by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
The concept of a happy place in afterlife, whether you call it heaven, paradise or Elysium, has been a source of inspiration for countless artists throughout centuries. And it still is so, even if there’s a dark contemporary twist added to an otherwise idyllic vision of eternal bliss – like on Vanishing Point’s newly released Dead Elysium. But it’s not all doom and gloom on the Melbourne-based Melodic Metal outfit’s latest offering… As the band’s guitarist Chris Porcianko points out, the human kind still has a choice as “…we can either make some form of positive change from within or we can flounder and just exist.” Hardrock Haven caught up with Chris to find out more about the album, the circumstances of making it and whatever they meant by the concept of “lost paradise”.
Chris Porcianko: There were a culmination of factors as to why it took so long to complete the album, firstly when Distant Is The Sun was released we toured quite a bit in Australia and we also toured New Zealand and Japan for the first time as well as played Progpower in Atlanta back in 2016. When we came home from Progpower Atlanta we went straight into the studio to start Dead Elysium. One of the things that I think mostly was the case with the album taking so long was because our vocalist Silvio was in hospital twice with an illness and he actually lost his singing voice for a year and a half which was rather scary. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to sing again to be honest and that was a shock initially, but he underwent vocal rehabilitation/training and basically learnt how to sing again. Thankfully, he is back with a stronger voice, which is a big relief for us. The other thing that happened was unfortunately during that time Silvio’s Father passed away and a year later his Mother passed away, so naturally we had to give him time to get his head together as music was the furthest thing on his mind at that point. Thankfully, we are still here and we appreciate everyone waiting for us after all this time.
Hardrock Haven: What were the band members up to artistically during this period of hiatus and how do the experiences of the last six years translate into your latest effort?
Chris Porcianko: It was a case more or less of trying to keep one’s mind busy so James and myself wrote a lot of new material that will be on future releases. It wasn’t a case of just sitting and waiting, we tried to use it as productively as possible with the situation we had at that time. The other thing is we are all doing this part time as it unfortunately doesn’t pay the bills and we have families to look after, so it was more or less a case of juggling as much as possible and at the same time trying to keep a relatively positive mindset. It was also one of those situations where we did lose some band members in that time, so it was tough because we had to find some new guys who wanted to be in the band and push forward. Looking back at it in a way, I don’t know how we managed to pull it off to be honest with you as we lost a lot of money and there were times when it was a pretty bleak outlook, but thankfully we pushed through.
Hardrock Haven: Speaking of these line-up changes, what did Gaston and Damien bring into the band?
Chris Porcianko: Damien and Gaston joined Vanishing Point early this year before the album came out. As the album was already finished from a year ago we just regrouped and started rehearsing with the new guys. They are great guys and equally fantastic musicians with a really good outlook which definitely helps after all the hell we went through (laughs). We pretty much write a lot of music and we can’t wait to get creative with Damien and Gaston because they are both great songwriters and multi instrumentalists, so in a sense I think there are going to be some great new ideas coming from both of them which we are looking forward to!
Hardrock Haven: When an album comes put after such a long time, the general assumption is that the artist kept on collecting songs and ideas for it for years and perfecting them in slightest detail. Is it true in your case?
Chris Porcianko: Yes and no to a degree to be honest, with the songs on Dead Elysium it was more a case of they felt good and the overwhelming consensus at the time was that the songs felt strong for the album and that was it pretty much. I think I have around 30 or so songs already written and pre-produced for future material and while it’s great to have so many songs at our disposal we aren’t a band that is going to say “okay, we need to have x amount of heavy and fast songs on an album”, it’s more a case if we feel the songs are good then they are good. I write a lot of music for Vanishing Point and in that we are talking full songs, because when I get a creative flow happening then I just go with it. I don’t think too much of the process behind it. When the creative juices are flowing then I just ride the wave. Sometimes I write eight full songs in three weeks and sometimes I write two songs in one month. It’s honestly something that I don’t think too much about because there always seems to be more than enough new stuff for us to record. Overall, I enjoy the spontaneity of creating music so I honestly go with the flow.
