Congratulations on the release of your latest album, “Human Deception”! How has the response been so far from both fans and critics?
Hello and thank you for the congratulations! So far the opinions about the album are very satisfying for us, the critics noticed all the most important changes in the new songs, and the fans like the fact that we keep our identity while we make it grow and enrich with new elements.
“Human Deception” is your 6th full-length album. How do you feel the band’s sound and style have evolved throughout the years?
Definitely a lot! Methedras has always been a band which wanted to mix together Thrash and Death Metal, never afraid to put some new ingredient in its music, and this is something that you can listen album by album, for example at the beginning there wasn’t any electronic or orchestral part in the songs: it all came from the will to experiment to set the bar higher every time that we start to compose new stuff.
Can you share some insight into the inspiration and creative process behind “Human Deception”? What themes or concepts influenced the lyrics and music on this album?
It has different influences, for example some lyrics are observations about the behavior of the persons during the pandemic years (like “Know It All”, “Injected Thoughts” or “A New Deal”) while other songs are more into personal life experiences (“Layers Of Grief”, “Enraged”, “Another Fall”) and some others are influenced by deep thematics like the sadly famous nuclear incident in “Chernobyl”, or the critic to our society and its problems (“Envy Society”). It isn’t a concept album, but I can say that the title sharply reflect the thoughts that we wanted to share with our music.
Your music combines elements of both thrash and death metal. How do you balance these two genres in your compositions, and what do you think sets METHEDRAS apart from other bands in this genre?
We always wanted to maintain our thrash-death roots, but on the other hand we have a strong will to experiment and to always put some new ingredient in the recipe, so this is the natural fuel to try to do something different and remarkable.
Italy has a rich history of metal bands. What impact do you think being part of the Italian metal scene has had on METHEDRAS’s sound and overall musical identity?
I think that the Italian metal scene has a lot of great bands, during the last years the quality of the productions has grown a lot and it means that there is the will to always set the bar higher. This is a good thing for the scene and it positively affected our will to play and to record new music at our best.
Are there any specific bands or artists that have influenced METHEDRAS’s musical style and approach? How have these influences shaped your sound?
It’s more about the genres than the bands, we always wanted to mix the thrash metal from the Bay Area, and the melodic death metal from Sweden, but for sure bands like Machine Head, Testament, Soilwork and Carcass influenced our songs through the years.
Touring and live performances are an integral part of being a band. Can fans expect a tour in support of “Human Deception”? Are there any specific countries or cities you’re particularly excited to play in?
Yes, we’re doing the first steps to make it possible! We have already been on tour on May, just few weeks before the release of the album, playing in the eastern Europe, but we would like to arrange something in country like Germany, France, Spain, UK to widely present the album and meet new fans!
With each album release, bands often face pressure to meet or exceed their previous successes. Do you believe there was any added pressure while working on “Human Deception”? How did you overcome any challenges during the production process?
I think that the production process went so naturally good, of course we faced some issues on some songs, mainly about their arrangements, but we worked better in rehearsals room than the past, sharing more ideas together and jamming on the riffs recorded at home. Considering that in the meanwhile there was a pandemic, we developed the album doing our best and the result is very satisfying!
What has been the most memorable or significant moment for METHEDRAS throughout your musical career so far, and why?
There were a lot of memorable moments during the band’s life, we played a lot all over the world, touring 3 continents, personally I think that the best moments are two: when we toured supporting Overkill and Sanctuary, because that was our first tour at that level and it confirmed us the belief that we could be there. The second one is the show in Bucharest supporting Slayer, which was one of the best live and stage so far!
As a band that has been active for several years, how do you stay motivated and inspired to continue creating music, and what goals do you hope to achieve with METHEDRAS in the future?
We have never stopped during these years. One of the secrets about it is to have common goals and the will to work hard and to achieve them, through the years the band changed a lot (Andrea is the only band founder left) but always for the best and keeping that flame alive, challenging ourselves to play the best music we can.
Finally, what message or emotions do you hope listeners take away from “Human Deception” and the overall METHEDRAS discography? Thank you for the interview!
I hope that everyone who listen to our music can feel our soul and the passion we put in what we do, and that the songs can make headbanging more and more fans! Thank you for supporting us, we hope to play in Greece soon!
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METHEDRAS – PSYCHOTIC VIDEOCLIP 2023
METHEDRAS – ENVY SOCIETY VIDEOCLIP 2023
