…m. There’s something so challenging yet rewarding about stripping away the layers and effects and finding out how your songs fare around a fire or in a more intimate setting. I think it would be fun to do an acoustic record of new songs, perhaps something a bit more tribal and raw, and then play a run of simple shows where we don’t have to lug heavy amplifiers and huge drum kits around. Just show up to a coffee house, an indie store, or a gatherin…
…k that catches the eye besides the music. It was Jan Yrlund from Darkgrove Design, he has designed albums cover for huge names like Nightwish, HIM, I think even Manowar. It’s a cool resume. The original idea we sent him in a text form that comes from us, he creates the visual part from our notes. That’s how we got the album cover. Right after we got back from the Pyromide recording sessions, we got back to immediately start work on the next album….
…all US tour, and PuchiCon PA would be a stop, it became a must-see event. Truth be told, I got to see the band at Overpeck Park the weekend before at a Japanese International Food Festival, but it truly was more of a tease than anything else as they only played for about 15 minutes in total, though they played one of my favorite cuts, “Ready to Ride,” in that timespan so it was a wise choice to make the drive down. With that short set to whet the…
…on multiple angles due to the combinations at play. Addressing aspects of humanity’s ills such as social injustice, imperialism, and the degradation of the human condition because of war on the lyrical front, the sheer musicianship on hand as well as soaring vocal presence makes for ideal, memorable tracks throughout this eight-song effort (nine if you choose to get the CD edition). Spirited bursts of galloping riffs next to twin-guitar harmonies…
…cruise. We will also do a headline tour with Serenity across Europe in February of 2024. People are very thankful, even though humans will forget things pretty fast. The life situation with COVID-19 is there – we as musicians are looking forward to being on tour after an album release again, instead of can we do this, can we not? We also got used to getting older, losing two years. We don’t have to tell lies about this, our break, we still are 10…
…, Gates to Hell, and Omerta. Then we are on the Headbangers Boat – it’s a cruise. I’ve never been on a cruise so it will be interesting. We are on that for five days. Then the rest of the tour with Boundaries, Foreign Hands, and Roman Candle starts in Tampa. Then we are covering the rest of the US and it takes us into December. Then we are going to rest, because we have a lot planned for 2024! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRLTXZBgzlI&pp=ygUKZHl…
…ou”, where Marika’s smooth register that contains gothic/operatic aspects truly gets the spotlight, the organ/acoustic foundation as well as restrained rhythm section parts assuring a pleasant outcome. Never forgetting the driving power chords that made 80’s hard rock/metal so quintessential, “Refuge” possesses a bit of that early Dokken/Skid Row street cred in its main parts, the symphonic/galloping keyboards allowing Giacomo to service the song…
…elow”, they are all strung together as this descent into the devolution of humanity. That’s another common thread that runs through our music, how unsuccessful we’ve been as a species for just existing. Dead Rhetoric: How much of a challenge is it as a legacy band to remain fresh and relevant with new material while hopefully not stepping on what’s already been accepted through your classic work of the 80’s/early 90’s? Garven: Yeah, that’s funny….
