EDITORIAL So the first issue is here on your screen. Some have asked me, what the purpose of this magazine is and why I'm doing it. Some just think it's cool. I've always been a rock n roll fan, starting with my dad's vinyl at age 6, he played some Springsteen and Deep Purple for me, but what really got me into rock n roll was Whitesnake's "Slide It In". Bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard came to my attention on the radio, and when all wanted skateboards, Lego and G.I Joe, I wanted cassettes for my ghetto-blaster. I was not even aware of the metal culture until the age of 12, when I visited a friend after school. His brother had tons of metal in his room, Iron Maiden on his walls and AC/DC in his speakers. I practically raped the library the next day, loaned anything that had long hair, satanic symbols, flames and fantasy symbols on it. So my dad bought me a stereo with an integrated gramophone and I blasted the neighbors with Alice Cooper, MĂśtley CrĂźe and Poison. With the downfall of metal in the mid 90's, living in a small community, listening to the same shit over and over again, I decided to cut off the mullet and go pop like the rest, but felt so out of place. In the year 2000 I went into a dark period of my life, got unemployed, so what to do? Get internet! I started chatting with old friends, moved to a bigger city and rediscovered metal through new acquaintances. Judas Priest, Dream Theater and Nightwish were the main influences and as the internet grew so did I. I started to turn my attention towards Copenhagen, greatly influenced by MySpace and the fairly big metal scene over here, and when I finally moved I was fixed on getting a life and getting out! Now Facebook has opened up new doors, the list of favorite bands has become many. I've met a lot of cool friends, bands and people over these last 5 years and those of you reading this: Keep fighting, never surrender, stand together and horns up for metal! A little something on who's behind it all. Welcome to issue 1!
-Claus Kikkenborg
WELCOME TO SOMETHING NEW AND NOT SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! The purpose of this magazine is to give a worldwide info on bands and artists around the globe. Some may be known to you already, some may be an eye opener. This magazine is only published as an online PDF file, but we will work on limited prints in the future. Everything is done voluntarily; no highly educated journalists are behind this, just an average Joe nursing a hobby. We advertise as well. The first two issues, advertising is free. You can find a pricing list at our Facebook page, website and MySpace once the offer has expired. Want to help us make this magazine a success? Forward your band info to contact@r-a-m-m.dk marked "Magazine" and we will do our very utmost to include you. ________________________________________________________________________________
Featured Artist Every issue, we will do features on musicians around the world, giving you a small bio on them.
Thiago Trinsi Seraphim A Brazilian living in Iceland, playing for a Taiwan metal band, might strike as a little weird, but Thiago seems to manage it. Thiago picked up the guitar at age 13, greatly influenced by artists like; Jimmy Page, Mark Knopfler and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Early in his career he gave music lessons in hometown Porto Alegre, followed by various projects, master classes and workshops. He started to make a name for himself and started appearing in TV shows and playing festivals with various bands. Thiago often travels the world, giving guitar lessons, when not playing with Seraphim. Thus he did an in-store performance at Sam Ash music store in New York and a master class in Tampa in July this year. For more info on Thiago Trinsi, visit www.thiagotrinsi.com
Getting a song on Rock Band, playing with mighty Pagan's Mind and a new album on the horizon. Neonfly is ready to outshine the sun. Frederick Thunder came to my attention on Myspace a few years back. Back then, he was slowly forming a line-up for his new band Neonfly and now it seems, it's coming together. So I decided to ask the man behind it all, how things have progressed since then. How has life in NeonFly been in the past couple of years? It’s been great, we can’t really complain, the band has been growing constantly and we got signed a couple of months ago, so it’s all good! We’ve done a lot of touring with bands such as H.E.A.T. Freedom Call, Pagan’s Mind… played Bloodstock festival. We also changed our singer and I really believe that right now Neonfly has the best line up ever. We recorded our debut album earlier this year in Italy with producer Nick Savio who also worked with Power Quest, Arthemis, Raintime… he did a great job on the album, we worked very hard (in-between the bottles of Italian wine) to achieve the best possible result and we are all really proud of it.
