Jai Interviews Mat Wale of The Ascended and Reviews Awaken Within
The Ascended are a heavy metal band from Victoria,Australia who have a real heavy groove laden
melodic sound that I really do love and kinda has that sound like The Haunted and Trivium which I do enjoy.
I have been thrashing this their debut album Awaken Within fairly hard since it came out on May 4th.
This album Awaken Within is an extremely exceptional debut album packed full of tracks like A World On Fire,
Drag Me To Hell, and Awaken Within which will awaken the heavy metal beast and have you pounding your fist
and raising your horns.
This album Awaken Within is up their with some of my favourite releases this year and another great band from Australia
showcasing the talent quality and class of musicians we have in Australia.Check out this from The Ascended then
the interview with Vocalist and Guitarist Mat Wale of The Ascended
INTERVIEW WITH MAT WALE
Hey Jai Anderson here with Crannk and Blunt Force Stereo
Thanks for making the time to have a chat with me I appreciate it.
JAI? – First off congratulations on the release of Awaken Within it is a beast of an album and one I have really enjoyed..Can you give me a little background on The Ascended who are you guys? and how did The Ascended come about?
MAT- Thanks very much man, really appreciate that! So The Ascended, well, were a band haha from a small town called Warrnambool in Victoria Australia. The forming of the band came about from myself writing some music, and when i was happy with it, i realized i probably should find some other members to get this thing off the ground, so i reached out to the guys over the course of 6 months, whom i knew either as friends or acquaintances and thus became, The Ascended.
JAI?- Where does the name for The Ascended come from?
MAT: The idea behind the name comes from wanting to rise or “Ascend” above other musical projects we had all been a part of. That this was going to be it for us!
JAI?- How would you describe the sound of the Ascended? And what are some of the musical influences of the band?
MAT: Groovy, thats the best way i can put it, we make you move in some way or another. Musical influences would definitely be the likes of Trivium, Lamb of god, As i lay Dying, Killswitch engage, that era of melodic metalcore.
JAI? What has driven and inspired you as a musician 1 into playing music?and 2 into heavy metal?
MAT: I think seeing bands like Metallica and ACDC on the big stage, playing to thousands of people, that what gave me the hunger to be a musician in the early days, now its about putting my voice out there, and having a great time doing it with great people, thats what inspires me now, the fact that i have this opportunity. As for getting into Heavy metal, it was a natural progression from ACDC to Metallica and from there it just snowballed.
JAI? The album Awaken within has been out for over a month now so far what is your favourite song to play live off the album?
MAT: Drag me to Hell has definitely become our favourite and also the crowd favourite, and i love playing the guitar solo in that song!
JAI? The band are on their way to Adelaide for a show I think on Saturday night where else have you guys got to play on this touring cycle?
MAT: Yeah, were on the first run of what will be a fairly extensive tour, we’ve got Canberra Sydney in a few weeks to finish this run, then we’ve got the likes of Tassie, Brisbane and a lot more Vic stuff to see out the year. Next year we plan to branch out further than that but i cant say to much more on that yet.
JAI? Speaking of touring do you like have a mix set for the road trip and what are some of the bands that are on it?
MAT: The music on the road is sometimes a point of contention haha but of late we listen to any bands were playing with on that particular show were travelling to and then its a mix bag from jazz to bands like red fang or even hip hop. Its often not metal.
JAI? I know this is like the third tour around Oz but do you guys have plans to follow in the tradition of other aussie metal bands and getting over to Europe?
MAT: Man we would love to, but the reality of it is that its just so damn expensive. its certainly something that we talk about and if we got a great offer we would 100% go, but as it stands, we’ve gotta take smaller steps out of Aus to start with. but who knows, we all agree if we did, its a make or break decision, but for now, were happy seeing more of Australia!
JAI? I regard The Ascended and this Album Awaken Within up there with the best in Australian metal but what other Aussie Metal bands are you getting into at the moment?
MAT: Thank you so much man, were honored you think that! Australia is churning out some incredible music man, but for me personally, bands im loving are Polaris, The Motion Below, Orpheus Omega and Make them suffer!
JAI; Thank you again for making the time for Crannk and our readers
MAT; Anytime man, appreciate the support! Thank you
The Ascended are Mat Wale – Guitar / Vocals
Corey Verhaegh – Guitar
Braden Dawson – Bass / Drums
Lee Mugavin – Touring Drummer
The Ascended FB https://www.facebook.com/theascendedband/
The Ascended Bandcamp https://theascended.bandcamp.com/album/awaken-within-album-2018
\m/ Jai That Aussie Metal Guy \m/
