Swiss nu-metal/metalcore band CHAOSEUM releases one of their most tenebrous and destructively ethereal albums to date, The Third Eye. The creative heavyweights talk about how their band got started and how their third full release came to fruition.
Swiss nu-metal/metalcore band CHAOSEUM has been building their own unique universe and identity since 2018. Loïc Duruz and Valery Veings (formerly of Symphonic Metal band ELFERYA) founded the band with the intention of not only creating one of the most visually striking bands in the scene, but also the music to back it up. With Queen, Genesis, Deftones, God Forbid, and Iron Maiden, CHAOSEUM would take a mixture of all these iconic acts to detail their first album, which would give them the success to have their first US tour with Soulfly. Later that year, they would garner more attention for a second tour with TARYA in Russia.
"The theme of this album is death, but death under different aspects. One track talks about it in the literal sense, another symbolically as the end of an era, a relationship, or simply an experience, but it can also symbolize a new beginning, another track approaches the subject in a very fantasy-driven way." Loïc Duruz (Vocalist)
From there, the band would release their second powerfully atmospheric album, Second Life. After fine-tuning their tenebrous and aggressive arsenal, the band have released their current album, The Third Eye. Vehement and destructively ethereal from start to finish, CHAOSEUM is not changing the way they do things, but simply evolving from their experiences. While the young metalcore act has only been around a few years, they are quickly showing that it is not how long you have been around in the scene that you need to make a good impression, but merely creativity, tenacity, and talent to move that forward.
What started Chaoseum? What is the story behind the name of the band?
Loïc - Valery and I (Loïc) left our old band to form a band to play a maximum of gigs. Greg (Drums) joined us and I contacted CK to join the band as a singer. We love horror films and were inspired by The Freak Show for our visual identity. We had to find a name that would fit perfectly with our universe... and that's when we found CHAOSEUM.
What are your musical influences? What was the direction you were taking with your new album? It feels like your appearance and your sound are almost symbiotic, they are very fluid with one another. Both have dark, progressive, and sinister qualities to them.
Loïc - Our influences are very varied. We can take inspiration from bands like Queen, Genesis, Deftones, God Forbid, and Iron Maiden. We wanted to have an extraordinary universe on this album with many variations of music styles. We wanted to make it sound like Nu Metal but also with an electro and even pop mix on some tracks. But still keeping the heavy and powerful side of Chaoseum.
What was the creative process like going into this? How was that different from your last album, Second Life? Yes, Second life combines the two genres you do best, nu-metal and metalcore, but it's an album that sought to create its own identity, and I feel that was achieved in many ways. How did you find ways to capitalize on what you already did with this album?
Loïc - We haven't really changed the way we compose. We just evolve…We wanted to be more creative by adding more variations and being more eclectic.
Lyrically, what was your narrative scope going into your new album, The Third Eye? There is so much to dive into here.
Loïc - The theme of this album is death, but death under different aspects. One track talks about it in the literal sense, another symbolically as the end of an era, a relationship, or simply an experience, but it can also symbolize a new beginning, another track approaches the subject in a very fantasy-driven way.
What have you taken from this new album experience as an artist? What do you want listeners to take from this, whether they are coming in through The Third Eye or have been here since the beginning?
Loïc - I think people will remember that the Swiss know how to make metal music and not only watches or chocolate, haha. We learned a lot during the composition and recording of this album. We tried to mix all our influences, especially by adding some funny electro parts. But we won't stop there!
What is next for you guys?
Loïc - We will be working on the next shows, as well as on the promotion of our album and the booking of our 2023 tour.