Interview with Florent Lambert of HEPTAEDIUM
Hello folks! We're joined here today by HEPTAEDIUM, a group that have displayed an incredible fortitude in their unyielding willingness to push boundaries over the last few years and a group that I'm personally very fond of. Thank you for joining us here at AEA! Now, for the sake of our readers, take us back to the very beginning. When was the project formed and how was the project formed?
Heptaedium was formed in 2012, I felt the need to express myself and experiment news things musically speaking. I opened a laptop, eat some baguette and began producing some random tracks. In 2015 I released "Kawai!!" and from then I can't stop... my consumption of baguette has doubled.
What is the current line-up of the project?
I'm the only musician/composer in the band, because I want to be the only mind behind the music. But an old friend of mine plays guitars for live gigs.
Your first two studio albums have managed to elicit many positive responses; not only from sectors of the metal community but also from fan communities as diverse as electronica, Chiptune, synth-wave and ambient. It's rather apparent to us that the project could be described as an ever-evolving melting pot of modern styles. Was it a conscious decision of yours to combine as many modern genres and cultures as possible?
It's a conscious and an unconscious thing. The mix of all the kind of music that influences me is what makes the identity of my music but it's not a goal to put "everything" in it. What I mean is it starts from a desire to make something that please me without giving myself artistic borders. If tomorrow I feel the need to make an album of Symphonic-Brutal-Zumbafitnesscore or something more "Roots" with less genres but without leaving what makes Heptaedium what it is, I will do it. It depends of the moment, the "needs" of the song, etc...
Who / what were your biggest influences at the beginning?
Life! My environment, the baker near my house, people in general, everything surrounding me. Musically speaking, the artists/bands that helped me build myself, I would say: Slipknot, Meshuggah, Hate Eternal, Enslaved, Agalloch, Veil Of Maya, Periphery, Motionless Battle, The Algorithm, Venetian Snares and Oyaarss to name a few. You can add to that my love for Science Fiction stuff like Blade Runner or Ghost In The Shell or my love for NES Video Game music like Solstice, Metroid, Castlevania etc. and I think you have a good part of my major influences.
One thing that really interests me is the project's perennial fascination with Japanese terminology, aesthetics and culture. It's very rare that you find groups associated with metal contemporaneously associated with terms like 'kawaii', - but for me personally I think that's great albeit a tad eccentric. How exactly did the Japanese influence creep its way into the group?
As a 90s child, Japanese pop culture have had a great influence in my life in general. When you're a child, you're fascinated by stuff like anime, Video games, cars and girls! And when you grow up a little you discover that it's also some values like fighting spirit, respect, fun... girls! And what has an influence in your life has an influence in your music, whether it's Japanese pop culture or something else. We are what surrounds us.
Now, I'm guessing as a project you're very pre-occupied with the upcoming release of your third studio album. Tell us a little bit about the album - what is it called and what is the current planned release date?
The album is called "How Long Shall I Suffer Here?” It's composed of 10 violent and glitchy tracks. It will be out October 6.
Is there any particular lasting impression you're hoping to make with the new album?
I’m not really thinking about that, I’m making this album in great part for trying to say something to someone important for me. I mean... I don't have the pretention to make anything to be honest. But if I can make extra-money with it, it's already a good thing I guess.
Now, I'm probably one of the few outside the HEPTAEDIUM camp that has actually listened to the album in its entirety prior to its release date. One particular quality I've noticed is that there's a lot of newly-found pessimism in the song titles and it's probably your darkest album atmospherically so far. Was that an intended choice?
It's more like a fatality than a choice I would say. Music is a tool that allow me to express myself, to catalyze what I'm feeling at a precise moment in time.
Will there be any touring to coincide with the release of your new album?
Some few gigs here and there but nothing special for the moment.
Now from what I've heard you used to be signed to a label called Kitty on Fire but you've recently switched to the more well-known Apathia Records. What exactly was the reasoning behind this change?
One question I've been dying to ask is if there's any particular significance behind the name 'HEPTAEDIUM', and what exactly does it translate to?
Yes, there is a real signification behind the name. It's the contraction of two Latin words, "Hepta" and "Taedium", the number seven and the disgust. Without much details, this number is like a curse to me.
Are there any future plans in stall for the group i.e. a fourth studio album?
I'm currently composing an EP of 7 tracks which is scheduled to be released in February 2018.
-Jaime Regadas
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