For a band to break through in this day and age is something of a Herculean task. The way the industry operates in the current climate means it’s unlikely to produce a group such as REM or The White Stripes, who were given time to develop, and reached their peak some halfway through their careers. Nowadays, if you want your record label to stick with you, the only option is to ensure your debut album hits an ambitious sales target first off.
It’s even tougher if you’re a metal band, a genre that the mainstream seems to have well and truly neglected over the past decade. Pravus, a three-piece prog/death metal act from Surrey, are – by their own admission – not made for easy listening. And it’s been a tough few years for the members, who have had to juggle recording with studying, as well as deal with numerous line-up changes. But now they seem to be in a place they want to be.
Guitarist Paul Gill describes how they first got together: “ I found Danny via an online advert on a music site”. “Back then it was a very different band and we were into thrash”, says frontman Danny Page. Drummer Iolo joined in the winter of 2009 when he moved to Guildford: “The next year the line up was reshuffled and Pravus as you see it today was born.”
The name Pravus means “depraved” in Latin, and according to Iolo, sounded perfect for the band. It also happens to be a track by Meshuggah but they deny this was the inspiration for the name. “Our sound really doesn’t resemble theirs at all” he explains, “so while it might be a slight nod to a musical influence, the Meshuggah song certainly wasn’t the inspiration for the name.”
The band have just released a two track EP as a free download, clocking around nearly 36 minutes and built around an elaborate concept that the band have developed in great detail. Danny is happy to explain: “ Paul and I dreamt up The Terminus Cosmographia story – which is in three parts – around 2009. The first, ‘Cosmic Alignment’, is about a fictional “entity” or “being” without form or structure that dwells within the centre of the multi-universe (a concept that suggests that there are in fact many universes that all co-exist simultaneously), maintaining its constant flow and existence by caring for and repairing it, like some gigantic clock. While doing this, the entity (which I pretentiously named the Susceptor Universum) has this window that allows it to view what’s going on within these universes and sees what we as humans are doing to the earth.
The second part ‘Breathing Finite’ is about the Susceptor breaking through the physical barriers of our universe and landing on our planet, destroying our entire human race before realizing that it’s left the Terminus Cosmographia (my name for the universal clock) unchecked. This brings you to the final part ‘The Eschaton’ which biblically, of course, means the end of the world, but I manipulated it to mean the end of everything. So the song basically shows this 13 minute epic of each planet losing its gravity, the solar systems collapsing and finally everything being sucked into a black hole. It’s funny because as a concept it has a very dark meaning but the final lyrics are actually strangely positive: “The regeneration of existence, life reassembles, polarity is reversed, the final phrase of the eschaton”, so it’s basically saying that even though everything has ended, everything will begin again.”
With such a fascinating concept, it’s no surprise they’re being offered regular support slots in their area; the next step is to branch out into the wider metal scene. The release of their EP has met with a warm reception from their close community of fans. “Obviously every band wants to put out music that is widely accepted and people go crazy about”, says Paul. “We were intending to have live drums recorded for this album, but sadly it didn’t pan out that way and we had to use alternatives.”, explains Iolo. “But overall it was fun and the end result is great”, adds Paul.
At the current time, they are without a bassist following his departure at the start of the year. “For the moment we love being a three-piece, it works well for us. But for a while now we’ve wanted to start introducing backing tracks into the live show and decided we may as well get the bass on those. We’re in the process of sorting that out now, ” says Paul.
The one thing that preoccupies them is, when are they going to make that all important breakthrough and hopefully make a living from their music? Finances have definitely been a struggle. “I think it can be hard even if you’re not trying to make a breakthrough” says Danny. On the other hand, Paul is quite optimistic: “I must say we’ve been very fortunate with people giving us chances on bills and playing at a time when progressive music is gaining popularity.”
So what does the future hold for these guys? Well, the good news is they have some exciting shows lined up. They’ll be performing at the Day Of Rockening festival in Hampshire in July, and are also playing under cult post-metal act Shels’ first UK show in three years. “We’re always coming out with mad ideas for EPs so some of those might appear in the near future too”, says Paul.
For now it seems all is well in the Pravus camp. If there’s one piece of advice to offer the band, it’s that they should keep at it, and just hope for that crucial break. Danny certainly remains positive about the future: “After the reaction we’ve had from the EP, the signs are that things will just keep going up.”
