…n the proper capacity. We reached out to guitarist Sascha Gerstner through Skype and he graciously gave us insight into the reunion, the songwriting and performance outlook for the record, video work, thoughts on his time within Helloween and Freedom Call, plus his views on the status of the band, the metal scene, and what the future holds. Dead Rhetoric: Helloween is the new self-titled record for the seven-piece outfit, and obviously highly anti…
…a massive legal tie-up due to the Fear Factory name as well as the heated online controversy between now ex-member Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares, it seems lucky that we are even sitting here discussing this album at all. And long time fans have much to be thankful for, as Aggression Continuum is one of the strongest Fear Factory albums, period. That futuristic, cinematic cyber groove that has defined Fear Factory is ultimately at its best with…
…A lot of people will say that it’s out there, or sometimes people tell us online that they don’t know what we are going for. It’s too all over the place. I’m really proud of it, because what we did was create something new. Even the producer, Mitchell Marlow, kept telling me. He said, “What we have done here is made a new genre, essentially. It doesn’t sound like anything else. It sounds new and fresh. It’s exciting.” He was saying that it was so…
…Victory followers treasure. Perfect time to catch up with Herman again via Skype and his humorous, engaging personality made this talk flow very quickly. You’ll learn more about the lineup changes, his thoughts on modern production, catchy riffs/melodies, what younger guitar players/musicians should think about in establishing their own style/voice, as well as the wild world of touring once things return back to normal in 2022. Dead Rhetoric: Two…
…ve control over who you have in your life, and you have a right to do that online as well. If someone is openly being nasty online, people always crack out that line ‘it’s a public Facebook page, and I can say what I like,’ well actually its my Facebook page and my rules, so no you don’t. It’s about setting your own standards and rules. Dead Rhetoric: The concept of mental health and getting help seems to be an important one to the band. Could you…
…ouring. The other one is that we are in discussions to see if we can do an online show at some point. Hopefully towards the end of summer, because we have some things that don’t allow us to play. One of our guitarists is going to have his first kid, so the band will go according to that. But at one point, we are planning to do an online show. Other than that, we are doing as much press as we can and we are going to try to push the release through…
…rt a band, before you really get your first release or put your first song online, you need to be sure and have a complete concept of what you are trying to be and what you want to sound like. I don’t get the idea of bands that do a demo and say ‘this is just a demo – we will get a proper sound on the record.’ The first impression is the most important impression, no matter the medium you choose. We did these mistakes too – in other bands before V…
…room learning by ear. I gradually grew my own style. Now there are so many online lessons and apps that you can play along to. Rocksmith is essentially Guitar Hero for real guitar. I think all that is really good but I hope people don’t fall into the trap of relying on that kind of stuff. Once you gain the groundwork of whatever instrument you are learning, I think you need to take a step back and learn it for yourself because I think that’s the b…
…decided to grab guitarist Iivo Kaipainen for a quick round of questions on Skype. We discuss the new album, evolution of the band, duets, and more. Dead Rhetoric: What are you most proud of with Vultures Die Alone? Iivo Kaipainen: I’m really proud that it is pretty far from the original sound we used to have when we released our first two albums, which were more power metal. I’m not saying power metal is bad, but this album sounds much more modern…
…ing for me. Matt actually got me this old, antique stand-up piano he found online for Christmas for me. I hadn’t played piano since I was a teenager really, and just decided to learn one of the Sumo songs piano-style. I am always down with taking songs down a different style. The fans, in the past, have always enjoyed the acoustic versions. They show a different side of the same song. We will definitely do more of that stuff. Dead Rhetoric: The la…
…ast Records. So there was much to discuss when we sat down for a talk over Skype with both vocalists. You can check out their thoughts on the new material, utilizing both of their vocals on the record, the pros and cons of a more unique sound, and more. Dead Rhetoric: Since your last full-length, I know you’ve put out some shorter releases and done some touring, but what has the band been up in the last 10 years? Paul Green: We went through a patc…
…e norm. We reached out to guitarist/main songwriter Markus Ullrich through Skype, and he happily gave us solid time to discuss the new record, fresh record deal, cover art, his songwriting approach with Septagon and Them, plus loads of discussion on the German metal scene, festivals, and what touring may look like once the pandemic fades away. Dead Rhetoric: We Only Die Once is the third and latest Septagon album. Where do you see the major differ…
…up prior to release of this debut album Poetica with special covers issued online of favorites by Tears for Fears, In Flames, and David Bowie, Stranger Vision already prove to be an all-encompassing metal act willing to take risks. Forming in the spring of 2019, they spent the better part of a year writing this material – choosing to team up with Domination Studios and the skills of Simone Bertozzi (Ancient Bards) and Simone Mularoni (DGM) for eng…
…is still there. We’ve seen a steady group of people buying our merchandise online, because they can’t get out to gigs. We need their support financially, so buying our merchandise has been really nice to see that, it makes you feel wanted. Once this all clears, people will have a bit more appreciation for the things that they’ve missed. Dead Rhetoric: We lost a pioneer for the Swedish death scene in Entombed vocalist LG Petrov recently. Do you hav…
…apy. But we have been productive. Like every other band, we have become an online store to basically sell clothing. We sell merch and we have been writing. We are about halfway through our next album, just from being stuck and not being able to do anything else. Dead Rhetoric: So do you have any plans for 2021 outside of the album release? Harper: We are looking to tour, possibly in the fall. Our booking agent is starting to say that it’s more and…
