Heavy Music Magazine Issue #4

2012 bastardfest preview

interview

$9.95 inc.gst

the mark of cain  down  converge

cannibal corpse  steve vai  cancer bats

finland’s tuska festival + Industry INSIGHT + Strings & Skins + heaps more

oz underground HEAVY04 p01 Cover.indd 1

interview

parkway drive

fighting fit on the eve of their new album

➤ king parrot ➤ be’lakor ➤ twelve foot ninja ➤ okera ➤ a million dead birds laughing ➤ isaw

ISSUE 4 $9.95 inc.gst ISSN 1839-5546

plus GREAT SUBSCRIPTION prizes to be won every issue!

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issue 04

contents

published Quarterly in 2012

• features •

10 DOWN

We talk to Down guitarist Pepper Keenan about future plans for the heavyweight supergroup.

12 stone sour

Corey Taylor talks about Stone Sour’s epic two-part concept album, House Of Gold & Bones.

14 parkway drive

Parkway Drive take a stand on world issues with their new album, Atlas.

16 cannibal corpse

Death metal pioneers Cannibal Corpse bring censorship to its knees and give us an insight on how it all began.

printed & produced in australia

22 the mark of cain John Scott explains what makes their latest album, Songs Of The Third And Fifth, the best.

28 oz tour diary

Dead City Ruins in Europe, Desecrator in South East Asia.

The Mark Of Cain

32 OZ UNDERGROUND We scourer the country for the best under-exposed talent.

44 steve vai

The guitar god talks about his first originals album in over a decade.

Propagandhi

46 chicks that rock

Sean Yseult (ex-White Zombie) and Aussie rock femme fatale, Laura Wilde.

58 cancer bats

A leading act in Canadian heavy music prepare to rock Soundwave.

62 tuska festival

We check out Finland’s biggest and best metal festival.

Steve Vai

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culprits Executive editor & publisher Olivia Reppas editor Kimberley Croxford copy/sub editor Sheri Tantawy Art Director Craig Fryers Publishing Consultant Effie Dimitropoulos 186Red Pty Ltd ASSISTANT SUBS Justin Tawil Amanda Mason Editorial Assistant Julianne Pimenta Distribution Gordon & Gotch Printing Blue Star Group (Printed in Australia) Specialist contributors Dito Godwin – Engineering Peter Hodgson – Guitar Drew Dedman – Bass Rob Brens – Drums

Parkway Drive photo courtesy of resist records

don’t just read this mag

listen to it!

Got a smartphone? By that I mean an iPhone or an Android?

If so, this magazine you’re holding is about to come alive with HEAVY music!

But first you’ll need a QR code reader, and we recommend you download the FREE Digimarc Discover app from iTunes, or wherever else you can get your hands on it.

By simply holding your smartphone about 6-10cm above a QR code (ie. that Lego nightmare looking thing above) you can instantly access songs (and/or videos) on that same band you’ve just been reading about.

Pretty cool, eh!?

It’s a whole new magazine reading experience. Enjoy!

Contributors this issue Adam Agius Amanda Mason Anthony Moore Athena Marangos Christian Doherty Damo Musclecar Daniel Maloney Fabio Marraccini Jay Clair Jeff Schenck Jon Stockman Julianne Pimenta Liam Guy Lucy Valentine Mark Lennard Mitch Booth Patrick Emmett Todd Hansen Rob Brens Rod Whitfield Vix Vile

welcome to the fourth issue of HEAVY

W

hat a killer response we’ve had from our last issue. We’re so glad HEAVY continues to not only meet, but exceed your standards. A huge thank you goes out to Kim Croxford for doing such an amazing job during my recent absence.

This issue is jam-packed with Aussie talent. We take a peak at Bastardfest’s killer lineup, Desecrator and Dead City Ruins tour stories, talk to Oz legends The Mark Of Cain, step back in time to celebrate the longest running Aussie metal festival, Metal For The Brain and much more.

Our international features are just as exciting, from High On Fire to Cannibal Corpse to Converge and everything in between. Gearing up and getting all excited for Soundwave, we talk to Stone Sour and Cancer Bats. If you like heavy music, there’ll be something to suit you.

We look at some interesting and different ways of releasing music and have a huge amount of industry intel to share in Industry Insight. We even have your Christmas

shopping sorted in Fuggenweirdsh!t.

This issue we also welcome Dave ‘Higgo’ Higgins to our crew, now not only for your listening but reading pleasure.

As always, my ongoing and biggest thanks to Soundwave, Roadrunner, Warner Music, Riot Entertainment, Feel Presents, Shock Records, Deathproof PR, Century Media, AND Printing, Two Fish Out Of Water, all our advertisers, sponsors, bands and affiliates.

A huge thanks to 186Red for the ongoing support and commitment to this project, Craig Fryers for his creative vision, and all staff involved in making this publication a reality.

Until next time, enjoy the free CD (p39 for details), thank you for support and stay HEAVY. – Olivia Reppas

Advertising Enquiries sales@heavymag.com.au +61 (0)402 856 632 HEAVY Music Magazine is Published by MLM Media Pty Ltd PO Box 1313 Lalor VIC 3075 ACN 151 654 330 The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Publisher MLM Media Pty Ltd or Editor. All statements made, although based on information believed to be reliable and accurate, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for any error or omission. All material published in this magazine are subject to copyright provisions and cannot be reproduced, in part or whole, without the written permission of the Publisher. All rights reserved.

IS THIS YOU?

Because we’re a generous lot here at HEAVY we love to give away prizes to our loyalreaders-to-be. So if this is you, or if you know this metal fan, please do him a favour and tell him to get in touch with us to collect his prize! Valid til 31/12/12

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shreds

views, news & reviews

RIP ALLANS BILLY HYDES? In recent shocking news Australia’s leading gear retailers Allans Billy Hydes (the Australian Music Group Holdings) have been placed into receivership. While there still remains the possibility that a restructure may lessen the blow or a buyer may save the Australian Music Group Holdings from bankruptcy, stock is flying out the door as the company prepares for the worst.

Owner of Melbourne retailers KC’s Rockshop/Keyboard Corner Craig Johnston has mixed feelings about Allans Billy Hydes potential demise.

“Longer term, for medium-sized shops like us, it’ll certainly be good for business. But the industry as a whole will shrink a bit. For other, independent retailers it’ll certainly help sales at Christmas time, but Allans and Hydes are the biggest marketers for the music industry.

They put out their big catalogues at least twice a year and that helps other retailers as well. When they advertise it doesn’t just create business for them, it sends people to other stores because it makes people aware of music – it implants the interest in a musical instrument in potential buyers’ minds.”

With online retail such a readily available option for consumers, it could be considered that the changing retail environment has contributed to this dire outcome for such a

previously dominant company. But Mr Johnston says he doesn’t believe the internet is entirely to blame.

“I don’t think it is, not as much as some people are saying. I think it was more the fact that Allans is owned by a private equity company in America and they weren’t seeing the returns they wanted, so they cashed in.”

Ferrier Hodgson Corporate Recovery were now responsible for Allans Billy Hydes’ fate after being appointed as receivers and are now seeking expressions of interest for the sale of the company. Representatives from Ferrier Hodgson where reluctant to provide a statement as to why they thought the company hit hot water and declined to comment during proceedings.

– Kimberley Croxford

Devil’s Kitchen Music Festival After having a bit of a break, Devil’s Kitchen Music Festival is back with a vengeance and ready for 2013.

Festivals are getting larger and recruiting more international headliners, but Devil’s Kitchen sticks to supporting the scene that gave birth to it, with a lineup showcasing predominately local acts. Co-founder Skye Bird outlines the festival’s aims.

“Aside from being intimate and giving fans a space where they can interact properly with bands, we’re just here to have a ripper time and not take ourselves too seriously. We’re not interested in mega-popularity. The quality of the music is first and foremost.”

Devils Kitchen started out in 2005 primarily as a stoner/doom/drone/ sludge festival, but has since expanded its field.

“Over the years we’ve become less

SWEET CHARITY GONE WRONG On paper it was an honourable idea: a benefit tour for the late Chuck Schuldiner, bringing together the many musicians who were in DEATH over the years, to pay tribute to his memory and help out a non-for-profit charity that assists ailing musicians.

Unfortunately, what transpired was a whole lot of confusion.

Death To All, a seven-city tour, was arranged for the US summer, but before it could even go ahead two cities had been cancelled and no one has since seen a cent. Not the fans, who are out of pocket for the cancelled shows, and certainly not the charity, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, who are yet to receive a single dollar from the 20 percent of each ticket sale promised to them.

Eric Greif, DEATH’s long-time manager has accused two organisers from Sick Drummer magazine, Anton Hefele and Ian MacDonald, of withholding access to accounting records for the tour and says that over $100,000 is owed to the charity, bands, crew and fans. Read more at: gunshyassassin.com/news/ exclusive-eric-greif-issues-statementfollowing-sick-drummer-claims.

Organisers Sick Drummer magazine released a statement of defence on their website in mid September.

“We did nothing more than try to the best of our ability to put on a great tour for all involved. The tour was (from what we understand) one of the best shows the majority of those who attended have ever seen, but unfortunately the tour just did not make as much money as originally projected. We can assure you

that everyone on the tour has received full or partial payment and we have entered into individual agreements to resolve all payments remaining.

As far as Sweet Relief is concerned, they’ll receive the full amount that was originally pledged.We are the only ones to walk away from this tour making nothing and that’s fine with us. We lost money on the tour and to imply otherwise is simply false.”

Chuck Schuldiner’s older sister, Beth, expressed her disappointment on popular death metal forum SMN News that her brother’s name was mixed up in the conflict.

HEAVY approached Sweet Relief about how they felt about their association with the whole mess and the charity’s executive director Rob Max graciously released this statement.

“We’ve been very fortunate to work with the family and amazing legacy of Chuck Schuldiner. His direction to his music and the heroic efforts he displayed during his battle with cancer best represents the spirit and heart of musicians we assist every day. The Death To All tour, like many of the events that intend to benefit our cause, was produced, promoted and managed completely outside of our direction.

It’s our hope that all issues will be settled between the parties involved and intended donations will eventually be distributed.”

– Vix Vile To donate to Sweet Relief, visit www.sweetrelief.org

SCALPING scumbags exclusive and now include post punk, thrash metal, garage, blues, swamp and basically anything that has that good-time swing.”

Devil’s Kitchen 2013 will feature King Parrot, Nunchukka Superfly, Mammoth Mammoth, Chainsaw Hookers, Wicked City, BMX Ray, Kids Of Zoo, Clagg, River Of Snakes, My Left Boot, The Sure Fire Midnights, Bodies, Don Fernando and loads more.

For the full Devil’s Kitchen lineup in each city and to read the complete interview with Skye Bird check out heavymag.com.au.

– Anthony Moore

You know what makes me really angry?

F**king scalpers! What a crazy world we live in, when on the same day Soundwave tickets sell out, surprise surprise, minutes later they’re available on eBay for no less than $150 more than the initial price. WTF? Questioning eBay won’t get you far. They simply brush off scalpers with the fact that “it’s not illegal for consumers to sell event tickets, nor is it forbidden to sell tickets in auction format.” Well the question begs, why would they care? At the end of the day it’s money going into the machine.

So who’s to blame? If it’s not illegal, then the system is failing the people. A great example of this is that while it’s not illegal to scalp event or music concert tickets, it’s illegal to sell sports tickets in most states of Australia. Again, our poor music community

continues to get smashed with no love from the pollies. The saddest thing is that people are that desperate to get to these shows that they’re willing to pay these exorbitant amounts. At least Soundwave have taken measures to try and stamp scalping out.

“Here’s a game. Find me a scalper’s name and address. If we bust him, you get to buy his/her tickets at face value!” Maddah wrote. They’ve also set up a buy/swap/ sell program for people to move tickets if circumstances have changed and are unable to attend.

Last note: check out ‘#SW13 FUCK You Scalpers GAME’ on Twitter, where people are challenged to make fake accounts and bid thousands of dollars, highest bid wins. Good work guys!

– Jay Clair

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Mammoth Mammoth sign to Napalm Melbourne murder fuzz act Mammoth Mammoth have signed a ‘global and universal deal’ with Napalm Records. The European metal/rock empire, based in Austria, is home to some massive international bands including Monster Magnet, Karma To Burn, Candlemass, Kyuss Lives and new metal favourites Huntress.

Drummer Bones acknowledges this is a big deal for the band.

“Naturally, it’s cool to have a record label approach you. It was pretty unexpected, but we were making very solid LP sales in Europe.”

In response to the signing, Napalm Records A&R Sebastian Muench said signing Mammoth Mammoth was really a “no-brainer.” “[Their] sound combines everything a rocker, metaler and stoner´s heart could possible desire.”

As well a strong roster, Napalm are also known for their limited edition releases. Mammoth Mammoth’s latest album Hell’s Likely will be re-released in a special gatefold double LP also including their first EP. The CD version will feature a 12-page booklet. It’s also expected that they’ll follow that up with another very limited version only available through the Mammoth Mammoth site.

On the back of these releases, the label will be sending the band on a European tour next year partnered with the German based Sound Of Liberation agency.

Look out for the double Hell’s Likely release due out at the end of November worldwide.

– Anthony Moore

intothevoid fuzzin’ out with Anthony Moore There’s a lot of buzz around the Soundwave 2013 announcements. One band on the poster, right down the bottom, is Portland’s Red Fang. While their name may not be written in the biggest font on the bill, they’re guaranteed to be one of the most explosive acts of the day. If you’re not familiar with their sludgy stoner sound, check out their LP Murder The Mountains.

Melbourne’s Drifter have snuck out their debut CD, the mind blowing HEAD EP, recorded at Goatsound Studios. For those that love balls in your back pocket rock blended with Cosmic Psychos, Fugazi, Therapy?, this is one band not to bypass.

