Malicious Intent

Option Paralysis: It's Me Or The Drugs!!!

2012-01-27T05:13:00.000-08:00

Despite the title, this is not intended to be a post focusing on gossip. A little while ago I pointed out that Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan (DEP) publicly stated that he had the trip (*wink, wink*) of a lifetime. Read Greg's original statement here.

Metal Insider recently posted an interview with Ben Weinman, guitarist and main creative force behind DEP, in which he touched on various subjects related to Greg's drug episode. Ben maintained that the creative process for DEP has always been drug free (although he mentioned ingesting pots of coffee MULTIPLE times throughout the interview) and that he has always been straight edge. Still, Ben assured everyone that this event was "less than a hiccup" within the internal relationship of the band.

On the Metal Sucks post about this very subject, there was a shit storm of user comments regarding the place that recreational drug use has in the creation of music. I won't get into that
because, obviously, drugs are great and also great for music and musicians.

What I really want to talk about is where does one draw the line between the individual and the collective within the relationship of a band. Ben mentions that Greg is "the front man and [he's] the image of what this band is", but at the same time mentions "certain guys in the band do certain things and certain guys don't". To me, this means that Greg can do what he wants, but he should have a responsibility to maintain a public image that is consistent with DEP's creative work ethic and philosophy. This brings up a number of important questions. Where does one draw the line between the individual and the collective? Where does one draw the line between public responsibility and private freedom?

As being a member of multiple bands in the past (albeit, local bands), I can safely say that every member always develops a "personality" or "role" in the band and that contributes to the function (or dysfunction) of the whole. I think most people can agree that there are one or two people who are the creative engines while the others may contribute some ideas. Additionally, there are usually one or two people that are deemed to represent the "public image" of a band.

The "public image" of a band is generally used to express the philosophy, ideas, and personality of a band by way of interviews, public appearances, and the like. They serve to bridge the perceived gap between the fan and the band. When a member who acts as the "public image" of a band no longer aligns him or herself with the philosophy, ideas, or personality of a band, then there will be some dissonance between those identities. In other words, when a member acts on his or her own volition in a public space, while not maintaining the image of the band, that's when problems within bands occur. That's also usually when members get kicked out.

Ben said in the interview that one main problem he saw with Greg's behavior is that it caused fans to assume that the recreational use of drugs is part of the creative process. Obviously, from Ben's comments, this is not the case (except for COFFEE!). Thus, some dissonance between "public image" and individual personality.

So where does one strike the balance between public image and personal choice and between the collective and the individual? Clearly, each band is going to have different views on this. In many Black Metal bands, shared ideology (whether Satanic or not) is central to the function of the band. For overtly political bands, like Napalm Death, I'm sure this also rings true. Within bands like these, I would imagine each individual has at least some contributions to developing the ethos of a band.

However, it's not just about ideology or philosophy. Aspects such as the band's collective personality and work ethic also play hugely important roles. If one member is an incessant drunken asshole or never shows up for practice, that may not fit in with the overall personality or work ethic of a band, respectively.

I think in most instances, an individual member of a band is allowed to express themselves, creatively, socially, or otherwise, just as long as said expression doesn't violate either the public image, the interrelationships, or the world view of the band. The boundaries of such a violation are, of course, explicitly or implicitly set by the band.

John's best of 2011

2012-01-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

J. Sunlight here! Since all my favorite bands blew their loads in 2010, I didn't bother keeping close tabs on metal releases in 2011, so consider this the socioeconomically aware metalheads's top ten list of albums which exceeded expectations in all the extracurricular while maintaining the artistic verve and quality standards that we've come to expect from the falsely-conscious mutants who populate the metal scene!

GOOD

1. Old Forest - Tales of the Sussex Weald
Technically some old releases cobbled together and sold to the same people a second time! Good business sense and efficient use of available resources earns Fogarty and crew my personal thumbs up and the award for best album of the year! Old Forest are like Emperor or Immortal or Gehenna or something but English. YOU KNOW...

2. Immolation - Providence
Obviously fishing for wider appeal, Immolation do Noktorn proud create their first release that appeals to non metal-nerds; an ep who's frolicking riffs and de-alienated stratification of oldschool-modern death metal cliches makes something you can enjoy without the niggling feeling that you should be listening to "Onward To Golgotha" instead. Expect this on college radio!

3. Tjolgtjar - Witchcrafts, I Am A Wolf, First Church of Tjolgtjar Volume I (Rites of The First Church)
"Witchcrafts" is an old album just now getting release. Part of an old collaboration which never came together, forcing the Rev to provide his own vocals to his own arrangements! It must be stated that this is not "Ikarikitomidun", nor in the same ballpark. It is in the same league, however! Think of it as the Royals of Tjolgtjar's black'n'roll with the faded color palate and dreary adherence to standard Sabbath influence. "I Am A Wolf" is a compilation and thus irrelevant, save the considerate inclusion of "Elephant" and "Rhinoceros", songs which are to date only available to scumbags who download (granted they are now available in the form of a download). The only mistake is the inclusion of the unlistenable "United States Black Metal Mafia: HellsLegions" rather than one of their best and more obscure tracks "Unholy Offerings". I went ahead and fixed this by replacing the track (I suggest you download it), thus this release is salvaged. "First Church of Tjolgtjaretc" isn't metal. While these are all download releases, by keeping the brand name alive I merit Tjolgtjar a respectable third position this year.

4. Burzum - Fallen
"I should defend myself no matter what, and not give the crusading Jew-lackey carte blanche to murder my race and me only because his blade is so bloody beautiful or because he has been allowed to do so for a thousand years already!" Varg, you charmer! It's not as though I could write this list and ignore Burzum... It's not as though YOU ignored these developments!

5. Glorior Belli - The Great Southern Darkness
While others are content to recycle material, Glorior Belli recycle the very metaphysics of their work and released a stellar sequel to "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" which had put them on the map, with a bit more aesthetic variety, a bit less emotional range, a less typecast arrangement in general and a greater emphasis on the cartoonish nature and oblique humor of it all. The 2 Fast 2 Furious of metal albums if you will.

6. Gigan - Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes
I haven't really listened to this but I'll go ahead and say it's great. Presumably nothing has changed since "Footsteps of Gigan" besides the collapse of global capitalism.

7. Vondur - No Compromise
It's Vondur's music, but available. What I guess we always wanted...

8.

9.

10.

These spots are reserved for, respectively, a German, a French, and an American black metal record which I haven't heard yet.

BAD

Beherit - At The Devil's Studio
This is an obvious forgery as to my knowledge, Beherit was not a metal band until 2008. Hats off for the effort, though.

Anything else
Until it has been properly vetted...

There you go! While other people may, in the uncertain, measured way one must in an age where all of our credibility is threatened, tell you that 2011 was a good or bad year for metal for an artistic-musical-cum-sociological-cultural hoedown I can tell you with true certainty that it was a year of true revitalizing self-perpetuation!

2012

2012-01-25T05:03:00.000-08:00

As I was compiling my "Top 10 of 2011" list for this blog (read Judge Dredd's here and Cate the Great's here, good stuff!!) I realized that I listened to a TON of terrible metal in order to find a handful of great albums. Yeah yeah, I know that that's part of the fun is digging through all the garbage that comes out every year to find some truly superb masterpieces, but it got me thinking...now that I'm no longer a Malicious Intent DJ and am not obligated to at least pretend to listen to all the new shit that's coming out, perhaps it's time to backtrack a bit.

Here's what I mean: I can't tell you how many obscure, bedroom black metal demos I've listened to (some of them great fun too, don't get me wrong), but it's pretty embarrassing when I admit to fellow metalheads that I've never actually listened to no-brainer albums like Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick, or that I can't name any classic Motörhead songs other than "Ace of Spades" off the top of my head. Similarly, now that I'm finished with school and have spent a lot of my free time around my apartment here in Sydney reading and playing video games, it dawned on me as I was looking for books to check out at the local library that I've never actually read really anything by H.P. Lovecraft, nor did I know anything about Aleister Crowley, both of whom are extremely important in shaping metal's overall atmosphere, lyrical themes, and imagery.

There are a lot of other examples too, but I'm trying to not turn this into a rant. My point is that because 2012 is arguably the most metal year in the history of mankind (the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar, the end of the world or whatever in the Mayan calendar, a potentially grueling American presidential race that is arguably going to decide the fate of the nation, global economic collapse, climate change, the God Particle at our fingertips, the History Channel and Giorgio Tsoukalos freaking out everyone with Ancient Aliens theories, Graham Hancock's compelling evidence in his book Fingerprints of the Gods of the existence of a pre-Ice Age advanced civilization and its relationship to 2012 (check out this interview as well, cool shit!), THIS guy, THIS shit, etc.), I couldn't think of a better soundtrack to the impending trainwreck of mankind's existence than classic metal albums that I've never listened to, great books and writers influential to metal's evolution, and exploring concepts relating to occultism, the paranormal, and other weird shit. So I guess aside from eating healthier and working out and stuff like that, this is going to be THE YEAR of having a blast getting into weird-as-fuck stuff.

Honestly, I don't really think anything's going to happen on December 21, 2012, but I feel like it's still as good as an excuse as any to explore some eccentric writers and solidify the foundation of my metal knowledge by listening out some essential metal albums (and other music I haven't bothered to check out in the past) for the first time!

Do I sound like a maniacal madman?? Is anyone else planning on getting WEIRD with me in 2012??

Cate the Great's Top Ten of 2011

2012-01-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know, I suck. What is it, almost February already? Sheesh. My apologies for my poor time management skills, but my blogging has recently been competing with my preparations for an upcoming show (shameless art plug here: caterichards.net). Finally, it is time.

Being dead last in the group, many of my top albums from last year have been covered nicely already, but there's a few I feel I can add to the pile. I agree with both Dredd and Wulf's sentiments that 2011 was a strange one for metal. Even up at the last minute bands were being dropped, added, and rearranged on my list, and while there were many great albums this year there were few that I felt were truly masterpieces from beginning to end compared to 2010 and 2009, although I believe I listened to more new music this year than any other. While there were many albums I thought were good, almost none were safe from some sort of scrutiny. I believe I'll just refer to this year as "The Year of the Pretty Album" because there were a lot.

Without further ado:

10. Cruachan: Blood on the Black Robe

To tell you the truth, I never expected Cruachan to make a "best of" list written by my hand. I've always clumped their more recent music into a certain category: another anomaly that when you hear the words "Celt Metal" whatever you imagine in your head is exactly on target - no real surprises. Their previous release, 2006's "The Morrigan's Call" was to me orthodox and a little fun at its best - riddled with pipes and upcycled covers of traditional folk songs. But "Blood on the Black Robe" is different. While the traditional elements and instrumentation remain the somewhat the same, it smashes any notion of predictability. Almost every song is a dogmatic call to arms, rife with the anger felt by a proud ethnic group defending its culture against invading outsiders. Sticks out among many other battle-metal bands as a rawrer, more genuine alternative to Turisas and others. Side effects of this album include a shelighleigh suddenly appearing in your hand and a quick onset of blood lust.

9. Arkona: Slovo

What an album! While I figured Arkona would have a hard time outdoing their last two releases, "Slovo" (meaning "word" in Russian) adds a new flavor to Arkona's recipe. Symphonic elements, sidewalk organ grinder melodies, a few black metal riffs, along with Arkona's staple dancy folk tunes come together to create a rollercoaster of an album. With each new release, Arkona seem to push themselves bit by bit, and I'm excited to see what's next.

8. Wrath and Ruin: Mouth of Oblivion

So I have a local bias, what of it? Actually no, the local love has little to do with it, this album is a true contender. I was on the edge of my seat for months waiting for this album to get finished, and when I finally got my hands on it, it was on repeat for a solid week. With "Mouth of Oblivion" Kansas band Wrath and Ruin create a unique experience of "sci-fi metal" extending well beyond just the lyrical content and into the music itself. Eerie synth paired with an extraordinarily tight rhythm section, sound clips about Area-51 and conspiracy theories, topped off with Godfleshian vocals belting out lyrics about other-worldly lifeforms mesh to create something that appeals to both the metal snob and the geek in all of us. I'd like to note here that my local-love extends further, and that black metallers Stonehaven's demo would have made this list had it not been a demo.

7. Vader: Welcome to the Morbid Reich

"It's Vader, and that's just fine" is the phrase I've been using to justify this albums presence. For twenty years and gobs of releases, the Vader formula has withstood, and this album is no exception.

6. Moonsorrow: Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

I've been abbreviating this album VKKM since this album's release because, even by metal standards, this title is a doozy. According to an MA user the translated title is "As Shadows We Walk in the Land of the Dead." Finnish is weird. Anyway, Moonsorrow is an incredibly talented band, and with this album the folk is elevated to grandiose levels. Four tracks all topping ten minutes, sandwiched between interludes of a traveller walking through snow and grass, narrates a story that surely involves death and transcendence. The sheer beauty that Moonsorrow manages to create with their playing on this album is astonishing, and there is a wonderful sense of mystery and longing to the whole thing.

5. Aosoth: III

I've always had the theory that many metalheads are closeted electronica freaks. I know I am. One of my favorite things is when aged black metal bands incorporating electronica into their music (a la Dødheimsgard, Beherit, etc...) and while Aosoth may not be the oldest BM band, their music reminds me of those great combinations. Like contemporaries Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, Aosoth manage to create a scary atmosphere with their approach to production and delivery - the entire album seems to have been blanketed in subtle white noise, with elongated droning and shifting tones hovering in the background of the chaos, all held together by really catchy guitar work. Another point scored by the French.

4. Burzum: Fallen

In early Spring, as last year’s snow was thawing and only a little bit of green was starting to show on the barren Kansas fields, I embarked on a two day trek to Northern Kansas for a photography
project, capturing abandoned buildings and deserted towns. Everything up there is at least 10 miles apart, so when travelling from one destination to another, I has nothing but barren, grey fields to watch while I sped my rumbling 93' Volvo over hills and across fields. The whole time "Fallen" blared through my headphones, creating the perfect soundtrack. Gorgeous, continual melodies paired with Varg's distant singing accompanied me as I searched for inspiration, and listening to such a album made it easy to see the beauty in the drab. While Burzum is well known for contributions to the world of screaming, lo-fi black metal, the man sure knows how to make a something truly beautiful.

3. Peste Noire: L'Ordue à l'état Pur

I catch myself saying “That’s so French” quite a bit. What does that mean, that something’s French? I think it has to do with identifying art (of all forms) associated with a culture that is responsible for the term "avant-garde," often stereotyped as hyper-sexual, and has been at the forefront of all things arty and experimental for hundreds of years. So things rooted in history, arty, a little crazy, and fucking filthy. That's Peste Noire. In this case, all these descriptors work to create one hell of a "French" album. PN's historical sensibilities and off-color twists are still present, but this album made me do something I never thought I would while listening to a PN album - dance. Sound clips of whippings, techno beats, and Famine's spitting, rageful vocals will make almost any listener feel very unsettled, but yet groovy and aching for more. Who knows the proper way to listen to a Peste Noire album? I imagine it involves a kiddie-pool full of entrails, a burning French flag, and maybe a pig.

2. Haemorrhage: Hospital Carnage

I like goregrind for the same reason I like horror movies - that inner ten year old that loves gore and feckless blood. Call it a response to a life mostly free of danger and horror, but I can't help but crack a smile at a really good grind track. A few notes into this album, and I knew it would make this list, not to mention that the theme of hospital terror is a great one (The Re-animator? Audition? Dead Ringers? All great films). With "Hospital Carnage," Spanish band Haemorrhage continue their sick investigation into medical mayhem, and tracks like "Splatter Nurse" and "Amputation Protocol" will have the listener reeling. I refer to Haemorrhage as the "F- of Grind" for both their gender make-ups, angst-ridden delivery, and distinct call-and-response set up, which all together creates a bloody masterpiece of gg.

1. Altar of Plagues: Mammal

While not an American band, Altar of Plagues' sound fits nicely with the current trend of USBM in the spotlight. It's rather exciting to see such a new musical movement come to fruition before my eyes (despite the perceived dissent of many a purist) and I can't wait to see how far it will go. Call it by whatever name (post-metal/experimental/nature-orientated) but it amounts to groups sculpting the traditional idea of BM into something more concerned with concept rather than shock value. "Mammal" is a highly appropriate name for Altar of Plagues latest, and album which Invisible Oranges reviewer Justin M. Norton wonderfully called "warm-blooded, a deceptive predator." The music on this album is so thick, it does feel alive - an intricate lacing of systems that when charged by the beating of a heart begin to move. The echoes of drawn out-notes and racing beats invite the listener inward, and provides them with an ability to reflect. This could very well be the first album marking the beginning of Altar of Plagues mature works. Compared to their last two releases, with this album song lengths went up and the music became much more concise. Great, great album.

Also worthy of note:

LOVED: Fen - Epoch; Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain; Kampfar – Mare; Dalriada - Igeret; Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand; Meek is Murder - Algorithms; Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising; Oakhelm-Echtra; Glorier Belli - The Great Southern Darkness; Kroda - Schwarzpfad; Mastodon - The Hunter; Ulver- Wars of the Roses; WITT - Celestial Lineage; Origin - Entity; Woods of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason; Sylvus - The Beating of Black Wings; Devin Townsend - Deconstruction/Ghost.

NOT LOVED: Korplikaani – Ukon Wacka; Pathology – Awaken to the Suffering; Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus; Jesu - Ascention; Krallice - Diotoma; Blackguard - Firefight; Batillus - Furnace.

HAVEN’T GOTTEN TO YET: Tyr, Primus, Absu, Tsjuder, Insomnium, Anaal Nathrakh, Autopsy, Ulcerate, Primordial.

As usual, I can't wait to see what this following year will bring. New Nile? Burzum? Les Discrets? Drudkh? Can't wait!

Until next time!

-Cate the Great

WULF'S TOP 10 METAL ALBUMS OF 2011!!!

2012-01-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well, well, here we are again!! 2011 was a hell of a year, went to Korea, living in Australia now, and, most importantly, enjoyed some killer metal releases during my travels! I really don't have too much to say about 2011 that wasn't already covered by Judge Dredd, he pretty much nailed it with this being the year of USBM really breaking through to the critical acclaim it deserves...however, I still can't help but feel that 2011 was fairly weak compared to 2010. Last year, I had a tough time narrowing down my favorite masterpieces, but this year I found it difficult to come up with ten albums that I found to be truly excellent. Anyway, there are still some gems to be found, and I'll also list some albums I thought were pretty cool but not worthy of the "Top 10". Here we go!!

1. "L'Ordure à l'état Pur" - Peste Noire

What a monster of an album!! I remember really digging this album and the strangeness of it all, but after reading this blog post and using this album as a soundtrack to a game of Plague & Pestilence with some friends, I felt like for me this was definitely going to be my favorite of the year...and I was right! Easily PN's best since their debut album, controversial lyrics and themes aside, this album is absolutely nuts. Bizarre songwriting parodying modern French culture, batshit insane vocals, PN's trademark sloppy playing contrasted with excellent musicianship (and Indria's masterful fretless bass!), it's not for everyone but will definitely appeal to the more adventurous audiophiles out there. As far as black metal goes, Famine is the new Varg.

2. "Celestial Lineage" - Wolves in the Throne Room

While I don't feel as if Wolves are ever going to top 2007's "Two Hunters", there's no doubt that "Celestial Lineage" and is THE BEST USBM album of the year. While it took me awhile to get into this album just because there's so much stuff to explore in these labyrinthine tracks, eventually it really warmed up to me and found it to be a very rewarding listening experience. It's these kinds of albums that make me feel like it was recorded in a cave somewhere, evoking the same essence of primitive rituals long forgotten. It's sad to see that this is going to be their last album, but holy shit what a way to go out!

3. "Fallen" - Burzum

Speaking of which, the new Burzum album was amazing as well! I'm still sad that the interview didn't work out, but while writing up questions I really got into this album and found it to be better than "Belus". Of course you've got all the typical Burzum-style dirty riffing and hypnotic repetition, but also some of the most gorgeous melodies I've heard in black in quite some time. I'm definitely excited to see what else Varg's got in store for us in the near future.

4. "Ghost" - The Devin Townsend Project

Easily my biggest guilty pleasure of the year, I can't believe I enjoyed this album as much as I did. Ugh. I'd be embarrassed to listen to this while in the same room as someone else. Nevertheless, while for most people this might be The Mad Scientist of Metal's weakest of his 4-album quadrilogy, this was my favorite...in fact, it might be my favorite thing Devin's done since "Terria", which is one my favorite albums of all time. There's no metal on "Ghost"...instead, it's a relaxing, pseudo-new age "journey" of relaxing, lush acoustics and peaceful atmospherics. Vomits.

5. "Roads to Judah" - Deafheaven

Now THIS album came out of nowhere...who are these dudes? While some BM fashion police might be turned off because these guys don't "look" very "metal", they obviously play their brand of post-rock-influenced black metal without giving a shit (while simultaneously not coming across as pretentious...sorry Liturgy). I found that Deafheaven gives me the same vibe I get from bands like Amesoeurs, Nachtmystium, and black metal artists that give off a strong "urban decay" vibe. Rainy, cold afternoon/evening in NYC black metal.

6. "Mammal" - Altar of Plagues

I'm not too sure what to say about this album, other than it's "really good". While it's definitely in the vein of this rapidly-growing trend of "urban decay black metal" that all the kids are listening to these days (including me), I couldn't really get into this album until I listened to it in complete darkness one night before going to bed. It definitely could be said that listening to albums like this makes ANY album seem a lot better, it's really the only time that I could really get into it...in any other situation it just doesn't do it for me. So if you're reading this right now in the middle of the night and you can't sleep, give this album a shot if you're in the mood for some brooding, ominous post-black metal.

7. "Redemption at the Puritan's Hand" - Primordial

This isn't Primordial's best album, but it has some really killer tracks nonetheless, with "No Grave Deep Enough" and "Bloody Yet Unbowed" being two of the best metal songs of the year. I didn't get into this album as much as their previous two, but who knows, maybe it will grow on me. Still, Nemtheanga's lyrics and vocals are, as usual, top-notch, and
this is definitely a welcome addition to Primordial's excellent line of great releases.

8. "The Great Mass" - Septicflesh

While overall not a superb album, some of the highlights are definitely worth listening to, such as "The Vampire of Nazareth" and Fotis Benardo's superb drumming. When listening to this album I get the same sort of "exotic" vibe that is similar to when I listen to other Greek metal bands such as Rotting Christ. The adventurous, epic atmospherics always gets me going, and coupled with mysterious, occult lyrics and excellent production makes for a very rewarding listening experience. Definitely planning on getting into their back catalogue and reading some interviews!

9. "Agony" - Fleshgod Apocalypse

Seriously balls-out symphonic death metal. I'm not really sure what else to say, but besides the batshit drums, this album is completely over-the-top with its overblown orchestrations and frantic energy. When you combine cheesy Italian power metal and ridiculously brutal, blasting death metal (think Hate Eternal), this is what you get, and it's a hell of a lot of fun!

10. "In the Flesh" - Nader Sadek

While not quite as ludicrous sound-wise as, say, Fleshgod Apocalypse, the drumming on this album (courtesy of Cryptopsy's Flo Mournier, one of the best extreme metal drummers EVER) is what does it for me. It's as if Flo is compensating for his relatively recent embarrassing ventures ("The Unspoken King", Digital Doomzday, cutting his hair) by unleashing absolute hell on his drum set. Seriously, this shit is nuts. It's also worth mentioning that you've got Blasphemer (ex-Mayhem) on guitar, Nicholas McMaster (Krallice) on bass, and Steve Tucker (ex-Morbid Angel) on vokills, and the whole project directed by Nader Sadek (responsible for Mayhem's live visual atmospherics). While the whole album is good, Flo's drum performance on this album is what makes it for me.

Greg Puciato: Calculating Infinity...On Drugs

2012-01-20T05:21:00.000-08:00

We've all been there. You eat a little bit. You tell your friend a few minutes later, "Man, I don't feel anything." Your vastly more experienced friend says, "Just chill out, man. Drink some OJ or something." Instead, you grab the bag and ingest another handful or two...and BOOM! Half an hour later, you're wading through a cavern up to your waist in skim milk. Phosphorescent lights flash at random, supposedly leading your way, but instead they become disorienting. You need some fresh air. You hold on for dear life as you make it outside to your front porch. As you watch the ground recede from your front porch, you wonder to yourself, "If the forms of this world die, which is more real: the me that dies or the me that's infinite?"

All this happens as everyone else in the room is watching you writhe on the floor as if you're having a seizure, while mumbling something about "Banana phones."

It sounds like Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan had a similar experience a few days ago. Read his statement regarding it here.

Say what you want about the inexplicably heedless use of recreational drugs by some musicians (OK, A LOT of musicians)...and sure, he held up some emergency response workers...but it still makes for a hilarious story.

Kvlt Beyond Kvlt

2012-01-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

While meandering around on YouTube watching Wolves in the Throne Room interviews, I came upon what I believe to be representative of the unattainable "kvlt beyond kvlt". Seeing and hearing is believing:

Apparently, they're called Goats int Throne Room (sic) and they are an actual band as evidenced by this concert footage:

So trve. So kvlt.

Rob Darken Has Really Lost It This Time

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

I know everyone makes fun of Rob Darken all the time, and say what you will about all his past photo shoots, but seriously...what the fuck is this?! What was he thinking??!!

I'm too stupid to figure out how to post the pictures but just follow the link and check out Darken's new pics!

The State of Metal 2011: Judge Dredd's Dreaded Top 10

2012-01-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

I read a quote somewhere on Metal Review that this wasn't exactly a good year for great metal music, but rather a great year for good metal music, and I couldn't agree more. However, this was THE year for United States Black Metal (USBM). Don't believe me? How about the fact that we got releases from almost every major USBM band this year including Wolves in the Throne Room, Absu, Leviathan, Krallice, Negative Plane, and Nightbringer, not to mention newcomers such as Deafheaven and Ash Borer. Still not satisfied? How about every USBM release that I have heard this year has been at least above average, not only relative to the individual artist's own discography, but also relative to the rest of the metal releases this year.

In fact, one could argue that USBM started to solidify it's identity this year. On the other hand, one could argue that the different styles employed by USBM are so disparate (complimented by the vast distances between regional scenes) that there will never be a USBM "identity". Some have wrestled with the narrow term "Cascadian Black Metal", but even that doesn't grasp the full spectrum of USBM sounds. Either way, one can hear influences of post-rock, crust punk, and shoegaze continue to infiltrate the sounds of many USBM bands, which clearly distinguishes it from the majority of European Black Metal bands.

Moving from Black Metal to Death Metal, if there is any revival that I was sick of as soon as it started, it is the Incantation-influenced Old School Death Metal. I understand that it's a backlash against the slick, over-produced sound of modern Death Metal (which I hate equally as much for the most part). No matter how much I have listened to new releases from Disma, Necros Christos, Cryptborn, and the like, I can't convince myself that this NOT the most boring shit that I've ever heard. Admittedly, there were one or two releases, namely "Parasingosis" by Mitochondrion and "Transformation" Sonne Adam, that really stuck with me. I think it's almost unfair to lump them in with the other bands because they actually write interesting (for the former) and memorable music (for the latter). What a concept! Plus Mitochondrion is just weird as fuck, which always gets points in my book. Hopefully Death Metal bands will give up trying to unearth the past, and start getting all psychedelic on our collective unwitting asses.

Lastly, I want to put in my two cents about the new releases from Mastodon and Opeth. Artists should be able to do what they want with their music. Oh, I'm sorry, they didn't make "Remission" or "Blackwater Park" again? Too bad, go listen to those albums then. Personally, I thought "The Hunter" was a great, catchy metal album, and I can appreciate Opeth's change of direction with "Heritage", but it just didn't really speak to me.

*******

I think it's important that I reiterate why I'm Judge Dredd. After close to fifteen years of listening to Metal, I have honed a very dickish, particular listening taste. I like bands that have a distinct sound and style. I can tell you in the first minute of listening, "Oh, that's Immortal" or "That's the new Coalesce" However, I'm not going to be able to tell you which of the 10,000 Suffocation clones is currently playing.

OK, down to business. Since Deathspell Omega, Cult of Luna, nor Gorguts released a new album this year, I had a somewhat difficult time determining the number one spot. Here goes:

1. Celestial Lineage, by Wolves in the Throne Room

There's not too much to say about this album that hasn't already been said. With the last in their so-called trilogy, Wolves in the Throne Room deliver what I think to be their creative and musical masterpiece. On a more basic level, it seems as though they have combined the best of their last two previous albums to create this new one. One can tell meticulous and meditative detail went into the writing process and it didn't come out as overproduced like one might expect, but rather it continues the organic, expansive, and majestic sound that Wolves in the Throne Room have become so recognized for.

2. The Great Southern Darkness, by Glorior Belli

There is not one skippable track on this entire album, and I thereby dub the most consistent one of my Top 10. Just as their last album was titled, "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" and was telling of their change of direction, so is their 2011 effort. These French black metallers have injected a bit of a NOLA bluesy Sludge into their particular brand of Black Metal. While the reverse has been happening in recent years (Sludge/Doom bands being influenced by Black Metal), the reverse has not happened nearly as much. The combination, as shown by Glorior Belli, is flawless. One of the most overlooked albums of 2011.

3. An Ache for Distance, by The Atlas Moth

Supposedly, "An Ache for Distance" is about the experience of touring and being away from your home, family, and friends for months at a time. For instance, it has been suggested that "Coffin Varnish" is about the mass consumption of alcohol that takes place for many bands while they're on the road, and the (not just physical) effects it has. One can tell it's a very personal and emotional record for the band, and thereby the listener as well. Musically speaking, the band continues down a path of forging their own creative identity. One can here nuances of Gothic Metal, Sludge, Psychedelia, and Black Metal.

