Those considering heavy metal to be a dead art are undoubtedly in the wrong. There is still life in the old dog and this is not even funny now that a young four-piece Pharaoh, located in the Chicago-area, are going to dash all of your preconceptions into shards with their second studio release The Longest Night recently forged upon the anvil bone of a small Italian smithy Cruz Del Sur. While cultivating longstanding achievements in their music, they ameliorate the style propagandizing tons of novelties in the form of unique riffery, interesting vocal finds and non-typical plugged guitars. To crown it all, the phenomenal voice of Tim Aymar (Control Denied, Psycho Scream) was a real godsend for the band. It is his vocal talent and Matt Johnsen’s inventive guitar wizardry that brings the band up to standard ranking them on a par with such colossi of the contemporary US metal as Iced Earth, Watchtower, Steel Prophet, Jag Panzer and others. All of the four Pharaoh’s members willingly responded to my request about the interview for The Treehouse Of Death and I, in my turn, offer you their good company in the questioning below.

1) Hi guys, first off let me congratulate you and all those involved on releasing Pharaoh’s sophomore album The Longest Night. And the first question is how it differs from your debut After the Fire. Are there any sharp distinctions between these two?

Matt Johnsen: The new one is better?

Chris Black: It’s definitely newer!

Matt: Ha ha! Actually, I think that the new one is considerably less Iron Maideny. Of course, Pharaoh will always write songs with guitar harmonies, and in that sense we’ll always sound a little like Maiden, but this album is definitely riffier and more complex. The songs, in general, are a little longer and definitely move a bit more than the ones on After the Fire. Plus, the solos are obviously more awesome!

Tim Aymar: I agree with Matt. Like After the Fire, The Longest Night still incorporates an old school feel, and a thick analogue warmth making it even more reminiscent of the NWOBHM sound, and sure, and amongst the various progressive and power riffs, occasionally you’ll notice the obligatory cloven hoof beat pulling along a profusion of guitars, therefore we could be compared to a slew of bands including Maiden. Honestly though, I feel the song writing has cultivated a bit more as well as the overall production. Matt’s solos are more diverse soulful, and energetic, and we got some very cool solo’s from Jim Dofka and Chris Poland. I feel that everyone played more like the song matters more than the parts this time.

2) I hear all of you are avid metal heads. In this connection, what are your favorite albums of all time? And what are your views on the contemporary metal scene, which fresh bands would you single out?

Matt: My favorite metal album of all time is Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying by Megadeth. I’d also like Holy Land by Angra, Focus by Cynic, and Control and Resistance by Watchtower near the top of my list. As for new bands, the best new melodic band out there is Heed, which has some former members of the last, best new melodic band, Lost Horizon. For death metal, I really like Gory Blister, despite their terrible name, and Arsis.

Chris Kerns: It sounds like Matt and I agree on the year 1986, I’d cite Reign In Blood as the best album ever, it’s just downright frightening. The ’90s had some all-time classics too, in Nevermore’s Dreaming Neon Black and Blind Guardian’s Imaginations From The Other Side. More recently, Decapitated and Wolf are probably the two fairly new bands to hit the scene that I enjoy most at the moment.

Chris B: My favorite contemporary melodic metal bands nowadays are Gamma Ray, Wolf, and Metalucifer. I also am enjoying the recent and new albums from Sabbat, Canvas Solaris, and Black Witchery. We in Pharaoh enjoy all kinds of metal, as you can see.

3) Can you remember now choosing the name Pharaoh for the band? Whose idea was this and does this name mirror the gist of your music in any way?

Chris B: The name came with the rough idea of the musical direction. It’s just a powerful, simple name that’s easy to remember but deceptively tricky to spell, and that was also the goal for the songs. I don’t know that it’s reflected in the music necessarily, but it does invoke images of an ancient and divine ruler, which definitely fits with our working definition of heavy metal music.

Matt: Yeah, the name was all Mr. Black’s doing. We had originally agreed that there would never be any Egyptological songs in Pharaoh, but when we made that agreement, Chris Kerns was not writing lyrics, and I guess he never got the memo, hence, “By the Night Sky.”

Chris K: Hmm, that memo must have been one of the documents that my accountant shredded. Regardless, you probably shouldn’t expect another Egyptian song from Pharaoh following “By The Night Sky”.

4) Do you ever blow off steam at other bands’ shows?

Matt: I go to a ridiculous number of shows. The last one was Look What I Did, a new crazy-ass band on the reborn Combat Records. They weren’t very good; they’re much better on disc than on stage. But just the night before that, I saw one of the best shows of my life, and that was Riot. I have seen them three times before, but this time was bar none the best. That band is so good it’s not even funny. It’s a shame how little attention they get in the US.

