…e Dead” and “Revolution.” He came up with the sounds himself. He did the structure and all of that shit – he produced those two songs pretty much by himself. He played all the instruments himself. It’s great! I just need to kick his ass, you know [laughs]? He has his own band that he is working on right now and is looking for a singer, so he has like 60-70 songs for that project by himself. He’s super talented. He’s probably one of the best drumme…
…icians, favorite Warlord memories and times with Bill, his evolution as a drummer and where he sees the art of drumming today, plus some talk about Fates Warning, A-Z, and more. Dead Rhetoric: Free Spirit Soar is the latest Warlord album – which pays tribute to Bill Tsamis, who sadly passed away in 2021 at 60 years of age. Discuss the way this record came together – did you have any worries or fears of living up to the standards of what Bill has a…
…re to make this a future favorite for the Far Eastern audience. While the drum programming isn’t blatantly obvious, Heaven’s Tragedy’s Ryuya performs on the final two tracks “Over the Sorrow” and “Sonata Black”, and you can tell the extra human touch in specific fills or transitions allows these songs to shine even brighter – the latter given a co-writing assist by ex-Stratovarius main man Timo Tolkki. In under 40 minutes, Violet Eternal with Relo…
…iley our drummer who has been there since the beginning. I have the song structure in mind, and some drum beats, but he comes with some – things start slowly getting together. I place the lyrics or the parts where I want to sing, and then I talk with Sonny to say, we need a guitar solo in this part here, this other part, some kind of melody to go on top of this part. He does this work at home. So, when we do get together everyone already knows wha…
…themselves. Baumann: Yeah, if you have to just record three songs, you can 100% focus on each of the songs, as opposed to doing 10 at once and just knocking them all out. Dead Rhetoric: So do you feel like this is the way forward for Venues? To do these smaller recordings and make it into something larger over time? Baumann: For me, definitely. In an ideal world, I’d love to be in the studio just for one song every two months or something like th…
…expect as far as more solo records and touring for Accept. Dead Rhetoric: Humanoid is the 17th studio album for Accept – how do you see this set of material sitting in the discography of the band, were there any surprises or challenges that took place during the writing or recording process this time around? Wolf Hoffmann: No, no real challenges. The last album was a bit challenging because it happened during COVID times. This album luckily was q…
…uid, classical-like piano passages as well as a slow building circular instrumental sequence that brings the subsequent chorus to an uplifting conclusion. Although commercial leaning for the majority of these eleven tracks, there are certain times where the individual musicians can flex a bit of their chops – Paul’s bass tricks front and center for second half favorite “Mother of All”, one of the heavier cuts on here marrying the best of 90s perio…
…cks back up the intensity, as the strings and guitars meld into something truly spectacular and occasionally pulverizing. On the more elegant side of things, the title track serves as a fitting example with it’s gentle strings really ushering in a cinematic and haunting sound that feels very much like it could work as a soundtrack at it’s most tender moments. The Black is a powerful experience that takes metalcore, progressive material, and even m…
…cision. I’ve never seen my label boss; the only contact is by email. I am trusting him, and Steffie and Laurent, I trust them. I hope I will see them this year, perhaps we will meet each other for the first time. Dead Rhetoric: When it comes to looking at the long career of Disbelief, what do you consider some of the benchmark or highlight moments with the group? Specific albums, videos, tours, festival appearances, or other situations where you k…
…sound effects enhance the intensity of Magnus’ melodies, the extended instrumental section a goldmine for those who enjoy musical interplay even in a slower, emotive format. The organic production values reward listeners as well – almost as if you are taking in the group live off the floor peaking into a white hot band session. The cover art gives plenty of little nuggets to behold – while the lyrical content explores themes relating to personal…
…and very strong. A topic that you can find in some of the songs about the human nature of predacity, and the way we are through history. It’s a never-ending conflict with classes. Dead Rhetoric: The record tackles lyrical themes of humanity’s need to devour or despoil through aspects of greed, power, and malevolence. Can you discuss a little more how you wanted to talk about this through this record, and how modern society or experiences also inf…
…s and a multi-faceted approach that does whatever it needs to in order to truly capture the needs of a particular song or even album. Such is the case here with the Eg Er Framand EP, which follows 2022’s full-length Nova. This EP doesn’t come close to the heavier side of Sylvaine, providing reworked Norwegian folk songs and some of her own design into a mixture that’s equal parts mysterious, ethereal, and reflective. With a release like Eg Er Fram…
…ccasion. Another positive comes in the natural tones achieved through the drums of Neudi – you can feel the human authenticity behind every speedy fill, natural snare / kick combination, and the cymbal crashes impacting all the key powerful moments in a majestic, edge of your seat song like “Black Candles”. Acoustic guitars, distant bell effects, or horror-style piano parts also creep in here and there, while the occasional extreme riff elevates t…
…the occasional cover sometimes. We did a show in December where we did “Strutter” by Kiss as it was the same night they were playing their final show over 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 fur…
