In this episode of The Rock Metal Podcast, we're chatting with Michael Priest of the band Idolatrous about their new album ‘Sorrow On Midgard’ out now.
During our chat we touch on a lot of great tips for musicians, such as not being afraid to make changes to songs, even months after they have been initially written.
'Sorrow On Midgard' was Produced, Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Grady Pursel.
For fans of Amon Amarth, Dethklok, Insomnium, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Kataklysm.
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Guest Resource
Idolatrous.shop - Connect with Idolatrous!
Guest Music Video
3 Heavy Hitters
1. Find the sound in your head and produce it into reality
2. Work on songs so long as they excite you, for they will excite others as well
3. Don’t be afraid to write completely different parts for songs, even months after they have been initially written
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Show Notes // Transcript
Jon Harris: Okay, Michael, thank you so much for coming on today. Go ahead and say hello to all of our beautiful listeners.
Michael Priest: Hello, all of you beautiful listeners.
Jon Harris: Great to have you on. So let's go ahead and chat about this record, Sorrow on Midgard Wormholedeath Records, out February 24. Groovy stuff, maybe I should say brutal stuff, but what was the greatest moment for you producing this record?
Michael Priest: Oh, that's that's a good question. Damn, I don't know. I think all of it, really, because I would sit there and write the songs out in my room and just get super stoked about every single one of them, even the ones that didn't make it on the album. But the ones that really stood out, I think, were like Prophecy, Sorrow On Midgard and Predecessor. When I finished those songs and got the final production on them and I heard everything back, I was like, oh my God, this is the Idolatrous sound. All of it, really. But those three, I don't know. Beautiful madness.
Jon Harris: Beautiful madness. Getting super stoked about all the songs, even the ones that didn't make the record. But you mentioned Prophecy, Sorrow on Midgard, Predecessor. When you got the record back from being finally mixed and mastered and ready for human consumption, you said, this is the Idolatrous sound, beautiful madness. You did mention some songs that didn't make the record. I mean, what happened? Did they no longer excite you? Did you just put them down for a little bit? What happened?
Michael Priest: If I lose the flow of the music so typically when I write it's all in one sitting, so I'll write an entire song in one sitting and then listen to it for weeks on end and then go back and make micro changes to it. So when it gets to that point, or if I'm not able to finish the song or if I feel rushed to finish it, I'll start throwing in riffs that they're good riffs, they don't make sense with the song, and then that's where I start losing the interest on it.
Jon Harris: Okay, writing a song in one sitting, listening to it for weeks on end, making micro changes to it, but then sabotaging it with random riffs and losing interest on it. But something you had mentioned, though, was you knew when you had the Idolatrous sound, creating the Idolatrous sound. How did you know you were there?
Michael Priest: So I got introduced to melodic death metal and death metal at a very young age and it was always like more stuff from Sweden. A Dark Tranquility. I had Dark Tranquility's first album back when Anders was still singing with him when I was like twelve or something. So I started it very young and then from that I ended up getting the that at that time I hadn't heard I've heard similarities of it, but I hadn't heard that sound like that specific sound. So I started playing guitar and figured out how to come up with that sound and it just got more aggressive along the way. Even from this record Sorrow On Midgard compared to what we're working on now, the sound is still there, but I can see how much it's evolved. But yeah, pinpointing that sound. Basically I had a sound stuck in my head that I hadn't heard, so I made it.
Jon Harris: Had a sound stuck in your head that you hadn't heard, so you just knew you had to make it. Excellento, my friend okay, what was the biggest challenge for you on this record?
Michael Priest: COVID was the biggest challenge.
Jon Harris: Why's that!?
Michael Priest: So we got everything done for the record, all the music videos, all the imagery, everything out of production. Final, complete, done, finished, got set up with a management company and we were with them, I think like three months. And we started shopping the album to labels and then COVID hit so tour shut down, labels shut down. Our management was still trying to shop for us, but I mean, with labels down, nothing happened. So it was like, what, two years or something longer than that. Labels just started looking at new music maybe since June or July last year. So we finished that album at not a great time. That was the biggest struggle, and having to just sit on that album for that amount of time. It's been three years. That album has been done, ready to go for three years now. And honestly, it's a good album. I love it. I still love every song on it. I'm happy it's out. There's. It's a little bittersweet, I think. Yeah.
Jon Harris: Yeah. Okay. Now, sitting on a record for three years, what did you do with that time? Do you now have, like, an arsenal? The Ninja Turtles had a pizza shooter gun. Do you have, like, an album shooter gun? You can just shoot albums.
