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Lukas Guyader and Anup Sastry Out of Intervals, Cameron McLellan and Travis Orbin Now In

Toronto-based progressive/djent band Intervals dropped a bombshell on Facebook yesterday when they, or rather guitarist and decided frontman Aaron Marshall, announced the departure of guitarist Lukas Guyader and drummer

9 years ago

Toronto-based progressive/djent band Intervals dropped a bombshell on Facebook yesterday when they, or rather guitarist and decided frontman Aaron Marshall, announced the departure of guitarist Lukas Guyader and drummer Anup Sastry from the band. As the explanation was somewhat long-winded and in-depth, we’re not going to embed the entire thing here, but, to summarize, the line-up change was chalked up to a difference in expectations in terms of the band’s future. Head on over the jump for more deets!

The announcement came as something of a shock, though not entirely given the content of the band’s social media as of late. While Aaron churned out many snippets of material he’d prepared for the upcoming album, there remained a sense of absence from the band’s other members, raising suspicion as to whether or not something was amiss. Marshall has stated that while expectations were varied, the relationship of the band’s previous line-up remains intact. What this means for the future of the band seems to be somewhat up in the air. Marshall has confirmed that future endeavours will still bear the Intervals name, and that a new record is in the works. To quote:

“So, where does that leave Intervals? Well, as you guys can probably tell, I’ve been in the studio making a new record and I am beyond stoked to show you guys these songs. I am also excited to announce that the album will feature Cameron McLellan (Protest The Hero) on bass guitar, Travis Orbin (Darkest Hour, Periphery, Sky Eats Airplane) on drums, and all other instrumentation by yours truly. There are also a few guest features, but I’ll get around to announcing those a little later. Moving forward, I am excited for Intervals to become my outlet for all things guitar and music related, as it was in the very beginning. My goal is to create more frequent and focused content, (lessons, vlogs, etc…) and of course, return to playing shows, when the time is right. You can expect collaborations with various personnel and lots of other fresh new opportunities. Its very exciting for me to take a new approach with Intervals and that’s what this whole thing is all about. People change, things change, and we all grow. Life happens.”

Personally, I’m actually kind of stoked to see what comes of this. Intervals was always a band I thoroughly enjoyed, though I never felt there was anything particularly outstanding about them. Now, moving forward as more or less a solo project, there lies the potential to really mix things up. Given the bands Intervals have toured with in the past, which are outlined in detail in the Facebook announcement, Aaron is certainly well-connected within the progressive metalcore scene, and is poised to turn this into something akin to Ray Riendeau’s Star Monarchy. With Protest the Hero’s Cam McLellan and Darkest Hour/Periphery/Sky Eats Airplane’s Travis Orbin under his belt already, plus the mention of additional guest appearances, I’m confident that Interval’s upcoming album will be very much worth checking out. I’m sad to see Anup and Lukas depart, but hope that they will continue forth in endeavours of their own. No word yet as to how this will play out in a live setting (will Cam and Travis be touring?), but hopefully, we’ll be seeing more details on the project soon!

To read the statement from Aaron himself, click here! For their part, both Anup and Lukas also just released separate statements, with Anup cheekily stating that he’d “skip the history lesson.” It certainly appears they’re trying to be cordial but that there’s certainly some bad feelings and taste left in the mouths of the individuals involved.

-EW

Heavy Blog

Published 9 years ago