Hello everyone, welcome to another interview from the prog metal underground! This time you will be joining me with Clément Darrieu (lead singer/guitarist and songwriter) and Henri (keyboards) from France’s own Altesia. You might know them from their critically acclaimed Paragon Circus which debuted in 2019. This album impressed the ears of many with its super progressive display of creative songwriting and elaborate, technical musicianship. This album is epic, melodic, and awe-inspiring but also so organic which makes it stand the test of time. Their sound has often been said to be a marriage between Haken’s quirky interludes and epic song structures, and Opeth’s dark atmosphere and memorable guitar sections.
Altesia’s 2019 debut Paragon Circus is thematically about a Pandora’s Box type of scenario, opening up a can-of-worms, that cannot be stopped. This has its implications on where we are as a species, massive wealth inequality, rampant political corruption, destruction of the planet, possible technological singularities, etc. However, in their 2021 sophomore album: Embryo, the band illustrates more of an optimistic response to this gloomy future. There is a glint of hope for us to save ourselves through self-reflection, cleansing the mind of attachments to frivolous things, prioritizing our purposes in life, and developing love and empathy for others.
Hello Clément and the band of Altesia, thank you for joining us for this interview. I have been a fan of your work since your debut in 2019, and I am very impressed with your work in your 2021 sophomore output Embryo. I think it stays true to who you are as a band while changing up your approach enough not to be a rehash of Paragon Circus. Additionally, it is evident that you have grown a lot as a band in terms of the technical and melodic skill in your songwriting; you can now write longer songs, shorter more catchy songs, and in a more cohesive way. However, as an Opeth fan, I will say that I miss the growls.
For our readers who have not yet listened to Altesia, how would you describe the band in your own words?
Clément: Hey Sebastian! First of all, I miss Opeth’s growls too! 😀 But it’s okay, we still have their old records, right? As for Altesia, we are a progressive metal band from France. For us, being “progressive” means we are free in the way we compose, we don’t try to fit within a particular genre and we love to experiment with different approaches, different styles, whether it is jazz, or pop, or djent, or funk or whatever!
To avid prog listeners, you wear your influences on your sleeve. How much do you guys balance conveying music that sounds like your influences and in curating your own sound with experimentation?
Clément: I guess we don’t try to sound like this or that band, even though, as you say, we have some identified influences. On our first album, “Paragon Circus”, maybe they were sometimes a bit too obvious with hindsight, so this time, I’ve opened myself to some new bands I didn’t know before, to try to add some new sounds to my palette. Also, this time, we spent a lot of time on the arrangements as a band, and I think each musician really worked hard to put his own touch to the songs. In the end, you can still feel our influences, but they are maybe more “digested”, and it sounds more personal and authentic.
Henri: My approach when arranging the songs is more about what ‘works’. I don’t think too much about if it sounds too much like so and so, or if it’s “me”, I focus more on if it serves the song. I listen to a wide variety of music, so I have a lot to pick from, and also with experience you start to realise nothing is ever ‘just you’, it comes from somewhere, experimentation is a process all musicians are part of collectively.
With “A Liar’s Oath” and “Mouth of the Sky”, Altesia has been exploring shorter and catchier tracks. What are some of the pros and cons in writing “singles” rather than longer, more experimental compositions?
Clément: Those two songs were written in that particular perspective: to be the two singles off the new album. So it was important, as you mention, to get some catchy choruses and shorter lengths. We made a lot of long songs in our first album “Paragon Circus”, so this time, I wanted to experiment with something different with shorter tracks. It’s a good format to promote a new record with a music video, and it’s also a way to put some fresh air into a show by adding a shorter track in-between two long songs. The biggest difficulty, to me at least, would be to try to make it sound “prog”, knowing that you won’t have a lot of time to develop your ideas, as making a single is the exact opposite of making long prog songs…
Not many progressive metal bands, both underground and in the mainstream, are able to write epic songs (Exit Initia and Cassandra’s Prophesy) that are as cohesive as Altesia’s. What bands do you most look towards as the golden standard for writing epic 15+ minute songs?
Clément : Definitely Haken. They remain one of my biggest influences when I start writing for Altesia, even though I try to detach myself from them, but that’s hard because I’ve been listening to them for such a long time! (Laughs). Their epics, to me, are always the best ones on their records. Though, I don’t try to make a Haken song when I compose. We share tricks and gimmicks I’d say, but I don’t try to sound like them when I compose an epic song or just a casual song. But yes indeed, not all prog bands manage to come up with really good long songs that keep you onboard for 15+ minutes! So it’s definitely a challenge, and we love that! 🙂
Henri: One of the most important things when writing such long songs is to have a progression, especially in terms of dynamics. That’s something that is very obvious in post-rock, for example, Mono has some songs that are like long crescendos. In “Exit Initia” we spent a lot of time working on the final part and the transition leading to it. We ended up with a long, dramatic build-up with a part somewhat inspired by the Requiem, that ends up exploding into the chorus. I think it’s stuff like that that makes it feel like an actual song and not just a juxtaposition of riffs and ideas.
Clément: There are a lot of very interesting prog metal bands, but most of the time, they don’t get the visibility and the success they deserve. Henri told me about that band called Umpfel for example. They’ve made 2 records to date and they are pretty amazing. I also like bands like Ihlo, Soulsplitter, Athemon that is actually a brand new band launched by a very good Brasilian friend of mine (Tom MacLean, Haken’s first bassist plays there as well, you should check them out !). I also like bands that don’t get any limit and that need a bit more time to digest their music like Others By No One or Benthos. I’m probably forgetting a lot of bands here!
