Review Fix Exclusive: Ascending Dawn’s Marlain Angelides Talks ‘Cannonball’ And More

Review Fix chats with Ascending Dawn’s Marlain Angelides, who discusses the band and its creative process, as well as their goals for the future.

About Marlain Angelides:

NYC/London-based, prog/alt metal project, Ascending Dawn, drops the track/video, “Cannonball,” from the upcoming album, Coalesce, due out December 1, 2017. Coalesce was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Jochem Jacobs (ex-Textures) at Split Second Sound in Amsterdam. A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, previous vocalist of a top-charting Greek pop band, Hi-5, West End performer, representative of Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest, and background vocalist for world-touring acts, central figure, Marlain Angelides (vocals/songwriter) brought her cosmopolitan experience from Greece by way of London to New York. Whilst in NYC, she has been involved in musicals, Shakespeare, voice-overs and is the current front-woman of the all-girls Led Zeppelin band, LEZ ZEPPELIN, showcasing her wide range of vocal talents that drive the heavy yet melodic sound of Ascending Dawn.

Review Fix: What makes this album special?

Marlain Angelides: Well, any ‘first’ is special right? It is the birth of our collective sound, the first time people are hearing my complex inner layered thoughts, the first time I am exposed singing my own words. There is vulnerability involved. This is special to me. It is also the first time that I am super proud of what I have created in combination with others.

Review Fix: What track are you most proud of?

Angelides: That would have to be ‘Opposites’. The 3 choruses each expand a little bit further into the song, layering themselves in such a wonderful way melodically. There are elements of power vocals, pop, harmony, slight world music, all the variety that makes up who I am.

Review Fix: Is there a story behind it?

Angelides: The whole album rose from the ashes of other bands and formed itself into our sound within three weeks of me joining the project. It felt like it needed to come to fruition no matter what it took ;-) I literally holed up in my room, after a few breakups, including my previous band and boyfriend and produced this layered creation.

Review Fix: What are the goals with this album?

Angelides: We want to find our audience! We know we live in a niche market, prog-style, melodic metal with ‘djent’ elements and ambient qualities all in one. It is a very particular audience made up of various kinds of discerning listeners. But we know there is an audience out there for this style of music because of the bands we admire and are influenced by.

Review Fix: Bands often give their albums nicknames, like the Eagles call “The Long Run,” “The Long One,” because of all the time they spent in the studio on it. What would you guys nickname this one?

Angelides: Whenever I tell people the name of our project they need to ask twice…and don’t get me started on the names people come up with for our single ‘Cannonball’!…We don’t have a nickname yet, but I am pretty sure that one will be generated on its own soon enough…

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?

Angelides: For those who don’t know anything but popular music I say this: Pop style melodies over heavy riffs, with some odd time signatures here and there…you know, not 4/4 or 3/4…and then I may add the word ‘metal’…to which I get a face. So then I explain, actually, there is no screaming, its all singing and very melodic. Lots of harmonies. After they hear it, they say its a little like ‘Evanescence’, to which I say, yeah I guess a little…To those who ‘get’ metal: Prog-style, ambient, melodic metal with occasional ‘djent’ influence, like Tool, Tesseract, Karnivool, A Perfect Circle but with female vocals.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone listen to this album?

Angelides: Well, the whole thing has a beginning, middle and end…it is a sound landscape of heavy and light sounds more than a collection of songs. Each song develops and is not necessarily verse/chorus, verse/chorus, like most pop songs, so it needs to be ‘experienced’ as a whole. Also, the more you listen, the more you will hear. That is the beauty of this style. The discovery process. It isn’t for everyone and those who like to be instantaneously pleased may be too impatient with this style, but if you are in the mood to listen to a soundscape story, please sit back and wait for it to find your happy place.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Angelides: We are currently writing our next EP due out hopefully next year, in the hopes that we can build up to a tour.

Review Fix: Anything you’d like to add?

Angelides: Please find us on our social media, or through our website www.ascendingdawnband.com and get in touch. We want to hear what people think!