The Offering: From Home to the World

Not every band get to release their debut album through one of the biggest labels in the metal community, then play one of biggest metal festivals in the world the very next day. In a whirlwind of a few days, Boston metallers THE OFFERING did just that and a European tour to boot. Releasing their album Home through the mighty Century Media Records, they then went on to play Wacken Open Air, a dream for every heavy band.

Vocalist Alex Richichi and guitarist Nishad George are still processing their crazy week. “It’s been really surreal”, enthuses George, “how does that even happen for a new band with a debut record?! We are super lucky this all came together.” Humbled by the positive response Home has been receiving from the press and the “crazy influx of new fans” alike, Nishad is sure THE OFFERING are accomplishing their mission statement; “let’s get the band out there and give them a statement – this is what we want to be.”

One element of the band which has got people talking is their ability to mould different metal styles into a coherent sound, an ability which Richichi assures is not intentional. “It’s not like we sat down and decided to spew out as many sub-genres as we possibly can, but the idea is to write songs that get an emotional response. Sometimes that brings us to different extremes of sub-genres as each genre has its own emotional palette.” Both Richichi and George later describe THE OFFERING as “honest, diverse, and over-the-top.”

Home is indeed a diverse record with its title track perfectly demonstrating what the band are about. As Richichi explains, the track Home is fifteen minutes which “represents the musical proficiency and musical spectrum that the band can do. It also shows off everybody’s talents.” He continues with expressing their love for theatrics and how the song portrays that side of the band which they necessarily wouldn’t be able to explore fully in a single. It may not be a surprise then, to learn Home is their favourite track.

Their debut took six months of non-stop writing and recording. “It was like bootcamp” jokes George. As the primary songwriter he would “vomit out a demo as quick as I could” and send it over to Richichi to discover what vibe and statement they could achieve before fleshing it out. Once drums and bass are included, the flow is finally decided, but the band are always tweaking right up until it’s time to mix down. It is this love for their craft and attention to detail which is capturing the attention of the metal scene.

How did THE OFFERING get noticed by Century Media Records?

Richici: After the band formed, we were lucky enough to be able to move down to Tampa, Florida and in this ‘Cinderella-esque’ story, tried to break through the Tampa Bay death metal scene. Of course, when we got down there, it stinks [laughs]. At the same time we were lucky enough to start playing at this club, which is Kelly’s Live and the owner was the singer and founder of ATHEIST [Kelly Shaefer]. He was a little bit impressed with us and I got to have a very good relationship with Kelly and he started talking to Century Media Europe for us. Of course it took them a year or two after them knowing who we even were to start talking to us, but it was that seed that sprouted into that relationship.

You have achieved so much in a week, what do you want to achieve by the end of the Home album cycle?

George: I think we all want to tour, that’s the goal for all. I wanna figure out how we sound with this album live.

Richichi: I think you’ve nailed it, I think the goal of this album was to gain more fans and attention for taking risks and now I think we want as performers rather than writers, to take risks live.

Along with the album name and title track, Home is also referred to in some of the lyrics. What is the theme of Home about?

Richichi: We wanted the album to be a symbol that represented the beginning of our musical career and quest towards our futures. In self-reflection and artistic liberties, I find that our homes are our beginnings and so I wanted a soft metaphor for that and I think we nailed it.

Are there any other lyrical themes which played an important part on Home?

Richichi: A lot of it is kind of classic struggling artist, esoteric, self-reflection on one’s worth and Lovecraftian awareness of where you fit in in the world. Kinda like the classic angsty themes that for some reason metal has moved away from. Maybe it’s just because the people now making metal are so much older and no longer feel the same way? Yeah, I’ve got some things to say about that but I think that’s for another time [laughs].

Home is out now via Century Media Records. 

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