As many a seasoned headbanger knows, the San Francisco Bay Area is rife with heavy metal tradition, as well as a reputation for producing some of the most unique and progressive acts the genre has to offer. From thrash trailblazers like Metallica and Exodus, to the death metal filth of Autopsy, to the prog-metal ecstasy of Hammers of Misfortune, the region has earned a deserving reputation for being the primordial ooze which gives rise to some of the best and brightest in American extreme music.
Lead by guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf, Saros carry on the this fine tradition, churning out a heavily blackened brand of progressive death metal that balances beautiful, crystalline atmospheres with twisted, gnarly bouts of crushing heaviness and positively infectious melodies and solos. The band has recently released Acrid Plains, an album which sees Saros firing on all cylinders and releasing one of 2009’s finest slabs of metallic extremity. Fascinated by this stunning recording and curious to know more about the band behind it, I got in touch with Abdul-Rauf via e-mail and conducted the following interrogation.
Sonic Frontiers: How did Saros get started? How long have you been working together as a band?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: I had relocated to San Francisco in late 2003 to form a band after dropping out of graduate school a year and half before that. I knew the bay area had a reputation for having a plethora of fine musicians. Within a few weeks of moving here, I responded to an ad on Craig’s List posted by our drummer Sam looking for guitarists. I started out jamming with him and a different bass player, who ended up leaving after a month; we had written two songs which ended up being on our untitled demo EP from 2004. Tim Scammell, our bassist – who was an old friend of mine from the east coast who had also relocated to the bay area some years before me – started jamming with us around late November 2003, at which point we were also searching for a second guitarist. In February 2004, we found Ben Aguilar, basically the only guitarist we tried out who could “keep up” both technically and creatively. So it’s been five years with the same line-up, which has been great, because it’s given us a chance to evolve and grow together over a long period of time.
SF: Saros hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a long history of producing great metal. Does the region’s storied history put any additional pressure on local musicians to excel?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: There is definitely pressure to excel here as a musician, because there are so many great bands here right now; I think it’s partially due to this area’s renowned legacy, but also due to the scene being so currently saturated with bands that you really have to stand out to even be noticed. People lose interest in bands quickly here, so it requires a lot for a local band to maintain people’s attention. We feel lucky in that respect, to be well-received here by audiences and other bands.
SF: According to my limited research, the Saros Cycle is an ancient method for predicting eclipses. Is this concept incorporated into the band’s music?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: Not directly, and more so in the lyrics than in the music. Some of the lyrics involve the Cosmos, Space and Time, and the Universe, as well as cycles in the seasons and history, but these are mostly used metaphorically to describe something else. The name came about because some of us have a mutual interest in astronomy, geology, linguistics (the latter having been my previous field of study) and history. We liked the simplicity of the name, and felt it suit us well.
SF: Describe your experience writing and recording Acrid Plains. What was it like working with Billy Anderson? Are you pleased with the results?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: We are pleased with the results –definitely a lot more than with our first full length, Five Pointed Tongue (Hungry Eye Records, 2006) - though the perfectionists that we are, there are definitely things on any release we would do differently if given another chance. Each new release has been and will continue to be a big evolutionary step in our sound. The writing is an extremely slow process, and we had been writing these songs for over two years. We did spend quite a bit of time preparing for the recording, a lot of which was done live on analog tape. At the time, we had no label support, so the recording was very expensive due to it being self-financed. Working with Billy was a very positive experience, as he was familiar with our sound since the beginning, having seen us live several times before recording our album, and knew how to properly capture our sound.
SF: In poring over the lyrics, I’ve noticed many references to nature, the seasons, the sun, stars, etc. What is it about the natural world that you find inspiring? Is it a means of escape from everyday urban surroundings?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: I find that references to nature are good metaphors and images to describe something deeper, or more indescribable emotions. Almost always, the lyrics aren’t about the natural phenomena themselves, but those images are used to describe dysfunctional feelings and those larger-than-life memories of a painful nature. For me it’s less about escaping them, and more about putting them under a microscope, exaggerating them.
SF: There are many sections on the album where you and Ben trade-off some stellar guitar solos. How do you typically approach your solos? Are they worked out beforehand or improvised?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: The solos are written beforehand. Sometimes there is slight improvisation when played live, but in general they are pre-written. Ben and I have different approaches; he is more of a “shredder” than I am, so his are more technically complex than mine. Typically, I have a slower, sustained, melodic approach. We’re more interested in the solo fitting the song rather than merely “showing off”.
