Interviews : Synperium (Kai Barnes) – 04/06/2008

Preparing to tour alongside Children of Bodom, and with their first record deal signed, Sydney’s Synperium look to be becoming a major player in the Australian Metal Scene. Metal Obsession had the chance to catch up with guitarist Kai Barnes.

MO: Can you please introduce Metal Obsession.net readers to yourself and the band.
S: Synperium is a 4 piece Technical Death metal band, We are based in the Southern Highlands, NSW. The bands lineup is; Jason (vocals), Gavin (bass), Schmoo (drums) and Kai (guitars).

MO: For those who aren’t yet familiar with your sound, using 3 different band names, how would you describe Synperium?
S: Decapitated – Cephalic Carnage – Necrophagist

MO: The bands next show will be at CHAOS ACT Festival to be held in Canberra on Friday 6^th and Saturday 7^th of June, will this be your first time playing in front of the Canberra Metal Scene? How do you feel the crowd will react to your brand of Death Metal?
S:Its not Synperium’s first appearance in Canberra, we were lucky enough to have played both Chaos ACT II and Chaos ACT III, and both shows were great, we felt we had a great reaction from the Canberra Locals, and we had a lot of fun playing for them, The shows also opened our eyes to how alive the scene is in Canberra.

The fact that Chaos ACT IV will have about twice as many bands as the previous shows, is a sign that the Canberra scene and in particular the Chaos ACT festival is still growing which is great news for the ACT/NSW metal community.

MO: And also the band will be joining the CHILDREN OF BODOM Australian tour in late June hitting the east coast leg of the tour in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. What was your reaction when you found out? Has CoB had any influence over Synperium’s music?
S: We were very excited to hear the news that we would be supporting a big name international act, at first we didn’t know who the band was, because the name wasn’t allowed to be released by the promotion company at that point, so we had to hold out for a couple of weeks waiting for confirmation on who we would be supporting. When we were told it was Children of Bodom, I knew how big these shows would be and what a great opportunity it would be for us, especially being able to perform in more than one location with them.

I listen to all sorts of styles of metal, so i do have a couple of Bodom albums in my collection, so those Bodom albums i own have had some influence on my playing, but i don’t think the music Synperium produces has an influence from CoB.

MO: CoB mosh-pits are notoriously chaotic, how do you feel fans of CoB will react to your music given the semi-commercial market they seem to play for?
S: I think Bodom fans will react well to our music, While we have a very different sound and musical approach to CoB, I think there is enough melody and Groove in Synperium’s music to get the attention of the more “commercial crowd”.

MO: Recently it was announced that the band has signed to Australian label ‘Just Say Rock Records’. How many records is this deal for and have you got anything extra planned with JSR?
S: We have signed with JSR records for a period of 2 or 3 full length albums, we have been very busy writing material for our debut album, which will be released on JSR records.

The only other thing planned at the moment, is merchandise, which will be available on the CoB tour, the JSR website ( www.justsayrock.com.au) and our site and myspace page aswell as our shows. Beyond that, we’ll see what happens.

MO: So I presume the band will want to head straight into the recording studio once your touring commitments are met. How much of your upcoming album – and first with JSR – have you already prepared?
S: Yeah, the plan for us is to play the shows with CoB in June, as well as the Chaos ACT IV festival before that.

When we return, we will get straight back into writing, as soon as we have completed the songs we will begin recording. I think we’re about 70% through writing the album, so it shouldn’t be to much longer before were ready to start recording.

MO: What hopes and/or expectations do you hold for the future for the bands music?
S: I think Synperium are in a great position right now, with our new label working closely with us and the band working well together, we’re just looking forward to releasing the full length album, and seeing what opportunities come our way.

MO: A question that we like to ask all bands interviewed by Metal Obsession is which bands in the Australian heavy metal scene do you think we should be looking out for in the future?
S: I would have to mention, Sword Toward Self, they are a 4-piece technical Black/Death metal band from Sydney. With a great live performance, and they’re recent EP, they have proved they will be a band to look out for.

And also DRED from Sydney, They are a melodic death metal band, i also think they are a band to look out for.

MO: And finally, do you have any last words to the Metal Obsession readers?
S: Thanks to the Metal Obsession readers who have supported Synperium in any way and to those readers who haven’t yet heard or seen us, you can hear tracks off our EP “TRANSFIGURATION” at www.myspace.com/synperium

Support Aussie metal and get involved in your local scene.

MO: Thanks alot for your time!
S: Thanks for supporting Australian metal!

You can catch Synperium live at the following dates:

6th-7th June 2008
CHAOS ACT IV Festival @ The Basement, Canberra
w/ Separatist, Mytile Vey Lorth, Infinitum, Snyperium, Leicohtica, Antonamasia, Ironwood + more
Tickets available at the door 8pm, $25.

20th June 2008
Children of Bodom @ The Arena Entertainment Complex, Brisbane (All Ages)
w/ Synperium
Tickets from Just Say Rock

22nd June 2008
Children of Bodom @ The Palace, Melbourne
w/ Synperium
Tickets from Just Say Rock

24th June 2008
Children of Bodom @ The Enmore, Sydney (All Ages)
w/ Synperium
Tickets from Just Say Rock