Exilia\’s Masha Mysmane \”decodes\” new album

by Reggie Edwards \"Exilia\"Italian metal band Exilia are making their way across the country right now, introducing themselves to the U.S. metal scene on tour with Drowning Pool. Up until recently, Exilia may not have been known at all in our country but things are changing quickly as their fanbase is rapidly growing on this current tour. Blending in-your-face, punch-you-in-the-gut metal with a very subtle electronic element, it doesn\’t take much for Exilia to find fans here and their latest record, Decode, has been received very well- both with songs on tour and the entire album. Frontwoman Masha Mysmane sat down to talk with The Front Row Report via email about the band and Decode. TFRR: Right now you\’re out touring with Drowning Pool and Eye Empire. It\’s  also your first full tour in the U.S. What\’s the tour been like for you?* MM: We did some other shows in the past years at SXSW Festival. In March 2013 we played with Otep in some shows of their last tour, but this one with Drowning Pool is for us the first big tour in USA. We are very happy to be here and we didn\’t expect such great reaction from the audience… so far, so good! TFRR: What does it mean to you to tour in the U.S.? MM: It\’s a great new experience. We are learning many things and it\’s a pleasure for us to share the stage with such great bands as Drowning Pool and Eye Empire. It\’s a great opportunity in many different terms: we can get heard by many people and bring our music sound here in USA. That\’s something special for us! TFRR: From what I understand, you played a few shows with Otep not too long ago. I can see some shades of her creativity in your music as well. What was it like touring with her? MM: It was great! Otep is a great leader, very talented! It was a great experience. We really enjoyed our time with her and her crew! TFRR: \”Decode\” is the current album right now. Tell me a little bit about writing and recording that album. MM: I wrote half of Decode in Italy and half in Germany. In Italy I worked a lot with my producer, Max Belladonna. In Germany I enjoyed the collaboration of other great producers, Resetti Brothers; they helped me in bringing into focus all my music ideas giving them the \”elegant\” way I was looking for. Anyway, Decode had a lot of great reviews in Europe, so I\’m pretty satisfied about it, but as person before and then as an artist, I always look forward to find a new challenge. TFRR: How does Decode compare to previous albums from Exilia? MM: Decode is for me the first step for a \”New Way.” I felt the need to change something, to bring the music to another level as songwriter. I worked a lot on that with my producer. \”Decode\” is deeply far from our top album Unleashed but its closer to what I feel in my mind now, as sound and attitude. TFRR: Is there a message you\’re trying to get across in the album title or in  the music? MM: Yes… we always need to look behind the situations we have to face in our life, finding a way to \”decode the events\” looking for the real meaning for us… as somebody said \”we need to connect the dots.\” TFRR: How did you prepare for touring in the U.S. and what do you think so far? MM: We put together a strong setlist and we worked a lot for making the songs tight and powerful; we also worked a lot on the guitars sound to make it more unique as possible. We did a lot of work and we are happy about what we\’ve done. TFRR: What can we expect from the new album in January? MM: The new album will be the evolution of DECODE. I\’m trying to create something unique but you know, \”you can\’t say that, until you are able to prove it so I would say expect everything … or nothing… everything it\’ll be will surely be unconventional. I thank you so much for your interest in our music.