Exclusive Interview: Averted talk “Silenced”!

Usually when it comes to the crunch of an interview you might find yourselves as the interviewer asking the questions with one or two members of a band providing their insight on the material that they have crafted together. Having taken some time out of their busy schedule however we’ve been graced by the presence of everyone in Technical Metalcore act Averted, which is as rare a treat as they come. They dropped their highly impressive debut EP “Silenced” a couple of weeks back, something we gave 9/10 to in review, so without further comment, here’s what the band had to say about all things…

Going back to when the band was just a two piece (guitars and drums), at what point did you decide that you had something your wanted to pursue as a full band? How easy did you find it getting a vocalist and bassist on board?

Jamie (Stevens, guitars): When we first started this project with Merlin, I didn’t know where it was going to go, I was in a different band at the time (Escape December) but I really wanted to play something more challenging so we started putting ideas together and eventually met Logan through common friends, he loved “Vaecordia” and joined us then, we put an ad up for a vocalist and had a few applications which is how we met Syhem and started working together very quickly.

The vocals on “Silenced” are incredibly balanced! How did you decide which lines should be sung and which should be screamed? Did any of the other band members make any suggestions on that aspect?

Syhem (Angel, vocals): I think it was very natural!  I see it as an easy way to be able to portray different characters by giving them different voices, I spent so much time during the writing process thinking about how they would sound and what riff would be the best for them to express their story. Jamie did make a few suggestions too, parts where I was imagining screams, for example, “Absolution” was meant to be only screams all the way through, but he was picturing the very opposite, a song with only clean vocals. So I had to come up with a happy medium in a very tight time schedule and it really worked out for the best! He sent me some guitar melodies to help me get into the right vibe and I was still working out the lyrics on my way to the studio and pretty much came up with some of the lines as I was recording them.

How did you come to choose producer Jack Stephens (Bloodshot Dawn, Mask of Judas) for “Silenced”? What was it like to work with him and how did you find bringing an outside Influence into the Averted World?

When you were writing the material that went into “Silenced“, you mention recording each of your own parts in your home studios during the demo phase. How easy did you find it to collaborate in that way and did anything change between those demo versions and the finished studio version of the EP?

There is a fair amount of guitar layering in the sound of Averted. Without a second guitarist how do you plan on replicating the phenomenal guitar sound live

Syhem (Angel, vocals): At the moment with the current situation we have “paused” auditioning, we do have a couple of people in mind but it’s always best to meet people IRL. I feel that we have a really good atmosphere and dynamic within the band and we genuinely all get along so well that it will take a lot of thinking to be able to open our doors to someone new. Fear not, we will have someone to play these parts on stage until we find the right fit!

When you get the opportunity to take these songs to foreign lands, which countries would you like to play in and who do you see yourselves snapping up support slots with? The sky is the limit, we’d love to see you state side with After The Burial…