SF: Not only are the solos great on Acrid Plains, the musicianship in general is very progressive and the songs quite intricate. How much time do you spend composing material and practicing?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: It really depends. Sometimes it can take a year to finish a song, because we will have an initial idea written that we may put on the backburner and come back to at a later time if we’re not getting anywhere with it. Sometimes a song can come together immediately. Our rule is to not force the writing of any particular song idea if it’s not panning out, but prefer to have the song “write itself”, which usually makes for better quality, and more organic sounding work, not to mention it’s far less frustrating. We usually rehearse twice a week, if we are preparing for a gig or working on new stuff. Often, Ben and I will get together alone to work on new material before presenting it to the rest of the band.
SF: In listening to Acrid Plains, I”m often reminded of Death. Is that band at all an influence on Saros’ musical approach? Who/what else influences and inspires you to create this music?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: For sure, middle-era Death (Human, Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic) is a major influence on this band, being one of my favorite metal bands of all time. Some other metal influences include Coroner, earlier Enslaved, Mercyful Fate (the latter more so on the Five Pointed Tongue material). That was more of a starting point when the band first formed, and then our non-metal influences became more introduced, especially on Acrid Plains. The fact that some reviewers have compared my soft vocals to Liz Frazier of the Cocteau Twins is unbelievably generous, since she was definitely one of my idols growing up in my teens. I can’t think of anyone else in the world who sounds like her. I see us going further in an atmospheric direction in later releases, though of course, not straying too much away from our signature metal elements.
SF: You’re also a member of Amber Asylum. How does your work with them inform/influence what you do with Saros, and vice versa? Does being in two bands make it difficult to find time for everything?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: I didn’t join Amber Asylum until 2007, and since Acrid Plains was recorded in early 2008, most of the Saros album was written before I joined Amber Asylum. Of course, collaborating with Kris made it possible to add some great string parts to the Saros album, but really the sound on Acrid Plains was already established beforehand. If anything, the influence has been in the opposite direction, in that the forthcoming Amber Asylum album, Bitter River, is very acoustic guitar-heavy, more so than in the past. Fortunately my role in Amber Asylum is less of a leadership role than the one I have in Saros, so that it doesn’t demand as much of my time as Saros does. The technical nature of Saros requires frequent rehearsals in order to remain a well-oiled machine. Though when I was also involved with Bastard Noise, that’s when I started to feel pretty overwhelmed, but since I’m no longer in Bastard Noise, having just two projects now is a lot more manageable. The most difficult part for me is finding the time to tour with both bands, and sometimes the schedules conflict.
SF: Profound Lore has a knack for finding some of the most unique and progressive bands in metal, and Saros is certainly no exception. How did you get hooked up with the label?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: I first heard of them through Kris Force, since they released Amber Asylum’s Still Point CD. I contacted the label after completing the Acrid Plains recording, knowing that they had an impressive roster of artists, as well as an affinity for unique sounding music. I wanted them to hear a finished product, since our sound changed quite a bit since the debut album. They were willing to listen, and then made us an offer shortly thereafter.
SF: I’m sure you get asked this question a lot, but what are the pros and cons of being a woman fronting an extreme metal band? Up until recently, it seems like death/black/etc metal has unfortunately been a “boy’s club”.
Leila Abdul-Rauf: Actually, I hardly ever get asked this question, maybe because people are afraid to ask it, or think it’s irrelevant. Let’s start with the pros. We have a lot more female fans than many metal bands do, and the gender balance at our shows is typically pretty even, which in my opinion, makes for better audience energy. But this pretty much goes for the bay area and west coast metal scene, where you find a lot more women, many of which also have the extreme vocal style. On the other hand, it’s been disappointing to read recent reviews that disregard our album credits and get it wrong, insisting we have a male vocalist, just because there are death style vocals. Seriously, I’ve read at least 3 or 4 reviews that think we have a male vocalist. It’s like they’re in denial or something, or just don’t believe that it is one person doing all of the vocals. Also, there’s this assumption that if you’re a female playing with a bunch of guys, you’re probably not the leader or main songwriter or guitar soloist, or they assume you are someone in the band’s girlfriend. So often, credit due is not given which is very disheartening if you put a lot of work into what you’re doing.
SF: I haven’t been able to find any tour dates for Saros. Do you plan on hitting the road to support Acrid Plains? Do you enjoy touring?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: Unfortunately we haven’t toured beyond the west coast, but we love touring, and hope to do a lot more of it, elsewhere. Even though we are well-received in our home town, it seems like the audiences are always even more enthusiastic outside the bay area, like they are not quite as jaded. We usually feel rejuvenated coming back from a tour.
SF: What does the immediate future hold for Saros? Is there any new material in the works or are you focused on promoting Acrid Plains?
Leila Abdul-Rauf: There is always new material in the works! We are always looking ahead to the next album. Like I said before, the writing is a slow process so we are always working on new ideas as they come, and are working on them now. We do plan on touring later in the year to promote the album some more, and hope to eventually have a vinyl release of Acrid Plains.
You can check out Saros at their official myspace page:
I love Saros… very entertaining interview…