…a lot of stuff. If you listen to thrash metal – it’s very rigid and by the rules. If you do something outside of those rules, then everyone wants to shit on you. Thrash metal is probably the genre that is most plagued by purists. If you sing a certain way, you’re out. If you play a riff that doesn’t conform to the rules, you’re out. If you use a certain effect on your guitar or have additional layers in your songs, you’re out. There are just so ma…
…ating industrial atmospheres come together to create some impressively destructive music on The Sin of Human Frailty. END feels entirely corrosive, yet finds a way to keep it memorable at the same time without compromising their aggression. Perfect for when you want something that’s just heavy as hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGM20HyljEA&pp=ygUIRU5EIGJhbmQ%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDGbUFs_vpI&pp=ygUIRU5EIGJhbmQ%3D END on Facebook…
…ve the vibe that we were playing in a wasteland because the song “Ghost of Humanity” at this moment is about after humans have settled in a new place, the same tendencies start to cause the same problems and that’s kind of what’s happening in the story at this moment. So, we wanted the video to feel as if, where we were playing in a wasteland, is foreshadowing of what is to come if we continue our behavior. So being that we were in this gross, dan…
…the final piece that we hear? And do you find that its challenging to construct interesting instrumental songs in a shorter, concise format versus some of the longer pieces such as “From the Silence” or “Séance in Black (Part 1)”? Abdow: Yes, I think the title track Séance In Black evolved the most. I initially wrote Part I but then fleshed out the framework for Parts II and III. I sketched out just beats and progressions that matched what I was f…
…pens with some quiet guitar and clean singing, building itself up over its runtime into a heavier, and cathartic sounding beast. Floating riffs and piercing screams hit with an urgency and almost thrilling positivity, to the likes of which post-metal hasn’t flexed in quite some time. The melodies on “Defiance” all but yearn for the light, while crashing drums and ethereal sounding vocals hit a masterful sweet spot. On the opposing end, there’s the…
…es some of the most massive orchestrations that the band has done – the chorus sounds entirely unreal as it builds into this massive, soaring theatrical piece that is also bound to stick in your head. The track gave out some well-earned chills with just the upbeat, wall-of-sound atmosphere – it’s a powerful accomplishment that just sounds heavenly. With all of the potent build up in the orchestration, there’s still a strong sense of intimacy to th…
…Almost Human is precisely what the album title implies: it’s a decidedly brutal album that feels much more human in tone than the majority of tech-crazed releases that end up feeling cold and soulless. Sure, there’s some cold sci-fi feelings to it, but Wormhole are able to also effectively draw out some emotion in their formula. This is where the slamming side of the band comes in. While they are wonderfully adept at being able to weave in intric…
…ist UMP (Umberto Poncina) as well as guest lead player Tommaso Pellegrini (Human), the tempo shifting from colder, blackened measures to a comfortable platform with elements of Death at play. MM’s (Marcello Malagoli) drum four count sets “Over Frozen Heights Part 1” into motion, another adrenaline-oriented number where blitzkrieg, bombastic leads mirror the crazy main hooks, giving vocalist DL (Daniele Lupidi) a chance to destroy through his spitf…
…OVID epidemic actually causing the band’s guitarists to put down their instruments for two years, the band is finally back to follow up on 2019’s Human Target. So how has the downtime affected their sound? It certainly still sounds like Thy Art is Murder, but again, the band has taken some deliberate steps to get out of the deathcore cliches, and it all works for the better. There’s plenty of the usual fury that Thy Art is Murder supplies, so long…
…h shit. If we bury that and don’t show who we truly are, those of us that truly struggle will feel that much more isolated. If we are going to look out at the world and see a picture perfect universe where everyone has everything well-put together, we feel like freaks because we are broken and they aren’t. But if everyone is honest about what they are dealing with and their struggles and life experiences, we understand that we aren’t alone. A lot…
…guitarists very close to recording time for said album. This resulted in drummer Anton Vehkaperä recording most of the guitar parts, along with Christoffer Nilsson providing some of the leads, and bassist Olof Öman chipping in with the acoustic pieces and a few other bits. This would have crippled many bands, but what resulted from their sheer determination is a solid guitar-driven melodic death record coming out the other side. In Flames Reroute…
