Answers By Al Llewellyn (Vocalist and Bassist)

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We Are about to release our New Album called 'At First Light' on August 7th 2013. 
The album was recorded in a few different locations, Drums were recorded at Foel Studio and engineered by Chris Fielding, Bass, Guitars, and all vocal tracks were laid down in Different locations/rehearsal rooms and we have worked With Scott Atkins at Grindstone studios (Sylosis, Cradle of Filth, Gamma Bomb, Amon Amarth) on the mix and master.
We are now booking shows, releasing videos and getting features all over the place so keep your eyes peeled for new stuff!!

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

We are often referred to as a Thrash/Death metal band, and for the most part that is exactly what we are, but we also have some progressive tendencies and a wide selection of clean/acoustic guitar parts.
On this album i think we have honed in on our sound a lot more, we feel we trimmed the fat on our song writing and made sure that everything we wrote was good, or it didn't make the song/album! We also pushed our boundaries on this album, trying lots of different things compared to previous releases, especially with vocals and we even have full orchestral parts in a couple of the new songs. 
This is also the first time we have wrote a record with Craig and luke (drummer and Guitarist) as they joined the band shortly after our last album was released, so the fact that they both had a writing influence on this album has brought something new to the table.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

When i write lyrics, i always tend to start with an idea based on a feeling, emotion or life event which has happened to me, or affected me which i then expand and explore. sometimes the song ends up about a bigger picture of what i was writing about but there is always some meaning in what i write. on this album we have a bit of a running theme through it, we like to tie up the Music/Lyrics/Artwork together. The idea for the artwork came about from a number of conversations we had whilst writing the album, lyrically i seemed to be writing songs about the struggle/Fight and the climb we have ahead of us, After talking about the Lyrical content i had so far for the album, Dave (Guitarist) mentioned that it reminded him of a saying he had heard which was 'The wolf on top of the mountain isn't as hungry as the wolf climbing it' which we felt represented where we were as a band. once we had agreed on that idea craig started designing the album cover, so its all tied up nicely.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Arceye is 'a painful eye condition caused by damage to the cornea from ultraviolet radiation during arc welding'.
When Dave and I (Guitarist and Bass/Vocals) were younger (and when we first started the band) we were working on cars and were using a welder, somewhere in conversation we talked about getting Arceye and thought that would be a good name for the band! No real inspiration behind it, but it's stuck and i still think its cool! ha


5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

We have really enjoyed playing the festivals the most i think, there is always an awesome vibe and people are always up for giving new music a listen! Bloodstock Festival was one of my personal highlights and also Hammerfest in 2011.
Shows where we have supported bands that we are fans ourselves of are always amazing too, we have played with Decapitated, Kataklysm, Fintroll and Man must die in the past. 
Stage show wise we always tend to have some fun and interact with the crowd, we love what we do its hard not to have a good time on stage.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We have been playing a few shows in the run up to the album release, our next show is up in scotland at a festival called Les-Fest. There is loads of awesome bands playing, alot of them who are good friends of ours and its being headlined by Evile.
once the album is released we plan to do a U.K tour and see what happens from there.

7. The new album came out on Hostile Media, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support they have given you so far?

We are currently working with Future P.R and they put us in touch with Hostile Media to help with the release of the album. They have made it available worldwide through PlasticHead so thats a massive help when you want as many people as possible hear what you have to offer. 

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death and thrash metal?

We have had an overwhelming response so far even on the new album, I've had people get in touch with me wanting to interview and review us and the album from Sweden, America, Germany, Gibraltar, Finland and across the U.K!
We also had a lot of people around the world liking what we did on the last album, so i can't wait to get this one released to hear what people think.

9. Are there any other musical projects going on these days?

Not really, its hard to find the time, we all play in our spare time but things are starting to get busy for us at the moment, so we all focus our efforts on Arceye.

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

I think we will stay in the same vein, as we really enjoy what we have put out on the new album, but its hard to say until we are in the writing process again. We don't seem to stick to a set formula when it comes to writing, as we write for ourselves mostly and that all depends on what mood we are in at the time haha.
There are already some ideas floating around for album 3, as we wrote more than we needed for this album, but with the deadline we set ourselves to release some songs didn't get finished. so I'm sure we will pick up from there when its time to think about another record again.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Collectively we all like bands like Pantera, Opeth, Decapitated, Lamb of God, Metallica, Gojira, Cannibal Corpse, Bloodbath, Testament, Devin Townsend ( just to name a few), But between the four of us our music tastes are quite varied and go beyond the genre of metal. 
Recently in the last week or so I've been listening to Mastodon, Necrophagest, Xerath, Sylosis, Gojira, Strapping young lad and Lonely Island!

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Beer, Cars, Ladies, Food… the usual! haha, The Album artwork and portraits within the inlay of the new cd were actually Painted by our Drummer Craig. He works as a graphic designer, but he enjoys painting and wanted to do something different with the artwork on this album, so he decided to do all that in his spare time. So even when we arn't working on music there is always something connected to the band going on in the background.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Yeah, to anyone reading please head over to our Facebook/Youtube/website to keep in touch and see what we are up to. We will be releasing music videos shortly in the weeks running up to the album release, if you go over to our big cartel shopwww.arceye.bigcartel.com you can pre-order a copy of the new album, and if you like what you hear spread the word! Cheers, Riffs and Tinnies!!