TEN56. (AUGUST 26TH, 2025)

Formed in 2020 following Aaron Matts' departure from Betraying the Martyrs, Ten56. quickly made a name for itself with the release of the EP ‘Downer’. What was supposed to be a side project gradually grew in popularity to become one of the spearheads of the French deathcore scene. In 2025, the band returns with a new album, ‘I/O’, which is cathartic for its leader and should mark a new turning point in its career...





We've all met each other in other projects, but never in relation to Ten56. In that regard, what is the question you've been asked too often and are tired of answering?

Aaron Matts: Where does the band's name come from?


And we won't ask you (NdStruck: The band's name refers to the American police code ‘10-56’ for reporting a suicide or suffocation; this title was the subject of a song by the band Villains, which greatly inspired Aaron Matts). Your latest news is the release of your second album, IO. What is the meaning of this title: ‘Input/Output’, ‘1/0’ or ‘on/off’?

Luka Rozaka: It's whatever you want it to be, and that's what's cool about it.

Aaron: Basically, we were talking among ourselves and we thought it might be a bit too early and pretentious to use an eponymous title. Nevertheless, we started playing around with the word ‘Ten’, we started playing around with numbers, and Luka was playing around with Photoshop and ended up putting the 1 and 0 together, which gave the impression of a kind of switch. That's how it started. People will say “IO”, but basically it's ‘10’.

Luka: The basic idea was indeed ‘10’ and while trying to create visuals around it, we came up with something that looks like ‘On/Off’ and we thought it was cool because you can interpret it however you want...


Unlike the first album, where we revealed almost everything, this time we wanted to keep a little something back.




Speaking of albums, after the release of ‘Downer’, which was a compilation of two EPs, you then focused on releasing singles, and we weren't expecting another album from you. Why the return to releasing albums?

Quentin Godet: It's still a bit like that. We're still using this format in the sense that the first single from this album was released a year or a year and a half ago. So we're still following this approach...

Arnaud Verrier: We realised that it was actually quite necessary for the people who listen to us, because they never see a single as such; it has to be aligned with a release and a larger volume of music. And unlike the first album, where we revealed almost everything, this time we wanted to keep a little something back so that we could offer people an album with lots of new things to discover.


You mentioned an approach towards the public. Wasn't that also a request from your label?

Arnaud: No, as far as I remember, I think the label wanted us to release all the tracks from the album as singles.

Aaron: No, it was really a request from the audience. A lot of people ask us for albums, whereas we thought that by only releasing EPs, we could stay in the spotlight and evolve little by little without having to make too many changes in terms of themes with two years between each album. We thought we could change our style a little with each EP.


The intention was not to repeat the first album.




And this second album pushes the power bar even further. Was it your intention to make a big splash?

Luka: The aim of this second album is that it's not exactly the same as the first, but it's still Ten56. We wanted to explore the things we had already started to explore on the first album, perhaps trying to push them a little further. I don't know if we succeeded or not, but the intention was not to repeat the first album and to try to make an impact by offering something different.


In our opinion, your album is massive and powerful. Are you trying to participate in the ‘loudness war’ with this one?

Aaron: No, we're not interested in that!

Luka: Why? We're in a very good position in that war, aren't we?


Compared to your friends in Ashen, with whom you collaborated on their track “Sacrifice” from their first album, Ten56. is a step above in terms of power...

Luka: It's not the same intention.

Arnaud: It's not the same style and it's a different goal...


But that's the difficulty now, how to classify bands like yours, which are known as ‘modern metal’ or sometimes even ‘modern progressive’ bands, when you're actually working in metalcore/deathcore...

Arnaud: Honestly, we've never described ourselves as ‘modern prog’. We've never really wanted to label ourselves, but people tended to put us in the deathcore box...

Aaron: ... Or even neo-metal...

Arnaud: We have certain elements of both, but anyway, classification into a genre is always more about the audience than the artist. Personally, we just want to make the music we want to make, and whatever style that happens to correspond to, there will always be bookworms to point it out...


The first album was pretty much a playlist of songs we wrote to build an identity for ourselves.




In that regard, the bookworm who likes to dissect music wondered if this album with all its interludes was a concept album?

Aaron: No!

