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Charlotte Wessels – Exorcising Demons

Katarina McGinn
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Charlotte Wessels – Exorcising Demons

Back in 2020, Charlotte Wessels began a rigorous release schedule of writing and releasing one song a month as a solo artist. She’s since released two Tales from Six Feet Under releases as a compilation for those who don’t follow her on Patreon. But now we are on the eve of her newest release, The Obsession, which takes a different shape. Instead of a direct lift, she brought back four former Delain members into her band along with Sophia Vernikov to bring these songs into a full-band sound. We chatted with Charlotte about the process, her continued monthly releases through Patreon, mental health, and much more.

Dead Rhetoric: After the monthly Patreon songs and the two Tales from Six Feet Under albums, how do you feel that songwriting approach has benefited when you did The Obsession?

Charlotte Wessels: I have been doing a song a month for a long time now, since May of 2020. I’m still doing it. For this record, I kind of made it part of the process, because I figured if I wanted to work on a traditional album again and if I was ambitious…I had ideas. If then, at the same time, I still wanted to do a song a month on Patreon, it was probably going to be very challenging. So I decided to make that a part of the process. I’m still going to release a song every month; I’m just going to let my Patreons know that. Before, I would consider songs that made it to the Patreon finished…they were done.

That’s also what the Tales records were. I wrote the songs and put them up and that was it. I might have tweaked here and there when I put them on the [Tales] record, but not a whole lot. I just told them [Patreons] that I’m going to keep doing the same thing and post music every month, but contrary to what it was before, this music might still change or become something else, or I might re-arrange it. It’s the first incarnation of the song. It might grow into something else from there. For the Tales records, the Patreon version was where it ended. For The Obsession, it was the end of phase one, which was the writing and introspective part, which I do here in the basement. But then, I took it to the next phase, which was rearranging and rewriting. This was also something I did with the band. Timo [Somers] did a lot of work in taking the guitars and building it into amazing arrangements. We made the songs ready for the band recordings. Vikram Shankar did some amazing key arrangements as well.

Everyone put their stamp on how they recorded the songs when they recorded their parts. I went over all my vocals again. I had recorded them already but I went over them again with Oliver Phillips. I still did a monthly song because it really helps me to keep me going, but for The Obsession I made it a part of the album process, where it was the first version of the song. Now people can see how the songs have changed with that entire process coming after it.

Dead Rhetoric: It might actually be kind of cool that the people following you get that sneak peak and see that initial version of the song and how it changes.

Wessels: Sometimes I also keep forgetting it. I’ve been putting videos out too, and I have always given the Patreons a preview of the video and then it was like, oh cool they are going to see the video but they already know the song since it was a song of the month. In my mind, I’m still in the same place, but I keep forgetting that they haven’t heard the new version of the song. They just know what I put on Patreon back then. They are hearing these songs in this form for the first time. It’s very cool! Now when I give them the song previews, they hear the music and see the videos for the first time, which is a different experience altogether.

Dead Rhetoric: The Tales albums were very diverse and eclectic, breaking away from the more traditional symphonic metal sound. Do you feel more confident in rediscovering your own voice as a solo artist now?

Wessels: Yeah, I’ve been experimenting so much. In the beginning of this Patreon adventure, it was very intentionally not doing symphonic metal since I was still in Delain and I would kind of keep those ideas for new band songs. So in the beginning, I was only doing different things. After the band split, it kind of started mixing back into the material again. But I was still all over the place and enjoying mixing different genres and sounds and ways of making songs. It was interesting to me after working for so long inside a certain framework.

But when I started thinking about doing this album, and I didn’t want it to just be a compilation of what I have done, and I wanted it to be a different kind of project and effort, with a start and a finish. Songs that were written to be on an album together and have a cohesive sound. I really started to think about what I wanted the songs to be, and what songs made me really happy. I was also thinking about the band, because when I wrote the songs here during COVID, on my own, you make different choices musically, because electronic elements will sound really cool when you play them that way. But it might be different when I do guitar parts on my midi keyboard, because that’s how I do them, because they might not sound as cool. But now, we did the shows with the band and I had talked about the album and they wanted to do this project with me. So knowing that the band would be there, I started writing differently and with the band in mind. It was a whole process.

I could still have more confidence, I have space in my confidence meter. But in terms of doing things outside of the genre that are maybe expected of me, I’m confident.

Dead Rhetoric: Looking back at a previous talk with you, there was a feeling of songs ‘not being good enough’ or not finishing them, but the Patreon monthly piece helped with that. Do you feel that you’ve gotten more confidence in your writing ability in the past few years?

Wessels: I guess, but there will be always be part of me that has self-doubt about everything. I’m very happy about this record, and how everything came out. But I can’t, in all honesty, say I’m confident because I’m not really. I’m sorry, it’s a thing [laughs].

Dead Rhetoric: Aww, It’s an honest answer. I think if someone is like, “my stuff is GREAT,” that leads to its own potential problems too. Not even to the point of being cocky, but you are so sure that everything you do will be fantastic, you might not try new things or look things over the way you should.

Wessels: That’s true, that makes me feel better about that.

Dead Rhetoric: So what was it like to gather this group of individuals for the band, particularly in knowing your shared history with Delain for Timo, Otto [Schimmelpenninck van der Oije], and Joey [Marin de Boer]?

Wessels: It was amazing. We always keep our personal connection. I don’t think anything really changed in that. It was just very special and emotional to share the musical synergy that we have again. It’s weird, because you can’t really explain why or how something works in a combination of people when you put them together in a studio. But we did the drum recordings, Joey is a phenomenal drummer of course, but we did that with the entire band there because we wanted ‘that feel’ to it. We wanted it to feel organic.

I think too it’s quite common in this genre to really edit the drums to make them sound really like a machine. It can sound really cool, no shade to that, but we wanted to do something different where it could be very organic, which you can do when your drummer is as good as Joey. When we were all in the studio together, it was just really wonderful. I have no other words for it. We have that personal connection, but now we got to share our musical connection again also. For me, it was an emotional and very good moment.

