Progressive, technical death metal continually push boundaries through not only the songwriting but also the brilliant, advanced performance and production aspects. Swiss act Adelon came to this scribe’s attention through their most recent four song EP release Resurgence. Incorporating influences from all over the map like Obscura, Gojira, Beyond Creation, and Rivers of Nihil – there’s a multitude of layers to absorb, uncover, and process. We reached out to guitarist Quentin Landolt and vocalist Pierrick Tromme to discover the development of this project into a full band, the early single releases and promotion that led to the new EP, thoughts on the lyric content and its importance in this style, live performance thoughts, the state of tech death currently, as well as short term / long term goals for the group.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you remember about the formation of Adelon – and how was the process to develop the type of technical, progressive death metal style fleshed out?
Quentin Landolt: Adelon is a project that we had together with Pierrick for maybe about ten years now. It started as a joke band – we used to make weird songs about weird topics, dumb stuff. It wasn’t called Adelon at first – we had numerous names. Four years ago, we decided to do something real with the band. We always revolved around similar kinds of bands and music – of course Gojira, Psycroptic, and stuff like this. It was natural for us to go into this type of music, and Pierrick naturally had this death metal type of voice, it was the best of both worlds.
Pierrick Tromme: For myself, I don’t have the type of voice to sing in a clean register, but it is natural for me to sing with this rough, growling voice. It’s death metal or nothing.
Dead Rhetoric: You first released two singles with “Transient Beings” and “Storm of the Awakening” in 2022 to 2023. How was the response to these songs – and was it easier to just work on the material and release things as you were ready versus coming out with a full album or EP product out of the gate?
Landolt: The first song “Transient Beings” was kind of an experiment, just to see how things worked. It was our first band, and we had no idea how to release music, never mind even producing our music. The first one, we have a song, we recorded it at home and we used Fiverr (the social media platform) to find someone for the mix. The second song was the first time in a real studio, trying out things. We didn’t feel ready for an EP, or even a full-length one. That is the next step. We wanted to see how much we could do with just four songs.
For me, the big difference is that the first single has no real drums. “Storm of the Awakening” had a real drummer, and we were lucky at the time he was very good, and he nailed the recording. The guitar recordings in the studio were pretty cool, it was very easy. We did it one and a half days, it was pretty fast.
Dead Rhetoric: What was the response to those first two songs on the internet? Did you feel like social media and internet platforms helped establish the band?
Landolt: The first singles did get a local response. We had some friends in local bands help make the promotion of those songs. We didn’t do a lot of promotion at the time. Something that friends told us that we needed to work on. It didn’t get that much of a response, because we didn’t put that much effort in as well.
Dead Rhetoric: The latest EP Resurgence is a magnificent effort that seems to balance the technical intricacies of progressive death metal while not forgetting the need for dynamic twists or circular hooks / groove in spots. Tell us about the songwriting and recording process for this effort – were there any specific challenges, obstacles, or surprises that took place?
Landolt: Challenges – yes! The thing I didn’t prepare for the EP is getting a vibe for multiple songs. I didn’t really care about that before. It was a challenge to record all these tracks on my PC because in the end I had 100 tracks for synth and guitars. My computer kind of crashed when it would play. We did this mostly at home and in my studio. Vocals we did in our old studios, and the drums were Superior Drummer programming. We had the luck to work with Alex Sedin, a great producer and musician in Seven Deadly Sins. He helped a lot during the whole process, even before the recording he was giving us advice and direction for some sounds.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the guest saxophone spot with Bastian Köhli come about for “Fleshless Vertebrae”? Will this be an aspect that the band always takes into consideration depending on the atmosphere or textures of a song, to incorporate different instrumentation outside of the metal norm?
Landolt: That was a suggestion by Alex when we were doing the pre-production demos. At the end of the song, he was thinking there was a spot for something else. I had finished music school, so I have a lot of friends who play horns, saxophone, etc. I asked one of them if he wanted to layer some tracks at the end of the song. Obviously, it can be a regular occurrence with bands like The Faceless, Rivers of Nihil who have also added sax to their tracks. I like the idea; I would love to add horns or strings or other instruments outside of metal in future songs. I think it’s pretty hard to do it tastefully, and not like cringy because strings can sound weak if they are not used well. Fun fact – we wanted to on the second single “Storm of the Awakening” have Pierrick play the didgeridoo, the song is in C sharp, and the frequency of that instrument was not in C sharp, so we couldn’t do that.
Tromme: The didgeridoo is a very difficult instrument to properly record. We decided not to use it in the song. I think yes, we already want some other instruments to appear in future songs.
Dead Rhetoric: You had to use drum programming on the new EP – are you hopeful to recruit a new full-time drummer for the band?
