Greetings and thanks for agreeing to be part of our end-of-year roundup! Could you please identify yourself, and your role in the band? “My name is Alex Bosson. I am the drummer for Lunar and also kind of what you would consider a “director” of sorts. I wrote some of the riffs, arranged all the music, wrote most of the lyrics and hired, arranged and directed all the guest musicians on their parts on the new album, Theogony“.

A true all rounder! More personally, what was the best album you bought this year? “There’s been quite a few great albums I’ve bought this year, but the highlight of 2017 for me, without a doubt, is To The Bone by Steven Wilson“.

And what was the highlight for you personally in the last year? “There have been literally so many highlights for me this year! 2017 has likely been one of, if not the, greatest year of my life!! The release of Theogony was great enough for me, but the response it’s getting is overwhelming to me as well. The highlight of that for me so far I think has been Prog Sphere putting Theogony at number twenty three on their list of Best Albums of 2017. That’s pretty incredible for me. And, on a more personal, non-musical level, my wife and I are expecting our first child, so that’s been a huge highlight of the year for me as well!”

Congratulations on all fronts! Now what about lowlights? Who stunk the place out musically in 2017? “The lowlight for me musically in 2017 was definitely The Forest Seasons by Wintersun. There are so many things I dislike about that album from the sound itself, to the approach that was taken with it’s release and the crowdfunding campaign behind it. I really don’t agree with any of it. And, worst of all, musically, to me, it’s terrible. And there are plenty of albums that have come out this year that I’m sure I would not enjoy, but for me that’s the biggest disappointment because I am a huge fan of Wintersun”.

It’s hard when you are a fan of a band and this kind of thing happens. What have you found disappointing about the wider world in 2017? “The wider world outside of music? Really what has plagued this world forever: separation and hatred. It seems the amount of people identifying the differences in their race, religion, sexuality, country and so many other things is growing and instead of embracing those differences people are using them more and more as excuses to discriminate, hate and kill. There’s so many examples I wouldn’t even care to go into it. The fear and hatred in this world lately is overwhelming and sickening. But, to bring it back around, music has this amazing way of making people come together through their differences and it’s one of the many, many things I love about music”.

What’s on the cards for the band/you in 2018? “Well I also play drums for another band called Helion Prime. Because of the fact that Lunar is a studio project, a lot of 2018 right now for me looks like it will be doing work with Helion Prime. I’m about to finish up tracking drums for the second album for Helion Prime and that will be released sometime in 2018. Then throughout the year we’ll be doing some music video shoots and some touring to support the album. And in between doing that stuff, I plan to start the writing process for the next Lunar album in 2018 as well. Plus in 2018 I will be a father, so with all that in mind 2018 should be a productive and busy year for me! I can’t wait!”

We’re coming up to the party season – what’s the better night – Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve? And what will you be drinking? “Christmas Eve is always better for me. I love seeing family around Christmas and I love the camaraderie and selflessness that comes with the season. I wish it didn’t take Christmas for people to act so much more caring towards one another, but I’ll take what I can get (laughs). I’m boring and don’t care much for the party of New Year’s Eve. And I don’t drink, so that should answer that question. I’ll be drinking Mountain Dew! (more laughter)”

What’s the first thing that springs to mind if I say ‘Australian metal’? “The only metal band I think I’m aware of from Australia is Ne Obliviscaris. And they’re awesome!”

We’ll need to work on your knowledge of Aussie metal! We’ve just started Sentinel Daily Radio – what five songs should every metal radio station have on it’s playlist? “I guess for EVERY metal radio station we gotta go with a few classics that helped shape every sub-genre of metal today… So I’d say… Iron Man by Black Sabbath, Master of Puppets by Metallica and Holy Wars by Megadeth. Then every metal radio station needs some Tool so go with Aenima. And then you need what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest progressive metal songs ever written; Bleak by Opeth“.

A nice comprehensive list that covers all the bases! Anything else you’d like to say to the readers of Sentinel Daily? “Just to say thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Thank you for the interesting questions. And thank you to all the fans that take the time to read this. Make sure to check out the Lunar album Theogony and pick up your copy at lunarbandofficial.bandcamp.com or from Divebomb Records“.

Thanks for taking part!

Lunar