Dead Rhetoric: I think that for many long-time fans of Delain, myself included, it’s really cool just to see the four of you doing something together again. 

Wessels: And Sophia [Vernikov] is doing great! She’s the new one. I feel that we all have that shared history, but she had her own full circle moment of herself with this record as well. We recorded grand piano and Hammond for The Obsession on a number of songs, which she did at Sandlane Recording Facilities, which is fun because Joost van den Broek, who works there, actually recommended me to her. So it was really nice that she got to do her part for the record there.

Dead Rhetoric: I know you didn’t want to do a ‘band’ for a while. Did your choices of people make it feel more comfortable in that scenario?

Wessels: Definitely. I didn’t really consider it any other way, to be honest. I do think that it is a very big part of it for sure.

Dead Rhetoric: I hate to bring this up, so apologies in advance, but knowing the way things go and the way things get written up, are you ready for the inevitable Delain comparisons?

Wessels: No, I don’t think I’m prepared. I have thought about this because there was someone saying this [before]. I don’t have any influence over it, and I also don’t know if I should. I don’t know if I want to weigh in on that, one way or another. If that is what people do, I cannot stop it. I certainly don’t want to encourage it, but it is something that will happen outside of my sphere of influence. Also, I don’t want to be too judgy about it either.

Dead Rhetoric: There’s a lot of personal elements to the lyrics on The Obsession. The press sheet talks about the music being an ‘exorcism,’ and there is one song titled exactly that. It that how the songs feel to you in terms of the lyrical presentation?

Wessels: Sometimes they do, especially “The Exorcism,” that one is really cathartic. I still have moments where I will just have many feelings and I will not know any way to deal with those except for making it into songs. Then sometimes it will feel better. That happened for a number of songs on this record I think.

Dead Rhetoric: Much of the time, people talk about the positives of putting yourself into the music in the lyrical approach. What do you feel are some of the drawbacks or negatives if you see any?

Wessels: It can be sort of vulnerable. You are kind of putting your weaknesses on display. It can also feel just a little embarrassing at times. I always have this feeling that I always want the music to be useful, in a way. I want people to listen to it and feel better, or not feel alone. I want it to do something. I feel like, especially if you are talking about things that are a bit complicated, the only way to accomplish that is to be honest.

I have certainly had moments where I was thinking, like with “Dopamine,” for example, it’s about that numbness from the antidepressants. In a lot of Western countries, like 1 out of 10 people are on these sorts of medications. I didn’t know about any of these side effects and I felt like it was kind of taboo to talk about it. So that was motivation for me to put it in the song. But I definitely scratched my head when I was like, “do I really want to be singing that I am dying just trying to get off” but then I realized that if I wanted to talk about the things that people don’t talk about the side effects, then I have to say all of those things. So it can feel a bit vulnerable, and I don’t know if there are people who would judge you for it…probably there are.

Dead Rhetoric: The internet…

Wessels: [laughs] There will always be someone judging you on the internet.

Dead Rhetoric: Looking specifically at the “Dopamine” video, how did you want that to portray the lyrics of the song visually?

Wessels: I wanted the video to be one big Dopamine shot. I wanted it to be super colorful and super happy, but then I wanted us, Simone [Simons] and myself, to be completely deadpan and sad in the middle of it. I had this vision of crying over a birthday cake, and that’s the vibe we went for and took it over the top. I kind of wanted the video to give people watching it the Dopamine shot that I was talking about lacking, in the song.

Dead Rhetoric: You mentioned the taboos, and it’s almost kind of shocking at this point, at least within the metal scope, because there’s a lot more people that voice things in regards to mental health and different conditions, that there is that taboo sense. But if you compare it to the pop scene, where there’s not really much talk about it, it makes more sense that there’s more of a compulsion to talk about them in the other music scenes.

Wessels: I think it’s probably also there in pop, the genre, as a whole. I think that just within the most popular songs are often songs that are easy to digest. So I think that there is less. In the metal scene, especially at festivals, there are often flyers and telephone numbers for groups and places where you can go. I think that it’s improving. I don’t know as much about that from a pop perspective as much as metal because it’s not really my scene. But I hope it’s there too. I hope there is a level of support and discussion, and I think so.

Dead Rhetoric: Given the metal scene being more of your area of expertise, what would you like to see more in the scene as we move forward in the metal industry, scene, or community?

Wessels: One thing that I am hoping for, you see a lot of people stop touring because it’s so expensive. I hate to be the person that says ‘things should just become less expensive’ because it’s like poof I just wave my magic wand. But let’s put it in a positive spin, I hope there is enough of a stage for artists who are just beginning or don’t have enough of a financial support behind them. I am funding a lot through the Patreon, for which I am so so so grateful. Now I have a deal with Napalm Records again and they are so supportive. And it’s still a big investment! I just hope that making music doesn’t become something that you can only do if you are fortunate enough to support it. So I hope there is enough stage and support for everybody.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s next for you this fall and into 2025?

Wessels: I am still doing the song of the month, and I should probably write a song like right now because I have a mixing day coming up and I don’t know what I am writing yet. So there are some songs coming, then we have one more festival, then there’s a song coming up with Kamelot and it’s going to be nice to be on the stage with them again on October 11. We also have a release show in Utrecht which I’m really excited about. Then we are going on tour with Vola. I’m very excited for that too, and I’m a big fan of them. Then we are making plans for next year. We have our hands full.

Dead Rhetoric: Realistically with the song release schedule on Patreon, do you see yourself getting back to the US?

Wessels: I really hope so, and I think realistically maybe. It should be possible. I don’t know when and I don’t know where, but I am working on it. I’m actively chasing that.

Charlotte Wessels on Facebook
Charlotte Wessels on Instagram

Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse (Prosthetic Records)

Matt Coe
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Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse (Prosthetic Records)

Consisting of two members from Khemmis, Glacial Tomb showcases more of the extreme blackened/death side of things for guitarist / vocalist Ben Hutcherson and bassist David Small. Drummer Michael Salazar fills out the three-piece lineup that has been together since 2016, issuing their Cognitive Erosion debut EP in 2017 followed by a self-titled album in 2018. Now a part of the Prosthetic Records roster, Lightless Expanse encompasses material that takes on mental illness and philosophical pessimism, a nine-song offering where aspects of sludge / doom careen headfirst into death / black heavy horizons, as melodic nuances cascade in unexpected places.