Hardrock Haven: In spite of the Prog elements in your music, your songs are relatively concise. Is it a deliberate attempt to distance yourselves from the Progressive Rock/Metal cliche and the ‘style-over-substance’ kind of approach?
Chris Porcianko: That’s a good question and I think in a sense it may come across that way but honestly we just do what we do. We are fans of a lot of Progressive/Prog Metal stuff but I think we just play music within our limits and do the best we can do within our sound. It’s not overly complicated and full of constant time signature changes, it’s more the song at the end of the day that matters for us. The main aim for Vanishing Point since day one has always been like this – if the song is good, then its good. It might have many riffs and changes to it or the song might be straight ahead and more in a Hard Rock vein with a VP twist so to speak (laughs) So, it’s not really something we on purpose try to do when writing our music.
Hardrock Haven: What many reviewers also point out to is that Vanishing Point blends Prog Rock elements with really infectious melodies. Is this effect easy to achieve?
Chris Porcianko: I think that has always been our aim and that is to just write and perform melodic music, we at times do blend some Prog elements into our music but I’m not entirely sure if we could classify ourselves as a Prog metal band or anything like that… But who knows, maybe in the future we might up the ante in terms of Progressive elements to our music. There are definitely some cool ideas in our new songs that we have written. At the end of the day I let the listener and the reviewer makes up their minds about it (laughs). In a sense, we are comfortable within our sound, so to speak, and I think we write cool music. We are happy and grateful that people out there like it – some won’t of course as well and that’s perfectly ok as well.
Hardrock Haven: I think it’s basic knowledge what Elysium was in Greek mythology, so is the titular ‘dead Elysium’ your vision of lost paradise? What’s the idea behind that title?
Chris Porcianko: Oh, you are good! (laughs) That’s very close to be honest with you. The title Dead Elysium is more a phrase in terms of how the current climate is in the world whether it be with the changing environment or unstable situation we are in at the moment where many people are tense with general instability and of course the pandemic to a degree as well. It’s more or less pertaining to the concept that heaven and hell are both earthly and we can either make some form of positive change from within or we can flounder and just exist. With that existence though the question is for example in the song “Count Your Days” – do you just accept that what happened yesterday won’t affect your tomorrow, or do you look within yourself to make some form of positive change? It’s hard to pinpoint one angle to the album title because in a way it’s not only focused on one topic lyrically per se. We generally write about how we feel as individuals as well and we always let the listener make up their own minds how the songs make them feel. We aren’t here to change the world, but in that 60 or so minutes that the listener has to take in the album, we hope that the music and the feel to the album makes them feel something and perhaps provide some form of connection.
Hardrock Haven: Can Dead Elysium be named a concept album? Why/why not?
Chris Porcianko: To tell you the truth, we felt when we were recording the album that in a sense it has that concept album feel, but honestly I think it’s best for the listener to make up their own minds. It’s not something that we focused on – what we did focus on to a degree was making sure that each song in a way had its own identity. Could it be a conceptual album for today’s climate? Sure it could be, but for example when we finished the album it was well over a year ago and then when we received the artwork for the album cover it was roughly October 2019. Little did we know that months later Australia would have more severe bushfires, then flooding and then the pandemic, so yeah, it maybe could be looked upon as some form of concept album but honestly that is all a pure coincidence.
Hardrock Haven: Your music, new and older, has a clearly cinematic vibe to it. Is envisioning a certain story – a scenario of sorts – in your mind a part of your songwriting process?
Chris Porcianko: Absolutely. I love creating atmosphere with orchestration etc. when I’m writing. I’m a big fan of cinematic music and in the last eight or so years I’ve really dived into the world of orchestrations to a degree within Vanishing Point’s music. For me, it’s always been about creating certain textures of sounds within our music and also having a vocalist like Silvio who can sing in an aggressive manner but also melodic and sultry to a degree makes my job so much easier and enjoyable as a song writer. I’ve always been a fan of movie soundtracks and I think in a sense I always wanted to – from a long time ago – create that sound within our music that has that emotional kind of element to it. Maybe it’s that nostalgic factor of seeing all those movies so many years ago as a kid and thinking, “I love this stuff, maybe some drums and guitars etc. and this will be pretty good” (laughs). In terms of telling an actual story within the song, I think it creates a cool ambience/ atmosphere to our music, so we just go with it!
