…s like Testament and Overkill, bands like Sepultura, these bands have huge buy-on’s to get a spot on a tour with them. They want roughly $30,000 to tour with them. What young thrash band has 30K sitting around that they don’t know what to do with? It’s a bullshit, predatory practice. Even if you pay the ransom you’re playing at 6:30, as the doors open, with no show pay, no hospitality, and you’re forced to match the headliner’s merch price. So you…
…ke the mysterious thing that I grew up with. Recently I spoke to my brother-in-law, who owns a social media company that used to work with musicians and now they do more stuff with brands. He said if you want to be mysterious, you can’t be on social media so that no one knows anything about you, or you just have to play the game and do the social media thing to keep people engaged. I’m more focused on staying on top of my social media. I do like t…
…my bread and butter. I was very happy to learn that Ice Giant was a concept-based band in sci-fi. And as we’ve been working on the following, you know, we’re still very much in the early stage just talking about that, but definitely in terms of concept and lyrics and things like that, me being a massive fantasy nerd is absolutely going to have an influence on that. Gallop: I’m so fucking excited because, just, yeah, I’m so fucking excited. Hell ye…
…t here, so don’t ask us for it because we don’t have it!” Ending the chat on one more bout of laughter, Duarte declares suddenly, “We should have just sold it out of the back of our van!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQoLZ3Btjzk&pp=ygUOY29ucXVlciBkaXZpZGU%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqlldj3rDzc&pp=ygUOY29ucXVlciBkaXZpZGU%3D Conquer Divide on Facebook…
…Maryland Death Fest, we will come over for a week and do some US shows, the first time in a long time. Thankfully some decent news to come play in America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5poXFWbKkHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxeZbd2QbAw Primordial on Facebook…
…or more Elvenking photos from ProgPower XXII I think everyone needed a pick-me-up after all those heavy emotions, and Elvenking was there to deliver just that! Having released Reader of the Runes – Rapture back in April, it was expected to have a setlist heavily weighted with those tracks, but with their full-length catalog officially going to eleven, it seems they opted to play a more varied set. No complaints from this scribe, as they selected m…
…t year. So yeah, I’ve been keeping busy [laughs]! Photo Credit: Jeremy Saffer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10EctxNmJsY&pp=ygUSZGVhdGggZGVhbGVyIHVuaW9u https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhdfsR9z-KY&pp=ygUSZGVhdGggZGVhbGVyIHVuaW9u Death Dealer Union on Facebook…
…oo. We need it to have a longer set. They will send me the songs in a short period of time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySl71NPKyM0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuM9fpZs-A Ronnie Romero on Facebook…
…he case of taking some of those chord progressions that are used a lot in J-pop, J-rock. Some of their music ideas and packaging it up into a power metal sound, basically. Dead Rhetoric: What did you want to get across with the cover art for Starbound Stories? Hudson: The cover art – I’m a big fan of RPG video games from the 1990’s, the Final Fantasy series, Nintendo games, stuff like that. I wanted to it look like a video game that you’ve never p…
…many tours we can do for this album. We will find time to write the next album as well, keep things going, keep the machine going. That’s pretty much it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuauI3zWGjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMCEUENTO4 Exmortus on Facebook…
…hought every single song on the album was fantastic. It only took me twenty-five years to get in the band (laughs). Back in the day, when somebody would have told me that someday I would play drums in this band, I would have said no way. I love both bands, and talking about my conditioning, I started to prepare for this special tour I guess one and a half months ago. Going to the gym, playing drums each day, not to get a lot of muscles but to stay…
…ay because you’ll make good art. Having this podcast, opening myself to one-on-one feedback, has just been incredible. I’m fortunate to be able to make music that resonates with people – that’s the whole point. It’s a game changer for me. People from the outside will think – oh they played Download, they played Hellfest. A lot of that stuff, it’s just gradual steps and seems like another day. Being able to talk to fans one on one and hear how this…
…ess do you try to map out who will handle what parts vocally? Is it a trial-and-error basis, or do you know who will do what part? Ekberg: We never know. When we get to the point where vocals come in, we find that this needs this or that. Clean or growl. Sometimes we feel that maybe I should do this part, and I’ll try it out – it sounds like crap, so Madeliene you do it (laughs). Liljestam: And we’ve had it the other way around. There is like grow…
…king tours for 2024 for the US and all the other places that we haven’t toured as much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUYKDdwDidY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqRfV-mMyUo Crypta on Facebook…
…zer over the next twelve months as far as promotion, live shows, etc.? Radtleff: We are going on tour with Artillery. We will start writing the next album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh1Iuece5ow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEPz2QVgV6Q Demolizer on Facebook…
