![Freedom of Fear on stage, 22.10.2024 © Paul Voicu [LivePictures]](https://dinintunerec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/463759522_10160593510700878_2296733340475274915_n-933x445.jpg)
From the fertile metal underground of Australia there comes an outstanding blackened technical death metal act, Freedom of Fear. This amazing band performed at Quantic on October 22nd as opening act for Ne Obliviscaris, being part of the aforementioned band’s European Tour. Rarely have I seen a band delivering a live show which sounds as good as the recording… if not better, taking all details into account. Young and enthusiastic, the Australians made a strong impression and the only complaint that I could hear from the audience was that they’ve been allocated such little playing time. So, there was no way I could miss the chance of an interview with the mastermind of Freedom of Fear.
DinIntunerec: Hello, Matt and welcome to Bucharest. How do you feel after the show?
Matt Walters: Hello, thank you for inviting me to have this interview. I’m feeling good. It was a good show and it’s great to be in Romania for the very first time. The audience was very welcoming and they seemed to have enjoyed our performance.
DinIntunerec: That’s great, I’m glad you have had a good time! I was under the same impression that people loved the show… My only regret is that the set was so short, only 30 minutes. I wish you had played more, but I know it wasn’t up to you.
Matt Walters: Yes, well, because we’re the opening band, we have the shortest time and that’s how it is. It just means we have to give it as much energy as we can in those 30 minutes. And yeah, usually it feels like we’re warming up by the time we’re finishing the set. (laughing) When you’re a band that nobody knows…
We’re not very known in Europe yet. It’s probably better that we come out and just try to impress people when not too long, leaving the crowd wanting for more. Because if we were playing for two hours before Ne Obliviscaris, people would have been like, ‘hey, we’re here to see the headliner, get off‘. But, one day we are going to be a headliner, then we’ll play longer.
DinIntunerec: Tell me a few things about the history of the band. How did you guys and gals meet and what did you have in mind when you started the band?
Matt Walters: Well, I started the band in 2014, I think, and it was basically a band that I formed in high school under a different name. But, some of the songs that are on the first Freedom of Fear EP were written by that band. Anyway none of the other people from that band lineup was really taking the music as seriously as I was.
So, I ended up officially forming this band. I found our bass player, she isn’t with us tonight, Georgina. We were both studying jazz guitar. Well, she was studying jazz bass at the University in Adelaide. She wasn’t a metal musician. But I said: Hey, you’re a really good bass player. Do you want to join my band? I got an initial lineup together and we released an EP in 2015. Then, the vocalist moved away and we also parted ways with the drummer. So we kind of had a bit of a restart of the band a couple of years later.
That’s when Jade, our current vocalist, joined and eventually Corey, the other guitarist.
So, yeah, that’s how we got to where we are now. Then, in 2019, we dropped our first album. Soon, Corona Virus happened, when we were recording the second album. During that time, we had no drummer. So, I actually got in touch with Hannes Grossmann from Obscura and Necrophagist. He recorded the drums on our latest album, Carpathia. He did an awesome job! So since then, Liam, whom you’ve seen tonight, has been playing mostly Hannes Grossmann‘s parts but in his own style. That sort of completes our lineup. Our bass player isn’t here tonight because she has just had a baby.
DinIntunerec: Oh, congratulations!!! That’s amazing, she is a proud mommy now!
Matt Walters: Yes. She’s looking after a little baby at home and we didn’t really have time to get a fill in. So, we put the bass playing on the backing tracks today. That’s a brief summary of the whole history of the band.
DinIntunerec: What do you think were the most important moments along the way that shaped the band into what it is today?
Matt Walters: For me personally, I started doing guitar lessons back in primary school and I really got into the band Led Zeppelin. And guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen. I just got obsessed with music. So, since then, it’s just been my main focus in life. Then, as far as the band itself is concerned, it was a product of that. I always just wanted to push music as far as possible and find the best musicians to play with.
The first breakthrough show for us was when we played this festival in Australia, in the middle of the outback, called Blacken. We drove 24 hours into the middle of Australia to play it, and a record label guy saw us there. He gave us our first record deal, with an Australian label. That really took us up to the next level. So, when we released our first album, Nocturnal Gates, it got some decent promo in Australia. I think that was a breaking point for us. Then, we got a tour with Fleshgod Apocalypse in 2019.
Afterwards, releasing Carpathia, our second album, was like a big milestone for us because it took so long to release it.