…We found ourselves in a huge hurry to have the artwork ready, I told our drummer Tommy (Portimo) to handle this bit. He runs our webstore and does a lot of the artwork design and everything anyways, he was happy to take over this while I just acted as a consultant. Tiny details, those are the salt and pepper within the artwork that we needed. Dead Rhetoric: Did it feel satisfying to explore the history of Sonata Arctica in acoustic form for the t…
…t the guitar parts, bass parts, drum parts. Once I finish programming the drums I send the parts to the drummer, who can iterate on this and find better ideas. The same thing for guitars and bass – I try to draft something quickly and let the guitarist find better riffing on this. When we have the space, I do a little bit of the arrangement. We start to record – I do the sound design. I work with Jacob Hansen, he’s an awesome producer. I end up gi…
…of others, or your accomplishments. Your journey is your own. If you can be 1% better today than you were yesterday, you are on that right track. You have to be 100% in on yourself – if you are 99% in on yourself, you might as well be 0% on yourself. 100% or more, in on yourself, your decisions, your career, your goals – and you are already succeeding. That belief, that energy, that power is only going to have a ripple effect. The only reason I wa…
…dscape versus the responsibilities and promotion that took place during the 1990’s on the first run for Morta Skuld? Gregor: We have a very long-standing history with Peaceville. We were on their sub-label Deaf Records. We got picked up by the actual Peaceville roster for As Humanity Fades came out. After Morta Skuld had broken up in 1998, I kept in touch with them, started a newer band (9mm Solution) and was trying to get them signed to Peacevill…
…ad of hearing a synthetic, triggered tone that there would be some natural human characteristics to exemplify the obvious skill set behind drummer Atte Marttinen and his abilities. What great power metal outing wouldn’t be complete without the epic, twelve-minute offering “Ronin 47” – fueled with longer instrumental sequences, narrative / orchestral elements, mood / atmosphere shifts from tranquil piano to harmony, neoclassical flourishes, setting…
…n another day you aren’t as emotionally strong and maybe something else disrupted your emotional equilibrium, that same thing that didn’t bother you a few days ago, now you can barely sing it. I was rehearsing for the upcoming festivals and the cruise, and I had to take a moment and cry and do some breathing exercises because some songs are still very heavy for me. Dead Rhetoric: When you put yourself into the music like that, I can imagine you ar…
…cks and it took a while to get the transitions flowing properly. We also struggled a bit linking the instrumental bridge on “A Dim Illusion,” but luckily Danny and our session drummer Gabriel came up with a percussive groove a bit reminiscent of Tool, and everything just made sense after that. Dead Rhetoric: What kind of themes did you want to portray with the lyrics this time around? Any concepts or topics in particular that were focused on? Torr…
…serve up volatile, groove-oriented death ‘n’ roll, lyrically touching upon human social conflict, environmental devastation, and the turbulent life of humans in the current society that should assault all senses in the best way power trios deliver for this genre. The stripped-down nature of the instrumentation beyond the natural, in your face tones / production atmosphere gives the material this plug in to play attitude that provides plenty of cat…
…ldsen: This has been our most prolonged process. We started recording the drums all the way back in late 2022. We are happy with the way it turned out, but most artists will also, when they make their debut album, know what to do and what not to do for the next album. We had an idea from some songs and some themes to me I wanted everyone to participate. I had some songs, and some of the Peters’ (bassist Juelsgaard and guitarist Locher) also contri…
…pired lead work, and the percussive explosion that is Perry Vedelago. His drum work is the spine of Ruin Lust’s immense power, putting in a resolute and head-spinning performance throughout the entirety of Cerebral Purgatory. Combine that with Mitch Long’s thumping bass lines, and that’s a rhythm section not to be tampered with. The frenetic pace continues with “Flesh Brick,” where the versatile guitar work of Brendan Auld and Matt Gordon is on fu…
…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…
…fucked as a species. Art is something that has been such a massive part in human history that I feel if that’s lost then we lose a massive part of what makes us human. Dead Rhetoric: What is a pivotal or critical moment that helped shape your musical career? Peppiatt: Without a doubt joining Psycroptic was the biggest and most powerful thing in my musical career. Getting to write, record, perform and tour the world with three of my best friends wh…
…the song has been pushed to its peak. If this means that it has to be instrumental well, I will not sing and so it is for every one of us: we can decide to use or not use every instrument. We always think of the big picture, pushing ego out of the equation. About the biggest transformations: I brought the main structures of every song except for “Post You” which came from Alessio and “Anatomical Machine” which is from Marco. “To Mourn the Shade o…
…hard rock, heavy metal community (Rainbow, Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Rush among others). The majestic vocal lines of George Tsalikis mirror the powerful music proceedings brilliantly – the stories of historical/fantasy battles as well as exploring the human condition conveyed in breathtaking, soaring ways through mandatory highlights like “The Madness Within” and the mid-tempo, Dio-esque marcher “Battle at Marathon”. Distant rhythm measure p…
…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…
…? Joe: To be honest, it’s just one of those things. Because our long-time drummer had left the band at the start of 2020, we didn’t have a drummer. So, we’ve been using James from Vader, we know he’s a great drummer and a great guy. We would send him demos, and he would send us back finished drum tracks. And we would then all go about doing our parts and send them individually. John and I probably have the same opinion, it is easier to be able to…
