Rankin come from Malta and play groove metal with an old-school pull. Bassist Germán Salgado describes the band as high-energy, heavy and built for the stage, with melody, groove, clean and gravelly vocals, and plenty of humour around the live show.
The band’s sound carries traces of Pantera, System Of A Down and Down, but Salgado also points to their love for metal. That comes through in Chrysalis, an album that brought together groove metal, sludge, stoner, thrash, prog and alternative elements.
Rankin are now looking beyond that record. The next album is described by Salgado as a much more complete version of the band, while their work with Nick Grima MGT is opening new conversations about touring, visibility and where a Maltese metal band can go next.
In this interview, Salgado talks about Malta’s scene, the making of Chrysalis, sharing stages with Kryptos and Contortion, the band’s next album, and keeping Rankin’s humour intact as the band look further out.
“We value and are heavily influenced by the classic metal greats.”
Rankin came out of Malta’s local scene and built a name as a band that can pull in crowds from different corners of rock and metal. What do you think people hear in Rankin that cuts across those scene boundaries?
We feel like an older metal band, but with an interesting mix of influences that leads to something new and unique, distinctly within the realms of raw, real metal. We value and are heavily influenced by the classic metal greats more than the heavily produced, genre-fluid and poppy mainstream metal that has grown out of metalcore in the last few years.
Nothing against that style really, but we think the zeitgeist is swinging back to a more nostalgic love of raw, heavy and authentic metal that can be appreciated by everyone. That is what we offer, with a special Rankin twist, of course.
“Marley would be proud of us.”
Chrysalis pulled together groove metal, sludge, stoner, thrash, prog and alternative elements. When you were putting that album together, what helped you keep all those influences coherent?
One of the biggest challenges most bands find when writing original material is trying to agree on a consistent style and on how songs should sound, and what influences should take centre stage. We never had this issue, and I think it is due to the personalities in the band and how we write. Even though we all have very individual influences, we salsa dance with our differences and resolve them like top-heavy equations through the beautiful medium of jamming. Marley would be proud of us.
We take a riff and add “bits” as we jam, slowly forming the core of the songs. Also, we share the same vision that whatever we add needs to improve the song as a whole. There is already a great song buried in the riff, and we are just trying to excavate it, find it and really bring it out.
You have already shared stages with bands like Kryptos and Contortion. What have those shows taught you about how you want the band to hit a room when you step on stage?
There is no better way to learn a language than by living among native speakers, and there is no better way to learn how you can improve as a professional band than by spending time with professionals like Kryptos and Contortion. Those lads were tight and so on it, and we learned a lot just by hanging around them during those shows.
We also learned how important it is to reclaim sleep at any opportunity during a long tour. The poor lads from Contortion were sleep-deprived and a bit out of it when they arrived in Malta because of flight timings and a big show the night before in the UK. Still, they managed to catch a few winks of sleep in the tiny backstage area of the venue while other bands soundchecked, snuggled under, over and around all their equipment. Bless.
“Our new album is very much our complete and mature voice, stamped out in fury for all to see.”
The next album is described as a deeper and more ambitious dive into your influences and abilities. Where do you feel the new material is pushing Rankin further than Chrysalis did?
Honestly, this album has made Chrysalis feel more like an EP or demo. It is miles apart. No shade on our first album. We are very proud of it, but we were still finding our style and our voice when we put it together. Our new album is very much our complete and mature voice, stamped out in fury for all to see. We are damn excited to release it and hopefully see people vibe with what we are capable of.
Malta has its own scale and rhythm as a heavy music scene, and now you are working with Nick Grima MGT to take the band further out into the world. How are you thinking about that next step while keeping the humour, banter and character that seem central to who Rankin are?
Great question, and we are always happy when our personality as a band resonates with people. We like to be serious about the music, then fuck around and have fun in between. Nick has been fantastic to work with. He is a hell of a presence in the local scene and is doing his damnedest to put Malta on the map for metal. His experience, knowledge and contact book are second to none.
With our upcoming album release, we are hoping to open a path into opportunities to tour with bigger bands, grow our listenership and hopefully get a hype train chugging for what we do.
Stream Chrysalis on Spotify.
