Music Review and Interview with ‘Back to the Sea’

Back to the Sea, (a.k.a. BTTS) began life in 2007 as a four piece metal band in the underground scene of Sheffield. With a unique groove ridden, mathematical approach to death metal and a doff of the flat cap to the progressive movement, these Stalwarts of the live scene have pedalled their atmospheric wizardry around every nook and cranny in Northern England. They have landed some impressive support slots with the likes of Kruger, Textures and Sepultura to mention a few.

Past demo releases came in the form of Volume 1: Transcendency of loss; a brutal and changeable animal with a definite homage to the ADHD of more modern hard core styles. Next came Volume 2: Acts of Digression, which saw BTTS expand on their more doomy atmospheric side and a drive towards a more epic sonic journey.

Now as a five piece, with their latest release, Volume 3: Decree of Disdain, BTTS have found a balance point in their blend of polar strengths and discordant harmony. With the dark grooves coming thick and fast and the apocalyptic, explicit lyrics tying the whole animal together, Back to the Sea is a beast to beware of.

Music Review for Titan by Alex Faulkner

Back to the Sea are a five-piece metal band hailing from Sheffieldin England. They formed in 2007 as a four piece And have developed their sound to incorporate a broad range of metal in their music

They released their first demo CD Volume 1 – Transcended of Loss in 2007 and followed it up with Volume 2 – Acts of Digression in 2010. In the same year, they supported Sepultura on their 25th Anniversary tour in Sheffield, a band they cite as a huge influence. In 2012 they recruited a second guitarist and have since been working on Volume 3 – “Decree of Disdain”.

This track, Titan, is a good example of their sound. It starts with low-end distorted bass playing an insistent, intense melody.Vocalist Faru then enters with equal intensity, laying down some apocalyptic lyrics: “Only the weak lose the will to survive…fear and greed fuel this terminal war…”. The full band then enter, to create a brutal wall of sound that is guaranteed get your head nodding. The guitar and bass riffs work in tandem to brilliant effect.

They pay no heed to traditional verse/chorus/verse structure, preferring a series of sections that fit together perfectly, combining  rhythmic contrast along with some superb riffage. There is some fine drumming that keeps the music tight, with the rapid-fire double- kick work that you’d expect and associate with good metal music. You can hear their influences, but they most definitely have forged a style of their own.

Overall, this is a powerful and original piece of progressive metal from a band that have clearly spent years honing their craft and are now masters of their own style. The metal crowd is notoriously difficult to please, but fans of bands like Sepultura, Gojira and Meshuggah would love BTTS and I’d expect them to develop a devoted army of fans in the future.

By Alex Faulkner

I’m 34 and a freelance music journalist, as well as a composer and producer. I’ve written reviews for UK newspapers and music websites. I run my own blog, reviewing the best new bands and artists . I’m very passionate and knowledgeable about music and that shows in my writing.

Radio Play via Exposed Vocals Broadcast Partners. 

Exclusive Interview:

