Good day, Osiah! Could you guys give us an elevator pitch to the band and a bit of a background check?
ANDY: Hey, we’re Osiah. We’re a 5 piece deathcore band from the North of England, 4/5 of us have silly accents and GeordieShore is the worst representation of the northeast.
How have the celebrations from the release of Loss been treating you guys? Still partying hard or are you guys taking it chilled now the album’s been out for a bit?
ANDY: We went a bit too hard on the listening party stream… but I think that was down to being nervous. Felt it the next day, haha. We’re still celebrating though, every day surprises us with something new. It’s been really awesome.
It seems that the release is being received extremely well! You guys must have known you were on a winner with the hype that built with every single release?
ANDY: Honestly, I said to the boys leading up to everything… I was confident it was going to do ‘well’, but I didn’t think it was going to do this well! It’s blowing our minds how well everyone is loving it. Every day, as I said above, something new always surprises us and it’s such a good feeling.
A personal favourite track on the album that you’d like to highlight and why does this one stand out?
RICKY: The Ominous Mind (Jaded Inside) – Honestly, it’s one of the most pained tracks on the record, and also recording it was an experience that I’ll never forget, that end section I was literally screaming my pain out, I don’t think I’ve ever been as low as I was at that point of recording, and that melodic section that Andy provided really brought it out of me. I can still hear it when I listen back and it now serves as a reminder of where I’ve come back from. And the twist; we recorded a music video for this one, we all had to get together to work on this and I was finally back with my best friends (I hadn’t seen both Keepin and Noah in like a year and a half at this point) and Shaun (Loki films) even longer. My girlfriend (who I also hadn’t seen in months) was there acting as the witch in a last-minute decision and it stands now as one of the happiest days of my life, such juxtaposition, it’s funny how it turns out sometimes.
You can check out the video here:
You guys have really immersed yourselves in a new era of
deathcore – Loss is pure carnage in the best possible way from start to finish. What was the intended vision for the album?
ANDY: I think our vision is always the same, which is to try to be better than the last one. With the current state of deathcore, I feel that it’s very saturated with bands doing the same thing. Not that that is a bad thing, I love a good breakdown or playing an open string in drop Z, but, with everyone doing the same thing I think it’s very hard to stand out from the crowd. So, I think incorporating more death metal elements and moving away from the long droney breakdowns and having a more raw approach wasn’t initially intended, but just felt right and more the thing we felt more comfortable to do. If you want all that silly nonsense, go check out our previous albums haha.
What are the lyrical themes and concepts most prevalent on the record? It reminded me of the kind of vocals he used to do back in the day for Ingested. Did you guys have much of an input to the features or did you leave the creativity in the artist’s hands?
RICKY: You know, all three albums have pretty much been solely based around my mental health struggles and conquerings, they’re all incredibly personal in their own ways, even if they don’t appear to be at first glance. Over time previous listeners have found the subtext within my lyrics, and have subsequently approached to relate, I guess over time I’ve come to terms with who I am and I’m honored to know that my words have helped others, this record is the most real I’ve been about it all and I’m not hiding it in anymore in an external concept, Loss is way rawer than anything I’ve ever done, and I’m proud to take this journey with so many backing us.
Which deathcore bands have had the biggest influence on you guys over the years? Any bands you’d like to shout that our readers should check out?
We are old school, we grew up on Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, All Shall Perish, Ingested, Carnifex, Oceano, and all the cool MySpace era bands that came and went. If you haven’t checked all of them out do so, but also check out Monasteries, Distant, Viscera, Godeater, and Bound in Fear to hear some of our road bros.
You teamed up with slam king Jason Evans (Ingested) for the title track ‘Loss’ and Ben Duerr (Shadow of Intent) on ‘The Eye Of The Swarm’. Two amazing guest features – but I was especially surprised with Jason’s guest spot because of the sheer brutality in his performance.
In terms of the Jay feature, we go way back and he knows and loves that we have been fans from the beginning, I had discussed the section before with him as I needed to provide clarity before moving forward (as I was pre-occupied with other tracks at the time,) Jay actually sent us his sections before I finished mine, and they were awesome, I had discussed what I wanted from him in a ‘chorus that would be remembered’ and when I got finally round to doing mine, I sent him the song and he immediately requested he does another version. A complete jaw-dropping example of perfection to his craft and respect to Osiah, he reworked it to fit my flow and style and provided what we have today on this record; a beautiful accompaniment to my voice which also stands strong on its own. It’s perfect.
How did you guys approach the writing of your new album during a global pandemic?
ANDY: Well typically, I and Keepin will all write at our homes and then approach or put in the group chat that we have a song. Noah will get drum midi for the song, then send midi back, and then Roper will come in last to write vocals or put vocals on tracks, and we’ll keep doing that process until we have enough songs in demo form to get ready to track them properly. Then I will usually arrange for when we’re going to record everything. Last time, we went down to London for 2 weeks when the lockdown restrictions were lifted. Luckily we did it in those two weeks because I think after then… the rules started to change. Noah came to Newcastle and we hired the main studio out at In Heart Studios and tracked all drums in 4 days. Roper tracks his demo & his final vocal takes at his home.
With the new album out and touring/shows slowly coming back post-COVID, What are the plans for the future of Osiah?
We have a tour at the end of the year with Bound in Fear & Godeater, along with a few one-off shows from June onwards.
Dates for the tour with Bound In Fear & Godeater are:
12/12/21 – Birmingham – Mama Rouxs – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/3gDssH9
13/12/21 – Glasgow – Garage Attic – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/2ROXQrI
14/12/21 – Newcastle – Think Tank – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/3v8xeQW
15/12/21 – Manchester – Star & Garter – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/32CZUVD
16/12/21 – London – New Cross Inn – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/3dxzH11
17/12/21 – Cardiff – Fuel – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/3ame7e7
18/12/21 – Brighton – Green Door Store – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/2QHC88g
19/12/21 – Southampton – The Joiners – Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/3gpJW9z
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