4. Path of Totality, by Tombs

One (of many) great things about this 2011 release is that Tombs eschews the usual fragility of existentialist being that is prominently displayed in most Black Metal. Instead, they opt for an injection of tough guy NYC Metalcore. They specifically achieve this through the vocals and their pummeling rhythmic style moreso than anything else. As much of a disaster as that sounds, it actually increases the misanthropic intensity of the album. Combine this with elements of dark post-punk, and you have one of the best US Black Metal releases of the year!

5. Ascension, by Jesu

Technically speaking, there is plenty to complain about concerning this record. The production is thin and brittle. Justin Broadrick's vocals are completely buried. The drums sound like shit. From a purely emotional standpoint, I think this is Jesu's best album since their self-titled 2004 release. Maybe the production is thin and brittle, just as our memories fade and our yearning for the past changes. Maybe Broadrick's vocals are buried because that's how he feels beneath this nostalgia. Maybe the drums sound like shit because...I don't know. When Broadrick first set out to create Jesu, he wanted to create his version of pop music, and I think he's been steadily coming closer and closer to that goal, no matter how shitty the production is. Also, "Sedatives" is the "metal" song of the year.

6. Murder The Mountains, by Red Fang

This album should be accompanied by whiskey, cheap beer, and cigarettes. It just plain rocks in that boozy, dirty, unpretentious way. Red Fang still wears there Melvins influence on their sleeve, but this collection of songs is much more memorable (even catchy) and thoroughly written than the songs on their previous album.

7. White Silence, by Cave In

Not metal enough? Don't care! Throughout their varied career, Cave In has become one of my favorite bands. "White Silence" is the heaviest album Cave In has put out in over 10 years. It's certainly not the most creatively groundbreaking of the quartet's catalogue, but probably the ballsiest and punchiest. Even the lighter tracks have the ability to reach out from the speakers and punch you square in the gonads!

9. The Apologist, by East of the Wall

Not metal enough...again? Don't care! East of the Wall combine progressive rock acrobatics and post-hardcore sentimentality into a stunning recipe. There is no stand out track and no stand out player. While each band member has an equal part of the pie as far as showmanship and interweaving rhythms goes, each track flows seamlessly to the next. This creates this year's most fluid album while at the same time being fastidiously written and expertly played.

9. The Hunter, by Mastodon

Again, enough has already been written about this that I can't add much more. This is Mastodon's rock album. The tracks are more catchy and simple than anything Mastodon has in the past. They openly admitted that this album was put together quickly (which one can especially notice with the lyrics...my vote for worst lyrics of the year, actually), but to be able to pull a record like this off after releasing their most progressively influenced record in 2009, "Crack the Skye", is impressive.

10. Roads to Judah, by Deafheaven

At first, I was a bit put off by "Roads to Judah" because it seemed like a constant barrage without any real sense of rhythmical variation, which happens to be a big pet peeve of mine when it comes to metal music. However, I gave the music some more time and I realized that it's hypnotic the same way that many Black Metal bands are, such as Burzum and Weakling. However, Deafheaven execute it in a way that seems to transcend the void rather than getting lost in it. One only needs to listen to the opening of "Violet" to experience the expansive nature of their sound.

Honorable Mentions (in no specific order):

777-Sect(s) and 777-The Desanctification, by Blut Aus Nord

Five Serpent's Teeth, by Evile

Orphan, by Gridlink

Cursed, by Rotten Sound

Guiltless, by Indian

Omnium, by Obscura

iii, by Aosoth

Destroyers of All, by Ulcerate

Venerable, by KEN mode

Parasignosis, by Mitochondrion

I Just Didn't Get It In 2011:

There were a few albums that people seemed to obsess over that I just didn't get. Usually these albums would be something I'm into, but I just couldn't find the magic in them.

Mammal, by Altar of Plagues

Rest, Rwake

The Inside Room, by 40 Watt Sun

Biggest Disappointment (besides the obvious Morbid Angel and Loutallica):

Heritage, by Opeth

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said in my introduction that people gave them too much shit. However, I am basing my disappointment not from the change in their sound, but purely on the quality of the songs. Sad, though, because it's probably the first time that Opeth didn't make my Top 10 for the year. Eh, I'll deal with it.

Most Anticipated Album of 2012:

GORGUTS!!!

There you have it! Here's to a hellacious 2012!!!

- Judge Dredd

"Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm" - Inquisition: The Best Album of 2010

2011-12-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write about Inquisition's latest album "Omininous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm" for quite some time now, but after seeing this album pop up all over metal critics' "Best of 2011" lists within the past couple of weeks, I feel like now is the perfect time for me to weigh in on this album with my own thoughts. Before I begin, however, I would like to say that without a doubt this would be my favorite album of 2011, except since it technically originally came out in 2010 I'm not going to include it in my own "Best of 2011" list. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't on my "Best of 2010" list last year, but I hadn't heard it until this year and I don't feel like going back and editing that old post, so whatever.

Anyway, I'm really happy to see this album getting such high praise because I feel like it's easily one of the best black metal albums to come out in a long time. I know some people are turned-off by Dagon's Immortal-esque croaky vocals and the lack of a bass (I definitely can't hear any bass whatsoever on this album, pretty sure it's just guitars), but besides that, there's nothing else to dislike! Inquisition somehow come up with pretty simplistic riffs, but MAN are they bitchin'. Whether they're fast and pummeling ("Astral Path to Supreme Majesties") or slow, groove-laden, and hypnotic as fuck ("Desolate Funeral Chant"), or a combination of both ("Crepuscular Battle Hymn"), it's been over a year and I'm still not over them. However, what really drives Inquisition's "sound" are the vaguely psychedelic lyrics and occult themes that layer the album with a very strong mystical atmosphere, to borrow from the title of the album. If you've read any Inquisition interviews, it's pretty safe to say that Dagon actually seems pretty serious about his shit. Viewing space as the physical embodiment of the anti-cosmic Satanic spirit, mysterious pagan rites, mythical beasts, astral projection, inter-dimensional travel, it's all in there, and Inquisition's lyrical themes and mystique definitely contribute positively to their overall sound.

I don't want to go on for too long blabbing away about how cool I think this album is, just check it out for yourself! I'm pretty sure you'll dig it!

In Defense of Liturgy

2011-12-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

Obviously, I'm sticking myself out here for tons of ridicule by white knighting for notorious post-BM upstarts Liturgy, but before I stick up for these guys I'd like to catch everyone up on all the basic drama via some embedded videos and links because I'm lazy:

The Video That Started It All:

HHH's Manifesto (most of it):
http://www.vice.com/read/not-fit-to-print-transcendental-metal

Obviously, it's these two things that have really caused the internet to take the piss out of Liturgy. As far as I know, it all seemed to come to a head when Chris Grigg of the USBM band Woe:
Without Logic - An Open Letter to Hunter Hunt-Hendrix - Metal Review Features and Editorials - Metal Review Community

You can find more interesting reviews, videos, and blog posts about Liturgy on your own, I'm definitely not trying to be exhaustive here.

Last, if you haven't heard Liturgy and you're too lazy to go on youtube or myspace or whatever to listen to them, I'm gonna embed one last video so you can hear them for yourself:

Obviously, for internet metal nerds like myself, this is very controversial stuff! These guys don't look or act very black metal!!

The reason why I feel bad for Liturgy and have some respect for them is because what they're doing is much more ballsy than most other metal bands out there attempting to be "controversial" by being anti-Christian, evil, or even racist! At this point, I feel like the whole "is it OK to listen to Burzum even though he's racist and a murderer?" is fairly played-out, and no one really gives a shit that Nokturnal Mortum or Graveland have strong NSBM tendencies. In 2011, if you really want to stir the pot, bring up Liturgy (or even better, Krallice, Wolves in the Throne Room, Nachtmystium, Deafheaven, etc.) to a bunch of internet metal nerds and watch the fireworks.
Anyway, another strength of Liturgy's is their originality. Obviously, these guys are competent musicians, and their style is unique both musically and lyrically. If you listen to their songs, you'll notice that their sound is very "high" compared to the typical grim, "low" sounds of BM's heavy distortion and thundering drums. Of course, something else to point out is Liturgy's lyrical themes. Sure, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's "manifesto" is pretentious and a slightly arrogant, but aren't those characteristics that are usually embraced by the metal community? Read any interview with Peste Noire, Judas Iscariot, Deathspell Omega, it doesn't matter...it appears as if all this backlash truly stems from so-called post-black metallers' fashion sense, not music.

Ones That Got Away: Lost Interviews

2011-11-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Over the several years that I was a DJ for Malicious Intent, I conducted as many interviews as I had time for and have posted almost all of them on here. Unfortunately, there are some that I either lost, conducted live on-air and didn't record, or found the audio to be too garbled (ESPECIALLY with my DragonForce interview). It sucks because some of the interviews were great, including the first interview I ever did-- with Justin Broadrick while he was touring with Jesu (Isis supporting) 5 years ago or so. Anyway, besides the Justin Broadrick interview, the ones that got away include:
Ihsahn

Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal)

Karl Sanders

Derek Sherinian

DragonForce

Freddy Lim (Chthonic)

John Kevill (Warbringer)

Samothrace

Týr
Hammerlord

Diskreet

Stull

There are also a couple interviews that I've recorded but have just been too lazy to put up here, namely the one with Jason Decay of Cauldron (which was split into two parts and is overall pretty messy, long story). I'll try and put them up later.

As a bonus, here are the questions for my Burzum interview that I spent like 4 hours trying to come up with, but ended up not working out for some reason. I'm actually pretty proud of these questions, and would legitimately like to know the answers to some of them, so if you're an interviewer and you read a question that you think is a good one, feel free to steal it and use it if you end up interviewing Mr. Vikernes...I doubt I'll have the chance again. I was really excited too (mostly because I wanted to know how his rpg was coming along!).

Malicious Intent's Official Burzum Interview That Didn't Make It:

PREFACE
Mr. Vikernes, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I apologize in advance for my lengthy questions, as well as if there are any you find irrelevant or impertinent to the subject at hand (your new album, "Fallen")...or maybe just find to be a waste of your time. Also, you may notice that many of my questions are based on answers you've given in other interviews. I don't mean to do this, but I've found this method to be much better in creating questions than coming up with original ones on my own since almost everything I could think of ended up being already answered by you in earlier interviews!

INTERVIEW:
*I read in a recent interview you did for the blog Invisible Oranges that what you hoped to accomplish with "Fallen" was to "make an album you could listen to without growing tired of it." That was almost a month ago, and since then I'm sure you've conducted dozens of other interviews answering question after question about this album. How has this album fared o far in that respect? Are you still hungry to discuss "Fallen", or do you believe you've essentially discussed this album to death and are ready to move on to a new project? For what it's worth, I feel that this album is very powerful (I actually found myself more drawn to "Fallen" rather than "Belus, although "Belus" of course was excellent as well) and I don't see myself growing tired of it any time soon.

*You've stated in various interviews that you spend much of your time listening to and/or working on unfinished Burzum tracks. I'm curious as to whether or not these "unfinished tracks" were songs that were all going to go on "Fallen", or if you're ALREADY working on another album?? Obviously, in the past you've had enough time to probably compose material that could fill up 20 albums or more, but how much material have you written exactly up to this point?

*In that same interview with Invisible Oranges, you acknowledged that death is a dominant theme in "Fallen", but it is only part of an "eternal cycle". If that also reflects your personal beliefs on the concepts of life, death, and rebirth, what do you feel about the "end of the world", or rather, when our planet decides to "rid herself of us" as you stated in your recent interview with MetalKings.com? Is humanity to be reborn anew, or do you feel we will be replaced with a new lifeform altogether and this "eternal cycle" shall continue?

*In a recent interview with MetalSucks.net you stated that you had to censor yourself a bit in order to not be too "politically incorrect". Why? As an artist who is constantly courting controversy, I found this to be an interesting choice.

*In the same interview, you also stated that "innovation, creativity, and lunacy go hand in hand". I know that you were speaking about our neanderthal-human origins, but I also found it to be a relevant statement regarding the mixed blessing (or, perhaps, more appropriately, the "double-edged sword") of being a writer. Your thoughts on this? On a seperate note, I mean no disrespect in asking this, but have YOU ever questioned your sanity while laboring over your music, or felt you may be going mad? The music of Burzum can be quite intense at times...

*While every song off of "Fallen" is intriguing in its own way, after reading many interviews you've done I haven't found much information about the last track, "Til Hel Og Tilbake Igjen". Forgive me if I'm way off the mark, but is this inspired by ancient Norwegian/European folk music, or is it completely from your own imagination? It's definitely eerie and perfect to listen to in complete darkness, which I suppose accurately evokes the "essence" of the theme (to Hel and back again). It's definitely unlike anything I've heard before, let alone from Burzum!

*Lyrically, these recent Burzum albums involve mythology, paganism, death, etc. While it's understandable that your Tolkien-inspired lyrics from your older albums haven't resurfaced, is there a chance that you will ever return to these themes on future albums, or has your interest in Tolkien waned over the years? Also, are you familiar with the works of George R.R. Martin (dubbed by some as the "American Tolkien")?

*Are you the sole member behind Byelobog Productions? I can't find much information on it besides it being Burzum's current record label. Also, are there any plans for Byelobog to expand its roster, or will it always be a "Burzum-only" label?

*It's clear that you're an extremely busy man these days, and it seems as if Burzum is your main priority right now. However, I know that you have other projects right now, such as your new (completed?) book "Sorcery and Religion in Scandinavia", as well as another book about the early days of Burzum (according to an excerpt from an April 2009 interview you did with the magazine Dagbladet). As a huge fan of role-playing games, however, I was very surprised and excited to see that you had stated in that same interview that you were working on your very own RPG (as well as some fantasy and science fiction books!). Would you care to give us any details on this RPG project? Is it similar to Dungeons and Dragons (sword & sorcery), Star Trek (sci-fi), or something else? Perhaps the first-ever black metal RPG? ;)

*Thank you so much again for taking the time to answer these questions. I wish you good luck in the future with Burzum and your writing! Any last words?

-WULF

Music Recommendations for the Open-Minded Metalhead

2011-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

My friend once told me that he met someone at a show who only listens to Death Metal, but not just that-he only listens to Death Metal that MAKES him feel dead. Depending on how you feel about that will probably indicate how you feel about this statement: I consider myself an open-minded metalhead. In my approximately 15 years in listening to metal, I've expanded my tastes to other types of music including folk, jazz, alternative country, and indie rock amongst others. I don't think this fact makes me any less of a metalhead, nor does it make me a "hipster" (note: if someone were to actually call me a hipster, I would abandon my pacifist ideals faster than you can say "That's ironic"). After all this exposure to other types of music, I'm still happy to say that I would rather listen to a mediocre metal band than a mediocre band from almost any other type of music (meaning, that metal is still my favorite type of music). However, I think any metalhead being honest with him or herself would have to acknowledge that metal, no matter what subgenre, offers only a limited palette on the emotional spectrum. If you are satisfied by said palette, then more power to you! If not, then I can provide some suggestions for metalheads looking to branch out:

Leonard Cohen
Often erroneously lauded as "The Canadian Bob Dylan" for his expert storytelling, Cohen is far from Dylan in almost every conceivable way...OK fine, he's like Dylan's sad bastard fifth cousin. Leonard Cohen has written some of the darkest music in mainstream folk music, covering topics of suicide, infidelity, love, death, and religion amongst others. He most famously composed the tune "Hallelujah". While that song has been covered to death, his vast career has much more to offer than that. His lamenting, untrained voice and intimately personal lyrics is what first attracted me to him and allows his music to come through without pretense. Instead, his music evokes a feeling of very real human fragility and vulnerability.

Recommendations: "Songs of Love and Hate" and "Songs of Leonard Cohen"

Swans
Probably the most obvious choice in my list. Of all of the non-metal bands that get mentioned as influences for metal bands, Swans may be the name most often dropped, and for good reason. They are often claimed to be the progenitors to Post-Metal and Industrial Metal, while also greatly contributing to the beginnings of Gothic Metal. Swans began their career in the early 80s as part of the No-Wave New York scene. Their early sound was bleak and unforgiving. Their songs were often slow, dissonant, and metallic with Michael Gira's uncompromising baritone howl expressing perspectives of abstract violence, sexuality, and identity. Later, Swans refined their sound through a number of different musical transitions including Gothic music ("White Light from The Mouth of Infinity") and experimenting with found sounds ("Soundtracks for the Blind"). Luckily, Swans has reformed with their newest album "My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky" which matches the quality of the earlier material, with more orchestrated aspects.

Recommendations: I personally prefer their mid-late period, basically "White Light..." and on, highlights being "The Great Annihilator" and "Soundtracks for the Blind", but "Children of God" is also quite good. Check out their early material for more challenging aural experiences. Also, I would recommend checking out Michael Gira's other band, Angels of Light, which has a more folky sound heavily influenced by...you guessed it, Leonard Cohen.

90s Post-Hardcore and Math/Noise Rock
It was hard to pick one band out of one of my favorite periods/styles of music, but for me, bands like Polvo, Chavez, Drive Like Jehu, Jawbox, Jesus Lizard, Castor, Fugazi, Shiner, and Hum have made some of my favorite music...ever. It's incredibly unfair to lump all of these bands together because they all sound so different from one another. What most of these bands have in common is noisy, guitar-driven rock/punk music with whacky song structures and time signatures, but still retaining some sense of melody beneath the maelstrom. This balance between dissonance and melody is something I've striven for in my own music writing for years. Many of these bands would go onto influence the Noisecore of the late 90s and early 00s.

Recommendations: "Better Days Will Haunt You" by Chavez, "Yank Crime" by Drive Like Jehu, "Lula Divina" by Shiner, "Today's Active Lifestyles" by Polvo, "In on the Killtaker" by Fugazi, "Goat" by Jesus Lizard; and for those willing to endure a bit of "emo" vocal stylings, "Downward is Heavenward" by Hum and "s/t" by Castor.

King Crimson
For me, most progressive rock is just far too pompous, melodramatic, and even worse-cheesy. King Crimson is the only progressive rock band that I have consistently listened to and I can safely acknowledge them as one of my favorite bands without blushing. What makes them different than most progressive rock bands is, at least in their early period, they had a darker sound with minor third chord changes, flat fifths, and heavy metal-like distortion. Guitarist/songwriter Robert Fripp has always employed the most impressive musicians in King Crimson, not to mention Fripp himself who is widely considered one of the best guitarists of all time. King Crimson has gone through so many musical transitions it's hard not to find at least ONE album you like in their catalogue. I think most metalheads would prefer their early period, but I prefer their "new wave" period, with the apex of that being "Discipline".

Recommendations: "Red", Larks' Tongues in Aspic", and "Discipline"

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
I purposefully put Sleepytime Gorilla Museum here on the list because they are actually heavily influenced by King Crimson. As a warning, I'll just say that these guys are fucking weird. As an example, one of their albums is based around a fictional political dialogue between The Futurists and The Unabomber. Not exactly your normal concept album, but interesting nonetheless. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (SGM) combine a penchant for industrial noise, progressive rock, and avant-garde classical music into some truly whacked out compositions. They've mentioned in interviews that the way they generally construct songs is by having one person in the band make some "noise", and then the other members add their own parts. This often ends up in a polyrhythmic cacophony, but there is usually off-kilter melody lurking beneath the maelstrom of dissonance. Besides all of that, they are masters of dynamic shifts. Hearing is truly believing.

Recommendations: "Of Natural History" and "In Glorious Times"

Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Wolfe has been making some waves lately. She plays a dark, brooding form of folk and dirge blues usually accompanied by a piano or a guitar. She just released a new album called "Ἀποκάλυψις" which translates to Apocalypse. I really don't that much about her, but she has a beautifully haunting style, which sometimes can be downright frightening. She has also covered one of Burzum's more kvlt numbers, "Black Spell of Destruction".

Recommendations: "Ἀποκάλυψις"

Dax Riggs
Some of Chelsea Wolfe's material reminds me of Dax Riggs in a way...er, maybe that's the other way around. For those that don't know, Dax Riggs is the former lead singer of NOLA heroes Acid Bath. After the unfortunate demise of said band, Dax has forged a solo career as a dirge/neo blues rock phenom. The subject matter of his lyrics are still quite dark, covering subjects like suicide, death, Satan, and the like. The image that his music brings to mind is the dark underworld of New Orleans, or the backwoods swamps of rural Louisiana. Dirty and dark.

Recommendations: "Say Goodnight to the World"

Killing Joke
Killing Joke has been around for ages and is still producing good music. Not only that, but they have been highly influential on bands like Napalm Death, Nachtmystium, Behemoth, and even Metallica to name a few. They are considered to be one of the progenitors of Industrial Rock and Metal. Much of their music is often simple punk/metal riffs set with a driving rhythm section, noisy or melodic synthesizers, and of course, Jaz Coleman's recognizable snarl. Coleman's lyrics often deal with the negative side of the human experience covering themes like greed and religion. However, don't dismiss Killing Joke for their perceived simplicity or their use of synthesizers. Their cold, calculating execution is like that of a serial killer: exact and without remorse.

Recommendations: "Extremities, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions", "Killing Joke", and "Hosannas from the Basements of Hell"

Others
For Metalheads into bands with electronic elements, I would recommend the more-often-than-not cold sounds of Venetian Snares or Autechre. If you're interested in some darker post-punk you have bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, and early Cure.

Enjoy!

Most Underrated Metal Albums of the 2000s

2011-10-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

The definition of "underrated" is one that is hard to grasp if you don't have a pre-determined scale that you're utilizing. In my opinion, the few albums I've listed here were unique for their time (and still are), and may have even been highly lauded when they first came out, but I feel like they did not get the recognition they deserve in many retrospective, best-of-the-decade lists.

300% Density, by Candiria
Of the NE Noisecore/Mathcore/Whatevercore bands that made waves in the late 1990s and early 2000s (such as Converge, Cave In, Botch, The Dillinger Escape Plan, etc.), Candiria was by far the least abrasive. Despite their constantly shifting tempos and time signatures, Candiria had a smooth, fluid sound. That's not to say that I'm comparing them to the languid sounds of Smooth Jazz. It's more like Candiria were the "Kind of Blue" cool jazz to the others' "Giant Steps" Bebop. This comparison is also quite apt, because Candiria injected a heavy dose of Jazz into their particular brand of Noisecore…not to mention Hip-Hop and Progressive Rock. Furthermore, their heavy use of Hip-Hop rhymes and beats was coming at a time when Rap Metal was almost universally panned by fans and critics alike in the metal underground, but they did it both intelligently and unashamedly.

Seminar II: The Holy Rites of Primitivism Regressionism/Seminar III: Zozobra, by Old Man Gloom
Featuring an all-star lineup of Aaron Turner (Isis), Caleb Scofield (Cave In), Nate Newton (Converge), Jay Randall (Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Luke Scarola, and previously unknown drummer, Santos Montano, one could tell from listening to Old Man Gloom's albums as well as reading the liner notes that the band is/was a sort of concept-oriented joke (as also evidenced in some strange interviews). What that concept might be is…uh, up for debate and may be part of the joke. Something revolving around returning to a primal state, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and smoking gargantuan amounts of weed. The sequencing of "Seminar II" goes something like this: one short burst of sludgy metalcore followed by one song of ambient electronics. On the other hand, "Seminar III" is one 30-minute track. Both albums are two of my favorites from the 2000s and both helped to usher in a new interest in sludge metal (nu-sludge?) by the mid-2000s.

entire discography, by Khanate
Khanate is one of those bands that I simply don't listen to on a regular basis because they are so emotionally draining, which is similar to how I feel about Neurosis and Swans. The latter are two of my favorite bands, however I wouldn't consider Khanate to be one of my favorites. This is mainly because their later material got too sparse and improvisational for my tastes. For example, listen to over 30-minute track, "Every God Damn Thing", from their last album, "Clean Hands Go Foul. There is nary a discernible riff in the entire song. Some guitar noise here, a drum roll there, a blood-curdling scream of pain here…etc. I simply think that songs like that lose the power of their earlier material. Yet I still feel that their entire catalogue is underrated? Yes, and I'll tell you why. Khanate is the first Doom Metal band (at least, to my knowledge) that incorporated a Black Metal claustrophobic aesthetic into their particular style of Doom Metal. While most Doom Metal bands focus on creating a lumbering wall of sound to encompass the listener, Khanate was busy crawling under/within the negative space to explore existential agony. Maybe the loss of the discernible riff, and therefore the power, was the point…

self-titled, by Phantomsmasher
If "The Inalienable Dreamless" by Discordance Axis was Grindcore 2.0, then the self-titled Phantomsmasher was Grindcore 5.5. Phantomsmasher was the brainchild of guitarist/bassist/electronics guru/general weirdo, James Plotkin (also of Khanate). While most consider this album to be experimental/electronic Grindcore, it's also much more than that. While there is a colossal barrage of breakbeats and electronic glitches (in part, courtesy of drummer assassin-for-hire, Dave Witte), Plotkin's oddly pastoral guitar parts ring out, and DJ Speedranch's vocals (more than a little reminiscent of Yamataka Eye of The Boredoms) maniacally blabber from the undertow of it all. I don't think this electronic maelstrom will be fully understood by anyone (including myself), until the Terminator comes back from the future to destroy it.

From Wisdom to Hate, by Gorguts
Needless to say, Gorguts was going to have a hard time coming up with a follow-up to the stone cold (stoned cold?) classic, "Obscura". This was, if only retrospectively, apparent after the departure of second guitarist, Steeve Hurdle after the release of "Obscura". From what I remember reading and seeing, "From Wisdom to Hate" was considered a disappointment by fans and critics alike because it didn't continue the noisy, avant-garde nature of "Obscura", and seemed to rather take a step back. However, in my opinion, "From Wisdom to Hate" is one of, if not the best, Death Metal albums of the decade. The songs were thoughtfully composed, memorable (one can almost forget that Death Metal can be such), and reeked of absolute top-notch musicianship. True, there were some pretty obvious nods to Morbid Angel, Incantation, and the like, but I think that can be forgiven when taking "From Wisdom to Hate" as an effort unto itself and not in the context of the successor to "Obscura".

Grand Declaration of War, by Mayhem
I don't think anyone could have prepared for hearing this album. In fact, I don't think anyone could have even imagined hearing this album, except in passing jokes:

(while headbanging to "Wolf's Lair Abyss" upon it's release)
"Dude, this shit is so kvlt! I just knew Mayhem would continue carrying the flag for Trve Norwegian Black Metal!" - Metal Dude 1

"Dude, I know! But wouldn't it be funny if they had a trip-hop song on the next full length?" - Metal Dude 2

"Dude...(pauses music)...don't even say that." - Metal Dude 1

(Metal Dude 1 resumes playing music and both Metal Dudes resume headbanging)

Sure, prior to "Grand Declaration of War", we had equally weird (OK, much weirder) albums from Black Metal weirdos Ulver and Dodheimsgard, with "Themes from William Blake's Heaven and Hell" and "666 International", but Mayhem at that point were legends in the Black Metal scene. They were supposed to be the flag-bearers of Trve Norwegian Black Metal! When this album came out, it not so much stuck out like a sore thumb as it did a giant middle finger to the people that were expecting the next "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas". "Grand Declaration of War" (GDoW) featured electronic experimentation (yes, a trip-hop song), Maniac's auctioneer-like barks having even more of a presence, crystal-clear production, electronic drums (gasp!), and a surprising amount of technical prowess. All elements that were (and in some circles, now) still looked down upon in Black Metal. Of course, GDoW got torn to shreds in a lot of reviews and forums by the kvlt naysayers. Nonetheless, as the old saying goes, Mayhem can be credited with tearing apart the rulebook. The fact that it was Mayhem, the flagship band of Norwegian Black Metal, who wrote GDoW, gave other bands the right to fuck with the playbook. Oh, and GDoW is an extremely well-written and performed album, too.

Dulling Occam's Razor, by Found Dead Hanging
I'll start this one off by saying that 99% of Metalcore and Deathcore is just not for me for a variety of reasons that I just won't get into. Found Dead Hanging (FDH), however, are part of the lucky 1%. Unfortunately, these dudes just released one EP and then called it quits, but in my opinion, their sound had much more in common with NOLA bands than their contemporaries in the then thriving Metalcore scene. This gritty, southern quality, gave them personality amongst the stale clones in their scene. However, they still retained a technical acrobatic nature to their song structures and riffs. I hate reverting to simple band comparisons, but if Eyehategod decided they wanted to start sounding more like The Dillinger Escape Plan, "Dulling Occam's Razor" might be the result. After FDH broke up, most of the remaining members ended up forming a band called Architect whose material wasn't nearly as technically interesting or full of personality. Finally, it's also worth mentioning that one of my favorite song titles of all time is from this album: "Solar-Powered Sun Destroyer".

s/t, by Humo Del Cairo
OK, admittedly, this release didn't see the light of day in the United States until Meteorcity released it in 2010, but was released all the way back in 2007 in Argentina by label Estamos Felices. Yes, I am guilty for throwing it on my top 10 for 2010. Guilty as charged.

As one collective sub-genre, I love stoner metal. However, I have my grievances when it comes to individual bands. There are very few stoner metal bands that I can hear, and almost instantaneously say, "OH! Orange Goblin!" or "OH! That's the new Acid Witch!" Meaning, I hear very few stoner metal bands with unique sounds, or very few stoner metal albums with distinguishable songs. Maybe it's the fact that there is TOO much Sabbath worshipping (who knew that could be a bad thing) or that I stopped smoking the ganja many moons ago, but sometimes I resignedly think, "For fuck's sake, I'm just going to throw on a Melvins album!", but Humo Del Cairo changed that. Dynamic and variable song structures, memorable (even catchy!) riffs, and a variety of sounds. Not to mention a punchy/groovy as fuck rhythm section, and a masterful guitarist/vocalist. There is a lot of substandard stoner metal out there, but Humo Del Cairo is far in front of the pack!

