Behind Crimson Eyes - The Rise of 'A Revelation for Despair'

Victorian screamo band, Behind Crimson Eyes have hit the height of popularity in the Australian music punk scene. Not only has the first official album A Revelation for Despair has kick-started a trend for these young rockers, but the release has sent them back on the road again and touring nationally throughout all of December.

Kevin Orr, guitarist and yells for the five gives an insight on which direction the album might send them, new sounds on the album and what the near future might just hold for them.

The Dwarf: Okay, question one. You guys have got a pretty sweet Aussie tour (including all states, thank goodness!) starting around later this month and going into late next month. Any possibilities when it comes to going overseas for a little look about in the near future?

Kevin Orr: It is definitely a goal to do so as a band. This release is our first international release so I guess we will see how it goes, a lot of bands jump the gun and go without even having a release; it can work but it is also risky and expensive.. I believe we have a while to go in Australia before we even think of touring overseas..

The Dwarf: Let’s say you were another band, and you were looking at yourself and judging what genre of music you have, what would you say? “Oh yeah, that band is so _________”

KO: Do people say this?? I guess it would be nu-screamo (laughs)

The Dwarf: The only thing we’ve actually heard from you guys is a couple of demos and the Pavour Nocturnus / Prologue EP’s. Now that Revelations for Despair is here, what should we expect when we first press play on our stereos? First single Shakedown has definitely caught my ear. What is your appraisal of the album.

KO: Well with the album we have definitely changed our direction, with the addition of two new members it was decided we were going to take a ‘new’ style to the band. We really just let go I guess you could say. This time round anything was a possibility, we have progressed as song writers and the new line up has definitely opened doors as to what we can do.. I guess you can expect a more mature band than the previous releases..

The Dwarf: You’ve pulled in two new members into the band this year, new drummer Cameron Gilmore and bassist Garth Buchanan. In what way do you think these two have contributed to band, whether it may be a new sound, new depth of lyrics or just a new look?

KO: As I said before the new members have helped us immensely in every aspect I guess you could say… On a personal level it’s good to have a drummer that is on the same wavelength as I. We constantly jam out Ideas and I think our styles just compliment each other, a lot of music on this album was purely written just by jamming it then arranging it for the best dynamic..

The Dwarf: Moving back onto Revelations for Despair, What expectations should we have for this album? Something old, something new… Are you sticking to your genre or going full out? I imagine this album must be pretty exciting for you.

KO: It is definitely a new sound, for us at least. As I said we have experimented a lot more with this sound than on previous releases, also a real noticeable difference would have to be Josh’s lyrics, instead of a third person story he has really opened up with his lyric writing I think people will be able to relate to this record more than ones about demons, I don’t think people will really expect this record but I think that’s a good thing, personally I’m still searching for a band that isn’t sounded generic these days… Its definitely an exciting period but it is also very daunting.

The Dwarf: You guys are starting to turning heads now, and the sound waves you’re producing are certainly getting you Myspace hits by the day. Are you guys heading in the right direction? Any worries or thoughts you might have about the tour and/or the album?

KO: Well I guess the only worry is if people are going to ‘get’ this record, we hope we haven’t alienated our old crowd but we are also pushing for a broader crowd, as for the tour we are the type of band that can pull a massive crowd or a mediocre crowd we are playing much bigger venues this time round it’s the first time we have played these venues on our own so that’s a little intimidating. I think people will be into this record therefore these shows should be rad, but who knows. That’s half the fun of it all..

The Dwarf: The band has a mixed combo of songwriters, which is unusual. How do you guys go about this? What kind of themes do you discuss through your song writing and what’s the most passionate thing that gets you writing amazing songs?

KO: Having many songwriters in a band is rad but can also create a bit of friction (which can be constructive) I know that I am pretty anal about wanting stuff a certain way and it usually takes the other guys a while to get used to my ideas. As I said before though this time around things were jammed out a lot so the writing of this record is not as forced as the other releases we haven’t stuck to your intro verse, pre chorus, chorus, verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus structure instead the songs each have there own unique structure depending on what mood we wanted to give…

The Dwarf: Simple question: Who are your ideal tour buddies?

KO: Cam and I want to get tour animals ‘penguins, walrus’s, dogs’ that sort of thing..

The Dwarf: Okay, final question, and I have to ask. Parkway Drive or I Killed the Prom Queen?

KO: Both amazing bands, both amazing people.

-- Catherine Parrish.

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