{"id":6114,"date":"2021-03-03T13:53:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T13:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=6114"},"modified":"2021-03-03T13:53:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T13:53:41","slug":"angel-born-images-of-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/03\/angel-born-images-of-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"IMAGES OF EDEN: Soul Healing Metal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Images of Eden self-describe as \u201ca fearless concept band that brings together familiar, well-loved elements of metal and rock combined with their own unique vision, message and clarity. The result is a distinct musical hybrid that speaks directly to the struggles and tribulations of the listener.\u201d I couldn’t describe the band or their new release, Angel Born<\/em>, any better.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current line-up is Gordon Tittsworth (Vocals\/rhythm guitar\/producer), Steve Dorssom (drums\/producer\/film director), Dean Harris (keyboards), Eric Mulvaine (bass) and, since 2019, Victor Morrell (lead guitars). Although they have primarily been an underground progressive\/power metal entity since Gordon started the band in 1998 \u2013 releasing three albums during those first two decades as a band \u2013 they didn\u2019t really hit the radar until 2018\u2019s powerful Soulrise<\/a><\/em> was released on Pavement Entertainment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did Soulrise<\/em> feature a mostly all-new line-up from 2011\u2019s Rebuilding the Ruins<\/em>, Gordon and newcomer (at the time) Steve Dorssom (Born of Fire) co-produced the release. Soulrise<\/em> opened doors for more exposure through both distribution and live performances opening for The Iron Maidens, Geoff Tate, and Stryper in 2018 and a full U.S. tour with Metal Church and Doro Pesch in 2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having lost little momentum since then, despite a very tumultuous two-year stretch, Images of Eden stand poised to release the follow-up, Angel Born<\/em>, on Pavement Entertainment. Read on to find out what Gordon and Steve have to say about healing through writing music, being a vessel for God\u2019s message of hope and love and what its like to be a dirt-covered, video prophet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chapters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Images of Eden has been around for some time but some of our readers may not be familiar with much of your back story or previous releases. Provide a brief synopsis of how it all came together for the band. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: Absolutely. This is a hard question to answer without writing a short story, LOL, but I\u2019ll do my best. I had been in multiple bands over the years but in 1998, I had been getting \u201cnudged\u201d (lack of a better word) to finally start a project that was specific to the vision that I had. It was as if previous attempts had a \u201cwatered-down\u201d version due to a lot of compromise. I finally had the opportunity to track my own album, so I grabbed a session drummer and we hit the studio to record Images of Eden\u2019s self-titled album, later to be referred to as Chapter-I<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was at this time where I was extremely glad that I put in so much time over the years learning all the instruments (guitar, bass, keys, vocals and working drum knowledge). Little did I know but this would become even more valuable in the upcoming years. So, after Chapter-I<\/em> was out, I put together the first live lineup of Images of Eden. This is where the \u201cmovie\u201d began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Similarly, how has the band evolved from the original version both in terms of personnel and in the band\u2019s vision\/impact? (I know you have a new guitarist since Soulrise<\/em>.)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: I will say that it has been a marathon trying to get the permanent, FT lineup together. Since IOE began, there have been 21 members of the band. I have always had issues with members being unreliable, having substance issues, egos, not seeing eye-to-eye, spouses that wanted to run things, or any combination of these. Because I write everything, the \u201cbones\u201d were always there from a vision perspective, but everyone always puts their own fingerprint on the recordings so this is where you will definitely hear an evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will say that the current lineup (now with Victor Morell on guitar) is exactly where we want to be. Victor is the most \u201cmetal\u201d guitarist we have ever had and with our sound growing heavier as we evolve, this was a must have! I love jamming with Vic. He is so inspiring both on stage and in rehearsal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Victor Morell<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Hope-Filled Chunking Metal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard any of the previous releases?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: This is hard to answer but musically, we have a very heavy\/low-end chunking metal sound, but you will notice that there is a blanket positive vibe of hope, inspiration, strength that overlays it, both musically and lyrically. Also, the lyrics are written in a way that anyone can relate and identify with, regardless of what you believe. We also try to keep it heavy, which gives a great \u201ccontrast\u201d when reading the lyrics and hearing the delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pavement Perks<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations on the release of Angel Born<\/em> \u2013 another amazing collection of songs. I understand you signed with Pavement Entertainment again for this release. How did that all come about and what impact, do you anticipate, will the signing have for Images of Eden going forward?