Code Of Silence are a new band, although some of the members will be known to fans of melodic and progressive metal. Their debut album ‘Dark Skies Over Babylon’ is released in February 2013. We find out more from the band, and their bassist and leader James Murray…
What are you currently up to?
At the moment the band is working heavily on interviews, promotion for the debut release around the world of ‘Dark Skies Over Babylon’, and following that we will regroup and see what our next step is. Obviously we have discussed touring, record number two etc but that is all in elementary phases right now.
Brief history of how Code of Silence came together…
Code of Silence came together as an idea between Paul Logue (Eden’s Curse) and James Murray. Paul and I have been very good friends for a while now and we came up with an idea to form an all Scottish band. We filled the bass position, drumming position and keys position with Scottish musicians although we couldn’t find a suitable guitar player or vocalist so Paul reached out to both Ben Randall (guitars) and Gus Monsanto (vocals) as he knew them both personally. And that was it ….. Code of Silence was in operation :)
Could you take us through the new album ‘Dark Skies Over Babylon’?
Well the album itself is thematic and focuses on the Knights Templar and the Crusades between the 11th and 13th Centuries. The album charts one Knight’s experiences – his trials and tribulations as well as his doubts and his motives. So the album is in effect a journey. That said every song excluding one, Knights of the Crimson Cross, also have other meanings. Therefore, every song is interpretational and can be viewed as separate songs about subjects such as depression, love, loss and positivity. So the listener can interpret the songs how they wish
How did you hook-up with Mausoleum Records in Europe and Rubicon in Japan?
Mausoleum Records and Rubicon (Japan) showed a great deal of interest in the band early on and to be honest I wanted the band to sign with labels that were extremely interested in us as I felt if we didn’t sign with labels that had the same enthusiasm as ourselves then they may not push us as hard. Mausoleum and Rubicon nailed their colours to the mast very early as regards their enthusiasm and love for the record therefore it was an easy decision to sign with both labels.
Gus – Did you have to alter your singing style for this album at all? When the band play live shows will you be featuring any songs from your previous bands at all?
Singing is a matter of reaction to how you feel about the material. I think I feel very much like myself on the songs featured on the “Dark Skies…” CD. Very comfortable and totally in sync with the music I have grown up listening to. As for the live dates, it all depends on the guys, but if they ever feel like doing it, I’d BE TOTALLY OK
Ben – What style of guitar playing do you most enjoy? On the album do you add solos to match the song or do you have rough guides to a solo for a song, which you then adapt?
I most enjoy prog/metal and hard rock guitar playing – players like John Petrucci (Dream Theater) and John Norum (Europe) who can fuse technique with melody and emotion – this is what I have tried to achieve with my own style.
On ‘Dark Skies Over Babylon’ I would record the rhythm guitar tracks for the song, and then use that as the foundation to build the solos from scratch.
The type of riff/backing used in the solo section would inspire soloing ideas, and sometimes I was able to change the solo section quite dramatically (in the track ‘Black Abyss’ for example), facilitating the use of some more ‘exotic’ ideas.
Your video for ‘Sky Is Falling Down’ has been picking up lots of views on YouTube. Have you been pleased with the reaction so far and have you seen interest in the band increase because of it?’
I think we would all say we are delighted with the reception that ‘Sky Is Falling Down’ has received on YouTube. As a debut single release and to have that many hits in such a short space of time was frankly staggering. We are all delighted by that.
Interest in the band has been raised significantly through the promo video and of course that in many ways is the video’s job – to raise awareness and promote the band as much as possible. The reaction though has been fantastic :)
| The record has elements of prog and elements of power metal but equally there are hard rock elements, melodic metal elements |
There are a lot of power and prog metal bands out there at the moment. How do you all thinks Code of Silence differ from them and what do you think will appeal to new listeners to the band?
I think Code of Silence differs from the power and prog metal bands out there in a number of ways. Code of Silence has a lot of light and shade musically within tracks and over the entire record.
The record has elements of prog and elements of power metal but equally there are hard rock elements, melodic metal elements etc. The album in many ways spans multiple genre’s at different times and gives the record dynamism and colour that isn’t always available with specific genre bands.
Paul Logue (producer): How different is it producing a band without actually being a member? How is the new Eden’s Curse album coming along and has a vocalist been found yet?
A lot less stressful for sure, as you don’t have the playing aspect, but it’s still pretty time consuming, knitting all the pieces together and project managing it all from start to finish. but I’ve been producing albums for years, and it felt completely natural. I was never really asked to produce the record per se, I just fell in and assumed that position.
The new EC album is coming along great – drums are finished and guitar and bass recordings are well underway. It is due to be released late in the Summer. Nice try Mister haha! We are nearing the finishing line in regards to auditions. We are taking all the time we need to find the right voice and personality, but the quality is very high. That’s all I am saying!
What do you all enjoy doing in your spare time away from music?
To be honest I think we are all pretty similar in that we some of us like spending time with our families, playing computer games, watching movies etc … others like Scott have interests in space and physics and I like to study History. So there are a lot of things we all have in common and some of us have wider interests really. I suppose we are just a bunch of regular guys :)
Anything else to add and a message for your fans…
First of all we would like to thank all those that have shown interest in the band and bought our CD, watched the video on YouTube etc as well as thank everyone for all the support shown. We are incredibly grateful to all those that have supported us from fans through to the media. We thank you all greatly :)
“Dark Skies Over Babylon” is released in Europe on 25 February via Mausoleum Records
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
Next session: Sunday 19 January
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024
In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections
Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
