Coming back from their previous 2019 Dusk/Dawn EP release, UK Metalcore band Virtue In Vain transforms their sound this year with a new dark, heavy, and melodic single "The Whispers of Sleep."
In the metalcore industry with a plethora of bands competing in the same space, it's often hard to go off the beaten path and beat to the tune of your own drum. We often want to take inspiration from the bands and artists we are charmed with when we first want to create a band but to divert from known status-quos in the industry? That's another matter entirely.
“I had a nightmare one night and when I woke up, I couldn't separate the dream from reality. It really shook me as I had never experienced that before. It also got me thinking about how our dreams are created. The experiences in our lives, both good and bad, are repeated or even altered in our dreams, which we then live in the false reality without knowing. It was weird to think that some of my dreams have come from moments that happened a long time ago, but in that dream, it felt so real. ” - Hywel Thomas (Vocalist)
It takes guts and a certain inner strength to back up that kind of dream, especially when you are less experienced in the metalcore genre game. For bands like Virtue in Vain, these risks have always paid in dividends, flanked by rewards. While there is no greater reward than being true to yourself musically, perhaps the greatest of rewards comes from knowing that you have grown precisely from that.
While their new single, "The Whispers of Sleep," leaves the tale in the tape that the band has down some maturing from their 2019 EP Dusk/Dawn, Virtue in Vain shows promise and vision that wealth and how well-known you are have no business in making good music, but commitment and passion for your craft surely does.
What started Virtue in Vain? What is the story behind the name?
Hywel: I (Hywel) started the band and wanted to create music that others would enjoy and help anyone along the way. The band name Virtue In Vain is in essence the idea of anti-idolisms. The name portrays the idea that you shouldn’t have to look up or follow the same path as someone or something just because it has been portrayed as successful.
That just because you take the path less traveled, doesn’t make your view any less valid. We are all different and wealth and success have no bearing on character.
What are your music influences? What bands or artists make you so passionate about the music you make?
Hywel: Within the band, it ranges massively. I would say there are a few bands that really shaped us. First, Make Them Suffer - Their music is amazing and the guitarist has taught both myself (Hywel) and our guitarist (Emyr) guitar, which really helped us adapt our writing to the next level.
The Devil Wears Prada - They are a huge inspiration for this band. For me (Hywel), they are the reason I started making music and have a love for making it, so without them, this band would not have started.
Architects are a huge inspiration for us with the style of music and the raw energy they have.
Napoleon - This band was the first artist our Guitarist (Emyr) watched live. They had a huge influence on our sound and were a big reason we decided to continue as a four piece band and write the way we do.
All these bands have shaped us, but even the bands who we have shared the stage with and become friends and fans of shaped us and made us even more passionate about music.
How has this creative process for your single "The Whispers of Sleep" been different from the last two albums you made in 2019 and 2014 instrumentally?
Hywel: Creatively we approached this one from a different perspective due to the pandemic, so being unable to meet up with each other. During the pandemic, I (Hywel) decided to learn guitar as I had a lot of time being stuck inside. So when we came to writing the song, we went back and forth a lot more before landing on the finished product. I feel that that constant back and forth on song ideas help bring out the best of our music and never settle for less than the expectations we have of ourselves.
Lyrically speaking, "The Whispers of Sleep" deals with moments of our dreams or nightmares, where we can't figure out at times if they are real or not. It is an intriguing concept and one that many people go through. What made you guys want to talk about this?
Hywel: This started when I (Hywel) had a nightmare one night and when I woke up, I couldn't separate the dream from reality. It really shook me as I had never experienced that before. It also got me thinking about how our dreams are created. The experiences in our lives, both good and bad, are repeated or even altered in our dreams, which we then live in the false reality without knowing.
It was weird to think that some of my dreams have come from moments that happened a long time ago, but in that dream, it felt so real.
So ‘The Whispers Of Sleep’ is about that feeling of being unable to tell if it's a dream or real, and what lives in our subconscious to create those dreams.
It has been a while since you guys released your last album Dusk/Dawn coming into your new single now in 2022. In what ways do you feel you have grown and changed since your last full release as a band?
Hywel: It feels completely different. The way we approach writing a song now has altered. Our taste and the standard we want to write towards have grown.
For us, it was nice to have that time to ourselves during the pandemic to recoup and recharge. Coming back out of it, we are hungry to play shows as we have always felt that this is where we shine and really show what this band is about.
Coming out of Dusk/Dawn, we felt we had grown as musicians and that we felt that musically it was what we wanted from the EP. So in our next release, we want to raise the bar and release something special.
I know this is just the single that was released this month, but is "The Whispers of Sleep" leading up to something bigger?
Hywel: Yes it is. Our releases so far have been chapters in a story we are trying to tell. This single is a little side story we wanted to tell before going on to the next chapter of the story.
What is next for you guys this year?
Hywel: We are writing our next EP as we speak and currently have a few tours in the pipeline which are yet to be announced.
We are excited to go back to watching and playing live music and seeing the music scene come back to life.
Commentaires