Canadian alt-metal band Cevilain have released a brand new album today titled VII // SINS. It’s a concept album based on the seven deadly sins. The lead vocalist and guitarist, Cliff Menzies, sat down to chat with us on the album. It was produced by Andrew “Parms” Parmalee with assistance from Joel Lefebvre and mixed by Parms and Joel Wanasek and mastered by Maor Appelbaum.
Stream VII // SINS here.
Upon being asked why they chose the deadly sins as the concept for this album, Cliff says,“they really love purposeful writing,” and to “have themes or story arcs in mind before we start building a world or work to play in, especially so when it comes to very ‘human’ issues/topics.” He continues, “We had previously done the five stages of grief, and this felt like a very natural progression from that and to push ourselves and explore ourselves a little more.”
Cliff’s favorite piece of information about the album is that there are “a lot of layers.” There are “some call-backs to previous albums/songs and a lot of depth and double meanings to the lyrics and music.” It is “definitely an album you’ll need to listen to more than once to find or get everything.”
As far as the writing and recording procedure went, “It was very smooth, once we had a direction to go in. Parms and Joel are incredible producers in their own right, and it made for a very organic process. When one track was done, it was very easy to dive into the next. The whole process was truly enjoyable, and we learned a lot about ourselves and our processes. ‘APATHY’ was probably the most difficult simply because it evolved from two very different ideas that found a way to work together.”
Throughout the album, there were a few different features, but working with Adam Gontier was their most prominent collaboration. According to Cliff, “Adam Gontier is everything you could ever hope for and then some; he was so kind and so deeply interested in making sure we got exactly what we needed. Further to that, he’s been a great supporter of the track since it’s release.”
In regards for the future, Cliff has informed us that they’re “already deep into new music, and it’ll be out much quicker than VII // SINS.” In terms of playing shows, they “will be announcing tour dates for the spring with some one-offs sprinkled before that.” They currently “have a really big headliner on December 19 at Bronson Centre in Ottawa, ON.”
