The multi-talented Tom MacLean has been a fixture on the prog-metal scene ever since the release of To-Mera's brilliant first album Transcendental in 2006. Although that band went on hiatus some time ago, a long stint as the bass player in prog geniuses Haken, together with a number of other short-lived projects have ensured that his reputation has retained its lofty status. In recent years, MacLean has opened his own studio, Twelve Tone, with a view to lending his not-insignificant production, mixing and mastering talents to up-and-coming and established artists alike, and in 2021, his life in front of and behind the desk have come together in the form of Athemon, whose debut has just been released on WormHoleDeath. I caught up with Tom recently to discuss the genesis and future of this band, his thoughts on the recording process, and the prospect of a return for the much-missed To-Mera.

Benjamin

For the uninitiated, Athemon are the brainchild of Brazilian guitarist / vocalist Adriano Ribeiro, who put the enforced downtime of the ongoing pandemic to good use, writing and recording the band's debut. In terms of how MacLean came to be involved, and help shape the final product, as he explains, "It all came about because during the initial lockdown, with all countries simultaneously going into lockdown, I was finishing a distance-learning audio engineering certificate. Up until that point, I'd been reaching out to bands and friends that would be open to someone starting out on the audio side. I had loads of recording experience, but limited production and mixing experience – I'd always left that to someone else! There was some interest from local bands looking to record EPs, but when lockdown happened, that was postponed. And I thought, if I don't act now, I'll languish and fail to make anything of the engineering, not to mention the lack of any money coming in. So, I did some social media outreach, spoke to friends of friends of friends, and got plenty of contact through my website."

"Adriano was one of the people who got in touch – he sent me a Garageband demo, and I thought it was really cool. You can tell when someone's got a vibe going with their instrument, and I was impressed by his gnarly guitar tone. The guy's got some serious guitar chops! But the demo was just him and some programmed drums. It was exactly the kind of project I was looking for – someone who's obviously got some talent but needed some outside help. As with many projects during lockdown, Athemon wasn't yet a fully-fledged band. In this case, I volunteered to do bass, as it was something I wanted to get involved in. And, to an extent, that allowed me to influence the direction of some of the songs a little bit more and change the sound to something mutually agreeable."

One of the biggest changes that occurred during the recording process was a transition in the vocals, from the harsh growls of Adriano's death metal heritage to predominantly clean, melodic vocals. This change not only matches the slick, progressive metal perfectly, but adds some huge hooks that allow the record to become significantly more memorable than it might have been with a more one-dimensional vocal approach. As MacLean notes, the initial demo was quite different. "The vocals were a lot rougher, not unlike Opeth, but, at least in my opinion, didn't seem like the best fit. So we had some discussions about it and there were some intense Zoom calls! In the end, the vocals turned what would've been a solid album regardless into something that had an extra dimension to it Adriano had never really done clean singing before, but I think he really pulled it off."

What Athemon also pulled off, and very impressively considering it was their first attempt, is a record that feels like a unified and fully formed album, with a clear musical and thematic thread that runs from start to finish. The fact that the concept (an allegorical tale which uses the emergence of a butterfly from its cocoon to reflect man's journey to self-actualisation) and the majority of the riffs were already there before MacLean was involved suggests that even if Athemon are a new band, their gestation in Ribeiro's own mind has been a long one, with MacLean assisting the project's birth in masterful fashion, shaping and refining the results.

Athemon is sonically a high-end release, all the more impressive given MacLean's relative lack of experience. Good enough in fact, for WormHoleDeath to deem it ready for wider release. I asked MacLean how that particular connection was forged: "I didn't have any prior knowledge of them, but they got in touch. To be honest, I was grateful to have the promo and distribution taken out of my hands and put into the hands of someone committed, who could give it a broader reach." With everything in place, therefore, for Athemon to grow the audience that their music deserves, MacLean confirms that there are thankfully plans underway for Athemon to continue as an active band, even as the pandemic from which they emerged seems to be dissipating. Although there is no imminent prospect of live dates, we understand that "Adriano wants to develop it more –at least half of the next album is written, although he's keeping it to himself right now. I'm sure there will be more, and I'm definitely open to being involved in the next record."