Tim: I love concerts, and when I can I go out to party with my friends in the bars and catch my old pals jamming. But honestly, the last time I saw a band was New Years Eve; Bret Michaels was singing Lynyrd Skynyrd songs outside the Hard Rock Café here in Pittsburgh, which means I need to go out again to atone for my mistake (just kidding; it was actually fun for about 3 minutes). I was hoping to go see Yngwie Malmsteen here this week, but he cancelled.

5) Do you rub shoulders with other musicians? Who are they and how often do you meet?

Matt: Well, I know a lot of other musicians, but I don’t have many musician friends in my local area. Some of the guys that I would consider friends are Jim Dofka (the awesome guitarist from Tim’s last band, Psycho Scream), Ron Jarzombek (from Watchtower), Hunter Ginn (from Canvas Solaris), Chris Lotesto (from Ion Vein), Mike Blevins (from Division), and Jasun Tipton (from Zero Hour.) I mainly meet these guys through the internet, although we see each other from time to time, usually at festivals and whatnot.

Tim: Almost all of my friends are musicians or in the music business in some capacity, now that I think about it. I sometimes go hang out and see their bands when I can, which is rarely these days but it’s always a pleasure when I do see any of my friends jamming or otherwise. Since I don’t have a local band anymore, I’m kind of out of that loop. I meet up with old friends and new, usually at TimAymar.com or MySpace.com. Before and after working with Jim Dofka I’ve enjoyed going out to see him crush the local dives. Freddy Nelson (guitarist of my former band XXX) is a front man for his band Too Tall Jones and I love watching him perform too. I try to catch Reb Beach, D.C. Cooper, Scot and/or Doug Edgel, Kenny Porter, George Mihalovich, Dave and Dan of Stronghold, my boy Chris Zenner who tracked my vocals for After the Fire sings for Tension, and I’m way overdue for a night out to catch them playing. One guy I will always give kudos to is Robbie Meyers of Meanstreet, who has pounded at the Pittsburgh scene for as long as I have and is still out there kicking ass. Jeff Kalp is a phenomenal drummer who plays with about 12 bands. Mike Palone of Skell is one of my friends since the very beginning of my career, and of course Dallas Perkins. He and I lost touch for about 15 years or so, and we touch base every once in a while now on the web. I miss just writing and recording for the hell of it with my buddy Mike Proctor, who I’m more in contact with than most everyone else, but we don’t seem to have the time anymore, and I’m still friends with just about everyone I’ve played with in the past, at least I think so. I can’t possibly list everyone, and I hope I don’t offend anyone by not mentioning them as a musician friend because there are so many. As far as rubbing body parts, my wife has exclusivity rites, although I usually do great my old buds with a bear hug.

Chris B: By contrast, my colleagues outside Pharaoh are a bunch of drunks and evil-doers, and we never see each other. For security reasons.

6) Look, do you think it is possible to earn one’s living in US nowadays playing in a heavy metal band? If not, what do you do to make your bread?

Matt: It’s certainly possible, but there are very few bands that do it. I know that Nevermore does it, for one. Mastodon might, now. I think the only way to make money as a band is to tour nonstop and sell a lot of t-shirts, which is not really in Pharaoh’s future. I make money the old fashioned way, by killing people on contact. Actually, no. I’m a computer programmer.

Tim: It’s getting harder to make a living in the U.S., period. Technically, according to my books, I don’t actually make money. Like a growing number of Americans, I work myself sick so I can pay the ransom on mere existence while the corpulent corporate pigs in their SUV’s, bought with the strife and strain of their employees, swerve to hit me when I cross the street, and that’s something that needs to change before they kill me. On a lighter note, I think success or failure can happen any time in any realm, and I think the trick to succeeding is that you have to know what you want, design a plan, work hard at it, and don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work immediately. Most people don’t even know what it is they want to succeed at, or why; and even when they do they either don’t plan on it, or they rationalize themselves out of following through. Yes, it is possible to make a living at making metal here if you choose your partners wisely. It takes a plan, a commitment and the persistence to follow through with it, like any other business. I used to make 100% of my living playing in a heavy metal band, but it took almost 10 years of blood, sweat and beer, and being on the right team to make any money. I’d prefer to earn my success in the music business, but it wouldn’t break my heart to succeed in any other field.

7) Heavy Metal vehicle named Pharaoh is in running order rushing at full speed. Does it mean you’ve got a definite vision of the future for the band?

Matt: More than ever, I’d say. The process of recoding The Longest Night was pretty draining, but when it was finished, we were all so happy that it’s really reenergized us and made us think about the next one. We’ve already started writing for the next disc, and we have some general concepts laid out. Hopefully we can finish writing this year and maybe even get into the studio in 2006. We’re also planning on actually rehearsing as a band this time, writing collaboratively, and maybe even playing some live shows. Things are looking up for Pharaoh!

