Nightbound is a Paraguayan heavy metal band that emerged onto the scene with a potent blend of old-school metal influences and modern energy. Hailing from Paraguay’s capital city, Asunción, Nightbound has been making massive waves in the local metal scene since its formation!

TheNwothm: Hey guys thanks for agreeing to this interview! First of all can you tell us the band name, who is in the band and where you are from?

Nightbound: Hey Rob! Thanks for the interview and the chance to be in your awesome site. We are Nightbound, the band members are Arianna Cuenca: Bass and Lead Vocals, Monse Diamond: Drums and Backing Vocals, Dario Aquino: Guitars and Mike Martínez: Guitars

TheNwothm: And how did the band the form? Any interesting backstory?

Nightbound: We started in 2018, with the idea of playing classic heavy metal/hard rock covers of bands such as Thin Lizzy, Diamond Head, Scorpions, Sabbath etc. The interesting thing is that on the first rehearsal we already had written one song which was “Nightbound”, by the second we already had two more and as the weeks passed we have many originals, so soon enough we decided to scrap the idea of being a cover band and concentrated on the original songs.

Mike was in The Force which is a very important Thrash Metal band here in Paraguay, A band that already showed strong NWOBHM influences, those many years of experience were important for the fast musical development of Nightbound, as well as the talent Arianna has for coming up with catchy vocal lines.  The songwriting team of Arianna and Mike works very well and naturally.

TheNwothm: And how did you come up with the band name?

Nightbound: The name is a mixture of two of our favourite Thin Lizzy songs: Nightlife and Southbound. Nightbound for us means the journey (Bound) to the unknown (represented here by the Night) to find your true self, truth and freedom.

TheNwothm: So you guys are from Paraguay! It seems that more and more heavy metal bands are emerging from the country! What is the metal scene like there?

Nightbound: We can describe the scene here as very healthy, there are many bands in the more diverse styles working hard and with great care for their music, there are many releases, be it physical, digital, visual or otherwise and you got many shows on weekly basis.

TheNwothm: And what can you tell us about the country? Any interesting facts or stories?

Nightbound: Paraguay is a beautiful country, sadly tainted by its corrupt politicians, deforestation and a long history of devastating wars, civil wars and political unrest which decimated the population specially in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. But even with those adversities we the people always find the strength to overcome and rise.

TheNwothm: Paraguay’s cultural landscape is rich and diverse. Are there any aspects of Paraguayan culture that you specifically draw inspiration from in your music?

Nightbound: Absolutely, we as a band love to travel here and be in close contact with our own traditions. That in itself is a big inspiration, from the landscapes, the old architecture, the costumes of our people (specially those in the countryside) and of course the music, particularly we have the great guitar composer Agustin Pio Barrios in very high regard as well as Jose Asunción Flores, Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo, Oscar Safuán which are great composers from our country.

TheNwothm: Your debut demo in 2018 marked the beginning of Nightbound. What inspired the release of your first demo?

Nightbound: As we mentioned, the writing of the first songs came so quickly that we enter the studio to record them. First we recorded 3 songs and released them as “Lyric videos” in our YouTube channel. The response was so great that very soon a tape label contacted us to release a demo. This label was Analog Overdose from Ecuador which joined forces with Culto De Medianoche from USA and released the “Nightbound” tape in mid to late 2018. It was a limited edition of 100 copies.

TheNwothm: Who’s your biggest influences & have they changed since you were younger?

Nightbound: We got together basically for our love of Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Scorpions. Everyone of us started with different stuff when we were little kids, Arianna was and still is a big Ramones fan, Mike the same with The Beatles and GNR and so on. We listen to different stuff of course from Bach to Venom, but specifically for our music those 4 bands we mentioned first are still the same main ones and they will be. You can add stuff like UFO, AC/DC, Motorhead, Saxon, Diamond Head, Loudness, Vandenberg, Krokus, Y&T, Budgie, Uriah Heep, Whitesnake as very important too for our sound.

TheNwothm: Do you get a lot of bands you love playing Paraguay and if so who has been your favourite that you have seen live?

Nightbound: Luckily yes, some of the more killer shows were Saxon, Riot V, Enforcer, SkullFist, Accept, Exodus, Hirax, Possessed. The bigger ones like Maiden, Slayer and Metallica were great too, its difficult to choose haha.

We had the opportunity to open for Ambush, a killer band from Sweden and also we opened for Paul Di Anno which was awesome since “Killers” is one of our favourite records ever. Soon we will play also with Cobra Spell which surely is going to be totally kick ass.

TheNwothm: Your EP released in 2019 was another significant step for Nightbound. How did you evolve musically between your demo and EP?

Nightbound: The EP was comprised of the same songs as the tape minus one song, we added a new one which was “The Fighting Never Ends” and a cover of Deep Purple’s “Soldier Of Fortune”. The time between the tape and the EP was not very long so basically we were the same band, maybe the new song show a heavier side and the Purple song showed that we can do ballads too. The Ep was released by Awakening Records from China which was a great experience since they really work well with the edition and distribution of the EP, we even got our first printed reviews in magazines like Rock Hard from Germany.

