As far as band names go, you can’t get smarter or more memorable than Gozitan post-rock duo They Come In Twos. Composed of Christian Farrugia and Paul Formosa, both long-time musicians, the band was born when Farrugia, back then still a member of Saving Alexis, felt he could not express himself musically as freely as before.

Determined to start a project where songwriting would not be hampered by a sense of musical compromise, Farrugia set about recruiting Formosa, with whom he had played in earlier bands and whom he knew would be as dedicated to the project as himself.

That both lads have similar tastes in music and that creatively they feed off each other turned out to be an added bonus. It only took one discussion and the band was born.

Since then, the duo has been hard at work. Songwriting normally kicks off with a single idea. One of the guys will pitch a thought, often just a guitar riff and a drum beat, but always with a view to it being given more depth and having life breathed into it by adding more instrumentation.

Then the song goes back and forth, digitally as the band’s members live between Malta and Gozo, until both of them are happy with what they call “the song’s skeleton”.

Of course, recording is a different process altogether. After face-to-face meetings with the producers in which the basic idea is fleshed out and the song dissected, different effects start being added.

This is the basis for a rough demo which is then used to record the guitar tracks in the studio, followed by mastering. The whole process is lengthy and can take a few weeks per song.

I was blown away with the drum sound of this duo, perhaps as it is closer to my own metal sensibilities and has a wonderfully powerful kick and snare drum sound, so I asked about it. Is it a live drum recording, or is it sampled?

Formosa replies: “The drums are mostly my creation and like yourself, my musical roots are planted deeply into metal.

“I’ve always been a big fan of Metallica’s drummer Lars Ulrich and I’m especially fond of the sounds and grooves Lars created using just his kick and snare. The drums on both songs released so far are sampled but I, being the perfectionist I am, programme every single beat to my own liking.”

We didn’t write them for the sake of being different, we just wrote what we wanted to without fear of judgement

The two songs mentioned are the singles Static Made Me This Way and Through the Trenches (into the Light). The duo has garnered considerable attention and praise for these singles, though Farrugia is thankful that: “The attention has been mostly directed towards the style in itself. It is rewarding to have people saying that the songs sound fresh and different. The best part about it is that we didn’t write them for the sake of being different, we just wrote what we wanted to without fear of judgement.”

So where does the influence to write in this style stem from? According to Farrugia, it’s actually a matter of mindset.

The influences are still the same: Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky and Linkin Park – though, in the case of the latter, it’s more a case of Farrugia’s admiration of the band, who keep experimenting and evolving their own sound no matter how harsh the critics can be. Formosa interjects here, saying that even though this is not a metal project, Linkin Park are still his greatest influence, before rattling off an impressive roster of names which he counts as influencers.

The list includes Bullet for My Valentine and Gojira. Certainly though, 65daysofstatic are central to this band, with Farrugia stating: “When the 65daysofstatic single Retreat! Retreat! was released in 2004, the seed was planted. When I felt it was time to do something on my own, it was that song which came back to me. It opened up the world of post-rock to me, and I knew I had finally found my calling in music.”

A marked difference between the duo’s influences and their own sound is the lack of vocals in They Come In Two’s material. I ask about that. What was the decision to forego singing based upon?

Farrugia quickly replies with two reasons. Firstly, he wanted something he could call his own. He admits he’s no singer, and introducing a singer to the band would have defeated the project’s purpose and identity.

Secondly, Farrugia feels that “there's a certain beauty in having your songs open to interpretation for those who listen when the song isn’t defined by lyrics”.

In today’s age of free music, where bands must play live to sustain themselves, They Come In Twos is a studio-only act.

According to Farrugia, though the project is a two-man deal, the songs entail and involve much more than that.

However, he doesn’t discount the option completely, telling me that “in future, when we’ve released a good amount of material, we may hire professional musicians to complete a live line-up, but that will be eventually, not right now, and the project will always, officially, be myself and Paul.”

I ask about the future. What’s the plan there. Is an EP or a full-length in the works, or will They Come In Twos make us wait longer?

It is here that Farrugia shoots my hopes down, albeit temporarily. He confesses that the appeal of releasing an album is waning.

While it would be great to have 10 songs on one CD, Farrugia explains that his target is different, going on to say that: “my vision is to constantly be involved in the local music scene.

“Releasing an album would make that difficult due to the lengthy process and financial commitment required.

“That being said, it doesn’t mean we’re not open to the idea. However, for the time being we’re taking every new song as a project on its own which lasts a span of four to five months.”

Perhaps the duo will take a leaf of their own book and reward us with two singles, not one, in a few months’ time. We live in hope.

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