Snailking have just released their debut record Samsara through Consouling Sounds. This Swedish doom band haven’t been around long, but are already gaining a reputation for their sludgy riffs and pounding rhythms.

Back in July ’70s heavy rockers Orchid signed with Nuclear Blast. They’ve now let loose their first release on the label.

Their latest EP Heretic is the third EP from the band since they formed in 2006. Compared to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, this Californian four-piece consistently impress.

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Houston psychedelic metal/doom band From Beyond are releasing their latest EP The Color Out Of Space on Halloween. A pre-release of one of the tracks, Hexagram, is available now. Also check out their One Year EP that came out in May.

Recommendations NEW RELEASE: Evil Deeds by The Graviators. Released in August on Napalm Records, these Swedish hard rockin’ doomsters are straight from a ’70s Sabbath gig.

Heavy and melodic riffs full of fuzz and fire.

Win this generous Mammoth Mammoth prize pack. Go to heavymag.com.au for entry details!

CLASSIC: New Zealand band Head Like A Hole blew the ’90s scene apart when they released their seminal album 13 in 1992.

Renowned for their live antics, including playing naked, then-drummer Hidee Beast using a baking tray as a cymbal and all sorts of mayhem, this craziness translated well into the studio recording and gives you a great taste of what HLAH were all about.

Keep an eye out for the vinyl re-release in early 2013.

NEW ALBUM 24/09/12 WAYLANDER ‘Kindred Spirits’

Brand new album from the genuine pagan/celtic metal band from Ireland!.

OUT NOW

ZONARIA ‘Arrival Of The Red Sun’

Their strongest material so far, Rapid Militant Death metal wrapped up in a MASSIVE sounding album

OUT NOW

SHOP.LISTENABLE.NET

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shreds

views, news & reviews

Bastardfest is back!

Once upon a time the legendary Metal For The Brain festival was an annual pilgrimage for metal heads across Australia (see Metal Rewind, page 64). Since it’s dissolution in 2006, Bastardfest reared its ugly head as the premier festival of extreme music. words Rob Brens

S

ince it’s birth in 2010, Bastardfest has been bringing the best of what the Australian metal scene has to offer to all major capitals across the country.

While each city receives a slightly different lineup, all are assured the finest in Aussie brutality. Let’s take a look at some of the bands you’re likely to encounter in this year’s cavalcade of bastards.

Disentomb

You could consider Brisbane’s Disentomb the youngest bastard, having only formed in 2009, but the impact they’ve had on Australia’s metal scene in such a short time is unparalleled. One of the most talked about brutal death metal bands at the moment, they already have international tours under their belt. Rest assured, you won’t regret sating your curiosity surrounding the hype.

Astriaal

The black metal veterans from Queensland have been a staple support for many iconic black and death metal bands such as Mayhem, Destroyer 666, Arcturus, Nile, Suffocation, Destruction, but this year you’ll find them co-headlining a number of Bastardfest’s shows. 2012 marks ten years since the recording of their debut album Renascent Misanthropy, which they’ve re-released on vinyl. If this is new territory for you, Astriaal will teach you the ways of the abyss.

Desecrator

I Exist

Taking up the sludge/hardcore positon is Canberra’s I Exist. Don’t think this is a turn for the less extreme – I Exist bring a densely layered seven-piece unit to the table, utilizing broad atmospherics. Combining heavy as hell rock with the most fast-paced of old school hardcore, I Exist have international touring on the cards. Come check them out so you can say you saw them before they were huge.

Aversions Crown

F**k I’m Dead

Australia’s masters of gore grind will be making their presence known to unsuspecting bastards everywhere this year. Having kept quiet for the past few years, the band with ‘that’ name are ready to remind everyone why they’re at the top of their game with a new album out in time for Christmas.

Bringing possibly the highest string count to the festival are the eight-string guitar wielding Aversions Crown. You could put them in the deathcore category, but we’re talking 99 percent death here. With guttural vocals that are about as down-tuned as the guitars, Aversions Crown will be one of the most brutal sounding bands on the bill. Check out their debut album Servitude and you’ll hear a band that’s endeavouring to break the monotony of the enduring breakdown with technicality that doesn’t go completely off the rails with 1,000 sweep picking variations.

Old school thrash at it’s purest and best.

Despite throwing back to the days of Testament, Slayer, Dark Angel and all your favourites, this ain’t no tribute band. In old school fashion, their first release was recorded live at Melbourne’s prominent underground rock and metal venue The Arthouse. Fresh off annihilating South East Asia, Desecrator hasn’t opted for a holiday on their return to Australia.

Captain Cleanoff

Death, they now have their own contribution to the world of death metal with Where It Dwells. They’re not exactly keeping it PG, so leave your sensitivity at the door and get ready for some brutality that would make Ed Gein blush.

These bands are just the tip of the iceberg. If the myriad of extremity is anything to go by here, you can bet you’re going to get more than you bargain for at your local Bastardfest. Find out where there’s one happening near you, you’ll fit right in! H

This five-piece from South Australia need little introduction. Cleanoff have been a mainstay of the national grindcore scene for quite some time. Having graced the infamous Maryland Deathfest and just recently supporting the legendary Nasum on their farewell tour, you can bet they’re a worthy addition to the Bastardfest lineup. If the raw chaos of bands such as Pig Destroyer, The Day Everything Became Nothing, The Kill and Damaged are your bag, then get ready to salute the captain.

Daemon Foetal Harvest

Think of them as a super-charged rendition of the death metal of yore. Having shared the stage with Morbid Angel and Napalm

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aussie alternative rod whitfield keeps his alternative ear to the ground

Occasionally lead singers need a good hosing down.

Engine Three Seven

With a show that’s intense, powerful and highly engaging, Engine Three Seven know they’re in their element in a live setting. Having recently released live DVD Becoming Atmosphere, singer and acoustic guitarist Casey Dean reveals the recording will also be released as a live album.

“We were so impressed with the audio, to a certain degree we think it’s our best representation of the band.

So we thought, ‘bugger it, we’ll release it as an audio album too.’”

There’s also a brand new single, entitled Watermark, that the band has released online for eager fans to snatch up. Engine Three Seven have always brought a touch of folk to their powerhouse alternative rock sound and this can be clearly observed on the new single.

Jericco

Melbourne rock maestros Jericco are back with a taste of things to come.

Now set to release the second single from their forthcoming debut album, which is due later this year, their new single Dance Like No One’s Watching came out August 2012.

Bellusira

After a whirlwind year and launching their single Culprit to a sold-out Melbourne crowd, female-fronted rockers Bellusira’s much anticipated debut album is due for release in early 2013.

They’re also touring across the country throughout October and November.

Check their Facebook page for details.

The Dead Love

Sydney band The Dead Love headed to Austin recently to record their debut album. After five weeks bunked up with Grammy nominated producer Chris ‘Frenchie’ Smith (The Darkness, Jet, The Dandy Warhols), Clint Ossington [bass] reflects on the band’s Texan adventure. So what can we expect to hear?

“It’s an eclectic album, as rock as it is pop and as dark as it is light. We recorded a lot of the album live in the room together and you can really hear that energy in the record.” No release date has been set yet, so stay tuned.

Long Holiday

Melbourne’s Long Holiday have gone from strength to strength in recent months on the back of their four-track promotional CD, which has received solid airplay on local radio, and their video that made the final of the Rode rocks competition in the USA. The band are due to release their debut album early in 2013.

Dangerous!

Adelaide rockers Dangerous! are back in Australia with a killer new single called Living Dead, which was mix/mastered by Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus).

After conquering the Download and Sonisphere festivals in the UK, the boys are really excited to be playing Pyramid Rock Festival this coming NYE. The single is available for free download online at facebook.com/ dangerousordie

The monumental th album from tasmania’s RUINS featuring tracks of blackend mastery.

Available now

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heavyfeature

After withstanding recent violent storms that swept the southern states of the US, metal veterans Down have devised a plan to weather the music industry’s gloomy forecast. words Rod Whitfield photo Danin Drahos

F

ifty-five hours of winds roaring through at over 64 kms per hour is Pepper Keenan’s definition of “pretty heavy weather.” Severe hurricanes ripping through the southern states of the US made getting through to Keenan at his home in New Orleans more than a little difficult. But the legendary guitarist [ex-Corrosion of Conformity] rode it out unscathed, with the help of a generator and many beers, and by the third attempt on a bad phone line he was able to explain the thinking behind a new tactic Down are testing out when it comes to distributing their music.

With the music industry experiencing trying times, almost demanding an ‘adapt or perish’ attitude from artists, heavyweight supergroup Down have decided to approach things a little differently. Instead of releasing a regular full-length album and heading out on tour in support of it, the band have decided to record a series of four EPs at regular intervals, beginning

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wat c h n o w

‘Bury Me In Smoke’ @YouTube Live at Rock On The Range, 2012

with Down IV Part I – The Purple EP. After a lengthy absence for the band, Keenan says he and vocalist Phil Anselmo [ex-Pantera] paused to reassess things before launching back onto the scene with Down.

“Phil and I have been discussing how we want to continue with this band and what the best options are for us, to keep our sanity. Some degree of freedom has got to be involved. This business chews bands up and spits them out all the time, so we decided to spin it around on the industry. We toured 40 countries on the last album and by the time you’ve been to that many countries on tour, the record is years old. This way, it will allow us to put shorter records out, record them faster and keep them more fresh and fun in our brains, so we’ll still enjoy pummelling these things out as opposed to it becoming a job. I’ve seen so many bands go through the motions and we don’t want to end up like that… Our main thing is playing live. I love making records, we all do, but they have to mean something – you can’t just spit them out.”

The first EP is full of bludgeoning, bluesbased southern rock in keeping with grand old Down tradition, heavy on riffs and fat grooves and light on overly polished production and studio tricks.

“It turned out just as we wanted, now we’ve just got to do three more of them,” Keenan laughs, “We’re psyched. We wanted to go a little backwards on it, keep it sounding crude, not too over-embellished, no reverb-y guitars or anything like that. Sort of backwards towards NOLA’s [their debut album from 1995] production – strip it right down. People seem to dig it. It’s got a lot of punch.”

Despite the fact the band have been together

for over two decades, only three albums have been released during that time, mainly due to the multiple high-profile other projects the band members have been involved in [Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar]. But Pepper assures us Down is the major focus for all members these days and is feeling confident about the future of the band.

“We’re trying to sort of beat the odds, because so many bands start to [disband] and so on. Down have become more powerful than we ever thought.

And that is 100% from the fans – the fans have kept this band alive, at points when we didn’t even give a shit. It’s become a real main priority, for now, unless something drastic happens. We don’t rely on this for our daily income. We’re not rich people, but we don’t need to be. We’ve known each other since we were kids, so we see through the bullshit.

Phil’s known me before I was in Corrosion of Conformity and I knew him before he was in Pantera. We were all neighbourhood kids, so it’s kind of an odd situation to be in, but we don’t take it for granted. Any one of us could have been dead in a ditch twenty times over, so we’re all happy we’re still here.” H

“Any one of us could have been dead in a ditch twenty times over, so we’re all happy we’re still here.”

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heavyfeature

stone sour latest release

With an epic new concept record about the power of choice, Corey Taylor challenges the stereotype of the ‘tormented creative genius.’ words Kimberley Croxford photos Courtesy of Roadrunner

house of gold & bones: part 1 by

Stone Sour

roadrunner

review Kimberley Croxford Obscure yet relatable and showcasing superb musicianship, part one is epic.

Progressive and with creative transitions between tracks it’s structurally incredible. Whether it’s Taylor’s technical vocal transitions or the tradeoff between huge, riffing distortion and transcendental guitar melodies, heavy and melodic elements are constantly and seamlessly contrasted. With massive choruses full of hooks that could pull a shark (A Rumour Of Skin, Tired) Taylor’s powerful, dynamic vocals shine. From the acoustic guitar, strings, haunting piano and deadened vocals of Travelers Part 1 and 2 to the eerie, disquieting whispers and ramblings throughout, it’s an album to sink your teeth into. c h ec k it out

‘Gone Sovereign’ @iTunes

C

orey Taylor is one of heavy music’s most renowned icons, his personal status even overshadowing his band. Stone Sour are often labelled ‘the guy from Slipknot’s other band,’ despite their own impressive career and members from notable acts Soulfly, Amebix and recently even Skid Row’s Rachel Bolan.

“It’s a good problem to have,” says Taylor, unfazed, “it turns people on to Stone Sour. If I’ve got to cheat to win, I’ll cheat to win,” he laughs.

Taylor’s attentiveness to the quality of his musical output has ensured both bands’ success.

“I respond to music that’s unique, exceptional, or that stirs something in me, so that’s the way I want to make my own music. It’s about taking time to ensure it’s impeccable, to make sure the listener can feel that it’s an individual creating something, not some corporation trying to sell them jeans or hand soap. You have to do something momentous to get people excited about music and put their hard-earned money down.”

So was it Taylor’s pursuit of the ‘momentous’ that inspired Stone Sour’s ambitious two-part concept album House Of Gold & Bones? “[The concept] was stuck in my brain, I just kept putting it on the backburner. Then Roy [Mayorga, drums] had a stroke. I was still dealing with the loss of Paul [Gray, Slipknot]… so it made me re-evaluate life – was I a good friend and a good person? That story I’d been thinking about came to the surface and I thought, ‘it’s time to do this.’”

Taylor says despite experimenting with science fiction and fantasy, the album’s narrative is largely autobiographical.

“Good fiction can come from anywhere, but great fiction comes from personal experience. If there’s one moment a person can relate to, you’ve hit a home run, because then that person is in the story living it right along with you. The last six years of my life have been about letting go of mistakes from my youth and figuring out who the hell I’m going to be for the rest of my life. The story is about making choices. It’s about what can happen when you make the right decisions instead of spinning your wheels in life’s mud.”

