Pic courtesy of: The Eternal Blade "We have some music ideas and we want to bring them to life, we want to express our point of view"

CR: Some people don’t really know The Eternal Blade, why don’t you introduce the band to them. You know some history and a description of your music proposal.
Cyril: We’re 2 friends fans of music and metal! We have some music ideas and we want to bring them to life, we want to express our point of view. Our music could be described as extreme progressive symphonic metal!! I don’t like these words that much but this is what people use right?

CR: Is it difficult to have a band compose just by two members? Are you guys planning on adding some more permanent members?
Cyril: Actually it’s easier to compose and create with 2 members because we know each other very well and we have the same way of thinking. So we don’t need to argue much. And if we disagree on one point, the debate doesn’t last very long!
We’re not planning to have other members right now.

CR: Your record label calls you guys “a hybrid of original progressive and symphonic black metal” how accurate is that description?
Cyril: I think you can hear our influences when you hear our music. We love classical, progressive metal and black metal so we tried to add some of these in our music, like in the song Ching Hsia which is a mix between Dream Theater and Bal Sagoth!

CR: Let’s talk about your debut album The Eternal Blade, what does this record mean to you guys? How are the people reacting to it for what you have heard?
Cyril: It means a lot to us. It’s like our first baby! We spent so many nights on this that we were so proud to see the CD released! It’s like we achieved something important for us.
People seem to enjoy it! We had only a couple of bad reactions, the rest is really good! It’s so great to have this kind of feedback, especially when we worked so hard for it.

CR: How long did it take you guys to write record and finally release The Eternal Blade? I read that you had some wealth issues? By the way hope you are feeling better now!
Cyril: I’ve been in a wheelchair for a while but I’m doing great now, thanks! It took us more than 4 years to do it, because of my health problems and technical problems as well. The writing didn’t take too long but as we recorded it in an apartment and not in a studio, it took a long time to “fix” the sound.

CR: Any touring plans for this album? How many shows have The Eternal Blade played so far?
Cyril: We won’t tour for this album because we are only the two of us and we want to stay like this. Maybe if we go further, I mean to 3 or 4 albums, then we’ll go on stage.
We haven’t done any shows so far.

CR: What particular sound did you guys wanted to achieve with the use of keyboards; because to me the use of them in The Eternal Blade, give the album a little something extra like a “Phantom of the Opera” kind of horror atmosphere to it, more specific in the first song The Living Dead Hearts; but again what was your goal as far as creating and atmosphere?
Cyril: Actually we wanted to create a dark and sad atmosphere in the album. As Philippe is a professional organ player, he had to add keyboards all over the place!!
We especially like the song “Blade Battle” which is our favorite for the ambiance with the keyboards.

CR: The song Ecarlate sounds like a mix of Apocalyptica and Cradle of Filth; what’s the weirdest comparison The Eternal Blade has had until now, or I’m the first idiot to compare you this way? (I know comparisons are annoying to musicians, for that I’m sorry, is just is easier for people to kind of get an idea on your music)
Cyril: Hum… I don’t recall any strange comparison! We’ve been compared to Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir or Bal Sagoth sometimes, so don’t worry you’re not the first!! We prefer to be compared to Cradle of Filth than being compared to Korn…

CR: How many instruments are “programmed” in this album? I read somewhere that the drums are, but is there anything else? Are you going to continue programming the drums or are you going to get a drummer for lets say the next album? What’s the best thing about just programming and instrument (I’m sorry if my question is a bit general, if I was a musician this question would have been way deeper!)
Cyril: Drums are the only programmed instruments, beside some keyboards parts of course.
If we don’t find a good drummer, I think we’ll stay with programmed drums because we would need a drummer who could play extreme metal with progressive techniques. This kind of person is pretty rare in our city! And don’t worry, I don’t consider myself a musician at all!!

CR: The songs in the album are very “theatrical” sounding thanks in part to the violins and the keyboards; what kind of image will you like people to have about the band just by listening to this record?
Cyril: We want them to remember a sad ambiance. We wanted people to understand everything that is going on when they listen to the CD. That’s why we spent lots of time on the mixing.

CR: For you what’s the importance of intro songs?
Cyril: I would compare it to the introduction of a dissertation. It gives you the general color of the album.

CR: Who did the female vocals on this album? How did you get in touch with her and all the rest of musicians that help you guys record this album?
Cyril: We were so lucky on that point! A friend’s mother was giving me singing lessons from time to time and when I asked her if she knew a girl who would agree to sing with us, she told me that she’d do it! We were so happy because she’s a famous professional in our region! I mean in classical music. By the way, the violinist is one of her sons! Everybody else is friends of ours!

	Pic courtesy of: The Eternal Blade "We wanted people to understand everything that is going on when they listen to the CD. That’s why we spent lots of time on the mixing"

CR: Reading your biography I got to understand the cover and some of the titles for the songs; what’s so fascinating to you about the Chinese culture, and why did you decided to use that influence in The Eternal Blade?
Cyril: I’m the one who’s an “asian culture” fan! I’ve always liked this culture, especially Chinese, Korean and Japanese, for a long time. I’ve been practicing martial arts for years, I’m in several ways associated to the theme and I’m gonna get married in Taiwan this September, the 26th! You can understand why!
And we wanted to show something different from other bands. Especially with the cover that has been painted for us. When you look at the metal part in a CD store, the albums are at 90% dark, we wanted our cover to have more “light”. We just wanted something that has never been seen before.

CR: Could you explain to me the purpose of writing the songs Chinese Black Satin Part 1: A Ghost Story and Chinese Black Satin Part 2: Blade Battle. What’s the story behind these songs? Was it just one huge track and later you decided to cut it in half, or does it have a more deep explanation?
Cyril: These songs are based on a Hong Kong movie called Chinese Ghost Story by Tsui Hark which is a beautiful sad movie, talking about love, ghosts and battles. A really poetic movie. But we just decided to make 2 songs about it without thinking that much! It just came up like this!

CR: What can you tell me about the next album by The Eternal Blade? Any news updates on the writing process, is it going to have a…topic per say?
Cyril: We’re writing the next album but I can’t talk about it right now, sorry! The only thing is that we want to do an opera! Without exaggeration, it’ll be something really new in metal.

CR: What’s the toughest part about been a relatively young band in France?
Cyril: It’s to get in touch with music labels. Actually our label stopped its activities… So we have to look for another one, which is not easy… If you have some good plans, let us know!!

CR: Lately…well in the past 5 years, we have been witnesses of a big explosion of amazing bands from France like Gojira, Adagio, Yyrkoon just to mention a few; how do you see the actual French metal movement? What do you think is the reason why suddenly great bands are appearing everyday all over France?
Cyril: To be honest, I don’t know, because I don’t listen to French metal that much…

CR: What would you say is the biggest most disappointing thing about the metal scene today?
Cyril: I think that would be that all the bands are good but none has a special personality. They are all doing the same things. They’re doing well but there’s nothing new.

CR: With which bands would you like to go on tour?
Cyril: We like bands like Arcturus or Emperor for example. But we’d love to go on tour with Strapping Young Lad; we both think that they are the best.

CR: Is there any special sound that you think French bands have that differentiate them from other countries, regarding music that is?
Cyril: I really don’t know…

CR: Are you guys thinking about recording a video maybe?
Cyril: Yes we’d love to but… we need to find a label first…

CR: Well thank you for your time, and I really hope this interview didn’t bored, if you will like to add something else, please do…
Cyril: Drink Belgium beer and watch the movies we’re talking about! They are really good!