A collaboration between Adriano Ribeiro and Tom MacLean (ex-Haken/ To-Mera), Athemon is an anglo-brazilian metal band that seeks to forge the perfect alloy of darkness and beauty. Out of a love for progressive and intricate music, two musicians crossed paths online during the beginning of the Covid global lockdown to create an everlasting experience. Living on different continents, bassist/producer Tom MacLean (To-Mera, ex-Haken) in the UK and vocalist and guitarist Adriano Ribeiro in Brazil, used the digital world to their advantage and give rise to their new band Athemon.
“Adriano sent me his demo and it gave me goosebumps, so I was keen to get involved,” says MacLean. From a significant evolution between demos to their final introductory recordings, MacLean and Ribeiro created a bonding friendship over musical interests that created the perfect environment to allow them to evolve and conceive their debut full length. Formed as a gateway to express their art using progressive metal music, Athemon will debut their self-titled album on October 11th, 2021. The concept record is meant to be heard as one long 50-minute track divided into nine parts that will engage listeners on a journey that’s enigmatic, deep in sentiment, and inject a fresh outlook of self-perception during its intense and dark progressive atmosphere.
For the album’s recording, the band invited a special guest drummer from Brazil, Gledson Gonçalves who added his percussionist touch to compliment each one of the nine tracks.
“As nobody goes alone in this world (even being totally alone inside one’s own mind), the songwriting process had a lonely beginning, but a very collaborative end. The beginning of this project was driven by Adriano, but nothing would fit so well if it wasn’t for the amazing connection the three of us have (Adriano, Tom, and our special guest on drums, Gledson),” says MacLean.
The lyrics for the album were written by vocalist/guitarist Adrian Ribeiro and were inspired by thoughts of how confusing reality can be if you are not taking care of your emotional side. “The thin line between what’s real and what’s not is an endless world,” adds Ribeiro.
New fans of Athemon, can expect much more to come from the pair as they already have plans to launch their second album by the end of 2022, which they are currently composing with promising results.
As for the live spectacle of Athemon, for now, the band will let the music flow until the duo can connect from across the Atlantic for their first in-person jam session.
Fun Facts:
Until 2013, Tom was the original bassist in Haken and guitarist in To-Mera. He believes he’s one of a very small group of people to have opened for Dream Theater in two different bands. ATHEMON ARE:
Adriano Ribeiro - guitars and vocals;
Tom MacLean - bass and production; |
