EXIST IMMORTAL
Brighton-based prog metallers provide an insight to their most authentic record yet.
Fuente exudes modesty as he admits he was only asked to fill in because an early iteration of Exist Immortal needed a clean vocalist for a college project done by Kurt Valencia (guitar) and David Billote (bass) in 2011.“I did one show, and I was like, ‘Okay, this is quite fun actually,’” he says. He goes on to explain that when his old band, Decodes, fell apart as the members matured, he was “adamant to not get a real job” and took the role of steering Exist Immortal after the original guitarist and drummer left. Finding himself suddenly at the forefront of the band, de la Fuente made the decision to deliberately guide the band away from its origins in technical death metal towards a more progressive and melodic sound.
If you ask de la Fuente to recommend previous Exist Immortal material to someone new to the band, he’ll suggest Follow Alone from 2016’s Breathe album, or Dive from 2021’s Triptych due to its progressive nature with mostly clean vocals, but goes on to emphasise that their new self-titled release has all of the best elements of those, only greater. “It’s a much better representation because we’ve got over the insecurities that we’ve had,” he says. “We understand what we want to do now.”
Following a UK tour in late 2021, where they realised that fans were really latching on to their newer sound, Exist Immortal immediately began writing again, revisiting demos created during the pandemic.
Following Triptych was hard for de la Fuente, who had previously been dead set against bringing harsh vocals back into the mix. Having seen the roaring cheers of approval from fans when the band performed older songs on that tour, he quickly made a U-turn on that decision.“I needed it to slap me in the face to actually take it on board. People really engage with that, and it brings something really important to the music,” he says.
De la Fuente produces all of Exist Immortal’s material himself via his studio, Floodgate Audio, and this time around, the band decided to go for a more personal selection of guest vocalists for the selftitled album. Dilan Alves (Harbinger), Luke Griffin (Acrania/SHUSH!), Joe Rosser (Aliases, ex-SikTh) and Scottish guitarist Moray Pringle have all been asked to appear, bringing a hugely diverse approach to their respective tracks.“It’s actually quite nice,” laughs de la Fuente.“All the guests are artists that we’ve known for a long time, and we’re close with them as well. It feels very much like an extended family coming together.”
There are no themes or concepts on the new album – it’s merely a collection of absolute bangers – but de la Fuente also notes,“I want people to listen to the album and want to join together with their mates and make the most of things. Don’t get too bogged down in the negativity.” He laughs before concluding: “Despite everything being fucked, if everyone sticks together there are still beautiful moments that can be had.”
“WE’VE GOT OVER OUR INSECURITIES AND UNDERSTAND WHAT WE WANT TO DO.”