…enre – incorporating more classic metal influences into the mix. Thanks to Skype we were able to probe the minds of vocalist Philly Byrne, bassist Joe McGuigan and guitarist Domo Dixon, where we shall learn more about the latest label deal, details of the nautical/ horror themes for the new record, the video shoots especially for the on location sequences of the title track – plus discussion of their early years and possibilities for a movie down…
…s. We reached out to guitarist/vocalist Piet Sielck again on a busy day of Skype interviews, and he was happy to give us an update on Jan’s cancer and recovery, the infusion of new ideas for Skycrest, thoughts on favorite recordings for the band, as well as a little political talk and future expectations to come down the pike. Dead Rhetoric: Earlier this year, bassist Jan-Soren Eckert was diagnosed with cancer and has fully recovered. Can you disc…
…, they go absolutely crazy. I’ve got a couple of clips that I’ve posted up online – I’ve got a live montage that I am working on for another single and you’ll see some of that footage in there. Hanging from the ceiling, hanging from the air ducts, very crazy. Maybe it might be something in their town and the way they grew up, they are looking for a release and it’s just fantastic. Dead Rhetoric: What can you tell us about the New Zealand metal sce…
…g a veteran outfit. After a band rehearsal we got the chance to hook up on Skype with guitarist/vocalist Frank Thoms and guitarist René Schütz, who brought us up to date on the development of the new album – highlights and lowlights of the discography and touring, thoughts on their German metal scene, plus worries over long-term social distancing due to this pandemic. Dead Rhetoric: The eleventh studio album for Accuser is ironically self-titled….
…d be not until next summer when gigs start happening, we may have to do an online thing. I know Andrew is writing some more material, but we have no focus on any sort of release after the EP. We are just keeping ourselves busy. We are launching a My Dying Bride beer called Old Earth. That should be good fun. We are trying to keep busy and showing people that we are still around. We aren’t just sitting on our hands. We are just trying to do what we…
…time. There’s a lot in the pipeline, and there’s been some songs released online. But we also have a full-length album in the works. It’s being recorded and mixed, and most of the recordings are finished. There are still some vocals to do, but the mixing process has actually begun on the finished songs. So there will be a Bent Sea album. I’m very fortunate that I’m able to still do music, working from home – something not given to a lot of people…
…ple levels. We reached out to guitarist/main songwriter Simone Mularoni on Skype and he was happy to give us more insight into the process and outlook of the new record. We also discuss his role as a producer in his own Domination Studio, the impressive video work for “Flesh and Blood”, career highlights from the USA to Japan and China, and what’s on the horizon for the next year or so. Dead Rhetoric: Tragic Separation is the latest studio album f…
…their product since people aren’t working. I have seen a lot more traffic online, so it’s more of a battle this year more than any other year. There’s no shows, no tours, and you can’t really cross a border and work as a musician. That’s a big one. Dead Rhetoric: What goals do you have now that the first full-length is out there? Copeland: Post-album for us, we are still working and grinding. We have a lot of new stuff coming up in 2021. We are g…
…our full-lengths. We have released a couple of songs since the quarantine online that have been total re-envisioning’s of past songs with synths – that has its role, but not completely in the forefront. Where our interests lie as musicians, we are obsessed with them outside of the band. We like to use it to accentuate the song, but not go into full indulgence mode. Dead Rhetoric: The song “Rite of Passage” has special significance to you, putting…
…. We spoke to both vocalists Elina Siirala and Alexander Krull on separate Skype sessions to get their thoughts on the new album and its rich history, as well as plenty of personalized questions for each member. The interview with Alex appears after the picture below. Dead Rhetoric: What do you feel defines The Last Viking? Elina Siirala: It’s an epic concept album. Alex will tell you more about it I’m sure, but it’s based on the life of Hardrada,…
…King of Misery.” It’s a great song. Unfortunately we had to do it all over Skype, but it was fantastic. Dead Rhetoric: You also worked with some other notable names on the tracks, was it surreal moving from an independent act to working with bigger names in the business? Bedsaul: Absolutely! Being in a band and doing it independently, you have these dreams and aspirations to meet with people or work on something together, or tour with some band. T…
…t/ vocalist Suvimarja Halemtoja and guitarist/vocalist Nico Kalliojärvi on Skype recently and they were happy to share their thoughts on the band. We talk about their backgrounds, their evolution from Dotma into Humavoid, signing with Noble Demon, their outlook on imagery and video work, plus discussion on how they work out their songwriting and a little bit of pandemic/ Meshuggah talk. Dead Rhetoric: What can you tell me about your musical memori…
…ng people in the audience in flesh blood to perform to. Doing live streams online was cool and much needed for everybody during the lockdown but I can´t really say I totally enjoyed performing a full set to two mobile phones…It´s just that nothing beats the live concert experience, hope we´ll get back to the traditional ways of performing and seeing people eye to eye without restrictions at some point. Dead Rhetoric: How important is nailing a big…
…hool days that we were going to be kicked out of school. So we switched to online so we could continue with GFM and have more opportunities. Now with the pandemic, nothing has changed. We did everything online anyways. Our hearts go out to those kids who are having to learn everything for the first time because it was difficult to figure out how to have that responsibility and time management. But it is possible. For anyone having those struggles,…
…time, I’ve been consulting and helping a lot of artists build their career online. Whatever they need me for, I’m there. I’m really enjoying it. But my big goal is finishing this album for Antiqva and then going into the studio for that. We almost have enough material for a full album and it’s just sitting there. I just can’t live like this anymore – we need to do something about this. That’s going to be the next chapter of my life. I’m very excit…
