Exclusive Interview: Crownshard talk writing and recording “Awareness”!

When there is no hope, there is no fear. So when there is nothing left to lose, there is noting to risk in taking an opportunity. Our second conversation with guitarist, vocalist and studio wizard Cesare Fioriti about his bands new EP “Awareness” is one that finds us discussing the labour of love which it becomes as Italian Death Metal machine Crownshard return after five long years. A concept release centred around the search for awareness, necessary to have a clearer and more balanced vision of our existence in the world and life in general, the word “awareness” never appears in any lyrics because it is metaphorically hidden – as awareness is hidden within ourselves. Instead the lyrics muse on suicide, revenge, failure, depression, and perdition, recurring realities of human existence where awareness could be rediscovered.

How did your previous experiences writing and recording help to smooth the path of the new record? “Basically I think there are two ways of writing music, the first way is to think about what you want to achieve and then act accordingly, the second way is to play what you like without thinking about rules or labels and follow your inspiration to the end. the best way? I think it’s a synthesis of the two. experience leads you to know when to follow inspiration and when to follow the rules”

How does the writing process of a new track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? How does it evolve from there before you consider it the finished article? “May be different from time to time but mainly it starts with the guitar and some growl or scream nonsense, it is the raw material that is then slowly shaped after several listens. We consider a song finished when there is a balance between all its parts, when there is a sense that it has nothing more to say, at that point the song is finished, is it good or not? it doesn’t matter, it is just finished, we move on to a new song and a new experience”

What was it like mixing and mastering in house yourselves? Did you find it challenging not to have a voice from outside of the band to guide you? “It’s really very difficult, that’s one of the reasons why it’s been a long time since the previous work, I know important musicians who have been personally working for years on projects that they may never complete. when you work this way you have to be very patient, when your ears are tired you have to let it go and go back to work the next day. You have to become the critical voice yourself and that is really difficult, it takes a lot of experience but it is also very challenging”

If you had the opportunity to work with a guest in the studio next time around, who would you like to work with and why? “In the case I would like to involve musicians from the area, I know many very good musicians with extraordinary taste and technically very good from whom one could learn many things, there is no need to go too far for these things”

For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound? “We prefer to play with very basic equipment, direct into the amplifiers, the sound is composed of a few elements, for guitars EMG active pickups and Peavey 6505 head and Ernieball Strings, for bass active pickups and Gallien Krueger head, the drum kit recorded on the EP is an old TAMA Only boost pedal for solos, no pedalboard, no in-ear monitor, I cannot understand how you can play metal music live wrapped in cables and pedals”

What difference would it make to you as a band if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “I don’t think it would make any difference, we don’t particularly care about it, it wouldn’t do any good because it would have no relationship with the music”

“Awareness​” by Crownshard is out now and available over at bandcamp