Michael Priest: Yes, actually. So I was still working my normal job during the entire pandemic, and then I got laid off eventually. But, yeah, it was nothing but music for a long time. I wrote enough material for, like, three or four albums. So for that amount of time, I never stopped writing. I never, ever stopped writing. The only time I stopped writing is when I'm on tour, which I'm actually going to fix. But we're in the production stages for the follow up album, so my parts are done, the guys have it, they're finishing up their recordings on it, and then album two is done.
Jon Harris: Okay. Very cool stuff. Now, something you mentioned was Swedish melodic death metal, working on getting the sound for Idolatrous, and I'm curious, are there any pieces of gear that you ended up using on the record and did any of it end up maybe surprising you?
Michael Priest: Yeah, actually. So I use a Line 6 Pod HD 500 Pro live usually, and we actually ended up using that to record the album, and I was amazed by it because I know it sounds good live, and anytime I plugged it into my computer, it doesn't have quite the same sound when I record. But our bassist, Grady, he's an actual genius, so he knows what he's doing. He did all the production, all the recording, all the engineering mix master and everything for the album. So he's like. We're very lucky to have him because he turns our ideas into the actual reality of what we want.
Jon Harris: Do you know what changed? Like, was it a setting or something? How was it adding in maybe some reverb, because when it comes out live, you're hearing natural ambience that might not be right. What changed? Do you know what maybe Grady did different that turned the light on for using the Pod in
the studio?
Michael Priest: He made a completely new tone on it and he's, like, used this. I'm like, oh, my god, that's wonderful. And it was so much simpler than what I had preset before. So, yeah, he just made a completely new tone. And that's the tone that was on the Sorrow album. And that's the tone that's going to be on the next album as well.
Jon Harris: Wow. Significantly less complicated, which I'm not too terribly surprised. Guitar players are really good at overcomplicating the crap out of stuff, right?
Michael Priest: The story my entire life, man.
Jon Harris: You mean I didn't need those six other patches?
Michael Priest: Yeah, I don't need three noise gates? Are you sure?
Jon Harris: Are you positive?
Michael Priest: Right?
Jon Harris: Bro, are you serious?
Michael Priest: So if there's a way to complicate things, I'm going to find it.
Jon Harris: Yeah. So taking live equipment live equipment doesn't really translate to the studio often, and that's what you were finding. But working with Grady really helped. And we'll touch base on that a little bit later. But when I wanted to get into some of the themes on this record, the EPK that I received from Wormholedeath says a lot of things about the themes on the record. A quote that stuck out, there is no other moment but now. This is what we live for. This is what we die for is this album a call to action? Or maybe just take us through the themes that went into creating this record.
Michael Priest: This is what we live for this is what we die for is actually in the intro for the song Eternal. And, yeah, that song is kind of a call to arms. Like this, is it. This is what we do. This is the only thing we know how to do right. You took four people that don't know how to function in a normal society and aren't built for the day to day job thing. This is it for us. It's the only thing we know how to do right. So we're doing it. That's where that quote actually comes from.
Jon Harris: Yeah. This is what we do. It's the only thing we know how to do. The only thing we know how to do right. We don't fit into that nine to five mold, you're listening in right now, you agree with that? Raise your hand, baby. How would you define success at this stage of your career, Michael?
Michael Priest: I think it's already a success that the album is finally out. Like I said, I'm very happy about that. If we were able to do a tour to support the album, that would be fantastic. Yeah, that's really pretty much our entire goal is just music to her music tour. That's all we want out of it, money wise. Yeah, it'd be cool to make money. That's not our priority with this album. Like I said, it's a success to have it out and released and to have people finally be able to hear it.
Jon Harris: Absolutely. Finally people can hear it. It's a success that the album is out looking to tour to bring the message to the masses. Now let's get back to working with Grady, who is producing the album and sound engineering the album and doing all the things that make the Idolatrous sound. What was it you said again? The beautiful madness. Anyway, working with Grady, what was that like?
Michael Priest: Aside from the engineering and all the production work, he actually did all the backing tracks on the album as well. Um, he always surprises me because, like, there's parts that he'll he'll change or like, send back to me and be like, hey, what do you think of this? And I'll be like, oh my god, what did you do? I don't even know what you did, but it's awesome. Do it again. And that happens pretty frequently. The biggest part you can see on that for Sorrow On Midgard is on the song The Wolf's Ghost. So like that middle kind of bridge section, that was all Grady's work. He'll just take – I think I had some part in there that was kind of like a circle pit riff. It was much faster and he slowed it way down. I'm like, oh, that's different. And I like it, so...
