I wanted to bring back the sound of the original, more aggressive EXOTO.
Finding a bass player was easy. KEVIN SCHUTTERS was pointed out to me by several people. One phonecall later, the deal was done. ROB MARTIN from BLIKSEM helped me to find a great drummer. And after looking around for a while, I decided on GUY VERNELLEN. With his own drumschool and him being a conductor, I believe we found a strong percussionist in him. Later, KEVIN VANDERVOORT and WIM MELIS joined the band on guitar, and we had a full line-up again. As with many bands, some other names have been in the picture, but it just didn't work out. That's all part of the process of getting a band together.
We were ready to start the new EXOTO. We wanted to play our first set in the ROCKKELDER in Balen. We used that show, to push ourselves forward. We needed a bit of pressure to make steps forward.
IN THE MEAN TIME, EXOTO RELEASED CARNIVAL OF SOULS AGAIN.
People kept asking for the original album, after the release of the best off CD. I was told that the original CARNIVAL OF SOULS was for sale online for 70 euro or more. That opened my eyes to the idea there was room for the more agressive sound of our early days. A bit later, I was contacted by American label DARK SYMPHONIES, about a release of the original album in the US on CD. Apparently, EXOTO was big in the American underground scene. That resulted in a release of a double LP of
CARNIVAL OF SOULS and THE FIFTH SEASON.
The next step was that VIC RECORDS got in contact again, about the release of our two demo's. They were interested in releasing them on CD for the first time. December 2016, that CD was released. On that CD, we included some live recordings that have never been released. Back to the US, where our first demo - AND THEN YOU DIE - appeared to be a cult album . So they wanted to release them on vinyl. That will happen somewhere later this year, but the actual date is a bit unclear at the moment. Then, the owner of VIC RECORDS came back to us, because he wanted to release CARNIVAL OF SOULS on CD. That release happened a few days ago in the US. That album includes the four songs we made back in the day, to convince BLACK MARK. That were some low-tech recordings, almost with a live energy. Those were clean recordings, without effects or other sound alterations. So, if we look ahead one year, everything we ever made, will be re-released on CD and vinyl. So all these releases are our old work, that has been remastered. In my humble opinion, especially the CD of CARNIVAL OF SOULS will sound better then the original vinyl. It will sound more aggressive, more powerfull, more dynamic. And then we hope te release a mini CD with new songs by the end of the year. And now we are planning some shows of course. The only thing set in stone for now, is a show in a cafe in Dessel, on the thursday of GRASPOP. So we'll be competing with a strong adversary that day.
Anyway, by the end of the year, your readers should have heard the new EXOTO.
TEKST: WIm Op de beeck
PHOTO'S: Suzan Mclee and EXOTO.