Hailing from Maryland, Ninth Realm is a Crossover Thrash metal ensemble. Their inaugural album, "A Fate Unbroken," was released in 2022. In July 2023, the band wrapped up an intimate 5-destination mini-tour across the Northeastern United States. I was amazed by the band's energy and commanding presence on stage during the Brooklyn stop of their summer tour. Following the show, the band agreed to an interview, offering valuable insights into every aspect of their musical journey.
Hello there! I just wanted to let you know how much I loved your performance at Brooklyn's Saint Vitus earlier this month. Your energy was absolutely incredible, especially as the tour came to a close. Looking back on your last tour, how would you describe the overall experience? Did you feel like you accomplished your objectives for the tour? Were there any pleasant surprises or aspects that went even better than you had anticipated? On the other hand, were there any areas or moments that you felt could have gone better for you and the band?
Last tour was great, the crew in Lunar Blood definitely made the entire experience worthwhile. And it’s actually interesting (or rather, un-interesting) on how we made it happen. We (Ninth Realm) typically like to split our tour plans in half, so instead of doing one long 10-12 day tour across the east coast, we’ll cut it between two 5-6 day mini-tours, one for the south and one for the north. In January we completed our southern tour with Pathogenesis, Winter Lantern and some other friends, and then for the summer we decided to go up north. We were looking for a promoter based out in New Jersey and found their vocalist on social media and figured “that’s the promoter.” I (Joey) hit them up and one thing led to another, found out they played in Lunar Blood, and bam, we got a second band on the tour. We basically figured if we book them in DC or MD, and they book us in NJ, we’ll team up to fill in the gaps which were Philly, New Hampshire and New York.
I definitely feel like we accomplished a lot on that tour. Booked Nixil for DC around the time they announced getting signed to Prosthetic Records, which was sick. Played new venues, played a fest, and obviously checked off a Bucket-list venue for NY which was the one and only Saint Vitus Bar, which we would always love to return to.
We also got along with Lunar Blood really fast, which is always a treat, especially considering you’re on tour and spending an entire week together. The second day we all drove up from the same route coming from Laurel, MD and as soon as we got to Philly we got dim sum together and basically ordered a buffet’s worth of food, probably more.
Touring can undoubtedly be financially challenging for emerging bands, but there's another aspect that often goes unnoticed—the toll it takes on the band members' physical and mental well-being. With that in mind, could you take a moment to share your thoughts with your fans about your last tour? How did you manage the physical fatigue and mental exhaustion that can come with being on the road for extended Periods?
Good company is key, planning ahead logistically I think is really important so you’re not stranded or figuring out situations on the fly. I can definitely say our last tour was hot as hell and it was also a holiday weekend so traveling up north on certain days was definitely a crawl but when you’re having fun and spending time with friends you don’t really think about that stuff all that often.
Metalheads are notorious for their genre debates, and once in a while, a distinctive sound like yours emerges, making it hard to categorize. I can definitely sense some powerful Thrash/Crossover elements in your music. However, would it be accurate to assume that there are other vibes at play as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter!
Yeah so I feel like at our core, or what’s easiest to define us is a Crossover Thrash band, considering we have a lot of hardcore/mosh elements but distinctly thrash metal and have a thrash tone. But we definitely try to incorporate aspects of traditional heavy metal, death metal, death thrash, black metal and things of that nature to try and form a more dynamic sound that fans of both metal and hardcore can enjoy. I think the main goal more or less of Ninth Realm is to introduce concepts typically found in the traditional heavy metal world to more aggressive markets like hardcore and death metal.
Your music is infused with fantasy-inspired lyrics, and your live shows are adorned with fantasy-related props and attire. Could you elaborate more on the themes and topics you delve into through your lyrics? Furthermore, what draws you to the captivating world of fantasy, and how does it influence your artistic expression?
So thematically speaking, our lyrics and overall theme is centered around a fictional, dark fantasy world called Tythorin, which I created as the main setting for a series of books I’m currently working on. When writing the lyrics, I like to describe more of the “themes'' of the book rather than actual events, so I try to go into ideas like fate, vengeance, causality, human resilience, etc. instead of just blatantly revealing the plot. And these ideas are just caked over by us wearing armor and holding swords on stage, because it’s fun.
When it comes to fantasy-themed metal, which artists or bands have been your main source of inspiration?
When it comes to classics, and ones that are specifically fantasy-themed or have the occasional fantasy or historical theme, easily Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, Blue Oyster Cult, Uriah Heep, Omen, The Icemen, Liege Lord, bands like that. More modern stuff I think would be anything involving Brendan Radigan, so that includes Battle Ruins, Stone Dagger, Sumerlands, Savage Oath, and of course, Rival Mob. Eternal Champion and Iron Age, obviously, and I would also say Doomsword.
As an emerging band, how do you approach the balance between staying true to your artistic vision and adapting to the expectations and trends within the metal community?
I think that’s honestly what makes crossover so good and important. We try to have something for everyone in our writing formula. We want to add as many moshy/hardcore parts in songs as there are melodic, heavy metal parts. And then have songs that incorporate more death/thrash or blackened thrash or things of that nature just so our music can be enjoyable across the board. I think writing what you like is key, and then if you can somehow make it enjoyable to a larger market than that’s even better.
Could you share some insights into the creative process behind "A Fate Unbroken"? How does your band typically approach songwriting and composition? Do you prefer collaborating as a group, or do individual band members work on specific parts independently?
A Fate Unbroken was essentially the metal album that we all have always wanted to hear. Each member of the band has their own unique history within the larger organized metal/hardcore scene and using that to influence the music is basically the core of what Ninth Realm is attempting to do. Some of our bandmates bring a more hardcore influenced style to the band while others incorporate more metal-related things to the table and vice versa. Fate was kind of a collection of our “best-of-the-best” work over the years of writing for Ninth Realm, and material that we thought was the most versatile. We wanted something that initially leaned more fast and aggressive and then slowly panned into something melodic and heavy. A lot of the writing can be bandmates kind of creating their own unique parts, and just asking “what do you think about this?” to the larger group, and then if it gets the green light we evolve it from there either as a whole or individually, and then we go back and forth until a song is produced.
What lies ahead for your band? Can we expect more touring in the future, or are you planning to head back into the studio to work on new music?
We recently announced our U.K. tour to support High Command and Inhuman Nature during their European tour in November. It’s not only a way to celebrate our recent split with Inhuman Nature but it’s also going to be our first time playing outside of the U.S., so we're very excited about that. After that, we have a few plans here and there for 2024 but definitely keep our options open for things that might get thrown our way that weren't originally in the planner.
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