Exclusive Interview: Akarka talk “The Mountain”!

If there is one record worthy of an exclusive interview then it has to be “The Mountain” from Birmingham Melodic Death Metal quintet Akarka. Featuring the final writings of guitarist Daniel McCarthy before he exited stage left, it is one that marks the follow up to 2020 debut album “Sleeping Giant” in style. Offering hints at influences from the likes of Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying buried under the weight of the bands sonic abrasions it also boasts a guest vocal appearance from Björn “Speed” Strid of Soilwork. So without further ado, here’s the main event…

Does it feel like a weight off the shoulders to finally have “The Mountain” out in the World? “We wrote a vast majority of this over the pandemic era and trying to articulate 5 very different musicians with very different influences while also not being able to be in a room together was very much an uphill battle. Hence the title, both literally and figuratively a big, fucking mountain. There were times we thought this EP would never be released and that there wouldn’t even be a band left at the end of it but all of that has just been replaced with excitement now. The reaction to both singles has been overwhelmingly positive and we can’t wait to unleash the full four tracks now”

The departure of guitarist Daniel McCarthy left a void which Haydn Edwards has filled, how quickly was he able to get up to speed when it comes to playing the new material live? Have you allowed him to cheekily add any of his own flair or is it strictly by the book? “Dan was such a crucially important part of the band’s DNA; one of the co-founding members with a vision of pushing this as far as we could. He did a lot of behind the scenes work as well as on stage and in the studio. We could have just called it a day there and then and finding someone to replace such a big part of the soul of Atarka was no easy feat. But Haydn filled in for our booked shows we had with Dan and it was obvious he also has that Atarka DNA. He’s definitely been allowed to flex his creative muscles, especially when it comes to instrumental breaks and guitar solos. It’s very different to what we have on record while still being unmistakably Atarka. He’s blended in so quickly and adapted to how we do things and that’s probably down to him being friends with all of us for so long, it’s kind of like forming a supergroup of musicians you know from the scene!”

In our previous interview you mentioned the ambition to play Bloodstock as being a big part of the dream. What would it mean to have Björn “Speed” Strid of Melodic Death Metal masters Soilwork reprise his role on “Barbarian” at such an occasion? “Bloodstock is in many ways the north star for this band, we broke onto the scene playing our first show in the Metal 2 the masses initiative and we managed to make it all the way to the grand final. We didn’t get the results we wanted that day but we definitely took it as a learning moment and we’ve been fighting tooth and nail to improve our sound and stage performance ever since. We’re definitely a band that’s ready for Bloodstock now and we’re ready any day to answer that call. Sharing the stage with Björn regardless of venue would be a dream come true, he’s one of our biggest heroes from growing up with heavy music and the fact he’s even on the record at all still blows our minds. Ideally we’d just support Soilwork on their next UK tour haha. That’s another call we’d answer with no hesitation”

If we are made up of our genes and our influences, what is in your jeans and who would you consider your influences? “The four pillars of Atarka’s influences were always In Flames, Mastodon, Gojira and At The Gates. That was the mission statement when we started and what we branded ourselves on when we were looking for the remaining band members. In with that you’ve got a bit of a melting pot, so for example Adam (bass) is a big fan for that old school death metal sound mixed with the melodic moments from a lot of mid 2000’s mainstream metal bands. Then you have Alex and Phil (guitar, drums) who sync up a lot on their music tastes and bring a bit of that melodic sensibility and technicality. Haydn and Jamie (guitar, vocals) like a vast majority of the same bands which are generally speaking more modern heavy bands like Orbit Culture and Fit For An Autopsy. But even when you look at that we all have our own individual personal influences which will always seep into the fold. That being said, we like to think we have our own brand of modern metal that many people from all fandoms of metal subgenres can enjoy. We want big riffs, and we want to tell stories with our music that anybody can get lost in”

You’re casually watching a show on Netflix and you unexpectedly hear a snippet of one of your songs. How do you react? “We’d be straight on the phone to PRS chasing the money. But no in seriousness I think we’d reach peak happiness if that ever happened for real. A lot of these shows are very meticulous in the kind of music they put in their projects (think Breaking Bad, Sons Of Anarchy etc.) and to know that someone heard one of our tracks and thought it was going to help them tell their story would blow us away”

Now the EP is out there, what’s next for Atarka? “We just signed with ‘Unearthed Music’ (www.unearthed-music.co.uk) which is an amazing artist management label who are already doing wonders for us behind the scenes. We’re really happy signing with them as they already work wonders for so many bands up and down the country. It’s exciting to get this level of support from them. So that means the priority for the next year is to aggressively gig and get ourselves in as many venues up and down the UK. It’d also be great to get some festivals under our belt, there are so many fantastic fests in the UK right now. It’s a great time to be a part of the live metal scene”