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Enemy Inside – Evolving Venom

Katarina McGinn
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Enemy Inside – Evolving Venom

Never a band that was dead set on playing by the rules, it’s been interesting to hear Enemy Inside grow and change since their first release in 2018 [Phoenix]. Since then, they’ve moved further and further into their own sound. Venom sees them breaking the mold even further, with songs swinging from influences ranging from metalcore to hip hop to pop to EDM. Truly a melting pot of influences, while keeping it heavy enough for long-time fans to enjoy. We spoke with vocalist Natassja Giulia and lead guitarist Evan Koukoularis about the band’s evolution, the state of the music scene and what they’d like to see changed, a 3d glasses version of Venom, and much more.

Dead Rhetoric: Phoenix came out in 2018, how do you feel the band has grown since then?

Evan Koukoularis: It’s funny if you think sometimes about how it started. It was in a small apartment when we were studying and making a university project together. Now it has turned into a real band, going on tours and putting out albums. It’s nice to take a moment and appreciate that. It’s something that not everyone can do. We are really happy that it turned out that way.

Nastassja Giulia: Also, from the music style, we evolved a lot. Especially with the new record. We didn’t put in so many limits when we were writing, and I think we now have found ourselves.

Dead Rhetoric: Outside of singles and touring, what have you had to do in order to keep the band growing between releases?

Nastassja: I think we tried to always be present. If we didn’t put out an album for a long time, especially due to the pandemic, but we always tried to be present in a digital way when we couldn’t play. There were two years that we couldn’t play. We also had our second album, Seven, in that moment and we had to skip our release. It was a bit frustrating, but we tried to be present and were posting. We would post singles or acoustic versions or something…

Evan: The thing is, just keep on doing stuff. The motivation will go on. Just keep doing what you like and if there are a few things you don’t like or want to change, go ahead and change them. But keep doing it.

Dead Rhetoric: There’s a ton of different influences on display throughout Venom. Do you feel that you have nailed the sound you are looking for?

Evan: Exactly. On this record, we had the ability to express ourselves in exactly the way we wanted to. In the older albums, it was part of us, but we set more limits than on this record. I think so far, it’s the most original album we have put out.

Dead Rhetoric: Is it important to you that the sound stays open? Trying new things and expanding horizons?

Nastassja: For us, yes. I feel that for us, it’s nicer if we play a live show. Not every song sounds the same. They have different energies and different topics and just pulling different vibes. It’s more exciting for the audience, and I think it’s more exciting for us.

Evan: There are a few bands in the metal scene that do have a few songs that are big hits and they try to rewrite the same song over and over again, and they play a setlist live with all of these songs, and when it’s time to hear the hit, it doesn’t have as much of an effect because you have listened to all of the other songs that sound pretty similar. The effect goes away a bit. We aren’t the type of people who want to stick to the same recipe.

Nastassja: We want the album to feel more diversified.

Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the expansion of the heavy metal sound into a broader spectrum?

Nastassja: I think music nowadays, especially in metal, is more versatile than 10-20 years ago. Now we have the internet and we are able to explore more music than before. But I think that now there is more genre-crossing. Like two days ago, I saw reggae-core on Instagram and I was like, “this is something new!” For me, it’s exciting. I want to hear new stuff. I don’t want to hear the same genre over and over again. It’s exciting to mix. That was what nu metal was the beginning. They just started mixing things and something good came out of it.

Evan: I think that we are finally at a stage that metal doesn’t have this nostalgic ‘80s character anymore. How it used to be 10-15 years ago, and there are still bands now trying to do this, but it’s not as much as it used to be. It’s like, get over it, the ‘80s are gone [laughs].

Nastassja: I also think that people are more accepting if you aren’t ‘true metal,’ the metal police are still there, but it’s getting smaller. I think people aren’t as narrow-minded anymore.

Dead Rhetoric: It’s funny that you mentioned that because I was going to ask about the other side of the spectrum. Do you feel that bands like yours that try to be outside of the box tend to get critiqued more harshly than sticking to the usual playbook?

Nastassja: Definitely, but I think whatever you do, if you are taking risks, you have to deal with it. People might criticize you more, but the more they do that, the more other people will love you. I think you should do whatever you feel is right and whatever you want to do as an artist.

Evan: In the end, you cannot please everyone. Just do whatever expresses yourself and your character more.

Nastassja: I mean, you have to listen to the songs more than the fans do. You should like it.

Dead Rhetoric: At least if someone complains about it, you are eliciting a reaction too…

Nastassja: If it’s worth a comment, then we did something right.

Dead Rhetoric: What would you like to see from the metal scene as we move forward?

Evan: Personally, I would like to see more young people listening to it. Whatever will approach them to join the metal scene is pretty good coming from my side. We have a problem if you visit many European festivals, the young people are missing. I think it’s time that we get them to join the existing crowd. It’s super cool to have the scene, but we need some younger fans.

Nastassja: I also would hope for more acceptance. It’s gotten better, but I would like the metal scene to be more open. I feel it is a scene that people always want to be accepted, but they aren’t really as open. Some people are really narrow-minded within the scene. You don’t see it as much in other genres. Like, you don’t hear anyone saying, “I only listen to soul. I don’t like neo-soul, it’s bullshit.” You see it more in the metal scene.

Evan: Yeah, whoever listens to black metal, they hate, I don’t know, power metal.

Nastassja: I feel it should be more about the music, not if it’s a certain style. We, as a band, are music lovers, and we don’t care if a song has hip hop or metal or whatever. If the music is good, we like it. It’s almost as stupid as if you say that “I only watch action movies, and hate all other movies.”

