has been on the market fresh since 10.07.2020. If you are into sophisticated symphonic metal with depth of content, you have to listen to OSYRON. The work „Foundations“ was already presented by me in a detailed review. I was enthusiastic about the epic album and wanted to know more about it. The Canadians did me the honour of answering my questions and it really turned out to be a very interesting interview. If you read it, you will agree with me that OSYRON really is a great band from which you can certainly expect a lot of good things in the future.

Interview with OSYRON

Hello guys, you released the really great album „Foundations“. It is not only excellently implemented musically, but also has an outstanding significance in terms of content. So the album deserves to be honored and learn more about it and about the men who created the album. Let´s start….

Canada

MH: If I would visit you, what three things would you show me first to bring your country closer to me?

Cody (Drums): Visiting this time of year normally, the first thing I would recommend is to check out the Calagary Stampede which is a massive outdoor show which brings together music, cuisine, and western tradition. This is the first year since the show began in 1923 that it has had to be cancelled, due to COVID.

Next, I’d point you out of the city, into the great expanses of the Canadian Rockies. For a sense of scale, the drive time for you to travel to a neighboring European country is about the distance we travel to go to into the mountains. There are provincial parks everywhere with amazing hiking trails, as well as massive areas known as Crown Land, where you can go camp, hunt, fish, off-road, and explore endless amounts of wilderness. Just watch out for the bears and the big cats!

And finally, I’d recommend you head back into the downtown core of a major city like Calgary or Vancouver and explore the many pubs, music clubs and restaurants. Not only is there an absolute melting pot of different world cuisine and beer to be had, but also a very diverse selection of underground music to be heard. Of course, right now a lot of this is not possible as well due to the lockdowns.

Bobby (Guitar): A HOCKEY GAME!

Reed (Vocals): TWO HOCKEY GAMES!

Nature And Wilderness

MH: Canada stands for great landscapes and endless wild nature. What kind of connection do you have to nature and wilderness and what role does it play for you?

Cody (Drums): Being from Alberta means you would die if not for going camping, hiking, and shooting. Here in Alberta, camping is a major economic machine in the summer, followed by hunting in the winter. We have provincial and private campgrounds that are places setup for people to camp en masse. I personally think those are a joke. I prefer to go much further outinto the mountains than any campground, find a nice spot along a glacier creek and stay for a week to clear my head from city life! But I’m probably weird.

Ancestry and history

MH: Your album „Foundations“ deals with dark phases of history. Do you have ancestors in your family history who have experienced the First World War? Does any of you have Native Canadian ancestors?

Cody(Drums): My Canadian heritage only goes as far back as WW2, where I had a grandfather who fought in the Canadian Forces during the liberation of Holland. He was a forward operative working in maintaining the British armoured vehicles fighting against the German Panzer divisions, so the war stories I heard from him before he passed were very real and graphic.
Prior to that, my ancestors are known to be mostly from England, Scotland, and Ukraine; but I do have one grandparent who is Native American.

Reed (Vocals): I am of Metis descent on my Mother’s side. As far as WW1, I don’t believe I have any immediate connection in my lineage. Only WW2.

Krzysztof (Guitar): A great grandfather of mine was conscripted to fight in WW1 but spent much of the war avoiding shooting anything and trying not to die from trench-foot and a host of other shitty diseases you get from mucking about in mud and dead bodies. It affected him so negatively that in the time between the world wars he did everything in his power to dissuade all of his sons from serving in the army in any capacity. Of course, being that he happened to be a Pole living in Poland, he didn’t really have much of a say at the end of the day because war came for him anyway.

Significant dates

MH: Your first two songs, „The Cross“ and „Ignite“, deal with the colonization of Canada and the First World War. Why did you choose these two historical events? How did you come up with the idea to work out the history of Canada in this form?

Reed (Vocals): Both events play a crucial role in how Canada as a nation was formed. We are (like many other nations) built upon war, expansion, colonization and unfortunately genocide.
We felt it was important to have content that touched on both the European involvement of our country (Pre-Independence / Sovereignty) and the mistreatment of the First Peoples of North America.