The album is called ”Outshine The Sun” and shortly after we finished the UK label Rising Records offered us a deal. The album is coming out on 29.08.2011 and hopefully after that we’ll get to go on a good European tour to promote it and of course reach Denmark (our base is here ed.) with it! Who influence you? We have a lot of different influences, I write all the songs and my influences go from extreme metal to AOR, classical music, blues, trip hop… there’s a broad spectrum of influences… then I submit the songs to the other guys and they all add their own personal touch. That’s when the music really comes alive because they are all experts in their own instruments and they bring ideas that I couldn’t possibly have thought of. Where do you see yourself genre-wise? A lot of people have been asking this question, I think a lot of people don’t know where to place us exactly, which in my opinion is a good thing, and it’s also the effect we were looking for. But somewhere a guy described our music as Stadium Metal which would be a cross between Stadium Rock and Heavy Metal, and I think that sums it up pretty well!
Playing with Pagan's Mind, how was that? It was a great experience, I’d been a fan of Pagan’s Mind since their second album, I remember buying it when it came out… and I’ve bought all albums since then, I’ve followed that band closely so when the opportunity came to tour with them I just jumped on it! As a guitarist it’s just mindblowing to see Jørn Viggo playing night after night, and we also got to see the sound checks etc, I’m sure any guitarist knows what I’m talking about when I say that guy is absolutely amazing! A song on Rock Band? We played Bloodstock last year here in the UK and shortly after that we got contacted by a studio that develops tracks for Rock Band, they had seen us at Bloodstock and really loved our
performance so they asked us if we’d be interested in having a song on Rock Band. It took a while for us to submit a track because we wanted to submit a track from the new album, so it wasn’t till April this year when the recording was complete that we submitted the track. It should be available for download very soon! Any words for the world? Look out for ”Outshine The Sun” on 29.08.2011 – It goes to 11. ________________________________________________________________________________
Gotthard is back!
Gotthard, with Steve Lee in the center
Swiss act, Gotthard, the most successful rock band in Schwitzerland, is looking for a new singer after the death of former frontman Steve Lee. An official statement from their website claims that they're ready to move on: Quote, Leo Leoni: „...after the very emotional days after Steve's death, it was important for us to first of all try and cope with the pain, give it a place to rest and find ourselves again. And so we sat down in the new year and tried to look at the new situation „soberly“ ...it was obvious to all of us very quickly that we had to go on – GOTTHARD is not a job for us – GOTTHARD IS OUR LIFE!!“ Steve Lee died in a traffic accident October 5th 2010 in Nevada, when a truck hit a parked motorcycle that struck and killed him. ________________________________________________________________________________
First album received an award at Danish Metal Awards. Now, 4 years later, the second album, The Devilty, has taken the band to an even higher ground. Pitchblack received a lot of coverage, when the cover of their second album "The Devilty", was denied by the German distributor. Whether it was the cover or their music that landed them a gig at Danish metal festival Copenhell, through Ceres Royal's Tak Rock (thank you rock ed.) project, remains unsaid. The fact is that Pitchblack delivered an outstanding performance on the upcoming scene, which gave them a ticket to next year's Download Festival in Donington.
This was too much for the German distribution
"The album's statement is not death and mayhem, but enlightenment on the brutality in the world, as it is."
Fetus In Fetu
Danish death metal act, Fetus In Fetu, has been kind enough to answer a few questions from us. Tell us how your band came to be: - Fetus in Fetu was created from the ruins of the band Frantana which basically was build around Christian Nielsen, Johnni Knudsen and Hatten. We had come to a point where we wanted to approach the music that we love to play with more seriousness and less drinking beer. After some changes in lineup Bekker joined the band and after him Astor and we now have the lineup we want. We decided to record Abnormal Disfigurement in our own mini studio and suddenly things started to happen. After having played smaller local gigs we played Aalborg Metal Festival and Casket Music offered us a record deal and this brought us to the point we are at today. Any theme or general message? - We have a passion for old school death metal and grew up listening to band like Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Cannibal Corpse and so on. These influences show in our music because we try to keep it brutal and true to the genre. This means lots of deep growls, brutal drumming
and devastating guitar riffs. Of course we give the music our own touch but basically we feed upon old school death metal Now a days we listen a lot to bands like Severe Torture, Beheaded, Suffocation and stuff like that. - So keep it brutal and support death metal! Who influence you? - As mentioned before - Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, Severe Torture, Beheaded, Dawn of Demise. Where do you see yourself genre-wise? - Brutal old school death metal. The highlight of your career so far? - The highlight so far was playing at Aalborg Metal Festival. A great experience sharing stage with bands like Immolation, Macabre and great response from the headbangers at front!! Any plans on touring? - We hope to do a small Danish tour soon and hopefully some gigs in Germany and Benelux as well. But right now we haven't got any offers at hand. But our manager is working at it!! Saturday the 16 July we will be playing Day of Decay Festival in Aalborg with band like Severe Torture and Aborted so right now we are looking forward to that. Any words for the world? - Keep it brutal out there and stay true to who you are!!! ________________________________________________________________________________
REVIEW Fetus In Fetu Abnorma Disfigurement - Death Danish band Fetus In Fetu released this debut in may 2011, straight forward death from Aalborg Denmark. The album is an own production, with a very professional approach. 7/10
More and more female fronted bands approach the metal scene, but no one delivers it like Benedictum. With their three albums, they have put San Diego on the map of metal. Welcome to our main feature; Benedictum.
