Heavy Metal purveyors Pharaoh are on the verge of releasing their fourth full-length “Bury the Light” and we traded e-mails with Matt Johnsen to ask him about the process of putting the new record together, as well as his thoughts on the band being together for nearly 15 years now. Read the conversation below.

Congrats on “Bury the Light”, it’s a great and engaging heavy metal record.

Now that it is complete and set for release, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?

“Yes, although I think it took us as long to grow into the album as it will for a lot of fans. It was a lot of hard work and took a long time to make, so it was difficult at times to picture the final product, but now that we have it, it sounds right to us.”

Pharaoh has been together and prevalent now since 1997, and “Bury the Light” is the band’s fourth full-length record in a career that spans thru nearly fifteen years. Is there anything in specific that you think has helped contribute to Pharaoh’s longevity as a group?

“Yeah, we never see one another, ha ha! Pharaoh is more or less a glorified studio project (although we are finally rehearsing for some live work) so we don't have to negotiate the day-to-day issues a working live band does. But beyond that, we've just developed a way of working together that works for us, creatively and practically. And when we do get together, it's as friends, and not band mates with hidden personal agendas.”

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Pharaoh have been churning out some classic and powerful heavy metal since 1997, but to most people they’re still remembered for vocalist’s Tim Aymar involvement in “The Fragile Art of Existence”, the debut album of Chuck Schuldiner’s project Control Denied. Well, that classic record dates from 1999 and since then the Philadelphia-based quartet has recorded four strong and well-crafted albums that should definitely make the metal world take notice, including the newest “Bury the Light”.

This is classic ’80s metal with unbelievably ear-catching melodies, bringing to mind the best moments of Fates Warning, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

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