Chris B: I tend to agree. At the beginning, all we had to substantiate our ideas was a good band name and a set of rough parameters for the music we would write and play. Now we have two albums and very good momentum for a third, and this is true both organizationally and artistically. The response that is building for The Longest Night only heightens that momentum, and it will push us to make our third album an even stronger statement. And I have complete confidence in our ability to do so.

8) What are your main priorities and interests in life except music?

Tim: For me, it’s always been about making music; even when it becomes a job that’s totally exhausting and seemingly futile; it’s still more meaningful and rewarding than anything else. My priorities now are paying the rent and keeping healthy, thus being available to work with Pharaoh and help my wife with her music. When I can, I go camping, fishing, canoeing, hiking, and basically chilling out with Mother Nature.

Matt: Priorities? I guess my friends and family. Talking about hobbies and interests, I for one really like to cook. I spend a lot of time watching cooking shows on TV and trying out new recipes. It’s fun, but it can be a little tough to manage one’s weight when one is able to make delicious food.

9) Matt, I know you’ve got two pet-cats, Vorphalack and Monster. How are these two getting on?

Matt: Oh, great! They’re awesome cats, and despite the fact that they were both adult males when we introduced them, they’re like old buddies or brothers now. Monster is pretty much the sweetest cat to ever live. Vorphy (as wel call him) is a little feistier, but he’s also a really nice cat.

10) Do you remember your first instruments?

Tim: Of course. I remember it was a love/hate relationship. I loved the results but hated the practice. I played trumpet since I was about 9. At first I had a very old used Bundy, then when I got really serious about it and made first chair, I asked my dad for a silver Yamaha. He sold the old one and bought the Yamaha and I kept playing until I was 15. When I joined my first band as a singer, I put the trumpet away for a few years, and when I wanted to start playing it again, it was gone. Meanwhile, I learned guitar on my mom’s beat up classical and gave it to my daughter who learned on it as well.

Matt: I started out like Tim in the school orchestra, but my first instrument was a cello. Now that I think of it, I never actually owned one – I think we rented it, so when I gave up on the instrument, I gave it back. Once I discovered guitar, my cello days were numbered; it’s just not fun to jam on a cello. My first guitar was a red Guild Stratocaster copy with a maple neck and a white pick guard. I sold it to some girl, though, and bought some even worse guitar, because I didn’t know any better. After that, I bought an ugly blue Charvel Model 4 from a guy I know, and a few years later, I bought from him the guitar that I play to this day, a Jackson Randy Rhoads Custom, with a natural Korinna finish. My girlfriend bought me a great Telecaster for my birthday not too long ago, and those are all the guitars that I’ve ever owned! I do still own the amp that I got with the Guild guitar, though. It’s a crappy, old, Traynor practice amp with a reverb tank. When I was in high school, I used it as a vocal amp in a band I played it. We covered “Mandatory Suicide” by Slayer, and when we got to that spooky outro, I’d kick the Traynor and the reverb springs would make all sorts of weird noises, just like in the Slayer song. Good times!

11) Chris, some words about that side project of yours called Dawnbringer? What metal style is embraced with this one?

Chris B: It’s not a side project as such. If anything, Pharaoh originated as my side project from Dawnbringer! Anyway, Dawnbringer is a group of musicians I’ve been working with since 1995, playing our own synthesis of metal styles. Our releases have been largely overlooked by the mainstream metal market, perhaps rightly so, but there are small pockets of fans in the far reaches of the underground who are very attuned to the Dawnbringer’s unique energies. Up next is a fast and wild album called In Sickness and In Dreams, due in April from Battle Kommand Records, and featuring some dashing guitar work from my colleague Matt. Matt and I hadn’t collaborated on a Dawnbringer recording before, but we needed some deadly solos right around the time Matt’s fingers stopped bleeding from the Pharaoh sessions. It’s a pretty cool record, maybe not for Pharaoh fans, but you never know! It’s definitely more “home grown”.

Matt: Recording the Dawnbringer solos was pretty fun, if at times a bit frustrating. In Pharaoh, I can play basically however I want, but Dawnbringer (and Chris) had certain ideas about some of the leads for that album that ran counter to the way I normally play. It was a challenge, for instance, for me to rock out pentatonic-style, but I think I acquitted myself respectably. I’ll wait for the five K review in Kerrang! for final validation, though.

12) How do you take all those media comparing your band to Iron Maiden?

