Interview: The Dali Thundering Concept

I recently had the opportunity to chat with the guys in The Dali Thundering Concept about a multitude of things including their upcoming album “Savages”, tour plans, and overall influences.

“Savages” is due out April 13th via Apathia records and is able to be preordered on Bandcamp! Catch them on tour with Jinjer this May across Europe!

What made you come up with the concept of the new album? Was it more difficult to write a concept album as opposed to just a normal one?

As soon as we released Eyes Wide Opium we knew what would come next. After a vindictive speech we felt that taking the time to build a credible scenario of humanity’s future would be an interesting exercise and a hell of a challenge. But the concept doesn’t stop there, Savages couldn’t just be a story or an album for it to be worth the work. Savages is the whole package, the research, the composing, de videos, the art, etc.

A concept album is probably harder to write as you define an evolution in the music, the lyrics and visual universe around it and all the pieces of the puzzle must match together. To be totally honest we had already done concept with Eyes Wide Opium and When X met Y but we to took Savages an extra mile and it took us over three years a make it right.

What kind of records were you all listening to during the writing/recording process?

Sylvain : Molotov Solution – Insurrection . It’s intense, the lyrics and vindictive as fuck and Nick Arthur has an incredible voice. This album bitchslaps me everytime!

Léo : Between the Buried and Me, because they released incredible stuff in terms of melody and harmony, 70’s inspired, that we never heard before, providing a really special mix of atmospheres between joy and anxiety and Devin Townsend. His arrangements are so intense so smart and so epic.

Martin : For me it’s a return to the roots. I use the listen to a lot of older music I listened with my parents when I was young (Level 42, Steely Dan, etc.). Working a lot on metal music productions, I focus a lot on this aspects and now rarely manage to feel all the emotions I would expect. Then I definitely listen to other styles.

Steve : Jinger – King of Nothing. That’s my personal favorite metal album of last years. This band has been growing so fast and really brought something different in the female fronted metal scene.

How difficult is it to write lyrics in a different language other than your native tongue? What kind of lyrical themes are present on “Savages”?

Sylvain, our vocalist, grew up in England and is fluent so language isn’t a problem in the writing. Savages is a three chapter prediction of humanity’s future. Three characters, normal people, describe their time, their world through their lives, actions and emotions. The subjects we bring on the table go from today’s society and its consequences to the inability of mankind to learn its lessons, passing by ecology, geopolitics, war, and a lot more.

If you could tour with any bands (past or present), who would you tour with?

Fit For an Autopsy, because it was awesome opening for then a few years ago, and because The Great Collapse was an absolute killer album, probably one of the best deathcore albums of the year in our opinion.

Meshuggah for obvious reasons. They’ve influenced most of the modern metal bands, they’ve been doing a unique music for years and they’re not just good at it, they’re freaking fabulous!

Devin Townsend Project, it would be a particular lineup but we don’t care, the man is a damn genius. We’re big fans of Strapping Young Lad and loved what Devin did in this project, the hilarious comments, the aerial music, the brutality. He even did a musical! He is such a good influence for us in terms of composition and limitless concept.

And just for the sake of using the opportunity of bringing the dead back from the grave let’s say Queen, Jimmy Hendrix, Ray Charles and Georges Fucking Brassens!

Any plans on touring to celebrate the release?

For sure, we’ll be touring with Jinjer in May for a start and have a lot of things planned for the 2018!

Anything you’d like to tell your fans that are anxious to hear the album?

We love you and cannot wait to share Savages in its entirety with you guys.