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: Thank you, brother! After 20 years, we are finally exactly where we want to be. We first signed with Pavement for the release of Soulrise,<\/em> but we started as an \u201cartist partner\u201d and not a full label artist, but rather a \u201cdevelopmental\u201d or \u201cprobation\u201d period so to speak. We needed to prove ourselves before we would become full Pavement artists. Well, I am extremely happy to say we DID prove ourselves, so Pavement made us full label artists with a priority release for Angel Born<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also came with MANY more perks that only \u201cmajor label\u201d artists have access to. After having a long pre-launch conference call with Pavement to go through the list of what is going to take place, I feel very confident that if we ever had a chance to springboard levels higher, it will be with Angel Born<\/em>. It is in God\u2019s hands and we are just blessed to be strapped in for the ride!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Angel Born<\/em><\/strong> sounds amazing. I know you worked with Bill Metoyer on Soulrise<\/em>. Did he work with you on this album as well or are you and Steve doing all the mixing\/production sound at this point?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: Steve and I produced both Soulrise<\/em> and Angel Born<\/em> but Bill did the mixing\/ mastering. We essentially guided him along the way. He did a phenomenal job on this album and we could not be happier! We also got our tracking process tweaked even further on this one. I learned a lot from Bill and actually plan to mix and master the follow up to Angel Born<\/em> when the time comes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPlandemic\u201d Peace<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What kinds of challenges have you encountered in creating and releasing a new album during the Covid-19 pandemic? Or did you have most of this finished prior to the onset of all the restrictions?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: Great question! The PLANdemic (spelled correctly) was difficult on us personally. We were in Phoenix filming \u201cAutumn Is Burning\u201d on the day that the country started shutting down (and you can see that the video mirrored what happened). Personally, I had an extremely difficult time accepting what was happening because I saw through the deception on day one. So, it took me months to really come to terms with everything and to \u201cmake lemonade\u201d so to speak. Once that happened, I was at peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the massive government overreach and abuse of power allowed us with the luxury of time that we needed to finish tracking and to make sure we tweaked the album to where it needed to be. It also allowed us extra time to get all of our chess pieces in order to be ready for the release (video shoots, mixing, editing, all of the behind-the-scenes details). We really needed the time in retrospect because it made for a much better final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2018 Tempe, AZ<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Angel Accord<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gordon, talk about your approach to songwriting. As a multi-instrumentalist it must be tough not to micro-manage all the elements of the songs. I know you write most of the lyrics too, so in what ways do the other guys contribute to the songwriting process?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon: Ha! Yes, it is difficult sometimes (not to micromanage) BUT \u2026 I learned a LOT with Soulrise<\/em>. It was the first IOE album with a totally different lineup (minus me and Dean Harris) \u2013 a new drummer, bass player and guitarist. It was also the first one where we all tracked our parts remotely and sent files back and forth. This was huge for us and in many ways \u2013 1) I got to feel out everyone\u2019s style and how it meshed with the songwriting on Soulrise<\/em>, 2) I realized that there are some things I need to keep on my plate (certain guitar melodies, acoustic, etc.), 3) It helped us really tweak our recording process so that it was much easier to track Angel Born<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, because we had toured before we tracked Angel Born<\/em>, I was able to tweak\/tailor the arrangements\/layering so that it would be easier to translate the songs from studio to a live setting. Now, that said, I didn\u2019t even need to micromanage because all of us were on the exact same page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prophetic \u201cBurning\u201d Shoot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You guys have put out the video for \u201cAutumn Is Burning\u201d as a pre-release single, a great old-school action-style video with that \u201cexplosive\u201d intro and the shocking climax. Talk about the making of this shoot. Looks like you had a great time out there rolling around in the dirt, LOL.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve:<\/strong> Gordon and I wrote the storyline to follow the lyrical content to a “T.” We had fun with this one and I felt we needed something different \u2026 a little out of our comfort zone. So, we got all dirty and grungy, found the perfect locations, did about 90 days of pre-production and filmed everything over a 3-day period. Funny enough, we had no idea the times we were about to face when putting this video together \u2026 as Gordon said the whole world shut down during the filming of this video \u2026 the guys were lucky to make their flights back home. But what a video for the times we are in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon:<\/strong> LOL! Filming this video was the most fun I have ever had on any video shoot! I was all bloody and dirty and was still picking pebbles out of my boots days later. The one ominous detail was that I was in the middle of filming my \u201cdesert-crawl\u201d when Eric Mulvaine got a text from Dean Harris (who had to leave early to get home) that the world was shutting down (bars, restaurants, movie theaters, etc.). Made for a darker vibe when we finished filming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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