Evan: It’s why we don’t like to put a label on our music as well. I couldn’t define it myself, the kind of music we are doing. If you like good music, then listen to it. It’s pretty simple [laughs].

Dead Rhetoric: I think both of those points are pretty valid. From a teacher perspective, there’s so many students nowadays that just don’t listen to music at all. 

Nastassja: We are also teaching music, so we get that. Sometimes someone will only know a song because of TikTok. Or they only listen to music on TikTok.

Evan: If someone wants to learn something, like a rock or metal band, it’s a band coming from the ‘80s or ‘90s. At the maximum, it’s the early 2000s. It’s very unusual that someone wants to learn a song from 2020. We need more new, young bands, and we also need young bands who are going to inspire the young people out there. Not having the same bands from the same 40-50 years.

Dead Rhetoric: Natassja, how has your experience as a vocal coach impacted your own vocal development and performance?

Nastassja: Right now I’m not teaching as often because the time isn’t there. But when I am teaching, I am learning a lot about myself. Not even regarding my vocal technique, but more as a person. I see many good people struggling with being too hard on themselves. This is something that helped me a lot when I was teaching. I saw all of my students, and I saw mistakes I did myself. That helped me a lot to be more gentle with myself. Of course, when you teach music you are also training your voice. But I would not say that when I teach, it’s my vocal practice. Depending on the student I do other things. When you teach, it does help with your routine.

Dead Rhetoric: Evan, how has producing and being involved with other bands over the years influenced your approach to writing?

Evan: A lot, I think many times a song turned in a way because I wanted to try something out – some new trick or having an idea when recording another band. It happens a lot. But in the end, inspiration comes no matter what you do. I also am a guitar instructor as well, so I can say that I get inspiration from that as well. When we are on tour and have long road trips, there is also a moment when you are driving, that we can get inspiration from. In the end, inspiration comes from your team and whatever you do. It’s also why music is an interpretation of your own life.

Dead Rhetoric: What inspired having a 3d glasses edition of Venom?

Nastassja: I was looking for cool ideas for the cover, and I use Pinterest a lot for that. I think I saw something with the red and blue effect and I thought about 3-d glasses. I thought it would be cool because I never saw it with another band. We built a concept and thought it would be cool to put a riddle in the book that you can only solve with the glasses. That’s the whole idea. We wanted something new and special.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s most rewarding about being in Enemy Inside?

Nastassja: For me, it’s when I am on stage and they are singing to the music. They know our lyrics. It’s the best moment. Or when people write is on Instagram about how our music helped them through a rough time or inspired them. It’s really rewarding.

Evan: I absolutely agree to all of that. I remember being in a country I had never been to in the past, Bulgaria, and I remember people singing our songs. I didn’t expect that. Or when we visited Spain and we didn’t know who was going to come to our concert. We had a full club of people. Those are the little things that encourage you.

Dead Rhetoric: What are your plans for this year, outside of the album release?

Nastassja: In February and March, we will be doing a headline tour in Europe. We are visiting like 8 countries. We have it on our Instagram.

Evan: We just want to tour with the album. Also, a challenge we said to ourselves is to not have that big space between this album and the next one. We want to keep putting out new music, even if we don’t have 12-13 songs ready. Just to be interactive more in real time.

Enemy Inside on Facebook
Enemy Inside on Instagram

Emanon – No Name (Nippon Columbia)

Katarina McGinn
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Emanon – No Name (Nippon Columbia)

A four member hard rock band/metal from Japan, Emanon are out to carve a niche for themselves in the burgeoning scene. Yes, Emanon stems from the name of their album in reverse, No Name, and feature in their ranks a variety of background influences from idols to modeling to solo artists. If No Name does one thing very well, it’s taking that pool of varied influences and putting it into an energetic and consistent stream of enjoyable songs that will stick with the listener long after one listen.

It’s obvious from the first track that Emanon are going after a modern sound, and the integration of electronics and heavy grooves are going to be the focal point. It comes out from the gate with playful and noticeable basswork from Boochan (even with a brief solo later on), giving it a very danceable sound that’s incredibly ear-worming. Erisa’s passionate vocals come off as empowered and soaring as the chorus approaches. The guitarwork from Kana weaves in and out of the basslines to provide some entertaining melodies that are catchy but feature plenty of oomph behind them, while the varied drumming from Sato Arisa provides some solid fill work. When they go for the heavier side of their sound, such as “Cheeky Anthem,” the frantic urgency works wonders. The galloping thrash tempos in the track are energetic, but it’s perpetually hook-filled still as the continued standout bass bounces around, and the shredding all but dances around it.

Another cut that has that similar frantic vibe but turns it into a more modern and electronically augmented feeling is that of “Out of Control.” There’s an almost punk-ish vibe to the track’s driving riffs, and Erisa swings from fiery to gentle as the track urgently swerves. “Loose End” also captures that punk spirit, imbuing it with more electronics and melodies, relying a bit more on grooves and stadium rock chants when it relents. That said, on the more melodic end of the spectrum, “Yusei Shojo” delivers some guitar melodies from Kana that are as intricate as they are beautiful. Adding in some powerful Erisa vocals gives it an extra shot in the arm in memorability, especially when it escalates in the chorus. The follow-up song “Reflection” rachets up the melodic intricacy, particularly with the rumbling bass, radiating some light jazz club vibes into the fun mix.

Playful and fun are the best words to describe No Name. Much like Togenashi Togeari, there’s an intricacy beyond the initial catchiness with Emanon. You can choose to drill into the scorching solos, joyous basswork, soaring vocals, or thunderous drumming, and it’s bolstered by the pristine production. But even at the surface level, the music is incredibly addictive and a joy to listen to, and quite frankly, that’s the most important element. You will be thrilled by No Name, and it’s bound to win over any unsuspecting audiences with its charms. A band to watch as they move ahead.

