INTERVIEW: Darkest Era evolve through transition and unleash Severance upon us. Guitarist Ade Mulgrew explains

THERE is something rather intriguing about Darkest Era. From the mists and ancient bogs of County Fermanagh they have emerged as a potent and heady cocktail of melodic death metal, NWOBHM and Celtic flavouring.

With new album Severance on the shelves, and a new record deal, the band have been through a transition that has seen them emerge more focussed and ready to hit the road on a UK tour.

We caught up with guitarist Ade Mulgrew who first of all explained more about the transitions.

“We have a new rhythm section now with Cameron on drums and Daniel on bass,” he said. “Things began to change for us I guess when we started to go out on proper tours. It’s a totally different ball game compared to just being a recording band and playing gigs here and there.

“Before our first UK tour with Alestorm we’d only done one off gigs, festival fly ins, and at most maybe two gigs in a row. There were a few factors involved but essentially David and Lisa felt that touring was not for them, whereas for the rest of us it was one of the greatest experiences we’d had since starting the band.

Ade went on: “Aside from that we’ve signed a new record deal with Cruz Del Sur, who we’re very excited to be working with for our new album.”

It is a release that sees the band evolving, something Ade agrees with

“We’re older and wiser for sure,” he said. “We have a much stronger idea of what we want to do musically and so there is more of our own identity coming through.

“As I mentioned after experiencing tours we’re more focussed and driven than ever, and having rebuilt the band somewhat we feel very happy with where we are right now.

“We’ve been through the belly of the beast so to speak.”

As to the sound of the new album?

“Although it’s not a huge departure in style from our first album, I do think it’s an evolution,” Ade said. “We were never interested in remaining static and we’ve opened our sound out on this album.

“It is darker, more aggressive and the songs are a lot more focussed and to the point.

“Time will be the judge I guess but I feel at this point it will be a transitional album – a further step towards making the kind of record that each of us has been wanting to make since we starting making music.”

The last time Belfastmetaheadsreunited and RockRadioNI caught up with Darkest Era they were supporting Wintersun in Belfast, and Darkest Era were crackling with energy.

“With every single show you are constantly refining your stage performance, always trying to get better,” Ade explained. “The bands that we looked up to when we started playing music (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy) were all renowned for a killer live show and it’s something we’ve always aspired to.

“We never wanted to be a band who stood on stage staring at their feet. That’s not what heavy metal is about, for us.

And, the string of UK dates is an opportunity for the band to touch base with emergent followers.

“They are all cities that we’ve played before so we’re starting to see the beginnings of a fanbase right across the country which is very encouraging,” he said “I can honestly sasy we’re excited about all the shows, we have very fond memories of our previous shows in these places and plenty of friends to catch up and drink a beer with!”

And, with a possible Belfast date coming soon, we can’t wait to see Darkest Era once again pound the boards.

Interview by Jonny

Severance is out now on Cruz Del Sur Records.

You cn watch the video for Beyond the Grey Veil here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0rYSEDAnI