Landolt: We had a drummer since “Transient Beings” the first single, at the end of 2023 – he was playing with us for a long time. He wanted to do something else musically in his life, so we parted ways. Now we are looking for a new drummer. The technical level is one point, but in Switzerland there are not many drummers that play death metal. Finding someone to play this (style of) metal is the first step, and finding someone who can play these parts is the second.
Tromme: When it comes to self-recording, the drums are the hardest part. We decided to use programming for it, it’s too difficult for us to self-record as we don’t have the proper studio or proper abilities within the band members to do this.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you want to come across with the lyrical content for the band? Do you believe it’s important to put as much effort in the themes as the band puts in on the musical side of things – that for this style, both go hand in hand?
Landolt: Yes, Pierrick and I wrote the lyrics for the songs. In the end, it’s the way that Pierrick wants to sing things so we both work together on this. I think it’s important, if it’s a genre where you don’t get the lyrics on the first listen, I think it’s important to have something real to say. Even if it’s not deep, something real that has some sense and some links to the music as well. For me, it’s a hidden detail in death metal, I’m always amazed when I look at the lyrics and understand how it goes together with the arrangement of the song, the meaning behind it. We have the goal of doing a concept album in the future, and concept albums are made because of the lyrics most of the time.
Tromme: For me too it’s really important. I always think a lot before I write the lyrics. I want to sing lyrics that I like, lyrics that I understand. I cannot imagine that I would write things I don’t believe in. I really want to sing something from me, something that I observe and see.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art piece come about for the EP?
Landolt; We used lyrics from the first single of the EP, “Crimson Luminescence”. I put in a prompt, I don’t know how many images but when I found one that stuck to me, I looked at different fonts that could be made. In the end, I have my own meaning behind the artwork. I like the fact that anyone can have a different interpretation of the art, because of the lyrics. We were happy with it, it has a little bit of an Obscura vibe because of the circular shape and spacey kind of vibe. It was semi-organic, lyrics and Midjourney AI, it’s not just an empty background to make the cover art.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider some of the greatest challenges facing the band at this point in your development?
Landolt: Finding a drummer (laughs). It’s one of them, but not the biggest one. We have a lot of short term and long term objectives of what we want to do. Some of the short ones to have as many gigs as we can, and work on the live show. For everyone in the band, this is a very difficult style of music to be able to play live. We’ve played for at least two years, and it’s getting better. For me on guitar, I have to work on my solos and my riffs. Long term – we want to in about two years get more songs ready for pre-production.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you think the band differs when playing live compared to what they hear from the studio recordings?
Landolt: We used to be a five-piece and we had another guitarist, so we could play more riffs. Now with only four, and as the only guitar player, we did one gig with a pre-recorded guitar on the right side, and I was on the left. Yeah, we have to choose riffs, but not that much. It’s not a problem to play things live. With the bass, drums, vocals, and guitar – I can have some stems to add to it. I like the electronic element of music. I love grindcore and stuff like this, but I enjoy the atmosphere when bands use keys live. Death metal can be a little bit more digestible live. It’s something that we have to work on, obviously.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of technical, progressive death metal currently? What do you enjoy most about the style and movement – and what changes (if any) would you like to see made for the greater good of all parties concerned?
Landolt: I feel like tech death is in a good state. One of the main things when it comes to tech death today comes down to production. Rivers of Nihil for example, you can listen to their songs and enjoy the production as it’s not just a modern production. Spawn of Possession for example doesn’t hit me as well on the production side. In Europe, the scene for tech death is not as lively as the United States because there are big shows, a big tour with Cattle Decapitation, Decapitated, all these bands touring a lot. It gives me hope for the future of this kind of music.
Dead Rhetoric: How do the band members balance the musical activities with families, friends, and school/ careers? Do you have hopes to make a living through music, or are you content to pursue this as a passionate hobby given the type of music you play?
Tromme: For myself, I work as a teacher. So, my holidays are limited. I can’t go away for that many days, but those days are set so I can take them for these gigs. You have to adjust when we can play the concerts with my holidays. I’m working and I can’t live without my work. It’s difficult because as a band it’s a challenge to find some good days for playing.
Landolt: I’m kind of the opposite when it comes to the work side. I just finished music school, so I was a student for a long time. I’m teaching, but one day a week for guitar now. I have more free time. The schedule was something that we had to take into consideration and talk a lot about it. We are very open and love to do music – we wouldn’t do it with anybody else so there are compromises to be made. We play gigs that are not convenient to Pierrick and our bass player, who also works full-time. On the other hand, there is not only music, it doesn’t take time from each other to compose, and we can send a lot of things to each other.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for future activities with Adelon over the next twelve months?
Landolt: Because we are looking for a drummer, we don’t have many gigs planned currently. We have a residency, where we can rent a place for a couple of days and in the end play a gig. We can work on the lights, sound, with an engineer – and we will do this at the end of the year. In a year, we want to have a full album done, at least on the pre-production level with the music being done. And have gigs going, find a drummer. Those are the objectives for us now.