Translated by Andrea Mollá.
FORETOKEN is one of the great surprises of the past 2023. However, at least in Europe, we have hardly received any news of Triumphs, their superb second full-length. Their epic symphonic death metal has left us with such a magnificent impression, that we couldn’t wait any longer to talk to the two artifices of this band: Steve Redmond on all the instrumentation and production, and Dan Cooley on vocals and lyrics. We hope to hear from a couple who are eager to tell us their story for the time being.
REA – As we always start in these pages, thank you very much for accepting this interview. It is a pleasure to have the creators of this work, that we liked so much, such as Triumphs.
Dan – Of course! It is always cool to chat with people about our music. With the rate at which music is released nowadays we are happy to see that Triumphs is still being listened to – especially a year after the album’s release!
REA – FORETOKEN was created in 2018, moment in which you two participate in several bands. What are the reasons for the birth of FORETOKEN? Which bands were you part of at that time?
Dan – Foretoken started out as a studio project for Steve and I to write more epic music with orchestral arrangements. Steve and I are both in a tech death band called Cyaegha and he is also in a blackened thrash band called The Day of the Beast. While these bands have a very different sound neither of them uses orchestral/synth arrangements. Steve and I have always been a fan of bands like Old Man’s Child, Emperor, and Wintersun, and we wanted to write some music which would more noticeably showcase some of these influences.
REA- Your music has a lot of European influences: bands like Wintersun, Ensiferum, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Bal-Sagoth, and a long etc. Which bands have really influenced you the most in FORETOKEN?
Dan – we are really influenced by bands like Emperor, Old Man’s Child, Necrophagist, Death, and Wintersun to name a few. I know Steve gets inspired by a lot of bands and music. Since Foretoken blends a lot of metal genres together it allows him to draw from a ton of music that he’s a fan of.
REA- Following the previous question, how is the scene of this style of music that is so epic and symphonic yet extreme, in your country? Is it a style that is on the rise in the USA? Are there a lot of bands?
Dan – The metal scene is really thriving in the US. There are a ton of new bands to listen to and it is so easy to find these bands whether on Bandcamp, Spotify, Reddit, Youtube, or just going to shows.
REA- And talking about your country. It has always been the one that has set the musical fashions in most of the world since the late 80’s. What music within rock and metal is now having success in the USA?
Dan – We’ve seen a resurgence in OSDM; deathcore, and doom metal are also really popular. Black metal has also received some attention with fresh takes on the genre in the form of atmospheric and Cascadian black metal. There’s a lot going on in the world of metal.
REA – In the year 2020 you release “Ruins”, your debut. This record already marks some characteristics that you will keep in the two subsequent works. How was the composition and recording of “Ruins” compared to the work you had done before with other bands whose styles were simpler and without so much production?
Steve – it was a lot more labor intensive as I wrote all the musical components and arrangements and had to become familiar with a DAW. Although Hannes Grossmann later came in as a studio musician, I also wrote the preliminary drum parts which was a learning process to get that programmed. Overall, it was a lot of time learning on top of writing the actual music.
REA- I guess it would be exciting to see how people would respond to “Ruins”, how was the acceptance to a style that is not very common in your country?
Steve – it went surprisingly well (especially because we got signed to Prosthetic Records as a result) although we see more fans of our music outside the US like in Europe or Japan.
REA- And the rest of the world, what was the feedback with other countries, especially nowadays, in the so-called digital era?
Steve – the great thing about the digital era is that our music has more reach than it would have had otherwise. It is always really cool to see people from all over the world write us back and say they’re fans!
REA- After the release of “Ruins” you had no live activity, could we consider FORETOKEN a studio band in those days?
Steve – you could say that for sure. At that time the band only consisted of me and Dan so playing live would not have been possible. We do have a full line-up now though and are looking forward to playing live.
REA-And from there, how did you approach the creation of this new work that was going to be called “Triumphs”? Did you look for something different when composing and producing with respect to “Ruins”?
Steve – From the beginning Triumphs was written to be an album we could perform live. That meant shorter songs and a lot more hooks.
REA – Personally, I found it a marvel of work. It’s powerful, elegant, fast. In short, a brutal production. Are you happy with the result? Do you think it is better than «Ruins» in all aspects?
Steve – Definitely. We pushed ourselves to write the best record we could. I’m a perfectionist when I write and even a year later I’m still happy with the results.
REA- I guess FORETOKEN would already be a well-known name after the debut and people would recognize you. Have you noticed a better reaction to «Triumphs» compared to «Ruins»?
Dan – We have definitely noticed a better reaction! With Ruin we had a chance to define who we are and with Triumphs we were able to expand on that. I’m particularly happy that we’re gaining fans from the countries where the songs are inspired from!
REA- You released «Ruins» independently and now «Triumphs» with Prosthetic Records. What was it like to sign with this label? Are you noticing a difference when it comes to spreading it, uploading it to platforms and even in the physical product compared to working independently to working with a label?
Dan – When you release an album independently as a new band it’s a lot of hard work – for all the reasons you mentioned. In addition, you send out tons of press kits and messages and receive a lot of nothing in response. Working with the folks at Prosthetic has been great because not only are they super nice but it’s just an awesome feeling to be able to walk into a record store you’ve never been to before and see your music.
REA- Luckily, it seems that you are starting to have dates to play. A band that has new members and great expectations for the near future. Tell us who are these new members, how are you preparing these concerts and what do you expect after this.
Steve – Virginia has a connected metal scene so we have known Chris and Andrew for a few years, and Mike (Tweed) is actually in our other band Cyaegha. They are all really talented musicians and are fun to hang out with so when it came time to put together a lineup they were the obvious choices. We have been practicing for a few months and excited to perform the set live! After this batch of dates we will begin writing our third album. I’ve a few ideas that we can now develop further as a full lineup.
REA- And Europe, what are your chances of ever coming to the old European continent?
Steve – That would be a dream to play a tour or even a few shows. We will try and make that happen if we can.
REA- And right now, what is FORETOKEN for you? Is it your most important project?
Steve – I have two bands and they’re both super important to me (Checkout The Day of the Beast!). Foretoken has always been my sort of “passion project”. I always wanted to have a symphonic death metal project and I’m really happy that it has come as far as it has.
REA- And what would be for you to fulfill a dream with FORETOKEN? What do you aspire to achieve with the band?
Steve – I think playing Wacken Open Air would be a dream come true.
REA- And this is it. It’s been a pleasure. You can say your last words here.
Dan – Thanks for taking time to chat with us! We hope everyone enjoyed Triumphs!
Rock Entre Amigos 