The Visionary Tapestries of Cassandra Syndrome

Combining wondrously operatic vocals with a metal soundtrack as well as intelligent lyrical content, Cassandra Syndrome present thrilling musical tapestries.  One expects to find collectives of such innovation located on the European continent, but the members of Cassandra Syndrome call various cities on the East Coast their home base.  Their second magnum opus Satire X has recently been unleashed and is garnering the band a good deal of admiration and respect.  We recently interviewed front woman Irene Jericho to find out more about their amazing works of sonic art, the various concepts involved within the songs and shows, how life in the military affected the band you see today, and other topics of interest…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Cassandra Syndrome, and how long the band has been together.
Hi there, I’m Irene Jericho. I’m the lead singer and lyricist of Cassandra Syndrome. We’ve been together since 2005, so six years of metal together come November.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there and how does Cassandra Syndrome fit into the scheme of things?
The band is based in Maryland. We practice in Frederick. The cool thing about where we live is that we’re about an hour from Baltimore, an hour from DC, and only a few hours from New York, so all are commutable for shows. These days, we play in Baltimore the most. It has a pretty kicking rock and metal scene. Our shows in DC tend to be for the Goth crowd out that way.

The scene is good—we have some excellent venues (the Ottobar, Sonar, Ram’s Head Live, Bourbon Street, Sinix, etc) and enough of a population that loves it live and heavy to keep them going.

Cassandra Syndrome is an unusual band, so we’re sometimes an odd fit. That said, we’ve been able to play some fantastic shows with other excellent local and regional bands. By and large, people seem open to hearing a style of metal that’s less common on this side of the Atlantic.

You have a stunning voice! What kind of vocal training have you completed and what is your musical background?
Thank you! I am considered a spinto soprano. It’s a type of lyric soprano noted for a darker timber and large range. My personal range is slightly over four octaves. I first began performing with a choir independent of the school system when I was seven. Almost my entire life has been devoted to singing. I performed my first solo at DC’s Kennedy Center when I was only 10 years old. I continue to take voice with Jennifer Waters, a member of Washington Opera’s Young Artist Program (helmed by Placido Domingo).

Is there any story or concept behind the Satire X title?
Yes. When we name an album, we like the title to reference the contents–to relate to the vast majority of the material. Satire X covers a lot of themes, of course, but many of them have to do with consumption–the pursuit of distraction. ‘Hell on Earth‘ talks about the disparity between rich and poor, ‘The Magus‘ covers the global financial collapse, ‘Shackles‘ muses on escapism via consumption, ‘The Priestess‘ talks about the endless parade of info-tainment, and the ‘Iron Cross‘ talks about being enslaved to the military-industrial complex.

The piece our album takes its name from was written by first-century Satirist Juvenal—his tenth Satire, so Satire X. In his Satire, he uses the phrase ‘panem et circenses‘. It means ‘bread and circuses‘ or ‘bread and games.’ He was using it to describe the political practice of gaining approval by meeting the shallow, immediate requirements of a people rather than by governing well. American culture suffers from the practice rather a lot. We also quote directly from Satire X in ‘Shackles,’ the 5th track on the album. It’s the song we made a music video for, to be released Sunday, July 10th.

Please select two songs from Satire X and describe in detail what inspired the lyrical content.
Our opening track, ‘No More Peace Forever,’ is a meditation on the violent tendencies of our species. I wrote the lyrics after wandering around for a few days with a particularly morbid thought in my head. I was wondering whether there was a square mile on this planet where human blood had not been shed out of anger. I know, intellectually, that of course there is. But the thought remained, twisting and turning in my mind. I live in Maryland, so I’m right in Civil War territory. I visited Gettysburg with a friend and one of the quotes up on the wall sort of crystallized the song. When the south seceded, James Louis Petigru of Charleston asked if there was a fire. Told not, he insisted: “I tell you there is a fire. They have set a burning torch to the temple of constitutional liberty, and please God, we shall have no more peace forever.” And I realized at that moment that what I was thinking about wasn’t so much geographical shedding of blood, but endless shedding of blood. We chose to begin the song with the Oppenheimer quote (he was quoting, respectively, from The Bhagavad Gita), ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

The single from the album, ‘The Magus,’ is based off the second card of the Tarot Major Arcana, the Magician or Magus. One of the larger themes within Cassandra Syndrome’s path is our quest to create a song for each of the Major Arcana (there will eventually be 22 songs total). A big goal for a Tarot song is to make the card relatable to our current lives. In the song The Magus, the Magician is portrayed in his role as the power behind the throne, the puller of strings. In this case, the stockbrokers, bankers and power mongers that contributed to the global financial crisis. It enrages me that the very people who brought us to the edge of collapse as a society (and ruination for many families) remain silent and inactive in the wake of the destruction. Those who set the fire should have to pay for the burns they inflicted.

