…gister to match the moving musical parts, dark or energetic as some of his best work in “Secret Place” or the acoustic-led ballad “Rainbow’s End” illustrate. The group can move from Kamelot to Fates Warning and Symphony X as far as where they go for musical inspiration, intricacies, and technique – displaying fantastic interplay and chops for “One Last Breath” while ensuring solid, memorable hooks and stunning harmonies. Let’s hope that Ithaca all…
A new band from ex-Eskimo Cowboy member Sebastian “Sushi” Biesler, Ghostkid represents a trip into accessible darkness. Meaning that while there’s a metallic element within (mostly of the modern metal, core, and industrial), there’s also a good portion that is tapping into more mainstream elements such as pop, trap, and even nu metal. But if it’s a combination of these things that you are looking for, Ghostkid has some potential to tap into. As n…
…ssage I’m trying to get across, but topics that will suit the music that I write. When you write angry music you have to put angry words to it. For the first time ever on this album, I wrote about some personal experiences. One song in particular, my life was reasonably upheaved a couple of years, and I was unprepared for how things were going to affect me. I touched on that in that song, and that’s different for me. Especially when you write more…
…ink it’s really important to mature as musicians. Be aware, and if you can write a good hook, write one. Don’t limit yourself. Dead Rhetoric: What’s in the pipeline for Falset moving into next year? Anything definitive? Copeland: We have some new music behind the scenes. There’s always stuff cooking. As a band, we are really aware of where we are headed. We are going to start releasing some singles again next year and do a whole big push. As far a…
…plan for this. Dead Rhetoric: There’s something to be said for the short, 3-4 minute track lengths on The Light Within. So many symphonic bands have the urge to create long, bloated epic songs. Surmøvá: I think it’s mostly the work of Heri. I created all of the vocal melodies and he wrote all of the music. We also collaborated with Lars from Denmark. He created the orchestrations. I think the epicness is the connection of the three of us. We also…
…our full-lengths. We have released a couple of songs since the quarantine online that have been total re-envisioning’s of past songs with synths – that has its role, but not completely in the forefront. Where our interests lie as musicians, we are obsessed with them outside of the band. We like to use it to accentuate the song, but not go into full indulgence mode. Dead Rhetoric: The song “Rite of Passage” has special significance to you, putting…
…ugh for them to come see us play or maybe even buying our albums. Marketing-wise it would best to get a song on a movie or a game or something along those lines. Dead Rhetoric: What excites you about melodic/AOR rock music today? Heino: I´m still trying to find the quality stuff from back in the day by checking out certain musicians or producers but I´m pretty much off the wagon when it comes to what´s out there today. Dead Rhetoric: What plans do…
…Dead Rhetoric: Have you taken advantage of this time to get ahead with any writing? English: We always try to be writing something. We just put out the EP in September, and that was written way in advance. We have been writing stuff but we are running with the EP right now. But we are trying to take advantage of the free time we have. Whether it’s downtime after school or whatever, we are trying to push GFM and have something up our sleeves. Dead…
…songs went smoothly. I had a flow and was inspired so six-seven songs were fast to write. Then I had a couple of older songs that weren’t finished. But with help from Alfred we completed those songs as well and recorded them for the album. Ronny Milianowicz was our producer and mixer and he understood exactly what we wanted with our sound. He did a great job. Since we recorded the album without any economic support, we knew we took a chance record…
…The unescapable phantom of responsibility within and without the military service experience. Melancholy and introspection are central to the experience across Threnodies, though pockets of respite can be found. “Comforter” wears its title lovingly, the awaited dawn after the long-drawn night, whether spent afield or in darkened rooms awaiting human response – ever the perilous endeavor. This song is a gentle push against such silent anxiety, and…
…g. We are hoping to release a single sometime before Christmas. That’s the best case scenario. At worst, you’ll hear something before the snow melts…in Canada anyways [laughs]. Dead Rhetoric: Is there anything else you have going on down the road? Schoolcraft: That’s honestly it. I want to get this Antiqva single recorded and out there. In my spare time, I’ve been consulting and helping a lot of artists build their career online. Whatever they nee…
…has a purpose and that it’s interesting. It’s not too meandering. When you write fast songs, it’s easy to keep it intense. When you have slower and mid-paced stuff, you really have to balance that atmospheric stuff with exciting moments. You don’t want the listener to get bored, and you can tell when songs are like that. I’ve written a lot of material that I throw right in the trash [laughs]. I would say about 90% of the material that I write and…
…aterial that hasn’t been used yet. Not that it would be like some sort of B-sides or leftover Amaranthe songs. So yes, I’m still having a wish and a dream, and a passion to do that. I need to be fast! Maybe I can do it in November or December [laughs]. I still don’t know about next year. If next year would be cancelled, maybe I could make a solo album. Then we could do a covers album with Amaranthe – we have been talking about releasing some old d…
…taking in to finishing it, I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself to write the best stuff possible and to live up to the previous records in terms of quality. When you are gone for ten years, or even five years, I think you have to come back with something really, really strong. Unfortunately, I buy a lot of music, I still buy CD’s, and I see a lot of the classic bands putting out stuff that’s not up to the level of quality I would expect fr…
…20-minute song on there for all we care [laughs], but if you are going to write a 10-plus minute song, make sure that someone is going to be really excited to sit through that song and keep them hooked the whole time. We aren’t going to throw a 14-minute song on each album, but this one kind of demanded it because it’s a synopsis of the story of the album condensed into one song. Dead Rhetoric: The crowdfunding for this album wasn’t the first one…
