Changing Tides With JACOB SKOGLI From ATENA

Interview by Kris Peters
Experimenting within a musical genre is nothing new.
It has been done - to varying degrees of success - for countless
years, spawning new genres and sub genres even where they are not
wanted.
But to fully immerse yourself in that craft within a defined genre
is a brave move in the modern era where often bands and their music
can get lost in a convoluted mess.
Norwegian metalcore unit ATENA are one such band. A band who have
pushed themselves musically with each release and shown an
unflinching propensity to tread where others may fear.
Following their previous critically acclaimed album Drowning Regret
& Lungs Filled with Water, ATENA could have quite easily
rehashed that winning formula with their follow up Subway Anthem
(released Friday, September 29) but instead the band have taken
their minds even further down the rabbit hole in search of a
defining sound.
Vocalist Jacob Skogli sat down with HEAVY to take us with
them.
"I feel great," he smiled when asked how the band is feeling about
the album release. "We spent a lot of time on it and people have
been responding well so far, so it's a relief."
When asked to describe what ATENA was striving for musically Skogli
opens up a bit more.
"I guess it depends on what you've heard of us before," he
measured. "But in general, it's a modern metalcore sound - which
sounds cliche - but there's maybe more cinematic elements. We tried
to expand on what we've done before. I could give you all the band
cliches of the heaviness being heavier and the melodies being more
melodic (laughs). There's some of that, there's more electronics.
We have been using them for years - we've always had electronics in
our sound - but we have expanded on that as well so we feel like
we've done a lot."
In the full interview, Jacob runs us through the singles released
and which best represent the overall sound of Subway Anthem, the
pressures of follow up Drowning Regret & Lungs Filled with
Water and their desire to expand on the sound of that album,
musical growth, painting a sonic landscape with music, where their
sound originated, getting the balance of genres right in the
writing and recording process, future plans and more.