Because of the global pandemic, we had to hold on to the album for one and a half years before we actually released it. That’s how we got some global attention. Since then, I think the biggest things we did were… playing with Carcass in Australia and also Hammersonic Festival in Indonesia. Now, this tour, it came with a few more opportunities, one after the other, that’s really leveled up the band. So, I hope that’s the proper answer to your question.
DinIntunerec: I have to ask, what is the meaning of the band’s name, Freedom of Fear? It took me a bit to unravel the idea that it does not mean freedom from fear. I mean, I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s to be without fear, but instead it seems to suggest that fear itself possesses the power to give freedom… Or the idea of one somehow experiencing freedom when in the grip of fear. Am I splitting hairs?
Matt Walters: Well, to be honest, we don’t have just one single meaning for the band name. We just thought it sounded nice and it sounds better than freedom from fear. But, my own interpretation is close to what you said. So, I think that unless you’re willing to put yourself into situations where you might have some fear, you’re not truly free. If you live a life where there’s no fear of anything bad happening and you’re all safe, maybe you’re not as free then. That’s my personal interpretation. However, I think the name doesn’t very specifically mean something. It’s nice if people can get their own meaning from it, as well. It makes things even more interesting.
DinIntunerec: Your latest album, Carpathia came out in 2022 and it is astonishing in every sense. A huge difference from the debut album, which doesn’t mean that the debut album is not a very good one. But, this one just took things to a totally another level. How did the creation process for this album go? What about the production details and everything?
Matt Walters: I think that when we did Nocturnal Gates, I was only like 21 years old. So, I was still learning and it was the best effort we could do at the time. I wrote all the music on that album. I think at that point, the sound of the band and the image hadn’t fully formed yet, until Carpathia, the next album. So going into that next album, Carpathia, that was the first one where Corey, the other guitarist, wrote music… He created maybe a quarter of that album and I wrote most of it still. But, that was the difference, in the creation process. It wasn’t only me.
Also, my intention with this album was to make it a cohesive whole and make it more atmospheric and clearly giving a gothic vibe to it. What is more, bringing Hannes Grossmann onto the drums elevated the drum sound a lot, which helped.
However, I think mainly we just got better at what we do. Personally, I feel like my songwriting got a lot more mature since the first album. But really, I didn’t approach it any differently. It was just, let’s do the best album we can and do what inspires us.
DinIntunerec: You’ve got a blast. This latest release sounds shockingly good. Anyway you look at it. I just need to ask, do you guys have any academic degrees in music? What’s your musical background?
Matt Walters: I actually dropped out of uni, but I did most of a Bachelor of Jazz performance. I prefer classical music, though, that’s why I quit that, but I did most of it. Corey, the other guitar player, actually did classical. And Georgina, the bassist, who’s not here, I mentioned we met at the uni. Also, our drummer, I think he might have done a diploma in jazz or something. All of us, except for our vocalist, are musically trained.
DinIntunerec: The title of the album is intriguing. How does it relate to the lyrical themes?
Matt Walters: It mostly relates to the lyrical themes of the song Carpathia. We just thought that one would make a cool album title. But, there is a theme across maybe three of the songs about that general gothic vampire kind of subject. In fact, Carpathia is inspired by the Carpathian Mountains, which we are very close to now. A little sidetrack, but we thought, well, it’s kind of funny that we’re coming from Australia and we’re playing music inspired by the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.
DinIntunerec: Maybe it’s destiny, or the materialization of concentrating on the lore related to the Carpathian Mountains… To some extend it is funny… You’re writing music on vampires and evoke the Carpathians, then you’re coming here closer to the Carpathians. Meanwhile I have just helped somebody write a school essay on a sacred place… and I chose Uluru, Ayers Rock. I’ve just told that kid that I wish I could see it… It’s a very, very important place for the local aboriginals…it’s a sacred mountain with a lot of traditions and a lot of history.
Matt Walters: It’s a beautiful place. It’s actually very close to where we played the Blacken Festival lots of times, actually seven hours drive from that location. But Australia is very big, so it’s in the same general area in the middle. There is a lot of lore related to that place. But, I suppose your interest is on the more scientific side… For us, it’s a lot about the music. Some of it is inspired by personal feelings and things like that, but a lot of is also escapism, like imagining being in another place.
That’s how we got to doing Carpathia. I wrote the lyrics for the song Carpathia as well, and it’s loosely based on Bram Stoker‘s Dracula, combined with another narrative that I came up with about the sun being destroyed and vampires ruling the Earth forever. Not the most deeply emotional theme, but it’s meant to evoke more of an atmosphere.