Emanon on Instagram
Emanon on X

Katerina Nicole – Serene in Violent Oceans (Self-Released)

Katarina McGinn
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Katerina Nicole – Serene in Violent Oceans (Self-Released)

Take it or leave it, there’s been a lot of hybridization within more modern metal in recent years. A number of groups are choosing to embrace a sound that has a metallic base to it, but choose to build it up with a multitude of diverse influences in tow. Vocalist Katerina Nicole is the latest voice in this particular spotlight, and as the EP title Serene in Violent Oceans suggests, brings quite a bit of contrast within her sound. Something that stems from her time in the pop and EDM world and bringing some of that same essence into an overall heavier sound, in both sonic and emotional perspectives.

A swirling and emotive mixture of electronic beats, industrial sounds, and churning metalcore grooves, Katerina Nicole comes out swinging. Opener “Catch My Breath” chugs with cinematic atmosphere to spare, as her vocals hit with emotional intensity as the mood elevates to a crushing groove and a scream. “House of Cards” hits a slightly more catchy mood, with it’s driving riffs and dark yet playful electronics merging together to again create an urgent feeling that Nicole commands on the vocal front to conjure a hypnotic rhythm. “Emotionally” feels a bit more fragile than the opening salvo, hitting a more melancholic and almost desperation to it. Nicole’s vocals truly shine here, augmented by the somber beats that crash into the rumbling guitars in the chorus.

“Darkling” maintains that more fragile feeling but wraps it into a more eerie and haunting feeling that effectively balances sweeping grooves and catchy electronics into an oddly ethereal sound. But it does seem like the best part was saved for last. “What I Know Now” seems to encompass all of the varied moods put forth in the four songs before it and really showcase what Katerina Nicole is all about. The dark riffs, the cinematic atmosphere, the sense of raw urgency, and addictive hooks all meld together into a spectacular closer. Some haunting strings pave the way for a sinister groove and scream later in the track, something that makes the poignant chorus feel that much more serene.

There’s a lot to like about Serene in Violent Oceans. It has a mood and emotional vibe that seems to gel well with what some others (such as Gore.) are experimenting with in the scene, yet offers plenty of unique aspects, such as the ambient electronics and contrasting playful melodies/crushing grooves. At the center of it all is Katerina Nicole’s vocals, which offer a beacon of light in the darkness, enticing the listener to explore further into her sonic landscape. Serene in Violent Oceans has all the makings of a breakout soon to come, particularly for fans of modern metal.

Katerina Nicole official website
Katerina Nicole on Instagram

Days of Jupiter – Heavy Diversity

Matt Coe
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Days of Jupiter – Heavy Diversity

Choosing to develop a sound that crosses aspects of modern melodic metal that take influence from various European and North American acts, Swedish band Days of Jupiter have established themselves through four previous album releases. Although this latest album The World Was Never Enough probably will be the first wide spread promotional push across USA/Canada, do not discount the band’s knack for killer songwriting that keeps the focus solidly on memorable hooks, choruses, and arrangements. We reached out to drummer Magnus Larsson to give us the scoop on some of the history of the group, the fortunate band member proximity that shapes the songwriting, special video memories, favorite albums and shows, thoughts on the flooded music scene, a little bit of Will Ferrell and hockey talk, as well as future plans.

Dead Rhetoric: The origins of Days of Jupiter started in 2010 where you wanted to create a modern metal style with powerful melodies and meaningful lyrics. What do you remember about those early days and how you developed the trademarks that make the band’s sound?

Magnus Larsson: Yeah, we were a couple of guys that had been in a band and mostly played covers of other bands’ songs. And then we tried to write our own material, and we felt immediately the modern, yet melodic touch was the way for us. It’s not that common in Sweden, this kind of genre that we are playing. It’s always been that way since the genesis, we love that kind of music. We have a lot of different influences in the band. For example, I listen to a lot of traditional heavy metal, we have one member of the band who loves death metal, and some rap too. When we write songs together, it all boils down into a Days of Jupiter sound. We found that with our first album, we found our sound pretty much immediately.

Dead Rhetoric: The World Was Never Enough is the fifth studio album for the band. How did the songwriting and recording sessions go for this set of material – and where do you see the differences in this effort compared to some of your previous discography?

Larsson: This album is our most thorough album to date. We spent a lot of time writing the songs first. We all live in the same city, the whole band – so we have this luxury of meeting each other and actually playing the songs together in our rehearsal room. That is one of the things that is a big win for us, to be able to arrange the songs together and be able to play them, develop them together. We spent a lot of time writing, and the biggest change since our last album is that we recorded this album in our hometown. We had a lot of time doing it. When we recorded our previous albums, it was done in a limited time, a studio miles away from our hometown so we would get two to two and a half weeks to record the album. This time, we spent a lot of time on each song, and made each song as good as it possibly could get. That’s the biggest difference, I think.

Dead Rhetoric: Do you end up bringing in pieces of songs to work on alone and then develop that material together, or do you think there was some material that worked out better in person, face to face?

Larsson: It works both ways with songwriting. Some songs write themselves. They take an hour and wow; you have a song. Some songs you spend a lot of time with, some songs you think are good songs, but you are never going to play them live. It’s a bit tricky with the writing of it. Janne (Hilli), our singer, he writes the majority of our songs, so he writes on his side. Marcus (Lindman), the guitarist, also writes some songs and they are a bit different. When we bring them to the rehearsal space they become Days of Jupiter.

