The Next Big Step

Hailing from Chicago, Born of Osiris have achieved a lot in their young years. While originally beginning as a high school band in 2003, McKinney didn't join the fold until 2007 and the band changed their name to its fourth and final incarnation - Born of Osiris, whom released their debut EP The New Reign that same year. The band reinvented what could be termed 'progressive deathcore' with their breakthrough album The Discovery in 2011, and with many claiming that former guitarist Jason Richardson (now a member of Chelsea Grin) was responsible for a lot of said album's material, there are many eyes watching where the band goes next.

In 2013, McKinney is not only a key member of the group - for this forthcoming third album he wrote and recorded the entirety of the guitars alone.

“I think today or tomorrow we're going to finish up all the guitars and the bass,” he comments, with the band's imminent Australian tour their studio deadline. “And then I believe in the next four or five days [Ronni Canizaro and Joe Buras are] going to finish all the vocals. They're in California now. It's pretty close to being done and I'm very excited about it.”

How does doing it alone stand up to the usual producer/engineer set up?

“I prefer it. This time I was pressing record, playing the guitar, and editing it myself, which was interesting, but I prefer it. Tracking the guitars in the same studio that I wrote the songs in, edited the songs in, it just feels comfy, and it's just great to have a comfortable vibe while you're recording. You don't have to be somewhere far away in a hotel room every night, and it's cool, I can just do things on my own time, and its the smoothest process that we've had.”

When asked what album he thinks it will sound the most like from their catalogue so far, McKinney confirms that they aren't straying too far from The Discovery just yet.

“I think what made that record so strong was that we all moved into a house together, and we were able to just write a record while living together, as opposed to the records before that, The New Reign and A Higher Place. I mean we were in high school, living with our parents, and it was just a bit of a challenge to really fully collaborate when you're kind of working through email. This last one, and The Discovery, it was really cool to just walk out your bedroom door, go to Joe's room and be like 'hey put a keyboard part here' or 'what do you think of this'. It's cool. I think it will sound most like The Discovery. One thing we're focusing on is structuring things a bit better. From our first record to The Discovery we've kind of tried to focus a bit more on that. I know our first record is 25 minutes long, but it had enough parts to be an hour long. We just didn't repeat anything. This time we're letting parts breathe a bit, we're bringing back parts, repeating structural things. I like it better - it sounds a bit more mature, I would say. At least that's what I'm hoping for.”

Signed to Sumerian Records - once a young upstart that has since become dominant in the heavy music world to the point where even The Dillinger Escape Plan wants to work with them - McKinney tells that label owner Ash Avildsen has had even a hand in the album's vocal production.

“He'll usually pick a couple of songs that he likes the most and get really involved in them. Sometimes he'll only have a little involvement in the song and just let it be. It's cool, it's a pleasure to have a label that cares enough to get involved in the creation of things. They're definitely the kind of label that goes above and beyond when it comes to everything really.”

For the band's first time down under, the guitarist has “no clue what to expect”, but is “so excited”. He is aware of Australia's great musical tapestry however, and says that “my favourite band of all time is Karnivool. I like Birds of Tokyo too. Dead Letter Circus I really like a lot. That whole prog rock scene in Australia is my favourite thing going on right now. I don't listen to too much metal anymore. Those bands are more of an influence than anyone nowadays.”

It is influences like this that have perhaps given Born of Osiris their progressive, atmospheric edge. But what happened to the metal? Has Born of Osiris burned him out?

“When we were younger, we listened to it all the time when we started the band. I think touring so much, you hear so much metal all year, that you don't need any more of it. I think I still have the same love for it, I love going on stage, and it's still the same kind of music I want to play when I'm on stage. I love the vibe of a metal show and I love creating metal music, but it's not something I listen to too much.”