Musical concept

MH: These two songs have become very bombastic symphonic and sometimes have a threatening and also accusing effect? Was that your intention?

Bobby (Guitar): For “The Cross”, we wanted a song that was pretty simple to play, but soundedhuge. If you listen to each instrument separately, they’re never really doing anything too technical. This was to allow Reed, and especially the orchestra, to really shine through and let those layers become apparent. We wanted the main orchestral melody of the song to build up during the verses, and then go full out during the outro after that last chorus.

Krzysztof (Guitar): From a musical standpoint “Ignite” was just something I fingered out on the guitar one day. It started with the chorus riff (“You wanted to speak” etc) and the middle instrumental section (the harmonized guitar/lead section after the big orchestra infused bridge). Everything in between those two points was developed after the fact to build into them unconsciously. In short, I woke up with this wonderful doughnut dropped in my lap and I had to figure out what fruit filling was best to smash into it.

Reed (Vocals): “Ignite” was Kris’s idea and his riffs. It ended up being aggressive and technical, which in turn was a parallel to “The Cross” and how it was aggressive and more simplified instrumentally.

Religion–a good thing?

MH: „The Cross“ is also about religion. You deliberately chose the symbol of the Christianfaith in this song. In this context, you are critical of the Christian faith. Do you see religion in general critical or only specific if, as then, it is a cover for the capture of a
country?

Reed (Vocals): Good question. People have the freedom to believe in and practice whatever religion they so choose in Canada…in 2020. However this was NOT the case in the 1500’s, 1600’s and even until the 20th century. If the global powers of France, and England practiced Islam, or Buddism and inflicted cultural, spiritual genocide on the First Nations of Canada during this time, then the song would be critical of those beliefs. It is only critical of the period in which these events occurred. As well as how these beliefs and religion were forced upon people who maybe didn’t seek it’s practices. This is not so much a criticism of the religion itself, but more a criticism on how the church was used and implemented within the colonization of the nation.

Polish folk music

MH: „Ignite“ also includes oriental sounds? This surprised me in view of the issue. How did you come up with this idea?

Krzysztof (Guitar): So being a child immigrant to Canada (if my name wasn’t a dead giveaway haha) I grew up in a household that regularly listened to lots of folk music from back home (Poland).
This kind of music has this sort of weird feel; and it naturally drew me to guys like Friedman, Becker, Yngwie and other “neo classical” shredders, but it also drew me into guys like Django Reinhardt, and more purely Parisian swing/eastern european folk which is just riddled with this stuff. This particular section is basically that music manifesting itself through me.

For professional musicians

Although I consciously don’t think of the theory behind it, the whole section resides in the 5th mode of F Harmonic Minor, or the “dreaded” Phrygian Dominant mode (with just the 6th degreebeing raised and lowered if you want to be super technical).

After I wrote it and analysed it, when putting up a quick demo of it on my instagram i even titled the post “phrygian come at me bro” cause I’m a huge fucking nerd like that. I think theory is a great, great tool to know because it helps understand why certain sounds make you feel the way they do or why they sound the way they do. It’s fun to look at and analyse music with that lens after you’ve written it, just to nerd out. But it’s definitely not something I consciously think about when writing. Anyways, I’ll grab you a coffee cause I’m sure this put you to sleep.

Heroes and visions

MH: „Battle Of The Thames“ is a very soulful song that contains grief. Nevertheless, it is a powerful song that just ends up becoming a heroic epic. A worthy song for this extraordinary venerable man. TECUMSEH was truly a great visionary and an even a greater hero. Do you think such heroes still exist today?

Reed (Vocals): Yes, you’re chatting with them right now! All jokes aside, heroes rise during moments of despair, and grief. Tecumseh was fighting for what he and his people believed in. That is where true heroes are born. Today? Maybe not in parts of the world that are prospering, but maybe in nations and communities that are in less fortunate circumstances. I hope there are heroes like that today. We will always need them!