Dead Rhetoric: You’ve released numerous singles from the record, but the latest video “Parazite” takes on an interesting duality between the narrative storyline and performance aspects to give the viewer (and listener) a multi-sensory experience. What can you tell us regarding the video shoot and how the process developed – what were some of the more memorable sequences of the shoot?

Larsson: (laughs). Yeah, it was a fun shoot. When the video producer came up with the idea, we in the band thought ‘wait a minute – are we going to get killed in the video?’. And that was kind of a crazy experience, playing dead on camera. I think it worked out pretty well. It was an interesting song, and the theme of the song somehow goes with the story as well. It was fun, a bit crazy. One of the band members got all bloody and then sat in the car to drive home – we hoped to God that no cops would stop him (laughs).

Dead Rhetoric: What’s it like being a part of the Reigning Phoenix Music roster after your time with Metalville? Do you believe the staff and team of people they’ve assembled have the proper understanding to push Days of Jupiter to greater heights of popularity across Europe, North America, and the rest of the globe?

Larsson: Yeah, that’s what we hope, of course. We felt with Metalville, it’s an okay label, but they are pretty small and limited in that sense. With Reigning Phoenix Music, first of all we have Nils Wasko, who signed us and really believes in the band. We have his loyalty; he wants Days of Jupiter to expand and grow so that feels real nice. The staff, a lot of people are doing a lot of good things. I hope that the band can take the next step up with Reigning Phoenix Music. America for us is a great music market. Our music should and would be popular in the USA. That’s what we hope for.

Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe Days Of Jupiter live compared to what people experience on the records? And what have been some of the special, most important shows or tours the band has done to date?

Larsson: Days of Jupiter on albums, there are a lot of bling-bling sounds and atmospheric stuff. Now we haven’t played our new songs live yet, but when we played before, everything is live. There is no playback. What you hear is what you get. When we play live, it’s a much rawer feeling. More raw and honest.

We have had great success when it comes to live performances. In 2017 we did a European tour, we played across Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands. In 2019 to promote the Panoptical album we did a Spanish tour, Finland, and we ended the tour cycle on the album with a great live set supporting Disturbed in Estonia. That was a real highlight for us.

Dead Rhetoric: This deep into the band’s career, what sort of goals or ambitions do you desire to achieve at this stage? What fuels your creative fire so to speak – is it a balancing act between satisfying your own musical desires and what your fans expect from you as a band?

Larsson: Yeah, I think it is. As for us, we want to develop and explore new territories musically. We don’t want to write the same album over and over again. It’s important for us to explore some new twists and turns, absolutely. As you said, it’s a fine line. You need to have the nerve and the feel of the band – you can’t abandon your past. We try to push things as far as we can. We do what we like, and in the end, we hope that Days of Jupiter fans also can like it.

Dead Rhetoric: As you talked about earlier in the conversation, you all have different influences that you bring to the table. Are there a couple of bands you look to as role models for what the band wants to achieve as a success?

Larsson: Career-wise, no. Of course, we want to take this as far as we can take it. We are happy to be making music, recording music, and releasing music. That is just fine with us. We love the feeling that we get when we connect with fans, and they tell us what they think of the songs and how they relate to the songs. In a perfect world, absolutely, we would love to be a household name all over the world, of course.

Dead Rhetoric: What have been some of your favorite fan interaction stories you’ve had over the years relating to the band?

Larsson: The biggest impact with a song is a ballad we had on our first album called “Still Feel You Breathe”. With that song, we had a Canadian gentleman who reached out to us, explaining that his wife passed away. They had been married for fifty or sixty years. He felt that our song gave him the strength to carry on. When you get a comment like that, your music career can end there. We are so proud of that comment.

Dead Rhetoric: What would surprise us to learn about yourselves as people away from your musical endeavors?

Larsson: What can I say? We are typical Swedes. We live in the northern part of Sweden, so this time of year its almost dark 24/7. A lot of snow, and we live in a small town. Nothing much stands out.

Dead Rhetoric: What would you say are three albums that have made the biggest impact on your musical career, plus a favorite show memory you’ve had – and what made that show so special to you?

Larsson: My three favorite albums off the top of my head. Overkill – Horrorscope. King Diamond – Abigail. And I think Helloween is one of my favorite bands – and I like the Andi Deris era. Master of the Rings is up there as well. Live music – I have been attending big shows and big festival gigs, but the ones I remember the most happened in the small venues. Like for instance, in November last year we went to a concert for Ambush – a Swedish traditional heavy metal band. They blew me away; they were so good. I like the fact that it was in a very sweaty, small venue, a lot of people. It was a blast.

Dead Rhetoric: I understand from reading a previous interview you have an appreciation for the acting skills of Will Ferrell, especially his work as Ron Burgundy from Anchorman. What would be a favorite scene or two of his from either of the movies that you most enjoy that continually brings laughter or a smile to your face? Is there another movie or two of his that really resonate with you?

Larsson: I think the Anchorman movies – the perfume scene where it’s time to musk up (laughs). In general, the whole series are goofy movies. The second movie, the scene where he has a family dinner with his new girlfriend, which was a lot of fun as well. I like Will Ferrell; he had a streak with a lot of great movies. Like Talladega Nights, and the basketball movie Semi-Pro. Step Brothers is also a great movie.

Dead Rhetoric: Do you have other hobbies, passions, or interests away from music that you like to engage in?

Larsson: In this small town, we have a great hockey team, Modo hockey. Peter Forsberg, the Sedin twins, Markus Näslund, I follow them in the winters.