Metal Inspired by the Works of George R.R. Martin

2011-08-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Since the premiere of the HBO series Game of Thrones, a whole new group of people have been introduced to the vivid world of writer George R.R. Martin. Martin's high-fantasy series Songs of Ice and Fire, which includes the novels A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast of Crows, and the newest novel A Dance of Dragons (released last month), centers on a fantasy world ripe with complex familial structures, rich history, and more blood and sex than you can shake a longsword at. Martin's detailed writing style provides the viewer with Tolkien-esque detail - and he has rightfully gained legions of fans, as well as attention from the metal community.

Anyone who has spent even a minimal amount of time listening to metal or loving fantasy genres can see the connection between the two. The influence of fantasy in metal spans as far back as the 1970's and early 80's - for starters, just listen to any Led Zeppelin album or watch the animated film "Heavy Metal." Themes of blood-soaked battlefields, alternate worlds complete with intricate geography, dragons, war screams, magic, and Medieval politics can be found in both. References to Tolkien can be found in the stage names and band names of many a metal act (Count Grishnakh, Amon Amarth, Radogost and so on). Not to mention fantasy is at the core of much Symphonic and Power metal. The armor? The Furs? Come on, it's obvious - epic sounds to accompany epic topics.

Wait, you mean this stuff isn't meant to be taken literally?

A relatively young fantasy series, bands that have dedicated themselves to setting Songs of Ice and Fire to music are few and far between, but on my hunt to identify and listen to as many as I could find, I found that even older staples had slipped some Martin-love into their recent releases.

Here's a list of bands who have either created entire concept albums based off of Martin's ideas, or written songs using his world as inspiration. Some were pleasing to both the metalhead and the fantasy nerd in me, others, eh . . . I'll let you decide.

Winterfell (Pennsylvania, USA)
As if the name didn't make it obvious, Winterfell gets their namesake from the Northern stronghold of Winterfell in Westeros, home of the Stark family at the beginning of ASoFaI. The thing that struck me hardest were how mind-splittingly awful this band's guitars were, it was hardly uplifting. The lead singer switches between smooth singing, to wailing, to growling, creating a very inconsistent and unpleasant feel to the music. All together, Winterfell sounded like a power metal garage band. Their EP "Winter is Coming" (the Stark's family words) contains a title track describing the harsh living conditions in the North: "Cast out, unwanted, the Others will take you! We've warned that Winter is almost upon you"

It was scarier when Septa Mordane said it.
After only one EP and one full length album, Winterfell are listed as currently on hiatus, because according to the MA, all but one member quit.

But hey, that's some pretty cool album art.

Seven Kingdoms (Florida, USA)
So far, the definite cream of the bunch. Seven Kingdom's first release "Brothers of the Night" is a good listen from beginning to end. A solid album, Seven Kingdom's present us with tight melodies and a good amount of shredding. Oddly enough, lead singer Bryan Edwards sounds a helluva like the guy from Candlebox (remember them?)

Seven Kingdoms went through a significant line up change before recording their second album, 2010's self-titled release, including a new lead singer (Sabrina Valentine). While the band's power metal sound and fantasy narrative lyrics still exist, it would appear that the band has moved away from Martin's works as lyrical topic to a more generic fantasy theme.

Shame.

This sword on your shoulder means you can't get laid anymore.

Arkngthand (The Netherlands)
Pronounced "Ar-ken-tand."

There have been a lot of buzz about Arkngthand in certain ASoIaF forums due to the fact that this lesser-known band released an entire concept album titled "Songs of Ice and Fire" last year. Their second full-length album I would not hesitate to call a two-star performance. While the references to the series are clear (almost too much so - the lyrics contain very little creative interpretation) the entire album sounded to me as if someone took a fair-to-typical power metal LP and played it on a slower setting (let's say, a 45 on a 33, or something). Painful and cheesy even in a genre renowned for its cringing cheesy-ness. The only highpoint to the album for me was the song "The Waterdancer," which is about Arya's training under Syrio Forel.

While I found the musical stylings of Arkngthand lacking, the lyrical content might be enough I feel for any hardened fan of Martin's to at least consider them an interesting anomaly.
You can find the entire album on itunes (and no where else, it would appear).

Holy Photoshop!

Hammerfall (Sweden)
While their are no definitive ties between Hammerfall and Martin, their 2005 album Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken (and a track on that album "Take the Black") are titled after phrases from Martin's series. "Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" are the words of House Martell of Dorne, and "to take the black" is a phrase used throughout the series to indicate going to work on the wall.

While the lyrics of "Take the Black" are ambiguous at best when compared to Martin's work, it's still a bit of a coincidence, no?

Speaking of taking the black . . .

The Sword (Texas, USA)
This one threw me off. I had been listening to The Sword for a few years before reading Martin's series, and only recently made this connection. The song "To Take the Black" found on the 2008 release "Gods of the Earth" is about, well, taking the black on the wall. While no a huge stoner/doom fan, I've always appreciated The Sword's lyrical stylings, and this song is no exception. There's something about combining acid-drenched stoner rock with geeky fantasy (and picking quite the depressing scenario to sing about) that makes it irresistible.

Blind Guardian (Germany)

No strangers to fantasy literature (Nightfall in Middle-Earth, anyone?) German power-metal veterans Blind Guardian's latest album At the Edge of Time not only contained tracks about the writings of Martin, but Tolkien, Micheal Moorcock, Peter S. Beagle, and Robert Jordan as well.

Two of the tracks off of Wheel of Time are about Martin's characters - "War of Thrones" and "A Voice in the Dark" which is about Bran Starks dreams of the crow during his bed-ridden months.

See what I mean? Dragons aplenty.

If you want to hear a few of the tracks discussed here, here's a link to an 8-tracks mix I composed especially for this article:

http://8tracks.com/the_catacombs/george-r-r-martin-metal-music-inspired-by-songs-of-ice-and-fire?mix_set_id=1298624

You'll also find mixes containing the tracklists from my metal radio show "The Catacombs." If you live in Douglas County, KS, listen in Tuesday nights from 10-Midnight on 89.7 FM starting in September.

Also, here's a link to another super-nerd who recorded his own metaled-up version of the Game of Thrones theme song, complete with a free mp3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC-ZmlwBWKM

Til' next time!

We Do Not Sow

- Cate the Great

Funnest Live Shows

2011-07-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

We go to see bands live for a variety of reasons. We go see bands for the music (obviously), the musicianship, and sometimes just to have a raunchy time. Some of the following bands are bands I don't always listen to in my free time, but I sure as hell see them live whenever they come around because they ALWAYS bring a raunchy good time:

Exhumed
Matt Harvey and co. are back and from what I've heard of their new album, "All Guts, No Glory" (which you can stream here for free: http://relapserecords.bandcamp.com/), it's still the balls out Gore Metal you would expect! I think I've seen Exhumed a total of three or four times and each time is just pure thrashin' metal madness! Matt gets this crazy look in his eyes as he seemingly recites medical dictionaries and grisly necromantic tales while the other members whip their hair around like there is no tomorrow, enticing audience members to do the same. At one point during one of the shows, the three stringmen all held up the backs of their instruments to the audience and what did it read? "GORE.FUCKING.METAL." in crooked duct tape. Hell fuckin' yes!

Cephalic Carnage
I think the first time I saw Cephalic Carnage I was 15 or 16 years old. I think I had only recently bought "Exploiting Dysfunction" and my friend had told me their drummer was a bio-chemist. When they came out and launched straight into "Hybrid", I could have only assumed that their bio-chemist drummer (John Merryman) had cooked up some nasty stimulant concoction for the five of them because they all went bat shit crazy on stage. I then had the pleasure of seeing the great Cephalic at a 20 person show with about 7 good friends. When they put on their Black Metal masks for "Black Metal Sabbath" I think we all about lost it. Cephalic Carnage is one of those rare metal bands that doesn't take themselves quite too seriously, and they make it quite clear to everyone.

Weedeater
A while ago, I mentioned to Wulf that "Dixie" Dave (vocalist/bassist) has to be considered one of the "madmen" of metal, if elite and notorious group were to exist. I've seen them twice and I can certainly attest to the madness that runs through "Dixie" Dave's Southern veins. Besides having one of the dirtiest, meanest bass tones of all time and having a whiskey-drenched croak of a voice that would make your grandpa sound like Justin Bieber, Dave's antics on stage are numerous. Known to cross his eyes, slobber, and jump up and down like a cricket, one would think that Dave is not only playing a few cards short of a full deck, but maybe he is actually mentally handicapped. All joking aside, Dave's use and abuse of substances is also quite apparent. A few friends of mine tell me of a time when they saw Weedeater and Dave was puking on stage into a bucket in the middle of songs. Furthermore, Dave has been nicknamed (besides "Dixie", of course) "The Hummingbird" because he tapes a bottle of Robitussin to his amp, puts a straw in it, and casually strolls over to it periodically throughout a performance. "Why?" you might ask. To throat his coat when it gets raspy from too much touring! (http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/08/sxsw-2010-weedeater/)

Amon Amarth
If there is one time you feel the need to chug mead out of a drinking horn, decide to grow a three foot long beard, and drunkenly praise the glory of Valhalla to your uninterested girlfriend, then do it at an Amon Amarth show! On their latest tour for 2011 album, "Surtur Rising", the Swedish sons decided to play the entire tour without any supporting acts. They played the new album all of the way through, then they played old favorites. Two hours of nothing but mid-paced (albeit catchy and melodic) Viking Death Metal means one thing: bangover. My neck must have been sore for a week after that show. After every song vocalist, Johan Hegg, would thank the American crowd in the only way one can: with a raspy "Thank you...thank you very much!"

Converge
I've only seen Converge once, and although I LIKE Converge, I don't usually listen to them in my free time. But from what I saw of their live show, there are some people out there that would FUCKING DIE for Converge. I saw them around the time they had released "Jane Doe" (what many consider to be their finest album to date), and they were certainly in top form. With Jacob Bannon's maniacally shrieking and running around on-stage, the band acted as a tightly-knit killing machine with precise and violent noisecore. Unfortunately, with a band like Converge, you're going to see a lot of really retarded hardcore dancing in the pit. However, I remember at the apex of "The Saddest Day" that people literally converged in the front-center of the stage. It was like a gigantic car wreck with people trying to stage dive while simultaneously trying to get up on stage. Complete ecstatic chaos.

Soilent Green
Of the original NOLA bands, Soilent Green has been the only one I have had the pleasure of seeing live, but I dare say they are the only ones I would need to see! The night that I saw them, bassist Scott Williams (R.I.P.) was obviously drunk. He kept on yelling at the crowd with comments like, "C'mon you fuckers, what's wrong with you!" while violently swinging his bass around. As with Goatwhore, Ben Falgoust II is a great front man, and I would have no hesitation putting him as one of the best modern metal front men around today. Ben had no problem getting the crowd riled up while the rest of the band ripped Southern grind and groove at its best.

(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg
I honestly can't remember entirely too much from the time I caught Slough Feg. I do remember that mainman, Mike Scalzi, fearlessly standing on top of the pinball machines that were right next to the stage while ripping some ultra-melodic solos. All I could think of besides, "Holy shit he is going to break that glass and his leg is going to get cut up to shit and he'll probably break his ankle too and maybe his guitar and the show will be over" was "Fuck yea!" Slough Feg's Iron Maidenisms are far from hidden and one can practically imagine that you're seeing an embryonic Maiden when you see Slough Feg. For being an oft-dismissed band in the world of metal, Slough Feg manages to put on one helluva show.

Dimmu Borgir
Keep in mind that I saw Dimmu Borgir right after they released "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" and they were still playing in small venues. Although I must confess that some of the show was plagued by bad sound management, it was one of the most entertaining metal shows I've ever been to. Galder with his various metal faces, Vortex with his operatic singing, Shagrath holding his invisible oranges, and not to mention Nick Barker with his virtuosic drumming and Uncle Fester looks. It was quite a symphonic black metal affair! I'm sure their live shows have only gotten more dramatic as time has gone on.

Mastodon
I've seen Mastodon twice and what enormous contrasts those instances were. I first saw Mastodon after they had released their first EP, "Lifesblood". There may have been about 10-15 people at the venue when the opening band played (local favorites, The Esoteric) and then half of those people left. Kudos to Mastodon for still putting on a really good show with the short set that they had. The next time I saw them, there were about 10-15 TIMES as many people on their "Crack the Skye" tour. Amazing live performance, never missed a note, and had the entire story in movie form on the back drop. They have truly turned themselves into a force to be reckoned with.

Dragonforce
Anyone that knows my tastes in metal knows that I hate 99.99% of Power Metal bands. I can't remember the last time that I casually listened to an album by a Power Metal band. However, seeing it performed live is a different thing altogether. I firmly believe that going to a Power Metal show will reinvigorate you with the power of metal and Dragonforce is no exception. With the guitar wizardry of Herman Li and Sam Totman, the ludicrous keyboard runs of Vadim Pruzhanov, and the undying energy of the entire band, they CRAM the power of metal down your throat.

Hammerlord
Lawrence, KS Thrash Metal Lords! Maybe I have slight bias because I'm friends with the band, but I have seen Hammerlord at least 10 times. Big credit to Ty and JP for every performance having spot on guitar work with virtuosic trade-off solos, whammy bar destruction, and catchy thrashing. However, the rest of the band is just as awesome with Stevie singing about metal and professional wrestlers, Terry headbanging with his bass, and the Hammerlord himself, Adam on drums. I think the last time I saw them I was headbutting Stevie in the stomach while moshing in a pool of sweat and beer. Thrash Metal superb!

There are also TONS of bands that I ASSUME would put on an amazing show, but I have just not had the opportunity for whatever stupid reason. Besides the obvious ones (like Iron Maiden or Motorhead):

The Dillinger Escape Plan
Municipal Waste
Primordial
SunnO)))
Wolves in the Throne Room
Immortal
Meshuggah
Neurosis
etc.

I invite any of the other Malicious Intent writers to edit this post to add their own!

- Judge Dredd

Interview with Isvaroth of Nephrolith!!

2011-07-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

Interview conducted via PMs metal-archives.com forum, July 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/nephrolithband/

WULF: Congratulations on the successful execution of your new album, "Xullux". I definitely enjoyed listening to this album, especially from a promising new band from Slovenia! How has the reception been for this album so far? What were you aiming to accomplish with "Xullux"? Do you feel like you successfully completed these goals?

ISVAROTH: Xullux was reviewed by webzines all over the globe and it got some fine critics, so I think we are quite satisfied and we’ve broken the ice somehow and from this point on we are going forward and aiming even higher.

WULF: Would you care to talk about the lyrical themes on "Xullux" and the meaning behind this name? Your Myspace describes "Xullux" as an "infinite ignorance and evil light" that covers the essence within humanity. Would you care to elaborate on this more specifically? It's funny, for black metal I found some of the lyrics to surprisingly have a positive, self-empowering message, especially on the title track. Is this an accurate interpretation, or am I way off the mark?

ISVAROTH: Well, Xullux is combined from 2 words: Xul Sumerian word for evil and Lux Latin for light and the words are the reflection of one another. The title connects with the lyrics that individually connect in the same point being how we are spiritually incapable and how the material world corrupts us. The idea of the light being the main antagonist because it enables us to see the material world while it suppresses the soul. That is the core of humanity’s ignorance that is never-ending. Yes, your interpretation is quite correct. The lyrics try to encourage people to find the might within themselves, in their souls or through death. I think this as positive as any other Satanic message from other black metal acts.

WULF: Your album is surprisingly high-quality for a young, new black metal band. I was definitely expecting demo-quality, bedroom black metal type stuff. Did you record the album yourselves? What was this process like, and how long has this album been in the making?

ISVAROTH: We said we’ll try to mix that kind of quality into our music, because there is not much black metal bands that have that. We went into Dyz Sonic Temple studio on February 2010 and we recorded all the instruments including the vocals in three months. We were quite fast because we have recorded almost every day. So, the album was mastered and mixed in June 2010 and we were really glad that all happened so fast.

WULF: Honestly, besides Metal Camp I don't really know much about the Slovenian metal scene. What is it like there, at least in your region of the country? Is there an exploding scene, or is it still growing?

ISVAROTH: Slovenia is really a small country but I must admit we have quite a high number of concerts here. There are a lot of local gigs with Slovenian bands for about 50-100 people, and foreign bands, which also play in clubs for about 50-100 people. Then there are bigger metal concerts where the numbers revolve around at least 500 people. But like I said, we are small (population 2mio) and 100-200 people per gig is really good for a standard concert. Metal Camp is of course the highlight of our metal scene.

WULF: I find the album cover to be very well-drawn and intriguing. If I'm not mistaken, the art was designed with help by Simon D from the Slovenian black metal band Bleeding Fist. What role did he play exactly in creating this album art? To me, it looks like the rotting corpse of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Jesus. Is this meant to be a statement towards Christianity specifically, or organized religion in general? At any rate, it definitely grabs your attention!

ISVAROTH: That’s right, the cover was made by Simon D., the bass player of blasphemous Bleeding fist. We are friends with them and Simon offered himself he could make us a fine cover and we said yes, why not. As you noticed, that is an undead Mary with a baby Jesus. He is representing the humanity that sucks the hypocrisy and ignorance out of the breasts of material world. One of the main culprits for this cause is of course organized religion.

WULF: This is something I'm always curious about...so much of the time, modern metal bands talk about video games, movies, and other music, but I'm always curious as to what people are reading and the role, if any, these books play in a band's lyrical themes or overall philosophies. Is there any specific literature or writer that plays a strong role in Nephrolith's music?

ISVAROTH: I’m sorry to disappoint you, but our vocalist and lyricist Nerthag, as far as I know, idolizes no writers or tries to follow no specific ideologies or philosophies. The lyrics are just from self-experience and his view of this world.

WULF: You're a band that performs live. Have you only played in Slovenia, or have you toured Europe and/or elsewhere? Are there any future plans for spreading your live pestilence to North America?

ISVAROTH: Yes, we’ve played only in Slovenia, over 25 gigs in 2 years and still counting. We would love to go beyond our borders, but it’s not that easy. If we get any chance to play in the US, we would love to, because I know there are a lot of crazy mofos out there that have yet to hear our music. Maybe someday we’ll come overseas to cleanse you all! >:]

WULF: I hate to take the focus away from Nephrolith, but as someone who is ignorant towards much of what's going on in the Slovenian metal scene, would you care to recommend any Slovenian metal bands that are similar to your style or friends of the band that would be worth checking out?

ISVAROTH: There are no bands that are similar to us. But we have some fine black metal bands like Somrak, Grimoir, Krvnik/Vinternatt, Bleeding fist and so on.

WULF: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Any final words or comments?

ISVAROTH: Thanks to you for this interview and to all the people who’ll read this!

Finally, The Vikings Are Taking Acid!

2011-07-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Since its advent, one indelible element in metal has always been the musicians' use (and abuse) of substances. Whether it be Electric Wizard's or Sleep's (and essentially the rest of the stoner metal/rock genre) non-stop smoke-a-thon, Iron Maiden's legendary Herculean drinking, Sigh's use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, or EyeHateGod's use of...well, everything.

As legendary comedian, Bill Hicks, put it, musicians who make the records you love and cherish are “real fucking high on drugs” and Metal is no exception. Despite metal’s historical connection with substance use, starting with none other than Black Sabbath, what I would argue to be “psychedelic elements” have only relatively recently been introduced into many unexpected sub-genres of metal. Keep in mind that I’m not referring to Stoner Metal/Rock because the basis for that entire sub-genre is drugs, so we won’t be addressing that green monster. The primary sub-genres that have recently injected psychedelic elements on a somewhat large scale have been the Viking, Folk, and Black Metal genres.

In the last decade there seems to have developed a fascination of psychedelia within the Black, Viking, and Folk Metal sub-genres. Since the late 90s and early 00s, bands within said genres of metal have been experimenting with their foundational sound. One way they have been doing so is incorporating, only if subtly, the sounds of 60s and 70s psychedelia.

There are a number of bands...Enslaved, Peste Noire, Blut Aus Nord, and more recently Nachtmystium, Drudkh, Nokturnal Mortum who have been experimenting with such sounds.

Since the early 2000s, Norwegian Progressive Black/Viking Metal band Enslaved has praised classic psychedelic/progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson amongst others, whose influence has been more than apparent in their music. They also have openly referred to their use of marijuana in interviews (I can't find the link, but I remember reading a hilarious interview in Terrorizer many moons ago).

With 2010 releases from Ukrainian Folk/Black Metal bands Drudkh ("Handful of Stars") and especially Nokturnal Mortum ("The Voice of Steel"), their music has taken on more psychedelic qualities. On Drudkh's newest release, they seem to have stripped down their sound to essentially a minimalist sound (at least by metal standards). Furthermore, there are definite echoes of 70s guitar rock solos and even an instance of experimental guitar noise. Nokturnal Mortum have an elongated passage in "..." where they combine a bouncing folk rhythm with a 70s era guitar rock solo echoing Pink Floyd.

American bands such as Nachtmystium have acknowledge the psychedelic elements in their music to such a degree that they their 2008 album, "Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt 1", was partially named after the Pink Floyd album, "Meddle". Furthermore, the introductory track "One of These Nights" which even has a similar galloping rhythm to the Pink Floyd track entitled "One of These Days" which opens up the Meddle album. Musically, there are parts of almost hypnotic repetition and even a fucking saxophone solo. Not surprisingly, Blake Judd of Nachtmystium often casually talks about his drug problems in interviews (http://www.nocleansinging.com/2011/05/01/an-ncs-interview-nachtmystium/)

Within French Black Metal bands, there seems to be a far eviler approach to their particular brand of psychedelia. Bands such as Blut aus Nord and Peste Noire have a psychedelic sound that what one might characterize as "disconcerting" and "disorienting". On "The Work Which Transforms God" by Blut Aus Nord, one practically develops vertigo as the guitars swirl with dynamic use of the whammy bar and abstract dissonance. What can be said about Peste Noire that hasn't been said before? In their bizarre brand of black metal, they include birds chirping and French baroque/folk music (complete with accordion accompaniments). I pray every night to Prince of Darkness that Famine won't be committed to a mental hospital so he can continue to make righteously mind-altering black metal.

Who can forget English Black Metal madmen, The Meads of Asphodel? Their use of psychoactive substances (http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/biography.php?band_id=588&bandname=The+Meads+Of+Asphodel) has been documented and is more than apparent in their odd amalgam of Black Metal and seemingly every other style of music known to man.

So what is it about? Why this emergence in an oft looked down upon style of music in Black/Viking/Folk Metal, and hell, metal in general? For me, I often think about metal as a type of music that pushes the musicians and the listeners to a point of sensory overload in more ways than one. Adding psychedelic elements is just a different way that that point of "sensory overload" can be pursued. Rather than pursuing that point through pushing physical boundaries, these bands are pursuing that point through pushing mental boundaries.

I could go on and on about this, but I'll cut myself short while I'm ahead.

Tune in. Horns up. Drop out.

- Judge Dredd

Most UnMetal Band Names

2011-07-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

I think we can all agree that there are a plethora of utterly ridiculous names for metal bands: Fuck...I'm Dead, Goblin Cock, Cock and Ball Torture, Anal Cunt (R.I.P. Seth Putnam), Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation, and Clotted Symmetric Sexual Organ just to name a few. Hell, there is even a Turkish band called ...Aaaarrghh... There is also a French band called Aaaaargh! Bloody 2-Handed Chainaxe Blow if you're not into that whole brevity thing (A!B2-HCB...?).

But the thing that all of those band names have in common, besides being ridiculous, is that they all still sound metal as fuck. There is a much smaller population of band names that, well...don't sound quite as "metal as fuck" as the previous bands mentioned. In fact, they don't sound metal by a long shot. Here are some of the band names I have in mind:

Vicious Rumors
If I was a 13 year-old girl and was wanting to start a metal band with my giggling, acne-faced, pre-pubescent girlfriends, I think Vicious Rumors would probably be my first choice. We could write lyrics about how we heard that Veronica gave, like, five guys hand jobs in the bathroom. Or that Tommy is the hottest guy ever and we want to have, like, 23 babies with him. Well, maybe Potty Mouth or Gossip Girls would be the only better names in that situation.

Job For a Cowboy
THIS IS A JOB FOR...a cowboy? You want to know what A Job For a Cowboy is? Exactly what Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall do to each other throughout the majority of Brokeback Mountain. But in all seriousness, let's for a second consider if the job of a cowboy is actually metal: they spend their days herding and tending to cattle...um, I mean...I don't know.

Strapping Young Lad
Right, so me and my wifey were wanting to start a brilliant cyber/industrial metal band in tribute to our dear boy, Nigel. We thought it an absolutely splendid idea! He's oh so adorable!

Meshuggah
I would totally understand this name if the band members were made of Hasidic Jews. With their Rabbi's blessing, they decided to start the heaviest, most complex fucking metal band in the entire fucking galaxy. Raise the horns for Yahweh!

(for those of us less cultured: meshuggah, also meshugah, meshugge, etc. all translate to "crazy" in Yiddish)

Raintime
"Ahhh, the great sounds of a gentle rain. This reminds me of the last Enya record...(as the metal comes in) WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Nightwish
You've GOT to be kidding me. Just marginally less metal than naming your metal band Fairies and Lollipops, Nightwish (not just the name, but their music as well) reminds me of a horribly depressed, Fantasy reading, 10th grade nerd praying in his bed to the High Gods of Zandorra to be able to kiss Nicole Franklin, the captain of the cheerleading squad. If only those Gods, in all their infallibility and splendor, could hear his lonely prayer. If only they could hear his...night wish.

I can only conclude that some metal bands need to do a hell of a lot more creative thinking when naming their band. Can you think of any more band names that are real but completely unmetal?

- Judge Dredd

Interview with Barghest of Spearhead!!!

2011-07-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

WULF: How has the reception for this album been so far on your end?

BARGHEST: The reception has been very good so far.

WULF: I would describe Spearhead's sound as relatively straightforward metal, but with allegorical, abstract lyrics and concepts. What were you aiming to acheive with this album, and was this album aimed at a specific audience in particular? Do you feel as if you've accomplished these goals?

BARGHEST: I don’t think there’s a great deal of allegory surrounding the lyrics, and the only abstract conceptions are abstract because they are metaphysical. We certainly planned on making a straightforward album, by which I mean plain-speaking, hostile and belligerent blackened death metal; there’s nothing subtle or equivocal about this album I feel. There is variation in the music - time changes, break-downs, etc. - but the focus was definitely on making a relentless and hateful-sounding album. I think we have achieved this with “Theomachia”. We do not have any specific “audience” in mind when crafting our music – we are not out to please anyone whatsoever.

WULF: While I understand that on "Theomachia" some of the lyrics involve the common misconceptions held by most people regarding ideas like "progress" and "pacifism", I get a strong sense of anger coming from your music as well. Would you agree? Or are you simply attempting to convey these ideas through aggressive music? I guess what I'm asking is how much of a role does actual anger play in your music?

BARGHEST: “Theomachia” is a genuine work of considered and focused hatred, so there is of course an element of anger pervading the music. The lyrics aren’t generally anger- or angst-oriented or anything like that though, yet what is said is done with a degree of force. I think if we were a bunch of hippies or something, with no anger in our blood, we would not be able to create this kind of music with any conviction. And I think you will find Spearhead has more conviction than a lot of other current bands in this genre.

WULF: Obviously, it's important for listeners to have their own interpretations of lyrics and lyrical themes when listening to music, but would you care to discuss the meaning behind the word "Theomachia", and perhaps in general some of the themes and ideas you explore on this album?

BARGHEST: I disagree that listeners ought to have their own interpretation of the lyrical subjects. This seems to be only something for bands with poorly considered lyrics. You end up with a superfluity of meaningless opinions this way – isn’t there enough of a problem with a superfluity of opinions? “Theomachia” (or “war of the gods”) refers to the common mythic motif of a divine conflict that precedes the cosmic or aeonic dissolution. This motif is probably more commonly known as the Norse myth of Ragnarok, but parallel conceptions are found in the Indic epic the Mahabharata, and in the Iranian/Zoroastrian mythos for example, as well as elsewhere. The cosmic dissolution and the declining cycle of ages is also something prevalent in a number of ancient world mythologies and cosmologies. “Theomachia” is all about the inevitable march of decay and degeneration, and the self-mastery that the last man must attain if he wishes not to rot among the ruins of the last age, before the cycle of time continues. But I’m not expounding anything new here – this is old wisdom.

WULF: Your interviews are quite fascinating. Obviously, you are often asked about your musical influences, but I'm curious as to if you are influenced by any specific writers or literature? You're quite well-informed when it comes to history, weapons, warfare, etc. Also, I have to ask if you are familiar with the writings of Robert Greene, author of books like 36 Strategies of War and 48 Laws of Power? Just curious.

BARGHEST: There is a certain amount of literary influences that have found their way into “Theomachia”, explicitly or otherwise. To name just a few direct influences: Spengler’s “The Decline of the West”, Evola “Revolt Against the Modern World”, Machiavelli “The Prince”; and mytho-philosophical works such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Eddas, Hesiod’s “Works and Days”, etc.

I’m not familiar with Robert Greene, but I’ll check him out.

WULF: The artwork for "Theomachia" is great. Would you care to discuss the meaning behind this artwork a bit? Who is the artist?

BARGHEST: The artwork was done by Manuel Tinnemans. I don’t want to go into this here in too much detail, but if you study the front cover you will see some relevant motifs, such as the Kali Yantra, some text excerpted from the Bhagavad Gita (11:32), etc. But perhaps you will be able to interpret yourself the meaning of the distant horizon that is flanked on each side by the trappings of war.

WULF: On a personal level, I must ask...are you or anyone else in the band a fan of wargaming (tabletop, video games, etc.)?

BARGHEST: No, I don’t think so. I used to play the Warhammer games a bit when I was a kid, but I don’t have the time nowadays. If you want to play a classic strategic, war-based board game, and you have a few hours to spare, “Risk” is good.

