I reviewed their new album recently and I rated it very highly.
Well the guys have kindly agreed to an interview with me.
Q1 – For People not in the know – Can you tell them how the band came about, When you formed etc...
BP- Well, the band started after a band that myself (Todd), Nathan and Casey were in called Under The Earth, called it quits. Casey, Nathan and our former guitarist Chase started it. It
started off as a noise/feedback project. At some point they asked me to join and Adam was also asked to join pretty early on. It then evolved into a doom project when Casey switched from guitar to drums.
Q2 – You were originally called Black Majesty and you had to change it to Battle Path. Why the name change and why Battle Path.
BP- Well, we became aware of the power metal band out of Australia and decided that it would be a wise move to change it. We struggled with finding a band name for quite awhile. Battle
Path we just sort of stumbled onto. It seemed to fit our sound so we rolled with it.
Q3 – How would you describe your sound?
BP- I would say it's really ever evolving. I would definitely say it's meant to be extremely powerful. We're a very loud band live. Now, with the addition of our keyboardist Chris, it's already moving into different territory.
Q4 – Which bands influence your music?
BP- Neurosis has had a big influence on all of us. Also, Sunn O))), without question. Darkthrone and Emperor we've all listened to for years. Cult of Luna would be a big influence. I would
definitely say that Planks is another favorite. We also take influence outside of metal. Joy Division is a massive influence. Most of us are King Crimson fans, Brian Eno fans, Kraftwerk fans, as well as any number of obscure, "out there" artists.
Q5 – How has your music been received by fans and critics. Has it all been positive.
BP - For the most part, we've been received rather well. There's been a couple of questionable reviews, but the most part, it's been generally positive.
Q6 – Is Battle Path a Full Time Project or do you have normal jobs to do as well to support the band.
BP - We all have day jobs. It would be great to be doing this full time and that is always a goal. But, with the economy the way it is these days, it definitely makes that more
difficult.
Q7 – Are you families supportive of your band and music.
BP- Yeah, it's safe to say that all our families are very supportive and have been for years.
Q8 – What is the song-writing process like in the band. Is it a whole band collective or individuals that write the music.
BP - All of us write the songs collaboratively. Occasionally, one of us will bring in a riff, but we all expand on it and arrange the songs.
Q9 – Your new album “Empiric” is a very dark album. Much darker than your debut album “Storm & Stress”. Was that an easy decision to make to embrace the Black Metal side of your music more.
BP - Absolutely. We all love black metal and the riffs were coming out in that vein, so we ran with it because we enjoyed playing it.
Q10 – Was the recording process harder to do this time around or was it just the same.
BP - Actually, it was a bit easier. The songs were very well rehearsed when we went in and it was finished rather quickly.
Q11 – Do Critics Reviews bother you at all or do you just take notice of the fans.
BP - In a band in our position, anything positive is we received. We enjoy reading positive reviews as well as positive feedback from our fans. But, we write for ourselves, not anyone else.
If people like it, then that's great.
Q12 – What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band.
BP - We're all really good friends in this band. We get along really well and we're all on the same page musically. No one has a substance abuse problem, thankfully, so that makes things
easier. There's really nothing negative about what we're doing. We all love it and we will continue to do so as long as we can.
Q13 – What is the gig scene like in your home town. Do you get a chance to do a lot of local shows or do you have to travel further away from home to get your music across.
BP - Nashville and Murfreesboro have very vibrant music scenes and we're all happy to be a part of it. I will say, that we do struggle to find shows around here, due to the extremity of the
music we play. There's not as many extreme metal fans around here, so it can be a challenge.
Q14 - You got any interesting stories from your tours?
BP - Not anything worthy of sharing. We're pretty boring people.
Q15 – You have recently given “Empiric” for Pay Anything You Want Download due to illegal download sites giving away your album for free. Was that a hard decision to make. You must of lost
some money doing this.
BP - Not really. We would prefer people get the record from us directly, than from another source. Our fans have actually been pretty great about giving us donations when they download it and we really appreciate it.
Q16 – Your new album is coming out on Vinyl. How did that come about. Any plans to release it on CD as well.
BP - The record coming out on vinyl is a true dream come true. We still can't believe it's actually happening. Alerta Antifascista contacted us about two days after we released it online.
They found us due to a post that Planks threw up on Facebook about our record and the next thing we knew, we had worked it out with the label. We're extremely excited to be working with Alerta Antifascista and cannot wait until it's released! At this time, there is no plans to release Empiric on CD, but who knows what could happen in the future.
Q17 – What are the future plans for Battle Path. Anything exciting happening in the future.
BP - We're already working on new material for our next release and are looking forward to touring as much as possible in the future.
Thanks for you time in answering my questions. Good luck with the new album and I hope to hear more from you guys in the future. Thanks. Steve.
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