The duality of Ben’s caustic screams and fierce growl presence allows the musical attack an extra dynamic edge to keep things bone-chilling throughout – while the occasional spirited progressive, jagged riffing sits comfortably against the normal low-tuned, crushing proceedings. His lead work contains the right elegance against a series of bends, twists, and energetic push – check out “Enshrined in Concrete” or the slower yet no less body churning “Worldsflesh” for some jazzy meets frantic thrill rides. The symbiotic rhythm section connection between David and Michael creates this aural advantage over others in this genre – equally capable of pushing the limits of their abilities one measure, then settling into this hypnotic, circular groove platform a la the best acts from the 90s be it Scandinavian or Florida-based influentially. When these musicians employ speed or blast beats, they also conversely execute head whipping controlled passages that set ears on high alert – the occasional use of left-field sweeps or clean ambiance another dynamic component to embed these tracks deeper into your brain matter through subsequent playbacks.

Specific bands become difficult to bring to the forefront in terms of Glacial Tomb’s style – one minute you can hear Gorguts frenzy progression against Dismember or Gatecreeper-like death riffs, the next a bit more Primitive Man or The Black Dahila Murder meeting Gojira in a back alley. Standouts include the upbeat “Abyssal Host” with its high velocity riffs next to the energetic bass/ drum action where Ben deftly switches between his blackened raspy voice and savage Swedish-like death growls as well as sludge-oriented title cut that ends the record, its ending instrumental sequence able to take your breath away while spasmodic bursts leap from every limb of the body to the hooks on hand.

Given a lot of renewed interest in multifaceted extreme metal over the last few years, its easy to hear why Glacial Tomb could raise a few eyebrows to the good because of Lightless Expanse. The right balance between aggression and progression in tightly constructed three and a half to four and a half minute arrangements should appeal to a healthy underground climate – as well as the fringe element seeking out something familiar to their sludge death/blackened tastes.

Glacial Tomb official website

Glacial Tomb on Facebook

Eradicator – The Paradox (Metalville)

Matt Coe
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Eradicator – The Paradox (Metalville)

Already impressing this scribe through their previous release Influence Denied back in 2021, German thrash unit Eradicator celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band on this sixth studio album The Paradox. Choosing to stimulate minds in deep lyrical thoughts about the dichotomy between human thought and action plus the ambivalence that occurs out of this, topics like human denigration between perpetrators and victims, environmental destruction in a sci-fi / space debris filled fictional world, and the ubiquitous peace through war landscape go in tandem with a dynamic melodic thrash approach. The additional death metal vocal textures beyond heavier, mid-tempo groove-like sequences should attain further deep dives beyond the faster, consistent headbang-driven affairs that take place throughout the course of the record.

Intertwining clean / atmospheric guitar lines injects a diverse, ominous musical landscape right away on the opener “Beyond the Shadow’s Void”, flange effects kicking in next to some progressive cymbal/snare hits before Sebastian Stöber’s normal sadistic roars take over (think a clearer Schmier here) during the mostly mid-tempo riff-oriented proceedings. For those who love swinging for the fences thrash of a Bay Area meets domestic Teutonic variety, look no further than “Drown in Chaos”, the Exodus-like “Hell Smiles Back” or hefty bass / guitar syncopation assault in the gallop-fueled “Fake Dealer” to get your valuable needs met. Those that enjoy stretching the template into semi-ballad, clean horizons will enjoy the almost seven-minute “The Eleventh Hour (Ramble On)” – where specific elements rival the work of classic Megadeth or Metallica in terms of classical / cultural textures before gear shifting into speedier, crunchier terrain for the back half of the arrangement.

Lead breaks between Sebastian and second guitarist Robert Wied reach heroic proportions, a great mix of tradeoffs throughout where each musician injects bluesy aspects next to some serious shred runs that always fit the context or mood portrayed track by track. It’s clear throughout the record that these gentlemen have a firm grasp on what they want to achieve through their influences – striving for a sound that doesn’t gravitate too hard in one stock supply of riffs or similar tempos as to tire out the listeners. Sebastian’s additional growl-laden vocal components on specific tracks (especially in the chorus department) ensure more extreme effectiveness, never taking away from the harmony-oriented / catchy parts that take shape on the musical horizon. Closer “Debris of Demise” could be another benchmark track for the band – the bass play from Sebastian Zoppe outstanding, while the stop / start guitar and drumming shifts harken back to late 80s Heathen / Metallica territory.

The Paradox combines all aspects of the Eradicator playbook into a thoroughly enjoyable thrash outing that never sounds dated, and that’s all one could ask for this deep into the band’s extensive career. Commence circle pits, summoning the vitality that keeps the movement alive into its third generation and beyond.

Eradicator on Facebook

Distant Dominion – Sonic Tsunami

Matt Coe
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Distant Dominion – Sonic Tsunami

Photo: Josh Mahesh Kost

Another pandemic upstart, Distant Dominion is a Philadelphia area unit that consists of players with plenty of seasoning across the extreme metal landscape in acts like Krieg, Mortal Decay, and Rumplestiltskin Grinder. This five-piece for their debut album Ripping Through Time infuses a mix of heavy metal devastation with flourishes of technical intensity, incorporating influences across the spectrum of Death to Atheist, Kreator to Sepultura, even old school classic rock and Mercyful Fate crop up in the songwriting and performances. We reached out to guitarist Joe Gordon to learn about the inception of the group, the sci-fi lyrical content and cover art, influences that separate this work from previous outfits, thoughts on the local scene, Mortal Decay updates, a little NHL talk and future plans including some other albums from other members to look forward to.

Dead Rhetoric: What are some of your earliest memories surrounding music growing up in childhood? At what point did you discover heavier forms of music – and eventually pick up the desire to play an instrument to perform in your own bands?