DinIntunerec: Speaking about atmosphere, I was kind of astonished when I first listened to your new album. It starts with a very powerful single, which goes straight to the riffs. No atmosphere, no intro, no melodic stuff, no introduction, just a punch in the face from the very beginning. Did you intend to make a statement with it, or what?
Matt Walters: That was something we were unsure about, so I made an intro for the album, but it just didn’t feel good enough. So we thought it’s better to, as an unknown band, go straight for that punch in the face, I guess, with Hannes Grossmann doing a drum fill and then into it. Whereas maybe on our next album, we might have an intro this time. That was a little clue about the next one.
DinIntunerec: One of my favorite tracks is actually Nebula, which lyrically seems to be about the outer space. However, Carpathia and Immortals seem to be about vampires. How do these songs connect lyrically? How are they related to befit on the same album?
Matt Walters: Well, first of all, thank you, I wrote the music for Nebula as well, and Jade, our vocalist, wrote the lyrics. I’ll have to speak for her as well as I can. Her lyrical approach was a little bit vague and she was definitely using imagery of space along with some kind of personal expression in there. So I don’t see it as relating directly to the stories of Carpathia or the vampire stuff, but I still imagine everything being in the same universe.
Even if they might have totally different stories and they’re not really related to each other, I think the atmosphere carries over. So, you could think of the album as being all set in the same universe, but maybe at different times and different places.
Jade Monserrat-Freedom of Fear on stage, 22.10.2024
© Paul Voicu [LivePictures]
DinIntunerec: It’s not easy to pin this amazing band to a genre because there are so many layers and so many different elements. Black metal, technical death metal, thrash, progressive death metal and even power metal. And I don’t know, call me crazy, but I think I spotted some classical elements too. So how would you describe your music? Do you consciously push boundaries of the genre?
Matt Walters: It’s not necessarily an intention to push boundaries, but I see genre divides between styles as kind of a little bit pointless when you’re an artist. I think from the perspective of fans, categorizing things can be useful as they use the genre label to find more bands which sound in a certain way, but I see it as a little bit limiting. So, I’m very influenced by classical harmony and chord progressions and things like that, but it doesn’t mean that it sounds like classical music… It’s just put into the context of the stylistic and instrumentation of heavy metal.
We’re putting so much effort into this band and it’s such a big part of our life, it would be too limiting to just stick to one style. I see each song as its own composition that it might draw from different styles, but I’m not necessarily thinking, this is a black metal section, this is a death metal section. It just feels like the song needs this or that.
Going between different styles, I think, enables us to create contrast and interest in the music.
So, metal is often very loud and obviously there’s lots of bands that go after the pattern very loud, very soft, very loud. However, we don’t have as many soft sections, but I think we use contrast in another way, when we go between different styles, like you were saying. I don’t really know what genre to call us. We may call it a combination of technical death metal, melodic, symphonic black metal and neoclassical stuff.
DinIntunerec: What’s the main classical influence? Is it Chopin, as I suspect?
Matt Walters: Yes, so… Chopin‘s a big one for me. You might have heard that we had some Chopin before our set played today.
DinIntunerec: No, I haven’t caught the intro and the first song. I was actually here, at this very table outside, when you started. I was still interviewing Benji… I’ve got this impression while listening to the album…
Matt Walters: Oh, so you picked it up really… I thought you heard the Chopin part. You’re the first person that noticed it, I think. We had it as our intro today and on this tour just to get us into the mood. One of the piano etudes, going up and down and that influenced the arpeggio sweet picking sections that I play on the album. I was imagining it to sound like Chopin. And Carpathia has a chord progression that is quite common in classical music, but Chopin used that as well. But it’s not just Chopin. There’s lots of classical influences in there. But yeah, that’s a prominent one. So, well done picking that up.
DinIntunerec: Why did you choose Gatekeeper as a closer?
Matt Walters: That one was just so long and it has so many sections in the song… It felt like this big story that once it ends it just felt right to end the album also. Otherwise, then you start up again and have some shorter songs. It just feels like a big end, where we all play a solo as well, even the bass. It just felt right. It’s a bit of a feeling thing.
DinIntunerec: The artwork is intriguing. Can you explain the choice for it and give some details on the meanings?
