Danish Melodic/Death Metal band Saturnus are set to release their fifth album entitled The Storm Within on June 16th. Saturnus’s lead guitarist Julio Fernandez Lerma took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about the upcoming album, lineup changes in the band, plans for 2023, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band Saturnus will be releasing their fifth studio album entitled The Storm Within on June 16th, what can you tell fans about the upcoming release?
Lerma: The Storm Within is in a sense a concept album but based on real life experiences, guiding the listener through our journey. The band went through an inner storm for a long period of time and somehow needed to let the steam off by pouring ourselves into the music and present what we all felt across the years and what we were going through. This record is very personal and somehow illustrates it all, our struggles, our battles, and the desire keep the flame alive. As we say, it’s all about emotions. We wanted to give our audience a deeper look into the band and to depict a struggle through which a new chapter has begun.
MER: How was the writing and recording process?
Lerma: Well, it started with Indee and I joining the act in 2020. The agreement made was creating material from scratch, given that there wasn’t much left by the previous line-up, and new perspectives and approaches were going to be explored. Then both Covid and Lockdown came, what was a setback for us all, since it made us stop, but at the same time made us create more material. Nowadays, it’s easy to deal with distance and points of view while counting on technology. We could discuss riffs and ideas like 24/7 if we wanted. It took time to put all ideas together, given that distance is how it is for some things, but we ended up recording it all in Q4 2021, what was a perfect timing for us. Later, delays with the production forecast and other problems came, but nothing that made us lose our positivity and will power in this regard.
MER: The band’s last full-length release entitled Saturn In Ascension was released in 2012, what were you and the rest of your band up to during that time?
Lerma: Saturnus went through an authentic inner storm for quite a long period of time. We were striving hard at all levels and trying to find the way of gathering strength and focus for creating more material, in the middle of an inner storm that left the way full of obstacles and trying to perform as much as possible and to work to keep the flame alive.
MER: How would you compare The Storm Within to Saturnus’s previous four albums?
Lerma: From the beginning we knew that this album was going to have to be special, since it brings a new beginning where old meets new. It is based on real-life experiences, guiding the listener through our journey. As said, the band somehow needed to let the steam off by pouring ourselves into the music and present what we all felt across the years and what we were going through. This record is very personal, as said, and describes very well the journey from a perfect storm to the truth itself.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and your band for the rest of the year?
Lerma: TOUR, SHOWS, TOUR, SHOWS and more SHOWS! Haha… No, seriously, there are many dates confirmed and some others in which we are still working. It’s going to be a busy season!
MER: Who do you hope to tour with that you haven’t yet and why?
Lerma: Well, since bands like My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost were CRUCIAL for Saturnus’ existence, it’d be more than awesome to share stage and dates with any of them. However, there are many others with whom we’d love to share shows!
MER: What have been some of your favorite releases of 2023 so far?
Lerma: Among others, I love Overkill’s Scorched, and Obituary’s Dying of Everything. I’ve got them in my car stereo all the time!
MER: Out of Saturnus’s five albums, what is one you would suggest to a new fan and why?
Lerma: I think that Veronika Decides to Die is a masterpiece that can be easily enjoyed by someone landing on this genre’s planet because it basically covers the essence of the band.
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