Music and art used to be purely cathartic for a younger Taylor who struggled with substance abuse and the skeletons in his closet. Fame may have destroyed others, but it saved Taylor, when his fans inspired an epiphany.

“I was so negative and people were scoffing at me.

Fans have a way of either emulating or immolating people. They’re either going to act like you, or they’re

going to tear you apart for the way you act. Here I was airing out all my bullshit and my fans were like, ‘really?

You’re in a position we’d kill to be in, what the hell do you have to bitch about?’ That led to me give up the booze, drugs and bullshit and get my shit together.”

Now a more prolific artist, Taylor embraced the opportunity to communicate his philosophies on broader issues, rather than his grievances.

“I try fight all [my baggage] with common sense now. Once I began looking at the upside of everything I really started to kick everything into high gear – I started writing better music and working on my first book [Seven Deadly Sins].”

Taylor stresses that as an artist, there’s a difference between embracing your demons and allowing them to consume you.

“I know where I’ve been and I’ve got the scars to prove it, [but] I let go of the self-pity. You have to stop being a survivor and start living. There are things inside me that are dark and heavy, but I turned that around and used music to let go. I embraced my demons, I didn’t turn my back on them, but when I just accepted them as a part of who I am, that was the turning point.”

Letting go of the past liberated Taylor and he hopes to encourage others to choose a path of positivity.

“It takes years. You have to forgive yourself, defend yourself and believe in yourself. You have to have a vision of who you want to be. My whole life I knew I wanted to be a good person and even though I took these crazy detours and went off the deep end, I always tried to come back. Mistakes are meant to be made.

It’s that person you’re striving to be that’s important.”

Known to have attempted suicide, in retrospect Taylor recognises the foolishness of his actions.

“I was much younger. When I almost jumped off the balcony, I was so loaded – it was more a case of being wasted than depressed. I think I’m the perfect person to talk to kids about suicide, because the first thing I tell them is it’s okay to feel like that, everybody does.

I try stress that everything’s temporary… Kids deal with crazy shit, but if I leave them with anything it’s the message that they’re stronger than they could possibly know, because I was.”

Since conquering his demons Taylor’s creativity exploded, to the point where he doesn’t know where it’ll stop.

“I’m in the process of developing a television show.

It’s fictional, not that reality shit,” he reveals excitedly, “I’m writing a new book and working on my first comic based around House Of Gold & Bones. I don’t think I have room in my schedule for anything new, but god forbid I actually put thought into it, because I’d probably try and make room.” H

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Left to right: Roy Mayorga, Corey Taylor, Josh Rand and Jim Root.

“Fans have a way of either emulating or immolating people.

They’re either going to act like you, or they’re going to tear you apart for the way you act.”

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ozfeecher power & passion

parkway d r The band who put Aussie heavy music on the map are set to take over the world, with the musically innovative and thematically rich Atlas. words Kimberley Croxford photos Amped Photography

C

Above: Frontman Winston McCall confronting the world’s problems one guttural scream at time.

Jeff Ling… thinks religion is bad too.

ompassion can be a burden. A reference to the mythological Greek titan who ‘carried the weight of the world of his shoulders,’ Winston McCall is Atlas. During an eyeopening international tour (filmed for their DVD Home Is For The Heartless), Parkway became acquainted with the guilt that inevitably accompanies witnessing the less fortunate endure hardship.

“The way we travel drops us in the middle of things. It’s not like going on holiday where they show you the nicest parts. You get to take in these wonderful things but you also take on the negatives. You fly into places like Calcutta and the Philippines and feel so far above everyone else in terms of your quality of life, simply because you have shoes. The microphone I use is worth more money than these people have ever seen. You feel so inadequate. You give them all the money you have in your wallet and yet there’s still an entire nation of people who live in the same

conditions. Then you go home and watch shows like Who Wants To be A Millionaire? and think, ‘how do we justify this?’ There are definitely songs on the new record led by guilt… Guilt goes hand in hand with luck and we’re simply lucky to born in this country.”

McCall deals with his personal sense of responsibility by advocating for awareness through his music.

“I’ve been given this wonderful platform to speak out. The bigger we get, the more we can act... Being switched on is the first step. There’s no excuse for blind ignorance in this day and age.”

McCall says the Atlas metaphor is also intended to represent a universal pressure on humanity.

“We’re this blip in history, but the amount we’ve managed to accomplish, both positive and negative, in this time period is enormous. We’ve progressed to the point where we’ve pushed our own home, our planet, to the absolute brink. It’s a really interesting time to be alive, for better or worse, but you do feel as though you’re carrying something.”

Affected by the dichotomy between prosperity and poverty he experienced on his travels, McCall is occupied with the idea of ‘advancement’ at the expense of a connection to our environment and one another.

“Our sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves – we belong to an ecosystem that’s worldwide – has been out-stripped by intellectual progress.”

So would McCall say our survival instinct that prevents us from becoming too immersed in others’ suffering, because we can’t carry the world on our shoulders, has become complacency in prosperous western society?

“Definitely. We seem to condition ourselves to override compassion for personal gain of any description. It’s very easy to be disconnected, everyone does it to a certain degree. There’s so much suffering worldwide and not just human suffering, in the natural world the whole planet is on its knees, but you can’t really connect with that when you’re sitting on your couch. You see an ad that says, ‘donate 30 dollars a month,’ and you go, ‘oh, that makes me sad, I’ll switch the channel,’ but when you’re actually looking someone who’s suffering in the face it’s a very different thing.”

McCall says our disconnectedness isn’t a deliberate shortcoming, but rather an unfortunate repercussion of our accelerated population and over-reliance on technology.

“All those little things have built up, simply because we’ve progressed so quickly.”

Musically, Atlas sees Parkway progress in leaps and bounds. While still brutally heavy, winding you with each perfectly placed punch, it’s superior to previous releases with its imaginative instrumentation.

“The first song we wrote was the title track.

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listen now

‘Dark Day’ @iTunes From their new album Atlas

d rive We were like, ‘okay, this is completely different from anything we’ve ever done, we can either tone this song back or just go mental,’ so we started to do whatever the hell we wanted and put trumpets and strings in.”

Set to embark on their largest national tour yet in December, the band will also step up their live show. Their last performance featured beachballs and camera crew rowing across the crowd in inflatable boats, so how much more elaborate can Parkway’s live spectacle get?

“We want to push the experience beyond, ‘wow, I’m having a great time.’ The music will make you think, so the visuals that go along with it should complement that.”

Parkway’s upcoming tour showcases a lineup of all-Australian support acts – something the band did deliberately in an effort to expose Australian artists.

“We had so many submissions from overseas but we were like, ‘we can’t justify bringing any of these

“It’s a really interesting time to be alive, for better or worse, but you do feel as though you’re carrying something.” bands over.’ It should be a real privilege to be able to come to Australia and play and it would be doing Australia an injustice to not put Aussie bands on.’

Often credited as the band to put Australian heavy music on the map, Parkway are incredibly humble.

“It’s pretty wild that people think that. It’s something you never expect anyone to say about you – it’s like being given an Aria. I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s nice, but I hope we’re doing a good job,” McCall laughs bashfully.

Their contribution to Australian music doesn’t stop haters from disputing that Parkway ‘don’t accurately represent Aussie metal’ because of the core elements of their sound. But McCall lets it roll off his back.

“Being a true representation of anything other than Parkway doesn’t really concern us. Individuality is the thing that matters the most in the world. If you’re too concerned about belonging to something then you should really take a look in the mirror and figure out if you’re happy with who you are.” H

Bassist and all-round nice guy, Jia ‘Pie’ O’Connor

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heavyfeature

cannibal corpse A founding member of death metal frontrunners Cannibal Corpse, Paul Mazurkiewicz takes a retrospective look at the band of teenagers who helped pioneer a genre. words Rob Brens live photos Sheri Tantawy

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lock your grandmother’s ears, Cannibal Corpse are back with their twelfth studio album Torture.

With total album sales in the millions, Cannibal Corpse have proven no amount of censorship will slow them down. On the contrary, some would argue they wouldn’t have gotten this far if they didn’t have the White House railing against

them.

“We just took any press we were getting as good press, it had people talking. If they didn’t know who the band was before, they knew then. It’s crazy, it really didn’t do anything to affect anybody else, other than to make us more popular,” Mazurkiewicz laughs, “We’ll take it where we can get it.”

Today there seems to be an air of one-upmanship in the field of gore-related death metal. Song titles are getting lengthier as bands continue to mingle various bodily functions and excretions with a myriad of sexual and/or torturous acts, with the results erring closer to the comical. But back when the New York quintet Cannibal Corpse were mere teens, it was just about a love of music, and horror of course. For Cannibal Corpse the ensuing furore was never factored in.

“It was never meant to cause controversy, because it wasn’t meant for those people who weren’t into it. You played death metal because you loved to play it and you wanted to play for other people that loved it. You weren’t playing because you wanted to get back at your parents. But, of course, people who don’t know what’s going on might be like, ‘whoa, that’s a little much’.

I don’t think we expected anything back then, you were just doing your thing and we still are in a way. When we were growing up in the ’80s you would go to the record store and see a cover for the first time. That’s how you determined if you wanted to buy it or not. I think as fans we wanted to see something exciting, dark and sinister

that went with the music. So, when you walked into the store and saw the Kreator Endless Pain cover it was like, ‘wow, that’s pretty brutal, I want to buy this.’ Bands like Slayer and covers like Hell Awaits – it’s what you wanted.

As a fan you just felt like that. If my Mom was to look at it she’d be like, ‘whatever,’ whether she was offended or just not into it. Back then, the intention was to please the fans and we did that as fans ourselves. We wanted to be a very extreme death metal band and we wanted to take it to another level. Eaten Back To Life (1990) was our first opportunity to do that.”

Today’s generation of metal musicians have decades of lineage to draw upon to help shape their sound and the resources to seek music out in an instant. Growing up in the ’80s, the variety wasn’t so abundant, especially when it came to newer, heavier sounds.

“It was a weird time and we were literally growing with that movement. You’re thinking about getting into music around ’81 and what’s around at that time is mainstream metal for the most part, especially for 12-13 year olds who are just listening to the radio and being typical kids without a lot of avenues. You don’t have the internet and unless you’re really involved in a musical family that’s the only way you were finding out, listening to radio. Then you get a bit older – you’re going to concerts, seeing things more and finding out more about bands from music magazines and friends. We’re talking about the mid ’80s where we’re going from Judas Priest to Iron Maiden and then, ‘whoa what’s this Metallica stuff? This is crazy!’ then, ‘wow, Slayer! This is taking it to the next level.’ It was all brand new and we were all just riding this wave, because we were just teenagers at the time. Before you know it it’s ’85, you want to start a band – you just have this desire. What’s pushing you is your love for this whole new thing, it’s not just saying, ‘I want to play death metal’ because, well, ‘what’s death metal?’ We didn’t even know yet at that point.

We just wanted to play with our love of metal and our fascination with what was coming next. Then bands like Death, Possessed, Celtic Frost and Morbid Angel were coming out. You had bands taking it to the next level of extreme and we were definitely part of that, big time.”

Today’s technology has afforded sub genre after sub genre to spawn, however with this has resulted a degree of divisiveness. To Mazurkiewicz and the other members of Cannibal Corpse, the perpetuation of metal in all its forms is always a good thing, regardless of what clothes people choose to wear or how they style

torture tour Billboard (Melbourne) Friday 5 October 2012 When it comes to brutality, controversy and a massive cult following, few can match Cannibal Corpse.

Absent from Australian shores for three years, these death metal godfathers are known for their undisputedly furious live display.

The kings of gore took to the stage and the absolutely packed venue went mad.

Windmilling and head-banging throughout their entire set, they covered material from all of their 12 albums. While Demented

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wat c h n o w

‘Encased in Concrete’ @YouTube From their latest album Torture

Aggression and Encased In Concrete introduced latest release Torture, seminal favourites were honoured by performances of Covered With Sores, Born In A Casket and I Cum Blood, introduced by growler George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher. Nobody can top his head spins, even though he apparently doesn’t have a neck.

Unforgettable from beginning to end, highlights were F**ked With A Knife (dedicated to all women present) a fan crowd surfing in a wheelchair and an encore of Hammer Smashed Face followed

by Stripped, Raped And Strangled.

If you managed to get out of there with all your limbs attached to your body, you’re a legend.

– Fabio Marraccini

their hair. To them, the proliferation of heavy music alone means the future is bright.

“There are so many different kinds of extreme metal that are doing amazingly. I think it’s great. Death metal is still plugging away and going strong. The fact that we’re doing as well as we are is just a testament to how strong this music is, because we’re not doing anything differently. We’re just brutal death metal and if we can still stay popular, relevant, sell more records and do bigger tours it’s because more people are getting into it. Metal is just strong, it’s better and bigger than ever and it think it’s going to continue to [grow] for years to come.”

Recently, Cannibal Corpse returned to Australia in support of their latest blood-splattered release. Once upon a time Australia was one of the countries alongside Germany and America that succumbed to the censorship hysteria, which saw the sale of all of the band’s releases banned until 2006. While we still see the odd protest here and there against bands like Iron Maiden, there was no stopping Cannibal Corpse from brutalising our shores.

“Luckily we haven’t had any problems. I remember that one instance a couple of years back when there were a couple of unfortunate murders that happened just around us coming back at that time, I think there was talk for a minute that we might not be able to come or something, but we made it.” H

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coming2oz

at the gates Sweden’s At The Gates have a 22-year legacy, but this Spring will be the first time they tour Australia. For vocalist Tomas Lindberg the visit is a new cause for excitement, marking the ressurection of the melodic death metal heavy weights since the departure of central members – the Bjorler brothers in 1996 – determined their end. words Patrick Emmett photo Courtesy of Deathproof PR

I

t’s been 20 years since you released your second album With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness. Is there any chance of that album being played in its entirety on your Australian tour to celebrate the milestone?

