“It’s hard to reinvent the wheel,” Obey The Brave vocalist Alex Erian freely admits. “But we play music from the heart and it’s sincere. If one of our riffs sounds like Bury Your Dead, then so be it.”  

That kind of honesty and candour is refreshing in an artistic milieu that is constantly contemplating creativity. But Erian, formerly of deathcore pioneer Despised Icon and technical death metal stalwart Neuraxis, has lived the lifestyle of a touring musician for long enough that he probably realises that false fronts get you nowhere. And with Salvation, Obey The Brave’s second record, Erian has tackled life’s central questions head on, and honestly.

“Salvation’s cover art is full of metaphors,” Erian explains. “It deals with ups and downs. The reaper on the cover represents the negative and the obstacles in life. But the wolf represents struggling to get by, financial security and relationships - the sort of thing everyone deals with. There’s a lot of risk in life and in being a musician, but when it starts to pan out it’s a hell of an experience and it makes it worth it. It’s easier for me to write than to pick up the phone and talk to a friend. Emotionally speaking, this past year was rough. Music is a way of coping. With Despised Icon, I really was pessimistic. And then with the first Obey The Brave record, Young Blood, I was so positive, but I took it too far. I was like a cross-fit trainer. Now it’s back to reality: ups and downs. One does not happen without the other. People can relate.”

Erian also honestly acknowledges Obey The Brave’s roots, something that is always a risk in the face of the underground’s ultra-rigid and codified orthodox.

“Musically, Obey The Brave is  a change of pace. I’m acknowledging other musical roots that I couldn’t with Despised Icon and Neuraxis. I was into a lot of punk rock growing up. In high school, in ’92-’93-’94, it was right when Nofx, Millencolin, Rancid and Pennywise were dropping great albums. At the same time, I was also already into metal. I grew up in both scenes. During the early ‘90s, I was listening to Pantera and Sepultura, and then got into some of the local Quebec bands: B.A.R.F., Obliveon, Necrotic Mutation, Démence and Neuraxis. And then during the mid-‘90s Nuclear Blast put out that Death Is Just The Beginning compilation with a demo version of In Flames’ “Episode 666”, Meshuggah stuff from before Destroy Erase Improve, older Dimmu Borgir. I used to go to the HMV superstore in downtown Montreal and listen to the CDs there and then talk to friends about them. And then Dillinger Escape Plan’s Calculating Infinity

dropped. I used to check out new bands every day, I miss that.”

Looking forward, Erian recognizes that despite its success, Obey The Brave still has goals it wants to achieve.

“I’ve been lucky with previous endeavours – Despised Icon and Neuraxis achieved a lot. My main goal is to be happy. And music makes me happy. I love my job and I love the lifestyle. There was a time where I needed to figure out what I wanted. A few months in an office job made me realise that’s not what I want, at least not yet. With Obey The Brave, we want to travel the world. We want to hit spots we’ve never been to. We’ve already played 26 countries with this band. We went to places like Vietnam, Belarus, Russia and Mexico. So we want to hit up places we’ve never been to. And I’d love to do Warped Tour. That’s on the bucket list, for sure. My bandmates are my brothers now, and that inspires me too. We’re in this together. We’re trying to take this one day at a time, enjoying the moment.”

And while Erian’s previous Despised Icon incarnation reunited for several shows during the summer of 2014, that doesn’t necessarily mean the band is back for good.

“We hadn’t seen each other for a while before the reunion shows,” Erian explains. “Since we broke up four years ago we’ve been getting festival and tour offers, but we always said no. When we reunited, we hadn’t all been in the same room in four years. All of the other guys in the band are family men. But now, their kids aren’t six months old, they’re a bit older, so they can do some shows. It felt good playing Despised Icon stuff again. It felt appropriate. It was like, ‘Let’s do it’. I couldn’t believe the response – it was overwhelming. A lot of deathcore bands have faded, so we really didn’t expect such a big response. But it was great. The one thing we know is that we’re not touring Despised Icon full time and we’re not writing a new record. There’s work obligations and there’s family obligations, and in Despised Icon family comes first.”