Dead Rhetoric: How do you view the state of the current heavy music industry? If you had the ability, power, resources, and finances to change any aspects, what areas would you concentrate on for the greater good of the movement for all?

Larsson: That’s a hard question. Nowadays, everything is so easy. It’s easy to start a band, it’s easy to record, it’s easy to display your music in various streaming platforms. You could start a band today and have official music out in streaming platforms a few days later. There are thousands of bands you have to compete with. That’s the tricky part. Also, the promotional ways – social media has been… I don’t love it specifically. The way it used to be, you made an album, you had a touring cycle, and then you write new music. I like that kind of idea behind it. I don’t think we will ever come back to that, but one can hope.

Dead Rhetoric: How do you end up fighting through that noise of thousands of bands? The release market seems more active than ever…

Larsson: Absolutely. That is the hardest thing for a band. To get the recognition and get through. For us, I don’t know what we can do other than write good music. Hopefully people will enjoy that and discover us that way. People talking with each other face to face, which can be the best way to spread your music.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the horizon over the next year or so for Days of Jupiter? Are you hopeful to possibly get some festival or tour dates across North America – even if it’s on a limited basis?

Larsson: That would be a dream of course, to play in the US. Today there are no plans in motion. We are concentrating on the European festival summers. It’s been six years since we released our last album, and we are going a bit under the radar. With this new release, we hope to attain some degree of success and get some gigs.

Days of Jupiter on Facebook

Lacuna Coil – Sleepless Empire (Century Media)

Katarina McGinn
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Lacuna Coil – Sleepless Empire (Century Media)

Since Delirium, Lacuna Coil has been maintaining a consistent course in keeping things decidedly heavy. Andrea Ferro’s roars strengthened, and an added contrast with Cristina Scabbia was a welcome one, which augmented the groovy riff emphasis. It continued to work for the follow-up Black Anima, and Sleepless Empire sees the band even more comfortable with this dynamic and push the boundaries further.

Not to say that the band is just standing still. “Sleep Paralysis” offers an almost slithering atmospheric tone that borders on melodic doom with it’s lumbering pace and weighty feel. “I Wish You Were Dead” delivers some darkly humorous lyrics and more of an upbeat sound that also makes it stand out significantly over the course of the album. On the more melancholic side is “In the Mean Time,” which features guest vocals from Ash Costello, giving it a modern melodic edge that’s full of hooks but still features a side of groovy venom. Then there is the title track, full of tension and urgent energy as it churns through some midtempo riffing and haunting atmosphere.

That said, the heavier and more aggressive energy that has been a part of the band for a few albums is certainly ever-present. The closer “Never Dawn” doesn’t lack for atmosphere, but it’s biggest perk is the massive riffing that defines it once it picks up steam. Eerie atmosphere is bolstered by some of the strongest, heaviest riffs in the album as the Ferro/Scabbia vocal dynamics go at full throttle. “Hosting the Shadow” also utilizes Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe in the vocal mix and gives it an even heavier feeling when he takes the mic. The opening cut “The Siege” features some enticing melodies from Scabbia in the chorus, with increased intensity from Ferro’s shouts in the background, providing a nice contrast of heaviness and melody.

This heavy iteration of Lacuna Coil has always been one to watch, and Sleepless Empire shows the band still has plenty of hunger even with three decades under their belt. They continue to grow and shift their sound into new and exciting directions while recognizing the core sound of the band and embracing it. This album should please those who have kept up with the band, as well as continue to garner new eyes and ears as they hear the combination of big grooves and bewitching melodies.

Lacuna Coil official website
Lacuna Coil on Facebook

Phrenelith – Ashen Womb (Dark Descent Records/ Me Saco Un Ojo Records)

Matt Coe
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Phrenelith – Ashen Womb (Dark Descent Records/ Me Saco Un Ojo Records)

Together since 2013, Danish band Phrenelith have been very active on the recording front – releasing numerous demos, EPs, and two previous full-lengths before this third album Ashen Womb hits the streets. The four-piece sit firmly in the obliteration death metal mold, coming at things from more of a brutal landscape – although there’s this sinister darker atmosphere that pervades much of the songwriting. Engaging listeners through a mixture of focused arrangements as well as the occasional epic offering, you’ll get nine haunting tracks that strike hard into the underground hordes who clamor for vicious riffs, savage growls, and blasting measures next to controlled elements that pummel bodies.

The record opens with “Noemata” – a doom-like death piece under two minutes that resonates well in its lower tremolo-picking plus ambient guitar layers, setting the stage for the relentless “Astral Larvae”. Drummer Andreas Nordgreen shifts seamless between his blast beat parts and normal death metal tempos in this intense manner – almost tribal when need be, yet not quite off the rails in spots. The guitar work hits all the ferocious parameters, David and Simon Daniel unfurling some sinister rhythms, counterpoint stop/start action to make “A Husk Wrung Dry” and ominous “Stagnated Blood” standouts. When these musicians choose to expand their abilities, you get an almost ten-minute epic title cut to close the record. Between the cultural instrumental sequences next to the frenetic tremolo-fueled blasting passages, the rhythmic growls serve notice that you are in for a whirlwind of aural activities – old school death metal at its finest, stopping on a dime around 5:40 for a quieter yet no less evil twist before the aggressive pace kicks in swirling momentum like tornados ripping apart the land before them.

Even the branch-laden band logo next to the volcanic eruption on the cover speaks volumes to Phrenelith’s appeal if you dig acts like Incantation, Immolation, or Morbid Angel of old. Ashen Womb gets the job done in under 40 minutes – achieving all aspects one would expect in an ideal death metal platter.

