The words of announcing a debut Australian tour have never sounded so sweet to a band. Texan alien deathcore outfit Rings of Saturn are, they say, beyond excited to finally step out onto our stages with their unique brand of tech-death.
The tour name, Dank Memes, is just brilliant. “Ah come on, everybody needs dank memes,” jokes the band’s mastermind and guitarist, Lucas Mann. “We’ve brought ‘em to Europe, we’ve had ‘em in America, we feel it’s time for Australia to have some, too.”
Rings of Saturn’s brand of metal is very complex and is often described as math metal. There’s something about the intricacies of their music that is understood on a global scale and means they can visit alien worlds, like Australia.
“I guess I can attribute it to being a subject everybody can get in on,” says Mann of the band’s thematic focus. “Everybody is interested in aliens, everybody’s interested in the unknown, and when they listen to math metal, or alien deathcore, they’re also overwhelmed by so many things going on.
“It’s maybe the shock value too, an interesting concept and it just took off. People like it.”
Every time you listen to Rings of Saturn’s music, there’s always new elements to discover – and it’s the same for the band. When they perform their back catalogue, Mann says they’re always discovering new ways of enjoying and performing the music – and with a new album in the works, there’s even more detail about to be brought to the table.
“We don’t play every song live so when I go back and listen to older songs, I get that effect that fans get – ‘Oh, that’s pretty interesting’ – I think it has a lot of relistening value because you want to hear what’s going on, so you might listen to each song twice, three times, a million times.”
The upcoming, as yet unnamed, album moves away from the creative nuances Rings of Saturn presented in their most recent release, 2017’s Ultu Ulla, but continues to push boundaries and, Mann says, retains classic characteristics.
“You can expect a lot of call-backs to our previous works, a lot of fan favourites, a lot of elements from Dingir [2012], and Lugal Ki En [2014]. As far as the fans go, they like our second and third album the best, so it’s gonna be a callback to our roots.
“We’re an experimental band, so there’ll be a lot of surprises, too.”
Though Mann mentions Rings of Saturn’s second and third albums as the fan favourites, it was the success of their debut release, 2010’s Embryonic Anomaly, that was the reason they were able to step into their second and third albums at all. When it comes to call-backs in the new material, Rings of Saturn aren’t ignoring the foundations of their existence. “We’re not ignoring any album, we just know what our fans like,” Mann says.
When it comes to the fans and a band first visiting Australia, particularly one whose sound is a little more niche, interactions with the fans rely on social media and deliveries of merch. Rings of Saturn’s encounters with Aussie fans have up to this point, been overwhelmingly exciting.
“It’s always been very welcoming,” says Mann. “It was very surprising how quickly Australia caught on all the way back in 2009 when we were making our tuff.
“The more the band has grown, the more interesting it’s been, and the more welcoming fans have become – ‘When are you coming to Australia? When are you coming, when are you coming?’ – and it’s finally time. So yeah, I think it’ll be very welcoming.”
That question from fans can often sound impatient – but for Rings of Saturn, it’s a very good thing. “It’s a good problem to have,” laughs Mann. “If no one’s asking that question, then that’s bad.”