Joe Gordon: My dad had a record collection when I was a kid. Probably like most kids our age. I would just go through and pick out what I liked cover-wise, put them on, and get lost in the music. I started to play guitar around 12 or 13, it was after I started playing that I started getting into heavier and heavier stuff. Probably when I started high school, I ran into a couple of guys that were into Metallica and stuff, showed me the way. Before then I was totally into classic rock and nothing else. I hit the metal pretty hard when I was in high school. From then on, things just got heavier and heavier.

Dead Rhetoric: Did you take any lessons on guitar or are you pretty much self-taught and learned things by ear?

Gordon: Mostly that. I have six to eight months of total lesson time under my belt, from way early back on. The senior year of high school I needed an extra class, so I took a guitar class, but that was basically rudimentary reading and stuff like that. No real training, I’ve been playing the guitar and doing things on my own for close to 35 years now.

Dead Rhetoric: Can you discuss the formation of Distant Dominion which happened during the pandemic? Did you know straight away the style of metal you wanted to play that maybe differed from other outfits you are involved in?

Gordon: Sure. Ryan Moll and Brian Deal got together probably in November or December of 2020. Started just jamming on some covers and wrote a couple of songs. They were talking about how to fill the lineup out and Brian Deal called me and asked if I wanted to come check it out – I said sure. It was cool, the songs that they wrote were cool, and it went from there. We haven’t followed any kind of format yet. Whatever we think sounds good at the time, usually it ends up being part of the song. Whatever style it is, it doesn’t have to be a certain style. However it comes out, hopefully we like it, and that’s usually how it comes about.

Dead Rhetoric: Ripping Through Time is the debut album for the band. How do you feel the songwriting and recording sessions went on this set of material? Were there any specific surprises, obstacles, or challenges that had to be worked through?

Gordon: No, I think the recording process went pretty smoothly. The drums were tracked in less than two days, the guitars were tracked pretty quickly too. The vocals and bass were done next, and anything extra like the guitar solos and stuff. As far as that, it went really smooth, no delays and no problems. We’d like to have a repeat process of this if we can, no problems.

As far as the writing process, we went in with ‘hey I got this riff’ and just work on it. A couple of things may have been brought in from home, but usually it’s written on the spot. We wrote about eight songs in about two years and got them really tight, went into the studio in February of 2023 and banged them out.

Dead Rhetoric: What were some of the lyrical themes you wanted to get across, or was that as open as the music topic by topic?

Gordon: It was open to start with. We fell into a spacey, kind of sci-fi theme with the lyrics. Which I think with our name fits in with the overall concept we fell into. We are happy with that direction, and I hope things continue in that way.

Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art concept and process of development work between artist Mike Hrubovcak and the band this time? Do you still believe in the importance of striking cover art to set the tone before people press play on the record – especially those who choose to own the physical media?

Gordon: Oh yeah. I think we all grew up getting excited with how the cover art looks and hoping that the music would be just as intense as that, it goes hand in hand. I don’t eat peanut butter and jelly, but I’ve heard those in combination are the same kind of thing. With Mike, he’s a long-time friend of the band so he knows what we are going for. He read through the lyrics to know what he could pinpoint on. Different areas of the cover, I should say. He totally nailed it.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s it like being a part of the Fetzner Death Records roster – they are a relatively new label with an interesting mix of bands all across the world in various styles of death, doom, black, thrash, and speed metal?

Gordon: Yeah, it’s been really cool. Alex is really easy to work with and talk to. A lot of the bands I’ve listened to on the label have been really good. An eclectic mix, and I feel that we really fall into this. It’s been good so far.

Dead Rhetoric: Has the band had the opportunity to play out live so far?

Gordon: We’ve played a handful of shows so far. Our first show was back in April of last year, and then we played in September of last year. Our latest show was just this past March. We are looking to play out. If anybody has seen our other projects and bands, they know what to expect as far as a stage show. It’s totally different than anything we’ve ever done from our other bands. As far as what to expect, come check it out – if you like the record, you’ll like the live show.

Dead Rhetoric: What are the key elements that shape the compositions and performances for Distant Dominion – especially considering the multi-genre influences that you incorporate into your sound?

Gordon: That would just go along with how I was talking about how we just jam a lot of the stuff on the spot. I guess we go song to song with differences in riffing or structuring. A couple of things on this album sound more on the rock side, and some of it was more traditional sounding. It was how we were feeling at the time. The continuation into our writing of our second album now is along the same lines.

Dead Rhetoric: Were there any specific songs on this record that took on the greatest amount of transformation from the initial riff idea to the final output?

Gordon: Some things maybe arrangement-wise, but a lot of the riffs were used. I don’t think we took anything majorly out as far as that. We are a little bit more picky now writing the second (album), as far as maybe this part doesn’t sound right here, or let’s try to mix it with this part from another song, that kind of thing. While we are almost done writing the new album, there are things up for conjecture. As far as the last (album), we wrote how everything was over the two years tightening up the songs we definitely tweaked some things, add a harmony here, things like that.

Dead Rhetoric: How do you view the current underground metal scene on a local, national, and international basis? What excites you most, and what changes (if any) would you like to make for the greater good of all parties involved?

Gordon: I think the only thing that’s missing here is, I’ve been in this scene with another band for a long time Mortal Decay – just a change in venues. There are not any venues in south New Jersey where I’m from anymore. And then bands have all but stopped coming to Philly. I’d like to see the Philly scene pick back up. Other than that, the bands from here are all good, we are all friends, and we want to help each other get together and do stuff together – but it’s kind of hard when there is nowhere to do it. I would like to see the scene venue-wise pick back up.

Dead Rhetoric: You recently had the chance to attend the 20th anniversary Decibel magazine show – how was it in your view and what were some of your favorite bands?

Gordon: I think it was great. That’s exactly what I was talking about in regard to Philadelphia and how the scene can be. I know there were a lot of people that travelled not far away, but out of state people. The whole day was a great time, nothing but friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better day that way. The bands I liked, Immolation of course – they always kill whenever I see them. It was good seeing Autopsy play Severed Survival, which was killer. Krieg was great, Deathevokation was great, Horrendous- awesome. Crypt Sermon – awesome. It couldn’t have been a better mix of bands on that day.

