Archon Angel Interview(Zak Stevens)

Archon Angel is one of the many supergroups on the Frontier Records label who, since their debut in 2020, "Fallen", practiced a Progressive Rock / Metal that gives us passages that evoke the different stages and bands of the vocalist Zak Stevens, whose talent has been recognized. With him, we can fin names like Alessandro del Vecchio or Aldo Lonobile who are regular collaborators in many projects of the aforementioned label. This 2023 they returned with the second album "II" which continues what started 3 years ago, due to this we agreed to an interview with the vocalist Zak Stevens.

Para leer la entrevista en Español: Entrevista a Archon Angel

Metallerium: Welcome to the Metallerium website.  Thank you very much for this interview.  It is a pleasure to talk with you about Archon Angel, the new album "II" and other things related to music.  First of all, How have you been?  How is the band? 

Archon Angel: Thanks so much.  I’m doing great these days.  I’ve just been very busy with Archon Angel press and various recording projects.  The band is doing great as well these days. 

Metallerium: You released the previous album “Fallen” in 2020 and “II” this April 14th, 2023.  When did you begin to work on this new album?  How do you feel about this new release compared to the previous one that was released right before we were hit by the pandemic?

Archon Angel: We began work on Archon Angel “II” in June of 2022.  We finished mixing the album in September of 2022.  We had a lot of material to choose from for this album, so we had to make a few tough choices at the end to decide which eleven songs would make the final cut for the album.  We’re very excited about Archon Angel “II”.  We feel there has been a great progression from the “Fallen” album to this new one.  We’re really happy with the way it came out.  The songs are really strong, and everyone who worked on the record did a great job in every area possible.

Metallerium: Were there some changes in the way you composed and recorded this new album compared to the first one?

Archon Angel: The process we used was basically the same as with “Fallen”.  Aldo Lonobile, our producer and guitarist, composes the majority of the music on our albums.  He works with all of our various songwriters, and he sends the finished instrumental versions to me and my wife Katherine so we can add our parts.  Katherine writes all of the lyrics for the Archon Angel albums, and I handle all of the vocal duties and write the vocal melodies, etc.  We had a few more writers join us on this new album compared to the last album.  In fact, Chris Caffery, my bandmate in Savatage and T.S.O, contributed the song “Quicksand”.  This is the first time Chris and I have written together since the Circle II Circle era. 

Metallerium: Why did you call the album “II”?  Is this a continuation of “Fallen” (2020) lyrically?  What can you tell us about the lyrics on this new album?

Archon Angel: We decided to call the new album “II” because it’s the second album in the sequence of Archon Angel albums.  It just was something different to name it, rather than using another song title as the title of the record.  Archon Angel “II” is indeed a continuation of the “Fallen” album.  This is because all of our albums will be connected by the concept of the songs representing chapters in the life of the Archon, the central character of our albums.  In our concept, the Archon is the only entity that can communicate the words and messages of the people of earth to the earth’s creator (the demiurge) and to the various deities.  This is all derived from the second century religion of Gnosticism.  Each of our songs tells a unique story of the life of the Archon through our music.  The individual song lyrics are pretty obvious in this sense, but they do leave room for interpretation of the listener.  To this point, we certainly hope that everyone can relate to our song lyrics in their own way as well.

Metallerium: When I listen to some of your songs, it is impossible not to think about bands like Savatage for example, maybe because of your voice Zak.  How do you deal with these comparisons?  Do you feel some kind of pressure when making music because fans will later compare your songs with classic songs from albums like “Edge  of Thorns”, for example?

Archon Angel: I don’t feel any such pressure at all these days because, to me, every Archon Angel song is an opportunity to create a unique piece of art.  My voice is my voice.  It will naturally be compared to things I’ve done in the past, but this doesn’t really factor into the songs I perform on now or the way I approach my vocal work.  I embrace the comparisons.  It means that my voice is very recognizable and has a unique character to it that resonates with metal fans of several generations.  

Metallerium: You are releasing your album with Frontiers Records again and we know more or less what to expect from this label in terms of music.  How are you feeling about working with them?  Do they give you freedom about your musical direction?

Archon Angel: I love working with Frontiers.  They give us total artistic freedom and I think that’s very important.  Our producer and guitarist Aldo works with several bands on Frontiers in the production capacity.  They completely trust Aldo to get great results, and so do we as a band.  I met Aldo in 2018 when he asked me to sing a few songs on the Timo Tolkki’s “Avalon” albums that he was also working on.  That started our relationship, and it has continued with us working on these two Archon Angel albums together.  It has been really great working with him on these two Archon Angel records.

Metallerium: We know that some members of Archon Angel are involved in other bands or projects.  How did you manage your time to work together?