Matt: Actually, it bothers me a little. I understand that it’s mostly a deserved comparison…

Chris B: …meant and taken as a compliment…

Matt: …especially on After the Fire, but I think we offer something that Maiden does not, and I think our new album should draw fewer comparisons. We’ll see, I guess!

Chris B: I think by the third album, our Maiden influences will be completely embedded in our own devices. After the Fire got a lot of Maiden comparisons, I think partly because the album is front-loaded with the more Maiden-y tracks. But it’s not a hindrance to us. What better place to start than Iron Maiden? That’s where I started 20 years ago.

Tim: It’s always a good thing unless your being compared to someone you don’t see the comparison with or you’re compared to someone not respected in this genre, but I’ll live with the association to Maiden; I just wouldn’t want the kids to be misled. Although the style we choose is sometimes similar, most of the time we don’t sound like Iron Maiden, especially on The Longest Night. I take it as a huge compliment; Iron Maiden are an industry icon, I’ve enjoyed them since the Paul Di Anno and Clive Burr days, and I’m impressed deeply by their music and professional success, but the Maiden influence is only one amidst hundreds of other influences. I have to wonder if it would be the same for Pharaoh if we had first appeared on tributes to Rainbow or Thin Lizzy or Accept, or Metal Church or someone else instead.

13) Are you content with your current label Cruz Del Sur? How long is this collaboration intended to last?

Matt: Yeah, we like Cruz del Sur. We have a good deal and we’re able to make a little money, even though we don’t sell a ton of discs. Enrico Lecesse, the owner, really believes in Pharaoh, and we appreciate that. We have one more disc to deliver for them, and then we’re free to renegotiate or move to another label.

Chris B: Cruz del Sur is the perfect label for Pharaoh. I cannot imagine what another label could offer us that would be a better fit for our way of working.

Tim: No complaints here!

14) Tim, are there any other projects besides Pharaoh for the time being? And what about Control Denied?

Tim: As a singer, no. I had been invited to work on some projects and I had tried to put a band together throughout the summer, but long before anything started to pan out, it was already time to start tracking The Longest Night, and I just didn’t have the time for anything else. As a producer, I have a couple irons in the fire; I have a friend in Iran that is recording right now his debut, and I’ve been coaching him along with recording tips since he started, and he’s done a decent job, so when I get some time, I’ll work with what he’s sent me and maybe have something in a month or so, but my wife’s project is my main priority at this time. I’m producing her full length debut of Eternal Tragedy now, and we’re targeting mid-summer ’06 as a deadline to complete it. She’s still writing and experimenting with the parts as we track the demos, but it’s coming along very nicely. The Control Denied CD will be finished at some point, as promised. We are going to move soon and possibly start recording vocals. The closest thing to new Control Denied songs would be the ones I’ll be writing the lyrics and vocal parts for. It was a special request of Chuck that I write the parts for 2 songs, so yes there will be some surprises in store. I haven’t begun writing them or tracking yet because I don’t want to make it even remotely possible for any material to self-perambulate into the wrong hands.

15) And back to The Longest Night. Which songs are your personal faves on the album? Did you have any queer episodes while recording it?

Chris K: I really connected with “In The Violet Fire” from the day that Matt turned in the demo, and the vocal interpretations applied by Tim really added extra magic to it. “Fighting” is probably my favorite on the disc, in that it’s a very catchy and relatable song with an unrelenting momentum. Above all, the cohesiveness of the whole album is at least as important as the songs themselves, and I’d like to think that we did a good job of achieving that.

Tim: It was a labor of love for everything I contributed on, and they’re all creative and cool songs in different ways. I’d say my favorites are “Endlessly”, which went through several melodic and lyrical rewrites, “The Longest Night”, and “In The Violet Fire”. I usually get some hysterical out-takes when I track, and this record was no exception. I made plenty of queer sounds, but we re-tracked until I sounded as un-queer as possible.

Matt: My favorites would be “Sunrise” and “Up the Gates.” Nothing too queer happened while recording it, although Matt Crooks, our producer, is quite fond of gay jokes! One strange thing we did, though, is the introductory sound effect for “Like a Ghost.” That was actually made by me holding wine glasses against my guitar and running my finger around the lip to make that glass singing noise. We recorded that a bunch of times through the amplifiers at full gain, then reversed them. I think it’s a really cool sound, and perhaps original!

Chris B: Matt just doesn’t remember the queer episodes. He was passed out. Face down.

16) And the last question. Would you like to wish something to the metal freaks from the Treehouse?

Matt: I wish you all get a chance to see Riot before you die! Barring that, at least try to catch Overkill once.

Tim: Peace!

This entry was posted by CENOTAPH on Friday, 10th March, 2006 at 1:24 and is filed under Interviews, Pharaoh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response below. You may view a   printable version of this page. You may download this page in   PDF format.