One hopes that this is the case; the bass playing on the album is rarely less than spectacular, the legato runs bubbling through the spaces between the guitar and drums on songs such as 'Whispers' reminiscent of the kind of virtuoso brilliance that lit up the work of early Cynic and Atheist, and it comes as no surprise to hear that Ribeiro was keen to utilise MacLean's talents to add depth and sophistication to the recordings. "Well, Sean Malone was a big inspiration. But then you realise that Sean Malone is basically Jaco Pastorius (US jazz-fusion legend) on a 6-string bass, so really, it's Jaco Pastorius! Also, Adriano and Gledson Goncalves (drummer) are from a tech-death background – big Sadus / Steve DiGorgio fans, and if I was under-playing, they would ask me to make it more Steve DiGorgio!"

Clearly, despite the growing production business, MacLean is not yet done as a musician, even if the former is the current priority. He refers to the fact that in part, the audio training was designed to allow him to gain more control over the recording of his own music, but that this now inevitably plays second fiddle to the fact that business development is totally dependent on demand, and if the demand is there, needs must! Whatever comes next though, it will not be Psion, another prog-metal beast, featuring ex-Dodecahedron drummer Jasper Barendregt. Psion released a single EP in 2017 and promised at the time to be another exciting chapter in MacLean's career. "Psion was a really tricky project. Four strong personalities, myself included, and it was so agonisingly slow. The record should've come out in 2015. Musically it had potential, but as soon as it was released, that was it. Brian (Ramage, from Ramage Inc) is a monster singer, but Brian needs to be Brian, and do Brian. To be clear - what he laid down for Psion was phenomenal and we're so grateful he was a part of it, but it was understood early on that Ramage Inc is his focus. That's his everything. Ultimately, the band just turned up at the wrong time in people's lives."

MacLean is, slightly surprisingly, a little warmer on the prospects of To-Mera returning from exile and reveals that he has been writing during lockdown with their erstwhile singer Julie Kiss (ex-Without Face). "I wrote a few songs with Julie over lockdown, and we're trying to figure out what that will be. We did a pop-rock thing called Euphonia a few years back, but there was no real gameplan other than trying not to write a metal song. That didn't have a clear direction, it was an experimental, self-indulgent outlet. The new stuff is promising; I don't know if it will be a new To-Mera album, but, given the overall vibe with the new stuff – it would tie in with the "Exile" album."

For now, though, the priority is responding to the strong demand for production and mixing work, even if some bands are looking for something a little out of their price range! "It's really tough. I want to develop skills-wise and work with better musicians. However, the people at that level… the records have all been mixed or mastered by two or three guys. It's either Jens Bogren, Jacob Hansen or Andy Sneap. Nevertheless, everyone wants their albums to sound like that, but for a tenth of the price! I wonder if the pre-eminence of a small number of mega-producers in the genre acts to homogenise metal, and limit individuality, but MacLean doesn't see it that way. "I used to think exactly that. I thought the drums on Andy Sneap records were too hard, or Jens Bogren was always using the same snare sound. But I think that through being on the other side, what I realise is that in the end, engineers are always trying to do what the bands ask them to do. It's not the engineers pushing it. There will always be input, but it's the band's decision." Not that a lack of direction is necessarily any better though: "Well, sometimes people say 'Whatever'. They have no opinion, and you're freaking out!"

Before we close the conversation, I'm interested to hear what MacLean is listening to currently, hearing things as he does with the ear of both an artist, and an audio engineer. I unreservedly endorse his choice, which is the Converge "Blood Moon I" collaboration with Stephen Brodsky and Chelsea Wolfe. "It blew my mind out of nowhere. It's a colossal sounding album. I'd always been on the fence with them. It was a bit what I was expecting, but in so many ways it was just something else." It's fascinating to hear MacLean so enamoured with a record that, superficially at least, has little in common with the symphonic prog-metal that he is most associated with, and one hopes that just a little bit of his new-found love of Converge will bleed into whatever comes next for the man himself, be that Athemon, To-Mera, or something completely different.

