…start recording another record, going back to that Deliver Us style, three-to-four-minute songs, forget the orchestras, let’s just go old school. Bill would send me stuff; I had stuff on the computer. Months would go by, he was sick. He didn’t all of sudden pass away. When we were recording Rising Out of the Ashes, that was 2001-ish, he was having gastro issues, and he was taking all kinds of medication for it. He would be weak at times; a stomac…
…handles the band in fine form on the recording/ production front – sculpting the sound in such a way that you would think Under the Crooked Claw is closer to 1984 than 2024 when it comes to appearance, philosophy, or style. Grand times for this back-to-basics movement, and Bat belongs in the conversation with acts like Haunt, Night Demon, and Vulture as current motivators to keep this type of music relevant today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r…
…but also as a producer and a mixer. Roland has been a fifth member as a co-producer, he’s someone I really trust, and we get along really well. The most difficult thing for me being the producer sometimes you have problems with your bandmates. They look at you and are used to you in the rehearsal space and the live stage as Tony, my bandmate, the guitar player. We are equal – but when I am in the studio with them as a producer, I’m the boss. It’s…
…get your bearings before holding your head high! “Centipede Bite” is a full-on attack of the senses, which is A-OK with this guy! Meanwhile “Soul Observatory” just rocks, and “Acid Bath” is a tune that makes you wanna break things to. The album ends with “The Venus Baroness I” and “The Venus Baroness II”. Both tracks work well together and wrap up this journey perfectly. Again, I didn’t know these guys before, yet love them now. The album is out n…
…the most dramatic, combustible movements encourages Away to fluctuate his drumming into equally odd-time groove/meter switch-ups, a track that encompasses experimentation while hypnotic enough to intrigue even the casual Voivod follower. The quartet continues to amaze and delight in all territories, a unique entity that has influenced many musicians in all walks of life. With a historical book of their career also on the horizon, Morgöth Tales is…
…fferent way of touring when you are an underground band, in a van with less-than-ideal conditions, no accommodations. We were able to play in Indonesia in 2013, that was the biggest crowd we were able to play for. About 16,000 people, it felt like a sea of people, this is really something. You are so far away from home, a different culture, this is also the first time I saw women headbanging, throwing the horns. We are not used to that. It was suc…
…should be. And it looks great, I think. They shot some things from a first-person perspective with VR-equipment. I wasn’t there for those scenes; I was only there when we did the live performance. Dead Rhetoric: What makes an ideal, great song for Infinite & Divine? Are there certain qualities that need to be present from that initial spark that carry through to the final product – and do certain songs come easy to you versus others that just hav…
…age sound, to relax and do your thing. If you have to concentrate for forty-five minutes to hear the drums, it’s not… fun. At least my hearing is so-so these days. When you have a small venue with two hundred people, it’s awesome. Dead Rhetoric: You mentioned you love physical media over streaming. What’s your most prized possession in your collection? Bolverk: I have Ace’s solo album from Kiss, dedicated to Thomas signed when I met him. It really…
…chanics from the precise rhythm section work. Many will also enjoy the back-and-forth crunchy guitar/bass interplay during the early parts of the title track – showcasing a bit more of a traditional/bluesy aspect to these gentlemen before fading into the expected gallops/charge the subsequent musical movements unleash. While other bands vary the template record to record, Razor prefer the reliable method of keeping things at a speedy, thrash base…
…ing mistakes if I am too well-prepared. Rather than worrying about the reel-to-reel aspect that happened in the 70’s, you can click, edit, and some engineers will say, ‘sing this word again- okay’ until you go crazy. You lose momentum, you lose feeling, you don’t want to be in the room. Then you get angry. Herb knows me in and out. He will work with me even if I don’t have lyrics ready, but a melody in my head. Another engineer would tell me to go…
