…adness” or alternative / progressive aspects to “Rivals” for some of their best rhythms as well as supplementary lines that mesmerize as solid earworms, Vince Votta’s additional propulsive drums kicking things up a notch for the latter. Government warnings in narrative form is the starting point for “Vilified”, a semi-ballad that is an early highlight featuring creative circular guitar parts, momentum building drum work, as well as a killer dazzli…
…onclusion to the album. Darkest Hour showcase a full album of what they do best with Perpetual | Terminal. It’s nothing outside of their usual wheelhouse but it’s honed and polished to an incredible degree, the type that’s easy to digest and enjoy. Chocked full of melodies and frantic energy, it’s something that long-time fans are truly going to enjoy. Darkest Hour continue to be one of the shining, yet somehow a bit underrated, acts of the metalc…
…are the three most important metal albums in your opinion – and what’s the best concert memory you have, attending a show as a fan – plus what made this show so special to you? Albert: First of all, Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime. It’s one of my all-time favorite albums. Heathen – Victims of Deception. And another thrash album, Exodus – Fabulous Disaster. Those are the best, but I could name maybe twenty more. These are the ones that come firs…
…the power metal movement. Finnish band Metal De Facto for example developed 2019’s debut effort Imperium Romanum about Ancient Rome topics – while this follow-up Land of the Rising Sun Part 1 starts an expanded journey into Japanese culture. The sextet contains players who have worked in acts like Ensiferum, Dreamtale, Kiuas and Everfrost, gaining latest vocalist Aitor Arrastia of Spain last year. The template of laying out eight songs from compac…
…mbracing that this is how I cure myself. I look at it as my therapy and my best medicine that I could ever have. Dead Rhetoric: What are your plans for 2024? Scissorhands: There’s a lot of exciting news. We will start with 70,000 Tons of Metal which we will perform on twice. It’s very exciting but I’m also nervous too because I’ve never been on a boat cruise before. A few weeks after that, we are starting the European tour with Dragonforce and Ama…
…hat narrow purview. This continued with another EP, The Eternal Fanfare, in 2022, which brings us to album number two, Verses in Oath. When listening to Hulder, it’s easy to pick them out, which is high praise in my sometimes feeble brain. That thought applies with Verses in Oath, right from the majestic opening assault that is “Boughs Ablaze.” A slight usage of synths deep in the mix provides an exalted aura, along with a grandiose progression th…
…uddenly, reality happened as we lost the first bass player Bene. M. back in 2020, and we did a European tour in 2020 with another bass player. Right after that tour, the pandemic hit. Suddenly these young kids going from just caring about the band, and being on the road, we were now stuck at home with a break. That was a game changer for us. I wouldn’t say it was all bad. It came at the right time for us honestly to reflect on what we did so far a…
…e record would have been as good if we rushed into the studio at the end of 2019. Maganto: I guess it’s never easy with us, right? Yes, we started jamming the first bits of what would become the new material in 2018, since Come the Tide was ready to be released and it would take us another year until the album saw the light of day. In hindsight, I think we did the smart thing by not compromising the quality and flow of the material in favor of del…
…Then we have Seasons In the Abyss – Slayer. With Lombardo’s drumming. The best show I ever went to was in 2006, in Stockholm, Sweden – In Flames, Slayer, Lamb of God. Slayer’s show that night, they delivered all the old classics. That was the last time I saw them. Another strong memory I have is when At the Gates did their reunion tour, that still continues today. I bought tickets for a show about 800 kilometers from where I live, for Wacken Open…
…our aggression out in a healthy manner. Originally arriving on the scene in 2007, they took a ten-year hiatus before this third album Dead End hit the streets. The time off has not been squandered – the twelve-track platter assaulting all senses in this steamroller sense where high energy riffs, quick hitting shifts, and a bevy of melodic roars to savage screams employ influences all across the heavy music movement from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Salo…
…ate Gear on Facebook) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmW_IP7n4h8&pp=ygUJZmF0ZSBnZWFy Gore. “Doomsday” The second single from Gore. goes a bit more melodic and atmospheric than their recent debut in “Pray,” but that’s not a bad thing. Showcasing a gradual build-up of heaviness from the most ethereal of openings to groovier, chunky riffs and scathing roars at it’s climax. Certainly one could make comparisons to that of Spiritbox or maybe even Bad O…
…in Gales putting out my album of the year in The Black Stream. The year of 2024 is looking promising, with a number of releases slated throughout the calendar from both legendary acts and new generations. Then, we happened upon a band by the name of Upon Stone. This four piece from Los Angeles have been around since 2021, dropping an EP in Where Wild Sorrows Grow that garnered enough attention to land on Century Media Records. Having somehow not…
…ils” a back half favorite for this scribe. Producer Søren Andersen did his best to keep the mix lean, mean, and audible – not an easy task even in a live festival setting, and that’s achieved in magnificent fashion. A swansong sendoff to the late drummer Josua Madsen (tragically killed in a car accident in 2023) as well as Michael (stepping down from the group as Iron Fire vocalist Martin Steene takes over), Artillery continual amaze with their cr…
…ave the opportunity to work on songs together and work through what is the best solution for every song and how to put them together. Even things like what melodies should stay and what melodies should go. It was really great for us to be able to work together on everything on this album. Dead Rhetoric: How was it, forming the band in isolation, and finally being able to play in front of people? I know you are all experienced, but with a new proje…
…t Ivan Gujic and bassist Stian Gundersen have been a part of the team since 2010 and 2018 respectively. All that really matters is – how will these nine latest tracks stack up next to the previous outings? Fear not, faithful friends into crushing heaviness. The lacerated screams of Sindre next to his bellowing, deep growls offer the band a multitude of aggressive, emotionally scathing angles to achieve – a concoction that sits next to some of the…
