SikTh's new album, The Future in Whose Eyes?, features a guest shot from Periphery frontman Spencer Sotelo on "Cracks of Light." Check out an exclusive interview below of Sotelo and SikTh frontman Mikee Goodman discussing how the collaboration came together and hear a preview clip of the track.
"They're really nice people, everyone on that U.S. tour felt it was the best one they'd been on," says Goodman of his band's summer 2016 trek with Periphery. "I suppose a funny story was when we stopped at a service station in the Arizona desert. The only thing was that when we left and drove away, [drummer] Dan Foord was not with us. We assumed he was in his bunk," he laughs. "But he had actually been left behind at a gas station. He had no phone on him so an hour later, we got emails from our management, saying he had made contact through email. We then drove an hour back and got him."
It was during the tour that Goodman knew he wanted to team up with their fun tourmates for the group's next album. "I especially love Spencer's voice. He's not your usual djent singer and he's very much a spiritual man. He knows his mind well and so we nailed the song really quickly," he says.
The first-ever guest vocalist on a SikTh record, Sotelo says he first heard of the band in his early 20s from an old bandmate. "One of the guys in the band was a huge fan of SikTh and this was way back in the early days. He turned me on to them and ever since and that's what pushed me into the progressive genre and listening to progressive metal. SikTh, to me, have always been at the forefront of the genre."
As for the song, Goodman explains, "Cracks of Light' is a journey in the mind of someone who is dwelling in darkness and negativity. After a while they realize they must try hard to find light and hope to better their journey. As it is not only on the inside but people start to see outwardly what effect this is having. This was based on my own personal experiences with depression and journeys I've had to try and surpass those thick black clouds."
The Future in Whose Eyes?, the British mathcore sextet's first new studio album since 2006, is out on June 2 via Millennium Night. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on SikTh, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