Dead Rhetoric: What are three metal albums that helped shape your outlook and impacted your views the most to the good of the genre? And what’s your favorite concert / show memory, purely attending as a member of the audience – and what made that memory so special to you?

Gordon: There were a few summers in a row where me and my father would go see the Allman Brothers play at this place in Philly called the Mann Music Center. There’s not like one moment that pinpoints those shows, but it’s just like the amount of shows that me and him together went to. Those were some of my favorites.

For the albums, it depends on the band. For Mortal Decay, it’s brutal death metal related albums. Suffocation albums, early Cannibal Corpse like the first couple of albums, Malevolent Creation – they all got me going into Gorguts. With this stuff, I’m bringing a whole different side of myself to this because I think I’m leaning more on my classic rock influences but playing in a metal style. You know what I mean? It’s a weird dichotomy, because I’m trying not to do what I would do in Mortal Decay, it’s not hard to separate it. It’s a totally different thing from each other. What I listen to when I want to get inspired for Distant Dominion… a lot of doom stuff. Pallbearer, instrumental-wise some Russian Circles. Mastodon of course is a big influence in what I’m trying to do with Distant. Those kinds of bands, stuff like that.

Dead Rhetoric: Speaking of Mortal Decay, there hasn’t been any new material from the band in quite a while. Are you going to be working on new material soon to release, or are you sticking with just playing out live?

Gordon: We are always writing new stuff. It’s just hard, we end up compiling and compiling. We have probably two albums worth of material, we just have to settle down and start picking some stuff that we like a lot and get together. There is a lot there, a lot to sift through, but we are still together.

Dead Rhetoric: What are some hobbies, interests, and passions that you like to pursue away from music when you have the free time and energy to do so? And do you have the proper support from family, friends, and your significant other when it comes to your musical endeavors?

Gordon: Yes, as far as support, I couldn’t be more supported. I am appreciative of my family for that aspect of it – especially my fiancé. Practicing 3 to 5 days a week is not easy on her – it can get to be that many (practices) with Mortal and Distant getting together a couple of days each week. The support is definitely there.

As far as hobbies go, I game a little bit. I like to play sports games – a big NHL guy, I like to watch a lot of hockey when it’s on. Play a lot of that NHL on the PlayStation, once in a while I get out to the driving range and get some swinging in.

Dead Rhetoric: Being an avid NHL fan, do you go with the Flyers or are you a Devils fan?

Gordon: Flyers of course. We live 20 minutes from Philly, and about 90 minutes from North Jersey where the Devils play. It’s an easy choice for me. I get that question all the time – why aren’t you guys Devils fans? It’s because I live only 20 minutes from Philly. The Eagles and Phillies too I love, it takes up a lot of time during the summer with baseball.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the horizon for anything related to Distant Dominion, Mortal Decay, or any of the other bands/ projects the members have over the course of the next twelve months or so?

Gordon: As far as Distant Dominion, we are almost finished writing album number two. Hopefully we will get into the studio soon, probably early next year. For Mortal Decay, we are going to keep on writing and just try to come up with as cool stuff as we can. I know with Ryan and the guy Mike that did our artwork, they are in a band called Azure Emote and they are about to come out with their new album. In the Fire, which is another Ryan project and a Fetzner Death release is out now. Check that out. I think Krieg with Shawn may be ready to do another album. I know they are working on some new songs. That’s pretty much everything.

Distant Dominion on Facebook

Satan – Songs in Crimson (Metal Blade Records)

Matt Coe
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Satan – Songs in Crimson (Metal Blade Records)

Alive in keeping their adventurous brand of traditional heavy metal on course 44 years beyond their inception (with a 20 year ‘lunch break’ in some periods), Satan continually possess tunnel vision in where they want to go album by album. Songs in Crimson, the seventh studio record and third with Metal Blade, pushes a tighter, focused sound where no song passes five minutes, packed to the gills in riffs, progressive transitions, mystical melodies, and tremendous resolve to further the love of the genre while triggering any semblance of computerized, digital-oriented tricks off the map.

What this means as a listener is an ideal, off the floor sonic experience – even when haunting vocal harmonies creep into a Mercyful Fate-ish cut like “Era (The Day Will Come)” beyond the soaring highs ever present in the reliable Brian Ross delivery. The tandem guitar lines of Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins present a multitude of fascinating riffs, counterpoint accents, or energetic lead breaks that point to numerous 70s reference points – a la Yes, King Crimson all the way through to early Judas Priest on winning tracks such as “Whore of Babylon” and “Curse in Disguise”. Themes from anti-capitalism, the pandemic lockdown, personal loss, and historical fare also factor into the mix, providing listeners topics that relate hand in hand to the musical atmosphere put forth. Bassist Graeme English also gets a bit more uplifting spotlight to journey around these compositions with progressive flair as the natural snare / tom sounds from drummer Sean Taylor has a clear, crisp snappiness that never sound overly processed – the heads down anthem “Truth Bullet” one of many highlights in this regard to their seasoned craft at their respective instruments. Each song possesses four to six distant parts that weave themselves into this roller coaster mix of power, progression, and prestige – never wavering in circular hooks from either the vocal or musical side to align those catchy elements necessary for solid, long-term retention in your brain.

Celebrate Satan once again through Songs in Crimson – a testament to a style that always seems vibrant even in 2024. When in the hands, hearts, and minds of the best musicians, the cream rises to the top – another record that keeps the passion for this movement enduring, whether you are a teenager all the way to your golden years.

Satan on Facebook

Crimson Sun – Sorrowbreaker (Self-Released)

Matt Coe
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Crimson Sun – Sorrowbreaker (Self-Released)

Often specific countries already set ears attuned to delightful anticipation mode due to the rich fertile landscape already available in other artists across the metal genre. Place Finland front and center in that category – which is the homeland of melodic metal act Crimson Sun. Together in other namesake forms since 2001, this five-piece came together under their current moniker in 2006, releasing three demos prior to 2013’s The Border EP. Two other full-lengths bookend another EP between 2015-2020, before the band slowed things down to a singles-driven schedule for the pandemic. Now the critical third album Sorrowbreaker showcases the band in focused form, keeping these ten tracks barebones on key elements, heightening the catchy nature to the songwriting that should prove entertaining for most consumers.

