To Kill Achilles: Opening Up Conversations For A Brighter Future

For many of us, to shy away from hard issues in our lives and in the lives of others can often feel like the only option. It’s easy to do, to ignore and to push away, until it’s too late. The subject of TO KILL ACHILLES new record Something To Remember Me By is the way that people can feel on the inside, and a plea to listeners to speak up and to listen if thing feel too much. We caught up with vocalist Mark Tindal all about the strong message in their latest release.

The album centres around a fictional character, made up of the sum of the band’s experiences, who through a tortured year comes to end his own life. It’s a heavy, tight record that embodies the frenetic, chaotic place your own mind can be. “Lyrically we always knew what we wanted to talk about, but the sound of the record sort of developed over time,” Mark explains on how the record came together. “The album was written across three years and our tastes and influences changed throughout the process. Nearing the recording stages, we revisited all the songs to make sure the album was a cohesive piece of music and played out like a record rather than just a collection of songs.”

The songs themselves feel like pieces of a puzzle, that match up to a greater message. “We had this idea to make all the songs link to each other, to make the story fit into a timeline whilst letting individual songs stand out on their own – and it was an effort!” He recalls, on the very emotionally weighty formulation of Something To Remember Me By. “The album has 12 full length songs which represent a month in the life of our character’s year, with two interlude tracks which are there to represent moments of reflection. Along with that there are messages to ourselves, our loved ones, sentences that we should look back on as we grow as people. Basically, we know that no one will ever fully understand the incredibly convoluted story of this album, but if you can find something in the story that helps you as a person, then in our heads, we’ve done our job right.”

If you have ever been in a dark place, no matter the situation, there’s something raw and honest about Something To Remember Me By that will feel like a tonic to dealing with those feelings. TO KILL ACHILLES themselves have crafted a conversational album that opens up to you and hopefully resonates that you are not alone. “That was the whole point. In saying that, we kept it really personal, we did explore a lot of different aspects of life but they were all things we had been through as people. The fact that there is five of us gives us a broad scope but it was never an exploration into every angle, it’s just our angle, our stories and our feelings. That being said, we hoped our stories would inspire others to tell their own.”

While the album must have been somewhat cathartic to write for all the bandmates, it has to have had its challenges emotionally tackling them out in the open. “It’s a bit of both if we’re being honest,” Mark admits honestly. “When writing lyrics, we like things to be conversational, as if someone was speaking to you about how they feel in a room. In that regard you have to really open up, really live in the pain you’re expressing and sometimes opening that door can cause those emotions to flood in. Although once the song was written, once you can listen back to how you felt and feel like you’re talking to yourself, you understand that it’s natural, saying it out loud makes it real, but it makes it manageable and calms you down. We believe that you should always talk about how you feel because once you’ve finished, we can promise, you’ll feel better about it.”

While the personal nature of the record is haunting and desperate, the thing that the band really wants to communicate is that this character is the worst-case scenario, and there is always another way. “Talking about how you feel is the most important thing you can do and it’s healthy!” Mark stresses. “People fear the idea of talking out in case they’re looked at differently – we think that’s an absolute myth. If you trust someone and you tell them you need help, they will always want to help you because they care about you, there’s no stigma, everyone wants you to be okay and an hour-long conversation is no effort whatsoever. People are out there to help; you just need to reach out and you can do it!”

Something To Remember Me By is out now via Arising Empire.

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