It’s on the [cards]. That album is one of my favourite At The Gates albums. There’s a lot of stuff on there that could be considered really hardcore, technical stuff. It would take some time to rehearse though and I’m not sure how many people are actually into that album.

We always play a couple of songs live from it.

We’ve never played it at its entirety, but I’ll think about it.

Which Australian bands do you rate?

I’m only familiar with a few. The obvious band would be AC/DC, but I’m not sure if they would be considered metal. Other than them, some of the bands I like are Slaughter Lord, Mortal Sin, Sadistik Exection and Hobbs’ Angel of Death.

When there’s a really good band popping up, I don’t pay attention to what country they’re from.

Years ago, you claimed you didn’t want to follow up with a new album because your last album [Slaughter of the Soul] was released over a decade ago and people wouldn’t like it.

Do you still stand by that?

We feel the need to keep the legacy of Slaughter of the Soul in tact. It would be unfair, a new album – people have had to wait for such a long time.

They’d worry about how good the new album would be, they’d have the memories of Slaughter of the Soul and it would make it hard to compare.

Has the current lineup entertained the idea of writing new music under a different name?

You never know, [but] there’s nothing planned for it whatsoever. We really enjoy creating stuff together and hanging around, but there are no plans.

The switch from extreme death metal to melodic death metal was obviously a big part of your career. What influenced the band to change their sound?

We’ve never really thought of it like that. We just tried to do the best we could and play what we wanted to hear. Maybe it took us in a different direction here and there, but the main thing was moving on as artists. We also realised that it was hard to write songs that were more intricate to play but still listenable.

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listen now

‘Blinded By Fear’ @iTunes From their 1996 album Slaughter of the Soul

The Bjorler brothers leaving in 1996 saw the end of At The Gates. What made you feel as if you couldn’t go on as a band after their departure?

It was like an implosion. Anders [Bjorler, guitar] felt as if it was too much presssure on him to write a new album. We were young and we didn’t think we’d have a diplomacy to make an accurate ending. That’s why we’re back, to make the ending that we want to have.

Your stint with The Crown was sensational, what other bands have you been involved in post At The Gates?

I had a few good years in The Crown and we did quite a good record together. Then I worked with Disfear, which is more of a punk hardcore band. I’m also in a band called Lock Up, which features members from Napalm Death and Dimmu Borgir.

You’re now a teacher. How do students react to your history in a death metal band?

I teach in the suburbs and the kids mostly listen to music off MTV, like R&B and hip-hop. They’re not really into the metal. They think it’s cool that they have a teacher who’s in a band, but I try not to make too much of it. I don’t try to be the cool teacher, because that could pull back on me.

Any last words for your Australian fans?

I’m really excited for this tour and it’s going to be f**kin’ killer to come down to Australia. It’ll probably be the first and last time that we come down to Australia, so it’ll be a very special moment. H

“We were young and we didn’t think we would have a diplomacy to make an accurate ending.

That’s why we’re back, to make the ending that we want to have.”

Dark Funeral

On the brink of his first Aussie jaunt, new vocalist Nachtgarm of black metal act Dark Funeral excitedly anticipates seeing ‘an Australian person in real life.’ words Liam Guy photo Courtesy of Century Media

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weden’s Dark Funeral have spent the last 12 months refining their new lineup with an extensive run of shows around the world. The band parted ways with long-serving vocalist Emperor Magus Caligula in 2010 and being the new blood to step into his space after fifteen years wouldn’t be such an easy job. But according to recently enlisted frontman Nachtgarm, he and the band’s new bassist Zornheym have enjoyed their inaugural year.

Dark Funeral’s globetrotting will approach it’s end for 2012 with a visit to our humble country in November.

Nachtgarm spoke to HEAVY while taking a short hiatus from Dark Funeral’s travels, a break that’s proving beneficial for the singer’s health. “I’ve been suffering inflammation of my sinuses, but I’m doing well. Hopefully I’ll be better by next week. I’ve had this shit for almost two weeks now and it sucks big time.”

The break is much deserved by the looks of the the bands schedule since Nachtgarm and Zornheym’s recruitment in June 2011.

“We’ve toured Latin America, Greece and played the 70,000 Tonnes of Metal cruise in the United States.

We also toured Russia, Slovenia and the Ukraine, as well as Wacken, the big German metal festivals and the Sweden Rock Festival. So we’ve been kind of busy,” Nachtgarm laughs, ”This will be my first time visiting Australia. I’m really looking forward to actually seeing a lot of the country itself in our four days. I’m keen to meet Australian people, because I’ve never actually seen an Australian person in real life before. I’m excited to experience the mentality, the surroundings and even the food, I’m a big eater. I’ve heard a lot of stories from the other [members of the band] that Australians are the best crowd on the planet, so you’ll have to prove that.”

The last time Dark Funeral visited our shores was in 2009 for the Screamfest New Year’s Eve shows in Sydney, on the back of their last album. While Dark

Funeral fans are usually left waiting for long lapses of time between albums, the band’s time consuming but diligent approach adds to the quality of their output, verifying the catch phrase ‘good things come to those who wait.’ When the question of a new Dark Funeral album is raised, Nachtgarm confirms that work has begun on a new record, but is reserved about the details.

“It’ll be done when it’s done. People can expect a lot from the next record, because there will be new influences from the new members. Of course it’ll still sound like Dark Funeral, because Ahriman [founding guitarist] is in charge of writing the riffs.”

Due to their long career, Dark Funeral are familiar with a persistent old cliché that casts a shadow over the black metal genre, upholding that if any black metal band manages to gain any semblance of wide-scale notability, they’ve immediately lost their credibility.

“I stopped following the scene a few years ago because of this. People were threatening each other.”

But Nachtgarm recognises a little validity in this notion, as since the early days of black metal many artists have either faded into obscurity or altered their sound and image to suit more commercial pastures.

Nachtgarm asserts that Dark Funeral will never compromise.

“That’s the reason why Dark Funeral are still here.

A lot of the other bands have tried to jump on those trains to make money. Of course you can make money out of your passion, but you should remain true to yourself. That’s what most of them forget.” H

listen now

‘Declaration of Hate’ @iTunes From their album Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus

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coming2oz

listen now

‘Wiped Out’ @iTunes From their debut self-titled album

off!

OFF! are a frenzied blast from the past and immediately had Black Flag and Circle Jerks fans flipping out, drawing on the old school punk of Morris’ previous bands.

BLACK FLAG

Nervous Breakdown (1978) The legendary Black Flag’s debut EP and the only one to feature Keith Morris’ maniacal, erratic, vocal performance before Reyes, Cadena and then, of course, Rollins took over the mic. c h e c k out

‘Nervous Breakdown’ @iTunes

Manager, producer and guitarist Dimitri Coats is keeping it DIY and down to earth, tirelessly sorting through a pile of merchandise in preparation for another extensive tour.

interview Kimberley Croxford photo Aaron Farley

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ans from every corner of rock’n’roll pricked up their ears when they heard about OFF! with members of Redd Kross, Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snake, Burning Brides and led by the iconic Keith Morris [Circle Jerks, Black Flag]. Inevitably, curiosity generated by the band members’ notable histories has attributed to your early success. Did you expect this kind of reception?

We were just going to start putting out 7” inches and playing backyard parties, but before we could do that we were getting offers from labels. It certainly helped to throw all those band names on a piece of paper, but that can work against you. We were lucky we delivered the goods. A lot of these ‘supergroups’ look good on paper but when you hear the music it’s underwhelming.

After a successful acting career, your time with Burning Brides and now a young family, what makes you want to drive so hard with this band even though you’ve settled down?

Music is kind of like a religion. I’m sure it’s saved all of our lives at one point and continues to, it’s a gift that keeps giving. And when you strike the jackpot with a band it’s very rare – no one’s going to f**k with that.”

OFF! tap into the old school punk of Keith’s previous bands, but you’ve said you’d like to

progress and take things in new directions. How do you propose to maintain both?

You don’t want stray too far off the path of who you are. One of the reasons we’ve had success early on is because we struck a nerve, we reminded fans of punk and hardcore, of what made that genre great in the first place. We need to stick to that skeleton, but the muscles and the veins and the tendons – there can be some freedom there. We can fast, or we can eat a lot of burgers and get really fat, as long as the skeleton is there.

OFF! try and maintain a sense of urgency in their songs, but you also pay particular attention to your songwriting process. How do you achieve this balance?

When Keith and I are writing I say to him ‘okay, here comes the chorus, what are you going to say?

This is it. Five kids are scrambling right now to reach for your microphone to sing this chorus, what the f**k are you going to say? We’re a little more calculated than people may think in terms of the structure of tunes. A lot of the urgency comes from drinking too much coffee, being really stubborn, having mental problems and big egos. Then, we force ourselves to work quickly. As producer I get to say, ‘alright, I just talked to the label and they need the record to come out in the Fall, that gives us a month to write the tunes. Who’s with me? Everybody gets really scared, but they know that’ll create that intensity we’re looking for.

CIRCLE JERKS

Golden Shower Of Hits (1983) Circle Jerks’ third album, which despite a misleading title, is not a compilation. Circle Jerks continued on and off until 2010 and released three more studio albums, a live album and compilation, but this was their last with the original lineup. c h e c k out

‘When The Shit Hits The Fan’ @iTunes

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photo courtesy of deathproof pr

These three brave fellows proudly wear their hearts on their sleeves... and their genitals in a sling.

Dimitri’s inappropriate choice of footwear often sees him slipping off stage and onto unexpecting audience members.

You don’t come from a punk background, but having started the band while you were producing a Circle Jerks album you must have known how punk bands operate. Is that why you and Keith clicked?

Not at all, I didn’t have any clue what I was getting myself into. While I certainly knew about The Stooges, The Saints, The Misfits and the Ramones I didn’t have a shaved head when I was a kid and go to hardcore shows. I was more of a classic rock kind of a guy.

I just fell into writing with Keith. I wasn’t even used to playing rhythm guitar in that way – all down strokes.

I started feeling like I was playing Black Sabbath really fast and it turned into something that really, really excited Keith. I was able to pull the ghost of Keith Morris’ past into the front. We built a time machine.

I don’t have any kind of punk rock feel or preconceived idea as to how things should be, I just f**king go for it and try to please Keith.

You say you try and ‘please Keith,’ but does discovering this new genre excite you as well?

Absolutely. It makes me feel 18 years old and it’s really inspiring that people our age can re-invent themselves this way.

Do you think punk has a youthful, rejuvenating affect on people in general?

[Punk’s] largely about being in the moment. The younger you are, the more in the moment you are.

You’re not as self-conscious and you don’t have the influence of society weighing you down. I love that aspect of this band. It’s kind of like getting on a motorcycle, riding a rollercoaster, jumping outside of a plane, or fighting a bull. It’s an adrenaline rush and I can get my yah yahs out.

Keith had a lot to say during his time as frontman of Circle Jerks. In terms of our social and political climate, is there plenty for him to rant about now?

[Laughs] yeah, he’s always finding new and exciting things to be angry about. For a guy who’s a little bit older, he really does keep his ear to the ground. He knows about all the new bands, he’s kind of like an aging hipster. It’s inspiring. H OFF! will be coming to Australia in January, 2013.

Cock And Ball Torture With a name as revealing as Cock And Ball Torture, one doesn’t have to be too imaginative to guess what these German nuts sound like. Humorous and down to earth, bassist Timo Pahlke is excited to finally bring his band’s X-rated gore grind our way. interview Liam Guy Cock And Ball Torture will be embarking on their first Australian tour this year. What have you got planned?

We’re going to do five shows in around ten days: Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and two Melbourne shows.

Unfortunately there’s neither a Perth nor a Brisbane show planned, but as you can probably imagine organising such a tour has its limits, both logistically and financially. This is going to be huge for us as a band.

Coming from Germany and playing some style of metal that is niche indeed, we’re excited we get the chance to come Down Under. It’s a dream come true and we’ll do everything we can to make these shows the best we’ve ever played.

The band’s lineup has remained unchanged since formation. What can you tell us about the beginnings of CBT? We are still the same three guys since we formed the band in the winter of 1997, which sounds a little bit epic to me – to think that we’ve been around for one and half decades. After already playing together in a death metal band [Carnal Tomb] for some years, we realised that there had to be a change. Everybody was really into the death metal hype at the end of the ’80s/beginning ’90s, which was cool, but at a certain point annoying.

Around the mid ’90s gore grind was developing slowly in the underground scene and after listening to an act like Gut we decided to form Cock And Ball Torture and create our own style of music, instead of playing as a Cannibal Corpse/Obituary/Deicide cover band. Keeping the same lineup from the beginning is the backbone of the band, there´ll never be any changes, that’s for sure.

Over the band’s time, what other countries have you played beside your homeland Germany?

We’ve played the US, Japan, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and almost the rest of Europe... but there are still a shitload of new countries that we need

to add to our list. Australia is one of them! As you grow older it becomes more and more difficult to play shows and tour, but at least we try to do as many as possible, because getting around and playing your music is really an awesome way to spend time.

Grind is big in the Czech Republic. Is there a big fanbase for the genre in Germany?

Everybody quotes the Czech guys as the number one grind freaks in Europe and that’s true. I don’t know what it is that makes it so prevalent, but I am sure it comes from the balls… grind comes straight from the balls [laughs]. I don´t know much about the grind scene nowadays. We’re not that active in keeping in touch with ‘the scene’ as you have to set some priorities when you grow older. School, work, kids and so on are more important as you can’t make a living with that kind of music.

