Progressive metal or progressive rock, call it as you want but the main features are the same: great melodies, extreme musicianship, complex arrangements, etc. We talked to Cédric Rioux the Keyboard player in Canada´s Silent Exile who talk about the band and a lot more.

Can we say that "Dancing with Death" is an album of progressive music
with some metallic touches?
CR : It may seem funny, but there is a big debate about how to categorize
Silent Exile's music. Some "pure" proggers say that our style is Metal while
some heavy metal fans label us as progressive. Others described us as an AOR
or even as a progressive pop band. (laughs) It may be really difficult for
someone who does not know us to have a good idea about our sound. I think
your description is good because it is not restrictive but still it is
incomplete. The bottom line is that we do not want to be prisoners of a
specific genre. We want to play the music we love using ambiances and sounds
as tools to communicate different emotions. As an example, if a song needs
really agressive moments, we will not hesitate to incorporate heavy guitars
(the metallic touches) and if a song has to be atmospheric, we will
definitely use spacey textures. However, I would compliment your definition
by adding the word " melodic " in front of " progressive music ". Sure we
love to play with contrasts and ambiances, but the emphasis of the
songwriting is always put on melodies.

Is "Dancing with Death" composed of new songs, created during 1998-1999
or are there any older songs in there?
CR : When I joined Fabrice and Sylvain (1996), there were several drafts
which were already written. Among them were Broken Dreams and On The Hill.
Walls Of Society evolved from another one of those drafts but ended up in a
very different way. However, those three songs changed significantly over
time due to the multiple arrangements all the members have made. The rest of
the album was composed between 1996 and 1998, mostly during the time that we
were looking for a singer. Chriss arrived in 1998 and put some wonderful
vocal melodies to the songs, bringing the final melodic touch to what would
become Dancing With Death. We then entered the studio in 1999 to record the
album.

Are you recording a new album? How is the evolution of this new record
compared to "Dancing with Death"?
CR : We are presently writing songs for the second album. There is a big
part of it which is done now. At the beginning, it was difficult to get back
to composition because we were working on the promotion for our first album.
Lately, though, we made a lot. It seems that the machine is definitely on
and going pretty well now. We should enter the studio by 2002. It is
somewhat difficult to compare the evolution of this CD with DWD because the
context is different. I will just say that everyone in the band gained a lot
in experience and it will be extremely benefic for the next release.

Have you participated in Progressive Rock Festivals? How was the
reception of the audience?
CR : Prog-rock festivals are not common here in Canada. Progressive music is
still very underground and does not get as much airplay as it should get.
However we did opening shows for some well known bands like Nightwish,
Symphony X and Planet X. The crowd is always very receptive towards our
music even if a lot of people does not know us very much. We sell CDs and
T-shirts at every gig and after the shows we speak with people from the
audience. This is very stimulating because every show brings us new fans.

Songs like "Images of War" or "Glase Maakerstraat" seem to be quite long
and have lots of different parts...How are these songs composed?
CR : The first step of the composition process is to do a preliminary draft
of the song on the computer. The main ideas and themes are put together that
way. Those drafts are usually very basic ; they act as frameworks. Each
member then gets a tape of that draft and we rehearse the song in our
studio. Arrangements are done during the rehearsals thanks to the combined
efforts of all the members of the band. Lyrics can be written before or
after the music. Vocals are usually done at the very end. However, there is
no absolute rule. Each song has its own story.

Was the "Dancing with death" album released independently? Do you have a
recording deal for the new material?
CR : Dancing With Death was entirely produced by our own means. We released the album January 17th 2000. We then worked very hard for its promotion using the internet as our main tool. The CD was, to our great surprise, acclaimed by many reviewers from all around the world. Those good reviews first helped us to sell CDs via the internet, and later to bring us distribution deals. Dancing With Death is now distributed in France (Brennus Music / Musea Records), in U.S.A ( Laser's Edge / Sensory Records), in Italy (Avantgarde Records), in Germany (Rising-Sun Records) and in some other European countries. We do not have any recording deal yet. So the second album will obviously be released independently too.

How have Chriss vocals changed since the time when he sang for Chromatic
Shades?