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Back to the Sea:  We came across Exposed Vocals through Twitter, we were looking for some feedback from our recently released EP, “Vol 3: Decree of Disdain” Exposed Vocals popped up a few times in searches and then we were contacted and invited to get involved.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Back to the Sea:  We mostly originate from Sheffield in the UK and have all been involved in music for many years, coming from a broad spectrum roots and inspirations. We feel we cut our teeth in different bands when we were younger and have honed and refined what we do; we come together with all our influences and poured them into the BTTS machine and this is what comes out!
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Back to the Sea:  Despite our metal roots we wanted to be more ambiguous as a band and not go for the clichés that we are all used to seeing and we’ve been a part of in the past. We still want to deal with apocalyptic and intense subject matter but want our listeners to feel our themes through our music and lyrics. ‘Back To The Sea’ is a judgement for the failings of humanity, the belief we are moving forwards, advancing and evolving while really we are in a state of constant entropy, devolution and decay taking the lowest denominator as a benchmark for behaviour, ideology and beliefs. Racing headlong into the abyss of mortal misunderstanding and miseducation, a world where historic activities are given more importance than present actions. Ignorance the main excuse for non-action and turning a blind eye whilst the same groups do the same debauch and deviant behaviours, going unnoticed behind a curtain of distraction. It is a testament to humanities failings and an observation that we are bound to destroy our world with our own hands and will inevitably repeat mistakes whilst we allow ourselves to be blind to the truth and conditioned to the will of the advertiser and the current market trend.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Back to the Sea:   Everything should be free (everything we did for the first seven years was free, or at our own cost) but the world is hell bent on big business and if you don’t conform to the current norm you don’t get progressed to the next stage. Money doesn’t exist and the value of something is that which is agreed between the buyer and the seller. Music is inspiration and of course should be free but the infrastructure isn’t free so everything has a cost; the true question is who should pay the cost, the band or the audience.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Back to the Sea:  We’ve seen the world of music change a lot since we were all starting out, everyone does it differently but we’d say write and play what fulfils you, whether it’s trending currently or not. It’s hard to get heard these days as there’s so many other bands and the bar is so high but a good band is more than the sum of its parts, write the best you can and push as hard as you can! The music market is no longer meritocratic! Get your wallets out and be prepared to pay! Also spend your money on good equipment to get a better sound not on drugs, tattoos and booze. You are not famous yet!
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Back to the Sea:  We always make mistakes; mistakes are a big part of the picture. If you love your own music you play passionately, the audience will feel that even if the song’s not a carbon copy of what they hear at home, in fact it’s sometimes the subtle and organic changes that really grab listeners and makes them “own” the experience of watching you play live. Musicians are human, mistakes happen and most of the time they are unnoticeable except by yourself; if you love the music then you’re also a part of the audience so just feel and enjoy!
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Back to the Sea:   Apart from our music Faru’s arsenal of explicit and down-right wrong jokes are becoming a feature. His unrepeatable threat to our audience’s pets was a particular highlight; he likes to go close to the bone and sometimes goes for the full amputation! Also, that man can take a blackout and an amp head falling on his head like no other-then finish the show!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Back to the Sea:  We write as a band, we are very collaborative; we all get full writing input and we all get a voice, nothing is “Precious” until it is agreed that it is as good as it can be. Our lyrics come from a pure hatred of ignorance, weakness and people who need to sort their lives out. The world is full of inspiration and unfortunately ours is in spite rather than in awe.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Back to the Sea:   We use pretty much all of the top social media sites; it has to be done in this age of technology whether you agree with the principles of mass hypnosis or not! There’s so much credible competition out there any band would seriously lose out if they did not engage with the social media phenomena.

www.facebook.com/backtothesea.uk

https://www.youtube.com/user/BackToTheSeaUK

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Back-to-the-Sea/101810244151?ref=hl

http://www.reverbnation.com/backtothesea

https://backtothesea.bandcamp.com/
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Back to the Sea:  There’s no such thing as embarrassment in music. Music is a personal thing and if you’re embarrassed then you’re spending too much time thinking of others’ opinions and not formulating your own. Grow a spine and stand for what you believe in.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Back to the Sea:  Laying the foundations for the BTTS global domination!!

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Back to the Sea:   We just released an EP to get out where we are in 2015; we are a different beast to back in our early days and wanted to say so. We’d like to get moving towards an album that explores our current musical themes without restraining our creativity.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Back to the Sea:  You have to stay on it constantly, and keep in mind that people haven’t heard your music as much as you have! Having said that, we are guilty of dropping off the live scene a little whilst promoting this EP online, something we intend to rectify very soon.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Back to the Sea:  Considering our diverse musical backgrounds that would take weeks to decide on! So, to throw in an idea how about: on the set of Mad Max with guest appearances from Max Cavalera, with Igor on percussion. Some tech wizardry from Trent Reznor, stage effects by Rob Zombie and from beyond the grave Mr Ronnie James Dio, Chuck Schuldiner, Cliff Burton and Jim Morrison to cameo.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Back to the Sea:   Next is the push on consolidated material, more new songs, more merchandise and more live activity.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Back to the Sea:  Probably listening to music saying, “I could do that!”

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Back to the Sea:  That is a tough one, life brings so much responsibility and our clan is very large! There are times when other things have to take precedence and times when BTTS needs to be unleashed! We all owe a lot to this band and it is part of our collective family, we include it in all decisions.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?
Back to the Sea:  A relaunch of the Back to the Sea live experience featuring new songs and Merch to coincide with our Ep release.