…lbum WTFortyfive features the quartet ripping through twelve tracks of down-to-earth heaviness, primal with the right melodic sensibilities. We reached out to guitarist Jackie Chambers to catch us up on the new record, how she got the Girlschool gig replacing Kelly Johnson, animation video work, favorite memories from festivals to meeting Alice Cooper, her newfound appreciation for meditation, and lots of touring plans. Dead Rhetoric: WTFortyfive?…
…leby: Yes, the record label tries to find other ways to convince people to buy the record. People don’t just want to buy the CD anymore, so they try to find special items to help. I think it’s very nice to have more than an album, a poster flag, a statue in the new box set. As a fan, that’s something that I want – more than just the music if I buy something. It’s a good way to give something more to the fans, even if they have to pay for it. Dead…
…possible festival/touring sessions, as there’s gold in the creative output present here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ_kASF1K90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-hYOZzKfZs Blackscape on Facebook…
…at going to gigs, but the only way to help a band on the label front is to buy the product. Your favorite bands, buy what you like, it really helps bands out. And touring, it’s so expensive now. We were trying to get to North America last year for Hell Unleashed. When we tallied up all the costs, we were deep into the red before we even set off. We just basically said, I guess we are not doing that then. Hopefully it will get better, and we can ge…
…varius influence is very clear, make no mistake, Walk with Titans is not a cheap copycat, they absolutely have crafted something special. There are tracks like “As Titans Fall” that have keyboards that are reminiscent of Visions-era, but instead of Nostradamus, we have Greek mythology as a lyrical theme. Given the band’s name, it’s probably safe to assume that will be an ongoing theme. Most know the basics, but Greek legends are so complex and eso…
…with a theme-album type of thing. It was refreshing to go back to this song-by-song approach with the lyrics, not that everything needs to be connected to a whole big story. It narrows the options with the lyrics, you are very tied to the theme. Dead Rhetoric: You worked with Greek artist Nikos Stavridakis on the cover art for Stormbringers – who has worked as well with your other acts Wolfheart and Dawn of Solace in this capacity. What do you enj…
…uccessful session work business; I enjoy doing this. There is a festival in Norway we may do in 2024, and we will see if other opportunities come our way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK5hDNb2icQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25alHZj5t88 Pyramaze on Facebook…
…ear for something big. It looks like The Hallowed will be opening more doors than we are used to, which is nice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTt85-ksuuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnD4bEVJJa8 Jag Panzer on Facebook…
…want the metal scene to be alive and well, when Iron Maiden and these old bands go away, it’s important to keep your focus on the bands you like. Support these bands. Support what you love. Share things, buy albums, buy merchandise. You will lose a band you like otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzfD3cW5X8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2j0hy4AkLk ScreaMachine on Facebook…
…or where my voice is going to be. We really have to trust each other. Solo-wise, melody-wise, I had to trust them, so they had to trust me that it was going to work out for the vocals. That’s a completely different thing than we did to any other album. Usually with mixing we are together with Andy Classen, going through the mix and talking about it. Now it was Erwin doing it on his own, sending us the link, and everybody listening to it on their…
…d’s songwriting process, how they’re feeling about the new album, the multi-studio approach to recording their latest, future plans, what’s been inspiring them, and even the possibility for themed baked goods! Dead Rhetoric: Air Not Meant for Us just released on April 28th, and early indications show the reception to be overwhelmingly positive. How do you feel about the album and how people have been reacting thus far? Jordan Rippe (drums): The su…
…1990’s. Having the luxury and the opportunity to be able to continue to create, instead of just letting it all simmer up (in your brain), is a blessing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84mDXOraYRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIsM81o1bSY Oryad on Facebook…
…ally feel like you’ve accomplished something. Having more of those experiences – you are there for the show, but that’s when you have bucket list kind of stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksCKFkioYL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nSo_H92Zmc Cattle Decapitation on Facebook…
…ay your money to see an actual event. Asta: We are friends with a lot of the bands locally. It’s like we are hanging out, and that’s the way it should be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMKIjjoXYn4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKNCA8R8cKE Finality on Facebook…
…g about going to do more shows in America. We are looking at the best possibilities, as we want to guarantee the quality that we give live. It has to be good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mA3koz5alQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaSlR30rlCs Burning Witches on Facebook…
