Interview: Alea Jacta

In November last year, the Spanish contemporary metal band Alea Jacta released Tales Of Void And Dependence. Below you can read an interview DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen had with Alea Jacta’s guitarist Alejandro Montelongo and vocalist Ed Vera.

Hey, congratulations with your new album, Tales Of Void And Dependence. I really dig it.

Alea Jacta exists since 1994 and already released a few EP’s, demo’s and a split. However, Tales Of Void And Dependence is your first full-length. What is the reason for releasing your first full-length now and not earlier?

Alejandro: Thank you. We recorded several EPs and demos and not a full-length album because we felt it was the right thing to do at the time. We prefer to give quality to our songs from the point of view of composition and production and take advantage of the Momentum of each period of the band. We also had no bigger intention for many years, than to take those recordings and play live seeing how the people of our islands enjoy with the music. Things have changed. Now we really have band members with the desire to take our project to another level and a label that can distribute and send our message to the rest of the world.

When you compare the music on Tales Of Void And Dependence to the music on your earlier material, what is it you notice?

Alejandro: More mature. We have integrated the creative contributions of the new formation through their influences and we create something that sounds to us but with greater creativity. The disc is conceptual. He talks about the Sensation of Emptiness and the need to find something that fills it, but that makes us pay the price of becoming dependent (drugs, pathological couples, fantasies of the future that frustrate us, compulsive sex …). We decided to produce it ourselves with the help of Carlos Dg a friend of the band with great experience and we took the sound in an interesting direction that balanced the aggressiveness with the beauty of the music. For the artwork of the album we worked with an impressive conceptual artist Loida Fernández who illustrated the concept. If you give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it and immerse yourself in it, you will be caught inside. At least it happened to us.

For releasing this album you signed to Art Gates Records, what is it that makes them the best label for you at this moment?

Ed: It is a label that defends its bands internationally and allows them to be themselves, with a direct relationship with us, and with the necessary experience as musicians to advise us in the right direction.

This year you already exist for 24 years, what are the most memorable moments of Alea Jacta from the past?

Alejandro: Anyone who has made us feel together as brothers, and has made the public enjoy, from being together with 15 years in the rehearsal venue, to playing in the most prestigious festivals in Tenerife. More recently, playing our first international concert in Italy. More than we would have dreamed.

What is on your wishlist for the future to do with Alea Jacta, that you haven’t done before?

Ed: Make a great international tour, create new music videos and continue to enjoy our music and that of other bands that share the stage with us, conquer the world … You know … Dreaming is free.

You come from the Canary Islands. How is the metalscene there?

Ed: Amazing. We are like faithful believers of the Metal Church. Great musicians with superinteresting projects without access to large audiences and investing more and more technique and creativity to their compositions. But we have begun to break the borders of the ocean and make ourselves felt at a national level.

Any bands from there you recommend?

Ed: Our Days in Oblivion (O.D.I.O), Disoomnia, Heather Brooke, Neomaniac, Damned Slaves, Semper, Slaughter Inc, This Drama, Pharaoh’s Fall… Too much to name them all.

Can we expect some Alea Jacta shows in the near future? Maybe coming to The Netherlands?

Ed: Incredible concerts in which we will share part of our soul and our sweat. Promoters from Netherlands, here we are. Get in touch with us and let’s flip together there.

Already plans for any new material or not?

Ed: Composing new album at the moment. New musical atmospheres and aggressive riffs.

Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to our readers?

Ed: ALEA JACTA est… Let the dice be cast.

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