…d strong in Invincible Shield. Hopefully we try to push somewhere differently sonically, or whatever way we can to make the album sound like it’s own animal with its own two legs. The writing and recording, we were able to get together and lay the groundwork for these songs before the lockdown hit. I, Glenn, and Rob, we hashed out these song ideas in demo basic form. Then the lockdowns hit so we couldn’t get together to record it, but it allowed u…
…h album. Comparisons will probably abound as to whether the newer act will live exclusively in the realm of what’s already been established – or choose to follow their own musical desires. Epic metal would most assuredly be an accurate tag for these nine tracks – although the performances and musicianship expand into different facets of doom, power, and thrash often within the same track to convey the best emotional atmosphere at hand. Bryan as a…
…/bass infusion between the musicians where you can tell they love those early Maiden efforts equally. Spitting out tales of blasphemy, anti-religious themes through titles like “Bestial Rites” and “Necromantic Lust”, bassist T. Nachtghul uses his nasty, raspy screams plus gruff mid-range to convey sinister words, reverb/echo effects only enhancing that edge tenfold. The versatility engages listeners to commit track by track. A love of Motörhead ap…
…ould like to make it so that bands could afford to go on tour. That is really, really hard right now. $200 a night on hotels, $100 a night with gas and food. You have to be rich to go on tour, or you have to be prepared to take a massive hit. It’s not cool. Dead Rhetoric: Do you think that’s where a major difference occurs in festival support in Europe or other parts of the world versus the USA? Coming down to the sponsorships that offset the cost…
…groove rhythm component, allowing David to sail in his mid-range to slightly higher range capacity comfortably. It’s evident these musicians possess great knowledge of many subgenres across hard rock and metal – venturing into even Latin / cultural angles during “Payback’s A Bitch” or flamenco acoustic guitar prowess for the final bars of “My Heart Burns”. Bluesy-based riffage in stunted juxtaposition weaves around the seductive phrasing and note…
Although the releases have been spread out a bit compared to the early / mid 2000’s, one can always rest assured that there is a supreme benchmark aspect to the melodic heavy / power metal present from Firewind. With vocalist Herbie Langhans firmly ensconced in the lineup, Stand United as the tenth studio record keeps the four-piece alignment to great songwriting with stellar melodies as well as a bevy of musicianship-oriented tricks front and ce…
…s a lot of snow and such. It was easy. The recording thing went very smoothly. The only thing I would never, ever do again is mix the album during the summertime. In Finland, our summer is so short, it’s basically two months. Spending that time mostly indoors, working on an album and having your mind inside that whole time, it’s not super relaxing. We didn’t have too many festival shows last summer set up, we played six shows which is absolutely n…
…ased in 2015 on AOR Heaven, the band felt a remix could give these songs a bit of a ‘facelift’ to touch up some of the production flaws that may not have stood up well this many years later. Those of you who love solid performances in a Scandinavian context where the songwriting shines will delight in these eleven tracks – as aspects from old Europe and Rainbow to a more streamlined Masterplan come to mind when you take in the material. The versat…
…y long. Zaher is playing in bars. Our goal is to succeed at least a little bit more to live with our music. The way the record label handles this helps for us to achieve this. Dead Rhetoric: What can you tell us regarding the cover art concept for Karma? Where do you see the importance of strong visual cover art and imagery to put across the right impression for what people can expect when they hear your music? Codfert: I have to talk a bit about…
…pped in Chaos came out in early 2019 – after the final touring cycle abruptly ended as the pandemic shut down any live entertainment in March 2020, these musicians had time to think about their careers and what would take place next. This fifth album Sound & Fury not only is the debut for new record label AFM Records, but also a shift in terms of expanding the influence horizons of where the band wants to go as far as the songwriting, style, and o…
…ed/ uncensored videos, special touring/ festival memories, the need to end wars globally for humanity’s well-being, and discussion about finally playing shows in North America. Dead Rhetoric: Profane Prayer is the latest Suicidal Angels album – coming out around four and a half years after your previous record Years of Aggression. Did the extra downtime away from the road due to the pandemic allow the band to focus more on where you wanted to go w…
…ith Peaceville Records for the fifth album Wounds Deeper Than Time. Currently only vocalist/ guitarist Dave Gregor remains from the original days – but he has a great group of younger musicians rounding out the quartet to fire up the creative embers through this latest opus Creation Undone. The savage nature to the riffs combined with a natural energetic presence in when to shift the tempos or push into upper gear ensures numerous highlight moment…
…cific mindset or atmosphere to channel these 80s influences best – especially in terms of the lyrical content? Durbin: Not necessarily. My studio is pretty 80s in here. I have The Lost Boys, I’ve got the comic books from there, vampires, Star Wars, whatever else, E.T., all this random shit from my childhood. And then I have my Harry Potter stuff in here, costumes. Lots of retro and 80s influence everywhere I look. I also live in a beautiful place….
…the are looking for something that’s fun to listen to. That’s what The Catalyst delivers, and on a scale that seems a bit more mature than some previous works. There’s no track that pushes the boundaries in ways that some might call ‘cringe’ even if this scribe enjoyed them (see Manifest‘s “Boom!1” or Maximalism‘s “That Song”), so instead we just get a solid, bloodpumping succession of tracks, with a gorgeous ballad tossed in at the midway point….