Not forgetting

MH: „Foundations“ is dedicated to a global message. Unfortunately, the entire history of mankind is marked by many wars and other atrocities. You have a clear message that you must not forget everything so that you can shape the future better. Are these
kinds of visions even feasible when you look at the current situation of the world?

Reed (Vocals): The day we forget, or stop caring about a better, brighter future, is the day mankind has nothing else to stand for. We must always remind ourselves about our wrongdoings, while focusing on tomorrow and how we can make it a better place! Never stop growing! Humans and our societies have a long way to go still! So don’t stop!

Shake things up

MH: So let´s talk about „The Ones Below“. The song also deals with serious themes, but it is different in its kind than the other songs. It is not symphonic, but more rocky and sounds rather combative. Why did you choose this concept at „The Ones Below“?

Bobby (Guitar): Musically, that song was written to be a little more traditional (in the sense of structure, traditional solo, repeated choruses, etc.) and stripped down. Osyron songs tend to be filled with multiple layers of guitars, vocals, orchestral instruments, non-repeating sections, always progressing forward, and so on. While this song definitely isn’t “light” on the number of tracks, in the studio we wanted this song to stand out a bit, and to shake things up, so hopefully we achieved that.

Beer

MH: I do not know what answers you gave to my first question. So I want to close the circle and ask if there is delicious beer in Canada? Which is your favorite? What is the comparison to German beer?

Bobby (Guitar): My favourite Canadian beer would probably be Alexander Keith’s IPA, or Guinness. There’s also a Bavarian Lager made in BC called 1516 that is pretty damn cute as well.

Reed (Vocals): Sleemans Honey Ale, Big Rock Traditional, and Granville Island’s Winter Ale. Unfreakin’-real bud.

Cody (Drums): I dunno man, I’m into anything that is well made and tastes like real beer. None of the fruity stuff from micro-breweries really appeals to me personally. I’m more the kind of guy who will sit down in a brew house and order their house brand IPA or lager. If it’s good, I’ll order another.

Krzysztof (Guitar): I’ve only tried a few imported German beers, unfortunately, but let’s just say Alberta has a burgeoning craft beer market. We’ve got something like 125 craft breweries, and only 19 cities in the province. You’ll have to come here and just try them! We’ve got brewers making pilsners, ales, IPAs, stouts, whatever flavour you like! Just temper your expectations and remember, you guys have been making beer there for like 1500+ years, we’ve only been making it for a fraction of that time but it’s a culture/industry that’s growing and expanding every year. If you come this way, we’ll take you out and show you the taps.

MH: If you still have anything you want to share with our readers, you are welcome to do so now.

Reed (Vocals): Give us a listen! We play metal and drink our faces off for fun! And we aspire to tour the world doing both! Especially in your city or town! We can’t wait to meet you! Stay safe during this global shit-show and see you soon!

MH: Thank you very much for your time! -Cheers!-

You can find the german version of the interview with OSYRON HERE!

High-quality symphonic (prog)metal!

The Canadian prog metalworkers OSYRON have taken a very serious issue and deal with painful historical events in the history of Canada. First we enter the timeline in the 18th century and at this time

the Assimiliation of the First Nations

(Indigenous people) are moving faster and more brutally. When advanced industrialized nations and military powers sent their ships on so-called voyages of discovery, nothing good came of it for the natives of undiscovered countries. Indigenous peoples were pushed back and/or oppressed to claim and colonize areas. This was done almost exclusively by force using modern weapons and therefore unfortunately always claimed many victims among the natives. With regard to this, OSYRON gives us an exciting history lesson not only thematically, but also acoustically. Canada has grown out of bloodsoaked soil as a nation.

