Brought together by a shared appreciation for bardcore, Sofia Frasz and Josh Alexander the duo behind Forgotten Shrine are combining medieval folk elements with modern metal sounds that create a unique musical blend that is invigorating as it is captivating. In our conversation with them both, they share with us their journey, creative processes, their future plans, and more.
ATN: You guys first connected over social media with a shared interest in ‘bardcore.’ Has this shared interest influenced the direction of Forgotten Shrine?
SOFIA: For sure. We both love medieval folk elements and more modern metal sounds, and I think the fact that we share so many of the same influences makes it easier for us to work together. We “get” each other more easily because we know exactly where the other is coming from.
JOSH: Absolutely, since I work mostly on the instrumental side of things and have always wanted to incorporate folk and traditional music elements into metal. And even though we both love classic metal, just guitar, bass, drums, it’s more fun to spice it up with some variation.
ATN: What drew you both to the realm of folk metal and medieval folklore?
SOFIA: It’s escapism in a musical form. It’s loosely connected to a real time period, but it’s full of potential for imagination. When I listen to music, I don’t want to re-experience everything I experience in everyday life. I listen to music to get away from that and to feel connected to something bigger and more exciting. Sometimes I’ll explore a bit of societal commentary in my own lyrics, because abstracting these things often makes them easier to think about and work through, but I don’t bash listeners in the face with it while they’re trying to escape from the real world.
JOSH: Folk metal has been on my radar since Eluveitie’s album Origins back in 2014, and although I’ve been into a lot of different genres since then, it’s always one I end up coming back to. As for medieval folklore, it’s fascinating to really delve into and try to understand what life was like in times passed by reading the stories that survived from so long ago. And it offers a fun and exciting distraction from our mundane modern way of life.
ATN: Josh, you mentioned that you wrote the main hook of “Where Shadows Lie” when you were a teenager. What was the creative journey of bringing this song to life, from its inception to its release?
JOSH: As many musicians know, by the time a song comes out it’s most likely been through many, many different versions. It started out as a simple but catchy guitar lick, and eventually as I started collecting different instruments I gave it a try on the Hurdy Gurdy. That was the moment when it all really clicked. Then I threw together some placeholder lyrics, and finally got around to asking Sofia if she would be interested in starting this project, and so she lent her songwriting expertise and powerful vocals to make this song what it is now.
ATN: Sofia, as lead vocalist and lyricist, how do you approach incorporating themes of fantasy, medieval folklore, and religious elements into your lyrics? Do any of these themes resonate with you personally?
SOFIA: Most of my lyrics take real experiences and emotions and abstract them into something larger-than-life, with intertwining characters and storylines, so that they’re easier to pick apart and analyze. Some of my lyrics are short stories that I deconstructed into lyrics just for the sake of playing with interesting characters or themes. I have all kinds of little fantasy stories in my head at all times that I elaborate on whenever I get the urge to daydream, some of which I’ve been building on for over a decade. In my other project Exiled Hope, I often narrate from the perspective of deeply flawed, evil characters for storytelling purposes, and that might come out in Forgotten Shrine too. My lyrics are dominated by a sense of “what if” instead of “this happened and I’m telling you about it.” So, all the themes of fantasy, medieval folklore, and religious elements are basically my way of playing mix-and-match with various archetypes, feelings, and deeper thoughts about the state of the world just to see what happens narrative- or character development-wise.
ATN: Could you share more about your creative process as a duo? How do you collaborate and combine your individual musical backgrounds and inspirations to create something unique together?
SOFIA: Musically, we have very similar interests and backgrounds, so we usually get each other’s intentions fairly quickly when discussing our music. Often, one of us will pitch a song idea and then send the other the songs that inspired the new idea, so we can build something of our own from all those pieces.
JOSH: For me the creative process is an ever changing thing, each song calls for different things. Luckily we both trust one another’s judgement on our areas of expertise, because of our similar tastes it makes it very clear what the vision is, and then it’s just a matter of putting all of the right elements together.
ATN: With it being just the two of you, how are those hard decisions made when you both may have opposite stances?
SOFIA: I’m studying to become a music lawyer and I work at a law firm that often gets hired to resolve disputes between music collaborators, so I drafted a band agreement that lays out our roles in Forgotten Shrine. That way, we’re always clear on who is chiefly responsible for certain parts of our music. Working in music law has shown me that it is crucial to have solid, unambiguous expectations from the start, otherwise relationships break down and people threaten to sue each other. Since each of our roles is clearly stated in our agreement, we respect each other’s judgment when it comes to contributions that are generally reserved for the other person. When it comes to bigger-picture issues with a composition that go beyond our individual roles, we throw ideas back and forth and reach a compromise, because we understand that there will be compromises in a band setting. No song, no matter its $200k video game sync license potential, is worth throwing our friendship under the bus.
JOSH: As Sofia said, our band agreement lays everything out very clearly, and it really is a matter of trusting one another’s judgment. If I came up with a lyric that was too corny even for Folk Metal, I would want her to let me know.
ATN: “Where Shadows Lie” is insanely catchy and I wrote I just want to skip through a field of lavender and battle what comes my way. Did you have any hopes and aspirations for how fans would react upon hearing the song?
SOFIA: Honestly, that’s exactly the reaction I wanted to see! Grab your sword and start hacking through some lavender, but maybe hold onto some to appease the skinwalkers in the deeper parts of the woods. When I think of Forgotten Shrine, I think of music that’s equal parts inspiring and mysterious. However, I never expected to get thousands of Spotify plays in the first few weeks, especially not for a first single. That part of the release drastically exceeded my expectations, and I hope to replicate or surpass it on future songs.
JOSH: All of my hopes for the reception were far exceeded. The response so far from everyone has been fantastic. My hope and intention for the song was that it would give you that epic feeling of fighting for what you know is right and not caring about the consequences. I think that we really achieved that, and can’t wait to do it again.
ATN: Will we be getting more music in 2024?
SOFIA: Yes, if all goes according to plan!
JOSH: No release dates are set in stone yet, but there are a few songs currently in development.
SAME 3 QUESTIONS WE ALWAYS ASK
ATN: Artist / band that you feel is the most underrated and why?
SOFIA: At the moment, I think Vintersea deserves so much more attention than they get. They’re more on the prog/melodeath side, and they have a unique sound that seamlessly blends elegance and fury. Their latest album was one of my favorite releases of 2023.
JOSH: Michalina Malisz (formerly in Eluveitie) has a new band called Lyrre and their debut album Not All Who Dream Are Asleep is incredible. The blend of a more modern metal style with folk is exactly what the genre needed. I think they’re going to start turning heads in the coming years.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to collaborate with and why?
SOFIA: I think Faun or Ensiferum would make sense for us. They play similar styles of music, and Ensiferum in particular has influenced many of my songs that lean in the epic folk metal direction.
JOSH: I definitely agree on Faun, they do a lot of collaborations within the genre and they always turn out really well and create unity within the folk rock sphere. As for me personally I would love to collaborate with LEAH, the celtic metal artist. Her music brings together so many elements that I love.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to tour with and why?
SOFIA: If we tour eventually, opening for Nightwish would be pretty cool. If we’re going to tour, it’ll have to be worth my while.
JOSH: I don’t think we have plans to be a touring band as of now, being that it’s just two of us. But I think opening for Alestorm or Wind Rose would be a ton of fun.