Luka: In any case, we wanted it to be more structured like an album. To exaggerate a little, the first album was almost a playlist of songs we wrote to build an identity, whereas from the outset, we wanted this album to be a record that was conceived as an album from A to Z.
Despite everything, it's not really a concept, but it's true that from the outset, we wanted to include interlude tracks like in the albums that influenced us when we were younger: it was done a lot.

Steeves Hostin: I think that for prog geeks like me, finding a concept in an album that holds together well is something that happens in your head. Personally, when I listen to this album from start to finish, I feel that there is a common thread.


Even if listening to an album from start to finish is outdated, it sometimes allows you to create your own story when the album is well organised in its set list, even if it's not a concept album...

Steeves: That's right!

Luka: I think the album cover is, in a way, a bit of a common thread.


Aaron, you describe the record as ‘a journey that begins with being abused by certain people, through feelings of revenge and questions of doubt, before ending with self-reflection and revelation’. Once again, we come back to this feeling, this concept, with the atmosphere that emanates from this album. But why was it necessary to talk about these traumas? Is this album a form of psychotherapy, a cathartic album?

Aaron: Yes! Absolutely!


Mental health and unhappiness are a common thread in my life.




And are these traumas you mention based on real experiences?

Aaron: I explored it a little more. For example, the song “Banshee” isn't necessarily based on real life. The lyrics came after the music, which isn't always the case.
But we were talking about the common thread earlier, mental health and unhappiness are a common thread in my life, or at least in what I've experienced in the past...


... "in the past’ means that perhaps thanks to music and its cathartic aspect, are you better today?

Aaron: Yes, yes! Sometimes I was quite surprised by what came out when I was writing. I realised how bad I was actually feeling and in the end, I ended up getting treatment and fortunately, I'm better today! But yes, it helps a lot and it's well known that writing is wonderful.


I wanted to have a kind of public persona, but now I don't care!


On the contrary, aren't you afraid of revealing too much about yourself by exposing yourself like this?

Aaron: When I was younger, I was afraid of that. I wanted to have a kind of public persona, but now I don't care!


Aaron, you describe this album as sadistic. Do you enjoy being sadistic and hurting the listener's ears?

Luka: It happens (laughs)! In terms of sound, we may have deliberately sought to create something unpleasant. On certain tracks, particularly “Good Morning”, there's a desire to convey emotions and sensations that aren't necessarily pleasant, so yes, being a little sadistic with people's ears, why not...


You mentioned “Good Morning”, which is a snub to convention, because we expect something sweet, but that's not the case...

Luka: That's why we chose that title. The track had been completely written and we were looking for a title, and Aaron came up with that idea.


This album is dark, but seems to lead to a form of acceptance. Is that what it means to be human: to accept rather than seek revenge?

Luka: In any case, that's also how I feel when I listen to the album from start to finish. We were talking about a common thread earlier, and I don't think it was intentional, but the way the tracks are arranged on the album, I think that's what comes across. Namely, that there's an overflow of unease at the beginning, but it ends up being a kind of acceptance.


If it were to be a concept album, it would be a concept album about mental torture, mental health...




We keep coming back to this notion of concept, which is particularly evident in the arrangement of the tracks...

Luka: ... But it was totally unintentional.

Steeves: If we're talking about concept, concept albums are often written by telling a fairly concrete story. In this case, as Aaron said earlier, if it were to be a concept album, it would be a concept album about mental torture, mental health... with each track telling a piece of that story.

Arnaud: This album could be a kind of revisited version of the grief curve, meaning that you go through phases that are more about blaming the other person, denial, sadness, acceptance, taking responsibility for your own actions... All of that happens, arranged in an order that I think people can relate to in terms of how they might articulate certain phases of their lives.


The album isn't out yet, but I bet you'll get feedback from listeners who identify with it and find it cathartic...

Steeves: I imagine that everyone in the band has a different feeling when we listen to the album from start to finish, but I still feel like we can all relate to it. This album speaks to me from start to finish in a way—I haven't experienced the same things as Aaron, but it speaks to me in a certain way, and I do think there's definitely a sensitive theme of mental health...


Going back to the cover art and its interpretation. Could we say that it evokes the silence of those around you when the switch is off and everyone is quiet?

Aaron: Maybe “Pig”?