Hardrock Haven: How important do you think details like album title or a cover artwork are to the listening experience one has with the album?
Chris Porcianko: I think very important, because it creates a form of atmosphere and expectation to a degree in terms of how the album will play out as a whole. But I must be honest with you, it’s not like we had the album cover idea in our heads from the start of the recording. That came along later in when we completed the album when we were arranging the track order etc. What we did find was that everything seemed to fit in nicely, it just happened to be after we all listened to the album in its entirety once it was done. I personally was really hoping for a vinyl release of the album as I could see how cool it would have looked with all the imagery going on, plus I come from a time when I would buy a record, sit and listen to it and read every note in the liner notes. One day we will get something sorted for the album, but due to lack of finances and backing it was not to be at the present time unfortunately. Which, I admit, sucks because many people contacted us asking for vinyl but there was nothing we could do. We will make sure it happens in the future though.
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed for that as it would be really amazing to see Dead Elysium released on vinyl! But speaking of your music’s availability in different formats, with the new album’s inclusion on various popular Spotify playlists, do you think the future of your music is actually in digital distribution?
Chris Porcianko: I think in terms of people discovering new music etc. it definitely has its place, but although we are grateful that people are discovering our music, I think the downside is that it also has its negatives. For example, whenever one of my favorite artists released an album years ago, I would eagerly await its release and pre-order the CD, whereas nowadays it’s all there straight away which is all great and all… but like I mentioned previously, you can hear the music but you don’t get a chance to read the liner notes of the art and appreciate all the extra effort that is put into it. Music is always the main focus on any album and that will always be but for how long will bands be able to sustain themselves if everything goes fully digital… who knows? The other thing with music is there are so many great visual artists who provide excellent work to the music with front covers, but in my opinion there is also equal visual magic in the inner sleeves/booklets as well. But that’s all my opinion because of course there will always be a digital platform for people to discover new music which is great. I just hope that if the fans out there like it so much then they help the bands with buying merch etc. because that always helps the bands with spare cash to put into its recordings. The whole Spotify playlist inclusion has been cool and we are humbled by that so maybe we might be able to buy ourselves a coffee (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Indeed, and all jokes aside, that is actually the problem with digital distribution no one has really managed to sort out so far… So, let’s talk about promoting your music, and particularly the new album, in current circumstances. How did the ongoing pandemic influence the process of making Dead Elysium and its current promotion?
Chris Porcianko: Dead Elysium was completed over a year ago and we always looked at it that as soon as it was released then we would be out there playing gigs and touring. But unfortunately, it has in a sense stopped us from being as active as we would like at the moment. Currently we are in a stage four lockdown in Melbourne which has been quite strict and with the measure in place we aren’t allowed to travel further than five kilometers from our place of residence otherwise we could be fined by the police etc. which is frustrating. Yet, at the same time we are safe and healthy so that’s all that matters.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely.
Chris Porcianko: When the lockdown eases here we will be back into the rehearsal studio as soon as we are allowed to do it. In terms of playing live, our management has had to pull back all the live bookings we had because at the moment no venues in Victoria are open and we aren’t allowed to travel interstate at the moment because the borders are closed as well. It’s a very weird situation at the moment to be honest so promotion has definitely taken a hit with playing live. In terms of how the promotion is overseas, to be honest I’m not entirely sure because I think most of the labels are working from home, so while we are a little unsure what’s going on, we’d rather know that the people who are at the label are at least safe. That’s the most important thing. We just look forward to the future playing live to people in a safe environment because at the moment with the whole pandemic its quite concerning and there’s nothing more that we want other than to play, but we are realistic and we will just wait until its all safe to do so, not only for us but most importantly the people who come to see us as well.
