Interview with Tria Prima by Dave Wolff
How did Tria Prima begin to combine dungeon synth, death metal, and doom metal? Was your sound influenced by the bands you have previous experience with, or did you resolve to do something original? How far have you progressed to date?
It all started from our first meeting as a band. At first, we only knew for sure that we would play death metal. We started to plan on how we would do it, and one of the points we were thinking about was the theme. After some time, it was decided the main theme would be alchemy. The theme is good, but it needs to be shown in music somehow, and not just hang a label and that's all, so we started thinking about it. Without thinking twice, our bass player Serg suggested adding elements of dungeon synth, because one of the associations of alchemy is the Middle Ages. We all liked this idea, so we started working on implementing dungeon synth into our music.
As for doom, everything came spontaneously. The three of us were hanging out at Serg's home and listening to the Katatonia album “Brave Murder Day”. While listening to it our drummer Yura came up with the idea to add doom to our music. Thus our single “Solar Sulfur” was born.
At the moment I can say the beginning of our sound has been laid, but there is still a lot of work to do, which we are doing to do for the new release. But I believe that the sky is the limit, so in the future you will be surprised not just once by what we have prepared for you.
How were you inspired to use dungeon synth and death metal with doom by “Brave Murder Day”?
I would say the whole vibe of that album was a starting point of this decision. I personally like to write or listen not just to heavy music but also something to be surrounded by a viscous, sad or depressive but quite sensual atmosphere. So when this idea came I was already having thoughts to write something of this type of music, so I can say everything perfectly aligned and everyone was happy to try to do this. I think this is a good collective decision.
In what ways does your songwriting represent alchemy by using dungeon synth elements? When you write, do you aim for a medieval vibe?
For now I would say that because one of the associations is the Middle Ages in dungeon synth, this one thing as a whole represents alchemy in our music. But not only dungeon synth is a source of alchemy in our music. Sound effects, lyrics, track covers, etc… all this as a whole makes our music alchemical, not only the dungeon synth elements.
The Medieval vibe is one of the targets but we are not limited by this because dungeon synth as a genre is quite deep and consists of much more than just Medieval vibes. For example when we were researching this genre we found Jurassic age-like dungeon synth or more specifically witchcraft dungeon synth subgenres, so this gives us much more space to create deeper meaning and a wider spectrum of music. Maybe one day we will add mammoth synth elements to our music, only time will tell.
How much potential does your sound have for growth, though you've only just begun putting it together?
As I mentioned, dungeon synth has lots of subgenres so even only adding elements from subgenres can help us to develop our sound. But initially we play death metal that by its own has lots of variations and we don’t forget about doom metal, so I can say that we have a very wide space of variations we can use, modify and create something new out of it. Only time will tell what we will do but I assure you we will have a hell of a journey on our way of making our own alchemical music.
You recently made a promotional video for “Solar Sulfur” available at YouTube. Who helped film and produce the video, and how effectively does it represent the song?
The overall filming, editing, etc of the video is done by ourselves with zero budget. We filmed it using Google Pixel 8 for 1.5 hour. After filming me and Serg began to do video editing that took us almost a week. For me it was the first time editing any video. It’s not like a Hollywood level but it did kind of well on representing the song and everybody loved it, so me and the rest of the band is happy with this result. People love when you make a laser gun out of a simple laser you know.
How much influence did each band member have in the composition of the other original songs on “Three Primes of Alchemy”, “Philosopher's Mercury” and “Witchcraft Salt”?
“Philosopher`s Mercury” was mostly by Serg because originally he wrote it. Me and Yura mostly added stuff that we could add to it (for example I wrote the lyrics). “Witchcraft Salt” was mostly written by me but the guys also added some parts and stuff to it.
Where did your lyrical inspiration come from while you were making the EP?
The lyrics were written by this scheme: Serg gave me a base idea for each track so I used it for further inspiration, then I started to dig what I could add to these ideas. The first track we started working on was “Philosopher's Mercury” and at that moment we were only scratching the surface on what we could do further with that, call it demo lyrics from Serg. I began to develop the style of lyrics for this EP and future releases. I’ve looked for inspiration in Greek mythology, science works of famous alchemists (Paracelsus for example), etc. I think the final result fits well in the music for which it was written.
According to what I've read, Paracelsus was not just an alchemist but also a physician, lay theologian, and German Renaissance philosopher. How much information do you have about his accomplishments? How much influence has he had on your writing?
Every man, Paracelsus teaches, is endowed by nature with three mysterious powers -Will, Faith and Imagination- capable of leading him to the highest perfection. Paracelsus, the famous alchemist, physician, philosopher and mystic of the 16th century, was a remarkable, enigmatic, complex and contradictory man. Some considered him a drunkard and a rowdy, others a misogynist, others accused him of heresy, feared his clear mind and sharp tongue, and others prayed to him, worshipping him as a magician and miracle worker. Paracelsus was a true son of the Renaissance and as great and complex as that time itself. He was, indeed, a titan, the creator of a new age and a new culture. It was he who developed in Paracelsus the inclinations towards the occult sciences. The craving for the occult and led the young Paracelsus to the laboratory of the rich Sigismund Fugger in Tyrol, who was a famous alchemist, able to pass on to his pupil many valuable information. In our work we use him precisely according to these criteria.