TheNwothm: When your not making music what do you like to do in your spare time?

Nightbound: Mainly road trips (we really enjoy close contact with nature) , reading and researching, some of us teach (music, tarot etc.), GOOD movies (specially old ones) and of course nights out partying.

TheNwothm: Have any of you been to any other countries that you have thoroughly enjoyed or have had a true impact on you?

Nightbound: So far as a band we haven’t played in other countries yet. But a recent experience in Cordoba, Argentina was really amazing, we climbed the Cerro Uritorco and we even had some paranormal experiences. Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay are the other countries we visited individually.

TheNwothm: As a band, how do you approach the songwriting process? Is it a collaborative effort, or does each member bring their individual ideas to the table?

Nightbound: Until now that process has been Mike writing the music and lyrics and Arianna writes the vocal melodies, recently she’s been writing lyrics too. Once the basic structure is finished we work on the arrangements with the whole band.

TheNwothm: You released your latest album in January which is called “ The Night Is Calling!’ How has the reception been from fans of the band?

Nightbound: So far has been absolutely great, since the January release we been playing in places where there wasn’t room for heavy metal bands, such as bars and pubs where they only had cover and tribute bands, we also got a lot of radio interviews and even played in what is maybe the more important live music T.V show in Paraguay where they mainly have folk musicians and bands, we were the first heavy rock band to play in the show, and it was a success.

There is another big T.V show focused on Soccer that used our songs. You can watch snippets of all these interviews and t.v appearances in our FB and instagram pages. And more importantly our audience is definitely growing each day. We are very thankful for that and very excited to make more music and play more cities soon.

TheNwothm: Can you discuss the creative process behind the songs on your latest album? Any interesting anecdotes or stories from the studio?

Nightbound: It was a long and hard road from the EP to finally be able to release the new album. We actually started recording in 2020 but in the middle of the recordings our previous drummer quit the band and also started to have some problems with that studio in which we were working so we decided to scrap those recordings (which were almost finished). We found a new drummer in Monse and started working again, first we find a studio in 2023 to record a single which was a new song called “Live For Today”, and then we decided to go with that studio (DVL Media) and start anew the record, so yes, we have to record the album TWICE.

The recordings began in July last year, half the songs we have from the early days but never recorded them, and the other songs were new, all written mainly by Mike and Arianna. Once again in the middle of the recordings a member left, our previous guitar player. Luckily we find Dario to finish the recordings and the chemistry between the new line up was so good that we decided to write and record a brand new song right there in the studio which is the last song on the album “Tu Luz Interior” also our first song sung in Spanish. That was an incredible experience, to write a song with the inspiration of the moment at the last minute and once again it came very naturally.

TheNwothm: What message or emotions do you hope listeners take away from your music, particularly from your latest album?

Nightbound: First of all, the most important message we want to give is the message of freedom, of unity, especially in these times where division seems to lead. To not let fear and socially engineered control take over, to think for yourself and the most important thing, to always seek the truth.
The music will speak for itself, and should appeal to all those that love heavy and energetic guitars, melodic vocals and catchy songs.

TheNwothm: Live performances are often where bands truly shine. How do you bring the energy and intensity of your recordings to the stage?

Nightbound: The stage is where we really let ourselves go, its very important to give a good performance where not only the band kicks ass sonically but also give a good show image wise. You can check many live shows on our YouTube channel.

TheNwothm: Looking ahead, what are Nightbound’s aspirations and goals for the future? Any upcoming projects or tours that fans can look forward to?

Nightbound: Right now we want to play in the different cities of our country. Also the CD version of the new album will be out soon and we are preparing a big release party/show. We already have 4 or 5 songs ready for the next album, we want to start working on a few more songs and then enter the studio once again. Also we are in negotiations for shows in Brazil and Argentina.

TheNwothm: Where can fans by your music and merch?

Nightbound: At the moment you can listen to our music on all digital platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, you can also support us on bandcamp. The official t-shirts can be ordered by email and the official release on CD will soon be available, which the label will surely distribute in many parts of the world, so keep an eye on our social networks.

Mail: nightboundheavy@gmail.com
Instagram: @nightbound_heavy
Facebook: Nightbound Official
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBGqRRvOAS_cEbrn8HH2yvA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6CkIvRs74vBelP8UjTARGt?si=_Ic693VGQv6Ywp4LRCGorw
Bandcamp: https://nightboundiscalling.bandcamp.com/album/the-night-is-calling

And also you can buy official Patches directly on USA and the rest of the world via Bloodstone Patches
Instagram: @bloodstonepatches

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Nightbound: We are so grateful for the opportunity to express ourselves and getting more people to know about the band, our music and our message so THANKS The NWOTHM!!!