Metal Anarchy

Time for the next edition of Metal Anarchy’s “new music showcase,” the feature where I introduce you to artists that readers of this site may find interesting. This time I have a Q&A with The Spectre Beneath.

METAL ANARCHY: Tell me a little about your band:

THE SPECTRE BENEATH: The Spectre Beneath began as a spark of an idea in 2018. Pete was the guitarist for thrashers, Plague and the Decay, and got together with his long-time collaborator, Katy Lennon, and wrote several more melodic songs which had a more proggy vibe to them. Pete then dragged across the drummer from Plague and the Decay, Consta Taylor, and then we found L.L from an online demo. Metal wasn’t her first genre, however she does love the heavy stuff, but were still to this day amazed she said she’d have a go. She had the perfect voice for Pete and Katy’s vision because what I think makes us a little bit different to other artists is L.L doesn’t approach the songs with that rubber stamp approach of metal. No growls, no high-pitched wailing, no fry in the throat, just clean, infectious melodies delivered in her own unique way, and all layered over some brutal riffing, …and definitely not watered down with keyboards, which seems to be the thing to do these days.

METAL ANARCHY: Who are your main influences?

THE SPECTRE BENEATH: Pete grew up on Iron Maiden and Megadeth, these are the two bands he always tries to aspire to both from a melody and riff point of view. Also, Overkill, because, according to Pete, their ‘The Years of Decay’ album is a perfect example of how to write a diverse but credible album. He always uses it as a blue print whenever I’m writing a collection of songs because ‘The Years of Decay’ is not just one song re-written ten times. Each track has its own identity and neither of them sounds alike, yet, as a whole, the album flows beautifully. Savatage and Queensryche taught us how melodic and dark metal could be without going overly heavy. Thematically as well, they’re a huge influence on us, Operation: Mindcrime and Gutter Ballet are masterpieces in our eyes.

METAL ANARCHY: What is your latest release and why should readers of this site check it out?

THE SPECTRE BENEATH: Our latest release is called, ‘The Devil’s Whisper’, and is our 4th album. It’s another slab of our own brand of heavy, thrashy, ultra melodic, thematic metal. It also has its narrative roots in our debut album so, in many ways, it feels like a continuation of our earlier albums. In fact, the Album feels like a reset in many ways as our original singer returned after recovering from health issues. As an early review said, “The Spectre Beneath returns in glory and splendour, and it’s a worthy continuation of what they played in 2019 and 2020.” And we feel the same. There are some big songs on this album, great vocals, super shredding and big drums, all wrapped in heavy power/prog goodness.

METAL ANARCHY: What can people expect when they go to your live shows?

THE SPECTRE BENEATH: Live shows have not entered the equation yet because we were concentrating on getting the album completed. With Pete supplying bass duties and all guitars on the album, save for a handful of guest solos, we’d need some extra troops. Also, due to current circumstances, we’re currently in different countries at present.

METAL ANARCHY: Where do you see your band heading in 5 years?

THE SPECTRE BENEATH: Our new album has been too long in the making so we’re really excited to get it out there, also, we’re hoping it’ll give us the momentum to get recording straight away. Due to circumstances (day jobs etc..), we’re in different parts of the world at the moment and I’m not sure how long that will last. Thanks to the internet, we’re passing ideas back and forth and we already have a blueprint for another album, in fact, Pete says he has the blueprint for another two albums. So, until those circumstances change, that’s what we’ll be focusing on and we already have some cool ideas. We may have another album out this time next year if we pull our socks up.