…rned 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 lay…
…toric: Are there any specific challenges that take place doing all the instrumentation, vocals, songwriting, and recording/production duties yourself for this band? Wiscarson: Yea, I’m an independent artist, so I wasn’t in a position to use super expensive gear or a really nice studio. Luckily, I have some great friends who let me borrow several instruments and other equipment to help with the process. I wanted to do that whole process myself due…
…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…
…kick ass vocalist, does web design. We are a lot alike as we are both web designers, she does graphic design and videos. Talking with her I realized how much alike we are, and I realized how great she would be seeing our vision. We worked with our PR firm to pick out the singles. The first one is shorter, catchier – “Eve” is the favorite song, I really wanted to push the doomy, prog aspect. We worked with her to do some shots on location in Color…
…to write about and make the whole album centered around is climate change, human impact on the environment, how humanity twists nature into doing what we want but on the other hand mother nature is always going to be stronger. You can’t push back against a tornado, a tsunami, or stuff like that. That was my thinking around the lyrics this time around. On the next album it could be something completely different that I’m thinking about. With the th…
…eel it’s the mecca. Valentin: A friend of ours did this first heavy metal cruise, a First Frost Cruise. It was a nice experience. We have played on top of a mountain for a festival. Good memories. Dead Rhetoric: What are some of the biggest obstacles or challenges facing Roadwolf at this point in your career? Aigy: There are always obstacles. We have to talk about financial stuff because we are a small, local band. We have day jobs, and time off i…
…’ve played many different styles, and most of the styles I’ve played, the drums are a support instrument. I don’t want to get in the way of the people up front, the vocalist. It’s always my first inclination – if someone is singing, they are supposed to be paying attention to the lyrics, not what’s going on in the back. On this record, there were places I could step out. I even made notes on my charts to record with, circle places in red to give a…
…is in the imperfections. Dead Rhetoric: Right. Authenticity matters more – humans are naturally flawed. Colby: I totally agree. We need that level of human ability. People are freaking out about AI now. That’s why it’s too perfect. Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the band chemistry within Enforced? Are you able to balance the musical activities with the business side of things – while remaining sane? Colby: While remaining sane? (laughs). We…
…a lot of executive decisions. I am funding everything. Jesse is a graphic designer and a web designer, so he does the digital stuff. Danny and Andres are pretty much musicians – they don’t get involved with the business stuff. Dead Rhetoric: As you said, Anton and you are entrepreneurs. Are there things that happened in your businesses and careers that you’ve learned to apply to the music business model? Cleland: Everything. You aren’t starting a…
…gallop-oriented “Cold Moon”. The electric diversity of Jamison at his instrument injects the material with a wide array of textures – delving into everything from late 70’s/early 80’s hard rock and metal favorites for influences as far as phrasing, runs, beyond the thoughtful bluesy to emotive lead breaks. Often the quartet waste no time getting to the meat of these tracks on all fronts – heads down traditional riffs punctuated by killer bass/dru…
…of power within reality, and how we have to live in a very complex set of rules and structures and a lot of time it’s certainly not perfect and not very neat. It actually falls apart. The sequences of the door, the door bursts open and breaks. It’s an analogy of very complex structures that are falling apart. Dead Rhetoric: Do you enjoy the element of mystery and mystique surrounding your persona? Does this aid the cause for listeners to use thei…
…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…
…hat you haven’t as of yet? Cooley: Simply put: there’s a massive amount of design space. Mythology at its core is about the human experience, and there are so many topics to cover which are nicely wrapped in theatrical and fantastical stories. Conceptually, the third album is already done, the themes and the stories have been picked out, and it’s going to be exciting for sure. The one hint I’ll share is that thematically, the next album will be mo…
…ent to make it all fit together. The previous logo didn’t fit with the new design. The current design is much more modern, pictures, sketches, and paintings are a bit more futuristic. Carvings that are made of cooper but look like gold. I wanted a logo like this – it’s bright, it’s brilliant, it’s like a piece of jewelry. We wanted to have something more modern, and brighter, definitely. Dead Rhetoric: Given your time in the band since 2010, what…
