…little more about energy, aggression and feeling, while building a safer structure around it. Dead Rhetoric: Working again with Marco Brinkmann in Hellforge Studio, the band implemented more of a structured daily routine where you set goals to focus on recording these songs. Why do you believe this approach paid off in a stronger final effort in the end? Castevet: The most important thing might’ve been that we’ve been very well prepared, so we cou…
…title track, “Spider on the World”, was a song that goes back to the early 2000’s, 2001-02, I think. It was written by my brother Eli – as are most of our songs, written by one member of the band, usually the guitarists – and then I will add the lyrics, the vocal melodies on top of an almost finished demo. The drummer and bass player add their own little flavoring to that as far as the rhythm section goes. That’s generally the way – the guitarist…
…ourselves and no one else, and no one is directing what we write. We stay true to ourselves and there’s no direction from the label or anyone supporting us. That was one of the things that when we got signed, we had great discussions about what we wanted to do, and what we saw and how we had to do it. There’s no decisions on what and how we would write, which is pretty inspiring to do. Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the whole ‘supergroup…
…er usual, they did not lead us astray. Worm is an entity unto themselves. True to reputation, Worm engulfed our hapless ears with a weighty, monolithic wall of doomy black metal that literally rumbled the walls. They play loud and meticulously, with a known air of mystery to boot, with shadows and the occasional camera phone flash giving the clearest glimpse of Phantom Slaughter and his horde. “Murk Above the Dark Moor” provided a grime-filled era…
…er in New York City. We did a funny show in December, where we played our drummer’s work Christmas party. There were 200 people in this giant, echoey brewery. We set up, it was a holiday party, we just ripped through our set. As we were playing, you could just see the people moving further and further away from us. Until eventually somebody quite important in the company came over and said, ‘that was your last song.’. (laughs). In terms of good sh…
…everything. I talked to a couple of friends of mine, they thought it was brutal and would work. Let’s try to run with it. I like the idea that its black and white – it’s appealing in terms of how I hear the album, the sound, and the colors. Dead Rhetoric: Where has the importance of fellow Canadian bands like Obliveon and Voivod taken your output, creativity, or general outlook on what can be done in the realm of the metal genre based on their di…
…n by percussion master Steve Shalaty’s hyper quick and forceful stylings. Truly one of the best drummers in the game, rounding out the NYDM legends sound in all settings. Classic track “Dawn of Possession” followed, causing a fury amongst the already raging pit enthusiasts. The setlist was an overall smattering of Immolation’s long career, covering seven of their eleven full-lengths, spanning from early from 90s classics like “Christ’s Cage” and “…
…instrument as a kid. That’s a pretty easy phase of production. It’s also true because the drum parts themselves are fairly straightforward. We aren’t technical metal, or jazz fusion with all these technical time signature transitions. It’s musically quite straightforward. I’ve gotten pretty good at bass in my older years, too. Really everything but the rhythm guitars tends to go smoothly. Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art design process work w…
…ve learned along the way. Well, I don’t know if there’s anything that has truly affected how we are on stage. Maybe those influences come from way back that made us originally grab a guitar and start playing rock and roll music. Seeing DVD’s, live concerts, everybody has their idols and maybe that had an impact on us. We have learned that the times are very different than those 80’s rock and roll, Mötley Crüe lifestyle. You have to behave, you hav…
…a lot of stuff. If you listen to thrash metal – it’s very rigid and by the rules. If you do something outside of those rules, then everyone wants to shit on you. Thrash metal is probably the genre that is most plagued by purists. If you sing a certain way, you’re out. If you play a riff that doesn’t conform to the rules, you’re out. If you use a certain effect on your guitar or have additional layers in your songs, you’re out. There are just so ma…
…hings and approaches. The lockdown wasn’t all bad. Before that, I was doing 200 gigs a year with both bands. I needed the break. Now, it’s all good. Both bands are starting to tour a lot again. Everything is cool. I wrote a lot of music during lockdown and have put out two EPs and full-lengths with Omnium Gatherum and Insomnium. I’ve also been doing a new band, I Am the Night. We will soon be launching a new project that came up before Covid. It w…
…wer. Tremolo runs give chase to a straight-forward d-beat groove to make “Crucifixion Shrine” an immediate standout, while “Electric Eye” has that thumping, swamp-like presence that took Obituary to the underground masses. These musicians smartly mix shorter songs with a couple of epic tracks where they can stretch boundaries for a deeper impact. “Land of Rot and Misfortune” features some sinister drum fills against the stop/start riffs, the lead…
…a band now, I’d say the opening track “Terrastic Adaptation” on the more brutal end, and “Solastalgia” and “The Insignificants”, those have the brutal side plus intricate stuff, and these big, expansive, epic-sounding parts where Travis is doing different things vocals, the layering, the ambient parts. It’s got a little bit of everything that we are about now, the maximized, realized versions of those styles. Dead Rhetoric: And where did you want…
…anese, it would be so cool to have some Japanese influences as far as the drums, the way the vocal lines are. Make it like a Japanese album, incorporate these things in for your Japanese and Asian listeners it’s something really nice and for others something really new. I brought up the band The Hu from Mongolia, it’s an interesting concept because the instruments they play are cool. It’s a little different in the way they do it, even though they…
…h it. The rest of the band dug the demo, so we recorded it for real. Real drums, real instruments, and that’s how it came together. Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art come about – as it’s definitely something a little different than what people would expect from a band in your style? Torres: That’s all Mike. Mike writes all the lyrics, and a lot of the songs are very personal to him, personal experiences. He had a broad concept, we all looked at…
