In the Meet The Band spotlight this week are the tech death band Unaligned. Their debut album Inner Dimensions was released digitally last year, and now is getting a physical release. Vocalist Andrew Guia introduces us to his band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of Unaligned.
Andrew Guia: Unaligned formed at the end of 2020 in December, after the initial purchase of the Inner Dimensions album cover rights from Mark Erskine, in which myself and Taylor (Tidwell) having previously worked together in a past project called Abhorrency (2011) decided to rekindle the synergy we once had.
Describe the songwriting process for Inner Dimensions.
The song writing process was very streamlined and organic and only took a few months of orchestrating. Taylor and I focused on creating the music and ideas based around the album cover to keep everything as cohesive as possible. Once the guitars and lyrics were written, we then sent the songs to drummer Jack Blackburn who wrote and recorded his drum parts all within a weeks time, which then was sent to Mike Low for mixing and mastering which only took around two weeks, all in all taking about 8 months from start to finish.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
The feeling of hearing it all come to life. How genuine and organic it was to see our creations being fleshed out and not knowing what to expect from it all.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
It’s a very aggressive yet explorative sound that captures the essence of technical blackened death metal while also harnessing a lot of progressive elements that we feel adds a lot of depth, while also having digestible traits that you hear in a lot of deathcore.”
What lyrical topics do you cover?
Reality, the world, politics, our subconsciousness. The album focuses heavily on the human mind and how the exterior environments mold and shape the human consciousness, ultimately becoming the by-products of our own surroundings.
What was the response when the album was released last year?
The overall response was very positive and eye opening for us. We went into it ultimately not knowing what to expect, and ended up being blown away and enamored by how fast and positively it was spreading.
Is that what led you to do a physical release this year?
To be honest, yes and no. Obviously we wanted our listeners to be able to purchase it, but we also wanted that tangible feeling of holding our first creation in our own hands. There’s a magical feeling of seeing and holding your own art in a physical form.
Have you begun working on the follow-up yet?
Ohm for sure! Our guitarist Taylor is incredibly ambitious, and one of the hardest working musicians I’ve ever met. I don’t think we’ve stopped writing music yet honestly since we’ve started this project (laughs. So we’ve already got most of the next album already written actually, which we are very excited for.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
Right now we don’t currently have any plans for touring, as we are still situating our touring line up, but touring is definitely something in the works and something we definitely aspire for. However, we may announce a few individual shows throughout the year. We’ll see what the year brings.
How did you get started in music?
“My brother recruited me into one of our older bands as a bassist back in the day in my early teen years, which further led to me expanding into guitars and vocals soon after with Taylor.
Who were your early influences and inspirations?
I started out on vocals around then being heavily inspired a lot by early deathcore bands like Job For A Cowboy, All Shall Perish, and Whitechapel.
What was the first metal concert you attended?
If you count Tool as a metal band then I’d say them. If you don’t then I’d say Whitechapel was my first.
What are some of your non-musical hobbies and interests?
I enjoy playing video games when I’m not busy focusing on music. I also enjoy reading when I have time. Exercising is another therapy as well.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
My debut album Enantiodromia under my other project Withered Throne just released last month in December, which actually features the same members of Unaligned and also some other incredible musicians. Taylor also debuted his first single under his new project Visitant last month as well.
(interview published January 28, 2023)