…thought about social distancing shows and we have some cool drive-in’s that can accommodate, but they may close back down. We have plans to do a live streaming album release, online party kind of things. And figure out a way to make it cool and get that real-time interaction. Online we are always open and engaging with people, the quality may not always be the best but if that’s how we can connect with fans that’s what we will do. http://www.yout…
…t if you have the ability to break it down, you see there’s this almost neo-classical, Mozart-type of thing to it. People are building riffs and riffs on to it and it turns out almost magical. But it gives you that aggression and hype to do whatever you want. It’s like getting high or drunk without actually doing anything – that’s how I would describe death metal for the most part. It is my favorite genre, so I’m kind of biased [laughs], but I don…
…retty much together, but for this album I was kind of let alone on the songwriting since Antoine was involved in other projects. However, he contributed by writing “Hanan Pacha” and adding some adjustments here and there. I would say that the main challenge was the recording process, since our producer lost his studio in a flood that hit his city in 2019, we wanted to record the album by ourselves, so that meant we had to climb a learning curve in…
…out his style? Garcia: Apart from the fact that Roberto is one of the very best and outstanding service providers in relation to graphics, visual artwork and communication he has this gift to translate a verbal idea with his pencils onto paper. The cover concept was V.O.’s idea since he’s a great admirer of the ancient Egyptian culture and their mythology. He visited the pyramids a couple of years back so the seeds for this idea might have been th…
…s. The solos are flashy, but in the right kind of way, enticing the listener to continue onward even with the barrage of speed attempting to barrel them over. The most important factor here is the songwriting itself. The melodies can tickle the ear without being too over-the-top and still provide service to the song. This is what makes Symbolik worth checking out, in an era where overindulgence with some of these factors leads to a market full of…
…hat I was the representative from Elektra. I looked like them. They were 21-22 and I was 24. I was in jeans and a Metallica t-shirt. The next day, they were in my office and I bought them Chinese food and beer. I gave them all of the cool cassettes and vinyl – whether that was the Stooges, the Doors. Cliff Burton wanted all of the esoteric stuff that our other label, Nonesuch, was putting out. He was fabulous, and he was, I thought, the most seaso…
…alog of material? Reece: Obviously I do a lot of songs off Eat the Heat: “X-T-C”, “D-Train”, “Generation Clash”, and “Hellhammer”. Those are standard, I’m known for that – that’s why I’m talking to you and other media guys. And the fans know it. Resilient Heart, I’ll throw some of that stuff out there on the shows – and this album I’ll be playing eight tracks from it. When the two guitar players left the band last spring, I had eight shows to fini…
…idea what I was in for. What followed was one of the most over-the-top, out-of-control, fun performances of the festival and definitely one of the highlights. Inspired by the likes of GWAR, especially with the colorful, duct-taped monster costumes, and Green Jellÿ, add in the comedy of Psychostick, and you get an idea of what Gwell-O is all about. In addition to playing a heavy, fast blend of metal, punk, thrash and rock, the band’s performance in…
…blazing, heads down “Iron Bitch” takes over your speakers, a catchy Exciter-like effort with key Iron Maiden-ish transitions. At other times, the death knell sequences provide a brief reprieve before the next riff whirlwind and insane vocal roar takes command – where Agent Steel collides head on to Aura Noir or Venom, as you’ll hear for “45 RPM”, as R Hellshrieker embodies his insane high-pitched screams and sandpaper rapid vocal spew to match the…
…tor offering assembles the best aspects of diversity and skilled, technical-laden songwriting to create a record that bridges the past to the present. Because Jeff chooses to handle all instrumentation in the studio beyond drummer Fabio Alessandrini, there’s a streamlined sense of tightness and strength that keeps the material focused, intense, and sharp while damn catchy. It’s hard to resist the forceful, razor wire licks and steamroller riffs fo…
…s for some more information about the band with some knowledge about the re-emergence of the band a few years back, their third and latest full-length, and what to expect in the upcoming decade. Dead Rhetoric: What initially sparked the band coming back together in 2013? Duston Bullard: Well as far as we go, for us here we don’t really have anything else to do with ourselves. You know? Why quit you only die once so do what you enjoy. We felt we ha…
…the “Wild Child” nuances for “Sacrifice”, or the solid twin axe Thin Lizzy-esque theme running through the title track. It’s commendable to hear a band willing to not accelerate or try to flash chops in every instrumental section – but service the material based on the needs of the individual songs. Add in a production that also entails natural snare/double kick versus digital activities and most ardent metal followers will feel elation over the…
…ry out there before I’m not around to tell it. I hope people can learn a few things if they read the whole book. There’s also a discography at the end of the book, which was mind-blowing. I said, “I did all that? What the…?” It was real – we really did that! Pre-order Heavy Tales Jon Zazula official website…
…th his rhythmic patterns, occasionally injecting some alternative, monotone-like dirges when necessary to service dynamic appeal to the verses/choruses – but you believe his venomous rage when taking in “Thunder” as percussionist Zach Patch rolls out triplets, bell hits and double kick/fills like an octopus using all tentacles for sonic embellishment. Crypitus are musically adventurous while aggressive in their combinations – which makes for a ver…
…hroned. The band even received numerous, unprovoked audience chants of ‘Kri-si-iun’ between songs – a sure sign that people are pleased with your craft. The veterans win again. It has been 27 years since Exhorder released an album – so to say the older audience members were jazzed to finally see this band on stage was an understatement. The five-piece brought their southern style groove/thrash metal platform and didn’t let up for 45 minutes – inte…
