Saviour

13 October 2013 | 2:18 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Saviour are making some pretty big waves around the country at the moment. The boys from Perth have toured around the country three times already this year (with a fourth on the way), and have announced their signing to prominent Australian hardcore label UNFD. Lead singer Bryant Best recently took some time out with us to talk about the new album and their upcoming headline shows.

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Saviour are making some pretty big waves around the country at the moment. The boys from Perth have toured around the country three times already this year (with a fourth on the way), and have announced their signing to prominent Australian hardcore label UNFD. Lead singer Bryant Best recently took some time out with us to talk about the new album and their upcoming headline shows.

Hey Bryant. Thanks for taking time out to chat to us this morning. How are you doing?

Yeah, not too bad, mate. 

So, today is album release day. How does it feel to finally be sending ‘First Light To My Death Bed’ out for everyone?

Yeah, it feels good, you know? It has been in the making for a long time, so it’s good to finally have it out there.

You started streaming the album yesterday. How are you finding the reception so far?

Yeah, it has been awesome. My Facebook news feed has just been flooded with good responses to the album. So yeah, really, really good is the short answer to that.

Given that this album comes after a period of pretty strong growth in your audience, is there any particular statement that you’re hoping to make with it?

There’s a bit of a concept behind it. It’s a real drug story, so there’s sort of an anti-drug message to it, and a big anti-depression message too, which is really cool I think.

On that note, I found the artwork for the album to be quite interesting for the album. Does that tie in with the theme, or is there anything in particular you wanted to convey with that?

That one was put together by Mike Dann Photographics. I kind of just got him to take a look at all of our videos for the album, and come up with something that kind of visually represented that in light and shade, to convey a sort of happy and sad, or good vs. evil thing. But that was all put together by him, and we were really happy with how it turned out.

Australia has an enormous hardcore and metalcore scene. What is it that you think sets Saviour and ‘First Light To My Death Bed’ apart from all of the other bands?

Probably not too much to be honest. I like to think that the feeling to our music is what makes us unique compared to other bands in the scene.

Can you elaborate on that a bit?

Yeah, I think the depth in our lyrical content, and writing about genuine feelings and trying to get as much emotion as we can through our music, even though it’s a pretty heavy genre. That’s the way we write and I feel like a lot of other bands in the genre really lack that.

How did the writing and recording process for ‘First Light To My Death Bed’ differ from previous releases?

Well, we had Jordan, our new drummer on board for this album, and previously drums were written by our guitarists, so this time around Jordan was able to make the drums a lot more interesting, and it was good to have that on board.

As well as that, it was pretty good to be writing around a concept. It was good to have a storyline in place before we started writing.

You worked with the team at UNFD for the first time on this release. What do you feel they contributed that wouldn’t have been there otherwise?

Definitely the marketing plan and the exposure. You know, I don’t think this album would’ve landed in so many peoples laps. They’ve really helped us out and done really well for us. We’re very happy with them.

Are there any other artists that you would say were key influences on the album? Any that people wouldn’t generally expect?

It was actually more influenced by movies to be honest. We were watching a stack of movies in the lead up to the album and I felt like they had much more of an impact on the way that the album turned out than musicians did.

2013 has been huge for Saviour so far, in that on top of just releasing your album, you’ve also done extensive tours of the country as part of the East Coast Rampage and Loud Fest tours, as well as supporting Northlane on the Springularity tour. Is there anything in particular that has stuck out you from any of those tours?

There’s not so much anything that stuck out. We’ve toured relentlessly and each has been bigger than the last. The Northlane one was pretty sweet and they’re just absolutely killing it at the moment. I feel like I’ve noticed our popularity growing with each tour, which has been really cool to see. Then we’ve got this next album tour coming up this month, so I guess we’ll see how that goes.

Like you just said, you guys are hitting the road again for your first headline tour around the country. What’s it like going into that?

Yeah, our first headline tour of the country. I’ll tell you what, it’s pretty nerve-wracking, hey, being the main band and trying to bring in the numbers on our own. But I guess we’ll just see how that goes.

How did relationships between Saviour and the support acts for this tour (Anchored and For All Eternity) come about?

We’ve played quite a few shows with For All Eternity over the years, and they’re just the best blokes, so putting them on the tour was an easy option for us. They’re awesome guys. Our friends in Anchored are Perth boys as well, and a lot of Perth bands get starved of opportunities, so it’s awesome to be in the sort of position where we can give them an opportunity like this.

Is there anything that you think is going to set this tour apart from the rest of your tours?

Not necessarily, hey. Really, it’s a big question mark for us, still. It’s the first tour we’re doing on the album. I’m just hoping to see a lot of people who have brought the CD screaming the words back at us, and we’re going to get up each night and give them our everything.

Are there any songs off the new album that you’re particularly excited to be playing?

I’m keen to play quite a few songs. You know, your typical heavy songs, but I’m also keen to play some of the softer songs like ‘Karolena.’ Hopefully we can have a pretty diverse set.

A few quick ones to finish off; if you could only listen to three records for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Oh. Probably Slipknot’s self-titled, Korn - Untouchable, and Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends.

What’s been your favourite record so far this year?

Probably Singularity by Northlane - that album is insane.

Aside from the obvious (instruments, gear, etc.) what would you say is the most important thing to take on tour?

(laughs) Deoderant. (laughs)

Any insane stories you’d like to share from your touring this year?

There’s a few I probably can’t tell you, hey. (laughs) There was a point where none of us had showered in a week, and it was just pretty gross. The stench in the van was sort of permanent. Not fun times, but a fun story to tell. (laughs)

Any final words for your fans before we wrap up?

Please check out the album and I hope to see you on our tour next month.