Jon Harris: Okay. Very cool. Did you slow it down? Like I'm just going to say Pro Tools. Did he slow it down in Pro Tools or was that more of a production decision outside of something that they had already
been recorded?
Michael Priest: It was a completely different riff. Like completely different riff, completely different structure.
Jon Harris: Okay, so he produced the record as well. Very cool. So then you mentioned earlier on in the interview that, Michael, you'll come up with everything, kind of almost sounds like by yourself in your room. What was the process from there? You kicked it off to Grady and Grady sort of started taking a look at it and figuring out how he can make or manifest that vision or was it more between the two of you? How did it
work?
Michael Priest: Typically? Yeah. I'll write the songs just sitting in my room. I'll email them to him and then he'll do his thing on them. Some songs he touches, some songs he doesn't. Sometimes a song will be done for months and then he'll just get this random idea and be like, hey, I did this on this song. I thought we were done with that, but okay, cool. I like it. Sounds good. Yeah, that's pretty much the how we do the writing.
Jon Harris: Yeah. Would you say that that maybe is a bit of a blessing in that the record took so long to come out? Because months down the road, if there was an idea to, I don't know, change one lyric line or change a guitar part or something, it could be done.
Michael Priest: Yeah. Once once we decided the album was, like, done, done. That didn't happen anymore, though. Once we had everything released to the management company and getting shopped to labels, like, we didn't go back and change anything.
Jon Harris: Keeping it flexible right up until the point where you got to make that decision. The time is now. It is done. Okay, now, what is the number one thing you would like people who are listening to the podcast right now to do?
Michael Priest: I would say listen to the record. Not just listen to it. I would say listen to it from start to finish. It's not blatantly apparent, but there is a story there. Yeah, I think that'd be it.
Jon Harris: Listen to the record. And Michael, you just gave a spoiler alert. You said that there's actually a story to it. How strong of a story? Without giving away too much, tell us about this story.
Michael Priest: That's a difficult one to answer. You ask good questions. I appreciate you.
Jon Harris: Oh, thank you. I appreciate you, too.
Michael Priest: Some of the other interviews I've done, it's like, what do you think of our website? I'm like it's cool.
Jon Harris: Why do I give a fuck about your website? Yeah...
Michael Priest: It's cool, man. But yeah, I'm kind of stumped on that question, actually. I think the simple answer for the story, for the album is it is the story. Think of it as like. An old Viking warrior from a very young age until death. Somebody's lifespan from their perspective would be the simple answer.
Jon Harris: Okay, so the story to the album is an old Viking warrior from a very young age until death. So somebody's I almost want to make it diminutive somebody's little life.
Michael Priest: Yes.
Jon Harris: It's like scripture, right? I mean, not to get religious. It's just scripture. It's like one person's tiny little life in the span of humanity, in the span of earth. Out of everybody on the planet, we're going to focus in on this guy and we're going to follow this guy for all the rights and all the wrongs.
Michael Priest: That's the very loose answer, yeah. Everything in that album is written from the perspective of the person in the song.
Jon Harris: Beautiful. Okay, so you say you're working on material for the next album. What could we expect? Without giving away too much information?
Michael Priest: This next album is very different. It's still very heavy, very melodic, but we kind of went about it in a different approach, I think. It's like more there's more feeling in it. We put more emotion into this one, I think. Yeah.
Jon Harris: The feels!
Michael Priest: This one will get you on the feeling, the feels. There's some songs on there, like as I was writing the lyrics, I'm like, oh, my God, am I depressed? What the hell is wrong with me? But so far, it's turned out incredibly beautiful and dark. It still has the same aggression, but in a different kind of a way. I don't know how much more I could say on it.
Jon Harris: And you don't have to worry about a single thing, my friend. So for everyone listening in right now, that is a new album in the works from Idolatrous. It's got more of the feels. But today we are chatting about Sorrow on Midgard, the debut album from Idolatrous released through WormholeDeath Records. Go ahead and go to TheRockMetalPodcast.ca. There you can get today's show notes, the transcripts for today, music videos, ways to connect with Idolatrous so you can make sure to pick up that album, check it out and follow that amazing story of the young man to the old man, the old Viking warrior. Speaking of which, Michael, thank you so much for coming on to The Rock Metal Podcast today.
Michael Priest: Thank you for having me.
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