Henri: I like to listen to a lot of different music, but I don’t always remember everything… I really like “The Oubliette” by The Reticent, it’s an incredible album that deserves more recognition. I also discovered an incredible Ukrainian band, Obiymy Doschu, that produced a great album, “Son”.
If each of you needed to choose one, what are your guys’ favorite progressive metal albums?
Clément: I discovered progressive metal with Opeth and Porcupine Tree. “Still Life” from Opeth is my favourite from them so I’d pick up this one as this album was a revelation to me, which is something that doesn’t occur very often, to be honest as I’m a very demanding listener! 😀 As we were talking about Haken previously, their album “The Mountain” is a masterpiece to me, the same thing with “Coma Ecliptic” from Between The Buried And Me.
Henri: I probably would have to say “The Mountain” as well, this album is very close to perfect for me, but I also have to say Dream Theater’s “Metropolis Part 2” had a huge impact on me. At the time I was blown away, it made me realize: “wait, can you do this?”
Clément: Right from the start, I was interested in writing a diptych. That’s what I did with “Paragon Circus” and then “Embryo”. As the first one focused on the bleak side of mankind, I wanted the next one to be brighter in terms of concept and lyrics. I’m very interested by man you know. What I love about it, is that it’s not hard science. It’s so complex to try to dig into man’s emotions, past, wounds… So this is a topic that I like to write about.
Embryo can be said to be a very spiritual album in terms of the lyrical themes, without me making any assumptions about the band member’s philosophical/religious backgrounds, I’m very curious to ask whether there are certain schools of thought that inspired the ideas behind Embryo? For example, there are some themes that sound like they could be Buddhist, Christian, or even from the 20th-century French existentialist movement.
Clément: Most inspirations in the lyrics come from personal experiences or personal assessments. Also, I like reading books personal development books and books that invite the reader to think about himself, this is something I try to do in the lyrics as well. Indeed, our albums have a very spiritual and philosophical aspect and I assume that the messages they carry can be seen as religious. Both records are based on reincarnation so I guess there’s a Buddhism influence here indeed. But I don’t necessarily try to share religious topics so to speak, as I don’t know if I can consider myself as a religious person. I guess it’s more about philosophical questionings that I feel the need to talk about.
“This world of misery
Fades from my memory
This life of purity
Will last an eternity”
In the last section of “Exit Initia” there is a melodic/lyrical allusion to “Reminiscence” from Paragon Circus, what does this mean? How are the two albums connected?
Clément: Actually, this is a very obvious wink to our track “Reminiscence” from our first album, but there are a lot of different easter eggs in “Exit Initia” from “Reminiscence”. We could consider “Exit Initia” to be “Reminiscence part 2”. Disclaimer: big boring paragraph incoming (laughs).
As I told you, both albums are linked. “Reminiscence” is about someone that awakes in a white and pure place. He remembers hearing “deafening howls”, witnessing “hopeless rushing crowds” as the lyrics say, but none of that is here anymore. Actually, he’s dead and he’s in some kind of heaven, whatever you believe in when someone passes away, because the main character dies at the end of the last song of that album, “Cassandra’s Prophecy”. As the record is based on reincarnation, this character will live multiple lives throughout his existence, and as his lives go by, he becomes wiser and wiser, learns how to detach himself from his own demons, and becomes a guide to others. So in “Exit Initia”, he dies for the last time, and ascends towards the sky and finds himself in the same pure and white world he found himself in, in “Reminiscence”. So actually, “Reminiscence” was a flash-forward of “Exit Initia”‘s end. At the end of the day, he has finalised his quest and his soul won’t have any physical existence anymore as he has learnt what he had to learn. Now, he will guide the others from the sky, just like he was guided throughout his existence by other ascended souls. Are you still there? 😀
Could Embryo be seen as a canonical sequel to Paragon Circus?
Clément: I think you have enough elements in my previous answer to understand how they are linked 😀 So yes, “Embryo” is definitely a sequel to “Paragon Circus”. Both concepts were written together right from the start.
Now that we have a duality of albums, where do you speculate Altesia will go from here stylistically?
Clément: Who knows? As we said, we don’t have any limit, so we might come back with a punk-ska didgeridoo Eastern influenced album? (Laughs). More seriously, I think “Embryo” was more direct than “Paragon Circus” and at the moment I’m interested in trying to dive in that direction, but this might change! I don’t want to plan anything in advance! 🙂
Henri: Speaking as the keyboardist, I’m really interested in crafting more intricate arrangements for the songs. “Embryo” is much deeper than “Paragon Circus” in that respect. I listened to a lot of power/symphonic metal in my youth and I think that has inspired me through this, although I don’t really want to get that “orchestral” sound, I’d like to keep a more grounded, organic approach to the sound.
Again, thank you guys for the interview. This process of reviewing your album and asking you questions has been a pleasure for me. Are there any closing remarks you’d like to share?
Clément: We’d like to share those who support us. We play music for ourselves first, but we would not be there if we couldn’t share our music with our lovely fans! Check out our music if you will, and follow your dreams! Thank you guys!
Thanks again for everything, you are a great band and we’d love to hear more from you in the future.
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