OSYRON

reckons very ruthlessly and clearly with the theme of the colonization of Canada at that time, in which the English and French played a major role. But Canada is just one example of many of the brutal recklessness of the world’s great powers‘ brutal recklessness in discovering or conquering new countries. In this context, OSYRON distributes painful verbal blows to the Christian mission. It is made clear in the song that under the guise of the Christian faith in the name of God, the First Nations (indigenous people) was tried to convert. They said: „Take our culture and faith or die!„

An empire, with no sun set, /We would conquer what was ours,/ Destroy the culture In favour of The king / And for God / They would learn to live like us / Or they would learn to die by the cross

Songtext „The Cross“

As a symbol of the Christian faith, the song title

„The Cross“

was chosen. This symphonic power track conveys a cinematic feeling, whereby it is already possible to create a threatening mood right at the initiation. Then the ground is shaked of powerful drums supported by a fat bass, which is accompanied by rough hard riffing. Every now and again a buoyant battle cry is heard to make the subject clear. The sound garment is orchestral and this becomes a realsymphonic metal epic song. The melody arc with the excellent vocals (in the above-quoted chorus) is fantastically successful in its epic appearance. Then a vocally and instrumentally angry aggressive part fits in, which makes it crack powerfully.
The spark is ignited and the following song

„Ignite“

continues historiography with equal rigour. However, we are in the 19th century, more precisely in the First World War. Here we are reminded of the futility and merciless brutality of the war. The arrogance of high-ranking military and political leaders with their
misjudgments led to one of the bloodiest and most lossy, but also most senseless, battles of the First World War. It was the Battle of Passendale in November 1917. During this battle and the months-long battles before it, thousands of soldiers lost their lives, including many Canadian soldiers (about 16,000).
Musically, the song „Ignite“ performs with a very dense atmosphere. The riffs and the grippy bass in combination with the powerful drums lead to an insanely voluminous sound. Here, the battle cry, which was already used in the first song, is also used in places. The song has the most progressive touch on the album and comes out from minute 02:44 even with oriental-looking sounds and this has a great special feature factor.

Indian legend Tecumseh

We are in the year 1813. It is about the Battle of the Thames River, in which the Americans waged war against an English/Indian alliance. The visionary Tecumseh was a respected chief of the Shawnee tribe. His dream was an independent North America in which Indians and settlers could live together in peace. He tried again and again to unite all the Native American tribes in order to defend themselves against the Americans who wanted to conquer the country. He had never been able to achieve this goal completely. In the end, he was even let down by the British army and the Indians suffered a devastating defeat. In this battle, Tecumseh also lost his life. His courageous determination is still legendary to this day.

„Battle Of Thames“

is an atmospheric track full of feeling and it carries a certain sadness at the beginning. It begins quietly with acoustic guitar and vocals. In the further course, perfectly tuned drums join in. Every now and then the sounds of an electric guitar resound through. Before the furious finale, the singer gives up with a powerful voice together with choral singing in the form of „Ohhhoooohooo“ Indian heroic feeling. Fabulous guitar solos are followed and the song becomes a powerful epic homage to the fighting spirit and courage of the Indians.

„The Ones Below“

takes up the issue of loss and grief. However, the song musically processes the theme with feisty riffs and rocky attitude. Together with the powerful vocals, Song becomes a battle cry against grief. „Positive thinking“ is required here. One should love and live his life and bury his sorrows and fears in honor of those who have left us.

„Foundations“

presents the opulent title track at the end of the album. This can boast beautiful filigree acoustic guitars with a quiet and fascinating beginning. Gradually, the song gains strength until the electric guitar finally sets the tone. The epic finale ends the brilliant album. In this case, the content of the song has an ever-constant topicality. In doing so, OSYRON denounces the grievances and injustices in the world and demonizes the impotence with which one faces all this suffering. We must not forget the crimes of the past. So we must continue to stand in the way of injustice and hatred!

Conclusion

OSYRON dress serious themes in impressive high-quality sound robes. In addition to the appealing listening pleasure, one should actually deal with the textual content, because OSYRON has an important message! The music is as described very first cream and so Foundations is rewarded with 9/10 Points.

In a few days you can find an interview with Osyron about „Foundations“ and more HERE!