If you have read this, and want to utilise some of the skill that makes Athemon's album such a compelling listen, you can find Tom MacLean's audio engineering studio here: https://www.twelve-tone.studio/

One of the most unique and "out of the ordinary" bands of the 21st century in the Swedish metal scene and metal in general, is without a doubt Tribulation from Arvika. They're known best for their unusual style of very progressive gothic heavy metal with rock 'n roll and black metal elements, while also heavily influenced by oldschool gothic horror and Italian horror movies from cult directors such as Dario Argento. Aside from their change of genre from death metal to what they are known today, they also had various lineup changes throughout the years, with the recent one being the guitarist Jonathan Hultén who was replaced by Joseph Tholl (VOJD, Tyrann, ex-Enforcer) after the fifth album "Where Gloom Becomes Sound" wrapped recording. However, this lineup change did not affect the band in any negative way, since they released their new EP Hamartia on April 7t, 2023. They kept their consistent musical style and have taken a more progressive approach in their songwriting, which resulted in a very positive reception from the fanbase. Joseph's trial by fire on this release proved his worthiness and it certainly shows a great deal of promise when the time comes for their next full-length album. For this occasion, I had the pleasure to speak with Joseph Tholl about his contribution to Tribulation, as well as his solo album "Devil's Drum" which was released in 2019. So, please join me on this delightful nocturnal journey which I truly hope you'll enjoy.

Vladimir

Greetings Joseph! First of all, I'd like to wish you a warm welcome on behalf of MetalBite. How are you doing brother?

I'm good, thank you. Sweden is at its darkest and coldest right now, but that makes good time for making music.

This year, Tribulation released the new EP "Hamartia" and this is the band's first official release where you participated despite the fact that you joined the band back in 2020 before the release of the fifth full-length album "Where Gloom Becomes Sound". From your perspective, how was the overall experience working on this EP? Were you met with any challenges during the making of "Hamartia"?

I must say it was a very smooth process. It was great to reunite with Adam in the songwriting, almost exactly ten years after he quit Enforcer. We didn't put too much pressure on ourselves in the process, just letting these three songs come to life without analyzing what kind of direction we wanted to take and so on. We just wanted to do something together and we had a great time writing and recording the EP. We recorded drums with Linus Björklund, who I also play with in VOJD, in his studio, and the rest was recorded together with Robert Pehrsson in Studio Humbucker that me and Robert share.

Do you personally believe that this EP is a step forward for Tribulation and a progression from "Where Gloom Becomes Sound"?

Not really, to be honest. To me these songs sound quite classic Tribulation, almost a bit rawer and back to the old at some points. But that's what we wanted to do. We're working on the next album now however, and that's where the new directions are gonna show up.

The overall reception of "Hamartia" was very positive and it seems that the Tribulation fanbase gladly accepted you as an honorable successor to Jonathan Hultén who was the band's longtime guitarist for 16 years. Has the general fan reaction towards your contribution and the outcome of "Hamartia" encouraged or inspired you in some way to work more comfortably on future Tribulation releases?

I feel very welcomed by both the band and the fans and I'm very confident in how I want to contribute to the music. I entered with the mindset of adding a new touch to the compositions rather than trying to imitate what they've done before. It's great that we know each other so well since before, they are not uncomfortable with turning my ideas down if they are too far off for example, and that makes it easier for me to experiment, knowing that they know that I'm experimenting at times. I've always admired Tribulation for their ambitiousness and progressive creativity, there would be no point to contribute with safe cards they've already played.

What I found quite interesting about the new EP was the included cover of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Vengeance The Pact' as the fourth track, which at first seems like an impossible task for a band such as yourselves, but you guys successfully pulled it off and you created a fantastic cover which is still stylistically faithful to the original and also contains the signature traces of Tribulation. How did the band come up with the idea to cover this song in particular and what was your reaction when you settled down to do this? Also, are you guys big fans of Blue Oyster Cult?

Johannes wanted to cover BÖC for a long time so it was his suggestion, we're all big fans and agreed on it pretty soon. If you listen to the gloomy main riff it's easy to imagine Tribulation covering such song, but the rest of it was not as obvious when we began to dig into it, but that was a great challenge and it forced us to push the boundaries a bit in a cool way.

How did you feel personally when you joined Tribulation back in 2020, especially since you reunited with your old friends with whom you were playing back when Tribulation started as the thrash metal band Hazard? Was it a bit strange for you when you stepped in as a replacement for Hulten?