Bright, triumphant keyboard lines from Miikka Hujanen next to driving guitars courtesy of Joni Junnila set “The Mark Stays On” into immediate hair windmill delightfulness – all the musicians coming together in mid-tempo passages with subtle harmony aspects for extra appeal. The subsequent tracks traverse different avenues of modern melodic metal – be it more EDM/cyber-enhanced for “Strive”, pounding gothic / industrial-like measures with rhythmic glory on “Aluminum Crown”, or heavier, stunted metalcore-ish riffs next to alluring, calmer verses on the dynamic closer “Sylvan”. One minute you feel like you are hearing Amaranthe collide into Sabaton, the next Lacuna Coil plunging into Gojira, all the while possessing these bright ABBA-like multi-layered vocal harmonies in key choruses that just shimmer. The main vocals of Sini Seppälä possess star making abilities – she knows how to hold the right notes, double up key melodies, and also convey lower register emotions that mesmerize. Utilizing the sound expertise of Saku Moilanen (Before the Dawn, Red Moon Architect) and Jacob Hansen on the mixing / mastering side keeps the band’s sound on par with contemporaries in the modern melodic metal style.

In 34 minutes Sorrowbreaker achieves the intention Crimson Sun set about in bringing a focused set of material to a wide array of metal followers who want pop/EDM-aspects next to a solid set of power chords and melodies that jump through the speakers to command rapt attention. Already composing the fourth album while seeking out gigs to support this release, the future seems burning bright to not remain DIY for much longer based on this output.

Crimson Sun official website

Crimson Sun on Facebook

Eradicator – A Chaotic Paradox

Matt Coe
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Eradicator – A Chaotic Paradox

Celebrating twenty years together as a band, German thrash act Eradicator unleashes their sixth studio platter for The Paradox. The quartet incorporates influences past and present to keep things fresh, as dynamics with melodies and shifting tempos matter just as much as speedy, fast, or aggressively driven riffs. We got the chance to speak with guitarist/vocalist Sebastian Stöber about his early musical memories that got him playing the guitar, deep thoughts on the new album and where they wanted to take their songwriting this time, complex thoughts on knowledge, questions, and answers relating to the lyrics, favorite thrash albums and a couple of underrated German acts to check out, the healthy status of the movement these days, plus future plans.

Dead Rhetoric: What are some of your earliest memories surrounding music growing up in childhood? At what point did you start listening to heavier forms of music – and eventually gain the interest in picking up an instrument to perform in bands?

Sebastian Stöber: I think back and the first thing that comes to mind is I was on a ferry here in our village, and I got my hands on a toy guitar, an air guitar that you pump up with air. I had that on my wall in my childhood room. One day we were watching tv, my father, my mother, my brother and I and there was this movie Crossroads with Steve Vai. There was this crazy guitar battle in the end, and I remember this was the day I wanted to pick up the electric guitar and play music. I enjoyed guitar playing very much – my father then put on the first Van Halen record with “Running With the Devil” and “Eruption” in the beginning, it had a great impact on me. Eddie Van Halen was my guitar hero. We heard a lot of music as children, because our parents liked music, live music, played songs on the stereo. I heard German punk rock in the early days, a raw attitude. It all started for me to be an electric guitar player.

My parents bought me my first electric guitar and I started to play. In the beginning, I was crazy for it. I learned and played three to five hours a day, that was crazy. Shortly before I got that guitar, my father had an old electric bass, he thought I was not ready to play an instrument, so he brought up the bass guitar and gave it to me. I still have it. I worked on that instrument, and saw it was something that interested me a lot. So, he saw that it was time for me to own my own guitar and learn how to play.

My first guitar teacher had a big influence on me in a way. I remember he was also a big Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin fan, but he also introduced me to heavier stuff. I remember that he had a Megadeth record – So Far, So Good, So What – and he lent it to me. It was a time when you burned it or ripped the songs, I was playing that album a lot. This opened a heavier world to me. Our bass player in the band brought some music to me, we’ve been friends since kindergarten. We enjoyed music together; it was a world we discovered together. Metallica – Kill ‘Em All, Slayer – South of Heaven, he introduced me to those two albums, and we started to discover and explore this heavier, more aggressive form of extreme heavy metal.

Dead Rhetoric: The Paradox is the sixth album for Eradicator. How do you feel about the songwriting and recording sessions – were there any specific aspects that you wanted to emphasize or expand upon this time around compared to previous efforts?

Stöber: What’s really important for us as a band is we don’t want to stay the same all the time. We want to emerge or develop, but not that we want to force it. It’s more like if there is something new, we discover for ourselves during the songwriting process, we let it happen. We listen to it as a band, and then we decide if it fits the band’s sound or not. If we like it, then it becomes an Eradicator song. With this album, it’s something special because it’s not only our sixth album which is a lot, but also our twentieth anniversary album. It was really important that the album will be released this year. We wanted to make it a special album, to show the variation of sound this band can come up with. Not just the heavy and fast thrash metal, maybe allow some more clean influences, it may be a little risky. For the first time we started a song with clean guitars, it’s directly the opening track of the record. We allowed this when we came up with the ideas.

The songwriting process, it’s not something we do at the rehearsal room, it’s something that we do when we are sitting at home. We work on our ideas and present them to the others. Then we work on them together and work on the specific ideas, just demo them, and let’s see what are the best ideas that come out of that to make an album. We wrote 12 or 13 songs, and we work on them to drop two of them. We did hold one song back to maybe release in the future, as we did on the last album. We started recording and producing the album with Sebastian ‘Seeb’ Levermann of Orden Ogan, who did the last record with us. We did the guitars on our own, acoustic and electric, bass and leads. We needed to record the drums in a professional studio. This is what Seeb did really well for us. He also reamped the guitars in the studio – but he didn’t have much impact on the ideas, more on the sound and production of the album. We just needed then to do the vocals, I demoed that all on my own in a home studio to get rudiments of the melody lines. I put a lot of time into this this time, I discovered this kind of death metal vocals that I did not use on earlier albums. Seeb made me discover this deep voice, he said he needed something deeper for a second layer in the back, to make the choruses bigger. I just tried it, I never had before, and I believe it was there. This was during the process of the last record we recorded. This time because I really liked how my voice sounded, I tried to put more into this record with the death metal style of vocals. It gives the band a new set of sounds, making it even more variant and special.