…a while. And also, the live treatment in particular, there’s a six minute drum solo. Chris our drummer is phenomenal, he always plays so tastefully and restrained, I told him on this one, drumming 101 I wanted him to just Redemption-ize it. Pushing him to do more and more. And then we had tried to do seven or eight years ago I had sketched together “Turn It On Again” in a different version. The song has always been great, so I tried it again, and…
…onal favorite “Action at a Distance” at 14:19 containing the lengthier instrumental passages, atmosphere shifts from heaviness to calmness, allowing all the players a chance to showcase their talent while never forsaking the necessary hooks, melodies, or dynamic tension to maintain engagement. The human existence lyrical output keeps things very relatable as well as personalized, something general listeners gravitate to easier than academic laden…
…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…
…gs to start it off because that was important to not have too much of an abrupt change in style and approach. I had to really dig deep to listen to the stuff, analyze it. But then also to be able to trust my own musical instincts that was really important in the beginning too. That’s what I’ve been doing for ten years, almost fifteen years in my other band Seventh Wonder. Dead Rhetoric: Would you say it’s more challenging to start with a blank sla…
…director Christoffer Tönnäng who made it possible for the whole process to run smoothly. Choosing the songs was quite easy and became obvious as we were recording Feed the Fire. “Sulphery” is a good single because it’s straight forward, and “In the Highest” has such a strong chorus and has altogether a different vibe to it. For “Sulphery” we wanted it to look as if we were playing on stage. It was shot at a local music center, and we put up black…
…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…
…rial – and how did you make the decision to enlist the guest musicians on drums and bass for this lineup? Luis Rivera: Yes, that is true how it came together. Abolisher has been inactive for a long while – I was in medical training for many years, wasn’t able to play music as much as I used to. Two of the other guys started other bands, which are great – Acracy and Legacy Black. Those two bands are pretty active. I had these musical ideas all sitt…
…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…
…vocals to finally work on the drums. What you are hearing is not all real drums, but he stayed with us to make the drums. It’s a big problem we have as a band, because it was the first time that our drummer couldn’t play. Now, everything is okay, we are so glad to make this decision, and we recorded the videos with him. We are also rehearsing for our tour here in Spain. Ruiz: The last two albums with Into the Oceans and New Horizons Part 1, we are…
…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…
…nents 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 landscape…
…m that album like “Clean” and “Street Crab” as reference about how a good drum and bass should sit within a mix. As a fan I would say the best show I attended was Helmet back in December 2004. It was their first tour after Page Hamilton restarted the band, and he had John Tempesta on drums, Frank Bello on bass (who I met before the show, awesome dude), and Chris Traynor on guitar, what a lineup! It was a few days after Dimebag Darrell got killed,…
…a challenge, and we did it. Also, I had the chance to put some special instruments in there, some I never played before. It was a lot of fun to do that, and also a lot of work as well. Dead Rhetoric: That was interesting. Did you have any experience with the flute, as I know the cello was something you had to learn on the spot? Haben: With the flute, I worked on that instrument for three days before the recording. I always wanted to play it, but n…
…g these ideas home – and that’s what these nine songs achieve. Opener “The Human Paradox” sets the tone right, a veritable mid-tempo feast of crunchy chords in the Death/ Asphyx mold, Marc bellowing the words in a Chuck Schuldiner manner while the screams convey Tom Araya’s best work during the 80’s. Roller coaster tremolo picking next to a firm jackhammer main rhythm hook pushes “The Surgical Undeadvors” into a key highlight, the stop/start trans…
…I can do it. The original plan was for me to play everything- all the instruments, but I knew I had to find some type of singer because I cannot sing (laughs). Guitars are my main instrument. It was fun to do – I brought in some of the guys in the lineup now for that first song. The second single “Moonblade” came out, and I started thinking about doing some type of record with this. A full album may be too much, because it was a small hobby proje…
