NIGHT VISION

Joe and Mario spent three weeks working on two songs that didn’t make the cut for Fortitude. Joe tells us about one we can expect to hear in the future

WHAT’S THE WORKING TITLE OF THE SONG?

“The Night Shift. It’s about all the things that take over when it’s night time. So fears, demons and ghosts and nightmares that work together to shake our unconsciousness, you know? And the role that these things play in our lives. They also inspire us a great deal for our death metal music.”

WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?

“It was a very subtle riff… it’s a bit of an ambitious song, so I feel it has a future. I think it’s going to come back. It often works like that – sometimes we have super-interesting riffs, pouring out of us, and we’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is so cool!’ but until we find the right partner to that riff… I remember a conversation with Brent [Hinds] from Mastodon. He was talking about that process of finding interesting chord progressions and he said, ‘You know, I find a riff, and then I play for hours to find that riff’s best friend’, and it’s a little bit like that that we’re thinking about songwriting.”

WHAT’S THE SONGWRITING PROCESS LIKE?

“Sometimes you have one strong idea. Until you find the riff that’s going to complement this, and find a balance, then it’s doable to make a song. But if you don’t find that best friend, or that right combination, it’s best to wait. Because sometimes a good riff can be hurt by a not-sogood companion.”