The story behind the recording process. We tried to make appointments to record the vocals. Around Christmas we had free time available. Unfortunately, Seeb and I were ill, and could not record. Orden Ogan went on tour, so we had no time to do this together, I had the idea to record the vocals with Jörn Michutta, who recorded and produced our first three records, who lives nearby and is a good friend. They know how to work together; we did this together and it was something special too to go back to our roots. That was something special too for me.

Dead Rhetoric: You mention in the background information for the new record that a lot of the lyrical themes reflect the dichotomy and ambivalence of human action and thought – which reflects current times while viewing your task as stimulating the discourse. Could you delve a little deeper into these struggles humans are dealing with in today’s society – do you believe this is a direct result of all the turbulence and turmoil going on, or other factors at play?

Stöber: Let me think about this a little bit, because it’s complex. On the one side of the coin, all the knowledge is available on your smartphone, your computer that you have in your pocket. If you put a little effort into things, you can learn in school, in university, and the internet if it’s from the right sources. It’s hard to tell though which ones are the right sources. The world is getting more complex, and all the people seem to search for really simple answers to all these complex questions. To me, this is how history was all the time, people searching for answers to really simple questions because complexity can drag you down.

It’s hard with all this knowledge available and people discussing (things) everywhere to trust simple questions, but also trust simple answers. And understand the complexity of the more difficult answers. The people are overstrained with this complexity, and I think this is the brave paradox, like the album title that is going on. We have all this knowledge available, more in our history than ever, but we are still searching for the simple questions and answers. It’s one of the paradoxes that are issues I talk about with the lyrical themes on this record.

Dead Rhetoric: Cripper guitarist Christian Bröhenhorst once again did the cover art for this record, whom you’ve worked previously with for 2018’s Into Oblivion. How did the concept and process work this time around?

Stöber: It’s really easy and very fun to work with Christian. He is a really nice guy. We wanted to get to work with him again, he did the Into Oblivion record for us, and he did a bunch of t-shirt designs for us in the past. We came up with the idea with this strange animal put together with chimera, classical design. We talked about making it more of a character that is something of our own – not the classic character, but elements new to it. Another head, and something like that, the horns. It has this inside out print on this rough paper; you can feel it. I wanted to connect it with a mystical atmosphere, like on the first track on the record, I tried to write it in the style of H.P. Lovecraft, with all those Ktulu references. I think Christian did things well with the background, the seaside with boats in the front which are smashed down by this monster. You see the sea birds in the background forming a mystical atmosphere. We wanted to make it a little easy in terms of not too much color, to go away from this comic style that we had on the last album.

Dead Rhetoric: Musically the band seem to balance a mix of second-generation Bay Area influences of the late 80s/early 90s with a lot of the finesse and power of your own domestic German heritage. What qualities do you believe are essential to make an ideal Eradicator track at this point?

Stöber: Thanks, that’s a compliment to me that mixture that you said. I like different styles of thrash metal. The obvious heroes of the Bay Area are our heroes and models in making music. A few I already mentioned, as well as the second wave like Testament and Death Angel – they have a great impact on my style of playing and I enjoy a lot. Both bands are still relevant today and still putting out great albums. It’s nice to be connected to these bands. The German heroes of the scene, we just attended the big Teutonic Four show a few weeks ago which unfortunately was cancelled after half of the set of Kreator. It was Tankard, Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction playing in front of 7,000 people at an amphitheater.

What makes an Eradicator song a typical ‘Eradicator’ song? We try not to copy off our own style or other bands. It’s really hard, because every riff was already written by Tony Iommi (laughs) – and we just revisit those riffs. A lot about the songwriting for Eradicator is about dynamics. We are not the band that wants to define the sound just with speed or heaviness. We allow all these influences and elements into our songwriting. There is not much speed in a song if you are just thrashing it at 240 BPM all the time – having four-minute songs going fast all the way. If I write a song, I’m bored by just doing the fast stuff. When I am doing a fast part, I feel about where to slow things down and do another heavy riff so that the next fast part is even more effective. That is something that comes naturally in my songwriting and Sebastian Zoppe our bassist’s songwriting. We write all the songs, and we have different ways to write a song, but we have the same claim and attitude. We have the same vision in mind when we think of a new song. We want to make it something that is still relevant and bring new elements to our sound.

Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of thrash metal currently? Do you see distinct differences between the appeal of the old school guard versus the newer generation of acts – and what would you like to see happen to keep the movement alive in the coming years?

Stöber: It will stay alive forever, hopefully, because it’s just the raw spirit of metal that manifests itself in thrash metal. It’s stripped down to the things you really need in the songwriting or metal performances. Drums, bass, one or two guitars, and a vocalist – and that’s everything. The rest of it is the attitude and the performance of the band, what comes from these four or five musicians. This is something you cannot erase from the scene.

When we started with the band in 2004, if you look back from 2004 twenty years, you were in 1984. It was the time when Metallica put out their first album, Exodus didn’t have their first album out. Now it’s like the third or fourth incarnation of thrash metal. What comes to your mind when you think of the new wave of thrash metal scene? We emerged from that in the middle of the 2004-06, the Exodus reunion and Testament reunions happened, and a new thrash generation that are putting more blackened thrash style into things. It’s still alive, and thrash will be alive twenty more years into the future.

Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider three of the most important thrash records in your collection – and what’s an underrated band or two in the genre that you believe people need to spend more time investing in and appreciating?

