…sic ingredients are here; smashing downpicked rhythm guitars, tremolo leads-a-plenty, a blistering low end, and the trademark blackened throaty growl of Maurice Swinkels. His instantly recognizable vocal delivery is key to the band’s sound profile, never wavering once in all these years. Long-time guitarist Twan van Geel and recent addition Fabian Verweij (making his recording debut with the band, their first as a five-piece) combine for a newly r…
…ls you in and sets you coasting into an ethereal collaboration with Swedish-Norwegian songwriter Karin Park. “Parabiosis” is an introspective look back at our aforementioned human vanity, but this time taken through the lens of our quest for eternal life and vitality. Parabiosis is the process of fusing two organisms’ circulatory systems, which is an apt metaphor for the exploration at hand. “Subatlantic” is a suitable end to this expedition into…
…urned out. It’s sort of mirroring what we did with Phase I. We had that neo-human version of DaVinci’s Vitruvian man. In the second phase we wanted to have it in the form of the alien, this other terrestrial that we introduced in the story. Dead Rhetoric: Do you believe Scar Symmetry has always been a band that develops strong lyrical content that makes people think and dive deep into fresh concepts – mirroring the adventurous musical ideas and la…
…while we are all under the dangling sword of starvation, destitution, wage-slavery, homelessness, and war. At a very basic-level, people should educate themselves, vote, and support causes/movements that are in alignment with inclusiveness, freedom (real freedom, meaning the freedom to do what you want and still get to eat food for god’s sake), equal access to resources, science-based solutions to social/planetary challenges (as opposed to faith-…
…d for a more dynamic, human, and nuanced melancholic feel for songs like “Crumbling Pillars of a Tranquil Mind” or the choruses of “Harbingers.” Randy added a special substance and new layer to the synths that were already in place and helped elevate the composition to a whole new level. Dead Rhetoric: Recording and mixing were done with Dave Kaminsky at Studio Wormwood, which was who you worked with for Echoes from Deep November. What drew the ba…
…on degrees. I just think it’s a general thing that it may seem I’m down on humanity, but I feel that there’s so much love there as well. Being a human being is such a wonderful thing. I’ve always felt that you have the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, I suppose I have a tendency to write about things that are really important to me. It’s still got to be fun. We just recently played the Keep It True festival in Germany, and it was…
…scope, Oryad contains members from Colorado and Tennessee – making this a true cross-country collaboration. The latest album Sacred & Profane takes the listener into a doom, progressive opera journey, incorporating modern touches without losing the essence of atmosphere and emotion that keeps this genre vibrant. We reached out to vocalist/keyboardist Moira Murphy and drummer Matt Gotlin-Sheehan to delve deeper into their musical upbringings that s…
…asing great music. If I have to namedrop some, Terrorpy is definitely super-fast, brutal death metal. Like Cannibal Corpse, but even faster. Techy with a little bit of thrash influences, there’s a band called Xenoblight, really cool. Twisted, almost Psycroptic licks and riffs. The metal scene in Denmark is going really well. Dead Rhetoric: What concerns you most about the world that we are living in today? If you had unlimited time, resources, ene…
…se to put a lot of effort into the artwork. We want good looking artwork, t-shirt designs, especially all the designs have to be good looking. Aigy: Vinyl makes the difference here. The artwork is much, much bigger. You can really get all the details, a gatefold to open up the cover to get even more details, of little things going on. It’s more important than ever. Dead Rhetoric: Drawing influences from the classic heavy metal brigade of the 70’s/…
…ing on. Once they asked me to join, they wanted me to bring a little more drumming-wise. Most of the songs – a lot of them are challenging. There’s some odd meter stuff, more notes going on, more toms, more fills. I wanted to challenge myself a little bit more. I tried to raise my game a little bit for it. It’s up to everyone else to decide if I did that or not. Dead Rhetoric: Are you conscious of when to go full force for certain aspects and when…
…ed album. You mention in the background information that it’s very straight-forward production-wise, plus aggressive, no-frills thrash that packs a potent punch in just a little over 30 minutes. What do you believe you’ve learned from the first two albums that you applied for the better this go around? Knox Colby: Don’t over think it – and don’t over do it. For the style we are trying to go for, it doesn’t necessarily need samples, ethereal effect…
…Releasing their second, self-titled album with producer Logan Mader (Once Human, ex-Machine Head, ex-Soulfly) behind the boards, there’s a channeling of aggression as well as energetic overflow turning personal struggles or strife into triumphant, positive outcomes. We reached out to guitarist Daniel Cleland to give us insight into his musical upbringing, the group contributions to this new record that differ from the previous Animals album, how…
…spotlight on “The Observers”, showcasing a bit more of a restrained, lower-register atmosphere that fits the commercial-leaning feel of the song. Seeking out Arthur Rizk as a final mastering touch elevates the already impressive sonic textures – the sound is crisp while naturally allowing the human element to shine. Let’s hope that Jamison can equally spend as much time on Blood Star as he does with Visigoth – as there’s enough separation style-w…
…um? Him: They make all the difference, really. I will make a demo with MIDI-drums, and that will give a good skeleton of what I think should happen. Then when James goes to the studio if he has more ideas, we can add to that. I don’t really fight it, as long as he keeps the pace, I don’t mind his suggestions. He gives the material energy that you can’t really get with programmed drums. I love working with Scott because he pushes the performances….
