With their album "Pitfalls", released in 2019, the Norwegian prog metallers LEPROUS impressively recommended themselves as one of the top bands of the genre. The follow-up "Aphelion" follows on from this almost seamlessly, both musically and in terms of content. Frontman Einar Solberg once again deals with his experiences with depression and anxiety disorders in the lyrics, but this time with a more optimistic basic orientation
In the past years, one could recognize a tendency towards simplification with Leprous. This continues on "Aphelion", as the band once again acts more accessible than in their early phase and cultivates a very unique progressive approach. The whole thing is rounded off by the outstanding vocal performance of Einar Solberg, who displays an incredible variety of expressive possibilities. In the eclipsed interview, the 36-year-old not only talks about the creation of the new songs, but also about the musical approach of his band and the mysterious title of the album
eclipsed: "Aphelion" is a term from astronomy and refers to the point of greatest distance of a planet from the sun. To what extent is there a relation between this title and your new songs?
Einar Solberg: The title doesn't really refer to the songs, but to the time period of the creation. Originally we wanted to call the album "Adapt", because it's about adapting in Corona times, but that didn't sound good. That's why we chose a title that expresses that we are very far away from the sun or the light in these times, but we still have to look forward. Say: We have to use this situation to our advantage instead of hoping for better times. This can also be seen on the cover, where a man stands in a triangular building placed on a mountain top: he is trapped in a small room and can only look at the beautiful world from the outside, so to speak
eclipsed: Your last album "Pitfalls" was a very personal record where you processed your experiences with depression and anxiety disorders. How are you doing today?
Solberg: I generally feel much better, but I've also changed my perspective in the meantime. Before, I thought that I had to overcome these feelings - and that would be that. But that doesn't work with anxiety disorders and depression, because once you've suffered from them for a while, certain patterns remain in the brain. However, I have found a solution to overcoming these patterns, and that is by accepting them as part of my life - though there are still occasional setbacks. Our new album revisits this theme, but from a more solution-oriented perspective.
eclipsed: "Aphelion" was recorded in three different studios, with David Castillo, Christer Cederberg and Henning Svoren as producers. What did you want to achieve with your new album?
Solberg: Actually we didn't want to achieve anything with it! (laughs) We mainly wanted to make music in an intuitive way. So we went into the studio without any plans or goals, which resulted in a very free and intuitive style of composition. We always wanted to record at Ocean Sound Studio, and we liked the retro approach there, while Cederberg Studios is a bit more modern