…owledge of sticking to strengths while cutting away any excess to push the best foot forward track by track. Probably the larger cult appeal of Dust & Bones lies in their home country to extend possibly into other European countries – as Mission Back to the Forbidden Planet contains adequate performances through catchy hooks yet is very familiar to those who love the stripped down, bluesy / punk-oriented heaviness on display. Kudos though to the s…
…t promoting the new Saxon album and touring live. That’s the main thing for 2024, touring around the world. Nothing planned for a third Saxon Inspirations record – but there are plenty of bands that still inspired and influenced us. There could always be a third one – I’m sure we could make five or six, really. It depends whether people are interested. We’ll keep that one on the backburner. Dead Rhetoric: When looking at the vast catalog of albums…
…of thrash group Nuclear) – releasing a demo Desktop Genocide in the fall of 2022 as they prepared to write/record this debut album entitled Born, Suffering, Death. The ten tracks serve up volatile, groove-oriented death ‘n’ roll, lyrically touching upon human social conflict, environmental devastation, and the turbulent life of humans in the current society that should assault all senses in the best way power trios deliver for this genre. The stri…
…verything all in between, because when I was young it was the middle of the 2000’s into the 2010’s – I wanted to bridge more of that old school, classic prog metal like I grew up with, but also trying to hybrid it with a more modern approach. A band like Haken, they still sound like a younger version of Dream Theater, but also have some djent riffs. They really nailed that old school process of experimenting with dynamic, progressive metal and bri…
…as well as down to earth tones should also be worth their weight in gold – thankfully free of the brick wall grid action that renders many modern records interchangeable. Warriors of Madness aligns well with those early NWOBHM acts from 1979-1982 – doing their best to attract attention in any small pub they could play in, as listeners felt the buzz of heavy metal growing day by day. Heavy Sentence stirs those souls who beckon for the early sounds…
…nese scene. The final song is “Burn it Down,” which they clearly saved the best for last. The most explosive cut of the EP, raging with some meaty alternative metal/nu metal riffing and grooves, intense howls and screams, and of course, an anthemic chorus. They get some back up on the vocals from Ramandhika, which gives it some added flair to bow out with as well. Nextanative proudly showcase they can hold their own in the global idol scene with t…
…, the first one that comes to mind is the first time I saw Ulcerate back in 2010, might have been 2011. It was The Destroyers of All tour; they had two guitarists. It was in a small venue, 200 capacity. It was the first time… I had already seen some epic metal shows, ridiculous performances with Martyr a couple of times, they always destroyed. That show was the first time I realized that you can write the fastest, most heavy death metal, and it ca…
…was in the build up to ProgPower USA XX in 2019. When announced during the 2018 edition – of which is customarily done so at the festival via a cool video presentation – they immediately piqued the ear, and to that point, we had only really listened to them in passing. Well, a deep dive into their discography later, and we were sold. Seeing them live in 2019 was cathartic, and there they announced Rise Radiant along with a return for a tour the n…
…hrough the skies with Expedition One. They have a firm grasp on what works best for them as musicians and do their best to bring out those qualities in each track, without pouring out 16 iterations of the same thing. It’s fun and energetic, just as they’ve always captured. The fact that they provide such a large bounty of tracks this time around only helps to sweeten the pot. If you have dug their sound in the past, you are going to love this, and…
…maximum amount of satisfaction in delivering the records that way that you best desire? How hard is it to wear multiple hats and also ensure an objective final perspective to satisfy yourselves as well as the listeners/followers of the group? Peppiatt: I feel that keeping it to just the two of us really streamlines the process and means we can work quickly and there’s no arguments at all. Me and Joe have worked together with Psycroptic for almost…
…destine Transcendence is the latest album for Lord Dying – the follow-up to 2019’s Mysterium Tremendum. How do you see this set of material fitting in the catalog for the band – and did the pandemic have any beneficial factors to dig deeper into certain aspects of the process that maybe you never took into account or considered before? Erik Olson: Um, well… I would say with the new record we wanted to push ourselves further than we’ve ever done be…
…are quintessential tension release affairs – battering and bruising in the best way possible to squeeze every ounce of negative energy into a better direction. Never content to stick in one specific tempo template, certain songs can start off at a doom-like crawl before picking up into speedier, heads down thrash terrain with the proper hardcore/crossover switch-ups, as closer “Mortality Bait” illustrates, taking in aspects of Machine Head, Slayer…
…pany, both on and off stage. It’s like standing on stage with four of your best friends, and that’s very important for me. To feel safe, comfortable, and we all know that everyone is doing their best at that time. I think that’s a nice thing about this group. Premberg: Totally agree! It’s also so much fun to meet the fans. Standing on the stage and being able to meet their eyes, or even meeting up and talking after the show. It’s really nice. Dead…
…ngs and connections and, if we lose it, what does our lives amount to? The best change for the greater good of all would be in the direction of feelings but I don’t know if we are losing them these days or if man has ever been able to see the greater good, honestly. Maybe we have never been not the good bet of our creator. Dead Rhetoric: What would you say are some of the short term and long-term goals that you want to achieve with Rome in Monochr…
…up with 6 original songs to pair up with 6 famous cover tracks. What works best about Femmes Fatales is exactly what worked for Rhapsodies in Black. The covers are fun and interesting, reinvented for grandiose symphonic metal fireworks of the highest caliber, and the original tracks keep the same concepts in mind. The covers and originals are intertwined, and this helps keep the flow of the album. Despite having some very recognizable songs, such…
