Interview with LLVME: “The best of us is yet to come.”

With the Leonese Metal band ‘LLVME’ having just released their new album ‘Yía De Nuesu’, I took the opportunity to ask them a few questions and to learn a little more about them, the style and the influence behind the unique direction of the sound.

1. Hi Nandu, I’m Dylan, welcome to MSFinland! Now that you have released your second album entitled ‘Yía De Nuesu’ is there any plans for a third?

Nandu: Right now, we are planning the third album, but it will take us 3 or 4 years. We are a small band and we’ve done a big effort releasing “Fogeira de Sueños” and “Yía de Nuesu” in a period of 2 years. Anyway, the third album will be different because we don’t want to record the same album again and again like a lot of bands do. Llvme means variety and unexpected music.

2. As you have explained on many occasions ‘LLVME’ is the Leonese word meaning fire, however can you translate the ‘Yía De Nuesu’ title and give an explanation behind using this title?

Nandu: “Yía the Nuesu” means “it’s ours”. This is because in the lyrics of the album we talk about our region, about our heroes, about the kings of our ancient Kingdom of León, about our legends… For example, “Purtiellu de la Llïaltá” talks about Bellido Dolfos, a hero of the Leonese city of Zamora who killed the king of Castile in order to free Zamora from the Castilian invaders; “Miróbriga” is a tribute to Ciudad Rodrigo, a city of the province of Salamanca which has been involved in a lot of wars during its history… We talk about us, not about Vikings or other foreign topics.

3. What would you say is the main focus point of influence? I.e. Era, Genre, Style, other bands…

Nandu: The biggest influences come from bands like Anathema, My Dying Bride, Sentenced, Moonspell… and also from the folk from our region. Llvme is a mix of different metal styles and folk music, but with our own point of view and personality.

4. What has changed since the first album? Musically, Vocally, Influentially?

Nandu: The musical influence has not change since the first album, but the most important improvement are the vocals. The singer of the first album had a hiper-gutural voice and he didn’t fit with us, but Eric, the new singer, has a strong voice; definitively he has the perfect voice for Llvme. Also we’ve improved the musical arrangements and compositions and we have more experience in studio recordings. We’re in constant evolution and improving our music day by day.

5. In the track ‘Pramoséu’ there are many different sounds happening. Did you use real samples of a busy street and if so, where? Or was it all computer based?

Nandu: We bought real samplers to a Spanish guy that records a lot of stuff like this. The sounds of this track fit very well with the hurdy-gurdy. When you hear this track is like being in a small village in the mountains, that’s the reason why we chose these sounds. We come from small villages of the province of Salamanca which are near the Portuguese frontier. Llvme is a band with a rural spirit.

6. With the most recent line-up change, where do you think your music is taking you next?

Nandu: Eric and I compose the music, but our new members Belial Báez and Curto are welcome to compose. I can say that the next album will have more clean vocals and will be different, maybe with more acoustic and atmospheric passages, and maybe with some hard-rock riffs, but the essence of our sound and personality will be the same. By the way, more clean vocals or more acoustic stuff don’t mean that we are going to play pop music or something similar, Llvme is an extreme metal band.

7. Do you have any tours planned, Europe or otherwise?

Nandu: Right now we are looking for members to complete our live line-up. I think that in 2 or 3 months the line-up will be complete and we’ll start a small tour in Spain. We would like to do a European tour, but our jobs and studies maybe don’t let us to do this in the near future. We’ll see!

8. What can people expect to hear from you if they have not yet discovered your music?

Nandu: They will hear a different band, extreme metal music made with the influence of our own culture. That’s the reason why Llvme is a unique band

9. Thank you for your time, it was a pleasure to hear such a well crafted album such as ‘Yía De Nuesu’. I look forward to hearing more in the future.

Nandu: Your welcome, thanks for your words. “Yía de Nuesu” is the second chapter of Llvme and there’ll be more and better chapters in the near future. The best of us is yet to come.

Interview by Dylan Raine

To read Dylan Raine’s ‘Yía De Nuesu’ -review, please go HERE.