After taking a full week off from our Profile features, it’s time to pick up the momentum again. Let’s start with one I missed from a couple of weeks ago. Phantom Heir, Philadelphia-based hybrid metal entity, released the new EP Fragile Immortals back on July 4th. This solo project has released a number of albums and singles over the years, exploring a range of heavier styles. And with this latest release, falling between djent and post-metal, two guest vocalists were brought in for the first time, creating more layers still. It’s a quick listen, under 20 minutes, but it is certain to take you on a ride. So give the responses below a read, and let yourself work through this collection at least a few times.

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How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I’ve played instruments since I was a child, but I didn’t start writing and recording seriously until 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was oddly fortuitous timing, since I had a lot of free time and anxiety around the state of the world. I wrote several albums’ worth of material in that apartment. it was a very cathartic and productive period.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

I usually say it’s like soundtracks for films that don’t exist. A lot of the material I write is very visually inclined and inspired by a range of media and films. Hopefully someday these films will exist.

Is there one (or more) thing about your latest / upcoming album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

Not really. I guess one I haven’t really discussed yet is that I’m not formally trained in music apart from a few lessons in my youth. I can’t read music and most of the stuff I initially write is pretty improvised and instinctive. Then I clean everything up during later stages of production. It’s imperfect and messy, but it makes for very emotionally charged music.

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

Haven’t toured or performed live yet, so no.

What do you see as some of the great things happening in and around the metal scene (yours or just in general) and what are some of the worst things happening right now?

There’s never any shortage of great music that continues to emerge. And all generations are really soaking up heavy music and appreciating what came before with genuine interest. It makes me very happy to see.

That said, I do think there’s an over-abundance of hyper-commercialized sounds in heavy music out there right now. I’m glad more and more people are becoming familiar with heavier music and appreciate it, but I think that increased popularity comes at the cost of sterilizing and watering down the genre to a short list of clichés and formulaic outputs. This isn’t anything new, but it has proliferated exponentially over the past 5 years or so.

It’s probably just a preferential thing, but for me, I don’t really care for songs that are super crisp and heavily produced. It has its place, but I think that place is largely in the realm of pop music — a term that is increasingly vague and unhelpful. I don’t want to name and shame anyone for choosing this as a sound to pursue, but for me, it just feels devoid of any raw intensity or emotion when you sanitize a heavy song with the top 40 hit treatment. I’m all for defying convention, but too much play with subversions and genre fusions is a delicate balance and should be harnessed responsibly, lest you become a gimmick or ephemeral artist in time. It’s critical artists follow their integrity instead of the fleeting whims of an audience who often don’t know what they want until it’s in front of them. Perhaps this is them merely speaking their truth and I’m just a grumpy asshole, but I’m okay with that as well.

I believe the reason heavy music has largely remained stable in the underground is because it provides a sort of sanctuary for those who feel rejected by or uncomfortable with whatever works for the mainstream. And I think that’s where heavy music belongs — in the shadows, so to speak. We see what happens when this vaunted idea of “success” mutates into the form of celebrity spectacle instead of artistry. My concern is that this is where a lot of recent heavy music is going, and it largely seems to stem from influencing culture and chronically online behavior (which is toxic on its own for many reasons). These things exercised in moderation aren’t terrible, but we live in a culture defined by excess, attention economies, and instant gratification. And those are quite harmful.

It’s a sad day when art becomes a disposable commodity. Hopefully the pendulum of the cultural zeitgeist will shift backwards once again towards equilibrium. Less singles with a hook, more double albums with a message. Less pageantry, more authenticity. I recognize artists need to make a profit, and that mass appeal is a path to that, but that doesn’t mean they need to turn themselves into a product.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you / your band and how do you insert those issues into your music?

Well, the themes vocalized on “Fragile Immortals” are one example, certainly. We are certainly living in very critical and dangerous times, but isn’t that always the case? If you know where to look, the atrocities humanity is capable of committing are always there, often hiding in plain sight. Once your eyes have been opened, it’s hard to focus on anything else or unsee it.

There are almost too many issues to acknowledge, and the ever-expanding breadth of technology has worsened that by widening the lens of what we can witness and absorb. I’m no Luddite, but I am very cognizant and careful of what I consume and how I do it.

The fetishization of AI and its heralding as a digital messiah is a good example of this. Perhaps there are benign and intelligent uses of AI that can truly produce benevolent impact in the fields of medicine, mental health, climate change, and so forth. But right now, it seems that all the majority of individuals and corporations are concerned with when it comes to AI is what fattens their profit margins and pushes them into further fame and glory. And as a result, it just perpetuates the negative effects of the status quo we all collectively suffer from — even those who commit these acts. It wasn’t so long ago that many of these tech companies claimed they were improving the conditions of our world. Surprise, it was just another phase of late-stage capitalism!

Technology is a tool, and like any tool, it can be weaponized. It can be used to help or hurt one another, regardless of its intent or original purpose. A hammer, for instance, was designed primarily to build, but it can also destroy and murder. I believe it’s this dichotomy that often defines the paradox of the human condition. We seem to be ensconced in this eternal war within ourselves — divided or driven by our primal nature, confused by or resistant to our capacity to evolve and change, etc.

I think about this a lot as it pertains to the myriad of global crises that threaten or loom before us. Genocide, ethnic cleansing, slavery, industrialized slaughterhouses, fossil fuels, theocracies, despotic tyrants in developing nations, pilfering resources to produce luxury products we don’t need, stealing indigenous lands — and that’s just some of the broader elements. When you zoom in further to the individual, it becomes even more complex and nuanced; mental illness, addiction, sexual assault, bigotry, racism, various forms of negative conditioning… the issues revolving around these things become murkier and society as a whole becomes increasingly more complacent and apathetic to their severity or importance. Especially in the West, we see a rampant sense of Objectivism and grotesque self-interest as a justification for abhorrent behavior. And like a virus, it continues to spread.

I suppose the hope is that despite all of this, art is transcendental and emotive. It contains intrinsic legacy and can speak volumes without uttering a word. I won’t claim this is what I’m doing, but I’m certainly leaving my imprint in the way I know how. Communicating my concerns and speaking truth to power. My goal isn’t to evangelize and convert people to some sort of cause or ideal, but to simply spread awareness and share a perspective. I suppose that has to be enough.

Do you have day jobs or hobbies you want to share?

I have a job that keeps me afloat, I’ll say that much. As for hobbies, I spend a lot of time reading and absorbing as much information as I can. I have an insatiable curiosity of very diverse subjects and try to at least have a cursory awareness of things.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

Just be true to yourself and true to the artist.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

I’ve always considered Phantom Heir to be a cinematic project, heavily visual in nature. That’s the big goal — to somehow weave these stories and concepts behind the music into a tapestry of narrative in motion.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently?

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of drone / ambient artists and their adjacencies, like Black Swan, Earth, Sunn O))), Swans, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Helps me focus. I can always put on a jazz record as well, especially from folks like Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, Mulatu Astatke, and Bohren & der Club of Gore. The new Swans and Vildhjarta albums (Birthing and + där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar +, respectively) have been on steady rotation as well.

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

“Fragile Immortals” comes out July 4th. I’ve got several other albums in the works as well — some as concepts, some more complete. Excited to share them all!

Summarize your band in one word.

Contemplative. Misanthropic. Stoic. Take your pick!

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Many thanks to Phantom Heir for the time!

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Fragile Immortals is out now. For more information on Phantom Heir, head over to their official website.