Tell us how your band came to be: Veronica - First of all we would like to say how excited we are to be a part of your publication and wish you great success! Benedictum came in to being around the end of 2004. Pete Wells (guitarist) is my writing partner and we are the founding members of Benedictum. His riffs are a great source of inspiration and he and I had been playing in bands together for a LONG LONG time. We finally reached a point in our lives where we decided that is was time to give it one more try at getting a pro sounding demo out there and see where it could take us. Around that time Craig Goldy (Giuffria, Dio) who has been a long time friend, had a chance to listen to some of the material we were working on. He had always assured me that if he thought that some of the work was good enough, he would do all he could to really get behind it and that is exactly what he did. It was he who then put us in touch with Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Dio, Foreigner) and Jeff then agreed to produce our demo. We then were signed by Locomotive Records and Jeff agreed to produce our first 2 albums entitled Uncreation which came out in 2006 and Seasons of Tragedy, released in 2008. We are now on Frontiers Records and our latest album Dominion was released earlier this year and we are excited about the response so far. Ryan Greene (F5,NoFx, Megadeth) is the producer of the current album. Benedictum is now comprised of: Veronica Freeman – Vocals Pete Wells – Guitar Chris Shrum – Bass Mikey Pannone - Drums Are your albums based on a particular theme, or is it the songs as individuals? Veronica - We have always kicked the idea around of doing a concept album but have not done so yet. That could be down the road for us. I would say that each song is its own entity. We have our own little system that seems to work for us pretty well, I listen to the recording that come out of our practices and will find pieces that really inspire me and put lyrics and melodies to them and we get together and work on arrangements. With file sharing now it is easier to get new ideas bounced back and forth. With the current line up I really have to say there was a lot more input from other members as well which I think has helped us to evolve a bit.
Benedictum from left to right: Mikey Pannone, Chris Shrum, Veronica Freeman, Pete Wells and Tony Diaz Who influence you? Veronica - My personal musical influences are really varied. Obviously the incomparable Ronnie James Dio was one of my biggest influences but I also have always loved the energy and intensity of Tina Turner. I love Tony Martin and I think one of the best shows I ever saw was Dee Snyder just tearing it up, he is a great front-person. I listen to everything from Blues to Country to R &B , Metal and back again. I need to keep the influx of musical styles varied and diverse so that when I write it
doesn’t get stale. Always having the same approach or hearing the same approach over and over can cause one to be limited at times. I am a huge Rush fan as are many of the other members. Where do you see yourself genre-wise? Veronica - That is a tricky question. We try not to allow ourselves to be pigeon holed too much. We do what we do and it is a natural outcome of our collective influences. We have been described as traditional metal on steroids LOL but to be honest it has been a double edged sword at times. People are not quite sure where to place us and what bands to put us with for live shows but we just want to get out there and make it happen. The highlight of your career so far? Veronica - I think we would agree that playing the really large festivals was a huge experience for us in particular because it happened so fast in the beginning of our career with Benedictum. We had played one show opening for Lynch Mob as our first official show as Benedictum and the next thing you know we were playing in front of a few thousand people at the Gods of Metal in Milan. That was really an amazing experience. So was playing Wacken. Also getting the chance to tour with DORO was a blast and we all learned so much from that. There are countless other things that just seem to stand out for us , the cool people you meet, the bonds that you make with others and you also get to learn a lot about yourself along the way. Any plans on touring? Veronica - Actually yes. We are scheduling some dates for some shows in the USA and also should be heading over to Europe in October. We will be playing at the MFVF in Belgium and will do some other shows around that. Any words for the world? Veronica - Benedictum welcomes you to come and check out our music and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we enjoy creating it! Thanks for your time and stay METAL!!