WULF: What are some future plans for the band? Is touring over here in North America something you're interested in? While I don't feel like a DVD or music video is especially your style, but I could be wrong...do you have any intentions of doing anything visually like this down the road? Also, your previous interviews are always fascinating and you guys definitely have some interesting philosophies and worldviews...have you ever thought about putting out something non-musical, like essays or a manifesto?

BARGHEST: We are currently looking into tour options. Another tour across the US would be good of course, but perhaps not in the immediate future; Europe needs re-conquering first! I can’t see anything like a music video working for Spearhead at the moment. Our standards are pretty high, and we’d probably need an exceptionally high budget to satisfy the requirements a good and appropriate video would entail. We’ll leave this to the MTV bands for now..!

I don’t think I have any real desire to put out an essay or manifesto, because I’m not interested in changing how people think. I am quite happy to let people rot in ignorance. Besides, there are plenty of good books out there for those who disagree with pacifism, modernist values in general, humanitarianism, etc. I wouldn’t be adding anything new.

WULF: Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview! Any final words or comments are yours!

BARGHEST: You’re welcome. Thank you for your support. Svpero Omnia!

------

www.spearhead.ws
www.myspace.com/spearheadofficial

Answered by Barghest 1st Jul 2011.

Interview with Serpent Est of Kaiserreich!!

2011-06-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

E-mail interview conducted June, 2011.

http://www.kaiserreich.it

http://www.myspace.com/kaiserreichofficialpage

WULF: Congratulations on successfully executing a great work of black metal art! I know “Ravencrowned” has been out for over a year now, but I am just now hearing it for the first time? Is it being re-released by your new label, De Tenebrarum Principio/ATMF, or what’s going on?

SERPENT EST: Thank you, Wulf.
Actually, Ravencrowned is out now (2011) for the first time ever. We recorded the album in Fall, 2009, and we planned the album for 2010. We had also prepared a video trailer for the album with the 2010 release date. I guess that's the reason why so many guys think the album was out in 2010. We spent lot of time due to the fact we changed the mixing 'cause the guitars were digitally recorded and we didn't like the result. So we had to play the data streaming through analog guitar amplifiers and re-record what was coming out. Then, we spent time in search for a label that was interested in our band, and after lot of time we finally signed with De Tenebrarum Principio/ATMF for two albums.

WULF: I read in an older interview you’ve done with Xag (USBMS) that you felt that at that point in the band’s history you hadn’t had a chance to evolve or develop into a truly elite black metal band. Do you feel like you’ve achieved that state following the release of “Ravencrowned”?

SERPENT EST: Our goal and ideals have changed a lot since the beginning. We really enjoy playing the new songs live and that's a very important thing that most forget about. You should consider that playing again and again and again the same songs is pretty boring. We composed these songs by the end of 2009 and the album is out now, in 2011. We've been playing those songs for a very long time and we'll play them again for the upcoming months but we still like it. That means that WE are satisfied by the album and that's the most important thing for an underground band. If you make money from your music you won't care too much about it, 'cause it's a job. But if you do it just for passion, you need an immediate reward. Our reward is to play something we've done and something we like.
What we're aiming to accomplish is to have a great response from the people who participate in our shows. We would be happy to have good reviews on the net and good feedback from the fans, but the most important thing for an underground band should be the live trial, when you have to play in front of the crowd, taking your energy and theirs and mixing the whole thing into something relevant.
An underground band shouldn't care too much about selling albums, nor about criticism, there are too many website out there and there are too many guys that have no time to waste with minor bands like ours, so they will listen just 30seconds per songs and write a generic good-for-all-seasons review. We are reading lots of bullshit on our Ravencrowned. Someone's telling that our album is nothing but blast-beats, a Marduk-alike thundering strikes, but our album is filled with melody from the beginning to the very end.
Surprisingly, the best reviews we got are coming from U.S.A. and U.K. which aren't supposed to be Black Metal countries...
Of course, I'm not telling you that our album is something memorable. I won't fool myself with such delusions. Ravencrowned is an honest album conceived by an honest band, nothing more and nothing less. But beware of the internet reviews 'cause with this widened community of people, every cunt out there is spreading his own irrelevant truth.

WULF: Unfortunately, the digital promo copy I received of “Ravencrowned” didn’t include the lyrics. Would you care to discuss some of the lyrical themes of the songs on this album?

SERPENT EST: Sure. The whole Ravencrowned album is a concept about the "Kaiserreich", which means "Empire". The concept of the Kaiserreich was first told on a track from our first album which is entitled "Ravencrowned", itself. That track depicts the last chapter of the Ravendom (the Empire). Now we're narrating one of the previous events of this dark-symbolic fantasy which I often explain as a "Tolkienan Mordor mixed with the warlike code of Sparta". The whole story is drenched with honor, sacrifice and loyalty. And death, of course.
To be honest, I like the story I conceived but it's a bit twisted to be followed on the booklet for different reasons. First and foremost my bad English. I didn't spend much time on grammar at school, nonetheless I forced myself to write metaphorical lyrics. I guess that those with English mother tongues will be horrified! But for non-English speakers (which are the majority of the audience) it should work well enough.
Secondarily, the whole story is about a world that the album unveils just a bit. I'm working on a paraphrase of the whole concept in order to bring to light the events. For example, in one line you can hear the phrase “hornless undeserving mob”, which is a symbol of weakness 'cause in this world everyone wields horns on their heads and the horns are a symbol of strength and honor. But there are is no line where this is explained, so the line could be unclear (yet evocative, I guess).

WULF: The album cover is really cool. Who is the artist and how did you get in touch with him? Obviously, the art depicts some sort of infernal creature (or perhaps Satan himself)…would you care to elaborate on this?

SERPENT EST: The artist name is Michal Klimczak, and we found him on the net. He's a Polish guy, very skilled with digital art. The artwork was chosen because of its evocative power and the fact that it's a bit different compared to the underground black metal black/white covers. You can find some of his work here: http://grishnackh.digart.pl/
Without lyrics it's easy to confuse the subject with Satan, but it simply depicts the Emperor, ruler of the Ravendom.

WULF: Can we expect a music video for a song off of “Ravencrowned”?

SERPENT EST: Well, I guess it's probably too late for that. We would love to shoot a video from a song and we planned to do it, but the time passed and now we're already working on the new album. Besides, a video nowadays should be very well planned and executed. A video such as Satyricon's Mother North would be hilarious these days...
We are still interested in some video release, but we don't care too much at this time.

WULF: I’ve read several Kaiserreich interviews, and you always seem like pretty down-to-earth guys. You’ve mentioned that offstage you have many interests, but I was curious as to your literary interests and inspirations. Do you have any favorite writers or authors that particularly influence your music or life in general?

SERPENT EST: Oh jeez! Of course we're down-to-earth guys, we aren't in the '90s! Saying that I don't mean that the 'true black metal bands' have disappeared, I'm simply saying that they didn't ever exist. Nowadays, you can't pose as what you're not 'cause with the net you'll be unmasked in a very short time. Of course there are lot of morons out there that pretend that they themselves are 'evil', but I tell you, no one whose involved in playing music could be really evil.
About our offstage interests I can answer only about myself. Besides my job, which is pretty boring, I'm involved as a screenwriter for a small group of filmmakers named Hive Division. About the literary authors I do not have any preferred name but I'm oriented towards sci-fi themes. No authors have a real influence on my life, I'm a very lazy guy but not so much to plan my life on another guy's words.

WULF: This is a question based solely on my own curiosity, but being a black metal band I’m sure you’ve met and toured with some musicians with quite eccentric and radical personalities. Of all the bands you’ve played with and/or toured with, who would you say is the craziest, or most wild/unpredictable? Does the northern Italian black metal scene have its own share of intense, thriving, underground black metal shows and bands, or is it a smaller, more laid-back collective?

SERPENT EST: The Italian black metal scene is smaller than an ant's asshole! There are lot of bands of course, but most of them aren't that good and, usually, they don't tour too much outside Italy. By the way, the audience is pretty small for black metal bands but I guess it depends on the genre itself. You should consider that the last world-renowned black metal band is Dark Funeral (which has been playing since '93), all the other black metal bands remains confined into the underground scene. I don't think it depends on the decision of the bands to maintain a low profile for themselves, it depends on the diffused lack of interest for this kind of music.
About the guys we played with, you surely understand that I won't give you any single name in respect of others privacy. Nonetheless, we've met some noticeable guys. There were one guy which was completely high on cocaine and he was loudly and CONTINUOUSLY sniffling his nose. On another gig, I asked another band for a mirror to put on corpsepaint, but once I needed it, they were using the mirror to sniff some coke. There are lot of guys in the scene that are devoted to coke as most of people here in Italy. I tell you, these guys are total losers to me. Another guy was cutting himself with a razor blade whilst he was talking to us. He was totally drunken (and probably high) and he was cuttin' his arms with the blood spilling on the ground, then he offered the razor to us in the same way someone could offer a beer. I tell you twice, these guys are losers: misery is a sign of weakness. If someone's unhappy, he should be very unlucky or very stupid.

WULF: What are some future plans for the band? Are there plans for a DVD? What about a North American tour?

SERPENT EST: We'll play in Czech Republic this July, then we'll start recording the tracks of our third album which is already composed. We'll play as more as possible in order to support our new album but we'll play in Europe the most. We also have some contacts for Russia and Mexico but we have to plan it carefully. We would love to play in U.S.A. but we have no contact for such tour. If someone's reading is interested in hiring us, just send us an e-mail!
A DVD would be a nice idea too, but we never record video material of our shows. Again, this is something one should plan a lot before shooting. We refuse the idea to sell a DVD with a single camera placed behind the shoulder of those who's watching the show.

WULF: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me! Any last words or final comments?

SERPENT EST: No way, I've been delighted by your questions. It's great that people like you are spending their time to promote underground bands so, thank you so much. If someone here's interested in Kaiserreich, please follow the link to our brand new website: www.kaiserreich.it

Interview with MkM of Aosoth!!

2011-05-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

E-mail interview conducted in May, 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/aosoth616

WULF: While Aosoth is unmistakably one of the most original and infamous bands leading the charge in this recent explosion of excellent French black metal (including other artists such as Deathspell Omega, Blut aus Nord, Peste Noire, etc.), it is stylistically quite its own beast. “III” is also one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. What were you personally aiming to accomplish with this album?

MkM: As a start, see, those bands you did mention, all are very different in their approach, am just very familiar with DSO myself; yet it seems that at the same time or so, we ended up having releases which would have something similar, more than just the geographic origin of the band.
I doubt that there is really an explosion of french black metal (or nothing compared to how the black legions got worshipped) but there is nowadays a scene. And even a scene at a turning point, wondering how things will go.
Just like we do feel like a void after each release, when “ashes of angels” was released, our previous effort... all the events that occured after (the tour with hell militia, personal issues...) all those series of event did create the climax that made the composition of III happen. Nothing is “marketed”, it does depict a moment of time, one sinister moment of time which is still lasting up to now.
As vocalist for this band, I wanted it to be really a performance & exposure. Just like an Art happening.
Right now, I couldnt even say how the future would be for us, if we would do anything. Just like there is no aim for now, there were no particular aim then, just having to let it out, create the most genuine piece of work at this moment of time, exposing ourselves.

WULF: A common lyrical theme of yours is, according to a recent interview with Metal Maniacs, “praising Satan, excess, and (your) own deviances”. If that is the case, then where does all this hatred and rage that is reflected in your music come from?

MkM: Being non reliable, unstable, lunatic, “negative” (while I’d say “realist”)... Any individual who had to work with me at one point or another do know that I’m not the easiest one to work along with. Lots of tension in the air and that eternal destructive desire. I need to harm what is near, I just walk this path and all makes sense that way for me. Having now more distance allows me not to get swallowed in my own stream, there is no one by my side. I just expose what is inside and turn it into an audio experience, be it with aosoth or antaeus or any other act I was involved in as “writer”/performer.
When reading this question, I do realise I never asked this very important question to the other band members in Aosoth, I shall do so soon, just to get an idea...

WULF: “III” is quite a nightmarish listen. The atmosphere on the album for me clearly evokes death, urban decay, abandoned cathedrals, and nightmarish hallucinations. What images or concepts come to mind for you personally when you create or listen to the music of Aosoth?

MkM: The breathing of the other, watching inside the eye of the victim/partner. Stealing moment, making others last long, feeling one with blood and pulse.
That would be how I would feel myself. But that vision you described seems closer to what the other band members are experiencing through III.
Those are two distincts approach : the music on one side, lyrics on the others. Both combined : that gives such result. With another vocalist and different structures and more “song structure” with chorus and so on, that would have been a very different album. I’d really like that to happen somehow, thus I’d keep “III’ just as my own. Really have a special relation to this release, somehow like unique and not willing to let it go.

WULF: In almost every Aosoth interview I’ve read you’re asked about your involvement with The Order of the Nine Angels. While you’ve stated that you’re not an official member, does the Order have a strong following among other French black metal bands Aosoth is associated with (such as Balrog, Watain, VI, Merrimack, etc.)? I’m not asking for any specific names or bands, of course, but I’m curious as to the prevalence or popularity of this organization and the role it plays, if any, in this specific regional scene.

MkM: To this question, I’ll have to say that I do not have a clue at all !!! Watain being swedish btw, and they are more affiliated to the Temple of the black light if I’m not mistaken.
Might come as a surprise to you, but I am really barely in touch with any individuals from the metal scene, or just anyone in general. I somehow did distance myself for a few years. About the ONA, I do not think that many were into this particular order. But then again, I could be mistaken...
Also you do refer to a “regional” scene : well that seems not too accurate in our case since there is no unity in this scene, which is not a bad thing : suits me perfectly that way.

WULF: I’ve read that the lyrics will be enclosed with the physical album. Unfortunately for me, I only have a digital promo copy of the album. Would you like to explain a little about the lyrics and concepts of “III”?

MkM: Indeed they are, both on lp & cd. They were written in a similar state as the lyrics I once did write for “blood libels”, the last antaeus album in date. Thus very personal and more of an “exposure”... the album is not a gathering of songs as far as I am concerned. There is no “sing along” parts or whatever, more of a performance recorded in one take (vocals wise) and being based on a monologue or “silent” dialog in between two characters. Mostly people are expecting lyrics with themas involving magic, satanism... there this is not as “obvious” and not really fitting the genre. Though it still praises & shows devotion towards the worst/best in us.

WULF: Is there any chance that you will supplement this auditory violence with a visual experience, such as a music video or DVD?

MkM: Highly doubt it. First of all, most of our live conditions are so low that capturing such events wouldnt be worth being witnessed. Also the cost for such release is just beyond anything we could ever afford. Took me years to cover up the cost from the antaeus video, which was at first not even meant to be even used. We had ideas about particular images we would have wanted to add to the audio related to III. Just do not think any of this will ever take place. Even having “band promo picture” is quite impossible, so a video !!

WULF: Now that Antaeus is more or less on hold indefinitely, do you have any other bands or projects you are involved in besides Aosoth?

MkM: No time for anything else at all. Each album is a sacrifice, takes a lot of time and implies involving yourself fully in it. Antaeus will just perform two gigs in the coming months, in June for the deathkult openair festival in Germany and in december for the Rites of Darkness part 3. About bst (guitar player) he has the order of appolyon (signed on listenable) as well as genital grinder (death metal), he’s about to have a split lp. InrVI is mostly busy with VI and should have a full lenght recorded this coming year on Agonia records. Aosoth should record two tracks maybe before the end of 2011.... time shall tell. For each plan we make, many problems rise and turn all into dust.

WULF: That is all the questions I have for you. Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Good luck to you in the future! Anything else you would like to add to the interview at this time?

MkM: Hails to you for the support & having us in your zine.
AMSG
MkM

Interview with Herr Morbid of Forgotten Tomb!!

2011-05-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

E-mail interview conducted in May 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/darknessinstereo

WULF: Congratulations on completing your first full-length album in roughly four years! I believe this to be quite a strong album. How has the reception been for “Under Saturn Retrograde” on your end?

HM: Thanx. You know, there's always someone complaining for something on every new album we release... We can't make everyone happy. We need to be happy ourselves with what we have accomplished with a new album, in the first place. If the others like it, that's great, otherwise it means they are not ready to understand our evolution. We are getting used to be misunderstood and ahead of trends. Most of people start to like our albums 3 years after their actual release-date. It happened the same with the previous album, "Negative Megalomania"... But of course there is also a lot of people who like our newer releases and we're getting a good feedback from both press and fans for the new album. It's still early though to take conclusions, the album has just been released in the USA so we're waiting for responses from there too.

WULF: Normally I prefer to try and figure out reasons for song titles and album titles on my own, but unfortunately my digital promo copy didn’t come with lyrics and I can’t find lyrics anywhere on the internet. Would you care to explain a bit about the album’s mysterious title?

HM: There's some meaning behind the album title-track and lyrics. As you might know, according to astrology the influence of Saturn retrograde has basically a very negative effect on life and personal achievements, and it's partly responsible for failures, pessimism and other negative sides of everyday' life. It is especially negative when it is in your natal chart. I'm also a Capricorn and Saturn is my ruling planet. Basically I used "Saturn retrograde" as a metaphor. It is meant as something like "being born under a bad star". I don't really believe in astrology but I thought the meaning was fitting to represent the sense of oppression and constant bad luck that followed me over my lifetime. The rest of the songs deal with different topics but each one has negativity and hostility as the main themes.

WULF: The album cover is clearly somewhat dark and disturbing, but also quite beautiful. Who is the artist? Would you care to explain your thoughts on the album cover?

HM: The author of the cover is the artist Dani2Hell. I was looking for a suitable cover for the new record, and watching the graphic works she made at that time I was struck by one in particular, so I asked if I could use it and she agreed. I was lucky, because that work suits the emotions portrayed by the album music very well. I then examined several versions of the same design with Dani2Hell and in the end we eventually chose the version that everyone can see now (the one without logo and with darker colors). Also, Dani2Hell had already made the sketches included in the booklet of our "Vol 5: 1999/2009" album, with excellent results, therefore I could say that so far the cooperation has been very fruitful. From my point of view, the figure represented on the front cover is a sort of angel of evil and iniquity, it's the rational embodiment of an irrational wickedness, which is deeply rooted within the human soul. It's pure evilness, that's why that figure on the cover has no visible face... Evil has no face, it's within each of us.

WULF: According to recent interviews you’ve expressed your songwriting being increasingly influenced over the past few years by bands such as Alice in Chains, Down, Acid Bath, etc. Although your cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is quite well-done, I was surprised that you didn’t cover a band that was influential to you that was more “metallic” in style. Would you like to explain why you chose this particular song to cover? Also, since your cover was so well-executed, is there a chance that Forgotten Tomb will continue to cover more songs on future albums?

HM: We actually started this "bizarre covers" tradition on the "Vol 5: 1999/2009" double-album, with a couple of songs from Nirvana and Black Flag, as well as a Black Sabbath intro. They turned out great, so we decided to include another one on this new album. In the first place, I'm a Iggy/Stooges fan, and I like the nihilistic, self-destructive power oozing from that song. Originally I wanted to do something out of "Raw Power", since it's my favourite Iggy/Stooges album and one of my favourite albums of all time, though most of the material was not suitable with the rest of our songs. Also, we have chosen "I Wanna Be Your Dog" because it's more well-known and also because all the cover-versions we've heard from other bands really sucked (including the Slayer' one, yes). When Slayer did that cover they changed the lyrics to some macho-bullshit and I hated it. It was retarded. Iggy Pop hated it too. I think Iggy would like our version instead. I think we gave it an original Punk feeling, it sounds really nihilistic and violent. I even prefer it over the original! This would have been nearly impossible to do with the "Raw Power" songs, 'cause that album is fucking perfect as it is. Btw, we always choose to cover songs that are not strictly Metal 'cause we think it can be more interesting, both for us and for the audience. I mean, would you prefer another Darkthrone or Mayhem cover as all Black Metal bands do? I don't think so. Also, we listen to a lot of "non-Metal" stuff so we find more intriguing to cover songs like those and make 'em sound like one of our own songs.

WULF: Can we look forward to a Forgotten Tomb music video for a song off of “Under Saturn Retrograde”? Personally, I would choose “Reject Existence” because I feel that’s arguably the most catchy song (it’s seriously been stuck in my head for days now!) even though it has a quite negative message. Also, are there future plans for a DVD or anything like that?

HM: Actually there were plans to shoot the video for an edited version of that song. We'll see what happens. Time flies and there are lots of things to be taken care of, so we'll see if we can make it. A live DVD would be really cool too, but again, we'll see what happens before the end of this year. Maybe we'll record another full-lenght album before shooting a proper live DVD. It depends on the success of our new album.

WULF: I’ve noticed that your attitude and style in interviews over the years has changed considerably. I mean no disrespect, but it seems like you’ve become much more “mature”…what I mean by this is that eight years ago, you were strongly advocating suicide and embracing despair and negativity, whereas nowadays it seems like you’ve become somewhat more “laid-back” but still fixated on negativity. I also feel like this is directly reflected in your songwriting. While I haven’t heard earlier Forgotten Tomb albums, according to interviews and reviews it seems like your earlier material was more black metal-oriented…with “Under Saturn Retrograde”, while there is still a black metal influence, it is much more limited, and instead fits more comfortably in its own “depressive rock” style. Do you agree with this? Do you feel like Forgotten Tomb’s sound has matured with you these past few years?

HM: If you read all my lyrics and interviews since the beginning of the band you'll notice they changed and evolved. But of course I don't like a lot of things in life and society, and I'm basically a very negative and pessimistic person. The "leit-motiv" of my lyrics is more or less always the same. Obviously over the years people grow up and evolve, though I always believed in what I said over the years and I don't regret it. The glorification of negativity, death, hatred, pessimism, cynicism, homicide, suicide, abuse and in general of everything that is helpful to destroy human happiness and life is a recurring theme of our albums and imagery, now more than ever. Personal experiences had a role on some of my lyrics in the past but over the years I developed a more mature songwriting. I realized that I'm more useful as a tool to spread negative emotions. Of course there are always my personal thoughts and my vision of life portrayed in my lyrics, but the way of expressing them has changed. In the past some fans just used some of my lyrics as some sort of relief from their personal problems, but I never wanted this to happen. I've been totally misunderstood. I don't want to help people, my lyrics are not propedeuthic. I want to destroy people, I want them to increase their suffering and do harm to themselves and to others. That's why my lyrics have changed over the years. I don't wanna write for myself exclusively, I want the message to be loud and clear to all my listeners. You know, when you say these things and you're 20 years old people use to think you're a teenager trying to act evil, but when you're 30 years old and you still say the same things most probably it means you really mean it. I'll turn 31 this year so go figure... The musical evolution has nothing to do with our concept and attitude, we always listened to other kind of music even when we were more Black Metal-oriented.

WULF: By listening to this latest album, there’s no doubt in my mind that if you were to decide to tour North America you would be quite successful, as “Under Saturn Retrograde” seems like it has a much more accessible sound and wider appeal than many contemporary extreme metal bands. Are there any plans to come over here and wreak havoc?

HM: It's very difficult for bands like ours to play in the USA. We've been all around Europe several times and I'm pretty sure we'll play again quite a lot of gigs there this year, but I don't know about the rest of the world. If there are promoters interested in having us playing in the USA, we'll come of course. Our aim is to play live as much as possible, so I certainly hope to visit some countries where we haven't been before.

WULF: Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! Any final words you would like to say?

HM: We're going to release very soon a split 7" with italian band Whiskey Ritual. Both bands will cover 3 songs each by GG Allin. It's gonna be a cool release. Then we'll focus on live-shows/tours and in the meantime I'll start writing some new material for the next album. To all our readers: buy our new album and get fucked up! Follow us through our usual channels: official website, MySpace, Facebook and Reverbnation. Stay Negative!

Interview with V.I.T.R.I.O.L. of Anaal Nathrakh!!

2011-05-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

Phone interview conducted on April 22, 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/anaalnathrakh

Special thanks to Jackson "Mankvill" May for helping me out with questions!

WULF: OK, so I hate to start off with questions like this but I'm legitimately curious...how has the reception been so far for "Passion" on your end?

VITRIOL: It's been interesting, actually. There's only been a handful of reviews that I've seen so far because obviously the album's not out yet and the reviews are not creeping creeping out, but (some of the reviews that I've seen) didn't like it very much, which is a little less than ideal when you've made an album, but I've seen quite a number of more positive ones now. So broadly speaking, it's been quite good, there have been a few people that (didn't like it), but that's always going to happen. As for people close to us and everything, a lot of people have been very, very positive about it. A couple of people have said (it's) some the best songs that we've ever done. But yeah, so far, broadly speaking, we're happy. It's more important for us to be happy with the album ourselves because people will say what they like, but it's whether or not you can get on the album yourself that's got to be your guide. We're very happy with it, so that's the most important reaction as far as we're concerned.

WULF: Yeah, I would agree, but I wouldn't agree with the negative reviews. I found "Passion" to be just as fantastic as all the other Anaal Nathrakh albums. So, anyway, I don't know what they're talking about. I was definitely blown away.

VITRIOL: Well thank you, I'm glad you liked it. And it's not like all the reviews were (negative), just a couple, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

WULF: Well thank you, for what it's worth. But anyway, after getting the album repeated listens, judging by the song titles the subject matter on this new album is similar to other common themes on previous Anaal Nathrakh albums. However, were there any themes explored on "Passion" that were considered, lyrically, (as) new territory for the band? 2012 is looming ever-closer, after all...

VITRIOL: (laughs) Yeah, yeah. It is. We haven't got long left. (laughs) Yeah, there were a few new angles but a lot of it, (as) I've mentioned to one or two other people, had to do with a paper I read about the concept of horror, and understanding what horror was as opposed to terror or anything like that, and it has to do with the victim and the experience, becoming aware in the way that they've been changed or by the way they've been corrupted or otherwise altered by the experience. A lot of this stuff on the album is sort of vaguely related to (this) idea. So...

WULF: Interesting. That's pretty fascinating.

VITRIOL: It's more about understanding the way in which the world and things in it and evil out there and everything has an effect on you as an individual, and that effect can be ruinous, but at the same time coming, in some self-disposing way, to
desire it in some ways. So that's particularly the theme of the second song, for example. So, yeah...I could go on for hours if you like, but yeah, those sorts of ideas are kind of new for us. It's a bit of a different spin rather than just "the world's shit and we all deserve to die".
(laughs)

WULF: Right, right...and while I know that Irrumator, or Mick (Kenney) writes all of the music and you write all of the lyrics, I don't want to put words in Mick's mouth, but does he share attitudes or ideas similar to yours that are reflected in Anaal Nathrakh's music?

VITRIOL: Well, it depends in way you mean thoughts and ideas, but obviously, musically we're of like mind. We wouldn't be writing together still after a fair amount of time and still keep coming up with great stuff, so musically we're on the same page. In terms of the more ideological stuff, that's mostly me, but he might be slightly less...I don't know, how could you say it? Wrathfully pessimistic about everything?
(laughs)
But there's a vaguely similar sort of undercurrent that we do share, so yeah, as much as it is Mick writing the music and I do a lot of the writing and the lyrics, there is a sort of permeable barrier between the two of us. We're both compatible with the way the other one does whatever it is that they do. So it is sort of a genuine synthesis, I suppose, you might say. Different, but mutually complementary things. Does that make sense?

WULF: Yeah, that makes sense to me! I was just curious, because especially (by) reading past Anaal Nathrakh interviews and stuff there's definitely a...I don't know...pessimistic...misanthropic...(attitude)? I don't know, that's the sense that I got. I wasn't sure as far as if Mick was equally so, on that level.

VITRIOL: Yeah, he's probably not quite as (inaudible) as I am.
(laughs)
But we're compatible in that way.

WULF: Right, right. So on a quick separate note, what have you been reading recently? Did this play any role, as far as lyrics go, on "Passion"?

VITRIOL: Well, for the past few months I haven't really had much choice about what I was reading because I was doing a university course. So in the immediate past, everything I've been reading has been the philosophy of language and things to do with the definition of happiness and stuff like that. So I suppose, in a way, it does sort of (influence) me a little bit, but no, it's not directly relevant. The stuff I read that's relevant at the time for stuff on the album...I said this in interviews at the time for the last album it was a book called Moment of Freedom, and that was the first book of the trilogy, and one of the songs on this album was influenced by the second book of the trilogy, called Powderhouse. There's also some stuff by a German guy called Max Stirner who was writing in the 1800s or 1830s-40s, and that was the influence on the song "Paragon Pariah". There's stuff about multiple personality disorder and the reintegration of personalities into one core personality. That's what the one with the German title on this album ("Tod Huetet Uebel") is about. So it's more bits and pieces rather than one book or something that had a massive impact and took over the album. It's bits and pieces of various different things, but I've read quite a lot of interesting stuff, I've been lucky to have found it, so the bits and pieces are there and are also fascinating.

WULF: Yeah, I'd love to check out some of the stuff you're talking about, because especially with the multiple personality thing, I've always been really fascinated by that. Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind...what are you studying at the university?

VITRIOL: A Master's degree in philosophy. It's reasonably (inaudible) stuff, but I just find it interesting.

WULF: Me too. I actually just graduated myself...undergraduate degree. I'm not ready for graduate school quite yet, but that's pretty cool!

VITRIOL: What was the undergraduate degree?

WULF: History.

VITRIOL: Alright, OK. That's a (inaudible) for post-grad study if you ever do go onto it.

WULF: Yeah it is. (laughs) I'll probably have to if I do want to do anything.

VITRIOL: (laughs) Yeah, that's the thing.

WULF: So you mentioned, actually, off of "Passion", the German song and unfortunately I haven't taken much classes in German, so if I try to pronounce it I might butcher it, but man, I was curious...how in the fuck did you guys hook up with Rainer (Landfermann) from Bethlehem and Pavor?!

VITRIOL: Crazy voice, isn't it?

WULF: I haven't heard anything (by him) except his vocals on Bethlehem's "Dictius te Necare" but his vocals on that are absolutely insane and I'd say a perfect fit for Anaal Nathrakh's music because it's a much different vocal style than yours but quite intense just the same. So how did this guest appearance come to fruition?

