L'Edition Metallique Howling Syn is made of how many official members? What is each member's role in the band?
Patryk The band is actually made of three official members: myself, which composes music and certain texts, does the programming,
sings and plays bass (for the shows), Sophia writes the texts and sing and Eric is our drummer for our upcoming shows.
L'Edition Metallique In which musical genre would you put your music?
Patryk Howling Syn doesn't try to fit in any particular genre, but the majority of the songs are Goth and medieval metal-like, all the while
being progressive, dark, melodic and a bit influenced by power metal.
L'Edition Metallique You currently have four albums behind you.... do you think it's time to make something different, like a video?
Patryk Yes, we're currently working on a video for the song Vampyra's Symphony. It will surely surprise some because, first, Howling
Syn isn't a signed band and is only distributed on the Internet and, second, because the video's concept is quite dark, reminiscent of those
good old horror movies. It'll surely be different from what we're used to around here (in Quebec). It's also one of the reasons why we chose this
song, because it turns around the story of two vampires (Sophia and me) that try to convince a woman called Vampyra to join them in everlasting
darkness. The video will be directed by Gary Chery and will be available through our website in video format... and maybe someday on Musique
Plus (music TV), who knows? This new tool should help us getting known not as an instrumental band, but as a complete band with vocals.
It'll also help promote our next CD.
L'Edition Metallique Can you give a few information concerning your next album?
Sophia Our next album will contain a conceptual part which will use some of our "Witches Of Avalon"'s songs. This time
though, people will be able to learn about the story behind the lyrics, those having been finally written down. That story's about witches from the
era of Excalibur that attack Avalon after their castle has been destroyed (like on the CD's cover). And while it's war in Avalon, Mordred and
Morgan take King Arthur's place to make Evil rule over the land. It's not the true legend of Avalon, but we've at least based it on the real
characters. The second part of our next CD will be composed of songs from the three other albums, like Vampyra's Symphony. The whole album
should get released at the same time as our video, at the beginning of 2001.
L'Edition Metallique Your popularity on www.mp3.com is quite impressive. Can you explain this?
Patryk All I can say is that Europeans and Americans that like new metal genres love ours. With perseverance, good material, good
promotion and good contacts, we will be able to establish our name. There's also the fact that Howling Syn isn't like any other band from
Quebec. We hope that our fellow Quebecers will like as much our material as European and American fans already do.
L'Edition Metallique Most of the texts are well researched. How do you get this result?
Patryk Our texts mostly originate from a narrow collaboration between Sophia and me. I don't feel like writing on earth's misery, U2's
already doing it. I prefer giving dreams and fantastic visions to a humanity that nearly doesn't believe in itself. Faeries, werewolves, goblins,
vampires have always been part of our dreams and nightmares, so we only have to create stories and believe in them to make all of them come
true!
Sophia Like Patryk said, we write many of our texts in duo, so it's easier to make them better, give the other one ideas he hadn't thought
of, etc.
L'Edition Metallique Sophia, were does your poetic inspiration comes from, as far as the texts are concerned?
Sophia Most of the time, I write the lyrics while Patryk's composing or when the music is done, and it's that which inspires my texts. As
for the content thought, I really like to integrate elements from medieval legends, and have adopted the gothic principle of beauty in horror and in
everything that abounded in tales, which by the way weren't always for children.
L'Edition Metallique Which are your main musical influences? Is it possible to hear a trace of them in your songs?
Patryk I've grown with theatrical music of different styles: KISS, Alice Cooper, King Diamond and even Gwar. They've always proven
me that music had no limits as far as creation is concerned. You can mostly perceive influences from bands like Moonspell, Blind Guardian,
King Diamond and motion picture scores from the Halloween and Star Wars series. With my own personal touch, that is.
L'Edition Metallique What do you think of other musical styles like black and death metal?
Patryk I don't personally like black metal, as opposed to death metal, which is more technical, listenable and better produced, most of
the time. I understand that black metal is a lifestyle as well as being a musical style, but I far prefer death metal. This said, I find it sad that the
near-totality of our old bands (from Quebec) either play black or death metal, as also do most of the newcomers. I think Quebec needs more
diversity to keep the scene alive.
L'Edition Metallique I've noticed that you have done the entire graphic concept. Do you plan on doing the same in the future?
Patryk For now, we make it all by ourselves, including infography.
L'Edition Metallique Any last comments for l'Edition Metallique's readers?
Patryk As long as Howling Syn will have pleasure in making music, Howling Syn will continue to make music!
