Interview with Screams Of Tranqulity (Melodic Death Metal from Austria)
Hello Marc Prohaska, a.k.a Screams Of Tranquility, and thank you for granting me the pleasure to interview you. First things first, how are you doing?
SOT: Hello, I’m doing quite well, thank you. I’m doing a lot of studio stuff at the moment. As you know, I started my own studio business in June 2024, baptised under the sigil of “Alpine Peak Studios.” It’s going really well for still being a start-up, and besides that, my musical progress also never halts. I’m fully occupied all day, I’d say.
How would you introduce yourself to my audience, and how and when did SOT start?
SOT: Screams Of Tranqulity officially started in 2018 but unofficially the idea started around 2015 when I left my former Punk band to focus on Death Metal. After that I had plenty of time to focus on my music, to find my line and style. Needless to say in the beginning it took a while to achieve that, especially in terms of audio production.
Nonetheless, none of that could mess with my original vision back then: to create whipping, reckless metal free from any societal ideals and just the bare truth, no matter if I’d sign a record deal in a few years or just decay in the depths of the underground one day.
Since day 1 it was straight Melodic Death Metal, and it was never something that developed to that. I imagine there have been a lot of bands and albums that inspired and accompanied you before and during your journey. What are your main influences?
SOT: I guess it all started with COB’s “In Your Face”, I heard this song on MTV on Christmas eve when I was 13 and was immediately blown out by the sound and energy it holds and I wanted to produce a similar effect of energy on my own, as a teenager. What fascinates me the most about Melodic Death Metal is the fact that it can’t be put into the mainstream at all, it has so many faces, rather facets from classical music to raw death Metal to Black Metal, you know, everything, and that’s why I am so attracted to it as a genre, as versatile as it is. It’s not just a straight line, it’s many different ways, just like a tree with many branches that take a different direction each. Therefore you have much more freedom with such a variety of approaches, compared to other basic genres like DSBM.
Yeah I definitely agree with you on the fact that DSBM is basic, and sometimes it can even be a complex genre yet it’s not flexible, like Progressive Metal for example, despite its beauty, it remains too mathematical! I have a curiosity about whether you have any Folk influences or not in your music cause I heard in a song called “Hearth Of Hate” a little bit of Folk-ish influence.
SOT: I don’t just sit there, play music and think “Ok nice, that sounds kinda good.” In fact, when I start on a new song, there has to be kind of a “seed” in my head already. It’s not important whether it is just a drum beat, a lick, riff or vocals that already have a rhythmic template. I record those ideas, play around and once I have given the green light to those few bars of music, most of the time the whole song grows out of it. In Hearth Of Hate, there is a specific drum rhythm because I was aiming to achieve it, it didn’t come by accident, and it came to life with that touch you categorized as “Folk”. I also have my folkish moments indeed.
I’m going back to COB again, they are among the bands that had the audacity to add other musical aspects to Death Metal, as harsh as it was back then, needless to specify the keyboard/synth! What’s the role of this instrument in your music, knowing that you’ve used it in many songs?
SOT : In my case, I try to avoid as much as I can to sound like a copycat, by avoiding just making random parts and layer them without thinking of the outcome. So what I do with synthesizers and orchestrations is that I use them mostly for creating an atmosphere and to fill some gaps in the songs, but more importantly to enhance the melodic aspect of my music, and I think it’s a plus that matches the vibe of Melodic Death Metal, so adding it to the music doesn’t make it sound “strange”. I give you the example of the song “Seeds Of Blood” which has absolutely no synth because I simply didn’t see any reason to add it there as the music is pure Thrash/Speed.
Now let’s move to the lyrics, which are one of the most important aspects of music, despite the fact that they don’t get that much attention from the Metal community. I notice that your music revolves around inner struggle, like in “Omens Of Death” for example, which is probably my favourite song, and I would like to hear more from you regarding that.
