…e compared to the signing of say Katatonia, who they signed last week, or W.A.S.P., Monster Magnet, Xandria, friend bands of ours – I am quite sure they might not push as much. They are doing a nice job for us; we get lots of interviews. It will be up to us to write better songs to reach more people. We’ve been talking about this, Jyri and I, we started talking about this. How could we gain a bigger following? The biggest problem we have had throu…
…een festival with Lich King, Dead Kennedys, Queensrÿche, Dokken. Hopefully impress some of our agent friends and getting Hatriot on the road consistently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eioj4wrjUgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILdtx99k0jg Hatriot on Facebook…
…ased on Frontiers. There seems to be a built in, loyal Frontiers base – a listening family. It would be a cool community thing, for the fans and the bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5CxvHOJHGc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0UOjYvW7MI Cleanbreak on Facebook…
…natural as a band on record, plus a little update on The Haunted in the mix. Dead Rhetoric: Nightside is the eighth Witchery album – and first for the group in five years. Tell us about the songwriting and recording sessions for this effort – and why now was the right time for the band to finally develop a full-fledged concept record? Jensen: That is a good question! The last one – why now, why not earlier? It all ties together with the pandemic,…
…m. We have a show in December in England, we may bring our Viking gear for that show. We want to push this album as much as possible and focus on Helsott. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iq3yGT6Zrg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvj_5Nhs8M0 Helsott on Facebook…
…time. It’s full focus on Battering Ram. We are going to do some shows now in the summer. We have to produce some new songs and see where things can take us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3q6AjgeMis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZUAA0Q-FrA Battering Ram on Facebook…
…when the band opened for Mötley Crüe and almost came to blows with Nikki Sixx. “Vendetta” closed a raucous set of ’80s heavy metal glory from a band that was too short-lived back then and has come back with a vengeance. RIOT CITY One of the reasons that made this festival so special was Riot City’s performance. The band has been a favorite of mine ever since hearing their absolutely fantastic Burn the Night album, filled to the brim with catchy me…
…tuation we were living in Italy, we were a ground zero for Europe for Covid-19. Moreso the mood of the band was not a party mood, so you may not find as many party songs on this new album as you will more serious stuff. It did affect the compositions. Dead Rhetoric: How important do you see the relationship between your imagery and stage gear and your lyrical/musical output? Do you believe you need both for your audience to understand the atmosphe…
…od, there is also practical astronomy, challenging board games and my books. Expanding and experimenting with recordings and sound engineering with Cubase is the somewhat more nerve-wracking part… But it’s worth it… Dead Rhetoric: What is the worst advice you see or hear being dispensed in the metal music industry? Tobias: The drums were too loud. Angelo: “Specialists” who mean what you do or don’t do in metal… With reference to slapping with the…
…s developing material in more of a classic hard rock, bluesy/southern context. Featuring musicians with ties past and present to Mystic Prophecy, Running Wild, Rage, and Stratovarius among others – you can tell these musicians play their hearts out with strong hooks, energetic performances, and this warmth that recalls a lot of the great acts from the 70’s/80’s British/ American scenes. We reached out to newest guitarist Dan Baune on Zoom who was…
…the atmosphere and aural odyssey that captivates listeners to another galaxy. We reached out to vocalist Clémentine Delauney who filled us in on the latest touring excursions, thoughts on successful crowdfunding during the pandemic, the worries and boldness to embrace the Pirates theme musically and visually, plus discussion on her voice and where she sees things going in that regard, the see-saw effects between making music for art versus money,…
…effort to write some death metal riffs to make sure we are checking that box. Or vice versa, to infuse some more doom riffs. At a songwriting level, “Hex, Curse, & Conjuration” is just four minutes of pure death metal, and that’s perfectly fine. Dead Rhetoric: Is it the same thing you think about with the vocals as well? Awn: The vocals are a great enabler for us, from a guitar perspective, because Mike (Erdody) can put death growls over everythin…
…th Tarja with Temperance in Europe later on as well. Right now, we are talking about some different chances to play shows with Fallen Sanctuary in early 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JbKdfeOLLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqcD-fra9Mo Fallen Sanctuary on Facebook…
…ere and breathe again. Dead Rhetoric: Considering you work in a band with ex-Sabaton members – and you have added another ex-Sabaton member with guitarist Thobbe in the band – what is the band chemistry like and how do they handle being associated with such a big band as Sabaton? Carpenter: The thing I really enjoy about the guys having had that experience in Sabaton, is they are very seasoned. They are very relaxed; they are very professional. Th…
…tell me it’s one of the most important albums for them. It’s also a one-of-a-kind album because it had a very specific mood, more doomy, more ancient. From the second period Communion was really important for us because it was the rebirth of the band. It was the reintroduction for Septicflesh to be 100% a symphonic death metal band, with the symphonic elements displayed with a full orchestra. The last album we did with Season of Mist Codex Omega,…
