Metalcore constantly moves in waves, combining within other genres and other instrumental backgrounds so that it does not fall into obscurity. Essen, Germany-based metalcore band Traveller is a steamroller of an act that is giving us one of those answers as to how this genre keeps moving forward. Atmospheric, deep, and heavy, Traveller constantly strived to exemplify what melodic metalcore would sound like in their 2017 EP, Hourglass. 

From then on, their Ep and their singles that would soon follow after that would create a promising jumpstart for the up and coming band in the scene. Now the band has returned for the new year with their new single, "On Running Ground." Once again making themselves noticed with their fortitude and vast splashy soundscapes, "On Running Ground" is showing the best of what Traveller has always offered, but with flair. Traveller has always stood out for its unique way and energy that they continue to present themselves to their fans, and it doesn't seem like they are going to stop now. To explain more, Traveller is here to talk about the new single and future of metalcore.   

How did Traveller get started? 

The band formed back in 2016 with a drastically different lineup than the one known today. We went through a phase of trial and error in terms of personal, music, and playing a bunch of smaller shows. Since then we’ve kinda grinded it out and took every opportunity that came to us to evolve us and the band with ourselves.

What shaped your band's melodic metalcore sound? 

We draw influences from a broad spectrum of various genres, but mainly it is our vocalist Jens who comes around with new and fresh ideas. For our heavier stuff, we seem to fit in the recent wave of djenty metalcore, but we combine that with influences from more melody-based genres like indie or pop style alongside earlier melodic hardcore installments. On top, we sprinkle a touch of modern days hip hop/ electronic music and that’s basically how I’d describe the upcoming EP music-wise.

You guys are one of Germany's most promising acts along with a list of others overseas within the genre. 2017's EP Hour Glass was a testament to this outside of your other slew of singles you released in 2019. In what ways has the new material that you bought to the table such as, "Distance Calls" last year and your new single, "On Running Ground," different from the material you released back then? How has it evolved? 

Back when we were writing the Hourglass Ep we wrote music with a kind of different mindset in terms of what the song's focal point should be. Back then we tried to be a heavier, more technical version of us, wherein now that focus changed a lot from just trying to be heavy and groovy to being likewise stupid heavy at times but still heaving moments to let the music breathe and be catchy and melodic. The biggest change was probably the incorporation of singing vocals, which opened up a lot of places to go instrumentally as well, without worrying about having only screams that sound Either out of place or don’t portray the intended emotion for the given song.

What is "On Running Ground" about? Can you share more about that with us? 

Lyrically, On Running Ground metaphorically paraphrases relationships, which aren’t meant to be, become a burden or simply become too demanding to perpetuate. May it is trust issues, untied endings from previous partners or just the bare fact that you’re blinded by rose-colored glasses, all of these things can make it hard to maintain a healthy relationship in the long run. To not end this on a bitter note I should add that we all, despite it being hard work at times, believe in love.

How was the writing and recording process different this time around from "Distance Calls?" I know that was only released last year, but instrumentally and lyrically, they are so different.

To be honest it was quite similar. The recording of all the EP went down in the same timeframe, so not a lot of differences there to be mentioned. Musically, both songs mark to opposite sides of our musical catalog, with DC being more of a slower groove drive song as opposed by ORG being one of our more uptempo style of songs, but they both fit under the current TRVLR hood in our book.

From the two singles, what can we expect from you guys in the new year? "On Running Ground" once again proves that you guys have a knack for crafting melodies and atmosphere and hard musical elements that hit in you the right places emotionally and so beautifully. But I feel this is only the beginning of what you are trying to show us here. 

We tried to capitalize more on both sides of our musical spectrum. So on our upcoming EP, we took all the things we thought we were doing great in our past material and tried to exaggerate them further - so we‘ll bring both back, the heavy and the beautiful, maybe even heavier or more gentle than on the other releases.

As an artist, what is your worst pet-peeve in metalcore? What has your band done to change that?

I think one of the worst pet peeves in metalcore unintelligible vocalist paired with sometimes really bad, or even disrespectful lyrics. A lot of emotion can be conveyed through words alone, but if you only got hateful, misogynistic stuff to say it may be even better to not understand it at all. Within our lyrics, we often tend to use a picturesque, tangible set of metaphors to make the scenarios, that accompany the lyrics like a movie in our vision, get sketched out in the most detailed way in the listeners' head. Jens also tries to articulate his screaming vocals so they’re easy to understand - which can be a hard task, especially with the lowest register.

Listen to "On Running Ground" from Traveller’s upcoming EP Distance Calls, out March 12, 2021!