Archon Angel: That’s true.  When I first met Aldo, he was working with his band Secret Sphere.  I had just taken a break from making records with Circle II Circle a few years earlier.  For example, our keyboardist and writer Alessandro Del Vecchio plays with several bands including JORN, Revolution, and Edge of Forever.  I’m in Savatage and T.S.O.  Our drummer Marco Lazzarini plays with Secret Sphere and Dirty Dolls.  So, you can see that everyone stays busy.  But we find it rather easy to work together with today’s technology that allows us to record in different places to  make albums, make videos in different locations, and also in some cases even rehearse for shows from different places! 

Metallerium: You are all experienced musicians and sometimes it is not easy to find inspiration as when you were younger probably.  How did you manage to get the inspiration for making new songs?

Archon Angel: In Archon Angel, we have such a great group of talented songwriters and a good concept to keep the inspiration coming.  We get inspiration from great stories and from everyday people doing super-human things.  

Metallerium: What are your plans for the future with the band?  Are there chances for touring in this part of the world maybe?

Archon Angel: We plan on recording multiple albums with Frontiers Records in the future and continuing our progression with songwriting and performing.  We are currently looking at all opportunities to play festivals and shows now, and in the future.  We’d love to be able to go to Latin America and play for you.  If the right opportunity presents itself, that would be fantastic for us.  

Metallerium: Talking about other topics, the Metal scene nowadays is growing too much in terms of new bands and projects.  Technology allows us to work remotely and record albums at home for example.  Considering this situation, you have to compete with thousands of bands from all around the world.  How do you see this situation from your perspective?  What are the strengths of Archon Angel compared to other bands?

Archon Angel: Luckily, there’s a history there to lean on with most of the members of Archon Angel, so we don’t have to worry so much about the things that most new bands have to worry about.  That history aids us with the experience it takes in all areas of the music business in order to succeed.  We do whatever it takes to stay in the business and keep fighting to bring the music to the metal fans.  We also have a great label in Frontiers that shares the same passion that we have in the art of making great metal music.  We are lucky in that a lot of us got our start many years ago when there wasn’t so much traffic in the business to wade through.  In that respect, we’ve had a lot more years to pay our dues.

Metallerium: Also, more people listen to music on digital platforms rather than physical copies.  Recently, I saw a post on Facebook from Timo Tolkki when he said that It just doesn't make sense for him to record music anymore, because of his "pay what you want" campaign for his last record.  How has been your experience with digital platforms?  Do you see yourself in the future thinking about not making new music anymore?

Archon Angel: My interpretation of what Timo is doing is that he really wants to continue his passion of making great music, but he wants to avoid labels and adopt the platform of “pay what you want” for his business model.  I can totally understand and appreciate his approach.  There are lots of ways to do things now in the music business.  More than ever before.  I know artists these days who are taking many different approaches to releasing their music.  There are varying opinions on which methods can make the artists the most money at any given point in their careers, depending on what exactly is most important to them.  Sometimes it makes more sense to release your own music rather than go through a label and incur extra costs.  But in this approach, the widespread marketing efforts that a label can offer in promoting an artist’s product is often too much to afford and therefore may be lacking.  So, there are many pros and cons depending on the approach.  Finding a good balance is often the key.  There is really no perfect answer these days.  Staying relevant through social media promo and content seems to be most important right now.  For example, I’m seeing less band units out there, and more solo artists, because keeping bands together is very hard and expensive in the current climate.  Maybe managing solo efforts is a lot easier.  It’s very sad because the business used to be based around bands, and now it’s too competitive and too expensive to sustain them for tours and other business.  

Metallerium: In addition to the changes in the music industry, now everyone is talking about artificial intelligence and its influence in many aspects  of our life and the risks it will bring in the near future, like the possibility that some jobs may be replaced by computers.  How do you see its impact on the music industry?  Do you see yourself using an A.I for making an album cover or recording music composed by an A.I?

Archon Angel: The fact of the matter is that A.I. has been used on this new Archon Angel release to some extent.  A.I. is already being widely used in the music business.  It was not used to make our videos or our music, or our album covers.  Nor will it ever be used for those purposes.  But It was used on the marketing efforts for our album to get our music and videos in front of people that might enjoy it through playlists and music streaming services.  We are already finding ways to use it in those ways.  I’ve seen people trying to use it to emulate vocals and musical instruments, and those results are worse than horrendous.  That’s never going to work.  All of that stuff sounds like shit, let’s face it.  It’s all out of tune.  To think that A.I is g

Metallerium: Again, thanks a lot for your time and congratulations for the new album.  We wish you all the best!  Is there anything you want to say to your fans from Latin America and Metallerium readers?

Archon Angel: Thank you!  I would like to send a hug THANK YOU to all of our fans and supporters in Latin America and your readers!   I really appreciate all the support throughout all of the 30 years I’ve been making records with Savatage, T.S.O, Archon Angel, and Circle II Circle.  Thank you for all of these amazing years and memories.  We look forward to seeing you in the future live on stage.  Be sure to check out the two latest Archon Angel videos “FORTRESS” and “AFTERBURN” on YouTube.  We think you’ll really enjoy the new Archon Angel album “II”.  Thanks again and cheers!!!  Zak