…, and then The Enigma Boundless with LaMar (George) getting added to the mix. Joe Sweat: Once Alex had joined the band and I joined the band, we had a trio going but struggled to find the perfect bass player. Then LaMar joined us, and it was a good match. Dead Rhetoric: The Enigma, Boundless is the second and latest album. Did you end up signing with Prosthetic as a result of Alex’s association with Paladin being on the label as well – and how do…
…ind of thing. Other than that – I’ll be doing something, maybe another ambient album, or Tritone with Tony and Nick. Hopefully just more ISD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxIYk_1aJU Imminent Sonic Destruction on Facebook…
…much into heavier metal and death metal. He wanted to bring that into the S.U.E. sound. We released three progressive albums – let’s explore something new. The thing is we have a very progressive name: Spheric Universe Experience. It’s 100% progressive – and the audience expects progressive metal from us, and nothing else. We actually made a mistake. We played the wrong genre, and this is why we decided to title the album Back Home. It’s all about…
…ill end up being about 80 shows for the touring cycle just in America alone. We will be in England in October, then hit mainland Europe. Endless touring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZPbnuvsqQA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWCtuy3wp5o Anvil on Facebook…
…in shock at my hair. I didn’t have the uniform at the time. I said to my ex-wife, do you hear that? I am making an impression. I wanted to be different to make some kind of statement, and I think I have. Because that is who I was. Cozy Powell used to call me the bank manager (laughs). After a while, they knew I was one of the guys. Dead Rhetoric: How much longer do you see yourself continuing as far as recording and playing live? Have you thought…
…light as the gothic-style guitars penetrate in a latter-day Sentenced context. Symphonic vibes pull closer “This Side of Darkness” along Nightwish/Kamelot-esque pastures, the guitar work very emotive and soothing. Taking on a world of today through predictions of the past, The Program encapsulates a time travel aural odyssey that isn’t too technical to grasp – these musicians always thinking of specific hook accents while still being very adventur…
…ood while, since we have two albums now to promote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDX5nFwaIXY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX-1MxycLp4 Evergrey on Facebook…
…s. But when it comes down to our bands, only Sepultura, Angra and Angra´s ex-members projects seem to get decent attention. I don´t know why. We´ve got tons of good bands such as Korzus, Ancesttral, Carro Bomba, Dr Sin… Rock in Brazil currently works like when we´re watching Netflix or we go to the movies. Mostly foreign movies and series get attention. Dead Rhetoric: What worries, or concerns do you have regarding the state of the world currently…
…that is more or less an obsession of mine is Sound of White Noise by Anthrax. It is the first album with John Bush after Joey left. The Belladonna albums are thrash classics, no dispute there – but this album to me is a blueprint for fantastic 90’s metal. It’s one of the handful of albums that would be a ten out of ten for me, I really love. A couple of others – I love the Living Colour album Stain. It’s their third album, and it’s great. It’s got…
…album is good, it’s the best thing we’ve ever put out. It’s different, interesting, a lot of dynamics to it. We have something to say. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5IaH1f4N_E Space Vacation on Facebook…
…ery little aspect of the album up until the master is done. Then I can relax. Then the next part begins when you get to hear what others might think. But I think I´m quite balanced in this field. Obviously, one gets very happy if someone likes this, but when and if someone doesn’t, it doesn’t really bother me. So what I´m trying to say is that, no I don´t have super expectations of success or whatever anymore. I also think I´m past that point wher…
…would be a huge pain in the ass, anyway. I wouldn’t mind not having to work all the time, I guess it depends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odtjm8-XYvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFgTJ_zxTxY Skull Fist on Facebook…
…g at people. I thought this is my moment. My first concert as a child was W.A.S.P. opening for Iron Maiden, like ‘wow’. I told him that story and turned into that fourteen-year-old kid on that concert. And he was like ‘oh, not again!’ (laughs). And he walked away, I stood there like a fool. It was a bizarre moment, but fun if you look back at it. When we travelled to India, that was also a crazy time. Dead Rhetoric: Now that you are nearing a half…
…landscape forever. For every Blackmore, Schenker, and Iommi dealing out six-string glory, there are mesmerizing vocalists that carry the songs to another dimension of eternity. One of those singers from the 80’s that made his mark through the Yngwie Malmsteen- Trilogy album is Mark Boals. Still going strong for decades in numerous bands/projects, he has now joined forces for two albums with Labyrinth/Vision Divine guitarist/songwriter Olaf Thorse…
…expensive studio situations? Valcon: I never went on the clock in the 80’s. Forgive me, I am not that old. My first band, we were on the clock, and we didn’t know what we were doing. With the technology now, people know how to program drums, record guitars. When a band comes to record with me, I never charge by the hour. I always charge by the song. I want to give a good product and get the best out of the musicians. If the singer comes in and ha…
