…what part of your sound grabs people the most, or you at least hope does? Gruber: I think one of the important things is the chorus. That’s what we listen to first and decide which ones have the strongest chorus to see which songs we take to the studio. So when I hear other songs, that’s what catches me. Hopefully that will happen to our listeners too. But people often say that people really like how we play with my clean vocals and Robin’s harsh…
…don’t want AI taking over so much that it loses the creative process from human being and human mind use when it comes to art. I think people can usually tell the difference when something is computer generated versus when something is derived from humans… Hoffmann: Yeah, until now. But how will it be in ten years, my man? That’s the big question. We might not like it, but can we change it? Nope. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s too late…
…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…
…azing guitar player in his own right. He played, and then I hate tracking drums. I let him take care of that with one of his guys out there in Italy do that. For bass, my bass player in Santa Cruz for Durbin for live sessions Mike Roberts, he wrote the bass lines and he performed those. I had a bunch of guest guitar players again provide solos – which I think is a fun thing. Last year I appeared on Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall album, on a song call…
…nd of the day, it’s a really good tasting sandwich. You start to hear the fruits of your labor come to fruition at that point, and it’s like oh wow. And with this record… I know a lot of bands say, ‘this is our best record ever!’. I hate saying that, it’s subjective. But I do feel that this is our best effort. I’ve listened to it twice already since it’s been done, and usually I don’t listen to my material once it’s done. Dead Rhetoric: How did th…
…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…
…this is a good way of doing this. Dead Rhetoric: UK artist Dan Goldsworthy designed the cover art for Destination Destruction. How did the process work from the initial idea to what we see for the final design? And how do you feel about the importance of cover art in heavy metal to set the right tone before people press play on a record? Mäenpää: Dan actually did one sketch for us before this final cover, and we weren’t happy with the first one. T…
…nce chants to mirror the Voivod-ish militant mid-tempo riffs against some crushing mellotron mood enhancement, while the latter showcases the group’s unrelenting speed/thrash mechanics as well as proper hook/groove knowledge to keep things somewhat grounded for retention purposes. Cryptic, thought-provoking cover art beyond the professionalism on the recording/mixing side (Unleashed’s Fredrik Folkare responsible for the mixing/mastering part) puts…
…m. There’s something so challenging yet rewarding about stripping away the layers and effects and finding out how your songs fare around a fire or in a more intimate setting. I think it would be fun to do an acoustic record of new songs, perhaps something a bit more tribal and raw, and then play a run of simple shows where we don’t have to lug heavy amplifiers and huge drum kits around. Just show up to a coffee house, an indie store, or a gatherin…
…k that catches the eye besides the music. It was Jan Yrlund from Darkgrove Design, he has designed albums cover for huge names like Nightwish, HIM, I think even Manowar. It’s a cool resume. The original idea we sent him in a text form that comes from us, he creates the visual part from our notes. That’s how we got the album cover. Right after we got back from the Pyromide recording sessions, we got back to immediately start work on the next album….
