The Metal Crypt - Armory Interview

Interviews

Interview with Adam Kurland (Lead singer)
Interview conducted by MetalMike

Date online: August 29, 2009

Thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to give us some insight into the world of Armory! First and foremost, your chosen genre of Heavy Metal, namely Power Metal, isn't all that popular in the US these days. What made you choose Power Metal? What were the "gateway" bands?

Greetings, MetalMike. Armory is influenced by different styles of Heavy Metal but the main influences of the chief song writers are traditional Heavy Metal along with Progressive Power Metal. Some of the gateway bands of these styles include: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, and many, many more.

Who came up with the name "Armory?"

My brother Joe came up with the name Armory. I think the logic behind it was that in medieval times an armory was meant for defending with metal and steel. Thus, Armory could be symbolically viewed as defending Heavy Metal in modern times.

What are some of the challenges with playing Power Metal in the US? It isn't like there are a lot of big acts to open up for or even many smaller venues that cater to music that isn't "nu" or "core."

This is true. We don't care for nu-metal or core-metal and this can be an issue when these types of bands are popular in our area. We have not played many shows yet but the ones we have played we've gotten a good response. So I feel like it's more that a lot of these people simply haven't been exposed to our style of metal as opposed to they don't like it.

Enough about the challenges, I, for one, am glad bands like Armory are keeping the spirit of Heavy Metal alive. Are you finding there is a significant audience in the US? Where have you played to the biggest crowds?

We've only played a handful of shows at relatively small venues but I feel that our music could generate fairly large audiences. Although we value our live show, we've always been a band that focuses more on making quality full-length albums as opposed to focusing on playing many small shows while releasing only demos and EPs. Once we have enough material and gained further recognition, I think we should be able to play larger venues across the U.S.

Have you had a chance to play outside the US? If so, which place was the best and which was the worst?

Unfortunately we have not played outside the U.S. But this will all change when we headline next year's Wacken Open Air festival…j/k!

What was the inspiration for the title of The Dawn of Enlightenment?

The Dawn of Enlightenment refers to an awakening both musically and philosophically. My two brothers and I (who write all the lyrics) are very much into metaphysics, epistemology, and cosmology. These lyrical themes will be even more prevalent on our second album.

Most of the lyrics are fairly epic, which is not uncommon in Power Metal. Where do you draw your lyrical inspiration from?

The lyrics for the album The Dawn of Enlightenment are centered around listening to your inner voice to discover your beliefs rather than following set doctrines and organized views. Ultimately, utilizing the power of will to arrive at your own chosen path. Some of these ideas are written as symbolic undertones to more typical Power Metal lyrics about warriors and quests. Inspiration for these lyrics comes from bands such as Lost Horizon, but also thinkers dedicated to searching for the truth such as William James, F.H. Bradley, and Carl Sagan.

Have you had any record label interest in the band and The Dawn of Enlightenment? If you could choose, which company would you like to sign with?

Although we've had many positive reviews and our album is being sold on various distribution labels around the world, not too many labels have shown an interest in signing Armory yet. I don't think we have a certain label in mind that we'd like to get signed to. If it happens, it happens, but we're not going to let the fact that we're unsigned prevent us from making music.

The Dawn of Enlightenment was originally released in 2004 and re-recorded in 2007. That means it's been about 5 years since you released any new material. You must have some new music ready to go. What are you plans for future releases? Any new albums or EPs on the near horizon?

It is true that the ten songs on The Dawn of Enlightenment are all that's been released since 2004. However, the versions of the songs on the 2004 demo have been reworked and rerecorded for the 2007 release. So the overall delivery is much different. I guess a good comparison of this would be Edguy's release of Savage Poetry in 1995 and rereleased as The Savage Poetry in 2000. But yes, we have been working on new songs for a while now and are currently in the process of recording our second album, Empyrean Realms. We're expecting a 2010 release for this grand opus.

What was the first concert you went to? What show(s) did you miss that you regret? I tried to talk my parents into taking me to see Judas Priest on the Screaming for Vengeance tour with Iron Maiden opening in 1983, but no dice...

The first concert I ever went to was Sepultura in 1999. Although I would have preferred seeing them in 1991! I guess I was born a generation late as the best concerts I would have liked to see were from the 80s. Seeing bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Savatage, Manowar, Virgin Steele, Yngwie Malmsteen, Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Metallica, Megadeth, and Ozzy Osbourne in the 80s would have been a dream come true.

If you could open for any band in the world right now, who would it be?

I would say either Iron Maiden, Helloween, or Edguy.

Are any of the band members involved in other projects, perhaps in different styles of music, or is everyone 100% focused on Armory?

Our bassist Tom is in a Progressive Death Metal band called Soul Remnants and our keyboardist Pete is in a few other bands: Graveheart (Death/Thrash Metal), Frozen (Progressive Melodic Death Metal), and Vomitron (Experimental/Video game Metal). Any fan of Nintendo music and metal NEEDS to check out Vomitron! Keep an eye out for the upcoming album, No NES For The Wicked.

What do the members of Armory do when they aren't writing, rehearsing, playing live, etc.?

We have day jobs and some of us are taking graduate classes. Other than that we enjoy reading, discussing, and watching shows on philosophical, psychological, and scientific topics. Other interests include: bodybuilding, tennis, drinking fine wines, and of course listening to plenty of Heavy Metal!

You mention Nintendo games in the "thanks" section of your album insert. What games are you playing now?

When I do play video games it is usually from original Nintendo or Super Nintendo. I'm not playing any games at the moment but I did beat the original Final Fantasy not too long ago!

Priest or Maiden?

Love 'em both. But I'm gonna have to go with Maiden.

Thanks again for your time! Anything else you'd like us to know that I didn't cover?

We want to say thanks to all the Armoroids around the world who have supported us. Get ready for our second album, Empyrean Realms, in 2010. Stay metal!

Good luck and I'm looking forward to checking out the live show in the near future!

Other information about Armory on this site

Review: The Dawn of Enlightenment

Review: Empyrean Realms