…s point forward? Hurd: We are going to be looking into doing some content, online mostly. Things to fill out the rest of the year, and we are crossing our fingers in 2021. I don’t see it happening until then. The rest of the year is out for that. But as soon as we can hit the road – otherwise we are putting together ideas for stuff we can fill out the year with. We might do some live streaming, so maybe keep an eye out for that. https://www.youtub…
…. So there wasn’t much of a difference between us and other people. People online were giving us a lot of inspiration and positive feedback. People were more active than usual and it gave us more of an opportunity to reflect over life and music. Dead Rhetoric: Have you reached the point with the band that you feel you can do exactly what you want in an album, such as tossing in a breakdown for instance, without fear of alienating people? Ryd: I fe…
…and Kamelot as well as Dream Theater in spots. We reached out for a group Skype chat with the band, of which bassist Diego Puppin, keyboardist Ryan Johnson, and vocalist Jessica Frost brought us up to speed on all the changes, the work on their new EP, thoughts on great performances, and how feel and emotion matter versus technicality when it comes to their songwriting. Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about the current lineup and introduce yourselves to t…
…more respect from the metal community. That’s one of my sort of pet peeves online, I’ll see memes that have Bay Area thrash, and Heathen will not be included. I don’t know why the band is sort of the red-headed stepchild of the scene. That’s how we see it, the band somehow that doesn’t get the respect that it deserves. And it’s probably because there’s been such a big gap between these albums. We’ve been consistent, but not frequently enough – it’…
…rom somewhere. The training that we have gone through, on various channels online, has come down to seeking out your superfans. The ones who are crazy for your exact genre of music – bring them in and give them a culture to be a part of. Don’t just blast advertisements all the time. But invite them to support you through crowdfunding. It’s easy to say, but very tough to execute [laughs]. We’ve done a really good job of finding some really dedicate…
…nger to get to the public. We reached out to guitarist Chris Porcianko via Skype, and we had a fascinating time catching up on the six-year gap between releases. You’ll find out about Silvio’s vocal issues and recovery, a look at Chris’ development as a songwriter including some pinnacle Vanishing Point songs in the back catalog, thoughts on the music industry at 49, and where his hunger and passion lies with the genre and continuing forward with…
…usical figures she would love to share a dinner with in this fun half hour Skype conversation. Dead Rhetoric: Abyss is the latest album from Unleash the Archers – already receiving justified praise from musical peers and critics who have been able to hear it as a whole already. Tell us about the writing and recording process for this record – and are there specific moments you can pinpoint as you went along when you knew you had something special…
…r last studio record VI. We reached out to guitarist Nige Rockett for this Skype chat, and he was more than happy to bring us up to speed on the changes within the band including the loss of Sy Keeler, thoughts on how The Force record helped shape the direction of the new record – plus talk about the current music industry and his work within construction and the influence of helping the disabled through his work. Dead Rhetoric: It’s been seven ye…
…o vocalist Nick Holmes – a very friendly musician who despite the numerous Skype connection breakups and call backs, handled these questions as a seasoned professional should. We talk about the new record, video making, memories in the career banks, bucket list goals, the latest book about the band – and what the future holds. Dead Rhetoric: The latest and sixteenth Paradise Lost studio record is Obsidian. Given the fact that the band has been tog…
…the global atmospheric doom movement. We reached out to Ken and Brandon on Skype one Saturday morning and had an engaging, hour long discussion about the band. Prepare to learn a lot about how the band came together, the songwriting and Ovid/poem-inspired lyrical concepts, thoughts on the cover art and its importance in gaining a record deal, and some thoughts on specific albums/songs that got these musicians through tough times in their lives. De…
…rist/vocalist Maxim Beaulieu of Canadian metal band Warning Sign opens our Skype chat with the following line: ‘You’re depriving me of my last hour of work’. Considering most of the world has had to take on their day jobs at home if possible (or be furloughed / unemployed if not) unless an essential worker during these COVID-19, he has a great sense of enjoying his time with family while riding this pandemic out. The new album Path to Destruction…
…as a guitar instructor. Have you had to adjust your teaching to more video/Skype sessions because of the virus? Niemann: Absolutely. We are doing everything online since a month back. I work three days a week, I go to my work place because I have some drum students so I have a kit there and work with them on that. The rest of the days I sit with my computer, Skype and What’s App. It is what it is right now. I prefer teaching person to person in th…
…ical runs and shred-oriented leads from Gus G. We reached out to Gus G. on Skype and he was happy to bring us up to speed on the activities of the band. You’ll learn more about the deadlines to get the record done, the pivot the band is making with touring activities because of the pandemic – as well as thoughts on how they are handling another significant singer change, whether the imposed live concert shutdown will make people appreciate music m…
…to the ever-present COVID-19 pandemic. We talk a bit about that during our Skype interview, as well as the band’s guitarists shuffle, the Finnish/Russian conflict during World War II which shapes the lyrical themes for the new album, and frank discussion about the melodic death/extreme scene and thoughts on newer bands output versus the veterans. Dead Rhetoric: Wolves of Karelia is the fifth Wolfheart studio album – and first for session guitarist…
…hy itself, we were all too happy to sit down and have a chat with her over Skype about her thoughts behind the project. Not to mention discussing her insights from working with other acts, what got her into metal, and much more! Dead Rhetoric: Where did the idea for Ad Infinitum stem from? Melissa Bonny: The idea started a while ago – I went through my files recently and saw that I was already working on [Ad Infinitum] back in 2016. But that was a…