From your recordings, I really like the sound of your guitar tone. What kind of equipment do you guys use?

Peavey heads and Engl speakers are the basics, plus some equalising tools and effects, but I’m not sure about those because I’m the bassist. You know, one of those people who want to be in a band but can’t play an instrument and end up with the one you can’t ruin that much [laughs]. What I can say is we always try to come up with a sound that suits all three of us. Not too clear and mid-balanced, a little bit crunchy and crusty, but with a lot of balls… grind comes straight from the balls.

Your last release was the 2004 album Egoleech. Are you guys preparing any new material anytime soon?

That just depends on your definition of ‘soon’ [laughs].

We’ve wanted to do some new recordings for a long time... we’re often writing new tunes. But since we’re never 100% satisfied we’ve re-arranged and re-written and gone back again and again. But we try hard and we definitely want to release some new songs... whenever. H Cock And Ball Torture will be coming to Australia in January, 2013.

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ozfeecher aussie legends

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the mark of cain Fans have endured over a decade of silence from our acclaimed Adelaide brothers. But now they return armed with an album that frontman John Scott regards as the finest and broadest The Mark Of Cain masterpiece to date.

That first album, released by small Adelaide label Dominator Records, will it ever be re-released? I’d love to see it on vinyl.

It’s interesting that you say that. Tim Pittman from Fuel Management/Records, which this album is being released on, he’s hinted at possibly doing a re-release on vinyl of Battlesick...

He’s definitely toying with that idea.

words Olivia Reppas photo Ben Searcy

I

presume during the songwriting process for Songs Of The Third & Fifth you encountered a fair share of hurdles, primarily the tyranny of distance with drummer John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk, Battles)] based in the US. How did you overcome this?

Maybe we didn’t [overcome] it, because it took so long. It definitely made it difficult.

We started writing probably in 2006 – John would come [to Australia] with his other bands, Tomahawk or Battles. Looking at the audio for one of the songs we recorded, Grey Eleven, which has [Henry] Rollins on it, we recorded the bass guitar and drums on 12 February 2008. Rollins did his vocals on the 16 April 2008, but I didn’t complete my vocals until 28 July 2009. So that gives you an idea of how long and drawn out it was. Final mixes weren’t done until May 2011.

What pedals/amplifiers are must-haves for the TMOC live sound?

I’ve still got my Adelaide built MHB, it’s a very clean, non-distorted amplifier. I use with that a Boss Digital Metaliser, which I don’t think is made anymore, and I also use just a graphic equaliser. Kim uses a Woogie, which is sort of a Boogie but is made in Adelaide [laughs].

You’re often portrayed as an ‘outsider’ in The Mark of Cain’s recordings and both lyrically and on your blog themes centre

photo Courtesy of Two Fish Out Of Water

You wrote on your blog, ‘I know in my heart that this is the best thing we’ve ever done.’ What is it about this album that makes you so proud?

It’s because we sat and thought about what we were attempting to do with the next album. Should a band just record because the band is in existence, or should they record because they’ve got something to put out?

John said how much he loved all our earlier stuff with a bit more melody and I agreed.

I thought we’d been doing the riff-based stuff for quite a while. I went and tried to write music that was still TMOC but allowed me to sing a little more and put some melody down.

[The album] almost straddles our first album Battlesick to our last album This Is This – it encompasses everything.

Is a Rickenbacker guitar still your weapon of choice for TMOC? I’m still using the Rickenbackers and if Rickenbacker would bloody get off their arse and sponsor me that would be fantas-

tic, considering I think we’re the only ones who even use Rickenbackers [laughs]. I must say, though, my brother [Kim Scott, bass] doesn’t use a Rickenbacker, he uses and has always used an Ibanez. Which some purists, would think strange… but we’ve always felt Ibanez Rickenbacker copies are superior to the Rickenbacker basses. Now I just blew my sponsorship!

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latest release

ozfeecher aussie legends

on relationship breakdowns. Where does your tendency to channel emotional pain through your art come from?

I think it’s part catharsis – it’s got to be! [Laughs].

I certainly don’t try and have that in my life but it just seems to happen. It gets quite depressing when you get to my age, things seem difficult, but I do have a new relationship that I’m very happy about. I guess I’ll always relate to the outsider no matter what and I’ve always felt somewhat alienated from my fellow man… I think a lot of people do, it’s not as uncommon as you’d think.

It’s been over a decade since your last release. Do you feel any sense of apprehension releasing an album in a changed industry?

I’m always apprehensive from the point of view of its reception with my peers. The current climate [of the industry] doesn’t concern me. I feel our fans tend not to be fashionistas and listen to music with a definite focus on what they like, not what others are into. I’d like a new generation to become aware of our music, but if not, so be it.

How do you manage balancing your music, family commitments and your day job?

My relationship broke up late 2010 and at that time I reconsidered everything I was doing, including my job. So at present I am unemployed, doing a Training and Assessment Certificate IV at TAFE. Kim, however, still faces this balancing act, as he has a demanding job in the defence industry, plus a wife and two children. Back when we had little work responsibilities we rehearsed three times a week and played weekends. Now, since it’s only occasional it’s easier, but Kim still has to make sure his diary is cleared for when we tour. We tend to play Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows so it’s possible to be back for work on a Monday with little interruption. I can never go back on a Monday, I want the experience to last as long as possible. Kim is always back at work on a Monday. He’s a good boy.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

My favourite at the moment – my daughter loves it and she’s six – is Lowrider by ZZ Top [laughs]. H

“I’ve always felt somewhat alienated from my fellow man. I think a lot of people do, it’s not as uncommon as you’d think.”

Songs Of The Third And Fifth by

The Mark Of Cain

Feel Presents / Fuse

review Mark Lennard The brothers Scott and drummer John Stanier have laid down nine new tracks worth the 11-year wait. Their trademark backbone of bass and beats drives along angstladen offerings that sound invigorated and fresh and include the occasional hint of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis amid John Scott’s classic vocal delivery.

Opener Barkhammer, the punishing Milosevic, the unhinged Eastern Decline and groovy Clutch-like Grey 11 are prime examples of why this album is a must. t h e s tan d o u t

‘Barkhammer’ @iTunes

n e e r G o h c y s P EEN PSYCHO GR

oon s g n i m o c ’ T TRAP A R ‘ P E k c .com.au a o o h 5 tr a y @ 1 e ddevin Bookings: d

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photo by shadowzone photography

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ozfeecher

wat c h n o w

‘Drink Fight F**k’ @YouTube

power & passion

blood duster Controversial Melbourne shit-stirrers Blood Duster have released their latest album Kvlt and bassist Jason PC Fuller says it’ll raise more than a few eyebrows. words Damo Musclecar photo John Hatfield

“W

e like to mix it up. If you look at our back catalogue there’s a short album, a triple album, etc. Unless we’re actually creating something that’s a little bit different or entertaining, then it’s f**king boring. We’re not going to be Cannibal Corpse and do the same record 13 times. We’re here more for our own amusement than anyone else’s.”

For over 20 years now, Blood Duster have been making waves, causing controversy wherever they go and doing things their own way, right down to cover art.

“I’ve always thought our cover art has been deliberately shit – black with white writing, or just a simple logo. A lot of the time, with grindcore and death metal, the cover becomes way too important and it never lives up to what the album is like. For example, Cannibal Corpse. They have f**kin’ skeletons and open

vagina surgery with blood, gore and all this ridiculous nonsense. It’s like, ‘did you just spend all your time thinking up a really gory cover because the music is just exactly the same?’ You [should] put a record on and the record should actually be the artistic part. I think simplicity is overlooked. Sometimes the best idea is to do nothing.”

And nothing is pretty much what you’ll hear of their eighth album.

“The album is coming out only on ultralimited edition, scratched-as-f**k vinyl. I’m actually a vinyl-cutting engineer. I cut the record myself and checked to make sure the record was awesome and sounded good. Then, I scratched the f**k out of the original master and we’ve pressed the album from scratched vinyl, so no one will ever hear it the way it was recorded.”

Erm, come at me again? You’re deliberately going out of your way so that we can’t hear your new record?

“We were led down this path by everyone downloading music illegally. It got us to a point where we thought, ‘are we willing to invest a few thousand dollars in recording an album people are just going to take [for free] anyway?

That led us to think, ‘who are we doing this for?

Do we do music for us, or do we do it for other people?’ And we really do make music just for us. It’s an odd concept to get your head around, but to me it makes perfect sense.”

Hearing Fuller’s commitment to this idea in Straight outta Northcote!

his voice, it’s obvious he’s not joking around.

While many would see this as some sort of humorous joke in print, he assures us the absurd idea is most definitely no laughing matter and solidifies the band’s stance on today’s music industry.

“I want people to know that we went to all the effort to make a record. I want people to be able to hold the record and put a needle down onto the vinyl and think, ‘they f**king did this, but they also went out of their way to f**k me over.’ I don’t want people to buy the album and not know that it’s scratched – I want you to know it’s scratched. I want you to know that no one is ever going to hear it. After we cut the vinyl master, I then went and destroyed the master off of the computer, threw it in the trash. The band had one final listen to it and that was it. It’s gone. It was an odd moment when I knew all the masters were destroyed and I’d scratched the last copy, but it seemed like the only logical thing to do.”

Some could say it’s quite a selfish attitude to adopt, but not Blood Duster.

“I feel that we’ve been giving and giving and giving, but this time we’ve done it purely just for us. No one else is going to enjoy listening to this album.”

So if we can never hear it, can Fuller stretch his principles in order to describe how it sounded?

“Some of the album is along the lines of Fisting The Dead and then some songs are rock’n’roll like Drink Fight F**k off of our selftitled record. There’s a definite mix.”

With such a glowing review, how frustrating it is that we’ll never hear Kvlt in all its glory.

“I wish you could hear it, but I’m also glad you’re not going to.”

Um, thanks. I think. H

“After we cut the vinyl master, I went and destroyed the master off the computer, threw it in the trash.

The band had one final listen to it and that was it, it’s gone.”

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listen now

‘Life Underground’ @iTunes From their latest album Chasing Ghosts

the amity affliction Building a rapport with young people through their relatable, emotive music, Amity advocate for selfhelp on Chasing Ghosts.

Drummer Ryan Burt speaks about the album’s themes, the afterlife and iced coffee.

Joel Birch, tattooed and intense.

words Kimberley Croxford photo carbiewarbie.com

O

n Youngbloods and the new release, predominant themes are suicide and depression. Do you think Amity will you continue exploring these issues on future releases?

It’ll continue. It’s something really close to Joel’s [Birch, vocals] heart.

Amity as a band are now recognised as spokespeople against suicide. Have you been active on suicide prevention in other ways?

We’re promoting Headspace [headspace.org.au] right now. It’s for depression, anxiety and drug use – just a place to go and talk to people and get help if you’re struggling mentally as a young person. It’s online and you can actually go talk to people.

Would you say your band communicates more effectively to young people than a lot of organisations?

Yeah, kids really listen to the lyrics these days. It just gives them something to actually listen to, because we’re people on their level and in their scene.

Chasing Ghosts’ cover was almost banned for depicting a person who had suicided. How did you justify that image to people who objected?

People saw the picture and were like, ‘oh that’s confronting,’ but anyone who knows our history knows what a picture means, it’s a positive message too. It needs to be a bit brutal for people to stand up and realise. Even the haters understand now, so the more confronting you are the more people will take notice.

How are you sure the messages in Amity’s lyrics are going to have a positive effect on people struggling?

We’ve always communicated the message that there’s another option, that suicide isn’t the answer.

Joel’s way of writing makes an impact, it hits you very hard, but we get positive feedback every day from kids.

While Joel writes the lyrics, everyone in the band can personally relate to being in a dark place to some extent. Do you think a degree of familiarity with this kind of darkness is something that’s simply human?

Everyone goes through it, just not a lot of people talk about it and that’s what we’re trying to get across. People hold it in and that’s when things get worse. No one’s alone.

Another theme is the non-existence of the afterlife and the need to embrace life on Earth rather than ‘chasing ghosts’. Why do so many of us ‘look to the sky’ instead of living?

I don’t really know, [but] you may as well live your life right now, because there isn’t another one. The worst thing is holding back – do things you want to do and live your life. If you’re having problems, talk about it. Life’s a special thing.

Despite these serious themes you guys are renowned as a party band. Do you think extroverted people are more predisposed to conditions like depression?

Of course. I think the people who are more outspoken and outgoing are the ones with the most problems, that’s also a bit of a front for those problems. But I don’t know, [depression] is a very confusing thing.

I’ve read that you never drink before a show.

Why’s this?

As the drummer I’ve got to hold the show together, so I’ve got to be on my best form for every show.

Speaking of drinking, I’ve read a few interviews with Joel and all he seems to have to say about you is that you drink a lot of milk.

What’s with that?

[Laughs] I drink a lot of iced coffee and I get made fun of a lot for it. It’s pretty much all I drink.

Are you afraid your bones will snap while drumming? Is it a calcium thing?

Nah, I’m just addicted to it I think [laughs]. I’ve never broken a bone, so that’s a positive. H

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ozfeecher tour diary

Dead City Ruins

european TOUR june/july 2012

40 shows in 60 days, power-outages, nude performances and mouldy cake – this is the story of Dead City Ruins’ 2012 European Invasion Tour. words Dead City Ruins photos Olivia Reppas

GETTING INTO THE UK

Tommy and Mick left for the UK a couple weeks before the tour with the following objectives: buy a van (our last van The Blue Bastard was so f**ked we donated it to the five minute parking bay at Frankfurt Airport), get our gear from storage in Germany and drive back to UK for the first show. But when they got to the port in France trouble struck. This Facebook message was received from Mick: “We were denied entry to UK, fellas. Make sure you’ve got your story straight when you get there. Best of luck.”