…aura, combined with an immense rhythm section of Ian Jacyszyn’s pulsating drum work and Eric Rizk’s prolific bass lines, along with the impactfully complex guitar stylings of Samuel Smith form a near perfect combination. That biting guitar tone that drives their record work is seriously crushing live. Pulling off all of the complex arrangements that comprise the band’s music isn’t simple, but Aeviterne makes it look effortless. More people need to…
…The drummer in “Spirit in the Flesh” Niklas Müller, he is originally the drummer in Ad Infinitum, he was also a substitute guitar player in Serenity, he is a student of our guitar player Chris. Everything was connected. The arranger PK, she is from New Zealand, and she is a good friend of our bass player Fabio. The flute player is Fabio’s girlfriend, and the violin player is also a good friend of ours. It’s a huge family tree. Dead Rhetoric: Whic…
…ted playing the guitar to today? Kupiainen: When I joined this band in late 2007, early 2008, I was more or less a very solo-oriented player. When I realized quite soon that I had to play rhythm guitar, I wasn’t happy with that sound, with my technique. I had to relearn new techniques to achieve that sound, like what I was hearing in my head. The Nemesis record in 2013 was the first step into that game, and then between that album and Eternal, I p…
…ly from the Nordic mythology. For example, in Norway they have very well-structured documents – the Pagan and Vikings history, everybody knows Odin and about Vikings. When you dig deeper, you don’t have to look far to find well-structured documentation and stories. In Finland, we don’t have that. The main book of Finnish mythology, which the band Amorphis based many of their lyrics on, is also a compilation. The author went from village to village…
…n’t very keen on the idea from the start. To me, it sounds something like “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden. I love that song, but it didn’t really do it for me if I can put it that way. When the end result came and Søren put his vocals on the recording, that’s a different thing. That’s when you realize what songs you can keep close to the heart. And the same with “Maintenance of Insanity”. I wrote many of the acoustic parts in the song and the ri…
…00’s. When I was coming off of Idol, it was still like… my first album sold 200,000 copies in its first week. If a record now sells 200,000 copies period, it’s doing really good. A lot has changed, it’s constantly changing, it’s constantly evolving. That’s why we are not just singers, songwriters, or musicians anymore. We are content creators. I have to have a YouTube channel, I create videos. I haven’t done one in a while; I started a YouTube ser…
…been valid concerns that you believe may have been beneficial in the long run? Dow: No, I don’t give a shit. I like a good review like anyone else, it makes you feel good, it makes you feel validated. A lot of people are confused about what we do and what we are. Unfortunately, that shows in a lot of half-assed interviews, or past reviews. I can usually tell if it’s going to be a review worth reading within the first couple of sentences. If it’s…
…r, from Portland, Oregon; and Riot City, from Calgary. DAY 1 – FRIDAY ARCHDRUID Archdruid kicked off the festivities on Day 1 with their ’70s rock-infused epic meets stoner doom. Dylan Lee’s drumming, bolstered by Chris Nichol’s thudding bass grooves, serves as a well-suited anchor for the fuzzed-out riffs from guitarists Paul Lennon and Brandon Ward. Out in front of the slow, heavy riffs is Sordid Cimm with her signature haunting, reverbed vocals…
…sic as a boy, I was mesmerized and watched the musicians playing their instruments. In my youth, other instruments such as bass and guitar were added. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Tool, Nightwish, Moonsorrow and also old historical music shaped my development. Tom: I was a very musical boy and was enthusiastic, whenever I saw musicians or heard some music. My first contact with “heavier” music was, when a friend of mine showed me some ska…
…both. That’s kind of how I roll, anyway. Dead Rhetoric: Imminent Sonic Destruction began in 2007 as Mellotrön before changing names in 2011. What can you tell us regarding the formation of the group – as well as the original development of the band’s style, did you know straight away what qualities you wanted to have or was it a feeling out process to arrive at the sound you have? Piccoli: Well, I wrote all the demos originally. And I gave them to…
…from that time period and onwards. I understand people love In Search of Truth and all of the great old albums, but they are twenty years old for us. Looking at the commercial aspect – if you look at the streams from In Search of Truth, and Recreation Day, and then take the first two songs from Escape of the Phoenix, you have more plays on those two songs alone versus those two albums. It has to be reasonable on the business side as well. These s…
…old bar, everything made of wood with all crooked corners. I recorded my drums there, sent the drum parts to Rick, he would rearrange things. What’s really special about this record is we finished every song from recording to mixing and mastering before we went to the next song. It wasn’t an assembly line of work. Every song was separate. It was out of necessity. I recorded my drums on another kit with a back up cymbal pack. When the COVID restri…
…musicians want to learn something very quickly. How do I play double bass drums at 200 BPM tomorrow? And then I have to be the truthful, old guy in the sense that this doesn’t work like that. It takes a long time. You have to have patience for it. I learned this from a teacher of mine – sometimes you can practice a lot, but it doesn’t matter what you practice, it’s not the hours you put into it, but it’s how you practice. Practice effectively at b…
…it the concept of playing with Alex ever. Dave has been the only official drummer for this band. Shawn Drover did the drum tracks for the first album as a guest session thing. As far as Wags (Greg), shortly after the release of The Powers That Be, when we completed that record in June 2020, the album had been mixed and I was writing follow-up tracks for what would be The World Enslaved. Aaron was on board to do stuff, and then Jeff Waters reached…
…rdent followers of those primetime days. Veteran guitarist Herman Frank recruited some new members and put together a fantastic set of tracks that span the hard rock/metal spectrum: tracks full of energy, hooks, melodies, from full on metal efforts to tender ballads as well as stomping anthems in between. We reached out to new singer Gianni Pontillo who was happy to help us learn more about how he got into the band, the songwriting and vocal perfo…