Stöber: That’s a tough question. The classics are my favorite. The three albums I come back to all the time – Rust in Peace – Megadeth, Never, Neverland – Annihilator, and Seasons in the Abyss – Slayer. These are three albums which are different, all the time when I listen to them, they inspire me to pick up my instrument and have fun playing the songs or write new songs. I’ll name two German underground bands you have to listen to – the first is a little more known called Hatred, southern Germany. Their first official record Madhouse Symphonies is a really amazing record. They did a reunion last year, and more shows are coming up. When I listened to that album in 2009, it blew my mind, I really loved it. It combines a lot of the sounds from those three albums. The other one is a lesser-known band, but we’ve played some shows with from Dortmund called McDeath. They have two records, but at the moment I don’t think they are playing shows anymore. Shout out to Thorsten (Lipiensky) the vocalist and lead guitar player, he’s a really cool guy. I met him at the Rock Hard festival this year. They have two records – the first one is Spit of Fury, and the second one is Lord of the Thrash. If you can get ahold of one of those records, check it out.

Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for anything related to Eradicator over the next twelve months as far as promotion, shows, festivals, tours, etc.? Are you hopeful to hit new countries / territories tour-wise for this record?

Stöber: We did a lot of booking for the upcoming half of the year. We have 14-15 shows scheduled this year, it’s an anniversary tour while we also promote the new album. We are rehearsing the new songs and looking forward to playing them live. We’ve played two songs from the new album already live; we will bring more new songs to the stage. We play on the weekends, we have normal jobs – we are weekend warriors, but really enjoy it. We have some shows for next year that are not yet officially released. Last year, we did a tour with our friends Solitary from the UK, we did four shows together in Germany in one week. In October of 2023 we did four shows in the UK, that was an amazing experience. We will try to make this happen again in the future. Keep an eye on our tour dates.

Eradicator on Facebook

Mass Disorder – Hupokrisis (Self-Released)

Matt Coe
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Mass Disorder – Hupokrisis (Self-Released)

Portugal five-piece Mass Disorder have been delivering their brand of thrash/death since 2013. Naturally working their way through some lineup changes over the years, they released a debut EP The Way To Our End in 2014 as well as a full-length Conflagaration in 2018 for Ethereal Sound Works. Now we have the next recording Hupokrisis, a hard-hitting four song EP that shows no signs in slowing down the relentless precision present in terms of attack, intensity, or technical abilities.

Tight, gallop-oriented downstroke picking, extreme tremolo-fueled passages along with melodic accents pulls from equal Bay Area, Teutonic, and Latin American influences – guitarists Nelson Carmo and Valter Aguiar assaultive in the riff volleys, the lead breaks attuned to classically-tinged runs of fluidity. An active rhythm section foundation secures the groove to progressive transition mechanics necessary to keep the songs actively engaging – as you never know when the next expressive tempo change or thunderous double kick / fill overflow hits the airwaves. No extraneous intros or atmospheric textures exist in these musicians’ world – they literally let the speed, intensity, and power of the instrumentation take command. The immediacy of “Sem Ossos” between the savage screams of vocalist Sandro Martins as well as the incessant headbang-driven rhythms supplemented by key melodic death guitar lines / bends gets the proceedings off on a thrill ride that’s not going to stop until “The Blessing” almost eighteen minutes later. Lyrically tying in to the hypocritical state of the current world humanity has been forced to face, it’s an ideal blend to the tremendous riffs, tempos, and tight transitional diversity present.

Not just a re-tread of basic thrash or death, Mass Disorder combine a lot of the musicianship twists that put Artillery and Heathen on the map, next to the brilliance of Kreator and Sepultura as both transformed from raw aggression to headliners. Hupokrisis should be mandatory listening for all thrash followers, hopefully setting the stage for a second full-length sooner rather than later.

Mass Disorder on Facebook

Mass Disorder on Instagram

Flotsam and Jetsam – I Am the Weapon (AFM Records)

Matt Coe
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Flotsam and Jetsam – I Am the Weapon (AFM Records)

Modern technology in capable hands equals outstanding final results. Especially when you look at the veteran artists in heavy metal who were under the gun of big budget studio time as labels, managers, and outside forces wanted to keep the groups back on the road. Flotsam and Jetsam remember those days as they continually craft upper echelon power thrash forty years deep into an outstanding career through this latest record, I Am the Weapon. Armed with multiple songwriters and thorough digital audio workstations / home studio abilities, the razor sharp execution creates a top to bottom flawless aural odyssey where numerous songs shine, assuring maximum playbacks of endless pleasure.

All five players step their game up in terms of servicing the need of the song – be it through intense, musicianship-filled passages, solid foundational components, or the right accents, harmonies, hooks, or melodies that carry momentum to that next level of high-quality action. The rhythm section of bassist Bill Bodily and drummer Ken Mary especially flex fingers, hands, feet, and brain abilities beyond 95% of their brethren – check out the work of “Burned My Bridges” or thunderous “Gates of Hell” which should leave listeners drenched in sweat. The twin axe action of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley covers every angle imaginable – clean, ambient sequences from the early moments on “A New Kind of Hero” through the stunted riffs and neoclassical sweeps on “Running Through the Fire” showcasing decades of experience in the dynamics these gentlemen latch onto to make things work on each cut. Add in the tremendous, multi-level delivery at singer Eric AK’s disposal and its clear that his ‘underrated’ tag in the community of heavy metal should be abolished – confidently hitting highs in the Halford/Dickinson mold during the title track chorus as if channeling his No Place for Disgrace days, while being a bellowing mid-range force on closer “Black Wings”.

Jacob Hansen weaves his mixing/mastering magic on the record, ensuring a sturdy, full sound that jumps through whatever sound system you choose to employ. Since the band’s self-titled outing in 2016, Flotsam and Jetsam aren’t just aiming to improve record to record – they stake a claim in proving that the band still has plenty of creative vitality to translate appropriately in the modern scene. I Am the Weapon will hit many best-of lists not just in the power/thrash realm, but the overall heavy metal landscape. Well worth its accolades.

Flotsam and Jetsam official website

Flotsam and Jetsam on Facebook

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