An interview with Thorium

What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?

The band was formed late 2016/beginning 2017 when Tom (Tee, guitarist), Stripe (bassplayer) and Dario (Frodo, guitars) had been writing music for quite some time together, in order to have these songs to be released on the upcoming Ostrogoth album. (and follow-up for the “Last Tribe Standing” album, released in 2015. However, the ideas and possibilities seemed to lie to much outside of to be considered the safe Ostrogoth haven, so the three guys decided to form a new band under the name of Thoriium, where they could write and play what they wanted without any possible restrictions. The band contacted seasoned singer David Marcelis (Lord Volture, Black Knight,) hailing from the Netherlands, and drummer Louis Van der Linden, the youngest member in the band but nevertheless an extremely great player.

How did you approach writing Empires In The Sun, and how does it differ from previous releases?

Tom and Dario do approx. 95% of the writing (both musically and lyrically) and Stripe adds that important extra to the music. There’s not just one approach when it comes to writing the music, but we do write our stuff in our home studio’s, so it’s not like songs are written or parts are invented at rehearsals. Sometimes Tom and Dario exchange ideas or sometimes they work independently on songs. It kinda depends from track to track. We have been working like this in the beginning and are quite happy with the way it goes, so we don’t think that things will change in this matter in the coming period of time. However, we feel important to state, that David and Louis add their respective talents and feels to the written and recorded ideas, giving it an extra dimension. After all, they are the skilled persons in their respective territory

How did you approach writing Empires In The Sun, and how does it differ from previous releases?

Tom and Dario do approx. 95% of the writing (both musically and lyrically) and Stripe adds that important extra to the music. There’s not just one approach when it comes to writing the music, but we do write our stuff in our home studio’s, so it’s not like songs are written or parts are invented at rehearsals. Sometimes Tom and Dario exchange ideas or sometimes they work independently on songs. It kinda depends from track to track. We have been working like this in the beginning and are quite happy with the way it goes, so we don’t think that things will change in this matter in the coming period of time. However, we feel important to state, that David and Louis add their respective talents and feels to the written and recorded ideas, giving it an extra dimension. After all, they are the skilled persons in their respective territory

Which songs from the new album were the most intriguing or challenging to write?

That’s a good and at the same time hard question to answer. To us, all songs are intriguing, whether we talk about a fast catchy speed metal tune that only lasts for three minutes or an epic track that over exceeds the likes of ten minutes. Basically, we always work from the heart and think forward in order to know what a good track needs, no matter the genre, style or timing. So in a way, all songs are intriguing to construct because only at the end of the construction you’ll be able to tell if the song is good enough to stay in Thorium’s repertoire. Sometimes songs that were written don’t end up on the record, or go back to the writing process because some parts just feel like they need additional improvement. That happened for instance with “More then meets the eye” which was originally written for the first album, but after consideration had some new parts in it and landed on the new album “Empires in the sun” in an alternative version that had everything that track needed as opposed to the original version.

How are you promoting the record?

Well, obviously it’s not a secret that we’re not able to present our newest effort to the crowds on a live-performance basis. However, it looks like we will be able to hit the road again from September 2021 on. The rest of the year and the whole of 2022 will have us promoting the album throughout Europe (if yet again nothing goes wrong) before entering the studio to start tracking songs for the third Thorium album. Our label, Freya records, is doing whatever lies in their possibilities to bring the album under the attention of media throughout the continent, so they can write and tell the fans about the existence. And we’ve recorded a full video for the first single “Where do we go” as well as two lyric videos for “Empires in the sun” and “Exquisite” that have done pretty well on social media and YouTube. But we really need to break out of the boundaries and hit the stage, so we can finally do what we’re actually best at… performing live on stage! Until that time, we wish you all good health, stay safe and see you on the road, cheers!!!

How are you promoting the record?

Well, obviously it’s not a secret that we’re not able to present our newest effort to the crowds on a live-performance basis. However, it looks like we will be able to hit the road again from September 2021 on. The rest of the year and the whole of 2022 will have us promoting the album throughout Europe (if yet again nothing goes wrong) before entering the studio to start tracking songs for the third Thorium album. Our label, Freya records, is doing whatever lies in their possibilities to bring the album under the attention of media throughout the continent, so they can write and tell the fans about the existence. And we’ve recorded a full video for the first single “Where do we go” as well as two lyric videos for “Empires in the sun” and “Exquisite” that have done pretty well on social media and YouTube. But we really need to break out of the boundaries and hit the stage, so we can finally do what we’re actually best at… performing live on stage! Until that time, we wish you all good health, stay safe and see you on the road, cheers!!!