…to lung cancer in 2020. Back for their fourth album Awakening, the band recruited ex-Vicious Rumors singer Brian Allen as the group continues forward performing an older style of power/thrash metal designed for those early enough to remember piercing melodic vocals, twin rhythm/guitar harmonies, plus a steady stream of heavy metal tempo heroics. Expect riffs that possess finesse, bite, and charm – the host of influences pulling from the US and Eur…
…n the best possible spots based on their range and abilities, or is a trial-and-error process worked through to get to the final results? Aday: Again, it’s what just really works best. Jim and I love singing together. We don’t really compete for parts, or nobody is really puffing their chests up. What works best for the song, we will sing things together or sometimes Jim will say, I should sing that line, and I’ll say I want to hear him sing it. I…
…s always difficult to choose… Maybe Powerslave (Iron Maiden), Hemispheres (Rush) and 1984 (Van Halen). I don´t have an excellent memory so, I can tell that recently, seeing Y&T made me very eager to record new music and play the best I could. Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the heavy metal scene in your part of Brazil? Do you believe there is proper love, support, and appreciation for not just the international artists that play your country…
…ister throughout the verses. It’s a mixed bag for Midnight in terms of long-term appeal. Certain songs contain the right fist-banging passages and stirring melodies to meet approval – other tracks fall flat as they could have delivered more in terms of energy, diversity, or that extra discerning / critical factor before hitting the studio. Approach cautiously and accordingly – Tysondog aren’t veering from the roots of 80’s UK metal, so at least gi…
…han it has ever been. It will never have the reach this movement had in say 1984-1988. For me, it’s always been that way, it’s the music I enjoy listening to. Seeing commercials, I don’t watch enough tv to see if it has that much of an effect – I do love what a lot of the newer bands are doing for the genre. I wish that there was some more commercial relevance for them, the problem our band and a lot of these bands have is it’s hard to dedicate th…
…ron Maiden, like ‘wow’. I told him that story and turned into that fourteen-year-old kid on that concert. And he was like ‘oh, not again!’ (laughs). And he walked away, I stood there like a fool. It was a bizarre moment, but fun if you look back at it. When we travelled to India, that was also a crazy time. Dead Rhetoric: Now that you are nearing a half a century on this earth, have you spent more time reflecting and assessing what’s left to achie…
…ies” poignant for those times – the three-part vocal harmony during the chorus AOR-brilliance while Carl Canedy lays into his kit as a master groove machine. The drive, attack, and fever of cuts like “Bad Blood” and “Got the Fire Burnin’” combined the love of older rock and early heavy metal – aspects of Judas Priest, Molly Hatchet, and Ted Nugent given the right twist to ensure an ideal alcohol-fueled party atmosphere. Much like other acts of tha…
…cal front is not only Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates) but also Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth). Talk about a one-two combination for utter brutality and chaos. The Dregs of Hades holds up to the band’s legacy, and should likely be a fall album for grindheads to cherish. – Katarina McGinn (Lock Up on Facebook) Morgul Blade – Fell Sorcery Abounds (No Remorse Records) Combining traditional heavy metal with elements of the second wave of black metal, Philade…
…gth – an eight-track record that displays a raw, primal energy befitting of 1984-1987 acts from the German and Brazilian sectors. Nothing super fancy comes to the forefront of the Mortal Vision platform in terms of savage riffs, pounding rhythm section support, stop/start transition mechanics, and gruff, sandpaper-ish main vocals (with proper delay/reverb enhancement) over the top of it all. As guitarists Andrey Gayduk and Ivan Dyshlyuk combine ad…
…tal follow-up “Desvanecidos”. You feel like you are taking a trip back into 1984-86 with many of the circular rhythms and barking vocals for “Infierno”, while the clean guitar passages and progressive bass mechanics during “Tan Solo” showcase a softer side for Amnessia Eterna, possibly exposing the limitations of the vocals though as the clean, lower register of guitarist Camilo Sanchez has a weakened spirit compared to the music behind this song….
