Sounds | White Stones, Drowned In Time
- John Van de Mergel
- 29 feb 2020
- 4 minuten om te lezen
Als Mikael niet meer wil grunten, dan zal ik het zelf maar doen, moet Martin Mendez gedacht hebben. En dus haalde hij, naast zijn strot, zijn schrijtalent boven en verblijdt hij ons met deze eerste single van het aankomende debuutalbum.
Kuarahy verschijnt op 13 maart via Nuclear Blast. Drowend In Time is de voorbode en wordt gekoppeld aan een prachtige lyric video.
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From Martin Mendez, bassist of the ubiquitous Opeth comes White Stones, a solo project that rapidly became much more. Named after his birthplace in Uruguay, the record represents a return to his roots, both familial and musical- exploring the forgotten paths of his ancestors by way of the style of music that remains his one true love- death metal. The creative process for White Stonesā debut album Kuarahy (pronounced Kwa-Ra-Hee) began during a year-long break Opeth took after the Sorceress tour, a means of unwinding by exploring new avenues of creativity, but initially it was never meant to be anything more. āIāve always written music at home but never had the confidence to do anything like this,ā says Mendez, āI never wrote a song, never presented something I wrote for Mikael (Ć kerfeldt, Opeth singer/songwriter)ā he continues. āI didnāt have any direction, I came up with the first song for fun. I used to sing death metal 25 years ago, and the plan was for me to sing, as Iād written it all, but when it came to it, I didnāt feel comfortable at all!ā This discomfort proved the key to unlocking further inspiration. A long time native of Stockholm, Sweden since leaving Uruguay at the age of seventeen, the now 41-year-old Mendez relocated to Barcelona two years ago with his partner and two children. Barcelona has in some way, he reflects, become something of a bridge between his past life in Uruguay and his more recent years spent in Europe- a home from home, if you will. āI feel strongly connected to Uruguay still,ā he reflects. āI wanted to write music related to that- the sun on the Uruguayan flag I transformed into the White Stones logo; there are a lot of small things that connect the record to that place. Kuarahy is the native Uruguayan peopleās word for āSunā.ā It was in Barcelona he met Eloi Boucherie, who owned and operated the sparse but functional Farm Of Sounds studio. The two became friends. āHeās also a singer in Catalonian death metal band Vidres A La Sang. I asked him to record my vocals, but when I realised it wasnāt working, I asked if he wanted to try. He was great! We recorded six songs in only a couple of days.ā Martin sent the tracks to Jaime Gomezās UK-based Orgone studios for a professional quality mix, a process that went so well that Gomez would eventually go on to mix and master the finished record- ten tracks of accessibly pulsating, groove-oriented death metal with a classic twist. āI really had one thing in mind,ā he enthuses, āto be groovy- you have to groove, no matter what style of music you play. I recorded with a Fender Stratocaster with just a tiny bit of distortion- thatās rare for death metal, and then made the bass really distorted and fat to bring heaviness to the music.ā With a progressive edge and plenty of Latin flair, Mendezās musical lineage is evident in every note of Kuarahy. He played all guitars and bass on the record, except for the solos; he brought some friends in for those- Opethās Frederik Akesson playing lead on all tracks except for āThe Oneā, which features a solo from Per Eriksson of Katatonia and Bloodbath fame. With White Stones rapidly turning into a serious proposition, Mendez then sought out a touring line up including Eloi Boucherie on vocals and former Cruciamentum drummer Jordi FarrĆ©, who also recorded drums for the record. He added Albert MartĆ and Joao Sassetti on rhythm and lead guitars respectively. They will play their first show at Hollandās Prognosis festival in 2020, with no tour as yet scheduled. Aware of how much Opeth polarised opinion with their departure from death metal on 2011ās Heritage, Mendez is keen to affirm that White Stones not be seen as a rejection of his day job- quite the opposite. āI am 100% comfortable with what weāre doing with Opeth- itās the best thing we could have done; I donāt think weād be around today if we had done another death metal record. I love the challenges Opeth presents, we experiment a lot in the studio. When it comes to me writing death metal for White Stones, itās the style of metal I like the most. Iāve loved Morbid Angel since I was a kid- death metal is inside me. White Stones is nothing to do with Opeth, I see no relation between the two. I played Kuarahy to Mikael a few months ago, he really liked it and was happy for me. Everyone in the band has side projects, itās important- we tour so much you can become consumed by it; it has been really nice to do something different. White Stones has renewed my strength and energy.ā
(Bron : White Stones)
