Is your new album ready? Is it going to be different from "Advent?

JERZY: Hi Federico! We're back from the studio (Green Studio, Krakow, PL) now, but we left "Al Azif" in Krakow to our sound engineer Marcin Prusiewicz, who will finish the mix and the mastering of this material. I think the album will be ready at the end of august, maybe at the beginning of september 2002. We're very satisfied with the result of the recording session - this album will for sure have the best sound ever heard on polish metal productions. We recorded 80% of "Al Azif" on analog (tape), you'll hear what I mean when "Al Azif" will be out. Our second album will for sure be a big surprise for all the people, that had the opportunity to listen to our debut album "Advent" - the songs are slower, heavier, more complex and longer. The musical style on "Al Azif" could be described by three words: progressive doom metal. The acoustic parts are still here, the heavy parts are heavier than ever, you'll be able for sure to recognize that it's still April Ethereal, we didn't changed our musical style, but we made a big step forward. Note, that on "Al Azif" you will hear Adrian on vocals (on "Advent" the vocal parts were recorded by Jan) - and his vocals are really amazing.

Why did Marcin leave April Ethereal? Have you found a replacement?

JERZY: Marcin left April Ethereal because of the lack of time he could spend playing with us. He's also playing in Carnal, a doom/death band from Warsaw, he found a new job, and he had no more time for playing drums in April Ethereal. The last thing he did with us was the recording of the drum tracks for "Al Azif" in studio. We have already found two talented drummers with whom we'll start rehearsing very soon, so until october 2002 we'll have a replacement drummer. We don't know yet which of the two drummers will become the new face in April Ethereal, we'll see during the rehearsals who of them will fit the best in April Ethereal's music. We're also looking for a new bass player, as Marek announced that he'll probably leave us in october, because he wants to study... We hope to resolve the line-up problems until october, so we can start promoting "Al Azif" playing live.

Why did you choose to record the new music in Green Studio?

JERZY: Because it's the best studio in Poland for recording metal music. This studio is not yet well known, but when people will hear the production on "Al Azif", they'll understand what I mean. The sound engineer from Green Studio, Marcin Prusiewicz, is a very talented man, he knows exactly how to make a good production. We didn't wanted to make a standard metal production - for example, we wanted to record the drum tracks without ddrum or triggers, and Marcin helped us with his knowledge on recording acoustical drums. The result is that the drum parts on "Al Azif" are kicking ass!

How were the new songs composed? Did you change your approach to composition?

JERZY: Basically we had to change the composition process because of line-up changes. It was Adrian who wrote all the lyrics for this album, the music was written by Jan and by me, but the arrangements were made by the whole band, because we rehearsed this material over four months.

Do you have plans to support the new material live?

JERZY: We'd be very happy playing the new songs live, I know that Conquer Records are preparing a one week european tour in october, but it's not confirmed yet. For sure, we gonna play some gigs in Poland, but I can't give you any dates, as we're still working on it. Check the informations on our future gigs on our official website at www.aprilethereal.com or on the Conquer Records official website at www.conquerec.com.

How do you see the evolution of the band from "Leviathan" to the new recording?

JERZY: Well, "Leviathan" was our first demo tape, the lyrics were in polish, we played a sort of dark thrash/death metal, when I listen today to this demo tape, it's for me as listening to another band... We progressed as musicians, as composers, we worked hard on our sound since the first demo, and all that work can be heard! I think that on "Leviathan" you could hear some elements that announced our evolution. Now we have found our musical style, we have found our path and we're following this path step by step. I'm sure that each album we will record in the future will be a step forward comparing to our past releases.

Which is the most important elment in April Ethereal´s music? Melody, brutality?

JERZY: It's hard for me to say if it's melody or brutality. Our music is a mix of feelings, there are some brutal parts, some heavy parts, some acoustical parts and everything is full of melody. When we write our songs, even the brutal parts, we always want to include some melody because music is melody for us. We also want our songs to be interesting, as we're writing now 10 - 15 minutes songs - we don't want our music to be boring.

Which are the band´s main influences?

JERZY: At the beginning of our existence our major influence was Opeth, but now I'm not able to give you a list of bands that are an influence for us. Some people that heard "Al Azif" said, that it's like a mix of old Anathema, old My Dying Bride, Pink Floyd, with our original ideas... We're listening to a lot of musical styles, from blues to grindcore, everyting in a way is an influence for us, even if we're not aware of it. Listen to our music and maybe you'll find some influences...

Why did you decide to change your name from Leon to April Ethereal?

JERZY: Because in the polish underground people are not tolerant at all and the name Leon was too original for them. People said that it's not a name for a metal band, we had a lot of problems with zines, that didn't wanted to review our material because of our name, etc... It was difficult to promote our music with such an original name, so we decided to change our name to April Ethereal. Now I think that the name April Ethereal fits better to our music. The name Leon was a sort of provocation, we didn't wanted a standard metal name, something with "satan", "death", "torture" etc...

Any final words?

JERZY: Thanx for the interview! Check our website (www.aprilethereal.com) for all the latest informations about April Ethereal, we invite all of you to listen to our second album "Al Azif", I don't know when it will be released, but I think it's gonna be at the end of October 2002, maybe in November... I'm sure that "Al Azif" will be a big surprise for all metal maniax! See you on tour!

Interviewed by Federico Marongiu