Matt Walters: The artwork was basically already made by the artist Adam Burke. We didn’t have much time and we needed some album art and that was the most fitting one that we found. In the art you can see a Dracula-esque figure. It could be an interpretation of Dracula. It’s got the snow, so it’s got the cold vibe. So, we thought that it fits quite well. Personally, I never feel 100% happy with artwork, because it’s very hard to put into art what I’m hearing and imagining in the song. It’s always a tricky thing. But, I think this one in particular is a great piece of art.
DinIntunerec: What are the musical influences of the band apart from the classical ones that we’ve already spoken about?
Matt Walters: As far as metal goes… Earlier in the band’s history there was a lot of Swedish melodic death metal and death metal, like the band Death. Opeth has always been an influence. And then, as we progressed on, we brought in some more technical death metal influences like Obscura and Necrophagist. Then, also, more symphonic black metal stuff like early Dimmu Borgir, early Cradle of Filth and Emperor. About guitars… Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman. Even classic metal, like Megadeth. But there are lots of influences. So I always forget some of the important ones in interviews.
DinIntunerec: What is your favorite song to play live and why?
Matt Walters: That’s a tough question. Maybe Nebula, because it’s personally my favorite one of the new album. And I like playing those sweet arpeggios. It’s got lots of sections in there… so it’s got a bit where we rock out at the end. Also, it’s got the clean parts in there and it’s got some heavy riffs. So, to me, I feel like it’s got a bit of everything in there. If I had to choose I think that’s my favorite.
DinIntunerec: What makes you feel more excited? Working on new music or playing live?
Matt Walters: That’s a tough question. I think both. If I’m at home as the way we write isn’t together… it’s like I’ll be in my room. And it’s the same for Corey. Corey wrote Gatekeeper and Immortal, by the way, on this album. And both of us would just be at home, imagining stuff and creating. But, I actually do imagine playing live when I’m writing at home. So, it’s almost like a visualization thing. And, when there’s a new idea and a riff, then I’ll demo it on the computer and put some drums to it and things start coming together.
Corey V. Davis-Freedom of Fear on stage, 22.10.2024 © Paul Voicu [LivePictures]
If it sounds really good I’ll get extremely obsessed and I’ll listen to it like a hundred times and I’ll get really excited. But then, also playing live is a big part of it too. So, it’s hard to choose. I think though playing live is more consistently fun than the writing process. But, when you have those moments of finding an awesome riff and you get excited it is just beyond words… That’s why I do it as well. So yeah, I have to say both.
DinIntunerec: Apart from music, do you have other hobbies? And also, do you have regular jobs?
Matt Walters: Well, my job is teaching guitar. So, I’m also a teacher. What this means is that I’m on my guitar all the time, as well. I teach kids from the age of eight years old up to adults. I guess you could call that a regular job. As far as hobbies go, music is my main hobby. But, I’ve always been interested in a wide range of other random stuff, like going hiking and playing certain sports. I also used to read more than I do now. I actually love reading and just researching random stuff, like facts on different topics.
But, to be honest, these days music is taking up like 95% of my time. So, I don’t have heaps of time for other hobbies anymore. I just try to stay as healthy as possible, which can be hard.
DinIntunerec: What were the main obstacles that you had to overcome during the band’s career?
Matt Walters: There’s lots of obstacles for sure. So, the first obstacle was the whole first lineup crumbling. I had to start it over in order to push the band ahead. Then, dealing with other lineup issues. The biggest one was when Corona virus started, obviously. But that was a problem for everybody. Anyway, it really was a pause for the band. Because we were doing a tour with Fleshgod Apocalypse in Australia. We had three big support shows and then it was gone. And we just had to sit at home and hope that things continued again.
So that were the obstacles. Nothing really more major than that. But with bands, there are always lots and lots of little things. If you didn’t love doing it, you would probably stop. Because it takes a lot of energy and effort to keep things going.
DinIntunerec: There must be a lot of memories that you have from shows, from getting in contact with people, even from travelling from one place to another to perform live. Is there something, a special kind of memory, that made an impact on you? Something that you recall when you think about life on the road?
Matt Walters: Well, one of the things is that people are very similar everywhere we go. When we chat… Also, in the way they like the music. There’s similar personalities that come up where some people really want to talk lots. What probably has the biggest impact on me is if people say they cried when we played, which has happened a few times. Or if people say it’s their first ever time seeing a metal band and they loved it. That’s awesome to me.