…y pushed along by wild bass plucking and free form jazz undertones. An instrumental song in “At the Periphery of Human Realms (The Immaterial Grave)” provides some breathing room towards the end of the album, which could have come in handy if inserted a little sooner in the tracklist to allow one to come up for air. Nevertheless, this all leads to the 11 minute epic “Forlorn Portrait: Ruins of an Ageless Slumber.” Far and away the entry with the m…
…of the World” by Joanna Cole, “Myths of the Norsemen” by H.A. Guerber. Film-wise, it seems like the best mythology-inspired movies are horror movies. I particularly enjoyed “Antlers” and “The Hallow.” Dead Rhetoric: Tell us a little bit about your goals and aspirations for Foretoken within the next couple of years. Cooley: Outside of writing album number three, we’d like to put together a live act for us to either play shows or tour. A dream for u…
…fferent way of touring when you are an underground band, in a van with less-than-ideal conditions, no accommodations. We were able to play in Indonesia in 2013, that was the biggest crowd we were able to play for. About 16,000 people, it felt like a sea of people, this is really something. You are so far away from home, a different culture, this is also the first time I saw women headbanging, throwing the horns. We are not used to that. It was suc…
…imes it’s addition by subtraction. It’s really hard to make a good four-and-a-half-minute song. It’s also hard to write a good eight-minute song, or twelve minute song. I have never wanted to write a long song, only when I was twenty I may have wanted to do that to see if I could as an exercise. The band has always tried to be in the service of the song – some songs are better off short, some songs need a little more time. All songs, I’ve never wr…
…ly for an under five-minute arrangement (check out the killer fills and off-time snare/cymbal hits from drummer Chris Quirarte in the latter). Soothing keyboards / bass lead “Seven Minutes From Sunset” into another momentous, power-packed musical adventure, Vikram Shankar layering his piano/orchestration duties thoughtfully, opening landscapes for the majestic melodies of the unmistakable tour de force vocally that is Tom S. Englund. As strong as…
…at were near to her heart and are interesting. Her interest goes about the human conduct- what goes on around the heads of humanity. Prey you can be the prey, “The Killing Spree” the first song is about somebody who gets addicted to hard drugs, and how you can be a prey to such a small thing, taking over your mind completely. “Prey” is about a young person being bullied; he is the prey. He dies, and the ghost of him comes back and now he is the hu…
…the standards and expectations of the Kamelot following that has been long-running for decades globally? Karevik: I try to not think about that so much. You are not doing yourself any favors by thinking too much about what the people are going to think. You have to stay true to your heart, your instinct. But I think at this point we have a good idea of what that is. And if we like it, we are expecting people also to like it. That’s what made Kame…
…ld? Where do you think a bigger emphasis needs to be placed on the average human to beneficial to the overall health and well-being of the world? Ellström: The world is in a fragile state right now, yes. I believe that the politics is what caused it and the hunger for more power. Every leader has their own agenda, which doesn’t serve the world necessarily but rather your own country. People throw their morals out of the window easily if it means g…
…nd soul. The lyrics are impassioned, uplifting, smart, and seemingly lovestruck with nature, human or otherwise. Listen in awe as celestial dogfights such as “Fly Like An Eagle,” “Hurricane,” and “Hail The Sunrise” collude with martial ballads like “You’ll Never Be Alone” to create an album that demonstrates a profound dignity and wisdom with no wasted moments, Box and crew writing and playing as if they’re living on borrowed time and want to shar…
…. It’s a big stigma associated with it, prioritize your own health and well-being. If you are running on empty yourself, there’s not really much you can do to help someone else. Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the horizon for any activities that you will be involved with musically, either with Dreams of Gray, Abolisher, or other side things, that we can expect in the next twelve months or so? Rivera: No other side projects – either Dreams of Gray or Abol…
…is made me… it’s a cliché to say it, I wanted to get up on stage, be like Bruce Dickinson, run around and sing. Eddie coming out, all this – those are main influences as far as singing and seeing everything live. Dead Rhetoric: If given the opportunity to teach a high school or college-level course of any subject matter of your choosing outside of your knowledge in the music industry, what would you like to teach – and why do you believe this is i…
…ecial video for me. Because it was born on the beach talking with my cousin-in-law. He was studying and making videos for other people. I asked him to show me something – he showed me clips. I thought it was good, and a different type of video than I am used to. I asked him if he would like to do something for us? He wanted to – and he had the song that fits us the best. That kind of video would fit well, I sent him the song without mastering or t…
…d to play in Gorefest. They split some years ago, but he’s a really great drummer. The drummer from Septic Flesh is also someone who inspires me. Dead Rhetoric: How has Evy’s health been considering her battle with breast cancer and recovery? Has this made you stronger as a unit chemistry-wise, and also think about your own personal well-being/health as a result? Van Mieghem: It’s been a tough year, especially with Evy and Domingo had to support h…
…al components contain these evil chord progressions stacked together in low-tuned brutality yet maintaining a balance of ideal transitions that still hook the listener in this crunchy or groove-driven manner. Micki Richter and Luc Gebhardt as guitarists lay down sinister riffs plus frantic lead breaks that induce hair raising action – even veering into NWOBHM/Iron Maiden-esque angles in spots for “Bleeding for Blasphemy” that penetrate the aural l…
…world coming out of this prolonged pandemic? What concerns you most about humanity and how we will pull through this – have you felt any long-term effects from this? Saccheri: It surely is a mess, even if it looks like we’re out of the worst of it. The music business will take years to heal completely, from big tours to small bands like us it’s incredibly difficult to tour and even play single gigs. Everybody wants to play, and many small venues…
…k and incorporating their nerdiness into the mix, thoughts on being better human beings, as well as what’s on the horizon for touring in the next year or so. Dead Rhetoric: You recently completed a co-headlining tour across Europe with Amaranthe that had obviously been postponed for a while due to the pandemic. What were your thoughts on the shows, the response, and the feelings of finally being back playing live on stage? Jennifer Haben: It was a…