VITRIOL: It was largely the same for us. We heard that Bethlehem album you just mentioned and we thought it was...well, you probably used the best word to describe it, it was really crazy. We've always been fans of what he'd done with that, it was just so out there and so...the (British English) word would be "barmy", essentially it means "crazy", so we just thought, "screw it, we'll just ask him!" So we tried to get ahold of him, and he's not the easiest man to get ahold of, but I eventually managed to track down the band that he's in now, which is a death metal band called Pavor in Germany, and they're a fairly unusual sort of band, they put out like...one EP every eight years
(laughs)
and (inaudible) signed to a record label, they're a fairly individual sort of thing, themselves. I sent an e-mail to the band contact up there on their website saying who we were and that we'd been blown away by his work on the Bethlehem album and some of the stuff he's done since, because he has bits and pieces of his vocals in Pavor even though he's not the main singer, (and asked) "would you be interested in it?" And he came back to us saying "possibly, but I'm going to need to know that it's something I can really get behind and it's something I can totally get on-board with and an idea of" and he asked me to give an idea of what we were thinking of for the song. So we sent him some music back and I sent him this quite long written-out version of the idea I had for the song, and then he replied, saying, "this is brilliant! I love the idea! I've just spent four hours arranging vocal parts for it!" And he just took the idea and ran with it. He just took off. So it was fantastic to have someone that was just so enthusiastic about it. He was blown away by the idea and then he turned around and blew us away back. So yeah, it was just about chatting to him and asking him about the idea.

WULF: Man! Well I think that was brilliant on your part because when I saw that HE was going to be on the album according to the press release, I was like, man...I didn't know of any vocals that he had done besides (his work) with Bethlehem, so I was crossing my fingers, saying "please let this be vocals!" And when that song came on, sure enough, I was like, "that's my man, right there!"
(laughs)

VITRIOL: Yeah, I mean, that's what we were like when we got this track back from him, because obviously we didn't know what he was going to do with it, so we were waiting to hear it ourselves, and then we played it and just thought, "yes! That is EXACTLY what we wanted this man to do! That is brilliant!" And so we loved it, we thought it was great.

WULF: Had he not heard of Anaal Nathrakh before?

VITRIOL: He'd heard the name. He wasn't overly familiar with us, I don't think, but not too long before we asked him we had played a show not in the town he lives in in Germany but not all that far away, and he said one of his friends had been. So he was aware of us.

WULF: I would just be surprised because I would think that if you guys had contacted him he would have just jumped on-board immediately, so that just kind of struck me as weird, but I'm really glad that it all came through.

VITRIOL: I'm kind of glad that it happened the way that it did because it meant (inaudible) when he said, "OK, I might be up for it", and it meant that he was taking it seriously and what we put to him was good stuff. So I'm kind of glad that he wasn't just, "yeah I'll do it!" It was nice to have someone work on the idea a little bit.

WULF: Right. OK, so I've got a couple more questions here if that's OK, because I know that you're probably really busy. If Mick still lives in California and you live in England...you've probably answered this before, but how much time do you spend writing and rehearsing if Mick writes the music and you write the lyrics separately?

VITRIOL: When it comes to making albums we spend not a great deal of time working on stuff. There's pretty much no rehearsing, though, because we put it together in the studio. So Mick writes literally a whole album's worth of music and I prepare...well, I've prepared 20 albums worth of ideas and bits of lyrics and stuff like that, and then we just go in together and do it in the studio at the time. So we can talk over the internet and that kind of thing but we don't particularly need to be physically in the same room until we get to the studio phase of it. For live stuff, obviously it's a bit more difficult, but as it stands at the time he's the only member of the live band who isn't available here in Birmingham where I am, so I just get everyone together and rehearse without Mick until he can get over. But the thing is, not only is he a talented guitarist and doesn't find it difficult to pick stuff up, (but) he wrote the damn songs!
(laughs)
He should have a pretty good idea of how they go, so we (go over the songs) and jam for a couple of days.

WULF: OK, so forgive me if this is wrong, but as far as I can tell, you guys have only one official music video, and so as far as you know, will you be shooting a music video for a song off of "Passion"? How do you feel about music videos?

VITRIOL: I don't know, really. We're not particularly interested in trying to get heavy rotation on MTV or anything. If it happens then I'm sure it's a great thing and I'm sure it's lovely but it doesn't upset if we're not doing that so we don't feel the need to try and push for something like that. But at the same time, it is kind of fun, we did do one for the last album, you're right. The only one. It was just a different creative idea for us because we had to come up with the ideas for it and work with who was shooting it to try and make it what we had our in our heads, which was just a new thing because we weren't used to working in video, so it was cool to have a try. I don't know whether we'll do one for this one. As far as I know, our contract with Candlelight does have a provision to doing one, but we've been so focused on getting the album out and putting a few tour dates together and stuff that we just haven't gotten around to that yet, but it would be nice. It would be cool to do another one if the opportunity comes along. So yeah, fingers crossed.

WULF: Alright, and you mentioned tour dates, so my last question then, would be...I understand that you've got a few dates that are going to be here in the United States, or at least just a couple? Am I mistaken?

VITRIOL: Not yet...we're just in the early stages of working out to do that. At the moment we've got a few dates in the UK, and then we go off into mainland Europe, and that's what we've been doing up till now, but in the past couple of days we've started to figure out whether it's viable to get back to the States because we played in California about six weeks ago or so...so we would like, if it's at all possible, to get back there, but we have no concrete plans yet. Hopefully, but we'll have to see what happens here.

WULF: Alright, well, for what it's worth, if you ever want to come to the Midwest here I know that's probably not in the cards, at least not for this album...
(laughs)
I live smack in the middle of the country, a lot of times bands on limited tours hardly ever make it out here.

VITRIOL: That's one thing that interests me about touring...I like to go to interesting places. To me, America is one big, whole, interesting place because I've never been to most of it, (just) parts of it. But I would like to see the places that bands don't always play. It would be cool. Whether it would be possible, I don't know, but we would be happy to go and play in Kansas or (wherever), but it would be an interesting, different thing to see.

WULF: I was going to joke and ask if you guys were ever coming to Kansas because that's where I am.
(laughs)
Alright man, well that's all the questions I have for you. I know you're probably really busy. Do you have anything else you'd like to say, any last words?

VITRIOL: Not particularly, not particularly. Whatever happens, maybe, you never know, we may turn up in Kansas one day.
(laughs)

Interview with David Gold of Woods of Ypres!!

2011-05-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

https://www.facebook.com/woodsofypres

Phone interview conducted on April 11, 2011.

WULF: OK, so I just want to start off by saying congratulations on the success of the "The Green Album"! Also, I've been listening to you guys for a long time, ever since I heard a track that was featured on a Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles (Knuckle Tracks 83 sampler) compilation way back in the day.

DAVID: That's like 9 years later and it's the best 700 dollars we ever spent.

WULF: Yeah, (the track ("Shedding the Deadwood")) was off of ("Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth"), yeah.

DAVID: Yeah, perfect!

WULF: Yeah, but anyway, congratulations with the success of "The Green Album" and I want to know how the reception has been for this new album so far on your end?

DAVID: I guess I'll tell two sides of that story, one being that we had originally released that album independently at the end of 2009, and at the time a lot of people weren't really sure what to say about it. There were a few reviews and some of them did service (to the album) and some of them were really good and people gave it high praise and there were some that just destroyed it basically, and then I think the people who remained silent were the people who didn't really know what to think about it. So we went into that record kind of looking at it like an experiment because after doing three records we were still an independent band and we decided, well, we're only working towards our own agenda so let's just write whatever we want to write and if there's anything that can be considered an experimental Woods of Ypres album, like "Woods IV: The Green Album", was certainly it. So we had put that out and I guess for about a year and a half we weren't really sure what to think about it either because we saw that there were people who were getting into it and obviously we can see online that a lot of people got their hands on it, but from our point of view no one had bought it really.
(laughs)
So we kind of looked at it as something that was really cool that we did, but in terms of doing business, was kind of a failure, and it's interesting that a year and a half later a label takes interest, and I think that really changes the way that people look at a record like that. So our label, Earache, came on board, they saw something good in ("The Green Album") and put it out there, and then now we're seeing a couple things. A lot of press sources that maybe passed on the idea of covering the record a year and a half ago now have a new perspective on it and are publishing really good reviews, and even, believe it or not, a few interviews that I did a year and a half ago are finally being published.
(laughs)

WULF: Oh, man! That's good though, that's good!

DAVID: You gotta be patient doing this, and we certainly were, it's not like the record deal was kind of "make it or break it" for the band, I mean, the band would always exist, but it was certainly more satisfying for us now to be able to do a record like that and finally have people hear it.

WULF: Yeah, and I know that it was out awhile ago, but for my college radio station, that's how we went through (and got this interview) was through Skateboard Marketing , but it's being promoted now and you've got Earache so congratulations on that man, it's definitely good stuff.

DAVID: Thanks man. The other side of that story is that story is that there are people who are hearing us for the first time now and we're a band that's approaching our nine year birthday now, but that's cool too because I realize that those are people who are hearing us now because of Earache, who probably otherwise would have never heard of us, which is cool because they come on board with "The Green Album" and I think the same way that I discovered, for example, a band like Opeth, I mean, I think Opeth kind of blew up in North America on the "Blackwater Park" album, and (for) myself too, I knew about them from "Still Life" and I knew of "My Arms, Your Hearse", but then they got really popular and everyone looked into it and said, "wow, this band's got four other records (besides "Blackwater Park"), and that's (like) what's happening to us now. We've got three other black metal-based records and there's certainly a lot to choose from there.

WULF: Even stylistically-speaking, I can see some similarities between you guys and Opeth as well. The album (that introduced me to Opeth) was "Still Life" (thank you Tony Doria!!) that had just come out, and, of course, I was in high school, and we were all just losing our shit over Opeth and yeah, so that's cool man, hopefully some people are going through that with Woods of Ypres. Anyway, so I read in a recent interview you guys did with Xplosive Metal that you weren't even planning on making "The Green Album"? I was just curious, why is this?

DAVID: I'm trying to put that answer into context...

WULF: Sorry, I probably should have-

DAVID: I'm trying to think...there's a couple reasons why I guess I would have said that. There was a time when we were doing "Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues" in Toronto, and that was when we had the Toronto band and I kind of lived and worked there and everything, and I guess there was a time for sure when we were thinking we would do "Woods III", and then that would have been maybe the end of the band. I guess after doing three albums and then that record which we put 15 tracks on, I think that was one of the reasons we decided to release so many songs on that record because there was a chance that we wouldn't have done another Woods of Ypres record. It wasn't until I took a hiatus for a year and spent the year working in Seoul, South Korea, and then coming home from that the first thing I wanted to was re-re-reform the band and then do another Woods record...and yeah, that's history.

WULF: Yeah, sorry, I probably should have framed that a little better. So one of my questions later ties into you recently working in Kuwait, but I wasn't aware that you were in South Korea also.

DAVID: Yeah, just really quickly, the year that I was there I actually drummed for a kind of a famous Korean death metal band in the Seoul/South Korea scene called Necramyth, I just kind of fell into it...I think on my Youtube page there's tons of stuff from me drumming with Necramyth on there, so I kind of left (Woods of Ypres) to take kind of take a break from music and everything, and three weeks later I found myself drumming in that pretty serious band, so we were rehearsing, like, two or three times a week, playing a show every weekend, we did a CD, so my year (in Korea) became a balance between my job up there and doing this drumming gig, but it was good, man, it kept me busy.

WULF: Wow, that's cool man! I'm actually looking at (the metal-archives.com page now, are you "Veillko"?

DAVID: On there, yeah.

WULF: That's really cool, man! Were you teaching English over there?

DAVID: Yeah, I was teaching business English, pretty much the same thing.

WULF: Right...I was really interested in (teaching English) in Korea or Japan but it looks like Japan might be out of the picture for a little while...

DAVID: Yeah, a little while man, but it might be a good opportunity too.

WULF: Yeah, but Korea...I would definitely want to go to Korea. Originally that's what I was going to do but...well, we're getting a little off topic here, but-

DAVID: It's awesome. If you're considering at all, go and do it, yeah, it is awesome. A life-changing and mind-bending experience.

WULF: I'll bet!
(laughs)
But it looks like it's definitely worked out for the better, it looks like Woods of Ypres is back and it seems like maybe you guys were stronger than you were before, especially since maybe the band was gonna end, but anyway...one of the most striking aspects of "The Green Album" obviously is its departure from the black metal style of the earlier albums. You had been hinting at this on the earlier albums but never quite executed it as far as you did with "The Green Album". While I understand that bands evolve, I was curious as to how this departure came about for Woods of Ypres. I think you might have answered this earlier, or hinted at it, but did you get burned out with black metal, or did you get more into doom metal, or what's going on here?

DAVID: Well let's see, I'll have to think about that for a minute. I think that when we were writing "Woods III (The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues)", which was still very much a black metal-based record and came out in late 2007, it was the longest process for us that had a lot of stages. We were in Toronto and that recording took a long time. I think that by the time that record came out there had been some songs that had been on our minds for about three years, and that's really a long time to hold onto something. So it's like, the record comes out in 2007, but some of that stuff I had been writing when I was like 23 or 24, and then that was kind of the end of all that black metal influence, so I think if you talk to a lot of guitar players and a lot of songwriters, there's those years where when it's time for them to finish composing songs and recording them, they always have these ideas or these riffs or these songs that have been around for years, so you're always drawing from something that you've done years ago, or a song is on the new record is inspired by something that might have happened years ago or you've had those ideas for years. We had done "Woods III", so all that black metal stuff was done, and then writing "Woods IV" I think that it was a combination of a few things where there were a few ideas, riff ideas, guitar ideas, that had been around for a few years that could never fit on a black metal Woods of Ypres record, which, when you're doing a record like that it does have some rules that you had best adhere to in terms of what to do and what not to do, for example, something like "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" or "Halves and Quarters" which are those sludge songs off of "Woods IV", we wouldn't fit those those an earlier Woods record, but then writing "Woods IV", it was meant to be a record where we not so much play within these rules, but try to tell this story, and in order to tell this story we needed four, five, six, seven different genres of metal that we put in there, and that's how it came about so we had a few ideas that didn't fit into other Woods records, but fit perfectly on "Woods IV", and then there were some other guitar ideas which were brand new, so we had a clean slate, and then we looked at, "OK, here's this song, this is what it's about, this is what this song is about, what are we going to write that's going to fit into that?" And I think that was the most challenging part about writing "Woods IV" was that it was kind of like editing a movie, you have to have continuity from one song to the next in terms of that story you're trying to tell, and from a songwriter's perspective it's much more challenging than, say, writing ten mostly disconnected songs and then putting them on the same record.

WULF: Right. Actually, what you just said kind of ties into my next question, which is...."Woods IV" is obviously a heavy album musically but also lyrically...were there any songs that were more difficult to write either technically speaking, from a musical perspective, or lyrically, from a personal perspective? Because some of the songs are sad or melancholic, while others just sound straight-up angry like "Suicide Cargoload".

DAVID: True. I mean, there's certainly a balance, and I'll admit that I think when songwriting if I'm looking at two lyrics on a page, so maybe I've got like a verse and it's got four lines, and there's one line and I'm trying to decide on, and I can either go this safe way and maybe choose something that kind of rhymes or sounds better, or I (can) choose the lyric that's more provocative and maybe kind of stands out, and almost kind of sticks out like a soar thumb sometimes. But for me, especially on "Woods IV", I've always been one to where I tend to kind of grab that lyric that's more provocative, and lyrically I don't really take the safe road. We catch a lot of criticism from people who don't like those decisions and don't like that style, but equally we hear from a lot of people who appreciate the fact that we tell it up straight like it is. At the end of the day if there's a discussion of Woods of Ypres lyrics I still laugh and I think that's it's cool that we're discussing lyrics at all, you know?
(laughs)
For a band of the metal genre...and that's just the way it is. Woods of Ypres has always been a love-it or hate-it band, and that's cool, that's the way that we do it. There is kind of a fine balance that I try to achieve among songs because we do still want things to be listenable and enjoyable for the listener, but you do want to deliver this really heavy message, and there certainly were plenty of heavy messages on that album, and for us it was like the only album we were capable of writing at the time. We chose to kind of bite the bullet on that album and purge it and get it out of our system now. I think the other alternative would have been to pretend like that album didn't exist in us, and kind of continue on our way as if "oh no, we're OK! We've recovered, everything's fine, life is good" or whatever, but instead we wanted to put out that record, and instead we wanted really to put out that record and then some parts are just like...they seem like they couldn't get anymore crushing or depressing.

WULF: Yeah, it's dark stuff man, it's really dark.

DAVID: I mean, that was the point, and we thought, if we're ever going to do a record like that, do it right, do it as heavy and as dark as you can, as dark as it really was...but for us too, I thought it was really important that the record had somewhere to go. I'll explain what I mean. There's people who listen to the record and they say, "I wish you only would have put those first seven songs on the record" for example, and those are all the doom kind of songs in the beginning of the story, and I think they want that because (those) songs kind of sound the same and then after about (track) 8 out of 16 they start to kind of work their way out of that depression, and they kind of go somewhere, and at the end at least there's that message that says "if nothing else, move on". I think if we were to try and write a record that would get you your 10 out of 10 in Terrorizer Magazine or whatever, that record I think is the record where you'd play things a little more safe and you wouldn't rock the boat so much lyrically, but you'd write that heavy, doom-y kind of record that has ten songs that more or less sound the same. For me, I felt it'd be irresponsible for us to write such a serious, true to life, heavy, emotional record, where the message of the first song is "kill yourself", and then the message of the last song is "kill yourself". It seemed so pointless to me, and I wanted to give the listener, whoever it was, some more perspective, some more hope than that. That's why around track 11 or so it starts to show a little a bit of light and then it goes somewhere, so someone listening to that CD doesn't feel beaten down and depressed by the end of it, but hopefully feels a little bit more empowered than they did when they started listening to it.

WULF: Well that seems to reflect sort of how it really goes in real life. With depression and that sort of thing, or there's some really horrible breakup or whatever. That it's like, eventually, through time, you do get the strength or what have you to burrow your way out of that hole that you've been in.

DAVID: Sure. I think for us, if teenage kids or whoever is into metal, I wasn't sure if you were (a teenager) too, I mean, I'm 30 now, but I think for a kid who might be 17 or whatever listening to any Woods of Ypres record, listening to "Woods IV: The Green Album", you know, it's not at all to say, from our perspective, that we're smarter or harder or tougher than anyone else, it's just like, we were there before you WERE, you know what I mean? And that's that, it's a little bit of insight that ourselves, going through those stages, didn't have, and maybe that's why it was as brutal as it was, and on the other side of it we realized that life does go on, despite whatever doesn't kill you, you know?

WULF: Right, right, and then you get stronger. OK, well I hate to shift gears a little bit...I've got a minor question, I looked around and I couldn't find anything, but what is that saxophone or flute-like instrument that's featured on songs like "Shards of Love" or "I Was Buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery"? Do you know what I'm talking about? It's that really beautiful (instrument).

DAVID: It is an oboe.

WULF: An oboe! OK!

DAVID: Yeah.

WULF: Because you hear it in symphonies and stuff but I wasn't (sure). Who performed that? Was that you?

DAVID: Oh, no. Her name is Angela (Shleihauf), she played with a group called Musk Ox, and they're kind of like a (inaudible), like classical instruments. Yeah, and the main guy is Nathanaël Larochette, a guy from Ottawa, Ontario. We knew them and the timing worked out where we were doing this record and I asked if they'd be interested in hearing a few tracks and contributing something, and sure enough they picked a few and it was really cool because they picked kind of like the beginning, the middle, and the end of the record. They come in and they added classical guitars, oboe, and then cello, and it's really cool because I imagine how that record would sound without them and even with a song like "Shards of Love", in the beginning sounded like Katatonia or something, and they stood on their own without those classical instruments, and then hearing that oboe for the first time on the first song, "Shards of Love", we kind of laughed, it sounded like something off of Titanic or something like that, but it was really cool man, it fit and added another dimension to the record and I think that it added some class to that record as well.

WULF: Yeah, it was really gorgeous. I was definitely struck by it when I first heard it on "Shards of Love", and it was cool that it was throughout the whole album. OK, so we talked about this a little bit earlier, but you recently returned from working in Kuwait. How was this experience for you? Do you feel like your experiences living there will have any impact on your songwriting in the future, or lead you to explore lyrical themes you wouldn't have considered before?

DAVID: Yeah, I (inaudible) intend to do that. A lot of my Korea experience I intentionally brought into writing "Woods IV: The Green Album", but I also didn't want to become that guy who travels and wherever he travels to he just picks stuff and that becomes a part of his band, you know? I didn't want to keep doing that and become some kind of novelty, you know? Another thing was that the whole time that I was there was pretty much consumed with just the job itself and doing a good job and keeping your head above water, but I didn't have any spare time or brainpower when I was there. I brought a guitar up there and intended to do some writing because they advised that you bring a hobby, something to keep yourself busy, just to stay sane or something, something familiar for you to do. But the whole time I was just busy learning how to live there and (was) consumed with the job. I was only there from August until the end of December, so just one semester. What happened there was we finished our plans as a band last summer, which was a fully (inaudible) North American tour, and then we went into the studio and recorded five really heavy songs, and then it was after that that we had a deal from Earache on the table, but at the time I was already scheduled to go to this job in Kuwait, and I did. I guess at the time I didn't want to NOT go to Kuwait and then (have) the deal fall through, so then (I'd be) zero for two, you know what I mean?
(laughs)
Anyway, so I went out and I guess we did our negotiating from out there which I think was an interesting move because we were discussing the deal with the label and it was really strange to them, as it was for us, that I'm out there, you know? So I'm like, "well, I'm already in Kuwait working", trying to decide if I'm going to come home or not, but then I kind of knew what I was going to do anyway but after talking to a lot of people and they asked, "well, really, what do you want to do because the opportunity is there now, you've been doing this band for almost nine years, Kuwait will always be there, any route where you want to teach will always be there, which is the truth, but I hope that we can have just a few really good, white hot years with the band in the next few years. It won't go on forever, you know what I mean? I'll be turning 31 this year. So anyway, as soon as it became easy I went into work and I waited until my probation period was done and my evaluation was done and at the time I said I had another opportunity. Too much notice up there, they like that better than the people who take their passport and their luggage and leave in the middle of the night, you know? So it was alright, it worked out OK. So I came back at Christmas and we've been working hard on Earache Woods of Ypres stuff. Ever since the first week of January.

WULF: Yeah, you guys have got a new one coming out soon, as I understand. OK, well we'll get to that in a second, but OK, before we get to that, I'm assuming that you guys are going to go on tour at some point here in the future. Is that true?

DAVID: Yeah, a couple things...we did a 14 consecutive show tour in March in eastern Ontario, eastern USA, and eastern Canada. And we're starting another tour, it starts in Philadelphia on May 5, and it goes from May 5 to June 11 or so, and that's pretty much a show almost every day for about 40 days or so.

WULF: Yeah, it sucks man, I'm in one of the least metal-friendly places. I'm in the middle of the Midwest, and we don't get too many shows around here. I'm in (the) Kansas City (area).

DAVID: We never played there, for sure.

WULF: It's so out of the way.

DAVID: I'll say, though, that it's not like it hasn't ever appeared on a few route sheets before, though, when we're trying to look at our options, I mean, it's a place that I'm sure we'll end up at eventually, you know? The Midwest does get avoided because, even for us, we do those kinds of tours and we stick to the coast.

WULF: Well, it's expensive too, to drive all that way. You don't know what the hell the turnouts gonna be like. So, I don't know. While it kind of sucks, I'm 25 and I'm ready to move on and have some adventures of my own and so I'd love to go to the coasts, (places) with more metal, Europe, shit...anywhere...but we definitely do appreciate it when bands do make it out.

DAVID: I'll tell you the way that it works, though, there's never a place that I'll turn down playing once, and even for me, even if we go on and we don't have that great of an experience, I might even say something in the moment, like, "we're never playing here again."
(laughs)
But then it will be like the next tour, and somehow that city ends up back on there, and then we show up and everyone kind of smiles at me because they know that I said we'll never come back here.
(laughs)
We're a band, we need places to go.

WULF: Similarly, with Opeth, I think it was before "Blackwater Park", somehow they ended up in Witchita, Kansas, (I think, but it could have been Kansas City, Lawrence, or somewhere else in Kansas) or something like that, and there was like fourteen people there or something, and then, of course, (several years later) when they came to Lawrence, they were like, "wow! It's good that we finally have a turnout this time!"

DAVID: This Fall will be three years that we've been touring, (inaudible), and it hasn't been until January this year that we consider this more full-time now. But yeah, over six years we're already seeing success at shows and stuff. Everybody hears things, (like) they saw Mastodon in Toronto one time and there were twenty people there, and then a year later they blew up. For us even, though, we do pretty well in most cities. We don't really have many "bomb" shows. Things are pretty good.

WULF: That's good to hear, definitely. I only have a couple more questions if that's cool with you. I know you're probably really busy. Any places that you guys are looking forward to playing in particular? Where would you say you have the strongest support for Woods of Ypres? The craziest fans?

DAVID: When I get this question, my number one is always Calgary, Alberta. This will be the fourth time we've played there in the last three years, and it's awesome, man. I don't know how it got started, but there's a really strong following and they're really supportive. There's a bunch of people out there that are really into it. We even play like a Tuesday or a Wednesday night, the end of the workweek, and we'll be the headlining band that will go on at 11:30 or later, and there's at least 100 people that will come out and wait to see us...and then it will be like, our show, and local support. Our friends, our friends' bands from Calgary, they'll play with us. I think some of my favorites from last year were San Antonio, Texas, which we never played before last summer, and then when we arrived there...I'll tell you this, there's not too many places that we really feel like we have that kind of celebrity status, even if we play some place we've never been before, some people walk up and they recognize you from the internet or whatever, and they shake your hand, and it's like, "alright, cool, lookin' forward to seein' the show!" And we showed up in San Antonio and it was like, people could not believe that we were there.
(laughs)
And it was kind of a weird experience for us, it doesn't happen very often. But it seemed like everybody in that place wanted a photo of every one of us. So there was that, (inaudible) would say Worcester, Massachusetts. We played there twice in the last year.

WULF: I'm sorry, where? Where in Massachusetts?
(I was thrown off by the correct pronunciation of "Worcester", sounds like "woo-stah")

DAVID: In Worcester, Massachusetts.

WULF: Oh, Worcester, right, right.

DAVID: I said it onstage before, like "Wor-chest-er"...the whole bar, like, SCREAMED at me.
(laughs)
And I was like, what? Wor-ster? And they were all, like, yelling "NOOOOOOO!!!!"
(laughs)
Woo-stah.

WULF: Right, right.

DAVID: We played at this place called Ralph's Rock Diner, and it's supposed to be this diner converted into a rock club. Same thing man, really intense, supportive scene up there, and all those guys have that crazy East Coast, USA accent. All those guys sound like cartoon characters.
(laughs)
To my Canadian ears they do, anyway. But that's been great, man, no disappointment shows there, for sure.

WULF: OK, good, good to hear. So besides touring, plans for the future as far as...are we going to see a Woods of Ypres DVD in the future? Or is that something you're not interested in doing? Also, I know that, according to Wikipedia at least, you guys have got a new album coming out. So what's going on in the future here?

DAVID: Yeah, a couple things. We're putting out a 7-inch called the "Home" 7-inch. It's got two songs on it, Side A - "Falling Apart", and Side B is "You Were the Light", and those were two really heavy, sludgy songs that we recorded in this August 2010 recording session, we got off of the road last year and booked some studio time and went in and I recorded those five songs because, well...I was going to Kuwait and we didn't know for how long, and we kind of feel like the songs are ready to record when they're ready, you know what I mean? It's like, if the songs are ready to go in August 2010, you're better off recording them then than to kind of like leave them and pickle for a couple years. If you come back to them they're just not the same. You will not be the same. We really think over the years that that's been the most important thing, that the record comes out when the band is still feeling that record. So many bands wait too long, and by the time the record comes out they don't even like those kinds of songs anymore.
(laughs)
Anyway, so we have the 7-inch coming out, this is direct from the band, we've got artwork by Fursy Teyssier, a black metal guy from Paris, France, who does art and music for Amesoeurs , (inaudible), and all those bands.

WULF: Yeah, I know that guy! That's incredible shit, man! OK, cool!

DAVID: Yeah, check it out online, because it's really cool, and we're doing a vinyl with this transparent deer and this ocean-blue vinyl swirl, so it's like a really cool package, with MP3 downloads and everything. That's direct from the band, we're doing pre-orders now and that comes out next month, in May. So if you go on facebook.com/woodsofypres we've got all the details there. Then we hit the road May 5 to mid-June, and right now we're scheduled to go in the studio in July to record a full-length, brand new record, and that will come out in early November on Earache Records.

WULF: Awesome, awesome.

DAVID: If you're just getting into Woods of Ypres this year, it's like..."Green Album" came out March 22, this new vinyl is coming out in May, and then there will be a whole new full-length album coming out in November, too.

WULF: So this is the fucking year, man! Right here. Awesome!

DAVID: In terms of DVDs and stuff, I got up this morning and am editing some of our tour vlogs. We're doing more kind of like, raw and uncut (video) from the road and the shows, and am putting the Toronto ones online now. So if you go to youtube.com/davidypres I've got all those there. So in terms of us doing a DVD, that's probably easier. It's probably closer to reality than you think, I think if we really wanted to do that we could get stuff together probably pretty quick.

WULF: OK, cool man! That's all the questions I have David. I just want to end with, you know, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me, I think this was a great interview. I wish you luck in the future. Any last words, anything else you'd like to say?