Die kanadischen Prog-Metaller OSYRON haben sich für das Thema ihrer EP ein sehr ernstes Thema zur Brust genommen und befassen sich mit leidvollen historischen Ereignissen in der Geschichte Kanadas. Hierzu steigen wir in der Zeitlinie im 18. Jahrhundert ein und zu dieser Zeit schreitet

die Assimiliation der First Nations

(Ureinwohner) immer schneller und brutaler voran. Wenn fortschrittliche Industrienationen und Militärmächte ihre Schiffe auf sogenannte Entdeckungsreisen schickten, kam für die Ureinwohner unentdeckter Länder nie etwas gutes dabei rum. So wurden Ureinwohner zurückgedrängt und/oder unterdrückt, um Gebiete für sich zu beanspruchen und zu besiedeln. Dies geschah fast ausschließlich mit Gewalt unter Ausnutzung moderner Waffen und forderte deswegen leider immer viele Opfer unter den Ureinwohnern. Hinsichtlich dessen gibt uns OSYRON nicht nur thematisch, sondern akustisch eine spannende Geschichtsstunde. So ist auch Kanada als Nation aus blutgetränkter Erde erwachsen.

OSYRON

rechnet sehr schonungslos und deutlich mit dem Thema der damaligen Kolonisierung Kanadas ab, bei der vorrangig die Engländer und Franzosen eine Rolle spielten. Dabei ist Kanada allerdings auch nur ein Beispiel von vielen für das brutale rücksichtslose Vorgehen bei der Entdeckung bzw. Eroberung neuer Länder seitens der weltlichen Großmächte. In diesem Zusammenhang verpasst OSYRON parallel der christlichen Mission(ierung) schmerzhafte verbale Hiebe. So wird im Song deutlich gemacht, dass unter dem Deckmantel des christlichen Glaubens im Namen Gottes versucht wurde die First Nations (Ureinwohner) zu bekehren. Knallhart gesagt: „Nehmt unsere Kultur und den Glauben an oder sterbt!

An empire, with no sun set, /We would conquer what was ours,/ Destroy the culture In favour of The king / And for God / They would learn to live like us / Or they would learn to die by the cross

Auszug Songtext „The Cross“

Als Sinnbild für den christlichen Glauben wurde als Songtitel

„The Cross“

gewählt. Dieser symphonische Power-Track vermittelt cineastisches Feeling, wobei es schon direkt bei der Einleitung gelingt eine bedrohliche Stimmung zu erzeugen. Dann erschüttern von einem fetten Bass unterstützte mächtige Drums Grund und Boden, was von rauem harten Riffing begleitet wird. Es ertönt hin und wieder ein aufputschender Schlachtruf, um das Thema klar zu machen. Das Soundgewand ist orchestral geprägt und wird dadurch zu einem waschechten Symphonic-Metal-Epos. Der mittig einsetzende von Streichern unterlegte Melodiebogen mit dem hervorragenden Gesang (beim oben zitierten Refrain) ist in seiner epischen Erscheinung fantastisch gelungen. Anschließend fügt sich ein gesanglich wie instrumental wütender aggressiver Part ein, der es mächtig krachen lässt. Der Funke ist entzündet und der folgende Song

„Ignite“

setzt mit gleicher Härte die Geschichtsschreibung fort. Allerdings befinden wir uns im 19. Jahrhundert, genauer gesagt im Ersten Weltkrieg. Hier wird uns die Sinnlosigkeit und gnadenlose Brutalität des Krieges vor Augen geführt. Die Arroganz von hochrangigen Militärs und von politischen Machthabern mit ihren Fehleinschätzungen führten zu einer der blutigsten und verlustreichsten, aber auch sinnlosesten Schlachten im Ersten Weltkrieg. Es war die Schlacht von Passendale im November 1917. Während dieser Schlacht und den monatelang andauernden Kämpfen davor verloren hunderdtausende Soldaten ihr Leben, unter anderem auch viele kanadische Soldaten (ca. 16.000).

