…t know, it’s kind of hard to say. Accepting your own fate, kind of. Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next twelve months shaping up for Ensiferum – will there be any special promotion, video content, social media contests to help in the downtime while we await when touring can finally, safely progress again? Lindroos: The album is coming out on the 10th of July. We are shooting a new music video, and that is in the editing process. That will come…
…gs that you need to take into account. It’s no wonder that we have not really played those songs live. “Mark of the Beast” off the Wake the Dead EP, “Shifting Sands” off our last album Left to the Sharks, or this one – I hope we are able to play this one live as it’s a damn good song, and Jerome likes it too. In order to make sure your live set is as compact as possible and packs as much punch as you want it to, you have to leave the long songs ou…
…of the record – but also reveals a bit of the limitations for Daniele vocally, as he doesn’t really stretch into any Halford-esque piercing screams, keeping things mid-range with supplementary gang-oriented harmonies when needing that extra impact. And the accented narrative start to “Frankenstein” could illicit a chuckle or two, though probably unintentional – otherwise another solid Primal Fear-like power affair that bristles with strong guitar…
…ion that pushes the envelope of what these musicians can do on all fronts, lyrically, vocally and musically. Deliberate and thoughtful with his answers, we reached out to guitarist/vocalist David Sanchez as he brings us up to speed on the latest bass player change, the game plan behind V, thoughts on how the career has unfolded and where they stand as a unit, and lots of deep thoughts regarding education, the media, and how the entertainment indus…
…respect for each other and for our fanbase in the metal community has really only grown over time. I’m so thankful for all the chances that we have been given. To play cool festivals, to tour in interesting places, playing with some of our favorite bands- that continues to just blow my mind. It’s really awesome to have these personal connections with people, either that we’ve never met or will meet on tour that we’ve had a life changing impact on…
…start work on new music? Herr Morbid: I already started, but I’m in a really early stage. This new album was written in a very short amount of time and recorded straight away; I like to work under pressure because I often come up with some urgency in the sound and some good ideas, but at the same time it’s really stressful and with this new album it was a little too much. So next time I want to be ready for the studio with quite some advance so I…
…er any shortage of current, social, or political/world topics to pick from lyrically at this point, is there? What typically captures your attention enough to want to talk about them from record to record? Billy: Definitely the things that are going on in the world and things that are real. Things that are personal. Brotherhood of the Snake, the last album, there was more futuristic and relating to mankind. I thought we were going to take on more…
…at The Ghost of Orion is the band’s best since 2001’s The Dreadful Hours only makes the timing all the more serendipitous. An album that almost didn’t come to be, The Ghost of Orion serves not only as a rebirth for My Dying Bride but a reminder of their resilience and firm, proper standing as one of the true pillars of British doom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJpR_Y7nXA4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBEU0jZYohA https://www.youtube.com/watc…
…se of Osiris” two stunners to return to again and again. As a vocalist and lyricist, Chuck Billy remains one of a kind. These days he knows that he has multiple gears and deliveries to choose from – mixing up the normal clean chilling melodies and semi-growl/screaming patterns in “Night of the Witch”, while being the commanding bellower that helped put Testament on the map during the 1980’s for the catchy anthem “The Healers” that features some si…
…aditional heavy metal band. There is something happening in Sweden, and Italy has some really good bands like Rhapsody, and Labyrinth. I’m not sure that Germany is the center of metal anymore. We have the luxury of having this big Wacken festival here. When people think about Germany, they think of Wacken as one of the biggest heavy metal festivals in the world. Nowadays there are a lot of bands in other countries that are well-known and really go…
…ame heavier, perhaps more textured without being complicated. They’re more lively and voluminous, something we learned as we were rehearsing for the album. Dead Rhetoric: What have you enjoyed about bringing Deathwhite into the live arena? Deathwhite: We’ve done things backward: Most bands start out playing shows, then record. We recorded two EPs and a full-length before playing our first show. It was a little nerve-wracking taking the plunge into…
…hen I was in Accept and he was in U.D.O. We’ve always managed to write really easily together. We both said we wanted to go out and write heavy, we were fond of the last Judas Priest album Firepower and it inspired us. Dead Rhetoric: The title track for instance stands out to these ears, especially in terms of the choice of your vocal delivery during the verses against the guitars – proving you have as killer of a lower register as the more upper…
…ave been proving over the past few years who can deliver the mandatory Manowar classics in a live setting – as well as recording more original albums to build his own catalog. Now adding drummer Steve Bolognese (ex-Into Eternity, ex-Beyond the Embrace) the quartet venture into album four Born of Fire ready to assault their following with a sound that is still traditional and powerful, but also conscious of using modern technology and overtones tha…
…encouraging me to… Andersson: Keep one foot in the darkness. Sadonis: Exactly. I fully embraced that idea where I have one foot in for this third album. Dead Rhetoric: You have album I, II, and III. Is this something that you feel is going to keep progressing with numbers for each title? Sadonis: Anything goes. It might also have an odd title, or we skip straight to number 42 [laughs]. It’s really open. Andersson: I think it’s great to have this….