Hardrock Haven: That’s harsh reality indeed, but as you’ve pointed out – safety comes first… So looking back at better times, when we felt safe going to a gig, what do you think were the highlights in Vanishing Point’s concert history up to date?
Chris Porcianko: There are many great experiences and memorable moments from touring both domestically in Australia as well as touring overseas when we had the opportunity. I think one of the highlights for sure was supporting Iron Maiden for three shows in Australia and playing two nights with them in our home town to 14,000 people, that was a massive eye opener and really great fun. The band, their crew etc treated us really well and we were kinda star struck because it’s Iron Maiden after all (laughs). The other time was being in Germany for the first time and playing Wacken so many years ago, that was a awesome experience. The touring we did in Europe supporting Gamma Ray and Sonata Arctica in the past was a lot of fun as well. We were broke as hell but we were grateful for the opportunity to play to so many people in so many places we only dreamt about. One tour I’ll never forget was playing a club show tour run in Japan in 2014 and playing to a sold out venue in Tokyo, that was a really nice experience and the people in Japan are very kind-natured and into their music, so that was something I’ll never forget. We’ve been fortunate to play in some beautiful places to great people like Atlanta as well at Progpower back in 2016. There are some countries like Poland that I would love to play live in one day as I have family there, so that would be a dream come true.
Hardrock Haven: When you’re gonna play in Poland, it’s front row for me! Let’s hope for more exposure overseas which can lead to even more gigs like the ones you’ve mentioned.
Chris Porcianko: Honestly, we are relatively level headed and appreciate any opportunity that comes our way, if we can afford to do it then we will do it for sure as touring all the way from Australia is pretty expensive but this is what we’ve always wanted to do.
Hardrock Haven: Seasoned musicians that you are, do you still search for new inspirations music-wise? Do you follow younger bands and keep an eye on what is going on in Rock and Metal?
Chris Porcianko: I suppose yes. We like to see what cool new stuff other bands are doing and we are keen to hear new music that is coming out. When I’m recording maybe not so much, because I’m more focused on the album at hand but with that being said I’m always listening to music but not as much as I used to many years ago. I once worked in a Heavy Metal store in Melbourne years ago and trust me, my ears were cooked by the time I left that job (laughs).
I listen to a lot of music, everything from Tori Amos to Death Metal and everything in between. I’m a fan of bands like Wintersun and Scar Symmetry but also looking out for new stuff like the new Nightmare album Aeternam which I think sounds really good. A good mate of mine, Jon, has his own band who are up and coming called Threads of Fate who I think sound amazing, I’m fortunate to get some demos sent which sound awesome and his voice is great. In general, there is so much great music our there that it’s hard to keep up but at the same time if I hear a good song then it doesn’t matter to me if its Metal or not, if the song is good then its good
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. It’s only us journos thinking maybe too much in terms of genres and divisions… Anyway, how has the Australian Rock/Metal scene changed throughout the years of your artistic activity?
Chris Porcianko: There are many more bands releasing material all the time which is great. We have new bands coming up who are doing great things and some of the new cats are pushing the boundaries in terms of what they are doing instrumentally really well. Some of the stuff these young guys play is mind blowing (laughs). Australia has always been known for having a great Death Metal scene over the years but the Prog scene is just as strong as well. In general here as musicians we have always had to work a day job over the decades so while it can be hard, we do it because we genuinely love playing music. I think the only thing that has changed over the years here in Australia is that many bands are starting to get known overseas as well, which is nice. There’s a lot of great talent here and equally good people behind it all thankfully.
Hardrock Haven: Glad we can do our bit to spread the word around about it, in the US and beyond. So is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
Chris Porcianko: I’d just like to say to all the people who have stuck by us, whether they be our fans, new listeners and of course the press, we sincerely appreciate all the kind words and of course everyone’s patience. It’s nice to know that we haven’t been forgotten for too long and its great to hear so many people getting behind our new album, it means a lot to us and we are grateful for the support. Much love and respect to you all.
Visit the band online: http://www.vanishing-point.com.au/