The boys arrived at the ferry port in a queue right behind some bands going to Download Festival, however due to visa issues they were locked up and interrogated for four hours.

ACCESS DENIED!

As a plan B, they tried to get to the UK via port at Dunquereke, but were locked up for eight hours and interrogated.

ACCESS DENIED! So Blanch, Drews and Haggis rushed around the UK and found a woman who sorts out artist visas. It cost us £200 and she had them done in five minutes... we wish we’d known that beforehand.

ACCESSS GRANTED!

UK LEG

What happened was what happens every time we tour England: we drank warm piss, we played shows in small towns to big crowds, we played shows in big cities to small crowds, we either got robbed of or lost a passport (because we got drunk at the Australian embassy), we never got payed and we put up with a lot of rain.

Blanch and Jake. Clothed, fed, relieved and ready to rock!

Highlights included seeing Black Sabbath at Download Festival, meeting Steve from Saxon and listening to his crazy tour stories from the ’80s (want to guess how many STDs they contracted during their US tour?) and some young lass asking us to sign her c**t because tits were unoriginal.

european leg

Mastodon were onstage soundchecking as we walked into the biggest show we have ever played wearing only footy shorts and carrying our drummer’s hardware in a pissy sleeping

Dead City Ruins mixing it with the big guns, Mastodon, at Atlantico in Rome

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Tommy and Drews rip it up on the big stage.

travelLing with chaos!

HEAVY’s head honcho Olivia Reppas thought she ought to experience life on the road first hand with Melbourne’s Dead City Ruins on their Euro trek.

I’d never been on tour before, so when the opportunity to go on a European tour with Dead City Ruins presented itself I jumped at the chance. I wanted to experience first hand some of the challenges bands have to face and how they overcome them. I won’t lie, I also wanted to rock.

The most important thing I learnt is that attitude matters. The amount of f**k ups that had to be overcome on this tour were countless, but the positive attitude of the band members, whether or not there was a floor to sleep on, is what made it successful. When on the road for months on end, in each other’s faces day in day out, a positive attitude plays a big part in how enjoyable a tour is.

Despite all the inconveniences, the tour opened up opportunities with key industry players, scored international support slots and magazine and radio interviews – and there were always good vibes, beers and laughs at the end of the night.

– Olivia Reppas

bag. Due to power problems we spent a lot of time back stage drinking and talking with Mastodon. We mentioned we had been on tour since May and Bill Kelliher jokingly replied, “May? What year?” They had been on tour for nine months at this point, pretty much since the end of our last European tour. We told them our story – in the last 12 months we had been touring in a shitty van picking up any show we could and financing it all by ourselves. They’d started out the same way and responded simply.

“You’ve got a long way to go brothers.”

After a whole day of power-outages we were rushed onstage only to be turned away by the stage manager.

“Not time yet lads.”

Back to the beerless closet backstage.

Ten minutes later he shouted, “you’re on NOW hurry!”

We got to play two songs then were rushed off stage again due to another power-outage.

Back to the closet.

Ten minutes after that we were able to hit the stage again and we went nuts. Halfway through we looked side of stage and saw Mastodon bangin’ their heads and smashing beers watching us… crazy!

After Mastodon played we all had a few beers, gave them a bottle of Bundy Rum and enjoyed the last of their rider (we hadn’t eaten all day).

Wolfmother, Italy

We left for the show at 6am from France and had to drive 1,500kms to get to Rome. We drove all day, slept in a dodgy truck stop for three hours, then went straight to the ‘show’ only to be told we were pulled from the bill. As we pulled into the venue, Wolfmother were getting into a cab.

Vinn Steele [guitar] recognised Blanchy and came over to say g’day. We explained our plight to the guys and Andrew Stockdale piped in.

“Nah f**k that, you’re playing.”

Despite Stocker’s best efforts, the promoter ensured we definitely would not be playing.

We still had backstage passes, saw the show and partied with Wolfmother and The Answer.

Tommy and Haggis were invited on stage during Wolfmother’s encore and Haggis picked up Stockers and spun him around on his shoulders while Tommy rode on the bassist’s back.

After the show Stockers tried reasoning with his tour manager.

“I want to party with these guys!”

But the tour manager knew better than to let their frontman party with some pirates from Croydon.

Diamond Head, Germany

We drove another 1,500km back up to Essen Germany to play with NWOBHM giants Diamond Head. Once we were back onstage, any disappointment left over from the Wolfmother

gig was long forgotten. We really gave it all our heart and soul, and f**king killed it. It was one of the best gigs of the tour and even the boys from Diamond Head dug our set.

Roadkill Festival, Belgium

After 40 shows the band had been through thick and thin, but we pulled together for the final performance at the Roadkill Festival. Due to a lost bet, Drews played the show in the nude – much to the dismay of the good people of Belgium. There couldn’t have been a better way to end the tour than playing with the likes of Orange Goblin, Hardcore Superstar and indulging more than the average liver can handle. The following morning Haggis drove the van to the Airport and on the way we dropped a CD off at Angus Young’s house! The stench of our once pristine van now resembled that of off cake. Why ‘off cake’ you ask?

Someone was nice enough to give us a cake, which we ate for a few days. Half of it sat in the van and then went missing. It was discovered four weeks later festering under a mattress.

Yum! H

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ozfeecher tour diary

Desecrator Desecrator’s Riley Strong recounts their recent DIY South East Asian tour. words Riley Strong Let me preface this by saying that all opinions expressed herein are completely biased, one-sided, sensationalist heavy metal drivel. Now, if you’re into that sort of thing… ENJOY!

Night 1: BALI binge

they possibly could until someone would trip up and they were all hurled across the floor, only to get up, regain their balance and start again. By the time night was over and all the crates of free beer had been drained we had decided that this was a solid start to what was shaping up to be a mad thrashing tour.

Night 3: one night in BANGKOK

This was a festival that sounded like it was made for Desecrator and we were hella excited to be there. The promoter met us at the airport to take us by train to our accommodation.

That was a bit of a thud to reality, but the rail ticket staff throwing us the horns somehow made it all okay. The festival was held in one of Bangkok’s oldest music venues, the Rock Pub, which is plastered with previous glory photos of bands like Sodom, Exodus and Doro.

Bangkok Thrash festival is only in its second year, but it had all the attributes of it’s larger European cousins: distro and merch stalls aplenty, food that could kill or maim, and drinks that could do the same. The show was fantastic and the crowd were maniacs. Not even a mid-set amp blow up could temper the excitement. The night ended with 20 of us from various bands sitting at a long table eating up a storm. Hotter than hell Thai food downed with stronger than Satan Thai beers, a ‘who-can-eatthe-hottest-dish’ competition ending in tears and cheap massages led to lights out at 2am before a 4am flight out.

Night 4: the thriller in MANILA

Let me start off by saying how excited we were when our hotel had laundry services. Let me also note that no band member actually used said laundry services. Manila is definitely the mental metal capital of the Philippines and now

photo by Tim Headbanger

It’s a real spinout to sit in the airport in your home town and say to yourself, “F**k, this time tomorrow I’ll be on stage in someone else’s country.” And so it began – the drinking, that is.

Before I talk about the Bali show, I’ve got to describe the venue. We decided that the best comparison for the Katulebo ‘mosh pit area’ would have to be the famous ‘Titty Twister’ from the film From Dusk ’Till Dawn – down a dirt road, round into a back alley corner, hordes of scooters out the front, neon lights blazing in the night, floor to ceiling murals of fantasy women, you know, that kind of joint! The monthly Madness Maniac event had lined Desecrator up with what seemed like every local grind band able to fill a 20-minute set. After stopping for a beer drinking competition before our set, ensuring that the crowd was well lubricated and ready to be Desecrated, we tore into a blistering onslaught.

The highlight had to be the local take on a circle pit, which sat halfway between ringaround-the-Rosie and a mosh pit. Kids were holding hands and running in a circle as fast as

SOUTH EAST ASIA TOUR JULY 2012

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listen now

photo by Siddique Headkrasher

‘Eye of the Chakal ’ @Bandcamp

Desecrator’s second home. Our hosts, You Ignite It, had promoted the night above and beyond our wildest expectations and the crowd were the icing on a thrash-filled cake. The venue itself was off the charts – a harbour side outdoor restaurant totally cleared of tables with a stage set up at one end, complete with picturesque seaside views at stage left and a crowd packed in tight. A second blown up amplifier for the tour didn’t even begin to put the brakes on the night and despite it even falling off the front of the stage onto a security guard midsong it couldn’t kill the buzz we were sharing with the headbangers down in front.

Again, all credit must got to our promoters and hosts, who, taking on the challenge, organised a day of studio time which we used to nail the soon-to-be-released Brothers In Arms track while they pulled together a last minute show two cities over. Rumour had spread throughout the local scene and, even on a Tuesday night in monsoon rain and gridlock traffic, the Philippines’ maniacs came out to play. Award of the night definitely went to the metal engineering genius who managed to hold the drum kit we were using together with enough gaffa tape that it withheld a Desecrator live assault.

Night 6: bro’s in arms

Night 8: no sleep til SINGAPORE

Due to a show cancelation before leaving Australia we were left with an extra night and day in Manila before flying on to the final show.

‘No Sleep ’til Singapore’ was our motto and we had almost achieved it. We all let out a sigh of

relief after we cleared the final Asian customs and collected our gear beaten but un-broken for the last time. Due to venue dramas, the promoter decided the best approach was to move the show to a beach resort complete with chalets for accommodation, a beach-side pool and a ballroom to stage the gig. Who were we to argue with such superior logic? A pre-gig run-in with a local Christian group who had taken offence to the show’s flyer, depicting Mother Mary with a third eye, foreshadowed what we knew was going to be a memorable show.

Crossover was the stylistic call of the night, from crust, to thrash, to Taoist black metal rituals smoking the room into the next realm.

Desecrator have experienced many different venues during our live years, but playing a show in a reception ballroom complete with a chandelier on either side of the stage while a pack of crossover punks, skins and thrashers did their best to tear the walls down was an experience we’ll never forget. With Singapore slaughtered, Asian invasion number one was complete. H

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latest release

Twelve Foot Ninja Heavy fusion Melbourne, VIC facebook.com/twelvefootninja/info

Silent Machine by

Twelve Foot Ninja

Volkanik

words Jay Clair photo Twelve Foot Ninja

review Rod Whitfield

When I first heard the name Twelve Foot Ninja I was instantly intrigued. All I thought was, that’s one big f**king Ninja. But after listening to their demo four or so years ago in Rare Records in St Kilda, this band totally entranced me. Never restricting their sound to a singular genre and mixing elements of metal, funk, reggae and whatever else they can get in, founder and guitarist Steve MacKay always had a vision of TFN’s music resembling a Tarantino movie – an all-out massacre mixed with moments of somber dialogue. Funnily enough, they are able to achieve this crazy goal. Some have thrown comparisons to Faith No More and the band definitely challenges the norm as they did. With MacKay’s vision for the band revolving around and returning to a fable and central character, they’ve always set out to be more than just ‘another band’ and were destined to take interactivity with fans to a new level.

Having first established themselves as a four-piece unit, after releasing their second EP they took on the services of a second guitarist. Discovering the latest edition to the fold Rohan, via YouTube, after watch-

Having only released two previous EPs, Twelve Foot Ninja are already phenomenal.

Previous releases were mere tasters compared to this, the main course, an eclectic rock masterpiece. It’s difficult to pin down all of the different, seemingly disparate musical styles that this band have incorporated on the album.

They blend hard alternative rock, groove-based metal, ska, reggae, dubstep, latin, pop, funk and plenty more so utterly seamlessly and convincingly. Channelling their mastery of multiple genres into highly appealing, listenable songs Twelve Foot Ninja’s Silent Machine is full of zest, energy, character and a touch of tongue-in-cheek humour.

ing his accurate covers of Twelve Foot Ninja songs, it seemed like destiny.

Rounding out their sound with a second guitarist, their live set climbed a new level and scored them successful support tours with bands such as Dead Letter Circus.

So what’s next? Project 12. Or, simply put, twelve songs, twelve comics, in twelve weeks to celebrate the release of their debut album Silent Machine, which is set to drop 2 November.

Demoing the album at MacKay’s home studio, the final production was completed and produced by Hayden Buxton and mixed by another of Melbourne’s virtuosos, Ted Furuhashi of Circles. The final result is one that could cure world hunger.

Best of all, TFN remind you life should be fun.

It’s clear to see that, while the band takes their music seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously.

I mean, they wear Ninja outfits on stage.

While TFN aren’t for everyone, they’re probably for the majority and have the potential to become Australia’s next big export. A big claim, yes, but they are a band that can do nearly everything. They can be heavy, they can be sexy, they can be hilarious – and did I mention they dress in ninja outfits? With an amazing work ethic and commitment to their live show they plan to take over the world. And why not?

H

th e s ta nd out

‘Silent Machine’ @Soundcloud Title track from their debut album

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latest release

Be’Lakor Melodic death metal Melbourne, VIC belakorband.com

words Rod Whitfield photo Kayne Gray It may be a little hard to believe, but Melbourne’s quiet achievers Be’Lakor have been around for almost a decade. Forming in 2004, releasing their debut album The Frail Tide in 2007 and its excellent follow up Stone’s Reach in 2009 they’ve built themselves a very respectable following both here and internationally.

But it’s in 2012 the band have started making some big noise. Well over a year in the making, their third album Of Breath And Bone was released in July and marks a massive step forward for the band musically, sonically and as far as songcraft is concerned. Of Breath And Bone sees Be’Lakor really come into their own and discover a sound that could easily find them competing on the world stage with the cream of the melodic death metal crop. While the first two records dwelt more at the doomy/dredgy end of the melodic death spectrum, the new album ups the tempo a little with its energetic, in your face vibe and increased sense of melody.

Mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street studios in Sweden [Opeth, Katatonia, Paradise Lost and James LaBrie] and embellished by his influence, the new release is a testament to band’s long but fruitful labours.

Be’Lakor were also chosen to support the Melbourne leg of legendary Finnish symphonic ‘cello metal’ band Apocalyptica’s first ever Australian tour this year. Plus, they played their first European dates of their career, performing at the Brutal Assault Festival in Prague and then the Summer Breeze Festival in Germany, where they were exposed to almost 10,000 people.The band have some Aussie performances coming up before their massive year concludes and beyond that they intend to start writing in earnest for their fourth album very shortly. Satisfied that they’ve purged melodies out of their system on the latest record, the band anticipate their next release may be a little more experimental.

If you like Dark Tranquility, Insomnium, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Omnium Gatherum and the like, discover Be’lakor. H

Of Breath and Bone by

Be’Lakor

PRIME CUTS

review Rod Whitfield With previous material just a shade too much on the ‘doomy’ side, things have changed on Of Breath and Bone. The band have injected a new life into their sound, while at the same retaining many of their definitive signatures. If you dug the grim sounds of their first two albums, you’ll still enjoy the new record. You might just find yourself feeling more uplifted by the end. Musicianship and professionalism is still there in droves, but Be’lakor have just fuel-injected their sound this time around. t h e s tan d o u t

‘Remnants’ @iTunes

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latest release

Okera A Beautiful Dystopia by

Okera

independent

review Mitch Booth This might be a tad direct, but Okera’s debut release is simply a must-have for melodic death/doom fans. It’s bleak but still beautiful and full of infectious melodies while still retaining an overall atmosphere of melancholy.

Just listen to the ten-minute title track. It has everything that this style of music should have and a sprinkling of something more. Weak spots don’t exist and the whole release flows perfectly from beginning to end.

A Beautiful Dystopia is a superbly crafted album and one that truly sounds whole.

Melodic death/doom metal Melbourne, VIC facebook.com/okeraband

words Mitch Booth photo Oli Sansom Back in 2010, Melbourne’s Okera uploaded a three-track demo for free download and it instantly impressed. Their brand of melodic death/doom is hard not to like, really, it’s a ‘best of both worlds’ combination. There’s a sense of melancholy, little hints of hope and the perfect dose of mood vs. infectious melodies. There are riffs to headbang, of course, and quieter parts to gaze wistfully to. It’s interesting and engaging, balanced and well crafted, with no unnecessary wankery to be found.

Australia has some brilliant death metal bands, brilliant black metal bands – a stack that stand up there with the rest of the world – but there are few Aussie acts showcasing this particular vein of metal.

That makes Okera an even shinier gem. If Novembers Doom, Daylight Dies and early Opeth are in your collection, then these guys should be too.

The last few years have seen the band hitting the stage fairly regularly, sharing it with Singapore’s Meltgsnow and a myriad of local acts, as well as appearing at Sonic Forge Festival and Progfest.

Live, don’t expect an overly hectic bunch of metalheads running around on stage throwing the horns.

Instead, they let the music speak for itself, with a tendency to be oddly hypnotising.

The middle of 2012 saw the debut of A Beautiful Dystopia. The three demo tracks that fans had played on repeat were given new life in a much more aurally pleasing form, alongside four newer numbers. The Eternal’s Mark Kelson was in charge of the production and helping add even more atmosphere to their sound was his addition of keyboards to the mix.

They’re used subtly, and while the tracks definitely don’t sound lacking when performed live without them, the extra layer is a nice embellishment, introducing a touch more beauty and thickening everything up. The near future will undoubtedly see the band’s name spread further, with opportunities such as supporting legendary black metallers Dark Funeral arising. Okera have a lot of live up to after such a successful beginning, but it’s tough to imagine them going anywhere but up. H

th e s ta nd out

‘A Beautiful Dystopia’ @iTunes

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latest release

A Million Dead Birds Laughing Death metal/grind Melbourne facebook.com/amdbl/info

words Rob Brens photo Marc Campbell “A Million Dead Birds Laughing represent a statement of serious intent to offer up something fresh and sinister to the musical ether. The world will soon know change... Xen is believing.”

A little bit too esoteric? Allow me to elaborate…

If I were to do this incredibly unique band the disservice of pigeonholing them, I would call them a form of avant-garde grindcore. The blistering and violent drums hammered by Dean Turner, complemented by the thunderous bass of Sean Aggett lay a foundation for principal songwriter Ben Boyle’s out of this world guitar playing. With riffs and melodies that would make a seasoned jazz musician blush, there’s an abundance of beauty in the dissonance.

The many vocals of Adam Stewart border on sheer lunacy, from powerful death metal growls and screams, to maniacal squawks and, more recently, clean vocals.

But the ear-catching attraction is his utilization of a form of Tibetan throat singing. While Stewart has stated he’s unfamiliar with the art form and merely stumbled upon it during an acid trip, it’s since become

a trademark of the band and adds an appropriately harrowing element to their story telling.

The Melbourne natives released their first fulllength Force Fed Enlightenment in 2011. While still encompassing broad atmospheric production, this offering is their most savage and raw.

Not surprisingly, their influences are diverse. They cite artists such as Aesop Rock, The National, Nasum, Anchors and Absvrdist, but most immediately noticeable is the presence of New Zealand technical death metal band Ulcerate in terms of their use of atmosphere.

Make no mistake, though, A Million Dead Birds Laughing are in a league of their own and their latest album Xen is a further step out. A move has been made towards longer songs (with only five out of the thirteen songs on their first album exceeding two minutes), more melodies, stronger song structures and bigger, punchier production. Recent live performances (where you’ll find them donning shirts and ties) featuring newer material signpost a step further in this direction, but there’s absolutely no loss of technicality or general insanity. In the relatively short time this band have existed, they’ve started crafting the auditory equivalent of a psychoanalysis of an individual who doesn’t exist within our reality, or in simpler terms, some really out there death metal. You can only really hear it for yourself. Xen really is believing. H

XEN by

A Million Dead Birds Laughing

welkin records

review Rob Brens In a time span as terse as their song lengths, A Million Dead Birds Laughing are back with Xen a mere 12 months since their debut LP Force Fed Enlightenment. Considering the amount of time that has passed between releases, the standard has been raised in leaps and bounds. The production is considerably larger, with clarity really allowing the songs to breathe. The highlight of this album is without a doubt the vocal performance. It’s clear that much effort has gone into bringing Adam Stewart’s myriad vocal abilities to life, making them more of a centrepiece.

Current fans of the band will be blown away by stronger production and the further development of AMDBL’s unique style.

New listeners can expect the unexpected. t h e s tan d o u t

‘Nest’ @Bandcamp

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latest release

Bite Your Head Off by

King Parrot

Impedance Records

review Rob Brens Short songs are the order of the day on King Parrot’s debut album Bite Your Head Off. Clocking in at just less than 23 minutes, you certainly can’t accuse the band of overstaying their welcome. Vocalist Matt Young is a soprano version of Damaged’s Jamie Ludbrook and this comparison is purely complimentary, as Young ensures he makes the effort to explore his range. With their strong songwriting sensibility, King Parrot take care shaping their songs, employing good old fashioned dynamics and even managing to produce some identifiably hooky choruses.

This band emits pure live energy and this is captured effectively on the album. If you’re prepared to rupture your speakers with an excess of aggression, don’t think twice about picking this up. th e s ta nd out

‘Epileptic Butcher’ @iTunes

King Parrot Thrash/grind Melbourne, VIC facebook.com/kingparrotband

words Rob Brens photo Zo Damage Anyone with a finger on the pulse of Aussie metal has no doubt come across the name King Parrot more than once and has subsequently stopped to check what on Earth they’d just read. Well, here’s your chance to find out what the deal is.

Dubbed ‘King Parrot’ by a friend upon hearing the chaos the band create, like the Aussie metal of yore, King Parrot’s sound is rooted in old school punk, hardcore and grind and inspired by the likes of Damaged, Napalm Death, Carcass, Black Flag and D.R.I. So you can expect a plethora of blasts, thrash, punk beats and of course massive grooves. No metronomic, precise machinery or blazing sweep picking to be found here. Instead, raw energy and excessive attitude is the order of the day. The title of their first EP The Stench Of Hardcore Pub Trash is a fairly concise summation of the band’s vibe, except for the word trash perhaps – despite their raw sound the band’s material is extremely well executed.

This frantic yet thorough approach also extends to their lyrical themes. Judging by their old school artwork, it’d be reasonable to assume King Parrot’s songs are mostly about murder and beer. You would be right to arrive at this conclusion, but don’t jump ahead. Exploring everything from various murders that have transpired on our soil, to confronting the challenges that come with cleaning up and getting sober, their songs take a more insightful look at even the most gory or grueling of topics.

King Parrot’s name rapidly circulating in the Australian metal scene is no accident and there’s a great deal of collective experience within the band that’s helping to fuel their fire. With members of long-time Aussie staples such as Dreadnaught, Abramelin, Cockfight Shootout, Uncut White Noise and Blood Duster, the band bring a whole lot of of ‘how tos’ to the table, but more importantly, a tried and tested list of ‘how not tos.’

On the stage, or rather, in King Parrot’s case, off the stage, is where they’re really making a name for themselves. If the crowd hasn’t already erupted into a pit, vocalist Matt Young is known to fly into the crowd, take initiative and start one himself.

There’s always guaranteed to be a great deal of crowd participation involved in the spectacle that is King Parrot’s live show, whether the audience likes it or not.

Anyone who’s yearning for classic Aussie metal at it’s finest best check out King Parrot, before they come pecking at your door and slamming into your window panes. Damaged fans rejoice! H

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Melodic metal Adelaide, SA isawband.com

words Mark Lennard photo Alysha Menzel In just a few years, Adelaide five-piece ISAW have been nominated in the top five metal/hardcore bands by MusicOz Awards, taken out triple j’s Unearthed title, and opened the metal stage at Adelaide’s Soundwave 2010.

Drawn together by a range of influences from Machine Head to Mudvayne, Strapping Young Lad to Scarve, Meshuggah to Killswitch Engage and more.

Studious about song structure, ISAW create a solid mix of traditional and modern thrash-laced metal with a dynamic vocal presence that leaps from growl to soaring melody in a single chord change. Talented vocalist Matt Kavanagh, guitarists Steven Dennis and Leigh Vergou, bassist Seb Bohm, and skinsman Kim Fiddaman are deadly serious about their art, and pushing themselves both creatively and physically has seen the band aim for and achieve the tight live sound they’re now well known for. An awareness of the level of talent in both the Adelaide metal scene and nationwide has pushed the band to hone their skills and rise to today’s show-headlining act.

latest release

Isaw

Early recording ventures resulted in a three-track demo in 2008, which scored national airplay on triple j’s The Racket and on Adelaide’s Three D Radio metal show Powersurge. Acclaim flooded in from music media sources hailing the professional quality of the demo, with many reviewers offering the same appraisal – the three promising tracks ended all too quickly and left the listener wanting more.

In 2011, the band focused on their first full-length album that fans of the demo had been begging for. New material was meticulously written and tracked with rough mixes sent to Sing Sing South in Melbourne for the well-known Forrester Savell to work his magic with, and Savell had plenty of praise to award ISAW. “Their blend of world-class metal with such a killer vocalist puts them in a league of their own.”

Kind words indeed, but well deserved. The Identity was released and was immediately embraced by the metal community with radio play, great reviews and tours in support.

ISAW took The Identity on the road in May 2012 with shows in regional SA, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra and Sydney playing alongside Lord, Truth Corroded, Teramaze, Bronson, Scar The Surface, Shifting The Paradigm, Kyzer Soze, Bury The Fallen and Double Dragon on their last ever show at The New Dead Metal Fest 2 in Adelaide.

ISAW are honoured to score an Adelaide support slot with Mnemic on their October Australian tour – their first international support with one of their greatest influences. Songwriting will then be the focus – an intensely creative period that will see the band strive to match the standard set by The Identity.

H

The Identity by

iSAW

green media

review Mark Lennard A heavy as hell production by mix master Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect), quality writing and structure and a classy vocal display make for a worthy listen.

Reminiscent of the greats of the NWOAHM like Machine Head, Lamb Of God – with just a dash of Pantera – ISAW’s music remains heavily in the metal realm. The vocals of Matt Kavanagh are an impressive mix of growls, clean singing and prog/rock strains. Catch 22, Shot Down and Remember Shame are a solid display of what ISAW can muster. t h e s tan d o u t

‘Catch 22’ @iTunes

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Iron Worzel

‘Wood From Wood’ @YouTube for punk grind legends Unit 11:74 and drummer for d-beat chaos merchants Los Diablos. Guitarist Shane Dedrick also wrought havoc in Los Diablos and death metal band Slaughter Thou.

In 2010, Iron Worzel was formed to create a sludge doom punk metal sound not unlike Eyehategod, Neurosis and Buzzoven and have since progressed to embrace passages of faster d-beat fury.

Iron Worzel aim to unleash a full-length in the near future, building on their self-titled EP and collective histories, one heavy as f**k sludge riff at time.