CR : I'm pretty surprised about the fact you know Chromatic Shades! They
were quite underground here in Québec. In fact, they never got the support
that they deserved, but they were a really good and tight band. Chromatic
Shades' Maze of Disevolution (released in 1996) was Chriss' first experience
as a lead vocalist. What happened is that their former singer (Chriss was
playing guitar in that band) left them a few days before entering the
studio. Chriss had to replace him in order to get the album out. He did a
great job! After that experience, he kept working very hard on his voice. He
improved a lot in power, range and technique. That is why he sounds so
different on DWD.

 

How has been the new progressive scene developing in Canada and specially
in Quebec?

CR : What progressive scene?? I would speak about a regressive scene!!
(laughs) No, seriously, the problem here is not coming from the bands. There
is a couple of very good Canadian progressive bands that deserve
international recognition (for example Heaven's Cry). I guess the problem
lies on the media who don't give local prog music the chance to shine
through. Radios do not play prog music and newspapers do not spread the word
when prog bands are playing. Most of the time, people discover progressive
bands by internet and the shows do not gather large crowds because there is
not enough promotion. However, there is a very ambitious promoter in
Montreal who has been working a lot on the prog-metal scene lately. FROWZ
Productions (www.frowz.com) has organized several prog-metal events and is
currently working with us for the distribution of DWD in Canada.

How important is the interaction between the keyboard lines and the
guitar lines in Silent Exile´s Music?

CR : The interplay between guitars and keyboards is an important feature of
the Silent Exile sound. We wanted to align the crunch of the guitar with the
smoothness of the keyboard in a really powerful manner to make it sound like
a symphony. Most of the 90s prog stuff is more guitar oriented. Keys are
often used as a background. We wanted to avoid that and to keep a good
balance between both in terms of volume and presence. We think that our
blend guitar-keys gives us a special edge.

What are the lyrics in "Dancing with Death" about? Do you consider
important that the lyrics fit the music adecuately?
CR : The title, Dancing with death, seems to link up the best all the lyrics
of the CD. Some lyrics are about social scorn, corruption, war and revolt.
At the opposite, some others try to be a credit to those who are gone and
who left, as an heritage, their ambitions and courage. Death is an
omnipresent topic throughout all the album. It is the same in reality :
death dances around us at each moment. Our lyrics may somewhat appear dark,
but we think our approach is positive because we wanted to induce
reflections in the auditor's mind about some realities that touched us.
Music is a powerful media and it should be used in conjunction with the
lyrics to communicate feelings and emotions in the most effective way.

How often do you have to rehearse in order to get the sound that you want
for your compositions?
CR : In fact, it depends on the complexity of the song itself. Generally
speaking, this step is very long because, as I said before, we have to
synchronize everything, to choose the sounds we want to use and to work on
the arrangements. Sometimes, an idea on a specific instrument can induce
variations on the structure of the song itself. The music is in movement and
we have to adjust each instrument in order to uplift the song as much as we
can. The contribution of every musician is essential in order to get the
Silent Exile sound and, at the end, we must all be fully satisfied of the
result. So, that means that each song must pass through many revisions. The
definitive version is often quite different from the draft, but always very
much better.

Do you have plans of touring after releasing a new album? Any plans of
coming to South America?
CR : At the moment, we have a couple of concerts which are scheduled in
Québec, but no plans for a tour. We truly believe that 50 minutes of
original stuff is not enough to tour the world. We just want to get the
second album out as soon as possible to have a bigger repertoire and then we
will see what will happen. We have not planned yet what we will do
afterwards, but it would be really great to tour the world and to come in
South America!!

How big is the influence that jazz/fusion music has in your playing
regarding the use of scales in the solos, the chord progressions, etc.? Is
it bigger than for example the influence of classic progressive rock bands
like Yes or King Crimson for example?
CR : This is an interesting question which could be discussed for hours.
From a general point of view, however, I would say that Jazz/Fusion
influences are less prominent on DWD than on works by Yes or King Crimson. I
would say that, in Silent Exile music, classical tendencies are more
definite at least regarding the use of chords and scales. This is our first
album though and we are maturing quite rapidly. We are, in addition, all
very open minded persons. So, I would not be surprised if the next album was
more explorative in terms of chording, soloing and rhythm while remaining
honest and melodic.

Something more to add?
CR : We would like to thank you and all the people from musicextreme for the
interview and for your support to the metal scene. A big hello to all metal,
prog-metal and progressive music fans from Argentina too. You are all
welcome to visit our website (featuring pictures, soundclips and more) at
www.silentexile.com .