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Arachnophobia Records has built up a roster showcasing a considerable amount of talent from Poland, with quite a few of their bands blurring the lines between various metal genres. One of their recent additions was Vidian, who have been around since 2008 and managed to transform their sound from one record to the next. Following their ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ full length last year, they released a new EP titled ‘A Piece of the End’ back in May. This four song release found them channeling elements of death metal, groove metal, and progressive metal with a perfect balance of aggressive tonality and calming melodies.
For many people ‘A Piece of the End’ is likely to be their first exposure to Vidian, so I had the chance to reach out to the band and ask some questions to find out more about their newest EP and the work that went into it.
Transcending Obscurity (Chris Dahlberg): In your interview with Decibel, you said that the songs for ‘A Piece of the End’ came together while jamming in the rehearsal room. This seems like a faster, more spontaneous approach than you’ve utilized throughout your career. How would you compare the speed with which these songs came together to your past recordings?
Vidian: That is true, this time we took a more spontaneous way to make the songs. Rehearsals and jamming were always a very important part of our songwriting, but for example – on ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ songs changed a lot during the process. Some of them were written in 2011 and on the record they sound completely different than the first ideas, sketches. On ‘A Piece of the End’ we just followed the vibe and what you hear is mostly what was created at the beginning.
TO: Does the EP title ‘A Piece of the End’ tie in to the fact that these are the final pieces of the ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ period, before you go on to something entirely different with future material?
Vidian: Yes, you can think about ‘A Piece of the End’ like some kind of closing of the chapter. Those tracks were created and recorded after ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ was released, but in my opinion they are, in a natural way, a part of the same vision. I don’t know how the future material sound, but I am sure it will be something completely new and probably strongly different. We haven’t started the songwriting yet, so I can’t say much what the differences will be.
TO: All of your prior material was self-released, with ‘A Piece of the End’ coming via Arachnophobia Records. How did this collaboration come about? Have you thought of possibly reissuing older material through Arachnophobia at some point?
Vidian: Collaboration came out quite easy, to be honest. I was in touch with Krzysztof (Arachnophobia owner) after releasing ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ and I know he liked this record. When we were sure that we are going to record EP I just contacted him, he was interested in releasing it, so the agreement came very quickly. We are happy to be a part of Arachnophobia family with so many great bands on board. We never talked about reissuing older material, but never say never.
TO: You released two videos for ‘Transgressing the Horizon’. Are there any plans to do any videos for songs from ‘A Piece of the End’?
Vidian: At the moment we are finishing the video for the Pole Shift track, it should be ready soon. There are also some ideas for the future, but it is too early to give more details.
TO: The cover art for ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ and ‘A Piece of the End’ seem to have some similarities. Tell us about the creation behind them and how they tie into your music.
Vidian: For ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ I made the cover art. We were looking for something simple, something that will just fit. When I saw this photograph I was like “Yes, this is how I see this music”. After very little changes the cover was ready. Cover art from ‘A Piece of the End’ is an analog photo made by our friend, amazing artist Magda Mrozik. This photo was not photoshoped in any way, it just give the right vibes. I think it fits with the music really well.
TO: Vidian has continued to evolve since you began in 2008. For those just hearing of your material, as you continue to challenge yourself, are there any particular musical elements that define who you are as a band?
Vidian: I don’t know if there is any particular element in our sound, I like to think about specific kinds of emotion that are present in our music. If you will listen to our records since our first demo you will notice that it all sounds completely different, but there is some kind of dark, melancholic vibe still present between the notes. I like to think about music as a live organism that changes, evolves. It is like looking at you as a person. It is still you, but you are not the same as 5, 10 or 15 years ago, you can’t be.
TO: As you’ve continued to record and tour, what has been your biggest challenge in your career to date and how have you overcome it?
Vidian: I think that the biggest challenge to every band is to keep going. After releasing ‘Irrelevant Nonsense Machine Element’ we had some personal issues, both in keeping band’s line up, as in our private lives. That is the reason why recording ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ took so long. There were moments of doubt, questions we asked ourselves about keeping the band together, but we managed to overcome that and record an album. It is easy to run a band when everything is going fine, but it is the biggest challenge to go on when not all is going well, when you have to struggle. That is the reason many bands split up after 3-4 years. Being in a band is hard work, not only on stage or recording studio, but also on a personal level.
TO: I feel like in recent years I’ve been hearing more about Polish metal bands. What are your thoughts on the current state of metal in Poland and the kind of support you’ve received?
Vidian: The Polish scene is very strong, it is not only Behemoth, Vader or Decapitated. Just check Entropia, In Twilight’s Embrace, Moanaa or Thy Worshiper from Arachnophobia label. There is Mgla, Blaze of Perdition, Infernal War, Blindead, Obscure Sphinx, Tides from Nebula, Sunnata, Stara Rzeka, T’ien Lai, So Slow, Markabah and so many, many more… You won’t be disappointed. In my opinion the Polish scene is one of the strongest out there.
Those tracks were created and recorded after ‘Transgressing the Horizon’ was released, but in my opinion they are, in a natural way, a part of the same vision
TO: With both the album and the EP now out, what are your live performance plans for the rest of the year? Do you have any specific tours/countries planned out or is everything still in the works?
Vidian: We will play two festivals this summer, MuszlaFest and Summer Dying Loud. We are also planning some touring this fall, more details will be available soon.
TO: How would you compare the Vidian live experience versus hearing your recorded output?
Vidian: I love to play live, I think that our music gets more emotional, more energetic. You give energy and you get it back from the people. Performing live has this specific element that is very hard to achieve in studio.
TO: Is there anything else you’d like to say about ‘A Piece of the End’ or Vidian in general?
Vidian: Thank you for the interview. It is always much better to hear the music rather than reading about it, so visit our Bandcamp profile or YouTube channel and check for yourself. Hope you like it. Cheers!
https://vidian.bandcamp.com/album/a-piece-of-the-end
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVZCMTzJLvTdKJrGVuHjXgQ
https://www.facebook.com/VidianPoland/