Phrenelith on Facebook

Amaidontoudai – Memoire Rouge (Self-Released)

Katarina McGinn
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Amaidontoudai – Memoire Rouge (Self-Released)

Amaidontoudai (甘い断頭台), or “Sweet Guillotine,” is a relatively new act formed in March of 2023. It comes with an interesting, if not a bit wild, premise. The theme of the band is that “Those decapitated during the French Revolution come back to modern Japan and start a girl’s metal band.” And yes, it does sound like some sort of out-there anime premise. But don’t mistake the theme as being something that is less serious. Amaidontoudai deal in an intriguing mixture of power metal, gothic vibes, and even some melodeath. Something that should impress those who discover them.

After a suitably cinematic and gothic introduction titled “-The Ceremony of Decapitation-” the music quickly accelerates into fiery power metal glory with “Fumetsu no Hana,” which continues the atmospheric notes while the dual guitar shredding of Yuria and Hitomi is put on full display. Minami Maria’s vocals hit the classic power metal frequencies, and she carries a solid range, even if her growls don’t get the full focus until the later cut “Chi.Shi.Bu.Ki.” where they interchange frequently with her singing, while the music around her intensifies to the point of hitting a more gothic-drenched melodic death metal aesthetic. Add in some neoclassical guitarwork and it’s a excellent scorcher at the album’s midpoint. “Labyrinthe” showcases a restrained, melodic sense, really letting the atmosphere add to the power metal underpinnings, giving it a strong gothic vibe at the same time.

The recent single “Bloody Dress” still seems the perfect entry point for this particular act. The explosive drumming, soaring guitar melodies, and just the right blend of shredding and gothic energy make it an incredibly catchy track that plays to even some light black metal vibes when Louis gets the drums going full tilt. That said, the guitar-forward melodies are a constant highlight, and another  track that really does a nice job of standing out is “Barairo-kakumei Wonderland.” The melodies are as playful as they are bombastic and riff-fueled, and augmented by a driving energy, rumbling basswork, and cinematic atmosphere that really allows it to take off before the catchy yet thunderous chorus.

Amaidontoudai quickly make a name for themselves as an emerging act that can effectively pull together the frenetic energy of power metal shred and haunting gothic atmosphere to tap into a sound that feels ripe with promise. Memoire Rouge can absolutely soar when it wants to, or insert a dark, macabre mood instead. There’s a lot of fruitful ground they can play with in the in between space going forward.

Amaidontoudai official website
Amaidontoudai on Instagram

Katoaja – Witness the Vanishing

Matt Coe
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Katoaja – Witness the Vanishing

Appearing in our collective website email inbox, Finnish act Katoaja displays an interesting blend of rock and metal influences across the board for their debut album What We Witness. Aspects of Genesis to Pain of Salvation, Gojira to Opeth, and everything in between appear in the songwriting and performances for this set of material. We reached out to bassist Matias Ärrälä and vocalist Juho Kiviniemi to learn more about their musical background, how the band came together, the work behind the album, thoughts on the Finnish metal landscape, worries about the world, and insight into the next record.

Dead Rhetoric: What are your earliest memories surrounding music growing up in childhood? At what point did you gravitate towards heavier or more progressive forms of music – and eventually the desire to want to perform in bands?

Matias Ärrälä: My beginnings with music overall started with my mom’s record collection. Saturday Night Fever, the soundtrack, Jamiroquai, and all kinds of 70s disco stuff. That’s where the rhythm heavy disposition comes in originally, because I love to dance and bang on stuff when I was a kid. When I was around twelve, I found a friend who played the drums, and a bass was handed to me in a music class. It was the first time music made sense to me. The first song I played was by Ozzy Osbourne.

Then of course we are both from northern Finland, and heavy metal is very prominent over there. Many famous metal bands from Finland come from up there. That’s what many of my friends listened to, and it was the cool thing to like. I grew out of thinking about the coolness of it and just found the subject matter fascinating and the rhythmic content of it. I also fell in love with progressive rock, Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson, quite early. They are cinematic and the story-telling qualities, especially in like Relayer, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, all of the craziest stuff has stuck with me the most. Although I do love simple pop stuff made well of course. The things that have stuck with me the most have been rhythmically complex, and somehow innovative.

Now I’m thirty, and we got the ball rolling with this band a couple of years ago. It’s been a long progression.

Juho Kiviniemi: My father was quite the prolific accordion player. He was doing the Finnish touring circuit for a while. That’s the earliest memory for me, entertaining people and playing music could be a thing that you could do. For me, it was a coincidence that my brother played bass in a band up north where I was from. Somewhere around high school, it was full of guitar players, nobody seemed to want to play bass. At that time, I thought I could borrow my brother’s bass. That was around the time when Nightwish was starting to get really huge. That’s how I got into the heavy music stuff. We were trying to do covers of Children of Bodom, Pantera, stuff like that. We met for the first time doing a pop/jazz conservatory at the same time. Metal was on our minds, and Matias was playing in this cool Jimi Hendrix tribute (act).

Eventually we moved to Helsinki to do more studies in music. I started doing music production studies and Matias did more bass studies full-time. Things happened, I had these songs – and it has come to this point. We knew each other at the school, and I’m glad we got together to do this.

Ärrälä: One thing too is we have both played tons of different kinds of music. For work and for leisure, and we are not shy about that. In a way we are kind of from the outside of metal, but we both have a really long running love for this.

Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about the origins of Katoaja – how you arrived at the members that are involved, as well as your unique band name?

