1/ Hey Voice Of The Soul! How are you since the release of your third EP "Into Oblivion"? How were the feedbacks?

It was a great release. We debuted and released Into Oblivion on a Portuguese Metal FM Radio Show called SOS Heavy Metal Radio. It's a 5 hour show and they dedicated a couple of hours to interviewing me and playing the new EP! They interviewed Fleshgod Apocalypse on the next show, so it was really an honor that they put faith in my band, which is still very young.

Most of our reviews were quite positive, and we are still getting some. To sum things up, most reviewers said this is our best effort and a huge step up from our last release. So I am quite happy...I like to think of each release as a step forward from the last one.

2/ Voice Of The Soul exists since 2007 and it seems that there were a lot of troubles with the line up: can u introduce the band, its background and the problems you had?

Yeah, it just started out with me and a couple of friends who just liked to write and share music. One of them and I continued the project, and we got a full lineup. In 2008 we played some cover shows around Kuwait. But there were lots of lineup changes. At the time I was 16/17 years old...most musicians aren't serious about what they do, and many of them are there for the image...so it involved lots of lineup changes. Fortunately, in August 2008, I met Monish Shringi (current guitarist) and things went uphill since then.

The current problems we face are living in different countries and the certain restrictions placed in Kuwait for bands like us to play. We'll be fine though!

3/ You all seem to be hard working given that you released 3 EPs so far. Can u introduce them or make a comparison?

Sure. In the summer of 2009 we released Winds of Apprehension. It had 3 original tracks and a cover of Death's "Empty Words". It mostly took inspiration from bands like Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates. It had its moments that I still look back on and admire today, but it was good for a start I think.
In summer of 2010 we released Eyes of Deceit, an EP with 4 original tracks. I think it was a step forward because we experimented with different inspirations, different song structures, and we even used a 7 string guitar on a couple of the tracks. We got many positive reviews from that, and that gave us more attention from European and some American sources.
August 2011, we released Into Oblivion EP. That had 5 original tracks and a cover of At the Gates' "Under a Serpent Sun". It was less experimental than Eyes of Deceit, but each song still had its own personality. Some took more inspiration from thrash, some from doom...but it was all melodic and heavy and it just meshed well together. I'm very proud of this effort, especially because we took much more time to write this than our last efforts.

4/ It's quite hard to describe or put a label for the EP "Into Oblivion" b

ut it remains obvious that you are influenced by the swedish melodic death metal scene. How do you see it? Do you have other influences?

Bands like Dark Tranquillity and Arch Enemy were (and still are) such an important reason of why I fell in love with metal. I definitely have other influences in and out of metal. Swallow the Sun is a band that I am absolutely in love with, and their song structures and melodies are out of this world! In metal, I'm relatively open-minded; I'll listen to anything from Cannibal Corpse to Agalloch, or Insomnium to Necrophagist.

Metal was the last genre of music I fell in love with...and I think the music I listen to outside of metal, which is essentially anything which isn't mainstream pop, rap, or electronic, will play a stronger role in the metal music I write...though it will always be heavy and melodic.

5/ I saw that each member lives in different countries. How do you do to work, to jam or to gather ideas? Are there some conflicts in your relationship?

It's a really tough situation, but I think things are finally stabilizing a bit, with Monish moving to Dubai and our new drummer's family living in Abu Dhabi...But to handle the distance problem, we usually record riffs or put ideas on tabbing programs (like Guitar Pro) and just email them to each other. It's really tough, but we managed to get quite a bit done. Rehearsing for shows is not easy, as we meet a few days before, and just have a few intensive practices. It's really frustrating at times, but we'll pull through. I'm lucky to be working with such passionate and hardworking musicians. It is really hard to find such qualities in people these days.

6/ What can u tell us about the Kuwaiti metal scene? Are there a lot of bands? Are there troubles with the politics or the religion?

Kuwait is a very small country of about 3 million people. The metal scene is incredibly small, and I think it gets smaller with time. Kuwait, being a country of many expatriates, means that most people end up leaving the country at one point or another. There is a couple of very active bands who are still around, but one in particular relocated to Dubai, or are in a similar situation to Voice of the Soul.

I don't think the issue with metal in the region correlates to Islam, since the Catholic Church in Lebanon causes lots of problems for the metal scene. I think it's just the energy metal puts into people. It makes people question things. Of course religious institutions play a role in this bullshit, but it's also corrupt regimes that claim to be democratic or open minded who are trying to keep people subdued. With metal being a genre not as popular as electronic, it easy to scapegoat a smaller community...with electronic or pop music, governments will generally let that go through because they make money off of it!

7/ Did you record "Into Oblivion" in the Sarj Studio this time?

Yeah, of course! We spent about a m

onth and a half recording everything. It was a great experience...Sarj is a true producer - if you sound like shit, he'll tell you that, and he'll always push you to the edge. It's an overwhelming yet fun experience, as it shows in our Youtube videos!

8/ You made a cover of At The Gates. If i'm not wrong, you are one of the first middle eastern metal bands to make this cover: why did you chose this song?

I think we were the first Middle Eastern band to released a recorded cover of At the Gates, though I don't think it really matters so much. At the Gates are a legendary band and have inspired me for many years. It only seems fair to record a tribute to them, just for fun. It was kinda a last minute thing.

9/ What are you plans? Will you play some gigs in Kuwait? Can we hope to see you outside the Middle East?

We haven't played a show in Kuwait since we were a cover band in June 2008! Though, whenever we're around, we like to support some of the other bands who are able to pull off shows. We've been mostly playing our shows in Dubai, but recently new laws have passed to make it harder for bands like us to play...somehow the issue of sex workers in bars is an issue of bands too (laughs).

Though, we are working on a show in the United Arab Emirates, despite this silly law...and we're talking to people in a couple of other places in the Middle East. Hopefully we'll get those sorted out. It's always exciting to play a new country and meet new people.

10/ After three EPs, do you want to record a full length or will you create another EP?

We're definitely going for a full-length. 3 EPs in 3 years means enough is enough (laughs). I think we are slightly burnt out from the amount of writing/recording we have done the past few years, so we're taking our time on this one.

11/ It's almost the half of the 2012 year: what are the albums or the bands you discover this year and you love?

Swallow the Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird
Alcest - Les Voyages de l'Ame
Woods of Ypres - Grey Skies and Electric Light
Jeff Loomis - Plains of Oblivion
Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I

12/ Thanks for your time, this is the end of the interview. If you want to add something for the Spirit of Metal readers, do it!

Thanks for the opportunity, Tiphany! Thanks to everyone who took the time to read the interview...and I hope everyone takes more time to check out the talent we have here in the Middle East, from Morocco to the United Arab Emirates!

You can check out Voice of the Soul on the following:
facebook.com/votsband
twitter.com/votsmetal
youtube.com/votsband
voiceofthesoul.bigcartel.com

Our EP, Into Oblivion, can be downloaded for free or for any price at :
www.voiceofthesoul.bandcamp.com

Cheers!

Voice of the Soul