…lot of my experiences and what was going on around me in my life for not only the lyrics but as far as inspiration for writing the material. It’s kind of like one of those things where you are an underdog fighting against whatever entity, it makes you want to be more ferocious and fight a little bit harder. Dead Rhetoric: And when it comes to the writing process, has that differed a lot from the early days of the band when you were crafting materi…
…ust, just a bit more palatable for the average listener to grasp onto. Previous records offered Scott Weiland and Scott Stapp as vocalists – well with Jeff Scott Soto, this scribe believes that Art of Anarchy has taken the right step forward to keep momentum in the upward trajectory for Let There Be Anarchy. Maybe the third time will be the charm for this supergroup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuHv6ImSLmg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0YsF…
…great palate cleanser of a track, and one that allows the foll0w-up “My Only Regret” to really shred with strong momentum, even with it’s gorgeous leadwork. The final song (“Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For”) successfully merges melody and aggression, with another somber opening that leads into some galloping riffs and drum battery that serves as a rather epic conclusion to the album. Darkest Hour showcase a full album of what they do…
…about this. It wasn’t planned, when we wrote the first demo for “Sorrow of War II” it has a bit of an influence from the first part. It was the oldest song that we recorded back in the day. I thought to myself, I really would like to write a song with lyrics that are similar to the first part, because it has an interesting chorus with the guitar chords. Maybe there will be a part three on the next album, too. Dead Rhetoric: What sort of topics do…
…s top to bottom – Durbin once again illustrates that younger artists can deliver classic, traditional heavy metal to an audience clamoring for more material beyond cranking up the oldies but goodies for the thousandth time. Screaming Steel hopefully helps get the band more touring / festival opportunities to build an even deeper, faithful following. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8CdVlAK7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTPn7NCtPc Durbin on F…
…its some similar notes in its goosebump-inducing atmosphere and Erni’s lovely vocal performance. Certainly one of the highlights at the latter end of the album is that of “Hummingbird,” which utilizes some elegant piano alongside Erni as the mood builds up slowly to a rumbling groove in the track’s back half. One more highlight on the back end is that of “Riptide,” an electronically laced banger of a song that ranks as one of the most hypnotic and…
…uch space, like mentally, because when he talks, he picks his words carefully and you really want to pay attention to what he says. When I talk, it’s like, “Oh Mike is just rattling about this thing again.” And it’s a good balance! When you throw Nico [Santora] in there he is new but he has been a fan of the band since he was young. He has a different perspective where he understands the fans perspective because he is one. He has also done a bunch…
…roup, the prospect of this Mark II lineup is beyond exciting! And that really jumped out at me with “Will I See You Again”! Not surprisingly, this was my favorite. This is one I keep going back to. Elsewhere there is greatness afoot with “Show Me Your Light”, the high octane “Save All That Remains”, and opener “Against the Winds.” The bottom line is this: Revolution Saints are here to stay, and let’s hope we have many more albums that I get to rev…
…e and Amaranthe. Then its time to prepare for summer festivals, and hopefully a really nice tour in autumn…maybe even two. We are trying to see if we can make it work. But we have a lot of shows coming up, the new album comes out in February, and a lot of music videos after that. There’s a lot going on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7t9SspFWKA&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmFpbg%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JGQgnwpGE&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmFpbg%…
…do it. Dead Rhetoric: Did you take more risks with where you wanted to go lyrically as well for the album? Lenny B.: We took some risks… I didn’t think about it. I felt like I was always hiding behind some typical metal metaphors, metal lyrics, words and stuff. If this album is 100% honest in what I feel, then I should start writing down what I feel and be brave enough to share it with people. The lyrics are the theme – a reason. If I scream into…
…t can be beefy as well as muscular, enjoy the work of Tamino Bosse especially on “Mind Free”, a mid-tempo outing that has a bit of modern touch in terms of the screams or supplementary chord progression choices. Add in a killer logo / cover art combination to encapsulate EXA as a contender to keep thrash alive when the veterans die off (or retire) through Left in Shards. Tough as nails, strong as steel – beating bodies into submission one riff to…
…e time as well, but unfortunately, I’m a bit slow with it. Flys: I personally really enjoy practicing yoga and martial arts – I recently got into Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and I’m loving it – reading fantasy novels, playing video games (I’m mostly into Souls-like games and shooters) and simply spending time with my family and loved ones. Dead Rhetoric: What kind of music have you been enjoying as of late? Anything under the radar that you think folks sh…
…ith no letdown across its swift 40-minute playback. The record cover probably will spark a bit of conversation (or controversy) given the anti-hero holding weapons with animals poking out in the background – yet the musical contents showcase Dymytry as an impressive quintet for those that love commercial-oriented modern metal. Five Angry Men isn’t necessary breaking the mold – more so keeping in line with a sound that may have developed stateside…
…rows to start over again – the 45-minute outing just perfect in terms of delivering enough material to not cause ear fatigue. In Vain love a lot of early 90’s thrash meets mid/late 90’s power/traditional influences – the type that just galvanizes festival hordes. Back to Nowhere provides proof to the positive that you can be catchy, heavy, as well as melodic without watering down your sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfgZAwKpW8 https://www….
…a new wave of thrash metal. We got good reviews, we played live a lot, mostly locally. When it was time to write the follow-up to Thrashing, other things came in the way. Our vocalist took over his family’s business, another one started studying classical music to become a music teacher, I had kids. We didn’t really want to throw in the towel, so we continued to jam, write some songs in the rehearsal room. One of the guitarists went off to Civil W…
…dings, while “By the Throat” is a more mid-tempo offering that showcases a bit more of the crossover, gang-like mentality that can elevate the mood when frustration settles into your average day. Thirty-two minutes of metallic hardcore, Night Fever with Dead End prove that they’ve lost no intensity, scrappiness, or sheer determination to shove their songwriting into tight windows of explosive madness. In the end, it’s a wonderful sound that hopefu…
