Interviews About Albums: Knim – When A Star Falls (2022)

In this new interview, we sat down with the UK Progressive Metal/Rock band Knim to ask some questions about his new album "When A Star Falls". 

1. What can you say about this new EP/CD?

When A Star falls is a culmination of about two years' worth of work - if not more - so it really feels like finally getting it out there is a payoff for sticking at it. The group initially started out as a fairly informal recording project during lockdown before taking a life of its own as a band when things eased off a bit, but as you can imagine with the various goings on over the last couple of years there've been a few bumps in the road so just getting the record finished felt like a pretty big achievement. We've had some really positive feedback already just from the press pack and it's always nice to see that perseverance and work start to pay off

2. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

The EP, and the title track, are named after a dungeons and dragons module from the 1980s. Our vocalist (Andy) was a keen DnD player during the 90s growing up and the titular track is essentially an ode to the good times he had growing up surrounded by that culture, the nostalgia he feels for it, and coming to accept that those times are gone.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD/EP?

There isn't really one composer in the band as we all contribute to the songwriting. Our writing process usually starts with a bit of a jam which we record and then take the strongest riff or idea away and develop later on. We then record and develop these at home, passing edits and new ideas and structures back and forth online and then working on the finer details such as transitions between parts at rehearsals. Once we have all the guitars, drums, and a vocal line sorted we record the whole thing as a rough demo and then add the synth parts last, although in truth our producer is great at coming up with ideas on the fly. It's not uncommon for us to get into the studio armed with fully recorded demos, only to end up doing something fairly left field that none of us would have ever considered but it always ends up being the right idea. Elysium started out life sounding a lot like Tool, with a heavy focus on guitar riffs and weird rhythms, and yet the final product has about six separate synth tracks, a gregorian chant, and an acoustic piano chiming in at various points in the mix

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

It's always difficult to narrow it down to one song, particularly when you are proud of the entire record, and even then I think we would probably all go for different ones. Andy would certainly choose When A Star Falls due to the lyrical content but if it was up to me I'd probably struggle to decide between A Prisoner On The Seas and The Incongruity Of I. There is an element of nostalgia here because they grew from the first ideas we had when we initially began jamming during lockdown but I'm also fairly confident in saying all of the best guitar riffs I have ever written are contained in those songs - particularly the ending of Prisoners. Pete is a big fan of Elysium due to the shifting dynamics, particularly in the first half with the bass, and guitars all dropping in and out at various points and then coming back bigger every time.

5. Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is what it is?

The lyrics of the album certainly explore themes of disillusionment, betrayal, and a sense of general scorn at the wider world, scarred into an individual over time by a series of jading experiences. To some extent, it's a loose concept album following an individual's journey down that path as they become more and more disillusioned, before looking back on their previous life with yearning and then finally realizing that they have become a prisoner, used and spurned by an unrequited romance

6. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

Musically we're quite an eclectic bunch, but thinking specifically about the album there are definitely a few artists who we've collectively drawn deep from. We're all massive Mastodon fans and thinking particularly about the tonal qualities of the album they had a big influence on the mixing style. It's particularly noticeable with the thick guitar sound and gritty drums on The Incongruity Of I. Other than that it's a lot of progressive rock, progressive metal, post-rock and post-metal - think Porcupine Tree, Opeth, and Yob to name just a few