DAVID: Yeah man, thanks for your interest, and thanks for having me on the radio, and check out youtube.com/davidypres, and then Facebook is the easiest place to find us, so (go to) facebook.com/woodsofypres. Pick up "Woods IV: The Green Album" and take a look at our vinyl we have coming out in May, and for sure pick up the brand new record, yet untitled, but "Woods V", it will be coming out in November at the end of this year.

Interview with Martin Harb of Visions of Atlantis!!

2011-04-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Phone interview conducted on February 11, 2011.

http://www.myspace.com/visionsofatlantisofficial

WULF: I want to say congratulations on putting out "Delta", it is a fantastic album and I really enjoyed it.

MARTIN: Thank you.

WULF: I want to know, though, how has the reception been for this new album on your end?

MARTIN: It has been already very, very good. Better than actually all previous VoA albums.

WULF: Really?

MARTIN: Yes. We are very happy about that. Magazines and professionals like it and we hope, of course, more important(ly), our fans will like it even more.

WULF: Well I'd have to agree with you because it's my favorite Visions of Atlantis album so far also, so that's good man!

MARTIN: Cool. It's good hearing that.

WULF: So this is your first album with the new vocalist, Maxi Nil. I'm curious, how did you meet her?

MARTIN: Well, we were casting a lot of girls all over Europe and we just got attached with her via Napalm Records, and we met each other and after a few minutes it was clear (that) "this is it", you know?
(laughs)
And this is actually the whole story.

WULF: Oh, well that's cool!
(laughs)

MARTIN: Five days after meeting (her) for the first time we went onstage together at Metal Camp in Europe and it was just awesome.

WULF: Wow! So it just automatically clicked, that's awesome! That's really cool man. OK, so this new album I'd say is more bombastic than ever, especially so on tracks like "Twist of Fate" and "Elegy of Existence", but, I mean, it's all over the album. I want to know...those are my personal favorite tracks on the album, is there a personal favorite track on the album for you?

MARTIN: For me, I love them all, but if I had to choose since you forced me to (laughs), my two favorites for me are "Memento" and "Conquest of Others". For me personally. It actually changes from day to day. I also love "Twist of Fate" a lot and "Elegy of Existence" but after listening so many times to it I really prefer for myself "Memento" and "Conquest of Others" because they catch my heart the most.

WULF: Ah, I see. That's cool man! Now, I understand "Delta" was produced by your bass player (Mario Lochert) and Jan Vacick-

MARTIN: Yeah, like on "Trinity" also.

WULF: OK, so what was it like working with them, and why two producers?

MARTIN: Because they have lots of experience, as Mario was integrated as a bass player and was clear with all his recording experience that he would do the job the way we want to have sounding the songs because Mario Plank, the vocalist, and me do all the songwriting and we really wanted to have a person we were in very close contact to (as a producer), and Jan Vacick also did "Trinity" and he did a hell of a job there, and he's part of the future; he's the first man for any VoA production when it comes to producing and ideas and stuff.

WULF: I see. Yeah, both those guys did a really great job too, the album sounds great. Now, I'm curious, who writes the lyrics for Visions? Is it you, or Mario, or everbody?

MARTIN: Me and Mario Plank, yes. We do almost everything.

WULF: OK, what inspires the songs lyrically? Unfortunately I couldn't get the lyrics because I only have a promo copy for my radio show.

MARTIN: Actually, Mario always invents little fictive stories with a metaphorical background of Atlantis itself, and I most of the time put metaphorical social, ideological, and psychological stuff into my songs always with a kind of (metaphor). It is also the main stuff on "Delta" with red light (??), although it is actually no concept album.

WULF: OK, yeah I was curious, would you like to talk about the new album title "Delta"? It could mean a number of things...

MARTIN: You can guess. It's the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, and of course when you see the cover, the delta is the situation where the small river is coming into the great sea and springing out something huge and something even bigger. You know, this was the ascension, and (what) we want to do on every album (is have) the number of the album somehow fit into the title.

WULF: Right, like "Trinity", and then "Delta", OK...that's awesome. I was looking and you've got that great, pyramid-like thing on the cover too which is like the triangle delta. That's really cool. So as far as I know you have one music video, are there any plans to make a new music video for a song off of "Delta"?

MARTIN: Yes, it's already produced and it will be released worldwide in a few days. So stay tuned for that, it will be awesome. It's from the track "New Dawn".

WULF: OK, so I only have a couple more questions if that's OK, I know you're busy. I see that you're about to go on tour in Europe, is there a chance of you coming over here to North America?

MARTIN: Yeah, we are trying everything to make this possible again and we hope to come in 2011 already. It would be a dream coming true again so cross your fingers and hope that everything is working out. But nothing is fixed, and nothing I'm allowed to talk about already.
(laughs)

WULF: OK, I understand man. OK, so my last question then...is there any chance of you guys putting out a DVD in the near future?

MARTIN: We're thinking about this and been asked that lots of times, but at the moment I think we should do releasing an album from year to year and (not) changing the lineup again, and then we can talk about this.
(laughs)

WULF: Ah, OK awesome man. Well I know you're busy so thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

MARTIN: It was a great pleasure to talk to you, maybe (we'll) have a chance meeting each other perhaps when (we) head over to the States, and I hope everything is cool with the radio and I hope you're having a great day.

WULF: OK, thanks man, you too! Good luck tonight.

MARTIN: OK, it will be an awesome show. I think it's almost sold out again!

Interview with David Sanchez of Havok!!

2011-04-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Phone interview conducted on January 28, 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/havok

WULF: Alright, I'd like to start off by saying thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. Congratulations on this upcoming album.

DAVID: Thanks for having me on.

WULF: OK, so I want to start off by saying I've actually known about you guys since the "Pwn 'Em All" days.

DAVID: Oh man!
(laughs)

WULF: So I'm from Lawrence (Kansas) but there's this band that moved here from Colorado (Elctrikchair) and for my radio show they gave me that EP, and were like, "Oh, here's some Colorado metal!" And I was really impressed with it!

DAVID: Right on.

WULF: So it's cool that you guys have come such a long way. But anyway, OK so my first question for you, just sort of a warm-up starter question...is there any chance that the name Havok comes from the X-Men (character) or is just Havoc (with a K) as in like, destruction and mayhem and that sort of thing?

DAVID: It's havoc as in destruction and mayhem, and realistically, the only reason that's our name is because the logo looks cool.
(laughs)

WULF: Yeah, the logo does look cool! Congratulations on that because a lot of times logos look generic and that sort of thing. I was just kind of curious, I'm an old-school X-Men fan. Just wondering.

DAVID: Yeah, no worries.

WULF: So, I want to know...this (new) album "Time Is Up" isn't out yet, but I want to hear from you what's the early reception for this album been like so far?

DAVID: Every review we've been seeing so far has been really, really good. The worst score its gotten so far is a 4 out of 5. So that's not bad.

WULF: That's good!
(laughs)

DAVID: The only bad thing that anyone has ever said about it is "ohhhh...it's thrash metal". Like, they're so narcissistic about it just because it's fast, old-school, riff-heavy heavy metal. And for some reason some people are bent out of shape about the whole thing, even though they love Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeth, they hate any band that sounds kind of like a new band.

WULF: Right. I would imagine it's probably the sort-of, like, internet forum brigade. That type of thing.

DAVID: Yeah, totally.

WULF: They only like the demo, yeah. No, I just want to say that I was really impressed...I mean, I liked "Burn" a lot but I think "Time Is Up" is definitely an improvement. I feel like it's more aggressive, and the drums (especially) sound absolutely incredible.

DAVID: Thanks.

WULF: I feel like in a way it's sort of angrier, or a more intense album.

DAVID: Yeah, it's definitely more aggressive I think.

WULF: Yeah, for sure, and so I want to know if this is through personal improvements as far as your proficiency with instruments or were you guys going through some tough shit, or what was happening when this album was being made?

DAVID: We went through a few lineup changes between the "Burn" album and this album. But as far as the aggressiveness, it doesn't have anything to do with lineup changes or personal changes..."Burn" came out and it had songs on it from when I was 15 years old, and it also had some newer songs on it. There's some songs on "Burn" that I think are a very good foreshadowing of what is on "Time Is Up". I think the best tracks on "Burn" kind of give you a hint as to where we were going, and with this album it's all new, all fresh stuff, and I think it's just a natural progression and improvement of our sound, just from getting more acclimated with our songwriting and the technicalities of music and the flow and all that type of thing. We're only getting better, we're not gonna put out a shittier album.
(laughs)
At least not on purpose.

WULF: Right, right. So lyrically (speaking), unfortunately with the promo copy that I got which is digital through Earsplit PR, I didn't have access to lyrics. So I was kind of curious, for "Time Is Up", why this title? I mean, do you mean "time is up" as in the end of the world, like 2012, or is it like the end of America, or "time is up" as in Havok's gonna like, destroy everybody in the scene now?

DAVID: It...it means all of those things!
(laughs)
No, but realistically the song "Time Is Up" is basically written as if you're on your deathbed and you're about to be judged in your afterlife, and there's a line in the song that says "plead your case, appeal to me, I'll be judge and jury", and that's exactly what's on the album cover. The whole entire jury in the background is dead, and there's one person slamming down the gavel. Basically, the title "Time Is Up" is directly reflected in the album cover. But the phrase "Time Is Up" is the title of the album basically because it applies to every song. Lyrically speaking, the phrase "time is up" can apply to any of the songs.

WULF: Right.

DAVID: It's not a concept album but it's a general term that definitely is applicable.

WULF: It's a common theme that brings the album.

DAVID: Sure.

WULF: And what sucks is that without having a physical copy, I saw the album cover but it was kind of small and so forgive me for missing that, that's really cool that it ties all together.

DAVID: Oh yeah, no worries.

WULF: I want to know as far as during recording, was there a particular track that was more difficult than the others to nail down?

DAVID: I mean, there's some parts on the albums that are definitely technically demanding on the instruments. There were parts that we had to redo a few times but we're all pretty technically proficient, so it wasn't a huge pain the ass to record, you know? I think all the drums were recorded over the course of three days, maybe four days? And then edited together and polished a little bit. Guitars, I got all the rhythm tracks for the left speaker all done in one day, and then I got the right speaker done the next day. The next day I laid down all my solos. So everything came together really fast. Bass only took two days. Solos took two or three days. If anything, the vocals took longer because the throat needs more time to heal, to get it back into recording shape. With guitar, I could play guitar for six hours and it wouldn't be a big deal, but I can't yell into a microphone for six hours.
(laughs)

WULF: So you're a guitar player first and then sort of as a vocalist (you're) trying to get up to that level as well?

DAVID: Yeah, if anything I'd say I'm a better songwriter than I am a guitar player or singer. I'm good at arranging parts. I'm not the most badass guitar player ever and I'm certainly not the most badass singer ever, but not to say I suck at them, but I think I excel in arrangement.

WULF: Alright. So I was looking at (Havok's) Myspace and the first thing that you guys have up there, sort of a mash-up of all your footage, looked really cool. But I was curious, is there any chance of a music video for a song off of "Time Is Up"?

DAVID: Yeah, we're probably gonna shoot a few. There will definitely be music videos for this album. We just need to figure out when and where we're going to start shooting.

WULF: So you think around Colorado, that sort of thing?

DAVID: Most likely, but we tour enough to where if we wanted to shoot it in California or Texas we could totally do that, we just have to plan for it.

WULF: Right. OK, well that kind of brings me to my next question. You guys are about to go on tour here, but I must say it's kind of a weird lineup. I do like the variety though, it's cool that it's not all bands that sound the same. So of all the different styles, which do you feel that Havok most closely relates to stylistically from those bands.

DAVID: On this upcoming tour?

WULF: Right.

DAVID: Well, the tour's with Malevolent Creation, Full Blown Chaos, The Absence, us, and Beyond Terror Beyond Grace from Australia. Stylistically speaking, I would have to say we're...we're not really like any of the bands, but if I had to pick who we're closest to I'd say The Absence. A lot of guitar riffs and the drums lock in with the guitars really tight, and I don't know...but that's a hard question to answer because we realistically I don't think we sound like any of them.

WULF: Yeah, right. If I was going to guess, I would have said, at least stylistically, I was thinking Malevolent Creation just because of the old-school death metal thing.

DAVID: Yeah, and I could see that too.

WULF: But obviously, Havok is a lot different from those bands, and those bands are a lot different from each other. OK, so for this upcoming tour and everything you guys are going to be going all over, is there a particular city that you guys look forward to more than the others, that's maybe notorious for having your craziest shows or your craziest fans?

DAVID: St. Louis is always pretty nuts. We played two shows there where literally the house that we played in got destroyed.

WULF: The house got destroyed?!

DAVID: Oh yeah, we played a few house shows in St. Louis and I specifically remember one show where we're playing in someone's basement and the crowd was punching out the tile of the ceiling, and at the end of the night there was dust and ceiling all over the ground. There was no more ceiling in that basement, and somebody thought it was a good idea to jump up and grab onto the AC and heater distributing ventilation system and ripped that thing off of the ceiling as well. Then somebody poured a bunch of kitty litter in the toilet, and the toilet had to get taken out of the house.
(laughs)
But every single time we play in St. Louis something happens.

WULF: Wow! That's funny because for one, looking at how you guys are coming up (to Kansas City), I'm (outside) of Kansas City, and Kansas City is right after St. Louis, so hopefully we can measure up to that. I mean, I don't know if you want to go THAT crazy but--

DAVID: I was about to mention Kansas City also though. Every single time we play there it's almost like a hometown show because we hit KC so often because it's the next city over to the east (from Denver) and we always hit it on the way to a tour from the east or on the way home from a tour from the east. So we come to Kansas City a lot, and every single time we come there it's awesome.

WULF: OK, well that's good to hear! Unfortunately I missed you guys in the past, but this time I will definitely be there this time. I'm really excited to see you guys, especially after looking at the live footage in your videos, it looks like it's gonna be a blast.

DAVID: Yeah, thanks a lot man, it always is. I think we're one of those bands that's cooler to see live than to listen to on CD.
(laughs)

WULF: Well, I think there's advantages and disadvantages but no I can definitely see what you're saying, for sure. So I know we're running low on time here, is there any chance you could answer one last question?

DAVID: Yeah, of course.

WULF: OK, my last question, and this is just kind of a question I like to ask, just out of curiosity...of all the bands that you've played with so far, I want to know who would you say is the craziest, the most nuts band that you've ever had an experience with? Besides yourselves of course!
(laughs)

DAVID: That puts on a crazy show?

WULF: Anything! Onstage, offstage, just...nuts dudes.

DAVID: Totally insane dudes...I'm gonna have to say the dudes in Witchaven are pretty fucking crazy.
(laughs)

WULF: Really? Witchaven?

DAVID: Yeah, the dudes in Witchaven are pretty nuts, but we've got a lot of friends in a lot of bands, and we're lucky to know the people that we do because we're bros with a lot of really awesome bands. But the Witchaven dudes come to mind right away for pretty crazy things.
(laughs)

WULF: OK, OK, well the only reason I ask is because one time I asked that to...I think I was talking to the band Warbringer, and the first thing they said was Belphegor...especially with black metal bands, they were like "those dudes are for real"...just...crazy, you know?
(laughs)
Like offstage they're really fucking weird and so...nah, but I was kind of curious. Witchaven, alright! Actually, I've never listened to them, I've heard the name before so I'm definitely going to the check them out.

DAVID: Yeah, definitely check that band out. They're badass.

WULF: Alright man, well speaking of badass bands, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

DAVID: Of course man.

WULF: I really, really like this album, I'm really excited to see you guys coming up here, so yeah man. I just want to say good luck on tour, and do you have any last words you'd like to say about anything?

DAVID: Pick up the album when it comes out on March 29, it will be well-received by anybody who likes guitar riffs, cool drums, and cool bass. Anybody that plays in a rock band will probably dig it. If not for anything else, just the musicality alone.

WULF: I would 100% agree.

DAVID: It doesn't suck, so...
(laughs)

WULF: It's definitely very, very...it's the opposite of suck.

DAVID: It's blow.
(laughs)
This album totally blows.

Interview with Paul Delaney of Black Anvil!!

2011-04-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

Phone interview conducted on October 16, 2010.
http://www.myspace.com/blackanvilny

This was a challenging interview. Paul's New York accent was pretty thick and he spoke kind of quietly so I had trouble understanding him. Unfortunately, I waited quite some time to transcribe this interview, so at this point it would be kind of obnoxious to try and contact Paul to try and clarify some of his answers. At any rate, here's what I could make out:

WULF: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me on here. I'm really, really digging your new album, "Triumvirate". People around here are really digging it as well, which is cool too. Anyway, I'd just like to start off by asking you how the reception is on your end so far?

PAUL: So far, so good. I've looked at a couple bad reviews here and there, but yeah so far the reviews have been pretty good. The only downside is that a lot of the...well, I guess for reviews (there's been) a digital package (with mp3s) and the only downside of that is that our lyrics are our strong point in this band, but it seems here and there (there's been) a picky, bad review, or you know, an honest review of someone that doesn't care for us too much, but a bit more of the (most negative) reviews that take digs at us and our background don't really focus on what the band is than what they're hearing on the outside. I guess that's a (this) day and age thing, I suppose.

WULF: Yeah, I was reading in Decibel at how you guys were talking about that, about how some people were sort of dwelling on the past as far as you guys used to play in Kill Your Idols which was more like hardcore and people were focusing on that as opposed to focusing on like, the music of Black Anvil.

PAUL: Yeah, that's probably just a creative copout, a starting ground for conversation. I understand with a newer band, history helps. There's a lot more (focus) on that than the actual product that's being reviewed. There's a couple specific reviewers in mind (that didn't like it), that (were like), "this is nothing more than metal riffs and this and that" and...it's a little more than that. It's a little complex. It's not a Rush record by any means but there sure is some complexity to us, there's more than meets the eye. It may take the listener to sit down and read the lyrics and think a little more to understand but I wish there was a little more emphasis on that aspect. The exception to (those negatie reviews), is so far so good.

WULF: Yeah, that's one of the downsides, since I do a radio show, is that most of the labels now do digital promo copies as opposed to sending us a hard copy, and so unfortunately since I don't have a hard copy I was looking online for lyrics and I couldn't find any, but it wasn't totally exhaustive just because I could already tell what you guys were saying from listening to the album, which was good too. It wasn't just so...a lot of times with metal it's hard to make out the lyrics, but with you guys I felt it was easy to make out, which was good too for coming up with these questions. But before I get to that, I have a question...for this album, did you have a personal favorite track? I like the whole album, but I'd say the standout track for me personally was "Angels to Dust". I don't know why it stood out more than the others, maybe because it's fast but also I really like the melodic part in the middle and then it gets really doomy. So that just really got me. What about you?

PAUL: I think that was one of the "hookier" songs. That's up there for me, but overall I'd say I couldn't choose one. The flow of the record from beginning to end was strategically put together and I feel really accomplished creating the record, so it would be hard for me to just choose one. I'm a fan of the overall product.

WULF: What about recording-wise, was there a track that was more difficult to record than any of the others, that maybe you guys had more of a difficult time trying to nail in the studio?

PAUL: No, we (inaudible) tracking-wise, for the most part.

WULF: Alright. Now, I'm not going to focus on this, this is just one question, but I understand you probably get asked this a lot, but you guys used to play in Kill Your Idols and it was more hardcore, and now you're playing black metal, and I'm just curious as to what facilitated this sort of switch? Were you guys always into black metal, even in the hardcore days?

PAUL: I've been into metal overall since before I even played hardcore. I really dove into black metal I'd say mid to late 90s was when I really like...dove deeper than the obvious choices. The Bathory and Mayhem records. I realized there was more. At that point I definitely looked deeper and found a lot more. (inaudible)
But these days I still find stuff and research because of my love for music and aggressive music, but hardcore in New York is different than (the stereotype), straight-edge kids and (inaudible), it was a pretty tough scene and that's what drew us all to bands like Agnostic Front, Terror, Sick of It All, and Kill Your Idols was a product of that upbringing.
(inaudible)
Lyrically it's different than this but we had a different vocalist, so that was his contribution. There wasn't much of a (inaudible) for me other than...it was a pretty natural stepping stone. Kill Your Idols broke up and in time after that Gary and I were doing a band called Deathcycle which was a project he started, which was heavier punk. It was tuned a lot lower, and after we put out a couple records it was tuned lower and lower and experimenting with heavy tuning, there's a lot you can do. But for us I feel like there's a wider range or variety with low-tuning. It kept getting heavier and heavier. It just sort of stuck. It was something that we had discussed for years, but being that (playing in a band takes up so much time), there's never enough time for a side-project. A few years later, with (Deathcycle) no longer in existence, (inaudible)

WULF: Well, and so, I'm kind of curious, do you feel like Black Anvil is a part of this new emergence of the U.S. black metal scene? I know that USBM has been around for a long time, but there's this sort of new emergence of this new sound and it's a little more experimental like Wolves in the Throne Room or Nachtmystium, and I was wondering if you felt that Black Anvil was a part of this scene or are you guys something different?

PAUL: Not at all. I don't feel like we're a part of it at all. We've toured with Nachtmystium, Blake is a good friend of ours. I compare myself to them more than anyone else, but I don't feel like we fit in with the average scene. And it could be just me, but I feel like we're on a different page and our music (and lyrics) are rooted from a different place. I just think we stand alone. Not on a pedestal, not above anyone, but I do feel like we sort of have our own thing. Seeing the upbringing in this band in the last couple of years...I feel like we are a completely individual unit...functioning--
(laughs)
When it comes to different scenes and who's who and what's what.

WULF: Well, another thing I'm not too familiar with because I live in the Midwest is...what is the black metal scene like in New York? I mean, I know that New York death metal is really big, and of course hardcore and punk, but what about black metal though?

PAUL: There's no scene to me. My scene is in my fucking iPod.
(laughs)
You know? That's where my scene is. But there is a scene, I mean, bands come and play. Triptykon and 1349 played in New York a couple days ago. I was out of town, however, I'm assuming the show was decently attended. I've played shows with different bands, I've gone to shows, there's a scene. There's definitely a metal scene. I don't know how much of an underground there is though, because I am personally not a part of it. There's definitely a cool, hip aspect to it these days which I have no affiliation with whatsoever. Those people mean nothing to me. But it even seems like that has sort of come and gone. It's not completely "in" to go see this band or that band. It's over when people find something new. But there's a pretty big metal scene, you know? It's hard to nail down, but it's there. In the big picture, it's there.

WULF: OK. I've been to New York once, but it was a long time ago, and certainly not when I was listening to metal, and so that was just something I was kind of curious about. OK, so more about the album, for "Triumvirate", the album cover, I feel, is really badass. It definitely captures the music perfectly, I feel. I was wondering, who is the art by? And how did you pick out this particular artist?

PAUL: He also did the artwork for our first record. He does some notable (inaudible) as well, and I've just been a fan of his artwork for some time and I contacted him while we were writing the first record. Pretty great artist.
His company is Metastazis.
But he's done some work for Antaeus, Ulver, Nachtmystium...I've got a good amount of respect for him, and Averse Sefira--

WULF: Yeah, I know Averse Sefira.

PAUL: Yeah, he's done phenomenal artwork for them. I constantly go to his site and look at his artwork, and I finally looked him up and asked if there's any interest, and he wrote back. He had a brief six or eight months that (he was spending) living in New York and I got to know him well. And (the artwork) for this record just came out phenomenal. The LP especially, I don't know how he'll top this.
(laughs)
He's definitely a genius and the ball was all in his court. I gave him the music, gave him the lyrics, and he heard it from demo stages until the finished stages, and we said "hey man, let's see your job". He really created something powerful.

WULF: Yeah, I think it's really cool. It definitely grabs you. But anyway, I was looking on your Myspace page and I noticed that you have an upcoming tour with Goatwhore and Watain. Those dudes definitely have a reputation for being pretty nuts on and offstage, or at least Watain does. Goatwhore, they seem offstage that they're kind of nice dudes, I don't know about Watain. I was wondering, in all your years of playing in bands and stuff, who is the craziest band that you've ever toured with?

PAUL: The craziest band I've ever toured with...I wouldn't call them crazy, per se, like in a wild way, but I've actually played in Madball, I filled in for their bass player for a good handful of tours. I lent a hand to them. But by far, they're a band that's not to be fucked with.

WULF: Yeah, I'll bet!

PAUL: They're some of the best people I know, but you know, all "crazy" goes out the window when you're rolling with a band like them who you don't want to see that crazy side.

WULF: Yeah, East Coast hardcore shit isn't really to be fucked with, so--

PAUL: But yeah, crazy? I've seen all sorts of crazy but reality is what's most (inaudible), but with a band like Madball...I'd put my money on them any day. And no disrespect to anyone else, but...you know.

WULF: Right. No, I got ya. So with touring, what is your favorite place as far as cities, where would you say is your favorite place to play live? Where did you experience the best Black Anvil fans?

PAUL: I would say New York. With this band we haven't made many rounds, we did some sporadic dates for the Marduk tour, we did the West Coast and East Coast with them. Canada's actually awesome, Montreal is a really great city. But for now I'd say Philly, New York, Montreal...like, East Coast. Virginia...Richmond has a great scene.

WULF: Yeah, I've heard Montreal mentioned a lot. I don't remember who I was talking to but they mentioned it as the "Metal Capital of the New World" or something like that. I've never been there but I've heard the metal scene is really good.

PAUL: Yeah, it's a pretty strong one.

WULF: I'm just kind of jealous because being in the Kansas City area, we have good shows but it's nothing compared to the East or the West Coasts, do you know what I mean? Or Montreal for that matter.

PAUL: I was told this tour was supposed to hit Kansas City before the cancellation of Behemoth.

WULF: I know! We were really, really excited, and then unfortunately there was the news of Nergal and so it looks like they're not going to be coming around here...well I guess the whole tour...

PAUL: Yeah, there's been a lot of re-booking involved. So we're hoping that we're on it, but yeah it's been a lot of work to line that shit back up. We were looking forward to it.

WULF: Yeah, that was going to be really awesome, seeing all of you guys. OK, so my last question is, because I know we're running out of time here, but there's a lot of really good Youtube footage of you guys playing live, and I was wondering about your plans for the future. Obviously you guys are going to be going out on tour and recording new music, I'm assuming, eventually. But what about, given all this footage, are you guys ever going to release a DVD or anything like that?

PAUL: Definitely not in the near future. In the near future there are definitely no plans for a DVD release, but maybe down the line it would be something that's cool. If we have enough stuff to be released.

WULF: Some of the stuff I've seen online, at least on Youtube, looks really good. I think it'd be cool since I haven't seen you guys live to see you guys on a DVD.

PAUL: There's some really good footage of me on Scion Rock Fest. I don't know if it's actually released. I wouldn't call it "pro-shot" but it's pretty damn good sound quality and video quality from scion rock fest. I want to see all the bands from our venue. It should have two or three clips up of Absu, us, I forget who else...Liturgy maybe? But there's definitely some good footage from that show floating out there.

WULF: I'll definitely check it out! A lot of bands don't come to our area, so sometimes in order to see bands live I have to resort to the internet. Which is cool, but it's not a true substitute for the real thing. Anyway man, I know we're out of time so I just want to end by saying thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck on your tour, and hopefully we'll be seeing you guys in the Midwest here in the Kansas City area sometime in the future.

PAUL: Yeah, hopefully we'll see you man.

Interview with Bob Macabre of Chainsaw Dissection / Psychotic Homocidal Dismemeberment / Satanic Impalement!!

2011-04-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

E-mail interview conducted between March 31-April 2, 2010.

WULF: Tell us a bit about yourself…who you are, any info about your bands, the scene in your hometown, etc.

BOB: My name is Bob Macabre. I started back in 1993 with my guitar teacher at that time who did the drum programming. I also worked on some things myself at that time and continued to develop my sound. Some things I didn't have a name for but kept recording. These items eventually became part of my Chainsaw Dissection project. My different styles became parts of my different projects: Goatbleeder, Dog Mulch (early project), PHD, etc. My main projects at the moment are PHD and Chainsaw Dissection. The scene around here SUCKS! This is true even living about 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh. No one really plays around here and to see anyone I would have to go to either Ohio or Philly. If I'm lucky, sometimes they'll play small bars around Pittsburgh, but don't usually find out till the day before or after they have played.

WULF: You have recorded a ridiculous amount of music in the past 7 years or so…how do you find the time to do all this stuff!? You recorded EIGHT full-length albums in 2010 alone, not to mention demos, eps, splits and what-have-you. What fuels your inspiration to record so much stuff? I know that you’re a big horror movie fan judging by your promo pics, but what else is going on here?

BOB: Most of the stuff written isn't 100% true. A lot of the songs were recorded years back, but YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook were not around back when I did them. So my songs have grown over the years, and really only friends that were into this music were the ones that heard them. Basically, a lot of the CDs that came out in one year were like a "re-release" because they were recorded back then but just never out there. I kind of did a release every other month and that's why it seems like there was a lot out there at once. Honestly most of this was done over a 10 year period, but technology wasn't there to help me get it out there when these were originally recorded. I took advantage as soon as it became widely available. My inspiration comes from just about anything. I really enjoy recording music like people enjoy reading or playing video games. Sometimes I can hear or see something, and I get an idea. The ideas can just come from anywhere. I do get ideas from horror movies and am I big fan of movies from the 70s and 80s. Just kind of go with the flow when I idea comes to mind. Sometimes the ideas are good and other times not so good. I've recorded full length CDs and have hated the end project and they have ended up in the trash.

WULF: Clearly, you’re into death metal, goregrind, and black metal. How long have you been into this kind of music?

BOB: I've been listening to death metal since I was like 10 years old. I started listening to Possessed, Death, and Napalm Death, but I also like bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. Black Metal for me was like the mid-90s with Emperor and Mayhem. Goregrind was about the same time in the 90s.

WULF: According to metal-archives.com, you have SEVENTEEN projects you’ve
recorded music for…which of these would you say is your “primary” band, or do you have one?