…alee. Dead Rhetoric: The latest release for Entierro is El Camazotz, a five-song EP follow up to your 2018 full-length. Outside of Victor Arduini’s full involvement in the band, especially on the composition front – where do you see the major differences in this release compared to the debut? Victor Arduini: I would say, if I may, when I joined the band they were definitely more of a doom influenced band, with some thrash influences. Definitely no…
…ental section of “Distant Thunder” – an otherwise traditional, driving Riot-like outing that becomes a bit more Maiden-esque in its spiderweb licks and tricks. Stace ‘Sheepdog’ McLaren had that spitfire delivery coupled with a manic scream propensity that matched a lot of the fiery riffs and sinister transitions to keep “Gatecrasher” and “Ready for Action” penetrating skulls for maximum headbanging activity. Amidst the shorter bursts of material,…
…al “Tempus Mori Est” all the way through 44 minutes later on the culturally-driven mid-tempo closer “Warrior”. When the proceedings get a little more serene, progressive elements come out in the rhythm section department during “The Chosen One” – seesawing between clean verses and electric power parts, executing European traditional metal in the grandest fashion possible. Witch Cross may not have the flashy shred chops or elevated intricacies of m…
…lippines, New Zealand, Australia. We’ve played in South America, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, two tours of the United States and Canada. There are a lot of places that we’ve played and been able to get many good friends there. Releasing the first album is very unique, and now we are on our tenth album. If people had told me back in 1982 that I would have done ten albums and played in sixty-five countries, I would laugh. There have been so many good thin…
…u previously played together in Lanfear? Ullrich: Jürgen is not only our ex-drummer, he’s also my best friend. We were together since kindergarten, so we have known each other for all those years. There was always a little bit of stress, he always had a lot of work to do, and he wasn’t too happy. I was the guy who always wanted to move on, I wrote five new songs, and he was like ‘yeah, a lot of work to do’. He’s not the guy who likes to play a lot…
…rp, multi-octave voice of Albin Forsell – possessing an interesting whiskey-laced roar beyond his helium-high notes that can shatter the sky, many will hear parts of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson taken on Albin’s own accord for “Machine” and the shapeshifting, double kick monster “Mephorius”. Impressive production from Niels Nielsen (Ghost, In Flames, Witchery) allows the listener to feel the energy and flow from Viral as if they transported the…
…tes to their favored headbanging riffs while shouting along to those anthem-led choruses. When the band chooses to throw down some heavier, double kick-oriented efforts, you get the feeling that you are taking in aspects of early Metal Church or Savatage – “Blood in the Sky” a killer early highlight that gets the blood pumping with a fierce, simpler chorus and swift axe mechanics from Ron and second guitarist Angel Rodriguez. The more straightforw…
…in with a lot of older singers (David Wayne and Rob Halford in spots) – it’s serviceable, but won’t necessarily elevate Hexx to the upper echelon in their genre. Some of the nursery-rhyme style melodies and ‘drinking/porn’ lines to the title track as well seem a tad cheesy and juvenile for a long-running band, almost like an Anvil afterthought. “Night of Pain” and “Terror” return from 1984’s No Escape record, garnering decent respect for holding…
…k voice, shining to the stars on “Thine Is the Kingdom” as well as the Toto-like title track where the chorus of the latter has that choir-oriented upper lift to become a Lionheart staple. Meanwhile the guitar interplay of Dennis and fellow axe man Steve Mann gets down and heavy for the energetic offering “Five Tribes” – proving that the band can be a little more metal when they want to be, serving up some quick, fiery lead breaks throughout. A mi…
…about me? No! Do you think someone wants to make a documentary about a fall-down drunk? No. I pulled my life together, and they said that there was a story to tell here, so we told it. Same thing with the book. Life is incredible – and I am thankful for that every morning when I wake up. Dead Rhetoric: You make a good point – it makes for a better story, to see that turn around rather than falling further apart. People like to see that you can pul…
