Allies To The Adversary Interview

We were able to talk to Steve Palmer of Allies To The Adversary and find out all about the band and what they do. This is what he had to say:

1) What's your name and role in the band? 

     My name is Steve Palmer. I play guitar in the band

2) What made you want to be in such a heavy band, write heavy music?

          

      Myself, along with the rest of the band grew up on heavy music. In high school, I was really good friends with Austin, who's our vocalist. He and I went to a few concerts together, and got inspired to start our own band to see what it's like. As for the inspiration to be a heavy band rather than any other style of band, it's just more amusing to me. Heavy music has so much more energy. Being on stage performing our songs is such a rush. I love it. 

3) Your band is from Toronto, What is the death metal scene like there?

       The metal scene in Toronto is absolutely incredible. The entire Ontario scene is actually great. There are endless amounts of great bands from this area. We're lucky enough to call a few of them our friends, and playing shows with them is always a great time

4) Why did you guys pick the name Allies To The Adversary? What does it mean? What is it about turning evil that intrigues you?

      We had another name for the band to begin with, but quickly decided to change it because of how awful the name was. We landed on Allies to the Adversary because it basically means "friends with the enemy" or however you chose to see it. It's a contradicting name and that's what made it seem cool to us. 

5) If you were to describe Allies To The Adversary to someone on the street, what would you tell them?

     It really depends who I'm explaining it to. If it's someone familiar with metal, I would describe us as a faster, techy deathcore. To someone who has no idea what metal is these days, I usually say it's like a more modern take on metal. I usually get "oh, like Metallica or slayer?" And I just go with it. 

6 a) Listening to your albums, I feel your new album has a little less groove to it, How would you describe the progression from your first album to this one?

      

     Our first EP was, like you said, more groove filled. It didn't have many heavy breakdowns or anything. This album was what we wanted the first one to be like. It has influences from all of the members. We're all into different styles of music, so when it all comes together it's this new blend of deathcore. 

6 b) You recorded your album with Brendon of Structures, what did he bring to the sound? Do you feel the album is like a deathcore Structures?

          

   Working with Brendon is absolutely incredible. As a producer, he understands us. He knows what we are going for, and helps us get there. There were a lot of things we would do, and he would say "how about you try this?" And it just came out awesome. He's a musical genius. I would definitely say it's like a deathcore structures. I can't really compare the two, but it's a nice blend. If we hadn't worked with him, it would be a completely different sounding album. 

7) You guys just recently went on your first ever tour with The Apex, How did it go? What was the response like in other cities?

    Our tour with The Apex was great! They are some of the best guys I've ever met. It was nonstop fun for the entire time. We had some van troubles, and by the end of the tour we ended up having to scrap our van, but we got a new one and we're ready for our next one with Last of a Dying Breed & Beyond Deviation!

8)  How is working with Border City, Chugcore and Intrepid? What do they bring to the table for your?

      All 3 companies are incredible. The support they've shown for us is beyond what we ever expected from anyone. Matt at border city is a great manager. He helps us out so much. He's become one of our good friends since we started working with him. Chugcore, I actually work for too. Greg has shown nothing but support since day one of us working together. They genuinely care about all of the bands they work with, and it's hard to find that these days. I'd highly suggest working with Chugcore. Intrepid has made so many things possible for us. Dylan handles our booking, and since we started working with him, we've had 3 tours set up and he got us an opening spot for Reflections and Yuth Forever, who we actually really look up to. All of our team is awesome, couldn't ask for more! 

9)  You guys played with I, The Breather when they came to Toronto. Is that your most notable show? what was it like?

       

    That show was actually probably the smallest show we've played. None of the bands made it into Canada except gift giver, who killed it none the less. Our most notable show I would say was our show with The Plot In You. We played to the most people we've ever played to, and it was a huge opportunity for us. 

10) Which bands from around the local Toronto scene would you suggest to someone looking for new music?

      
     There are so many, I'll probably miss a few. Our friends in Falsifier, Last of a Dying Breed, Out of my League, My Home the Catacombs, Drag The Lake, The Apex, Lungless, Weston, Being, and Beguiler. Sorry if I missed any, but all of those bands are absolutely killer. Check them all out! 

Published 8/13/2015