Pretty much Chainsaw Dissection and PHD are my main projects followed by Satanic Impalement. Others were just experimental projects to see what I could do that didn't fit into my main projects. With those I wanted to try some different guitart tones, drum patterns, and vocals but didn't want them associated with my main 3.

WULF: If you had to critique your own music, which would you say are the
strongest of your bands? Are there any albums you had any difficulty recording, or specific songs you found particularly challenging to compose
and/or record? How long does it take you to compose, say, a full-length album?

BOB: My strongest are Chainsaw Dissection and Psychotic Homocidal Dismemeberment (PHD). Since I've been recording for so long, I can't recall off hand what was more difficult. I feel every album presents a challenge in of itself. Just trying to find different tones or sounds so I'm not producing the same thing ever album. Even if it's just a little different. For recording a whole album, I've done one in as little as a week and it has taken me as long as a month and a half. It just really depends on how the creative process is working for me at the time. Some times it's just easier than others. My mulitiple CDs have taken longer, like my Chainsaw Dissetion 8 CD set took me about a year to pull it together.

WULF: All of your bands are composed of only you as the sole member. Have you ever attempted to incorporate other musicians into your
bands, or do you prefer the “one-man band” approach?

BOB: I prefer the one man band approach because I can do what I want when I want to. I don't have to worry about relying on others to be here or not show at all. But, I am working on a Black Metal project called "Perception of Hades" with Mike Scrivens from Malignant Decay. And we're also doing a Death Metal project called "Ghoul Necropsy."

WULF: Have you ever performed live? If you haven’t, is this something
you envision happening in the future?

BOB: I have never performed live, but if the opportunity came about, I would do it. I have no idea where I would play around here. Maybe I'll have to go to New York sometime and Mike and I can perform together!

WULF: Are you a self-taught musician? Would you care to tell us about
your equipment, recording gear, etc.?

BOB: No, I took guitar lessons when I was younger who helped me with my early stuff. I use a Crate amp, Marshall Half-stack, BC Rich guitars along with some others, variety of distortion pedals, 16 track recorder and burner. Plus my basses and drumm machine.

WULF: What gets you in the mood to record all this sick shit?! Is it a real serious process for you, or is it more laid-back with maybe some beer or a joint?

BOB: I take it seriously but don't take it overly seriously. I like to be professional about it. I enjoy recording but don't angry if something's not working out right. I go back till I get it the way I like or just take a break and go back to it later. Yeah maybe beer sometimes or a little Jack 'n Coke to get the ideas flowing.

WULF: Plans for the future…any new music and/or any new projets? If so, are you going to experiment with any new styles of metal, like
thrash or doom? What about experimenting with new genres outside of metal, like ambient, punk, or electronic?

BOB: The new stuff with Mike mainly. These are the main two I'm concentrating on at the moment as well as maybe a new PHD CD or maybe even a brand new project. Just depends on where the ideas take me right now. I have done a thrash project called Brutish Creation and a doom project called Funeration. I like punk but don't think I'll really ever do anything with that. I like the Mifits and Ramones, but not something I would record. Ambient stuff is fine but also not something I would record. I don't like electronic stuff.

WULF: Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions, man. Any last words?

BOB: Thanks for the interview and here's my links for more information about my projects:

Check out most of my stuff on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/macabremastermind

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1495041103

MySpace: www.myspace.com/chainsawdissection

Email: chainsawdissection@yahoo.com

Art History for Metalheads: A Cover Art Review

2011-02-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

By Cate the Great

Two of the most important things in my life coming together beautifully – metal and art. Below are a few select albums and the famous artists whose work was used for the covers. The artists I chose are notable not just for their album artwork, but for having established careers beforehand in other media, thereby creating wonderful collaborative work. There are oodles of great artists who are known for their metal covers (you can see few at the bottom) but this list is more about artists that have created widespread acclaim for not just album art.

Artist: Peter Nicolai Arbo/Frank Bernard Dicksee
Period: Romanticism

I have a personal vendetta against those in the Art History field when it comes to teaching about the Romantic Period. Artists from the UK and Germany are spotlighted, while the Scandinavian artists don’t get any cred, despite their work being just as fantastical. It’s just “not in vogue” to teach them right now (welcome to the art world, folks…) It’s been my experience that Munch is pretty much the only Norwegian really highlighted.

Anyway, the Romantic period dominated the art, written, musical, and philosophical scenes of the late 18th century as a counter-reaction against The Enlightenment – the Romanticists placed more emphasis on emotion rather than stoic logic. As can be expected, Romantic paintings feature epic (in the true sense of the word) scenes of nature and myth, all while giving the finger to their Neoclassic contemporaries.

Bathory’s Blood Fire Death’s cover was done my Norwegian Romantic painter Peter Nicolai Arbo. Titled Åsgårdsreien, 1872, it’s a stunning depiction of Oskerei legend. Their Hammerheart album featured a section of Funeral for a Viking, 1893, by Sir. Frank Dicksee, another Romantic painter from England who also painted legendary scenes.

Artist: H.R. Giger
Period: Fantastic Realism/Surrealism

One of my favorite artists of all time, H.R. Giger’s work is recognizable by many but identified by few. Giger’s works feature biomechanical forms and sexual imagery, and have influenced many horror, tattoo, and fantasy artists. In traditional Surrealist fashion, Giger’s work also deals with dreams and sleep disorders. Most of his notable paintings were created with an air-brushing technique.

The designer of the xenomorph (see: Necronom IV, 1976) as well as some pretty awesome sculptures and furniture, Giger has an arsenal of album art under his Swiss belt, not to mention an Oscar. As well as the covers for Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion and Carcass' Heartwork, Giger has done covers for Sancrosanct, Debbie Harry, Pankow, Atrocity, and Danzig. His air-brushed painting Landscape XX, 1973, was used for the Dead Kennedy’s album Frankenchrist and subsequently led to a criminal trial over obscenity. Google it and perhaps you'll see why.

Website: http://hrgiger.com/

Artist: Frank Frazetta
Period: Comic/Fantasy/Science-Fiction Art

Born in New York, this notable fantasy artist had his first comic published at 16, at a time when the rest of us were playing air guitar on our printed sheets. Compiling an impressive resume of comic and poster art, book covers and illustrations, Frazetta became a major influence in the world of sci-fi and fantasy artwork. He collaborated with Bakshi on the film Fire and Ice and his work has graced the pages of Heavy Metal many a time.

Frazetta is well known for the cover art for the first three Molly Hatchet albums and for Nazareth's Expect No Mercy. After a career that spanned 50 years he sadly passed away last year after a stroke. His painted portrait of Conan the Barbarian sold for over a million posthumously. His son, Frank Frazetta Jr. is also an artist.

Website: http://frankfrazetta.org/ (unofficial)

Artist: Andres Serrano
Period: American Photography/Shock/”Degenerate” Art

Yea so, we’re not going to talk about Metallica themselves, but I will note that I consider these covers are more brutal than the music they grace.

New York-based artist Andres Serrano is an American photographer whose art created quite a stir in the latter part of the twentieth century. He, along with Robert Mapplethorpe, were targets during the "culture wars" of the 90’s and their works fueled many discussions surrounding the offensive nature of certain art and artistic freedom. Many of his pieces feature body fluids and the juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, such as his famous Piss Christ, 1987, which features a crucifix submersed in the artist’s own urine.

Serrano directed the Godflesh’s video for “Crush My Soul” and his two of his photographs were used for Metallica’s Load and Reload albums. Load features the photograph Blood and Semen III, and Reload features Piss and Blood.

Website: http://andresserrano.org/

Artist: Dave McKean
Period: Comic art/Mixed Media

If you’ve ever picked up an issue of Sandman, or a general fan of Neil Gaiman’s work (which I’m sure some of you are), than you are no stranger to Dave McKean’s haunting multi-media work. McKean utilizes a mixture of photography, found art, collage and other mediums to create his illustrations, and had collaborated with Gaiman on numerous occasions. He’s done covers for My Dying Bride, Fear Factory, and Dream Theater.

Apart from having his work featured on a large ménage of albums and comics, McKean also writes, has illustrated children books, created artwork for a series of stamps, and directed the fantastic film MirrorMask.

Website: http://davemckean.com/

Artist: Hieronymus Bosch
Period: Northern Renaissance/Early Flemish

Ok, so it’s not like the guys went to Hieronymus Bosch to ask him to do the cover of Deep Purple (1978), since about 400 years and a few furlongs separated them from each other, but I’m including this album because it was in a sense a collaboration of pioneers. Deep Purple are considered (by some) to be the definite precursors to modern metal, while Bosch is credited as an extraordinarily early Surrealist (he at least had a heavy influence on the latter movement).

What is on the cover of the self-titled album is just a snippet of the Bosch’s masterpiece triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, c.1500. This particular scene is from the “Hell” portion of the work, where all the sinners are getting tortured in methods fitting to their sins. Ironically, Bosch was not big on music – we see musicians getting sodomized with their own instruments, as well as an ice-skating platypus, shitting monsters, and a bunch of other ungodly crap that seems unconceivable considering the time period in which he worked. Apparently he was super religious, but, I mean, LOOK AT IT. Metal.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you – Hieronymus is Latin for Jerome. His name is carried on not only by his art, but also in the name of a pretty righteous Russian death metal band.

Artist: William Adolphe Bouguereau ("Boo-Goo-Row")
Period: 19th Century French Academic

BOOM! Out of nowhere Mr. Vikernes hits us with this cover - a snippet from Bouguereau's painting Elegy, 1899. Bouguereau's body of work contains mostly pastel portraits of naked ladies and cherubs, a stark difference from the frost-bitten landscapes Mr. Vikernes usually gives us. I was just as suprised as everyone else when this cover surfaced. For those of you out of the loop, the album was relesed March 7th.

Bouguereau must be big in Norway, or something. Gorgoroth also a used a section of his painting Dante and Virgil in Hell, 1850, for their 2006 album Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam. This painting is actually quite badass, and features a sweet knee-to-the-back move.

Notable Contemporary artists who do metal covers: Chris Moyen (Incantation, Beherit, Archgoat), Dan Seagrave (Entombed, Gorguts, Vader, Suffocation), Travis Smith (Naglfar, Opeth, Eluveitie), Stephen Kasner (Runhild Gammelsæter, Klyst, Isis, Sunn O)))) and many more wonderful artists whom I don’t have time to list. Finally, Wes Benscoter (Slayer, Black Sabbath, Sinister) and who did one of my favorite covers of all time for Cattle Decapitation’s Humanure.

Notable Metal Musicians who are also artists: Kristian Wahlin, John Haughm, Yoshiko Ohara, Rob Zombie, Laura Pleasants, Mike Scalzi and more.

Have any ideas for covers/artists I missed? Lemme know!

Till later (and possibly a graduate level course)
-Cate the Great

Interview with Mike Williams of Eyehategod!!

2011-01-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

Phone interview conducted on May 21, 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/eyehategod

WULF: So hey man, I just want to start by saying it's an honor to be able to talk to you and to do this interview.

MIKE: Cool, man.

WULF: I've been a fan for a long time, and actually when I first started getting into metal I was like, I don't know, 16, I'm 24 now, and you guys were one of the first bands I was introduced to as far as the sort of like, sludge--

MIKE: Extreme (music/metal), yeah.

WULF: Yeah, yeah, anyway, so I think that my 16-year-old self knowing that I'm talking to you now would probably just...shit his pants.
(laughs)

MIKE: (laughs) Well I appreciate that, man. That's cool. I'm always glad to hear from people that enjoy this mess (inaudible).
(laughs)

WULF: Alright man, just a personal kind of question, I don't know-

MIKE: OK.

WULF: Awhile ago I read in a metal magazine that you were living at Phil Anselmo's home...or at least on his property. I was just kind of curious, are you still living there, or where are you at now?

MIKE: Yeah, I'm actually still here.

WULF: Right on.

MIKE: He lets me stay here, I take care of the animals and stuff too (when Phil's on tour). When I'm on tour, they take care of my animals, so it's kind of like a little commune here, you know?

WULF: Yeah, that's cool. That's real cool man. Sorry, I was just kind of curious about that. OK, so I'm gonna start off with just kind of a general question...you guys have been playing some live dates and I'm just kind of curious how has that been going so far?

MIKE: Oh, amazing! I mean, better than we could ever imagine!

WULF: Really?

MIKE: We don't even have a new album out, we haven't had an album out in...well we put out "Preaching the End Time Message" in 2003 (I think he meant 2005), but it wasn't like an official release or anything...but for not even having a record out it's just insane man, I mean, the crowds are all sell-out shows, people driving from miles to see us. It's really been overwhelming, to be honest, you know? It's been awesome.

WULF: Well that's awesome man, because, you know, when I was coming up with questions for this it wasn't difficult but I was just looking (on the internet) and was like, man, it's been a long time since you guys put something out that wasn't like, a split, or a "best-of", which is cool, but I know that you guys have been going through a lot of shit also. So there's a lot going on with Eyehategod right now, but what I'm kind of curious about as far as what you're doing...what's going on with your other bands, like Outlaw Order and Arson Anthem?

MIKE: Arson Anthem, I'm actually working on that as we speak. We're trying to get the artwork together and stuff. It was supposed to be out this June but due to Eyehategod just getting back from Europe and Phil just got back from Romania or somewhere so we're trying to work on the artwork and get this Arson Anthem album out.

WULF: Awesome.

MIKE: So it should be out pretty soon, in the next few months I hope. Cross my fingers.
(laughs
WULF: Yeah, the The Guilt Øf..., I saw that, the "Øf", the "o" has a line through it, or whatever?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, The Guilt Øf... we have a split coming out with Merzbow, which is this Japanese noise guy-

WULF: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MIKE: Just something I've always wanted to do, something on that side of things, I've always been into that type of music, if you want to call it music. It's experimental stuff, you know?

WULF: Yeah, no, I got you man! That's cool man, for sure!

MIKE: I try to keep busy, you know? I try to keep busy...I'm writing too, I'm writing books, I'm just doing as much as I possibly can. Stayin' out of trouble, you know?

WULF: (laughs)
Well, that's actually one of my questions later, I was going to ask you about your writing. We'll get to that in a second. Really fast, I saw that you were in a band called Drip...is that still going on, or what's up with that?

MIKE: No, that was something we did back in the (early 90's), that was like '91 or something.
(laughs)

WULF: Oh...
(laughs)

MIKE: It was just a project that was just me, Jimmmy (Bower), and this guy Ross. Ross actually played keyboards in (The Mystick Krewe of) Clearlight, which is Jimmy's other band.

WULF: Uh-huh. Mystick Krewe of Clearlight.

MIKE: It gets confusing, man. It's a lot of a mix of band members going on.

WULF: Kind of incestuous scene.

MIKE: We don't do Drip anymore. (It was) something we just recorded, and now it's floating around and I kind of think it sucks, I don't even like it.
(laughs)

WULF: (laughs) Well, you know, I just read just read on the metal-archives.com page for it, it was talking about how you guys jammed from time to time or something...I don't know. I don't know if that's really old. Alright man, so I saw an interview on (Eyehategod's) Myspace that you guys just got done playing in Europe not too long ago...is that right? Or was that like, a while ago?

MIKE: We've been home about a month or so, I think. Yeah, that was fantastic. We did like, three weeks over there, which was insane. We haven't been over there in a long time, you know? It was really great, man.

WULF: Well that's good, man! And you know, I'm just kind of curious, I don't know if the Eyehategod shows are different than (regular extreme metal shows), but is there a noticeable difference to you between European and American Eyehategod fans or shows?

MIKE: It used to be like you could tell more a difference. I don't know, it used to be that the crowds in Europe were more polite, I guess you could say? Like, they wouldn't go nuts, like stagediving and slamming and all that stuff, but they would just like...politely clap, you know? For like, every band.
(laughs)
But now it seems...like, this time there were people going insane over there, I've never seen it like that. And it's different in different countries, like Holland, I think they're a little more stoned (laughs) so they kind of...watch you more, but they really love it too, though. (inaudible) is always a bunch of crazy nuts too though, you know?

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I saw that also you guys have played in Tokyo? And maybe other parts of Asia? Is that right?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, we did a Japanese tour in--

WULF: There's a DVD for it, right?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, we put that out ourselves. That was back in 2000-something. Yeah, we went to Japan, man. I'm ready to go back there, too.

WULF: But that was a lot of fun too?

MIKE: Yeah, it was great, man. That's an amazing place.

WULF: I'm kind of curious, as far as your own personal preference, do you have a favorite city to play in, like, in the world? Is there any place that you really really look forward to playing?

MIKE: There's so many I couldn't pick just one. I mean, Europe's great, like, everywhere. But the best places over there were like, in England...anywhere in the UK, people just went apeshit, you know? Copenhagen, Denmark, was insane. We played there, the crowd was crazy. And there's a few places like that, here and there. But I like playing everywhere, man. Even if there's no crowd, even if there's, like, three people there, which is how it used to be in the old days, we'd still get into it and play a good show, you know? Or try to.

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure, man! Every place is different. That's cool, man. OK, so speaking of that DVD, I'm kind of curious, I'm assuming that you've got a new Eyehategod album coming out. Is that correct?

MIKE: Well, it's not even recorded yet. I mean, I know we've been saying this for years, man, we've been trying to get it together...Katrina screwed a lot of things up down here as far as bands go, and also we were having record label troubles...like right now we're not even on a label.

WULF: Oh, you're not on Emetic (Records) anymore?

MIKE: Well, we never were officially on that, he just put that ("Preaching the End-Time Message") out, you know? He runs his label and just puts stuff out for people, we're not signed to him or anything. So a lot of different things were happening, Jimmy was touring with Down and stuff too, so it's been hard to get together and to write, but we've got probably six new songs, we'll just hopefully go into the studio after this June tour. That's what we're hoping for.

WULF: Well awesome man, whenever it does end up getting recorded, however long it takes, I can't wait to hear it. I think it's going to be awesome.

MIKE: Yeah, it's going to be good.

WULF: And so I guess it's going to be too difficult to say, then, if you guys are going to put out, like, a new DVD of you guys playing all these past shows...has that even been talked about yet?

MIKE: We've talked about it, but we travel pretty sparsely...we don't have a whole lot of people in our entourage, or whatever you want to call it. So we should have had somebody videotaping this whole Europe trip, you know? I mean, there were certain shows that were videotaped, I'm sure it's already up on Youtube and stuff...I mean, I don't know, do people even buy DVDs anymore?
(laughs)
I mean, what's the point?

WULF: Well you know man, I know that music sales have definitely declined with downloading...I have no idea about music DVDs.

MIKE: Yeah, I haven't seen many good ones out. I mean, I don't know, I just go to Youtube if I want to see somebody good, it's got all the rare stuff on there anyway.

WULF: Yeah that's true, that's true. Alright, well OK so as far as touring goes, you guys have had a reputation in the past, I'm certain for now too, as being kind of crazy dudes. But I'm kind of curious, who, would you say, is the craziest band that YOU'VE ever been on tour with?

MIKE: Craziest band?

WULF: Yeah, like, besides you guys, you know? You guys, in the past at least, were like, really crazy. Who would YOU say is crazy?

MIKE: I mean, we still put 1000% energy into (our shows), and shit happens sometimes on stage...fights and things happen in the crowd...involving us, probably.
(laughs)
But I mean, we don't go looking for that type of thing. None of us can fight. I can't fight. The craziest band we've toured with? God, so many come to mind, from Pantera...those guys were completely out of their mind, to...Anal Cunt, the guys in Anal Cunt, or at least their singer...Chaos UK were a bunch of nuts- a punk band from England...Buzzov•en, those were wild shows. There's been so many, man.

WULF: Yeah, yeah...well you know, it's funny, I was talking to the dude from Lair of the Minotaur and he said Anal Cunt also. At least Seth Putnam.
(laughs)

MIKE: Yeah, at least Seth...I don't know, they had this guitar player named Josh (Martin), I think he's still with them...he's been known to smash his guitar and stuff. But we never put on any kind of act, we never were going up there to do this stuff on purpose. I mean, we play shows where it's perfectly normal, you know? I mean, you get up there, and maybe you start drinking before the show and the crowd's drinking, and sometimes things get out of hand, but it's just part of the energy. Violence is sometimes part of the energy, you know?

WULF: Yeah, oh yeah. For sure. OK, so I also want to ask, because I know we're running out of time here, but I'm curious about your writing. I've been actually meaning to read your book for a long time and unfortunately I haven't yet, but I'm curious, man, but you say you're writing new stuff now?

MIKE: Oh yeah, I've got like 20,000 words, like in the computer here. It needs to be edited, but I think that's at least another couple of books, you know?

WULF: Damn! Wow, man!

MIKE: It's just stuff I've been writing, I've been writing every day, or I try to, you know? I write for a couple magazines too, like this Argentinian magazine called Jedbangers, I've got a column in there. Yeah, I write for Paranoise, which is a local magazine here in New Orleans, an Australian magazine called Unbelievably Bad, I've had stuff printed in there.

WULF: You used to write for Metal Maniacs I know, like, a long time ago.

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, back in the mid-90's.

WULF: I wasn't even into metal back then. I'm kind of young.
(laughs)

MIKE: No, I hear ya. That's cool. I want to say, that's one thing we've been seeing at these shows lately is that there's a whole another generation of people that seems like they've got into Eyehategod. People will tell me, "yeah, my son likes you guys". And they bring their son to the show and it's awesome, you know? It's great to (see that), that we can stick around like that. It's cool.

WULF: Well yeah, it's definitely timeless music, for sure. I think, probably, if I have children ever I hope that they really like it too. I could see them getting into it.

MIKE: Yeah, I just think kids today, they seem more open-minded to a lot of (things)...like with the name of the band and the artwork or something, it's pretty extreme stuff to some people, but I think younger generations are getting into it.

WULF: Maybe it's the internet, everybody's just so desensitized now to everything.
(laughs)

MIKE: Exactly. Yup.
(laughs)

WULF: Well hey man, do you have time for one more question or do you have another interview to do right now?

MIKE: No, this is actually my last one today.

WULF: OK, well then I have one more question if you don't mind. It's a little personal, so I don't know how you feel about answering it, but I've heard or I've read that you guys are not heavy-drug users anymore or anything, for the most part...

MIKE: Right.

WULF: Well, I was curious, I'm sure you get asked this a lot. Has this had any noticeable effect, positive or negative, on the band's music, live or in the studio?

MIKE: Well, I think in the past it had a lot to do with why we would be inactive for periods of time. Everybody was pretty messed up. Everybody in the band was doing their own thing. And yeah, in the past, it definitely hindered us. But today, now that everybody's clean, for the most part, like you said...
(laughs)
I mean there's still alcohol, and a few things here and there...not like it used to be at all. And yeah, I think all that stuff in the past can only make you stronger, you know? I think we're all stronger for having been through all that, and I don't know man, you find out that the drugs aren't making you creative, it has always been there. At least, that's how it is with me, and I'm sure with the rest of the guys too.

WULF: Well cool, man! I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me...again, it's an honor, and I wish you guys the best of luck. I know you guys are playing a bunch of dates coming up here in the US--

MIKE: We're doing a whole US tour coming up in June! Well, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that, we're doing a whole East Coast of the US...like, a three-week tour coming up on June 3 we leave, and we're playing Maryland Deathfest, and we're playing this Thursday, coming up, in New Orleans with Pentagram.

WULF: Oh, that's going to be awesome! Have you ever played with Pentagram before?

MIKE: Yeah, we've played with them a couple times.

WULF: Oh man, I've never seen (Pentagram)...I've never seen you guys live, actually!

MIKE: Oh, really?

WULF: Yeah, and it sucks, because I guess you guys weren't playing very much, I guess like, a few years ago, or something, I don't know.

MIKE: We were playing locally, we've played local shows since Katrina, but we haven't been out of town really, that much.

WULF: Yeah man, and I'm in Kansas. Kansas City-area, and so not a lot of bands come through here. I was actually going to give you a hard time for you guys not coming around here--

MIKE: I do feel bad about that! People are always like, "why don't you come to Spain?" or "why don't you come to the Philippines?" or Kansas! We've played Kansas before, we've played there a bunch of times.

WULF: Oh, really?!

MIKE: Yeah! We played Kansas, we played probably...Kansas City, we've played Wichita, we've played there many times in the past, on different tours.

WULF: I see.

MIKE: I wanted to mention a book that's out now, the one that you were mentioning earlier, it's called "Cancer As a Social Activity", and you can get it at Housecore Records. Phil's (Anselmo) label.

WULF: Yeah, it was Arson Anthem, I got that for my radio show, and I saw (the label) and I looked it up, and thought "yeah, this is badass, it's Phil's label, and he's putting out this stuff!"

MIKE: Yeah, it's pretty cool, man. It's starting to pick up, too. There's a lot of new stuff coming out, and you should go check out the website, you know?

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure man! Alright, thank you again for taking the time to talk to me, and hopefully we'll take a road trip and see you guys in St. Louis or something on this upcoming live date tour you guys are doing.

MIKE: That would be cool, man! Bring a bunch of people and come out! We'll have a drink!

WULF: For sure, man! Alright, take it easy Mike! Take care!

MIKE: Take care.

Interview with John 5!!

2011-01-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Phone interview conducted in late May, 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/john5official

WULF: So I'd like to start off by saying thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, when I got your CD, I knew who you were, but when I started doing research for this interview I had no idea (that you've done so much stuff)! It's insane! So anyway, I'd like to start of by saying I'm honored to talk to ya. So my first question for you is...this might be kind of dumb, but I looked around and I couldn't find an answer for it...why the name "John 5"?

JOHN 5: Well, when I joined Marilyn Manson I was the fifth member and it's also a Biblical meaning. So I always kept that name because of the fact (that)...you know, it's just like if Ace Frehley left Kiss and he would change his name when he left Kiss to Paul Frehley, his real name, so I just kept the name because people know me as John 5. So I always just kept that name.

WULF: Yeah, I wasn't sure, because I read on Wikipedia that you got that name when you joined Marilyn Manson, so I didn't know if it had to do with a serial killer or something, but I guess it's kind of the opposite, then. Alright, so I'd like to say that the new album is awesome. I really like it. I knew you were a good guitarist, but I had no idea that could shred, like, amazingly. I was pretty blown away, and also by the versatility of the album too. While I've seen on your website and on Myspace that the album's gotten good reviews, I'd like to ask, for you personally, how do you feel the reception, so far, has been for this record?

JOHN 5: Phenomenal, man. I can't even believe that people are just going crazy for it, and I appreciate all the kind words and everything. It makes me feel great because I put a lot of work into this and I'm just really excited that people are digging it as much as they are.

WULF: Good man! Yeah, because even from the first song, which is actually, probably overall, my favorite track--

JOHN 5: Yeah, mine too.

WULF: Yeah, "Nightmare Unravels". I'm also kind of a sucker for like...I'm assuming this would be, like, the single, I mean it's what we play on my radio show. I'm always a sucker for that. Yeah, it's really good. Well what I would like to know, I guess you answered it, but I was going to ask you your favorite track, but is it "Nightmare Unravels"?

JOHN 5: "Nightmare Unravels", yeah, I mean I love 'em all, but that one has a little but of everything, so I'm really psyched for it.

WULF: Yeah! Now, what I want to know is, because I'm interested in "behind the scenes" stuff, but was there a track in particular that you found to be more difficult than the others, like, to nail in a certain take or something?

JOHN 5: Well, what I did was when I wrote them I would sit at home and practice them for weeks and weeks so I wouldn't go into the studio and be spending a lot of time, and it was kind of like preparing for a fight or something, so I made sure to really have all my stuff down so I cut all the songs pretty quickly, like, going into "Nightmare Unravels" only took me like, 45 minutes or something to get the guitar parts down because I rehearsed it so much. I just rehearsed, rehearsed, so...

WULF: Wow! Only 45 minutes?! Damn!

JOHN 5: Yeah, just because I was going over it and over it and over it so much. So it came together really quickly.

WULF: Also when I was looking at the album art I noticed that there is a "babe" in the album art. I was just kind of curious, is that like, your wife or is that just some model, or--

JOHN 5: Yeah, that's my wife, yeah.

WULF: OK.
(laughs).
I better be careful about what I say then! No, but--

JOHN 5: No, no, it's good!

WULF: No, I was like, wow! I was just kind of curious. So, OK, right now I understand that you're in the middle of a tour, or at least, on your Myspace it says that you're playing all these dates with Alice Cooper but then it looks like afterwards you're going on a solo tour?

JOHN 5: Yeah, it's called "The Gruesome Twosome" and it's Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper, and we are going to do the Mayhem Festival in the summertime, and it's going to be a blast.

WULF: Yeah, and you know, unfortunately, I was going to give you a hard time for not coming around the Kansas City area.
(laughs)

JOHN 5: Yeah...
(laughs)

WULF: No, but Mayhem came last time but I know this is kind of a smaller market so, you know...we're happy for stuff that comes through but...

JOHN 5: Yeah, we're really looking forward to it, it's going to be fun.

WULF: Yeah, for sure man! So I want to know right now, how is the tour going for you on the dates that you've played so far?

JOHN 5: It's been one of the best tours I've ever done, it's been a blast! The crowds have been great, it's just been a lot of fun man. It's been sold out everywhere. We've had such a great time, and we love listening to Alice every night. Sometimes these tours are a drag, but this one is just a lot of fun.

WULF: Really? So some times in the past it hasn't been as good or whatever, but this time around it's really killer then?

JOHN 5: Yeah, it could be anything, it could be weather, it could be crowds, it could be everything, but we've just been really having a lot of fun out on this tour.

WULF: Good, man! Well, I know that you've played live, like, a zillion times in your lifetime, but I'm just kind of curious, as far as you personally, anywhere in the world...which city, would you say, is your favorite place to play? Which cities do you have the fondest memories of, or who has the craziest crowds?