…s innovative and remarkable. We reached out to all three members through a Skype chat – vocalist/guitarist Laurens Houvast, bassist Frank te Riet, and drummer Marco Prij. You’ll learn everything from the transformation of Distillator into Cryptosis, signing with Century Media, the challenges of the new direction, their impressive video work, and how the mellotron came to be an additional focal point for the sound of the band. Dead Rhetoric: Crypto…
…in person for nearly a year, and we were working on this album completely online. We were exchanging ideas and conversations on messaging. We haven’t met in the recording studio, and this is the first time in history that we recorded a Crystal Viper album without seeing each other. Everybody recorded their tracks in their own home studio. And then when all the tracks were done, we sent them to Cederick Forsberg who is our new drummer, he did the…
…hine this deep in his illustrious career. We reached out to Ronnie through Skype and he was happy to let us in on the unusual way of composing and recording this record, thoughts on how he’s handling his cancer diagnosis, changes within the music business, regrets with specific contracts during the Pretty Maids / Future World heydays, and memories surrounding Ronnie James Dio. Dead Rhetoric: One Shot is your latest solo album – discuss the framewo…
…hat the amount of success the band got as the band was growing was because online we kind of let our personalities and things shine through. When we are onstage, we kind of enforce people to have a great time. They are partying, they are stage diving, crowdsurfing, and moshing like crazy. We want to showcase that kind of atmosphere in our music and in our videos just because we don’t know when we will play shows in the future. We want that atmosph…
…r 2021? Issa: I really have no idea. I have been thinking about doing some online stuff. But other than that, planning any form of anything seems to be out of the question at the moment. I’m just taking one day at a time. My immediate thing would be to meet up with some friends and go out for a drink. That would be lovely. But other than that, for the rest of the year, we will have to take it as it comes. We are pretty lucky in the UK, as we are t…
…Morgana Lefay and other NWOBHM offshoots. We reached out to Thomas through Skype and he was happy to bring up to date on the origins of the band, his thoughts on developing a clean voice, Alan Turing and his importance to World War II, as well as discussion on how Sweden has handled the pandemic plus thoughts on Candlemass and the future. Dead Rhetoric: At what point did you start getting into heavy metal and eventually wanting to play/perform in…
…res. We reached out to vocalist Keith McIntosh and guitarist Danny Mann on Skype and had a very engaging conversation to bring us up to speed on this quintet. Prepare to learn more about the history and development of their sound, plenty of insight into the preparation and execution related to this album, how they are fostering community through their social media engagement, plus thoughts on the Southern California metal scene and what to expect…
…the band has ever recorded. We reached out to guitarist Marko Tervonen on Skype and he was happy to bring Dead Rhetoric up to speed on the latest effort. You’ll learn more about the COVID-related delays that actually worked to the benefit of the final product, their production / sound philosophy, memories surrounding favorite and underrated albums in the catalog, thoughts on his son’s development in his own band, and what to expect from the band…
…ned for this year? van Giersbergen: I am planning and working on something online-ish around the release of the album. Something beautiful to go online with. Other than that, I will continue playing my set and rehearsing until I can go out and play. I hope we can do something live in the summer – something outdoors. But proper touring and traveling, and traveling to the US – that will be 2022. But there are tours, in pencil, in the agenda. We are…
…out of control. It’s not only the price, but that you have to fill in the online form that takes forever. Then you have to go an embassy, and so I lose like two days because I have to fly to one. It’s really a huge effort before you can even get to the US. If you have to pay a huge amount of money for that, at a certain point it’s like – c’mon, it has to be worth it or you can’t keep doing it anymore. Dead Rhetoric: I don’t want to sidetrack too…
…and push themselves into the world. Dead Rhetoric: In an interview you did online a couple of years back for Decibel magazine, you mention that ‘I love Spain, but my Spain died in 1936.’ Can you tell us a bit more about your views on your home country, the government, and why things have been so different from that year forward in your eyes? Izquierdo: It’s quite difficult. With this information, I wanted to say in 1936 there was a civil war withi…
…d (pronounced like How-ard) Alvarez happily answered questions through our Skype connection. Through this interview you’ll learn more about how Warzaw came together, their video shoots and live performance philosophy, the diversity within their local Norwegian scene and how Warzaw will stand out amongst others, and their hopeful quick turnaround to release another album to the public. Dead Rhetoric: What memories do you have regarding music growin…
…et across musically and lyrically. We reached out to Diva Satanica through Skype who brought us up to speed on the new lineup, the album recording, the personal development and tools she used to get stronger as a vocalist, plus a bit of behind the scenes thoughts on her day job as a psychiatric nurse and juggling her work with another band Bloodhunter. Dead Rhetoric: Nervosa has gone through a major lineup change, as there are three new members in…
…n a catchy, entertaining song to song format. We reached out to Dushan via Skype to provide details on the newest singer Mike Slembrouck, his thoughts on Master of Masters, thoughts on the band’s expanding following, plus special plans for his love of superheroes and what he will be working on for the next couple of years for Magic Kingdom and Iron Mask. Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about discovering Belgian singer Mike Slembrouck – a huge fan of Iron M…
…– it’s all in there and more. We reached out to guitarist Matt Hanchuck on Skype to get the full lowdown on his activities, his musical upbringing, views on the thrash scene, and the trials and tribulations of handling the music industry as a band trying to climb their way out of the underground. Dead Rhetoric: What are some of your earliest memories surrounding music growing up – and how did you get turned onto metal and eventually picking up an…
