Simon Girard – Beyond Creation

Canadian tech-death metallers Beyond Creation stunned the metal world with the release of their debut album ‘The Aura’ back in 2011 delivering a style of metal that brought together the elegance of melody and progressive elements with the sheer brutality of death metal. ‘Earthborn Evolution’ the band’s second album exhibits their distinct style of metal and they’re bringing it to Australia, to do a tour as supports for Melbourne’s very own Ne Obliviscaris. Recently I had a nice chat with vocalist and guitarist of the band, Simon Girard who’s a very thoughtful, quiet and kind person, much unlike the beast that he is when on stage. We talked about the band’s latest album , what ideas went into writing it, being part of the big Season of Mist family and more!

Speaking to me from his home in Quebec, Simon’s pretty stoked about the release of the new album and the response it’s been getting.” It’s going pretty good! We’ve had a really good response for the new album and we’re really enjoying the comments that we’ve been getting. People are contacting us, giving us good reviews so we see that we’ve released something that’s beaten the expectations of our fans and people in general! like people are contacting us giving us some really good comments we see that we’ve released something that’s beaten the expectations of fans and the people in metal music.”

‘Earthborn Evolution’ is the band’s second album, the follow up to debut album ‘The Aura’ and Simon shared his thoughts on what it was like writing a new album after three years. “Well of course there’s a little pressure at first -people will always have that thought of ‘Will they be able to give something equal or better than what they did the first time’. But we just put all our efforts into this album to maintain what we think is our signature sound. We did a lot of research about new music and we wanted our music to be not just heavy but also bring in more progressive stuff. We definitely achieved something that we’re very happy with and I guess people will like it as far as the first album goes.”

Simon also discussed what the writing process was like for their new release. ” Actually for this, it was pretty much the same process – I wrote all the songs and lyrics and once the songs are done, I sent it to each member so they can make their own arrangements and solos. But at the end, every musician puts his feelings in it so this is something we all get involved in and why it has a lot of different sounds. ”

The songwriting and sound on this album is extremely varied and the production more crisp than on the first one and proof of the clarity that the band had in terms of what direction they were going in with this release. “For the  songwriting process, of course we had some new influences. I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz music for the past few months and I also discovered a lot of new techniques that I could play on the guitar, so this is something you can hear on the new album. We all listen to different kinds of music so each member has put their own feeling in it. Of course when it comes to the production, Chris has done an amazing job and we’re really happy with it. It’s more natural sounding, and we did want something different from ‘The Aura’. On the drum parts, there’s absolutely no trigger, so it’s all natural from Phillipe. Also Kevin and I play passive pick ups on our guitars, with more dynamics and sounds so that way it’s pretty different to what we’ve done before.

The album title  is something that really caught my attention – it’s so powerful and has a lot of depth. So what exactly does ‘Earthborn Evolution’ signify? ” Well we thought about many names during the past three years but I just wrote the song ‘Earthborn Evolution’. It’s about science, and more about the human body, molecules etc and I felt it was a really good idea. I talked with my band mates and we found this the best name because our band is connected with spirituality more than religion and more about how the choices humans make impact the environment etc. So from our side I think it was a good way to name the new album and to progress from ‘The Aura’.

Simon also explained the lyrical concepts that he focused on when writing this album and the meanings that they had. 
“I thought about many things on this album when writing the lyrics. Actually if you refer to the artwork, i’s more about human and how people are evolving very fast. We have all the tools required to make the future good both for the environment and the next generation but it’s the choices we make that matter – people make so many bad decisions, all they think about is money. We have the tools but don’t make good choices, it’s going to lead to something, a situation which we can’t turn back. Not only did I think about human actions and how they impact the environment but also about spirituality, religion, govenment. It’s definitely an album where the lyrics are more self-related and based on experience than ‘the Aura’. I’m a very quiet guy, I don’t speak much but I observe everything.”

Phillipe the band’s newest drummer, who also happens to be Simon’s cousin, joined the band in 2012 and Simon’s really happy with him. “Phillipe is a really really good drummer, he’s actually my cousin so I’ve known him for a couple of years now. Before he was playing more black metal and really technical metal but not too much progressive. I talked to him and helped him work on his progressive style and I knew he would be able to play our songs. Beyond Creation’s goal is more about feelings than speed in music and he developed his ability- started learning some new techniques so it’s been really good and we’re very happy!”

The band signed to Season of Mist about a year ago and things have been only going uphill for them ever since! ” We’re really happy with Season of Mist and we thank them for making business with us and signing us. It’s been about one year since we signed the contract. The label takes bands that they like musically and work with them and this is good for us because they really love what we do. We’ve also developed a friendship with them and it makes us feel good! They’ve helped us out a lot! ”

 ‘Earthborn Evolution’ definitely incorporates a few different elements and does stand apart from ‘The Aura’ while maintaining Beyond Creation’s typical melodic and progressive, groove-laden sound. ” “Honestly, to describe our sound, I’d say we’re more progressive. Of course, our music is death metal but when we make music, our goal is all about the feelings we put in – we focus on progression and technicality. There’s an amazing range on the guitars, then we have the 6-string fretless bass that gives a very different sound, something that people will identify as a ‘Beyond Creation’ sound.”

This is the band’s first time in our country and in support of Australia’s pride and joy: Ne Obliviscaris. I asked Simon what they were feeling about the whole tour and what fans can expect from a Beyond Creation live show. ” Well we do know that tickets are selling really fast and well because we talk very often with our band mates from Ne Obliviscaris. I think we’re going to have a great time there because we know there’s a lot of people waiting to see us with NeO, i think it’s going to be crazy! We have more experience now than before when it comes to live shows, so expect lots of mosh pits, headbanging and a really tight performance!”

After Australia, the band seem to have quite a few touring plans coming up and they’re very excited about it! ” Once we’re back from our Australia and Japan tour, we’ll probably do some weekend shows and stuff, North America, and then for the second part of the year, during Summer and fall, we’ll probably tour for six months. During that time we’re looking to play in Europe because we’ve never played there before so maybe a few festivals! Let’s see how things go!”

Apart from being the backbone of Beyond Creation, Simon also enjoys photography! ” I’m a photographer and I love taking photos  especially when I’m outdoors. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so connected to nature because I’m always outside and I’ve seen so many places. I really enjoy taking different shots and seeing different parts of the world.”

Simon has one last message to all of Beyond Creation’s Aussie fans before the band hit the country for their tour with the awesome Ne Obliviscaris. ” We’re really really excited to see everyone there and to play with our friends in Ne Obliviscaris. So definitely looking forward to it! We’ll be there soon so we hope to see everyone coming out to all our shows! Cheers!”

Trust me, these are shows you do not want to miss. Catch Beyond Creation with Ne Obliviscaris and a whole bunch of amazing support acts on the following dates. Grab your tickets from  http://tickets.destroyalllines.com/

Friday, 21st November
170 Russell, Melbourne (18+)
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines, 170 Russell

Saturday, 22nd November
Uni Bar, Adelaide Lic (AA)
Tickets:
 Oztix, Destroy All Lines

Wednesday, 26th November
The Basement, Canberra (18+)
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines

Thursday, 27th November
Bald Faced Stag, Sydney (18+)
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines

Friday, 28th November
The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle (18+)
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines, Big Tix

Saturday, 29th November
The Brightside, Brisbane (18+)
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines

Saturday, 6th December
Amplifier Bar, Perth (18+)
*
Tickets: Oztix, Destroy All Lines

*Beyond Creation not appearing

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