SOT : I am an empathetic person and I use the way I notice what’s going on in the world, also in the process of writing lyrics. The psychopathic behaviour of mankind will lead to the downfall of society, this is one of the main things that inspire me to write. Some might now say “nuh uh, generic thrash metal lyrics.” – Not in terms of Screams Of Tranquility. When I write about those topics, they are fused with a strong vibe of symbolic melancholy and especially since Omens Of Death, each song is its own little short story as well. Sometimes less, other times more obvious.
You’ve always been a one-man band, done everything by yourself, from the beginning to the end. What are the challenges you faced or are still facing, having more than just one responsibility in SOT?
SOT : I actually tried to transform SOT into a full band with different members, multiple times, but it miserably failed, so I decided to never think about it again and came to the point of “Ah, well, I have set a solid foundation for SOT on my own without any help anyway. If you don’t want to cooperate with the same motivation and heart as me, no seat for you in this band.”
Being honest and doing your own thing is much better. The question though is: what about live music ? Don’t you want to experience that?
SOT : Not really, at least for now, as Austria is a small country and I don’t really see an improvement in Metal festivals and concert organization, things are getting more expensive and one slowly feels disconnected from the scene, which is an opportunity to focus on composing and releasing musical material.
Back in 2019 if I remember right, I did play a concert at a local festival here actually. Despite some technical issues caused by that “good sound guy” here, the gig was fun and wild. Nonetheless, too many factors make gigging alone a useless source of stress for me. But the day Screams Of Tranquility somehow evolved to a full band, the doors for concerts and tours also will open.
What are the advice you give to people just getting started as music composers and mixers in the Metal scene?
SOT : The first thing you need is a plan, an idea and a vision. You cannot just sit there and say ok I’m gonna start a Black Metal project! you have to have an idea in your head for not just one year but 10 years. You have to also think about the possibility of growing. As I said SOT got official in 2018 and it took me 5 years to score a record deal with SODEH Records and I still keep learning! Plus when you’re criticized the best thing to do is not to cry like a baby but to take advantage of the criticism no matter how harsh it is, to just get better and move forward. One thing for me is always being told I am heavily influenced by COB and Kalmah and it made me work on my music to give it a personal touch, and after EP No Loss Will Remain, I had the feeling that I found my sound and this is what I wanna do from now on. It is a constant learning process, perfection does not exist in terms of any creative craftsmanship.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad thing when a band is heavily influenced by another band, many bands are influenced by Iron Maiden, even though many of us don’t like Iron Maiden and find it a little bit too mainsteam by now. But the job they did influencing the Extreme Metal scene is glorious! Your style stands out for whoever knows how to listen to Death Metal. Let’s move to your studio, you now own your studio “Alpine Peak Studios” and congratulations on that. Why a studio?
SOT : The impulse to open an official studio came from an idea that I had back in April when I broke my elbow and was immediately fired by my company, I had so much time being jobless to think about something that I own myself, as a self-employed engineer, not depending on absolutely anyone, except clients and fellow musicians and Metalheads. After all, this whole thing is my passion and I live and burn for it! And now I can finally say I am ready to offer my service not only to SOT but to other bands as well, as a studio owner.
Knowing that Metal is still an underground music, and one with a studio cannot flourish relying only on Metal, are you also open to other genres?
SOT : Absolutely! I am working on some Austrian local music in our language (the feared Austro-German, not high German German) and it’s not Metal at all, some kind of Disco music, which is an opportunity to understand what others are doing in the music industry and also enhance my musical horizon and knowledge when it comes to audio production. Besides that another project is in the works at the moment that is a fusion of Neo-Folk, doom metal and black metal. Interesting overall and I am not limited at all.
Perfect! An opportunity to experience other types of music as you said. I will still hope that you find more Metal projects to work on as we from the Metal scene, still need attention, being always on the underground side!
Thank you so much again, Marc Prohaska, for joining me and answering all my questions with such precision. A final word to our audience?
SOT : Whatever you started, finish it! make sure you do it from your heart. Do it for yourself, not for others, and learn from your mistakes. Thank you again for your time.
