New York progressive death metal band Azure Emote are set to release their fourth album entitled Cryptic Aura on July 25th. Mike Hrubovcak (vocals/keys/programming) spoke with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, working with Andy LaRocque (King Diamond/Death), juggling the members’ other bands, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Azure Emote, are set to release their fourth album entitled Cryptic Aura on July 25th, what can you tell fans about the upcoming release?
Hrubovcak: Do you like your metal disturbing, defiant and angry? Then you should dig this new one. Although it’s probably my most “assessable” album as far as what most people would consider “listenable”, it still has the same diverse and manic flare as the previous albums. It’s meant for the old school metalheads who still listen to albums from start to finish with the artwork in hand and who take the time to consume the whole expression along with the lyrics and to dwell on it as intended. There’s a lot of crazy stereo pannings and effects going on again as well, so using some good headphones is also recommended. I really went all out on this one but tried to keep it focused more on the darkness. Since 2020 things have gotten crazier in the world and i think i’ve gotten a bit angrier because of it, so you may notice a bit more grit in this one.
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your fourth album with the band?
Hrubovcak: Yes, it went a lot smoother than previous album I think, and all the musicians involved were really on fire for this one. The process is always stressful for me though, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I tend to overthink and over analyze everything. I’m never truly happy with any of my releases for this reason, but this one comes pretty close. There are always things you look back on and think maybe it could have been done different, but with this album those things are fewer than former releases. At a certain point though you have to just put it to bed and move on. I really like the production on this one though and think it’s my most focused and cohesive album yet overall.
MER: It’s been five years since your previous release, how did you and the rest of your band stay busy during that time?
Hrubovcak: We’re all in other bands as well, so we all keep pretty busy. I had left Monstrosity in 2021, but was also still working on I.C.E., House by the Cemetary as well as a few guests’ vocal albums and of course I’m always busy doing artwork for bands through my website visualdarkness.com. Ryan has been busy with his other bands as well like In the Fire and Distant Dominion, and Mike Heller is always busy recording a million different projects and doing Raven and Malignancy. Kelly has also been busy with Ashes of Ares, Agent Steel, Pessimist etc. and Pete in Norway has his own musical gigs going on as well, so as with most musicians it’s hard to focus on only one thing when there’s so much cool music to be played. Maybe if i focused on only one band things could get bigger, but I’m really just doing it all for the creative release and not to get “big”.
MER: You’ve released two songs from the album so far, do you feel they represent the album well?
Hrubovcak: Not really because each song is meant to be very different, it’s hard to pick just ONE song that represents the overall sound or feel of the album, I chose the first one, “Feast of Leeches”, because I felt maybe it was the most aggressive or easily digestible for the average death metal fan and it fit the spastic chaotic video style of Drain Hope who I had been wanting to work with on a video for a while. I chose the second one “Disease of the Soul” because I wanted the lyrics to fit the imagery of the video concept that Claudio Marino was working on. It had to fit his visual concept, with silver and gold representing money or greed being a poison to the soul. This song also has female vocals throughout, so it fit more with the female models he was using for it. I’m happy with how different it is from the first video, it’s way more 4k HD, while the first is grittier and dirtier and 90s oldschool. I aim to make each song and video as unique as possible. I try to do the opposite of whatever is trending or fashionable at the time. The upcoming third single/video will actually be in black and white and no color, so it will also stand out as different from the other two videos.
MER: How was it bringing in the special guests in the album such as Andy LaRocque of King Diamond, and James Murphy (ex-Death/Testament/Obituary)?
Hrubovcak: I’m honored that they both were totally into it when I reached out to them and they dug the tunes. Being big fans of theirs since the early 90s, it’s a bit surreal. They were both one of Ryan’s biggest solo inspirations growing up as well so it’s really cool to have them apart of it. Andy also mastered the album for us too. He had just gotten done recording the new Lord Belial album (that I did the cover artwork for), so I thought it fitting to have him finalize the Azure album next too, since he was already working on the solo for it.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and your band to support the album?
Hrubovcak: We’ve been creating a bunch of play through videos and different social media videos to promote online, but as far as playing out live that’s a whole other ballgame, because organizing all the different musicians would be tough. They are spread out all over the world right now. Azure Emote has never played live yet and has always been a side project of my main touring bands at the time, but I do have a local lineup in mind for practicing and playing, i would have to get some decent offers in though before I would consider it.
MER: Is there anyone that you hope to tour with and why?
Hrubovcak: Finding bands that match our style would be tough, but it would be nice to tour with more eclectic bands, like Thy Catafalque, Neo Obliviscaris, Mörk Gryning, Akhlys, etc. I’ve been touring with straight forward black and death metal bands my whole life, it would be nice to mix things up with more avant-garde or creative packages perhaps, (even though Azure Emote is still very much rooted in Black/Death/Doom).
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live and why?
Hrubovcak: Since we recently signed to Testimony Records, a division of SPKR / Prophecy Records, it’d be cool to maybe play the Prophecy Fest in Germany. I’d also like to play Norway or Sweden so I could share the stage with Pete Johansen maybe (our violin player), that would be fun.
MER: Members in your band have a history with some big names in Heavy Metal such as Fear Factory, and Eluveitie, do you feel fans of those bands will also be into Azure Emote?
Hrubovcak: That’s a tough one. Usually, I would assume Azure Emote would be a bit too weird or black death for people who are into those bands. I’m personally into a lot of different styles of music and respect a lot of musicians and am open to different things. Many people in the metal scene however are pigeonholed into particular genre’s that they can’t seem to venture too far from, for example I love Slavic folk music, and also black death, so getting creative and mixing the two is not a problem for me, as I’m inspired by both.
MER: Out of your band’s four albums, what is one you would suggest to a new fan and why?
Hrubovcak: It depends on what they’re into more, if it’s more black death metal, I would suggest this new one, if it’s more gothic metal I would suggest the Gravity album, if it’s crazy stuff like Igorrr, I was suggest the first album Chronicles haha. If they don’t like my death metal vocals I would suggest the instrumental version of The Third Perspective. I’m sure there are people who may hear one song, and decide they don’t like the band, but that would be missing out. You really have to explore the whole discography and I’m sure there will be some songs that you really dig, and maybe some that you hate haha. When I started Azure Emote it was an experiment that I used just to get creative musically without the boundaries I had with my original Death Metal bands, so I really didn’t hold back and just did what I felt like at the time. Tastes change over time too and that’s o.k., the whole point and focus of Azure Emote is based on Freedom. Do what you want. If people like it cool. If not, that’s cool too. Just get crazy with it and create on instinct and impulse.
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