Iron Altar: Bonded By Riffs
Over the last decade Scotland’s metal scene has grown from strength to strength with the likes of BLEED FROM WITHIN, FROM SORROW TO SERENITY and FRONTIERER making huge waves. Hoping to follow in their footsteps is Edinburgh’s IRON ALTAR, since forming in 2015 they have continued to go from strength to strength.
“I initially tried out for a band called TORN FACE who was fronted by our vocalist Callis, whilst learning their songs I wrote a couple of new tracks off the back of it which ended up being a part of our debut E.P. In the end TORN FACE went their separate ways and me and Callis ended up chatting about putting another band together. We rounded up our mates Lyle, Simon and Nick to start jamming with us and the rest is history” informed guitarist Dan Drever. “We’ve had a fair few changes since our original lineup, we released our E.P in August 2016 and by November we had 3 new members! We were very lucky that this didn’t cause any downtime and we managed to fill the slots pretty quickly through our contacts we’d built up in the local scene. We’ve all played in bands before and we’re not youngsters anymore. This doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes but that experience certainly helps in steering the band in the right direction. For our very first gig we already had our E.P recorded, physical cd’s released and t-shirts printed. We hit the ground running and we have aimed to repeat this process as we progress.”
IRON ALTAR combine a wide range of styles such as the rawness of doom metal, the brutality of death metal alongside impressive technicality to provide an intriguing offering which sets them apart from the pack. This amalgamation helped form the backbone of their 2018 full length release Pillars Of Blood. “My personal influences range from LAMB OF GOD and GOJIRA to ELECTRIC WIZARD and BLACK SABBATH which isn’t particularly obscure” stated Dan. “All of our influences as a band blend very well together and has helped us to develop our sound. Don’t ask me to explain what that sound is though! Our song writing process is very much a collaborative effort. Myself and our guitarist Squee get together and start piecing riffs together then we’ll get together and starting building upon these ideas and make any necessary changes. We don’t really follow a set pattern or plan. It’s all about the flow of the song for me and how the sections compliment each other.”
With the rise of technology available at our fingertips this can be a blessing and a curse to bands who are trying to raise awareness in such a hotly contested environment. Rather than seeing it as a competition the bands in Scotland have formed a tight knit community. “There are so many excellent bands active in Scotland at the moment and we all work together and support each other as much as possible” discussed Dan. “The Edinburgh scene in particular is thriving with the majority of bands who are pushing things further afield and starting to tour in Europe. Social media and streaming platforms have made it very us for bands like us to get music out there but on the flip side its harder for bands to stand out. It seems likes and follows are often more important than the quality of the music and the performance. I completely understand why these things are considered to be important but I’d like to think that we aren’t judged too heavily on the amount of likes we have on Facebook. I think having something recorded and released is very important to get yourselves out there. It also helps with booking gigs and having reviews and testimonials to share around. An album and a music video are the ultimate for me. I think people take you more seriously when you get to this stage or at least I hope so!”
2020 is already looking to be a promising year for IRON ALTAR as they have recently been announced as part of the tantalising lineup for this years edition of Edinburgh’s Red Crust Festival which is stacked with an array of local talent. There are some bands which aren’t keen on the touring and playing live aspect that comes as being part of an active band but Dan relishes any opportunity he has to get on stage. “I love everything about going on tour. I get to travel to new places with my friends and get to play music and have a laugh. If we’re lucky someone comes up to tell us how much they’ve enjoyed our show. It’s a great feeling. I guess most musicians aspire to play music full time and I don’t think we’re any different. We do what we do because we enjoy it, I don’t see myself not being involved in music and if it ever became possible for us to play full time that would be a dream come true for us all. We’re just mates that like to write heavy tunes!”
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