Where on the internet have you been researching Paracelsus? Is there any printed literature you’re planning to look into for additional study?
Some thematic websites and stuff. For now I’m digging more into alchemic works for our upcoming album.
What Greek myths did were you looking into while you were writing your lyrics?
For lyrics I’ve mostly used a mix of Greek gods’ features and some historic, alchemic facts, myths and stuff. In “Philosopher`s Mercury” I used features of Hermes (alt. Mercury) and his cult, historic usage of Mercury and Cinnabar of which Mercury is mostly made.
In “Solar Sulfur” Apollo but with his other name Phoebus, Greek fire, an incendiary weapon system according to science works of that time contained Sulfur, and the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah was the number one inspiration for the apocalypse described in lyrics.
For “Witchcraft Salt” not that many myths but while writing the lyrics I was looking for inspiration in myths about the god Poseidon, so for that reason there is water theme.
What are the reasons you resonate with the Greek mythical stories and gods you talked about in “Three Primes of Alchemy”? How much research had you done on them before deciding to write the lyrics?
Some time ago I was interested in gods and pantheons. Me and my friend would research some info about Greek, Slav, Norse, etc pantheons but for now the Greek pantheon is the most I’m into. For this album it was appropriate to use this knowledge so I did it.
Aside from you and Serg, how did the rest of the band contribute to the songs on “Three Primes of Alchemy”?
Yura wrote and recorded all the drums, and his voice is also featured in the intro to “Witchcraft Salt” and also the cover of “Deathhammer”. Aside from that he gave us more inspiration for the tracks from his perspective and like others contributed to the arrangements of the songs.
In what ways does Yura’s drumming and occasional vocals contribute to the band’s overall sound?
Drums are the base element for any track. Yura’s drumming is essential for this band and any other he played in earlier. His vocals are the cherry on top of this huge cake of music we made as a band.
Who did you hire to create the cover artwork for “Three Primes of Alchemy”? How widely recognized is this artist among metal bands? In what way does her artwork convey the lyrics?
The idea for the cover was thought up by our favorite artist Grace Ace Blood, who lives in the USA. She also worked with Serg on his project Cosmic Jaguar and lots of other bands. Here are her words about the cover:
“The drummer Yura goes on an adventure fighting monsters and dragons. You and your guitarist are also in the group. The drummer starts out as an alchemist and his goals are to play death metal in all the countries and state in the world. In the campaign, you and your guitarist dies but the drummer defeats all the enemies with his magic and levels up. He chose to also do necromancy to reanimate you and your guitarist. He levels up some more and fights many enemies. Then he got to the level to reanimate you guys fully. When he reanimates you (he had enough of you and your guitarist flesh), the mission is to make instruments and fight everyone who protests your band. Eventually you guys go on a world tour”.
I would say her vision gives a new perspective on our songs and lyrics, but I don't want to speak much about the lyrics so listeners can decide by themselves if it’s synced word by word with lyrics or only a little bit. That’s the story.
Explain how you hooked up with Anira for additional vocals on “Solar Sulfur”. To what extent does her singing style align with her role in sharing the lyrics?
When we finished recording for the EP, Serg came up with the idea to add some female vocals to “Solar Sulfur”. As far I know Serg already knew Anira so she was the first whom he contacted to record some female vocals and she was happy to collaborate with us. We will stay in touch with her for future releases. Her style aligns with the symphonic side of our music but I can assure you she has an extended range of vocals and can impress you even more.
E. Maestro also plays lead guitar and performed solos on the EP. How do his guitar solos compliment or enhance Ruslan Hrytsiuta's guitars?
Our music lends itself to adding solos and Maestro did a fantastic job with his lead sections in the tracks. Expect him to collaborate with us more on future releases.
Following your original tracks on “Three Primes of Alchemy” comes a cover of Asphyx's song “Deathhammer”. What album by Asphyx was the song borrowed from, and why did you choose it as a cover?
The song is from the Asphyx album called “Deathhammer”. We chose it for its high tempo, explosiveness and our love to death metal!
Are you planning any early promotion or pre-orders for your future album? How much work has gone into it thus far, and how will it differ from your EP? Can you say if you'll be working with Anira or Maestro on the next album, or do you have any other guest artists in mind?
For now there are no such plans, we will think about it when we will finish the recording part but you can expect some snippets from rehearsals. We have almost finished the writing stage and soon enough will begin the recording stage. It`s going to be bigger, louder and more aggressive but yet more atmospheric. We hope you`ll like it. Yes, Anira or Maestro will be on the album.
How much of your metal and death metal roots do you aim to preserve as Tria Prima evolves as musicians as a band?
Death will always be part of us and Tria Prima, so don't expect that we will play pop-punk after the release of this album.
Metal has seen significant evolution and expansion over the years. How much do you want Tria Prima to be acknowledged for pushing the boundaries of metal as a whole and addressing common assumptions about the genre?
We`re staying low about this but as any band we hope to get some attention on our music and us as musicians.
-Dave Wolff