Kiviniemi: When I was doing my music production studies, there was a time where I had to do my thesis thing. The whole thesis was about how to incorporate lots of synthesizers in metal music, because there wasn’t a lot of material about it. How to get into it, because it’s such a guitar-oriented genre to begin with. I did that, and it was okay. At that time, we were done with that project, and I went to do my exchange studies in the Netherlands. I remember feeling like suddenly everyone was bonding around me nicely, but I didn’t find any traditional party life, exchange studies and I started doing songs in my dormitory. One of the first songs I made is the first song on the album “Nothing and Nothing More”. And the title track.

I sent those songs to the guys, and everyone seemed to be into it. At first, we weren’t even making an album to be fully honest. We were just messing around. Our guitar player Miko (Tekoniemi) and our drummer Eero had this rehearsal space they were using for this pop artist they were working with here in Finland, so they told us they had this space, maybe we can use this for recording. That’s how it started. And when Matias made the second song fully “The Sinking Cathedral”, it started to feel like this would be an album.

About the name of the band – we were rolling around with lots of different ideas. It was just something that stuck. We wanted to say something (that was) mysterious. In Finnish the name would roughly translate to ‘he/she who disappears or vanishes’. That sounds interesting. And we wanted it to be one word, we wanted to avoid a whole sentence because that is a metalcore thing.

Ärrälä: We also desperately wanted to avoid the heavy metal Latin thing (laughs). We wanted something that we could really stand behind. It’s in everything we do, really – up to the song titles, the tones that we use. We want everything to be something that feels fresh and inspiring.

Dead Rhetoric: What We Witness is the band’s debut album. What can you tell us regarding this set of material as far as the songwriting and recording process? How do you feel about the final output at this point in time?

Ärrälä: The album, the order in which the songs appear on the album is basically the order in which they were recorded, if I remember correctly. You can hear the progression throughout the album that we eventually started to know what we were doing. Especially vocal-wise. We were a bit new to the whole screaming thing. I had actually done it more than Juho had – but we learned it together. By the time you get to the last track “The Source”, it starts to sound kind of brutal (laughs). We’ve been working on new material already, and the vocals have been a non-issue now, we have learned how to do it in a pleasing way to us.

About the recording process. It came down to me and the drummer Eero, rehearsing the songs together and recording the songs live in the room together. Then guitars, vocals, and keyboards were layered on top of that. In the case of “Nangijala”, the keyboards were from the demo version, so we played over the top of those (parts).

Kiviniemi: In retrospect, it felt risky sometimes. We had some issues getting people to the same place. I feel the end result feels very coherent. It feels like a whole album instead of a bunch of singles put after each other. It had this danger aspect all the time in that sense, and this is something that we are going to change for the second album. We didn’t rehearse these songs as much as maybe we would have liked. It keeps the whole thing interesting.

Ärrälä: It did feel a little bit dangerous. We turned off the click tracks for a couple of sections on a few songs.

Kiviniemi: Overall I think (the record) turned out really great. And that’s probably because all the individual players have a really strong foundation. This is not our first band by any means, we have been doing all kinds of stuff. That’s what made it possible to do this in kind of a disjointed way. I’m really happy, and I think the lyrics and storytelling aspect came out really good.

Ärrälä: The narrative aspects that came about lyric-wise, it was kind of an accident. We didn’t know we were making an album during the recording of the first track. The music told us what to do in a sense. It feels weird, because it’s a complete product and everything feels like it makes sense now but most of it didn’t make sense to us during the actual process. We were just doing what sounded good. I mostly tried to convey a consistent theme and use words that sounded good coming out of my mouth. (laughs). It ended up making sense.

Dead Rhetoric: You made a conscious effort to keep things more organic and less polished, especially in the rhythm section department, with the production and tones on this album. Can you discuss your thought process behind this?

Kiviniemi: It comes down to our preferences in what we like to listen to in not just metal music. We like things when it comes to the rhythm instruments, I want to hear the personality of the players. When you listen to old thrash records, I like the feeling that it barely holds together and it’s going crazy. I strongly feel that 90% of modern metal records are totally overproduced. They almost sound like EDM – which I do love as EDM, but not in my metal music, please. That was the core intention – let’s not overedit this, let’s just let things sound natural. It’s nice to record what’s going on in our heads musically in the moment.

Ärrälä: For me production-wise, it was very important to give this record an organic feel. I have played on albums in which I listen to the final product, and I felt like it would have been totally irrelevant who played the bass on it. For example, it is produced to such a sterilized sausage, it could have been any one of my bass colleagues or programmed. It makes everything feel less worthwhile to me. On some of my favorite albums, you can hear every player’s personality so clearly. David Bowie’s Blackstar, or Synchronicity by The Police. I would like to strive for this when making music that we are really not going to make a profit on. Speaking bluntly – first and foremost this is for us, and the more we make this for us with very hardline principles, the more it might resonate with someone else.

Dead Rhetoric: What would you consider some of the biggest challenges the band faces at this stage of your career?

Ärrälä: Getting gigs! (laughs)

Kiviniemi: Yeah, that’s the big one. This is an international issue, in Helsinki as well as all across Finland. There are a number of decent-sized clubs that have been closed down, so you need to send out emails very early to the venues. Anything that is good for this size band, it’s so hard to get the right people even to connect with them. They get hundreds and hundreds of emails. It’s something that is not a very Finnish thing to do, to annoy people with emails. But you need to do this.

Musically speaking, we don’t really have any challenges. I feel we are surprising ourselves as we have similar backgrounds in music. The whole starting to get the live train running is the biggest hurdle right now.

Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the major differences in playing live versus how the songs are on record?

Ärrälä: According to the few live performances we have done, we like things a bit more brutal live. We want the impact to be a bit heavier. Less of the ambient qualities live as well. We don’t use click tracks or backing tracks live at all. We like it that way. We love Meshuggah and all those bands that have this huge live impact. You can be more subtle on record, but live you have to be a bit more immediate.