Thanks to Veronica Freeman for participating and Wim van der Bij for setting things in motion - R.A.M.M.
BENEDICTUM ALBUMS
Dominion (2011)
Seasons Of Tragedy (2008)
Uncreation (2006)
For more info on Benedictum, visit www.benedictum.net
Featured Artist Every issue, we will do features on musicians around the world, giving you a small bio on them.
Veronica Freeman Benedictum Veronica Freeman was encouraged to sing by a long time friend, which led to her current band, Benedictum. She hooked up with guitar player Pete Wells and they immediately hit it off. They played numerous gigs in hometown San Diego, USA, under band names such as Medusa and Malady, before settling with Benedictum. Veronica has a very powerful voice and you can actually hear a hint of Dio in it. Apart from Dio, she is inspired by artists such as; Tina Turner, Freddie Mercury and Melissa Etheridge. Veronica will be playing this fall, at the Metal Female Voices Fest IX in Belgium, with her band Benedictum. If you want to know more about Veronica Freeman, look her up at Facebook, MySpace or Benedictum.net. ________________________________________________________________________________
Iron Fire releasing new album
November 2011, Danish band, Iron Fire, will be releasing their 8th studio album "Voyage Of The Damned". The band will reveal an all new concept, taking power metal to a new level, according to frontman Martin Steene. Release parties will be held in both Norway, november 12th, and Denmark, november 18th.
ESSENCE
Essence are the new rising stars on the Danish thrash metal scene. Tell us how your band came to be: - We first got together in Essence in the late winter of 2005. Lasse and I met each other and decided to jam. After our first jamming session we agreed to start a band. Lasse knew the others and asked them if they wanted to join. Then all four of us got together and had a couple of jamming sessions and Essence was formed. Any theme or general message? We don’t have a specific theme or general message in the lyrics. We like to find an interesting topic and really dig into that. We think that it is important to write some meaningful lyrics that fit the mood of the songs. Who influence you? - We find inspiration in a lot of different music and we are always looking for new sources of inspiration. The people behind the music and their mindset towards music influence us. A great influence for us is Mille Petrozza from Kreator, he writes some amazing riffs and has some really great arrangements of the songs.
Where do you see yourself genre-wise? - We see ourselves as a thrash metal band. Our main genre is thrash but we incorporate a lot of melodic parts in our songs. We believe that it important to give the songs some diversity and that is why we think it is interesting to incorporate different elements into our songs. The highlight of your career so far? - We have just toured in Europe with Vader and Krisiun. That was an amazing experience! It was really great to be on the road and play in a lot of countries we have never played in before, and it was great to get to know the crew and the guys in Vader and Krisiun. After the tour we played at Roskilde Festival and had an amazing show! These are the highlights of our career so far! Any plans on touring? - We are working on a couple of things. And when we are done recording our next album in the beginning of 2012, we hope to tour a lot with the new songs. Any words for the world? - We only play music for the hell of it and that will never change! ________________________________________________________________________________
REVIEW Essence Lost In Violence - Thrash Essence are the new rising stars on the danish thrash metal scene. Their february debut Lost In Violence has peaked the interest of many, and is definitely worth a listen. 8/10 ________________________________________________________________________________
Chainfist working on new album Danish band, Chainfist, are working on their second album, titel yet to be revealed. www.chainfist.net
Black Succubi, writing songs for second album Following up on their self titled debut, Black Succubi, Denmark, are sweating in the rehearsal room once more. www.blacksuccubi.dk
Epilogue That's it! 20 pages. Hope you enjoyed it. The number of pages will vary from issue to issue. Many thanks to those who participated in making this possible, thanks for your quick replies and cooperation. Next issue will be available in December, so look out for christmas give-aways! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/RockAndMetalMag Spread the word and stay metal!
ROCK AND METAL MAGAZINE