It felt very natural, as you said we're old friends and have played together in other bands during the years so we know each other very well, both personally and musically, and it's the same with Jonathan, it was no weird vibes or anything, and no problem for me to ask him for help learning the songs etc.

Aside from Tribulation and your other two bands VOJD and Tyrann, you also perform as a solo musician and you released your debut solo album "Devil's Drum" back in 2019. Has the overall experience on your solo album helped you a lot in later works, including Tribulation? Was there anything new that you learned or achieved when you were making "Devil's Drum"?

I learned a lot from making that album. I was my own engineer throughout the whole album, though I had my friend Robert Pehrsson, who is a professional studio engineer, working on his album in the same building so I could always ask him for advice. I also had to do all the business stuff, signing contracts and taking care of the budget and stuff. There's a lot of work putting an album together and I'm glad I could prove to myself that I can do that all by myself, I'll definitely do it again whenever there's time.

One song in particular which stood out from that album is 'They Fell From the Sky', because the main riff reminded me a bit of 'The Conjugation', which was the song you wrote in Enforcer for "Death by Fire" album. Was this resemblance a mere coincidence or was it perhaps meant to be a nostalgic throwback to that song?

It is actually the same melody but played in 6/8 instead of 4/4 as in 'The Conjugation'. I thought I'd just use it again with a slight variation haha. I have even used it before the Enforcer song too, it was part of an instrumental concert I did as my high school exam. So let's see if it shows up on the next Tribulation album as well haha.

Do any of the songs from "Devil's Drum" stand out as your personal favorites for a specific reason or do you love them all equally as children?

They all mean a lot to me but if I would choose one I'd say 'Follow The Fire'. It's a song that is quite far from what I usually do, maybe it's the least rock one on the album. It represents something that I don't do very often but feel 100% confident in doing.

Something that really caught my eye about your solo music is the diction in your vocals, which reminded me of Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and a bit of Chris Martin of Coldplay as well. Has any of them been an influence to your vocal style or were there perhaps any other vocalists that served as inspirations?

I dig Dire Straits and I appreciate the reference but I never thought of it myself, and I never listened to Coldplay more than what I heard on the radio. But they both have that kind of mellow, relaxed vocals that I wanted to use for most of the songs on my album. In Black Trip and VOJD I usually sing in a higher register with more intensity.

This year you celebrated the 10th year anniversary of Enforcer's third album "Death By Fire" along with Olof, Jonas and Tobias on Instagram's livestream. This album certainly holds up 10 years later, but more importantly, it was a pivotal point in the band's career and yours as well. Looking back on this album and fast forward to where you are now, do you feel as if "Death By Fire" broadened your musical capabilities, both as a musician and as a songwriter?

It is definitely an important record in my back catalog, just as the other Enforcer records I play on. To me "Diamonds" and "From Beyond" are equally important. But yeah there's something special about "Death By Fire" for sure. I think this is the record where Enforcer found its true sound. We also did a lot of memorable touring on this record.

What are you doing these days when you're not performing? Have you been listening to any new music lately or have you perhaps discovered new bands that caught your attention?

We're currently working on the next Tribulation album so that takes up most of the time right now. If I don't have a specific album to work on I enjoy going to the studio anyways to try out new ideas or just fool around with fun projects and stuff. When music is not my job it is my hobby. I also work part time as a carpenter since a couple years back, and I have a 1,5 year old son, so there's always something to keep me busy. I like to cook and that's my best moment to listen to new music. New Maggot Heart record was great. Got a little revival on Midnight the other day and been spinning their newest record that I haven't got to check out before, good stuff. But I'm also pretty bad at keeping myself up to date with new music, I try, but too often I find myself putting on the same record that I've heard a hundred times before.

So far, what can the fans of both Tribulation and your work overall expect? Will you be making a new solo album in the future and are the preparations for the new Tribulation album already coming in order?

As I said before we're working on a new Tribulation album, so for the next 3-4 months that will be in focus. I want to make another solo album and I have a bunch of songs ready for that, so maybe that will be the next studio project once the Tribulation album is a wrap.

Thank you so much for doing this interview Joseph. I am really looking forward to seeing you perform live some day, especially with Tribulation. Are there any final words you'd like to leave for the fans?

Thank you very much and hope to see you too.