A tiny village creating a band with a huge sound. This is what happens when you keep people in tiny enclaves on the Belgian borders. Probably.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Saint Jans Cappel, Northern France. A small Flemish village North from Lille.
How did you meet?
Four out of five of us grew up together in this village and Ben, our guitarist, used to play in other bands in a small town nearby.
How long have you been playing as a band ?
14 years now. Our former singer left in 2009, Ben joined us in 2013. Except for this, there has been no line-up change since we formed.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We used to be fans of metalcore bands, especially Darkest Hour. They have a song called “Messiah Complex”, but we wanted to have a name sounding like the end of all hope. Our vision has changed a bit but the name is still here!
What are your influences?
Musically, we are fond of the 2000’s screamo and emo-violence scene (Kaospilot, Snöras, Pianos Become The Teeth, Envy) but also of the heavy wall of sound side of post-rock (Caspian, Russian Circles, Explosion in the Sky). Those are our main influences, but we listen to a wide range of music. Outside of music, we’re all into nature and human history.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Hard one! I think we’re not a “one-genre” band. We’re really a mix between screamo and post-rock. We try to make very intense and very emotive songs that can go from the most minimalist ballad to crushing chaotics parts, that makes you want to scream your lungs out. When we play small venues, we sing without microphones to keep a feeling of urgency and rough emotion.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We like to keep things very linked in anything we do. Our themes are always about stories, people or things that happened to us, but we write it down through metaphors. These metaphors can be about anything, but they often take place around nature, physics or even architecture… so it’s always a “double theme”, an image to explain a situation or a feeling.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We have played around 400 shows with FOM. We consider ourselves more of a live band, trying to be very, very intense. Most of the time, we try and play like that might be our last show ever. I think that’s really important to give everything you have when people come to see you play.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
During our first ever UK show (a one-shot in Weymouth in 2008, I think) the band before us used our bass amp and it burnt. Sylvain, our bass player, was so pissed off that during the set, he threw his bass through the false ceiling of the venue and kept “playing it” by smashing it. I also smash my hands a lot by hitting my drum kit with my fists, or fall off of my drums during the last riff of a show.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I play on a DW design series with a 8×14 PDP special edition snare, aquarian heads, one crash, one ride (both Zildjian A custom in 18 & 20), and 2 toms.
Musicman Stingray + mesa head and 4×10 amp for the bass,
Fender telecaster on a fender twin reverb combo.
Fender telecaster deluxe classic series on Engl head & 2×12 Amp.
Fender Vintera ’60S Jaguar on Mesa boogie dual head & 4×12 marshall Amp.
And a ton of pedals
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We’ve got our new album, our fourth record Senicarne, out on 31st July on Holy Roar Records. It’s been 4 years since our last release, and we can’t wait to share and play new music live!
What are your plans for 2020?
We’ll promote the album and play few shows. We were supposed to tour but with the Covid-19, plans have been cancelled. But we’ve got 6/7 shows for the end of the year, and we’re already focusing on 2021 to tour Europe.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
To open: Ingrina – a french heavy post-rock / post-metal band with three guitars and two drummers. Awesome music, Lovely people, highly recommended.
To open: Hard one, but I’ll go with Pianos Become The Teeth. Been listening to them since their first release, a huge influence on Fall of Messiah
