“Synth-metal” is the short name for the genre of music played by the Perth band Voyager, who have been chosen to represent Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest.
But the quintet’s lead singer, Daniel Estrin, prefers to describe it as “epic progressive powerpop metal”.
Think melodic 80s pop with a heavy edge, climactic guitars and keytar solos.
“When people think of metal they think of Slayer, Metallica, Pantera,” Estrin says. “They don’t really think of melody.”
He thinks the niche sound will appeal to Eurovision’s audience.
“Our kind of melodic metal makes the charts [in Europe], when it doesn’t necessarily in Australia.”
Voyager will take their song Promise to the international music competition in Liverpool this May, becoming the first group to represent Australia.
Promise required “a different kind of writing process”, Estrin says. Made specifically for Eurovision, Voyager were not just producing a great song but also devising a performance that would work seamlessly from a staging perspective.
After testing a handful of initial melodies, the group’s bassist, Alex Canion, fixated on what is now the song’s theme.
“Our bass player said: ‘This is something, let’s latch on to this’.”
The quintet wanted Promise to emulate the feeling of a journey.
“It had to start mysterious, then open up, pull back, then crush the main character, open up again and end on a positive note,” Estrin says. “It is very Voyager, but also very Eurovision.”
Showcasing Western Australian landscapes, the accompanying music video feels epic too. Featuring the Pink Lake, then the Abrolhos Islands, the video ends with a keytar and guitar duel against a glorious sunset.
“It was almost too perfect,” Estrin says.
Voyager emerged from the campus of the University of Western Australia. “It was a bunch of first year students who wanted to do metal with keyboards.”
In 2003, the group signed to a Dutch label and began playing at festivals, while their popularity grew. Seven albums later, Voyager has amassed “this great fanbase all around the world”.
“We were born and bred in Western Australia, and now we are able to represent on the world stage,” Estrin says. “It is super satisfying.”
The group were told the good news in a casual video call.
“The production team was like, just spitballing it out there, how would you see the staging?” Estrin says. Each band member shared what they imagined their ideal Eurovision performance would look like. “Then it was like, good news, because you are going to be representing Australia.
“And we all went: ‘What!’ It was one of those moments where you almost fall off your chair.”
Voyager have had their sights set on Eurovision since Australia first took part in 2015, submitting songs every year. They were shortlisted in 2020 and came close last year, leading in the public vote for the song Dreamer but placing second on the combined score to Sheldon Riley performing Not the Same.
“To us, last year was already a huge win,” Estrin says. “We were overwhelmed by the popular vote. We never thought we would get to that.”
This time around they have been selected without a public vote.
“It felt like we had the right song, the right support. We are as ready as we’ll ever be.”
The beauty of the Perth music scene is when niche bands across the metal and rock genres play together, Estrin says.
“We don’t have that many bands of the same genre,” he says. “One night we are playing with a death metal band, then an electric metal pop band. The crossover is really awesome.”
The flip side of a small music landscape is that it’s “hard to categorise”. Estrin says the struggle of being a synth-metal band within this already niche pool is that “people don’t get to hear your music”.
The semi-final performance expects an audience of 5 million people. If the band makes it to the finals, they expect an additional 170 million new listeners. Estrin is excited to see both the genre and his band receive “the recognition I think we do deserve”.
“Whether they like it or not, they get to hear it, and that is awesome.”
He is less concerned with the band’s outcome in the competition. “I’m in it for the ride, the enjoyment, the moment,” he says.
“Only very few people are allowed to have this experience, and I consider myself extremely lucky that through the creation of music … I’m able to travel the world and make people happy.”