Luka: Basically, there's no intended meaning behind the switch. That's also why we thought it was cool to use it, because there are lots of possible interpretations that are equally valid given the content of the album's lyrics. There are lots of interpretations that are all true, but none of them were thought up at the beginning, meaning that there's no specific explanation for this switch and you can interpret it however you want.


To follow up on what you're saying. This switch is neither off nor on. Does that mean that the listener has to make a choice: to turn it off or on, to remain passive or to act, to accept or reject violence, to validate your music or to hate it?

Quentin: That's very well put.

Steeves: Personally, I'd be happy if it were perceived that way.

Luka: That's how I see this cover. I like the concept: there are good days and bad days, there are days when everything is white, others when everything is black...

Quentin: That's kind of how I see this album: there's no in-between...


Finally, the album ends abruptly, unexpectedly, as if someone had flipped the switch to ‘0’ to stop the violence. Why did you make that choice?

Aaron: I think it marks the end of a period in my life.

Arnaud: I've always seen “IO” as a kind of mic drop, but not a proud mic drop, more to signify that we've given everything we had to give, said everything we had to say, and we'll see you next time.

Luka: In fact, it's as if “Banshee” were a kind of album finale and “I/O” the epilogue. I see it as somewhat detached from the album, in that all the anger that reached its peak on “Banshee” is summarised and taken stock of on “I/O”, along with everything that happened and what we learned.


Our five lives have changed completely!




In that sense, was this album an outlet, and is the ‘O’ (turning off a switch) in ‘I/O’ the feeling of calm you felt at the end of the recording?

Luka: The cathartic aspect wasn't present in all the tracks for me, but it was for some. For Aaron, every track is 100% cathartic in his music and his writing.
And the relief, yes! Of course, when you finish an album, you feel relieved because it's extremely stressful.

Arnaud: When we look back – whether it's for ‘Downer’ or ‘I/O’ – everything that happened during the creation of the album encapsulates everything that also surrounds the artistic process, meaning that our lives continue to happen and we all experienced different things through ‘Downer’ in particular, which was a big ride for all of us, I think (Smile).

Luka: Our five lives have changed completely!

Arnaud: I feel the same way. But for ‘I/O’, I feel like it's a little bigger than what's happening on the album, especially for Aaron, in that he's putting the lid on a phase of his life. We've seen Aaron make enormous progress, doing incredible work with incredible courage. That's why this track, which closes the album, has such emotional weight, because we see our brother rising above a whole phase of his life, and we feel that he has managed to overcome the most damaging elements of his life, which is great.


In concrete terms, what are your expectations for this new album, given that you said that ‘Downer’ was a turning point in your professional and private lives?

Steeves: Personally, I hope that people will listen to it and love it. I'd just like people to listen to it from start to finish and be able to tell a story through this album.


The best albums are often built around a sense of unease, which is the case with this album. As Aaron seems to be better than ever, aren't you worried that the next album will be less powerful?

Luka: We'll find other things that are wrong (laughs)...

Steeves: ... or we'll become useless (laughs)!

Arnaud: On future albums, we're going to do some name dropping and give song titles to people we don't like (laughs)!


We accidentally got into the habit of touring a lot because that wasn't the initial plan, which was a side project for fun...




The album isn't out yet, but a lot of dates have already been announced, including a tour in the United States...

Aaron: Just before that, we're going to do our first headlining tour in Europe...

Arnaud: ... Especially in England... And then we're off to the United States: we have two days between the end of the European tour and the start of our American tour, which will last a month and a half, and we already have tours and festivals confirmed for next year, which we'll announce in due course. And it's likely to continue because we've accidentally got into the habit of being a band that tours a lot, even though that wasn't the initial plan, which was a side project just for fun...


But hasn't this fun project gotten out of hand?

Arnaud: It's turned our lives upside down for better and for worse in some ways.
And through this album, I think it allowed us to sort things out a little bit, to realise that we've pushed all the buttons to the max, and I think that ‘I/O’ will symbolise a new era even for us, in that internally, within the band, we have a much healthier life and healthier relationships: we've matured a lot psychologically and we're a little more aware of what's important for our well-being, and we're going to manage to maintain that.





That's a good way to end. Thank you.

Ten56.: Thank you...


Thanks to ThibautK for his contribution and Stephan Birlouez from Among the Living for his pics...