Forging a future out of metal

Heavy metal may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the fact that a local band has been signed on by a foreign record label and is featuring in a top magazine on this type of music could get heads to turn – if not bang!

Dying Signals, composed of five Maltese and one Englishman, was signed on by record label Rising Records some time ago but the fruit is now being reaped with the recent worldwide release of its first album Intuitive Senses.

Lead guitarist and music and lyrics composer Nicky Manche, 18, is pleased with the momentum, especially since he was not convinced of the songs, recorded when they were only 16.

“I did not think it was worth sending them to two record labels at the time but the vocalist went ahead behind my back,” he said.

“The better of the two called back and the contract was signed,” he said, adding that Rising Records has contacts with MTV and major magazines, and its bands play at the biggest festivals.

“I only know of around three local bands like ours that were signed on by record labels – and they really deserved it – so it is not easy.”

Since it was signed on, the band was contracted to write an album within a year and finally, after much delay, it is being sold “anywhere in the world from Japan to the UK”.

Intuitive Senses is being promoted in Europe but the band has not yet gigged abroad. In the interim, while it works on securing foreign exposure, it is not too interested in the local scene, claiming “there is no point as there is not much of a metal scene here”.

Malta is limited and no one really supports metal music, Mr Manche said – Dying Signals was looking beyond these shores. The band would need to infiltrate the US, Germany and the UK, where that kind of music is still going strong.

Mr Manche left Malta for the UK four months ago, aware that it would be easier for the band to secure a breakthrough. “When I lived in Malta, it was harder to establish contacts and get out there.” In the meantime, Dying Signals is busy recording “new stuff”, which the guitarist claims has improved since the last album.

“We have learnt a lot and quickly from recording in big studios abroad, and have built on these experiences.”

The new songs are being sent to booking agencies to try and organise gigs outside Malta.

The Metal Hammer issue, out yesterday, includes a CD with one of the songs of Intuitive Senses attached. The album is being promoted on the magazine that sells around 110,000 copies throughout Europe, including Malta.

Speaking about the breakthrough the band has had, Mr Manche attributes it to “luck”. But he remains determined to forge a future out of metal.