…dful Hours as well as their invincible 1990s output where the band so capably perfected the back-and-forth between romanticism and death metal. Due credit to guitarist Andrew Craighan, who shouldered virtually the entire songwriting load and found ways to intertwine simplistic, but memorable guitar lines in sterling fashion on “The Long Black Land” and “The Old Earth.” An album that almost didn’t come to be, The Ghost of Orion serves not only as a…
…t album The Last Knight with a renewed sense of confidence, the band probably have delivered their most focused and potent effort to date. Including aspects of melodic/arena-oriented metal beyond their symphonic, power, and progressive metal touches – they also continue their appreciation of history with the life and reign of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I capturing the lyrical storyline. Reaching out to guitarist Christian Hermsdörfer fresh from…
…re of his lower register and the arrangement building out through a carefully crafted, meaningful lead break that more bands should inject into their material. Those who miss the spirit of say 1987-1991 in the melodic hard rock/metal community where bands like Skid Row, Dokken, Tesla, and maybe a bit of Alter Bridge or Judas Priest factor into the mix, Shakra will bring those good times back to the forefront. Mad World won’t set cash registers on…
…like about it. We’ve pushed our boundaries quite far – I think it’s a really ambitious record. Dead Rhetoric: How’s the reaction been so far, given some of the changes within the sound of the band? Le Bail: It’s pretty cool. Of course, there’s always people complaining, but no matter what you do people are going to complain. If we were still doing the same music and same album each time, people would be saying that we were just making the same al…
…or many people and we always state in Fen that much of what we have to say lyrically is very much open to the listener’s own interpretation. Dead Rhetoric: Lyrically, are you at all influenced by the current (and perilous) state of the world? The Watcher: Not openly of course – we would never speak so directly of current affairs, it simply isn’t how we go about things conceptually. We would rather take a more esoteric, philosophical view of realit…
…cal classic rock ballad with the same freshness. It just came together really easily. No one came in with a blueprint of how we needed to make the record. That said, Frontiers said, we love classic rock so I said that we shouldn’t just make ‘another one.’ We wanted to make sure it wasn’t the same old, same old. While it’s a classic rock record, there are elements that are current in terms of lyrical content, the melodies are strong, and it’s got a…
…ing to reunite in 2002, they’ve released three more records and significantly changed members, as guitarist Jürgen ‘Scholli’ Scholz is the lone early survivor – the rest of the current lineup going back to 2009. A significant uptick with veteran credibility occurred in 2016, as Sodom guitarist Frank Blackfire joined the band – bringing you up to speed for the sixth studio record Bestia Immundis. Referencing the ‘unclean beast’ which is the Latin t…
…g bark and savage scream nature down pat – Phil Anselmo and John Henry of Darkest Hour would be two reference points when you hear his voice during “Gluttonous to the Core” and “Self-Led”. You really feel that the attention to detail from bass to drums, guitars to vocals shines because of a lively production value which jumps off the speakers, and probably rivals what one can expect from Lonescar on stage. We know plenty of people who follow the m…
…st in the lead up to Horizonless’ release was exactly what remains most outwardly striking now: the cover art. Being completely unfamiliar with the band but knowing they trafficked in funeral doom, it admittedly took me longer than I care to admit to actually indulge the album as a listening experience. When I did I knew immediately that I had been a fool to wait. The cover art is indicative what I found within – a misery strongly conveyed, so muc…
…ereal (Metal Blade) John Arch and Jim Matheos are two musicians for the early period of Fates Warning that set the US progressive metal movement in motion. Winter Ethereal reminds us of their collective creative and musical genius. Powerful, emotional, moving – this is a record that grabs at every fiber of your being with every listen. 2. Voivod – The Wake (Century Media) Canadian veterans Voivod are an entity onto themselves – forward thinking in…
…surprised about the bands traditional, 80’s-oriented metal sound. Poltergeist has that quality energy and catchy songwriting that put Accept on the map and brought Judas Priest to arena headliners. Treasure the older acts who can still deliver the goods on their latest studio records – as it keeps the genre alive and brings the newer fans up to speed with the vibrant musical climate we should never take for granted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
…ng I think is wrong. That seems to be a strange attitude nowadays. Especially towards bigger bands. People go, ‘you can’t do that, you’re an idiot’ and blah, blah, blah. Slipknot, whoever it is. You don’t get a say in what these people do! Who told you that you do? Things like Blabbermouth – people go nuts. It’s cool to be passionate about something. For example, people trying to tell bands what they should be doing. You don’t get a say on that. B…
…“Mad Jack” unfortunately guilty parties of this musical maneuver, fortunately only in spurts as to not fully lose momentum. The lead breaks possess a bit of neoclassical, circular edge to elevate the main arrangements – and the transitions can hit these groove measures that like Jungle Rot or Sepultura elevate pits or audiences to rage. When it comes to the death aspects, there’s a mid-tempo, down-tuned nature to the riffs and speedier transitions…
…here, no matter the ‘heaviness’ with which they are expressed. Notable early was the news that the album would release in two forms: the original design completely in the band’s native Swedish and a second version in the fanbase-familiar English. My personal preference certainly falls with the Swedish as while the English version is largely identical, it carries an air of being unnecessary. The reason for releasing it is understandable: most of t…
…/vocalist Thomas Wouters had left the band following the recording (and sadly lost his battle with cancer afterwards), so this will mark the end of an era for Bodyfarm. But it’s a strong note to go out on. Just like the band’s previous releases, it’s quite hard to listen to Dreadlord without really getting into it. Bodyfarm knows exactly what buttons to push with the old school death metal, and they really go all in. While the band is full-throttl…
…World” and “Black Heart” illustrate that magic of how they can simultaneously get you moving while providing a powerful message. Some of this of course provided by Mina Caputo’s soaring vocals, but also some undeniable hooks that creep out regularly, such as grunge-laden bounce of “Empty Hole” or punchy yet downtrodden “Stone.” The story itself pulls in four segments outside of the music (“Prelude”/”Then”/”Now”/”When”), that effectively wrap into…