Describe a live Cassandra Syndrome show for those of us who have yet to see you play.
We’re a very high-energy band. There’s a lot of thrashing around on stage, especially by Jen (rhythm guitar) and Joe (bass). We’re theatrical—my clothing and makeup is usually pretty over-the-top. Our percussionist, Jay, employs an unusual instrument. He plays a Zendrum rather than a trap set, so that’s very interesting if you’ve never seen one played before. Since there are only a couple thousand in existence, most people are unfamiliar with them.

Along with all the visual stimuli, we’ll also do our absolute best to deliver the musical goods. We’re dedicated to performing everything live. We do not use backing tracks of any sort and all of us are borderline-OCD when it comes to our individual performances.

We’re fun, too. Although our subject matter tends toward darker commentary, there’s a lot of silliness and banter on stage. We like to balance out the intensity of the music with some levity.

Did your time in the Marines have any affect on your music at all and were you in bands at that time?
It did. I don’t think you can go through the experience of enlistment and maintain a small worldview. For me, being in the military meant a greater awareness of how our country works—what it takes for America to be what she is and do what she does. There is an incredible cost to our prominence and a huge portion of that weight is carried by the military and the hundreds of thousands of civil servants that support us.

Without the larger awareness I gained during my time in uniform, I might not pay as much attention and be as emotionally invested in world events. The nature of my lyrics would be completely different. Cassandra Syndrome as she is right now would probably not exist.

On a personal level, the Marines gave me the confidence to front a band. Once you’ve faced down a screaming female Marine Corps Drill Instructor, an audience just isn’t that scary.

Although I did not perform vocally while I was in the Corps, I did still sing a lot. All those years of performance meant that I’d have these nights where I’d need to find a quiet spot and just sing for hours. The compulsion to use my voice to create art is as ingrained in me as the language I speak.

Who are some of your singing inspirations and what was the first metal CD that you bought?
The voices that inspire me are not necessarily ones that are similar to my own. What I like in a vocalist is the ability to elicit emotion from the listener. So I love Melissa Etheridge, Roy Khan, Renee Fleming, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morisette, Christopher Hall… so many names from so many different genres.

The first metal CD I bought was…oh gods…do I have to admit this? It was the early 90’s, so please bear that in mind. Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria.’ They’re still one of my musical guilty pleasures.

Who designed the wonderful cover art for Satire X and how much input did you have on it?
The cover art was created by Vlad of Kallisti Design. We did have a pretty specific concept going in—we wanted a dark circus with a turn-of-the-century European feel. The costumes were designed and executed by my Mother (Black & White & Thread All Over) and the photos were shot by TJ Morgan. Vlad was awesome to work with—he created an incredible world for our concept to inhabit and was constantly gracious when it came to our tweaks to his design. As a result, we’re just thrilled with the album art. We feel it definitely conveys the atmosphere of our music.

How does this new album compare to your first effort Of Patriots and Tyrants, and what were the themes explored on the first album?
Like most musicians, we develop and grow with time. I’m still very proud of Patriots—as a debut album recorded in our basement, it’s fantastic. It’s a great illustration of the roots of our sound. You can hear the beginnings of where we are right now when you listen to the album. I do believe that Satire X is a better album, though. We’re a couple more years of experience down the road, and it really makes a difference.

The lyrics on Patriots were more consistently oriented toward America’s military engagement in the Middle East and the consequences of it. With Satire X, we’ve expanded our scope lyrically as well as musically.

Have you ever played in the Los Angeles area or plan to do so in the future?
If I can find a way for it not to break the bank, I’d love to

If there was one single thing you’d like a listener to remember the most after hearing your music, what would it be?
The passion. We bring a lot of fervor to our music and we want to pass that energy and enthusiasm on to our listeners. After listening to Satire X, I hope people feel the echo of that force.

Any final words of wisdom?
Nothing that doesn’t sound trite or preachy

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

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