Kiviniemi: That’s the main difference. Live is more straightforward and more brutal. If I don’t feel after a live gig just dying a little bit, then I haven’t done enough. In my experience, with the few gigs we have done, people seem a little bit surprised about this fact. I’m hesitant about the label of progressive metal to be honest. That’s because it tends to mean so much that it doesn’t really mean anything. You always get, ‘oh – you are like Dream Theater?’. Yes, sure – but that’s not what we are going after.

Dead Rhetoric: How do you view the metal landscape across Finland/Scandinavia versus other parts of the globe?

Ärrälä: Finland has its own style of metal traditionally, but it has become a bit more homogenized with what’s going on globally. I think people are under so much pressure to have music that sounds like valid internationally. Production quality and style-wise, it has stifled the creativity in the Finnish metal scene a bit I feel. There are great Finnish metal bands still – especially like older ones that have zero interest in what’s going on in contemporary metal. Like Stam1na for example – they just do their own thing, and it’s brilliant. Finland has this weight on its shoulders, metal-wise because of bands like Nightwish, HIM, Sonata Arctica. They have represented Finland in metal for so long. There are many copycats of those bands.

Kiviniemi: When it comes to Finland, the shadows of those giants are so huge. To me, personally, the metal scene – there are two or three melodic death metal bands in every little town. The basic baseline qualities are fine. Everybody knows how to produce good sounds, for me personally they are artistically stagnant. There are good things going on also – when it comes to Finland, things are evolving. Most bands are struggling to make things appealing, because of streaming, you have to get to immediate choruses. Overall, globally, there are lots of cool things going on – I’m not especially worried. The best things are still to come. Oranssi Pazuzu is one of the most amazing bands, their new album has been a great success globally. We are friends with one of the guitar players, we went to school with him.

Dead Rhetoric: What concerns or worries do you have the most about the world that we live in today? If you had the opportunity to work on one or two things to make society better as a whole, what do you think needs to be tackled first?

Ärrälä: As the political and lyric writer of the band, oh man, where do I begin? Maybe I should focus on one thing. The trifecta of China, US, and Russia is really scary right now. Oligarchies, billionaires, all that. Our lyrics aren’t online, but once they are – “Sinking Cathedral” are my brief thoughts on this subject. Money is the root of all evil. That’s all that is about, the things I mention. Money, influence. That’s a broad subject, and I’m really not equipped to delve into this much deeper. The imbalance of power, all that I’m rooting for (is) the little guy.

Kiviniemi: One big thing would be to make things better – keep pushing money to good education. That’s mostly because so much of the current landscape seems to be about information, warfare, and things like that. If we at some point can come to a common base of facts, things will get a little bit easier.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for the next year or so with Katoaja in terms of promotion, live performances, etc.?

Kiviniemi: At the moment we are getting the ball rolling with live shows. The big one for us, we will start rehearsing for a second album. We almost have this second one done composing-wise.

Ärrälä: The second album, of which we cannot say too much about, there’s something we know about it already. Now that we’ve had some experience playing live, we’ve tried to get that heavier impact, we notice that this second album will be more brutal, more direct. There will be less of those ambient things. It’s going to be much crazier, too. We have played two brand new songs live too, and they’ve gone down well live. We are feeling confident with our direction.

Katoaja on Facebook

Marko Hietala – Roses From the Deep (Nuclear Blast)

Matt Coe
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Marko Hietala – Roses From the Deep (Nuclear Blast)

Officially leaving Nightwish in 2021 to prevent further personal difficulties (including depression) from worsening, Finnish musician Marko Hietala continues to pursue his own creative endeavors through his solo records. Roses From the Deep is the second such outing – a follow-up to Pyre of the Black Heart that came out in early 2020, showcasing the man’s songwriting and stylistic prowess across multiple genres of rock and metal.

There’s a steady stream of versatility present track by track that encompasses the more symphonic / gothic side of his influences right away on the anthem-like first cut “Frankenstein’s Wife” which soon shifts into a more progressive, early 90’s Queensrÿche-ish meets 70s Led Zeppelin-like direction on the follow-up “Left on Mars” featuring Tarja Turunen delivering a stunning trade-off duet for the ages. Explorative passages come into focus on “Dragon Must Die” – an eight-minute plus epic that contains Celtic/folk overtones next to normal rock/metal instrumentation, the atmosphere throughout dramatic in lighter or heavier measures to keep ears pinned as well as the crunchier midsection next to Marco’s forward thinking bass work. His Finnish heritage also factors in for “Tammikuu” – the bright keyboards next to the driving guitar work ideal to match the theatrical vocal melodies on display.

Marko’s history has always dipped into a mixture of progressive, folk, symphonic, and gothic influences from older rock to classic/current metal categories. It’s why you’ll get to enjoy a straightforward track like “Proud Whore” where the slower, bluesy verses build to this uplifting chorus featuring multi-part choir action, all the way to a riff-oriented pleaser with “Impatient Zero” that allows plenty of guitar shred fury to infiltrate the instrumental break sequence. Ending on a reflective quieter note with the title track, the musicians assembled execute these songs in a professional manner, no matter what style changes or feel is thrown at them.

If you are familiar with Marko’s history not just with Nightwish, but also his time in Tarot or guest work in Ayeron and Delain, you’ll easily understand the man has many sides to express in his music. Roses From the Deep presents a magnificent selection of songs where the minor touches matter as much as the rich melodies or large hooks on display. This scribe can’t wait to hear what appears next down the line.

Marko Hietala on Facebook

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