 18-track collector’s version with a double CD, so these are the ten tracks and on the second CD there will be alternative versions, orchestral versions. It’s very much film music, so it was really to highlight the orchestral, epic and cinematic side, so there you have it. It also has three acoustic tracks, including a very interesting acoustic version of Osiris God of the Dead, and the vinyl version is also available for pre-order, so that’s the release date to remember. And come and see us on the 29th of March in Saint-Etienne de Saint-Jouard, on the 4th of April in Saint-Etienne de Saint-Geoirs, on the 4th of April in Amberian-Buget and on the 5th of April at l’Ampérage in Grenoble for our home release party. Then there are dates in Montpellier, Fréjus, Lyon and others to be announced very, very soon.
interview and translation by Séverine Peraldino.
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