JOHN 5: Well, I don't know, you know? Because it's always different. Let's say we're in Kansas City or something and the crowd was really bad last time but it was great the other times...I don't know, but I love touring in America because everything is familiar. You can always get your favorite things...if you're in Europe or something and it's really hard to just get the things that make you comfortable. But I love touring America and that kind of stuff, and (it's comforting) because I know where everything is. Like right now we're in Toronto, Canada, and I know where everything is because I've been here so many times, so I know where I want to go and where I want to eat--

WULF: And food, yeah I got ya! Because sometimes I ask that question to other people I definitely get a varied response. I've noticed that some people prefer the exoticness of other countries, and so it's kind of an interesting contrast.

JOHN 5: Yeah, I love touring America, and (have access to) things that are familiar to me, it's easier that way.

WULF: Yeah, no I got ya for sure. Alright, so one of my next questions is...I was kind of curious, for the album trailer on your website, and I saw pictures from another interview that you've done on your website, and I saw pictures, I saw video, and I was curious, are you going to be coming out with a DVD that captures this tour that you've been doing or anything like that? Like, a new DVD, that's going to be non-instructional?

JOHN 5: Certainly! Yeah, there's talk about it, so hopefully if everything works out we will be doing that and that will be awesome because I would want to see it more than anybody. We've been filming a lot of stuff and it's been going really well, and if we get it all done in time we'll definitely put it out.

WULF: Yeah! And so as far as getting other people to play on your solo stuff, have you ever thought about forming up a solidified, new band? Is that in the process also for stuff that you're doing?

JOHN 5: Well in the future I'm so busy right now with (Rob) Zombie, but I also like doing clinics because it's free to get into, young kids can come, you can shake my hand, you can ask me questions, you can take pictures, but if I'm in a club or something a lot of people wouldn't be able to come because it's 18 and over and (inaudible), and you probably wouldn't get a chance to meet me, so I like to do clinics because it's o easier on everybody.

WULF: I see, hence why all the instructional DVDs and stuff?

JOHN 5: Yeah, hopefully it inspires and influences people to go out there, so it's a lot of fun for me.

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure man. I like watching that stuff. I play a little guitar, I'm not any good but I still like watching that stuff too just because I find a lot of that stuff interesting. So one of my favorite questions to ask, just sort of as a guilty pleasure on my part, is I like to know is...you've played with so many bands and you've done so much stuff, I want to know, who, of all of them, would you say is the craziest band that you've ever toured with in your entire history?

JOHN 5: It would definitely be Marilyn Manson. I mean, there's nothing much that came close to anything as wild and crazy as that. Completely out of hand. That was New Year's Eve, every night. Totally crazy.

WULF: Wow! Yeah man, I think it'd be crazy too...I think I was in sixth grade when "The Beautiful People" came out, and I think my sixth grade self would probably shit his pants if he knew that that he would be talking to a former guitar player of Marilyn Manson's, just because back then that stuff was so...I'd hear stories of how crazy this new dude is and so, so it's cool to hear also that that stuff was for real, too, as far as craziness goes.

JOHN 5: Oh yeah, it was definitely for real. It was craaaaaaaaazzzyyy.

WULF: Because I read also that there was some statement made about how you don't do drugs and you don't drink, or at least on that tour...

JOHN 5: Right, yeah I never have.

WULF: Because that's interesting, also, for you, joining a band like Marilyn Manson or something, that has a reputation for being really nuts.

JOHN 5: Yeah, because they were all "party party party" but I never would, so maybe that was the whole problem, because I didn't do it.

WULF: Was there any pressure on the road ever?

JOHN 5: Not really, it was fine, but they all went off and did their thing and I just kind of hung out, which was fine, because I'm glad I was there and I did what I did because I've done so much since I've left, so it's been quite a journey and I'm really excited about it.

WULF: Well I would think also, maybe, since you don't do that stuff, so it's no wonder that you're able to do so much other crazy stuff and put out so much material, like you don't wake up hung over and waste half the day.

JOHN 5: I definitely like to get stuff done, that's for sure.

WULF: That's really cool, man. Well hey, anyway, I know that you've probably got another interview after this, and we're supposed to keep these around the 15-minute mark, so that's basically all the questions I have for you man.

JOHN 5: Thank you, I appreciate it.

WULF: Hey, thank you so much for taking the time with me. I wish you the best of luck on the future dates that you're playing and I think it's awesome that to hear that this is going really well for you.

JOHN 5: Great, I appreciate it, thank you!

WULF'S BEST OF 2010 EXTRAVAGANZA

2011-01-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, it's officially 2011 now, but I really wanted to wait till the end of the year to make my list for two reasons:
1. So that I could consider any releases by bands that pulled a Nokturnal Mortum and put out their album on like New Year's Eve.
2. I could listen to as many releases as I could that came out in 2010. Granted, with the internet it's now impossible to listen to EVERY release, but I really tried hard to listen to as much metal as I could. After reading tons of reviews in Decibel, online, and lurking in the metal-archives.com forum, I've decided to finally hop on the "Top 10 Metal of 2010" bandwagon, except I'm not putting mine in any particular order because I'm too scared. As the infamous Victor Continental would say, "OK, here we go!!"

"Blekinge" - Istapp

Maybe it's because it was perfect for my trip to Alaska a few months ago, but this album is definitely special to me. I'm already a sucker for melodic, catchy metal, but throw in some majestic, frigid atmospherics and icy, grim riffing to make this one of my favorites of the year.

"Opportunistic Thieves of Spring" - A Forest of Stars

This is definitely one of the weirdest albums I'd heard in a long time. Mysterious, theatrical, and subtle are characteristics that make for a strange combination in the realm of metal, and it seems as if their surreal, avant-garde style might have turned a lot of people off. While it might be somewhat of an overstatement to claim that this album is a masterpiece, I believe it was both underrated and overlooked by many a fan and critic alike. Check these guys out if this sounds intriguing to you, or at least take the time to check out their bizarre official website and Myspace. A unique band, for sure, and "Opportunistic Thieves of Spring" is a damn good album.

"Circle the Wagons" - Darkthrone

Probably my favorite of Darkthrone's newer shit, "Circle the Wagons" had some of my favorite songs of the year, from the catchy-as-balls "Those Treasures Will Never Befall You" (I STILL sing the chorus to myself when I'm in the shower, or whistle it when I'm performing some mindless task at work), "I am the Working Class", and the title track, to the grim atmospherichttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3816822085407156005&postID=1427525233847407219s of "Stylized Corpse". The band's liner notes are always interesting/amusing as well. Although Fenriz and Nocturno Culto crank out new stuff all the time, it's clear that their creativity is at an all-time high right now.

"Opus Eponymous" - Ghost

While this is pretty questionable as a metal release, it's a great album nonetheless. Not too much to say, except it's an excellent mix of 70s rock licks, proto-metal, psychedelia, and Satan! Can't go wrong with that! Also, some of the catchiest shit I'd heard all year (on par with Darkthrone!).

"Belus" - Burzum

Uh oh!! Vargy!! Yeah yeah, this is the most controversial metal album of 2010, but I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a big Burzum fan and that "Belus" is a strong, solid return. Raw (but not TOO raw), hypnotic, and subtle, Varg wisely evolved his songwriting so that he's not just rehashing the old Burzum days, which is something I believe most people expected. If you're not into Burzum because of the crazy rantings of Mr. Vikernes then I understand, but just know that you're wrong, a hypocrite, and missing out on one of the best albums of 2010!!

"Wolves at War's End" - Hammerlord

I might have a slight bias when it comes to Hammerlord since these dudes are my buddies and they're a local band, but I don't care. Like their previous album, "Wolves at War's End" kicks a ton of ass, and it would be wrong to not include them on this list just because they're hometown favorites. It's too bad that Decibel Magazine couldn't get into this album, because the aspects that the journalist who reviewed the album didn't like are characteristics that I find to be Hammerlord's strengths. While the band is definitely influenced by 80s thrash and heavy metal, not a retro band, and the "modern-sounding" production, variety of influences (death, black, groove) give Hammerlord a much more free, versatile style. The top-notch musicianship doesn't hurt either, and "Tombstone Piledriver" is arguably my favorite metal song of the year.

"Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2" - Nachtmystium

Pretty much anything that could be said about this album has already been done to death, so I'll just say that while their new sound seemed to not go over too well with their fanbase, I dig the more "accessible", experimental style. Blake Judd's lyrics may be pretty lame, but his overall songwriting is killer. A worthy follow-up to "Assassins", for sure.

"Écailles de Lune" - Alcest

When it comes to describing Alcest, you'll often hear words like "beautiful" or "haunting". While "Écailles de Lune" definitely had more balls than 2007's "Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde" by including screams, blastbeats, more aggressive riffs, etc., "Écailles de Lune" is no less of a beauty. 2010 was a strong year for French metal, and it seems like Neige is leading the charge.

"Rekreatur" - Equilibrium

I'll admit, this album didn't grab me at first. I thought the cover art was pretty lame (and believe me, that's saying a lot because I have no problem with cheesy album art...Manowar is my favorite metal band of all time for Christ's sake!), and Mark of the Beast wasn't having an orgasm over it like he did with their last two albums. I loved "Turis Fratyr" and "Sagas", but I was afraid that with "Rekreatur" they had run out of ideas or rushed the whole thing. Upon actually listening to the whole album, however, I was clearly wrong. While "Rekreatur" may not quite be on par with the last two albums, it doesn't matter. This album is everything you'd expect from Equilbrium- it's catchy, majestic, and very, very epic. "Aus Ferner Zeit" is one of my favorite Equilbrium songs ever...even Judge Dredd likes it!! And he has a beard!!

"Paracletus" - Deathspell Omega

I really, really hate to admit it, but...I didn't really get into this album until I watched the latest Harry Potter film. I know, I know...it's really embarrassing to admit, and to make matters worse, this is the first Deathspell Omega album I've actually ever really listened to. I don't know what the deal is, but sometimes I overlook albums simply because I only want to listen to them when I'm in the right mood or have enough time to really sit down and get into them...which is pretty much never. When Judge Dredd played "Devouring Famine" on Malicious Intent, I thought it was pretty cool but thought it just sounded like a black metal version of the Dillinger Escape Plan. Yeah, Deathspell's interviews are amusing and make the band seem possibly much more evil than they really are, but, like I said before, this album really didn't grab me until after I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. For some reason, when listening to "Paracletus" all I could think about was Helena Bonham Carter's character running around shooting fireballs and laughing maniacally. The madness and inhumanity of the Death Eaters really seemed to sync well with my imagination and Deathspell Omega's music. I know the band would probably kill themselves if they knew that that's what their music made me think about, but who knows!? Maybe the dudes in Deathspell are huge Harry Potter fans, and Voldemort and co. are a huge inspiration to the band's sound and I'm just the first to realize it! You never know...
At any rate, this is a modern black metal masterpiece, and while I still think that they do sound a bit like a black metal Dillinger Escape Plan, I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to listen to some evil-ass shit.
----------------
And there you have it! That's my list for 2010!! Here's to 2011 being the second most metal year EVER (since, of course, the most metal year is obviously 2012 since the world's going to explode or whatever)!!!!

"Chaos, Darkness & Emptiness" by Bane - REVIEW

2010-12-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.myspace.com/baneband

While I expected Bane to sound similar to other Serbian black metal bands such as May Result and the Stone, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this album. This is by far one of the best melodic black metal albums I’ve heard this year, and I could definitely see this band doing well for themselves on the international level.

What struck me as most memorable about this album was the atmosphere, as it wasn’t just “grim and frostbitten” all the way through like so many other albums of the genre. Bane balance things out very well, whether it’s the feeling of forgotten majesty in slower songs such as “The Haunting Presence”, the icy melodies of “Pandemonium” and “Inherited Infection”, or the creepy, carnival-like overtones of “Abhorrence”. Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning that those of you who are allergic to cheesy keyboards need not fear, as keyboards on this album are used sparsely and only in intro tracks (like in the awesome, early-era Mortiis-esque “Awakening of the Evil Spirits”, and “Dysthymia”, which recalls Ildjarn‘s ambient stuff). The ominous acoustic guitar melody in "Lost Shadows" is a nice touch as well, as it only further reinforces the album's atmosphere and also provides a brief break from the intensity.

While the songs are catchy, dark, and pretty much all you can ask for in a melodic black metal album, it’s worth calling attention to both the high-quality production and musicianship on this album as well. The guitar playing is flawless, the solos are classy, and the drums are top-notch, without sounding fake or over-produced. The vocals also suit the music quite well, as Branislav’s death metal growl and Khargash’s black metal rasp compliment each other perfectly and give the music another dimension. I could definitely see both black and death metal fans digging this album. It’s also good to see high-quality metal like this coming out of Serbia, as I’m not too familiar with what the metal scene is like there, but if Bane is any indication of the overall quality of the Serbian underground, then I’m excited to see what else this scene has in store for us.

When I first gave “Chaos, Darkness, & Emptiness” a listen I felt that I was listening to a Dimmu Borgir knockoff, and while I’m assuming that Dimmu is a huge influence on these guys, Bane definitely has enough of its own character to separate itself from the imitators. This and Istapp’s debut album earlier this year are, for me, some of the best melodic black metal to come out in 2010. I would definitely recommend this album for fans of Dimmu Borgir, Catamenia, Dissection, Old Man’s Child, etc.

8.9/10

The State of Metal 2010: Judge Dredd's Dreaded Top 10

2010-12-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Overall, I unfortunately don't think this was a very strong year for metal when considering how colossal the last few years of the decade have been as far as supplying great and innovative releases. However, there is certainly hope with a number of bands releasing their debuts. Some of these debuts made my top ten (Humo del Cairo, Kvelertak) while some didn't quite make it, but whose future work is bound to produce "Dredd's Dreaded Top Ten" results (Castevet, Coffinworm). Speaking of, Profound Lore is hands down the metal record label of the year in this man's humble opinion. Profound Lore had some great releases from Agalloch, Coffinworm, Castevet, and Dawnbringer among others.

I think the greatest part of the year in metal would be the fact that already established artists were able to push their sound even more and experiment, experiment, experiment. Bands like Nachtmystium, Ihsahn, and The Dillinger Escape Plan pushed the envelope even further than they had in the past with their own music. Bands like Drudkh, Alcest, and Lantlos continue to push the preconceived boundaries of black metal...or even post-black metal. And you know...Deathspell Omega is just Deathspell Omega.

Speaking of (again), the French metal scene continues to go only from strength to strength with new releases from Alcest, Deathspell Omega, Les Discrets...although I suppose the new Blut Aus Nord was a bit disappointing.

The most disappointing aspect of the year for me was the so called resurgence of Southern, sludge-inspired metal-specifically that of the Georgian scene. After absolutely essential releases from both Baroness and Mastodon last year, I had high hopes for that of bands like Kylesa and Black Tusk among many others. However, there seems to be a contrived sound and aesthetic that all these bands are gunning for. Now compare that to the heyday of the NOLA scene when each major player had their very own style, though uniquely "NOLA" all the same (compare Soilent Green to EyeHateGod to Down to Crowbar and you'll know what I mean...and that's even when most of those bands shared members ). Furthermore, ALL THESE NEW SOUTHERN METAL BANDS HAVE ARTWORK BY JOHN BAIZLEY THAT LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME, which also makes it at times impossible to aesthetically distinguish the bands.

From my perspective, and despite how inane this may sound, the theme of this year is one of growth. Most of the albums listed below took time to grow on me. It may be my high expectations I've honed and developed for metal over the years, or it may just be because of a few bands I adore decided to step out of their comfort zones, which in turn forced me to step out of mine.

So here it is. Judge Dredd's Dreaded Top 10 of 2010:

1. "Paracletus" by Deathspell Omega
2. "Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2" by Nachtmystium
3. "Axioma Ethica Odini" by Enslaved
4. "s/t" by Kvelertak
5. "Nucleus" by Dawnbringer
6. "s/t" by Humo del Cairo
7. "Option Paralysis" by The Dillinger Escape Plan
8. "The Tenant" by Ludicra
9. ".Neon" by Lantlos
10. "After" by Ihsahn

Honorable Mentions (in order):
"Majesty and Decay" by Immolation
"Mounds of Ash" by Castevet
"Marrow of the Spirit" by Agalloch
"When All Became None" by Coffinworm
"Songs for Singles" by Torche
"Mechanize" by Fear Factory
"Handful of Stars" by Drudkh
"Belus" by Burzum

Deathspell Omega: Les Mystères De Satan

2010-11-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

With the release of their newest album, "Paracletus" ("Comforter" or "Holy Spirit" in Greek), Deathspell Omega has completed it's unholy trilogy of Satanic spiritual awakening which includes albums "Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice" ("If you seek his monument, look around you" in Latin) and "Fas-Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum" ("By Divine Law, go you Cursed, into the Eternal Fire" in Latin).

The band has essentially created their own mythology within the metal underground by shrouding themselves in mystery (they have done just a handful of interviews, never play live, and have never revealed their true identities). As one might imagine, this has not only created a lot of (well deserved) hype, but also put the focus completely on the music as well as the concepts behind the music.

The primary lyrical concept behind their music is humankind's metaphysical relationship between "Satan" and "God". Their faith is what I would characterize as the most in depth Satanic philosophy in metal. They claim to practice a style of Orthodox Satanism with a heavy emphasis on the metaphysical. Despite the inherent contradiction of the name, they claim that the word "Orthodox" simply implies their acknowledging Satan as being of "divine essence":

"Let me say though that the main implication of the word "orthodox" in this context is a proud statement of the recognition of Satan being of divine essence, of the location of Devilworship on a religious and metaphysical level. The easy escape of using the word ideology instead of confronting oneself with the real challenges only portrays the terribly low level on which the major current of 'Satanism' is crawling."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Taken literally, the "orthodox" in Orthodox Satanism would imply that there is already a generally accepted canon of Satanic doctrine. In reality there is no standard Satanic doctrine, and it appears as if DsO reject the teachings of Anton Lavey, and therefore his infamous "Satanic Bible" which many take as the codified, universal explanation of Satanic ritual and practice. Instead, the members of DsO have taken influence by not only the Bible and other Judeo-Christian texts, but also texts as wide ranging as the writings of post-surrealist George Bataille to those of centuries-old Gnostic prophet, Mani. One could argue that there is really no other Black Metal band that has as in depth a grasp on their Satanic ideology, philosophy, and/or belief.

It appears as though the members of DsO are forging their own style of Satanism and they are using their own music as a catalyst to chronicle their spiritual journey. In other words, their music IS the journey:

"Professing a belief, or rather describing the different stones that pave the road on the quest that true faith implies, is synonymous with being active, it witnesses of spiritual evolution, of gains and of losses."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, their music has been void of individual ego by choosing not to reveal their true identities. When asked why DsO choose to remain so mysterious, "they" answered somewhat esoterically:

"First and foremost, we want to avoid at all costs this very human illusion of being important and gladly leave these fifteen minutes of fame, as Warhol brilliantly put it, to whoever wants them. In regard to what we are trying to understand and dare to praise despite the immense restrictions of human understanding, we are nothing."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Within the interpersonal framework of a band, there is always individual ego involved.
The fact that they choose not to reveal their individual identities in some ways allows the music to develop a stronger identity of its own. However, if you remove the public existence of any said individual egos, and in some ways ignore the "human illusion of being important", the music, in a way, develops it's own identity. This is not to say that the music is "humanized" as a result. In the case of DsO's very inhuman and other-worldly style, the listener is discouraged from humanizing the music. Therefore, coming full circle, the identity that DsO's music develops, is that of their Satanic spiritual journey.

Now it should be said that at least a part of DsO's notoriety is due to the hype that surrounds the band. One has to take into account only the breadth of their concept, complexity of their lyrics, and caliber of musicianship to know that the hype is indeed warranted.

So I implore you, reader: join DsO, and take the journey into the everlasting fire.

- Judge Dredd

Interview with Patrick Mameli of Pestilence!!

2010-11-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

Phone interview conducted on May 18, 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/consumingimpulse

WULF: Alright, so first of all I'd like to start off by saying it's an honor to talk to you. While I wasn't into metal when your last album came out, before your breakup, I've been checking you guys out now for awhile now and I really, really like your stuff. I really like the new album too. It's awesome, it's very brutal, but I was very surprised when I first heard it considering the experimental nature of your albums before the breakup. So I'd like to start off by saying that it's been a little over a year since "Resurrection Macabre" has come out, and over the course of this past year, how has the reaction been from fans and critics on your end?

PATRICK: Well, actually, I'd have to say it was like...mixed. (There were) mixed feelings because when you are in a band you want to create the best music you can, and it's a little child. It's what you think is best. It's the best stuff you think you are coming up with. On the other hand, with the following that we have, the fans that have been there since day 1, there's two camps. There's the "Martin van Drunen and 'Consuming Impulse'" camp, and then you have the "Testimony of the Ancients" camp with me on vocals, and then there's the 15-year gap. And then we come out with our new album, and it was difficult because a lot of people were comparing it to the newer previous material and then when you have two camps you can't really please everybody. So that's difficult, but I think that we succeeded in grasping the best of the Pestilence style and taking it a step further.

WULF: Yeah, sort of evolved a little bit then? I'd say I'm in both camps, I love the brutality of the album, but while I like experimental metal and all of that like from "Spheres" and "Testimony of the Ancients", I really like "Consuming Impulse" and so for this album it was totally cool that it was really brutal and groove-y, kind of juxtaposed with (more), kind of technical parts. But anyway the tracks that I've played most on my radio show are "Dehydrated II" and "Devouring Frenzy". Especially because "Dehydrated", the first one, is one of my favorite songs by you guys. So is there a particular track that stands out as your favorite on this album?

PATRICK: Well, that's difficult because I want to top every song, so every song is kind of special to me but it almost seems that some of the songs that work in the studio really well don't work as well live. We have a great response on the song "Resurrection Macabre" itself, because it's slow and doomy and people want to bang their heads to it, so that gives you a great feeling but I definitely must say that I like "Hate Suicide" a lot because there's a lot of stuff happening in the song, the things that we like in music, it's got the blasts, it's got the "eerie", it's got the chunkiness, it's got the octave chords that get pushed around a lot, so it's difficult but I think I like "Hate Suicide" a lot.

WULF: Cool, man. I pretty much liked all the songs, I thought they were really good and I've given them a lot of airplay. So my next question-- this might be kind of a dumb question, but when you were in the studio, I know you guys are very technically-proficient players but was there a track that was more difficult than the others to record or write during the writing process?

PATRICK: Actually, no, it was like riding a bike. We kind of wanted to do it the easy way, we don't write songs to make it difficult for ourselves or to show off how technical we are. We wanted to do it with chemistry, and the whole thing with "Resurrection Macabre" was that I kind of had an idea of how the songs should sound but we never practiced. We never practiced before when we entered the studio. That was the first time that people got the chance to get into the songs and I brought my files with the ghost guitars on it, left and right, and a click track, and I just offered the guys a great opportunity to be as creative as possible so in other words, I didn't know what to expect and the guys didn't know what to expect. Of course they heard some stuff and little things here and there that I sent and said "OK, could you guys sound a little bit like that?" But when everything came together it was an amazing experience, it had lots of wild moments because like I said we hadn't practiced before so this was the first time we played those songs for everybody and when they put all the tracks together the monster came to life, and it was beyond my expectations, definitely.

WULF: Hence the title, "Resurrection Macabre"?

PATRICK: There you go.

WULF: That's cool man. So you worked with producer Jacob Hansen, and I was just wondering since I like to know "behind the scenes" types of stuff, how was he as a producer? What was it like working with him?

PATRICK: Very, very laid-back. (He's a) very laid-back person and he knows his stuff. He's got a very great ear. Although, it was kind of a clinical situation, because we didn't we have so much time. We had to do the whole album in two weeks. So when Peter Wildoer (drums) came in, he recorded drum tracks and then went off, and then Tony Choy (bass) (came in), so it's like one after another, and I would just be recording my guitar parts in another room all by myself. So that is kind of a clinical approach to everything and like I said, it really worked. We played many gigs with this lineup, with Tony Choy and Peter, and it sounded just awesome. It's kind of weird to be coming over to the States with a new lineup performing songs from the Resurrection album, but it's going to be awesome. We have a (new) great drummer now (Yuma Van Eekelen), this guy so is so fast with his double bass and he blasts like the real, single-footed blasts, like Derry Roddy. I've got Jeroen (Paul Thesseling) back up on bass, like he did on the "Spheres" album, so it's almost 75% like the original lineup.

WULF: That's awesome man. I'm sure old-school fans and new fans are also really excited to see that as well. Congratulations on that! When you talked about the US tour, that's actually what I want to talk about next. So congratulations on this upcoming tour, that's really badass. Now just out of curiosity, I know you that guys have come here before, to North America, is that right?

PATRICK: Yeah.

WULF: Now when was the last time you actually did tour here, though? Was it for the "Spheres" album?

PATRICK: No, I don't think so. I think it was for the "Testimony" album. We toured a bunch of times with Death. We did a small European tour but it was kind of a bad time for us because we were in the midst of splitting up with Roadracer (Records) and nobody dug the "Spheres" album so not too many people would show up or they would really want to hear those old songs and we just wanted to fuck the relationship up with Roadracer so we just went in a different direction. That went OK for us, but we were really frustrated at that time with the whole music industry, but it was our own mistake trying to combine metal and jazz and stuff like that. Bands like Atheist, they do that too, but they started doing that, man. We started as a death metal band, leading to that stuff, so that was our mistake. I think that the "Resurrection Macabre", if we would have come out with it after "Testimony of the Ancients" we would have been way bigger.

WULF: Well you know, it's funny, in hindsight I know you probably hear this all the time about how the experimental "Spheres" and stuff like that was awesome, even if people at the time didn't dig it or whatever, but honestly man, the first Pestilence album I ever heard was "Spheres" and I thought it was really cool, so then to go from that to "Resurrection Macabre" I thought was really awesome because I like both of them. But anyway, yeah so when you did the last tour here, based on that experience, is there a city here in particular that you look especially forward to playing in? I'm assuming besides the Maryland Deathfest, because that's going to be awesome.

PATRICK: Yeah, that's going to be one of our highlights as the start of the tour, so it's crazy to start off with something like that. But we have fond memories of lots of cities that we went through, but not one really in particular because we had so many great moments in so many amazing cities. But Houston was awesome.

WULF: Houston?

PATRICK: Yeah, man! Houston was awesome because fans are crazy but also like Mexico, Tijuana, that was crazy, but also New York because that was crazy, it was snowing and that was a crazy time. But there are too many to name because the US is such a beautiful and great country and to have so many aspects...you've got the great countryside. I love Florida, I love L.A., I love the Midwest...it's just crazy. Too many different options there, you know?

WULF: Yeah, and the different states and regions kind of have their own character too, because we're pretty big, but I see what you're saying. That's really cool, man. Alright, so for plans for Pestilence's future, I know that there's this tour, and then it looks like you guys are going to be playing some dates in Europe after that, but what I want to know is, and I'm sorry if you've talked about this before in other interviews and I've missed it, but are there plans for a new Pestilence album or EP on the way or anything like that?

PATRICK: Well actually, I have, like, five songs written already.

WULF: Really?

PATRICK: Yeah. Like I said, it's like riding a bike, but we want to top all our previous material so this album's going to be even more crazy, if I put those five songs already in perspective. The album will be recorded I think in September, and (released) in February. It will be called "Doctrine", and it's going to be sick, it's going to be something that is different from all the other Pestilence albums. So one never knows what to expect.

WULF: (laughs) Yeah, cool man! So you said you're going in in September, and it will be out by February of 2011?

PATRICK: Yeah.

WULF: Awesome, man! Just in time for my birthday! (laughs) Alright! So I don't know if this is too far ahead or anything, but are we ever going to be able to see a Pestilence DVD or anything like that?

PATRICK: Well, actually what is going to happen is that we are going to try to bring that out ourselves and sell it (on) our official website because there will be so much footage and nowadays everybody can record in HD-

WULF: With YouTube and stuff like that.

PATRICK: Yeah, we'll edit it ourselves and come up with a nice, nice DVD for y'all.

WULF: Oh, cool man! I'm really into metal DVDs, especially because I'm in the Midwest and not a lot of shows come through here. So we have to drive a lot, and sometimes I can't make it. So this is kind of a way for me to get at least part of that concert experience. Now, I know that we're running out of time here and you've probably got other interviews and stuff, just two really quick questions...are there any future plans for the band C-187? Is that still going on?

PATRICK: No, that's not going on. When I started that project I thought that that was going to blow up a lot, so that was my thing, so that was my thing, and in the end it only sold, like, a thousand copies. So most people bashed it because it was kind of promoted as "ex-Death, ex-Pestilence", so people (inaudible), I had to get that music out of my system, I guess, but recording with Sean Reinert (Cynic, Death), that was amazing. So for me, that was enough. When I was doing interviews for C-187 everyone kept asking about Pestilence so I just went back to the good ol' roots and that's when (inaudible) and resurrecting Pestilence.

WULF: Awesome. Well I mean, that's cool too, but I'm sorry C-187 didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, but then again it's good to see that Pestilence is back too, so, I guess I can't explain. (laughs) So, my last question, this is just a question based just on my own curiosity, just because I like to know, but of all your tours that you've gone on with Pestilence, is there a certain band in particular that stands out to you as like, the craziest, just behind the scenes? Like, dudes that are the most wild, or out of control?

PATRICK: Well, I haven't been in the scene for many years and so I would not know, but I know that when we were growing up and listening to good ol' Napalm Death, with Mick Harris on drums, he would take a shit in the shower and (inaudible). (laughs) And, of course, our great, great friend G.G. Allin is like...he's a goner but-

WULF: You knew G.G. Allin?!

PATRICK: Oh yeah, dude. I didn't know him personally, but I knew of him.

WULF: Yeah, that guy was nuts. Yeah, I was just curious, I like to know the behind the scenes stuff, so...anyway man, that's all the questions I have for you. I know you have other interviews so I'd just like to say that it's been an honor to talk to you and I wish you the best of luck on this North American tour here.

PATRICK: Thank you so much, and hopefully we'll get a chance to say hi to each other and shake some hands and drink some beer.