Saosin
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Saosin

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For founding member and guitarist Beau Burchell, the future of the band wasn’t always as clear as it may seem now. In 2010, vocalist Cove Reber departed, leaving Saosin in a four-year hiatus that threatened to permanently derail the band.

 

“There is that point in every relationship where you just kind of feel like it is going to go any further with the way things are,” Burchell elaborates. “We either had to make a change or it was just not worth continuing on. I wasn’t really happy with where we were at, and it just didn’t feel like it was right. We decided to not continue on with Cove anymore. We had a couple of friends come in and do some singing, and worked on some songs, but nothing really felt right.”

 

At times, it looked like Saosin were done and dusted, with the band struggling to find the right formula. “It was one of those things where I wasn’t sure if I had pressed the stop button or the pause button,” explains Burchell. “We didn’t really talk about it either. I guess maybe in our heads we knew that it was a pause, but I don’t think we necessarily had any hopes of a return. It was one of those things where it would have been nice if it happened again, but if the band just left off where it was I would be happy with the things we had accomplished.”


 

“For me, especially with having a family now, it was kind of one of those things where in order for me to leave home and go out there and be back 
in a bus and tour the world again, it had to feel right. I’ve seen a lot of bands continue on and perform shows because they had to pay bills and
 I never wanted that to be me. That was part of
 the reason why we put it on hold. It really comes down to we only wanted to do this if it was going to be fun.”


 

Saosin first splashed onto the scene in 2003 with critically acclaimed EP Translating The Name – the first and only recording with original vocalist Anthony Green. Leaving the band shortly after their rise into the spotlight, Green and Saosin reunite again after ten long years and Burchell can’t hide his excitement.

 

“It’s fucking awesome,” admits Burchell. “Every night for me, I’m just the biggest dork on stage; sitting there playing guitar with the biggest cheesy face. After playing shows, I’ll look through social media and see pictures people are posting and every picture is just of me smiling ear to ear.
 I feel like such a nerd because I’m meant to be
 up there like some tough-guy rocker, but I just can’t stop smiling because I’m having such a great time.”


 

Along The Shadow is noticeably heavier than most of Saosin’s previous material. The record acts as a cathartic tool for the band that demonstrates their tumultuous journey over the past 14-years. It picks up right where Saosin left off with Green in 2003, and attempts to make amends with fans that have waited since that very day.

 

“Anthony wanted to do some things that were a little more aggressive on this record,” Burchell explains. “I guess that’s the word I would use to describe it. This is definitely our most aggressive record. To me, when I think of heavy I think of bands like Meshuggah. But yeah I would definitely say this is our most aggressive stuff. Anthony is doing a lot of yelling on it. Chris and I had a lot of songs, and we sent them all to Anthony. He picked which ones were sticking with him, and from there we continued to finalise the music on them. You should have heard some of the songs. We
 had like space rock jams, and even stuff that was super light. So light, that people would probably be shocked that it was coming from Saosin. Fortunately for the fans, Anthony picked a really great batch of songs to sing on.”

 

Despite riding the wave of a brand new release, Saosin aren’t making any guarantees that this is a permanent reunion. “We have no intention of coming back full force, like where we are touring eleven months out of the year,” admits Burchell. “If the demand is there, and people want us to play shows, then we will do it if it works for our schedules. But as well, we are trying to be respectful of Anthony, his solo career, and the guys from Circa [Survive]. They are also in a band with him, and I think it’s unfair to those fans long time fans of Circa [Survive] if we just rock up and take him. That’s not the case. Those fans have been following that band for over ten years now, so I think it would be really unfair for us to hog him.”

 

 

Along The Shadow is out now via Epitaph Records. For more details, head to saosin.com.