New York/Chile thrashers Pirosaint have released their new album, Know Thyself, via Digmetalworld. The record took ten years to make, which was recorded between 2013-2016 and 2020-2021 at Oily Sounds Studios NYC by Ignacio Orellana. Orellana is no stranger to the New York City scene as he’s not only known for his musicianship in drumming but is a talented photographer and videographer. You may have seen his works in outlets such as Army of One and Next Mosh. We caught up with the multi talented artist to discuss the return of Pirosaint, the group’s overall challenges, how the internet changed the music industry, and more.
Despite the delays and setbacks, what convinced you to push ahead to complete Know Thyself?
The reason is simple. We started this and we needed to finish it. We’ve been around long enough to know how the music industry works from our first demos on cassettes to mp3s to the streaming services today. So, this is first and foremost, for us, our need to make good metal music, to reconnect with old fans, and make new ones during the process.
What has the overall geographical experience been like piecing this album together from Chile to NY?
The distance, the language, the use of technology to start saying something… it has been hours and hours of going back and forth with an idea just trying to make it work. We recorded all the music here at Oily Sound Studios NY and we tried working with some local folks for the singer position but none of them had what we needed for our music so we stuck with what we knew would work for us. Our original singer came back around after solving all his previous problems ( In 2013 or so he had a house fire where he lost it all and left the project as a result of that).
Can you talk about the lyric videos for “The Debt” and “Everyday’s War?”
Politicians, governments take advantage of us and we are here taking it and not responding to that. Our lyrics are what we feel about it among other things. The system has failed here, Chile and everywhere and everyone is living their life feeling it but not saying it. We’ve felt the need to scream it out loud to the rest of the world. Basically, it’s our way to tell the rest of the people how we see our system and how we feel about it.
The album artwork has an interesting Alice In Wonderland meets Dawn of the Dead look, I was curious to know what your take is on it?
There are two ways to see it. The original concept by our guitar player Bill Smith was based on what we see in social media; how we see ourselves in the mirror versus how the world sees us. In the end we are trying to impress that invincible person that we don’t know, waiting for their likes of follows that will make us feel good for a little while. And the other one is the artist that drew it. Claudio Bergamin was the one that took our idea and made it happen but his inspiration came out a different place as he said it on one of his posts on instagram.
See it yourself here:
View this post on Instagram
Do you have any plans with a live show or livestream?
Absolutely! We want to play live and do what we do best, play live but we need to find a way to make it happen. Gonzalo will have to come here and all of that. We are prepared for it because it will happen.
What was the metal scene like in Chile back in the nineties compared to today?
In a few words: No internet meant to do it all organic so we walked to it, we spoke to it… today it is easy to put music out but three or more times difficult to make someone listen to it. We were young people trying to do something big with forks and knives while going to school and later to college. We dreamed high and came up … some of them were good, some of them didn’t achieve anything but all of the people around that time played their instrument and it was a good time to be there and be part of the scene. Today, the sea of options have made everything too damn difficult because of the abundance before it was difficult because no one wanted metal music.
For Ignacio, your hard work and dedication in metal has always shown with Army Of One, covering bands of all genres, the works. What is it like for you being, in a way, on both sides of the coin?
Always very challenging. You learn a lot from all the outside experiences but for me the thing comes from before… I have a degree in Television and my audio/video work has taught well since the days of TV and all of that but first of all. I am a musician, a drummer and that is all that has been the driving force behind all of the achievements.
Is there anything else you want to say or add about the new album or what your listeners should know about the next chapter of Pirosaint?
Give us a chance. That’s all. If you like what you hear, support us by buying, sharing, and commenting. If you don’t it is Ok. We will move forward as we have done it all of these years. Thank you in advance for your support.
Track List:
01) Better you than me
2) Bleed
3) Know thyself
4) The debt
5) Juanzer
6) Awaken my conscience
7) Everyday’s war
8) Faster than before
9) Tonight
10) A new yesterday
11) Pirosaint
