Heres the very first interview of the RAVENOAK band

I interviewed James Purple from the UK band RAVENOAK. This is the very first interview for the band, 

I feel like honoured. :)

01. You founded RAVENOAK during last year. What means the band name ?

Well we chose the name RavenOak, because many of our lyrics are to do with battle, so the oak part of the name fits with the wooden shield used. The Raven comes from the fact that the Raven is a symbol of knowledge, divine providence, and is also known as the bringer of death.

02. You are currently working on the first record for your band, RavenOak. Can we always expect one upcoming EP ?

We were going to release an EP, but we feel like we need enough tracks to make it a diverse album, that show multiple styles.

03. The record is planned for – minimum - the end of this year. How long have you been working on ?

The album which we hope will be out the end of this year is a symphonic/melodic folk metal release, blending elements from bands such as Savn, Midnattsol, and Eluveitie. We've been coming up with idea of how we want to sound for a couple months, settling on a blend of orchestral melodies with clean vocals, and heavy riffs with death metal style growls, but only in the last few weeks have we started the writing and recording process.

04. The original title for this record was "May The Niflheim Rise" but you have changed it, why ? 

The new title of the mini-album  is 'Mountain Tales'. We decided to change the title to fit our vision better. We wanted to make each song into a story, and we thought that 'May Niflheim Rise' didn't really fit in with any of the lyrical themes and ideas we had. 

05. At origins, the mini-album is supposed to deal with Norse mythology, folk law, every day life, drinking, and the underworld. Have you also changed the concept, or Music, for this record ? 

The music in this album will be very much based around the lyrical content of each song, with the tracks about drinking having a lot more metal based instrumentation, whereas the more traditional folk style songs about Norse mythology having more traditional instruments, such as violins, flutes, and recorders. For the more traditional songs, we may have a female singer featuring on a couple tracks.

06. Can you explain us your original concept ideas for it, and the change now ?

Originally the album was going to be a lot heavier than it is now. With both of us being in a brutal death metal band before this, it seemed like the easiest route. However, we decided not to go with the easiest option, and to try and explore with traditional instruments and clean vocals. Not to say the album won’t be heavy, because there'll still be influences of death metal within the album, but we wanted to experiment more than we had first planned.

07. Does it get another artwork than the one announced yet ?

We're going to stick with the original album artwork for this album (obviously with the new name at the bottom) we like the style of the cover, and think it suits the record well.

08. How many tracks will be inside this album ?

The album will have 8 tracks, based around different themes, that will have very different feelings, some being a lot slower and more peaceful, and some that will be very heavy and fast paced.

09. What’s left to do for this record ?

There's still a lot more work to do on this album, we've only really just started the recording process, and there's still a lot to write, but it can be finished before the end of the year, and there'll be a track out soon for you to hear!

10. Are you looking for a label ?

So far we don't know how far we are going to take this project, it started as a side project from our other band, but we're definitely having a lot of fun with it, and will hopefully have a few releases, and maybe catch the attention of a label along the way. 

11. Do you have some favourite folk metal bands ?

Between the two of us, our top 5 folk metal bands are: Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, Eluveitie, Turisas, and Midnattsol.

12. What are your next plans ?

Our next plans for RavenOak is to, obviously, release our mini-album, then get to work on a full album, while possibly playing a few shows around England.