Actually, someone said that in Poland at our last show. That it was her first time seeing a metal show. Because we were the opening band, she was at the merch desk afterwards. So, we were the first metal set she has ever seen. That’s pretty cool to me. Yeah, and there’s just some certain people from all over the places that we have sort of relationship with now… people that we haven’t met before. First, it was all over Australia and now it’s in Indonesia and also Europe. We’ve met so many nice people. Also when people get a real emotional reaction to our music, it’s great. Because I feel emotional about the music. So, it’s a way of connecting.
DinIntunerec: What was, let’s say, the most interesting fan reaction that you’ve experienced until now?
Matt Walters: That kind of ties in a little bit with the previous question, I guess. It’s like a follow-up. Well, interesting fan reactions. There’s so many things that have happened and I’m trying to think right now what’s the most interesting. I’m stumped by that one. There’s a guy from another city in Australia. He calls himself Ancient Metal Guy and every time he sees us and we play a gig, he says he thinks he’s going to die, cause he’s got bad health. Then, we come back the next year and he’s there again. He’s just so enthusiastic all the time. And he’s just really funny. So, he pops out to me as an interesting fan reaction.
DinIntunerec: How do you see the underground metal scene nowadays? Apart from quantity, do you think there is quality too?
Matt Walters: I think there’s quantity and I think there is quality too. There may be some bands that one might call less quality, but everybody isn’t usually fully high quality when they start, unless they’re already extremely experienced.
Looking from another angle, it’s easier for bands to make music now and to have that music edited and sound more professional. So, I think when it comes to live music, it really shows what bands are really professional musicians. I think it really shows what a band is like when they play live. So, perhaps sometimes the quality live is not as high as it is on the recorded material.
But, there’s also lots of great music out there, because more people have the opportunity to make it and I think that’s great. In Australia, there are lots of great underground metal bands. But, it’s just hard for those bands to get out of Australia, because it’s so expensive and far to get anywhere.
Also, there’s definitely a lot of quantity out there now, which is good but it can make it harder for each band to get prominent, because a lot of good stuff gets lost in the bundle.
DinIntunerec: You’re a little bit too young to already speak about life lessons, but I’ll still ask you, because regardless of age, we all get life lessons all the time. So, what is the most important life lesson that you’ve learned so, far as a musician?
Matt Walters: Interesting question… How old do I need to be to be fair to say I speak from experience? I’m 28, so I guess that’s pretty young. However, I think there are certain things that I feel like, I’ve approached well throughout my life and then there are other things where I feel like I’ve improved. For instance, communication with people, or with band members if there are issues to discus.
I’ve always been very honest, and I focused on getting better at communicating things in a nice way to people. Being a teacher especially taught me about that a lot, because you have to be very patient as a teacher. I think my first few years teaching, when I was like 19, 20, 21, I was adapting to the world not being all about myself but about the student. So, teaching was a big thing for me, in just learning to be patient and communicate well with people. I’m still pretty young, so I’ve got lots to learn, of course. Anyway, we are neither too young, nor too old to learn. Life is constant learning. So, life lessons come every day, even from small things.
DinIntunerec: Is there anything regarding your musical career that you wish you had done or approached differently?
Matt Walters: Not necessarily… I’ve tried my hardest the whole way along so I don’t think that based on the situation I was in I would have done anything differently. However, regarding my first recordings, there would be a few technical stuff that with my knowledge from present I would like to have done better. But, apart from some minor stuff, I would do it all the same.
![Freedom of Fear on stage, 22.10.2024 © Paul Voicu [LivePictures]](http://dinintunerec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/464179315_10160593511050878_7477363025510667380_n-300x200.jpg)
Matt G. Walters-Freedom of Fear on stage, 22.10.2024 © Paul Voicu [LivePictures]
DinIntunerec: Ok, let’s wrap up this interview in an optimistic tone. What would be a band or bands that you would love to tour with in the future?
Matt Walters: Well, Beyond the Scar, they were actually one of my influences that I forgot to mention earlier because they got really popular in Australia a decade ago so… when I was a teenager I listened to them and liked them. If we are going to think of other bands… Dimmu Borgir… since I’ve been a huge fan of them. Death, but obviously it is just a dream since they are not around anymore… Gojira, as well. That would be the number one for me.
DinIntunerec: Thank you for your time! The final words are yours!
Matt Walters: Thank you for having us, it was great to be here and I hope to return and play here again. It is a great venue, with very professional people, also nice and welcoming. And the audience were great. We felt great! Thank you for the interview too, it was interesting and challenging!
