Interview with ONYSUS
Tell us about your latest release: the main concept; what fans should expect; what were/are your goals with it:
Between Two Worlds is a conceptual album with a space opera-like story written by our drummer Daniel Rodrigues around 2015. It tells a story about a being from another planet that, upon landing on a future Earth ruled by a world government, causes an uproar on the governmental entities that see him as a threat to humanity. However, before the news of his arrival spread to the higher ranks, he befriends a common countryman, which supports the alien’s peaceful quest and confronts his own government becoming the man Between Two Worlds.
Musically, this album offers a variety of sounds centered around the progressive subgenres over the years, including traces of psychedelic, melodic, technical and heavier tones that are synchronized with the story. Vocal-wise, we present mainly clean vocal lines that give life to the characters as the plot is unveiled in melodious and harmonious passages, accompanied by orchestral arrangements on the most intense scenes. Overall, the main goal of Dyosun: Between Two Worlds was to challenge ourselves technically and creatively while recreating the concept’s plot in a fluid and intuitive sequence of progressive music.
Did you have a specific sound in mind when you formed the band, or did that grow and evolve as you played together?
Before this album, we already had composed some songs, curiously all of them with the themes of corruption, war, and manipulation of the masses. Therefore, we decided to challenge ourselves by composing this whole record from the start without including the previous songs. To portray the plot to the best we could, there were some changes to our first sonority, but never to the point where both felt disconnected. It’s still Onysus! We never abolished the heavier and more technical songs with clean vocals, but we proved we can expand our music further than that.
How does your writing process normally work out?
That is a hard question, as we normally don’t follow any definitive rules for writing our music. Basically, we usually start with a concept or individual sections that seem interesting and start to forge a song from there, discussing changes or what would fit next. Although some of Dyosun’s segments were composed at a distance, we have always been more productive when we are all together writing songs, be it lyrically or instrumentally.
What are your ambitions and how far do you want to push your band?
Our ambition is to make our music spread through every corner of the world, starting with Dyosun but there will be much more to come. We want to write and play music without limitations, to the point where our ideas can bloom in unexpected and enjoyable ways, songs that provide a great experience for the audience to listen and for us to perform to them. Thus, we want Onysus to be a renowned name in the worldwide Prog Metal scene.
What are your influences/musical references and the impact those same influences had in your sound?
As progressive lovers, we try to listen to anything that catches our interest and appreciate most musical genres from extreme technical metal to classical music or jazz and funk. Certainly, our passion lies on the Progressive Metal/Rock scene, including pioneers of Prog Rock, for instance, King Crimson and Gentle Giant or powerhouses of Prog Metal like Dream Theater and Opeth, but we also follow the upsurge of newer artists such as Haken or Earthside. In Onysus, we try to unite our tastes and provide a progressive metal sound coupled with textures from other genres in a way that is not only enjoyable to play but also appealing to the public.
What’s next for you?
Although we already started to think on ideas for a new record, our main goal right now is to promote Dyosun: Between Two Worlds and widen the reach of our music, both nationally and throughout the whole world. All of us work or study while we dedicate ourselves to the band, so we may not be able to gig as often as we’d like, but we want everyone to know that Onysus will always be an active group looking for opportunities, even when we don’t perform in a while.