…these questions are a resounding yes, and that’s what makes The Process of Human Demise shine. The band can roll out some incredibly frantic thrash tempos, like in “Venom Inside,” and give you that adrenaline level of acts like The Haunted (or even Gilley’s own Product of Hate) like no one’s business. But at the same time, some of the slick, ear-wormy grooves they can dole out on the title track are bound to stick with you for quite some time. Com…
…ge effect on the whole society. You can talk about climate change, coronavirus, whatever, they doubt the truth – they have strong opinions even in the metal scene, which can be quite dangerous. Like Jon Schaffer and the Iced Earth dilemma. Part of the music scene did move together though. I’m glad the pandemic is over. Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of heavy metal currently? What do you enjoy most about the genre, and what changes (if a…
…hen we started to embrace it, and here we are. The riffs are riffier, the drums have more drum parts to them. There are a lot of double pedal parts with technical guitar riffs. I know there are people that can play those types of riffs though way faster than I can. Dead Rhetoric: Do you work out the solos between yourself and Aria? Radtleff: We do, but I tend to try to put certain parts away from me. I’m not really good at the solos, Aria is bette…
…ferent things. I was versed in fusion, jazz, Latin, and I had my favorite drummers. Three of my favorite drummers were Neal Peart, John Bonham, and Buddy Rich. I tried to fuse some of the elements of these players into my playing, making something new with it. Paying attention to your creativity is my best advice to young drummers coming up. Dead Rhetoric: If you had the opportunity to develop a high school or college level course of any subject m…
…, Fear Factory, and a rabbit hole of metal ever since. Dead Rhetoric: So, drums were the first instrument you picked up? As I know within A Dark Halo, you play bass, keyboards, and also sing? Lowmiller: That’s correct. Drums were my first metal love. I played in a lot of bands. Even taught drums for a little while. Yes, in A Dark Halo I’m one of the vocalists, and the bass player. I haven’t played drums in a long time, I’m certainly not as strong…
…ve/old school metal appear in more mid-tempo sections of “Saranth”, where drummer Max Petrén Bach Hansen brings in the classic Lombardo-esque cymbal ride hits that established part of Slayer’s sound decades ago. The natural knowledge of the players within Demolizer continues to expand as the years progress – making Post Necrotic Human probably their most seasoned, fully realized output to date. Hopefully this will elevate these musicians into a he…
…some interesting Robert Plant-esque wails. And while computer programmed drums have come a long way from the Angelo Sasso/Running Wild days, there are times where you get the sense that a human element would have this material sounding slightly more organic. Where does The Passion of Dionysus then sit in the large discography of Virgin Steele? It’s adequate heavy/power metal that conjures a period hundreds of years long gone, but probably not goi…
…eep “Her Last Flight” into that mid-tempo gothic groove metal wheelhouse, drummer Quini Pelegrin laying into the heavier passages with that proper supplementary support to prop up the circular hooks. At other points the band dip their toes into Amaranthe/Battle Beast-type electronic movements wrapped around ideas that we’ve heard from Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, and Tristania among others – “Vertigo” and “Lobo” both memorable songs because of…
…eyboards and orchestration, send it over to them and they add guitars and drums. Whereas when Jacob writes songs, he does guitars and some scratch drum tracks, and sends them my way to do my thing. It’s been working very nicely. Dead Rhetoric: Can you tell us about the special guest choices with Melissa Bonny, Andrew Kingsley, Olof Mörck, and Tim Hansen that appear in specific songs for Bloodlines? What are your thoughts on their talent and the ad…
…ned its weighty fortitude. Tracks like “Contamination” possess a catchy chorus amongst a punchy, no frills assault, while “Progressive Destructor” and “Savage Intent” heavily lean into that old school thrash vibe that’s equally timeless as it is effective. Death metal aficionados will no doubt bang their head to the crunchy “Skulls Adorn the Traitor’s Gate,” while “Retaliation” will fulfill the need from speedy tremolos and sinister blackened Sodo…
…itical”, so perhaps that is fitting. The second track “Boreal” sounds the trumpet of the fertile crescent and through what seems the chant of a fever dream we explore the roots of human tribalism. “Sea of Reeds” moves us forward in time to the idea of Exodus, where this tribalism finds purchase and mounts the world; the landscape of the track serving as a call and return monologue relating to human vanity. “Atlantic” takes it’s time to build up a…