Musikalisch tritt der Song „Ignite“ mit einer sehr dichten Atmosphäre auf. Die Riffs und der griffige Bass in Verbindung mit dem wuchtigen Drums führen zu einem wahnsinnig voluminösen Sound. Hier wird der Schlachtruf, der schon im ersten Song verwendet wurde, ebenfalls stellenweise eingesetzt. Der Song besitzt auf dem Album den progressivsten Touch und kommt ab Minute 02:44 sogar mit orientalisch anmutenden Klängen hervor und weist damit einen großen Besonderheitsfaktor auf.

Indianische Legende Tecumseh

Wir befinden uns im Jahr 1813. Es geht um die Schlacht am Fluss Thames, in denen die Amerikaner gegen ein englisches/indianisches Bündnis Krieg führten. Der Visionär Tecumseh war ein angesehener Häuptling vom Stamm der Shawnee. Dessen Traum war ein unabhängiges Nordamerika, in dem Indianer und Siedler in Frieden zusammen leben könnten. Er versuchte immer wieder alle indianischen Stämme zu vereinen, um sich gegen die Amerikaner zu wehren, die das Land erobern wollten. Dieses Ziel hatte er nie vollends erreichen können. Schlussendlich wurde er sogar von der britischen Armee im Stich gelassen und die Indianer erlitten eine verheerende Niederlage. In dieser Schlacht verlor auch Tecumseh sein Leben. Seine mutige Entschlossenheit ist bis heute legendär.

„Battle Of Thames“

ist ein atmosphärischer Track voller Gefühl und er trägt zu anfangs eine gewisse Traurigkeit mit sich. Er beginnt mit leise mit Akustikgitarre und Gesang. Im weiteren Verlauf steigen perfekt abgestimmte Drums mit ein. Hin und wieder klingen die Töne einer E-Gitarre durch. Vor dem furiosen Finale lässt der Sänger mit kraftvoller Stimme zusammen mit Chorgesang in Form von „Ohhhoooohooo“ indianisches heroisches Feeling aufkommen. Es schließen sich fabelhafte Gitarrensoli an und so wird der Song zum Ende noch eine kraftvolle epische Hommage auf den Kampfesgeist und den Mut der Indianer.

„The Ones Below“

greift das Thema Verlust und Trauer auf. Allerdings verarbeitet der Song musikalisch das Thema mit fetzigen Riffs und rockiger Attitüde. Zusammen mit den kraftvolle Vocals wird Song zu einer Kampfansage gegen die Trauer. Hier ist „Positive Thinking“ gefordert. Man soll in ehrenvollem Gedenken an diejenigen, die von uns gegangen sind, sein Leben lieben und leben und seine Sorgen und Ängste begraben.

„Foundations“

stellt am Ende des Albums den opulenten Titeltrack. Dieser kann durch schöne filigrane akustische Gitarren mit einem ruhigen faszinierenden Beginn aufwarten. Nach und nach gewinnt der Song an Kraft, bis die E-Gitarre schließlich den Ton angibt. Das epische Finale beendet das fulminante Album. In diesem Fall besitzt der Song inhaltlich eine immer fortwährende Aktualität. Dabei prangert OSYRON die Missstände und Ungerechtigkeit in der Welt an und verteufelt die Ohnmacht, mit welcher man all diesem Leid gegenübersteht. Über viele blutige Verbrechen der Vergangenheit ist Gras gewachsen, doch wir dürfen nicht vergessen. So müssen wir weiterhin der Ungerechtigkeit und dem Hass entgegenstehen!

Fazit

OSYRON kleiden ernste Themen in beeindruckende hochwertige Soundgewänder. Neben dem ansprechenden Hörvergnügen sollte man sich tatsächlich mit dem textlichen Inhalt beschäftigen, denn OSYRON hat eine wichtige Botschaft! Die Musik ist wie beschrieben allererste Sahne und wird belohnt mit

9/10 Punkten.

Wir nehmen unsere Sache ernst,

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