– Mark Lennard

Take Your Own

photo by Ryan Cantwell

Adelaide has spawned many names in heavy Australian music. Unit 11:74, Gacy’s Place, Keeth, Slackjaw and Los Diablos are only a few. Iron Worzel’s roll call features members of these bands and more. Vocalist Nigel and guitarist Pete Taylor terrorized regional SA together as teens, two Sabbath loving, Black Flag blasting rebels immersing themselves in overdriven guitars and punk attitude. Taylor eventually moved to Adelaide to play in hardcore band Gacy’s Place, followed by time in the sludgecore bands Keeth, Slackjaw and most recently d-beat grinders Guantanamo Bay City Rollers. Drummer Shep was chief screamer

check em out

Melbourne punk hardcore act Take Your Own began in 2012 with a bang, supporting punk hooligans Guttermouth throughout Victoria. They’ll be making sure they see the year out in a similar fashion, launching their debut album Open Water in December. Citing seminal albums Supporting Caste by Propagandhi and Refused’s The Shape Of Punk To Come as their greatest influences, Take Your Own execute infectious, furious punk rock with some tasty thrashy moments and an adundance of melodic guitar lines. The band maintain an unrelenting pace and intensity on Open Water, while navigating creatively structured songs embellished by sweeping and screaming guitar. The surpris-

ing, beautifully melodic guitar solo that concludes Jumping The Shark, is an example of the band’s potential.

Regulars in the Melbourne live scene, Take Your Own are down to earth Aussie blokes – you’d literally have to rip the Brisbane Lion’s footy jumper off of their singer to prevent him donning it onstage.

Energetic and passionate with each performance, Take Your Own’s determination and spirit will serve them well.

– Kimberley Croxford c h ec k em o u t

‘What The Hell Is Thug Hardcore Mosh Anyway?’ @triplejunearthed

Law of the Tongue

c h eck em out

‘Used and Broken’ @Bandcamp

Their free debut disc is a bombardment of sludgy doom riffs and nasty vocals that’ll make you feel like you’ve been ploughed down by an avalanche.

The band have been gigging steadily, and now Drummer Brad has his finger in another pie: promoting a festival called Doom Nations in Melbourne late 2013.

Law Of The Tongue also plan to take off to the states, offered a festival spot in America next year.

– Adam Agius

Death Audio

photo by Ash Peak

When a band you love splits up you feeling empty and abandoned. That’s how I felt when Canberra stoner doomsters Pod People parted ways. But there’s always a silver lining. Law of the Tongue, featuring two ex-members of Pod People, fill the void with their crushing doom sludge.

After a live show last week, I’m still feeling the affects of their bludgeoning riffs and screeching vocals . Bottom-heavy guitars and bass had me changing my undies half way through the show.

“I learnt to become patient and that when you do something, do it right!

There’s no short cut to success.

Obstacles are just there to make you stronger and eventually they just become a memory.”

This quote from Will Borland, guitarist of Melbourne melodic metal band Death Audio, refers to the troubles he had getting the band’s self-titled debut album together. Despite a few lineup changes, low budget and problems with producers, each member has put their heart and soul into making the album over the last 12 months. The album really pushes the boundaries, which makes it hard to throw them under one specific subgenre, the end

result combining metal, hardcore and rock. While irrefutably unique, Death Audio’s sound is comparable to the pure aggression of Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage, with some of the elements of their side project Times of Grace thrown in. With a mixture of clean and harsh vocals and monster production, look out for Death Audio’s self-titled alum, expected to in time for your Christmas shopping.

– Pactrick Emmett c h ec k em o u t

Album teaser @YouTube

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discover more at

heavymag.com.au

Heavy freebie!

CD SAMPLER #1

1. Hybrid Nightmares – Emperor 2. Our Last Enemy – Low 3. Voyager – The Meaning of I 4. Subjektive – R.D.M. 5. Internal Nightmare – Profuse Bleeding 6. Sabretung – Deadline 7. Chainsaw Hookers – Born to Die 8. Soulforge – Crimson Fire 9. Bad Karma – Chasing Ghosts 10. Mastiff – Outlaw 11. Tensions Arise – In the Eye of Fire 12. Empire – God Favors the Brave 13. Kunvuk – Teeth Swallower 14. Zelorage – Bones 15. Not Like Horse – Root or Fight

Track 8

16. The Stealth Creeping Apocalypse – The Switch Don’t Exist

Soulforge

Crimson Fire

ALL RIG HTS

With all the necessary metal essentials plus huge vocal hooks, Soulforge have been shredding their way across Australia. listn.to/Soulforge

Hybrid Nightmares

Emperor

Assaulting the mind and senses, Hybrid Nightmares have been gaining momentum in the Australian scene since 2007. hybridnightmares.com

Track 4

Subjektive

R.D.M.

With their straight to the point, rock-driven metal, Subjektive will hit you in the face. subjektive.com Track 5

Internal Nightmare

Profuse Bleeding

Internal Nightmare’s ‘chaotic death thrash’ seamlessly combines elements of early Sepultura, ’90s death metal and thrash. facebook.com/InternalNightmare Track 2

Our Last Enemy

Low

Our Last Enemy are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with thanks to their unique brand of industrial metal and intense live show. facebook.com/ourlastenemy

Track 13

Kunvuk

Chasing Ghosts Bad Karma’s metal infused hard rock will f**k your ears and leave you bleeding on the floor. Rock’n’roll madness! badkarmatheband.com.au

Teeth Swallower A psychotic metal band from Sydney that combine intelligent lyrics with breakneck tempo changes and complex beatdowns.

Kunvuk’s 2nd LP Consume Rapture is available now on iTunes. facebook.com/kunvuk

Track 10 Mastiff Outlaw Aggressive heavy metal band from Melbourne Australia formed in 2007. Creating a unique style of pure heavy metal with influences from old school power groove and thrash metal. facebook.com/mastiffmetal

Track 14 Zelorage Bones Zelorage are a 3-piece grunge/nu metal band influenced by Deftones, early Korn & Superheist with an energetic live show that grows with every show. facebook.com/zelorage

Track 9 Bad Karma

Track 1

Tensions Arise

Deadline

Fans of Kreator, Sepultura and Slayer will sink their teeth into Sabretung’s neck-snapping, skull-crushing, unrelenting thrash metal. sabretung.com.au

Track 15

Tr a c k 1 1

Track 6

Sabretung

IA. RESERVED MLM MED

Not Like Horse

In The Eye Of Fire

Sydney metal band, formed in 2008. Recorded latest EP Stand In Defiance in LA with renowned producer Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head). facebook.com/tensionsarisemetal

Root or Fight If you like your music loud, heavy and to the point, Not Like Horse is for YOU. There are no tricks here, just killer tunes. facebook.com/notlikehorseband

Track 12

Track 16

God Favors the Brave

The Switch Don’t Exist

Track 7

Empire

The Stealth Creeping Apocalypse

Born to Die

5-piece band reigning from diverse musical backgrounds and sharing a devoted passion for metal. Empire bring you a fusion of rock, metal and hardcore. facebook.com/theempireofficial

You tell me what it sounds like, rather than me force an expectation upon you. facebook.com/GunLogo

SIMON CHAINSAW No bulls#!t heavy rock’n’roll. Sounds like Rose Tattoo, AC/DC, Radio Birdman, The Saints, Motörhead, etc. Play loud, go deaf faster! simonchainsaw.com

Internal Nightmare

Track 3

Voyager

The Meaning of I

Polished, heavy and melodic, Perth prog masters Voyager present: The Meaning Of I. voyager-australia.com.au

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davey rintala

Fast Lane Photography HEAVY speak with renowned Aussie rock photographer Davey Rintala about his pursuit of the perfect live photo. words Julianne Pimenta photo Davey Rintala

L

ike most professions in the creative industry, it can be difficult to find a job/clients.

How do you cope with this?

Always stay on your ‘A’ game, send out plenty of emails and keep the momentum going.

Make sure your work is of high quality and be polite and professional.

There’s more to photography than just pushing a button. Have you had any formal training?

I completed a photography degree in 1994 at James Cook University in Townsville QLD and then went on to work for News Ltd for ten years as a photographer from 1996-2006.

Live photography is one of the most difficult areas in the field. How do you cope with the unpredictable situations that can arise in a live environment?

Working for News Ltd for ten years taught me well by [requiring me to] photograph numerous difficult subjects. [It] taught me to ‘always expect the unexpected.’

Was there a particular time where you were photographing a band and everything went wrong?

I’ve had my fair share of hiccups, most notably photographing Slayer at Festival Hall in Brisbane in 2001 when the strobe lights were just going nuts and I was still shooting with film and old manual focus lens.

It was very challenging.

Is there any particular person or artist that has inspired your work?

Not really, but I do love all the big name metal photographers from the ’80s, such as Ross Halfin, Robert John, Mark Weiss and George Chin.

What’s your choice of equipment for photographing a gig?

I take two cameras to gigs. My main camera is Nikon D700 full frame DSLR, the other is an older Nikon D200 DSLR. Lenses include 35-70mm f2.8 lens, 80-200mm f2.8 lens, and a 24mm f2.8 lens, 12-24mm lens and 15mm fish eye lens for some interesting wideangle images.

Many aspiring photographers who are just starting out work for free. What are your suggestions for those who want to earn an income but don’t want to charge people in fear of them not coming back?

To get into this area of photography you have no choice but to shoot some gigs for free to get noticed.

Most established live photographers shoot gigs for free often for web-based music zines and sometimes glossy magazines too. Photographing bands is about having a passion for this type of photography – we definitely don’t do it for the money, this is not a well paying job.

There are very, very few photographers in the world that make a living out of shooting bands. My advice to aspiring photographers would be to shoot local gigs first and refine your work to a high standard, then try to get work for webzines. Only display your best work publicly or on the internet. Don’t let people tell you that you won’t make it. If you want it bad enough, push yourself and make it happen. H

Many artists these days heavily rely on Photoshop as a part of their process. What’s your view on this?

I’m from the old school where you were taught to try and get the image as you want it in the camera. In saying that though, I do tweak images in Photoshop to give them a bit more of a ‘wow’ factor.

Top: Machine Head’s Robb Flynn Middle: Joey and Clown from Slipknot Above: Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom

You’ve photographed countless well-known bands in your career. What’s your most memorable moment?

The first major gig I ever photographed was Silverchair in Townsville 1999 and although I didn’t like Silverchair at that time, I was in awe of having a prime position to photograph the first three songs.

Other memorable gigs would include Pantera 2001, Metallica 2004, Korn 2006, 2008 and 2010 and being the official photographer for Children Of Bodom in store in Sydney 2011 and having a yarn with Alexi Laiho and [the other members] in Finnish.

Pantera’s Great Southern shredder, Dimebag Darrell.

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zakk wylde Photo by davey rintala

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stone sour Photo courtesy of roadrunner

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steve vai

steve vai

Photo by Larry DiMarzio

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listen now

‘The Story of Light’ @YouTube Album preview

steve vai It’s hard to believe, since he was so prolific in the ’80s and ’90s, but Steve Vai only released one studio album during the entire noughties. Finally, The Story of Light is here.

words Peter Hodgson photo Larry DiMarzio

S

ure, he’s toured a lot (including stints with G3, Zappa Plays Zappa and the Experience Hendrix tour) but fans have been clamouring for Vai to release a new album that would continue the out of order narrative of 2005’s Real Illusions: Reflections for seven years. Like its predecessor, The Story of Light is eclectic, virtuosic and characterised by its auteur’s attention to detail.

But there’s something else happening on The Story Of Light. Vai seems more willing to take chances and is more intimately tapped into his creative and compositional spirit. He’s done it all: sideman to Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth, band member of Alcatrazz and Whitesnake, studio guitarist for Alice Cooper and Public Image Limited, songwriter with Ozzy Osbourne – hell, he even introduced the world to Devin Townsen – but Vai’s never seemed as comfortable in his own skin as he is on The Story Of Light.

“I searched my inner ear more and gravitated towards things that excited me as opposed to things that I thought should be there,” reflects Vai, “It’s the second installment in a trilogy of records that have a story to them and when you have something like that to go by it can inspire you to do certain things you may not ordinarily do if you just sat down to write a song.”

In terms of it’s non-linear narrative structure, Vai’s series is reminiscient of Bowie’s Outside album.

“It’s very out of order and when I get around to doing the third installment it’ll still be out of order.

But, then what I’d like to do is take all three records and create a four-record box with all the songs in the right order and some new material. Songs that are instrumental may then have lyrics. It’d be a whole different experience when you can sit down and actually hear the whole thing go by.”

Vai’s treatment of the album’s experimental title track was measured and careful.

“I wanted to create something that had a rhythmic, disjointed kind of a feel, but with a pulse. If you listen carefully there’s a lot of polymetric stuff going on in the rhythm section. On the last record I did this track called Under It All and it had all these big seven-string chords. I loved that and wanted to explore it some more, so I created this wall of fat, lush chord structures with the seven-string guitar, with tons of distortion. I doubled it and tripled it – there are all sorts of guitars and instruments on there to create that wall of sound. But after three minutes

of that kind of density I wanted to hear a big long melody. The song actually repeats itself, it’s the same chord changes as the whole first part of the song, but there’s melody on top of it. The melody is doubled and when I was doing it I wanted to create phrasings on the guitar that were special. There’s a tremendous amount of phrasing and articulation on that melody and the way that the drums, bass and piano follow it all is really entertaining to me. It really stimulates me because it sounds like it flows almost in an improvisational way, but it’s completely composed – every drum hit, everything.”

Unique tracks like the bluesy John The Revelator and gospel choir-driven Book Of The Seven Seals throw curve balls Vai is proud to have pulled off.

“I didn’t think about any of that, I just heard something in my head and chased it and chased it until I was finished. Listening back I was kind of stunned, like ‘what did you do, Vai?’ They’re really kind of left field. But I knew they were going to be different and interesting because the ideas excited me. A couple of times I thought, ‘maybe I shouldn’t do that, because it’s really going to be left of centre and people aren’t going to get it.’ But then I thought, ‘wait, what the hell do I have to lose?’ What my fans like is when I throw curve balls that work. I’ve been doing a lot of press and people who were really snobby and cold to me in the past are calling me going, ‘what the fuck did you do? Holy mackerel!’

The seventh track from each of Vai’s previous albums, which he consistently and strategically crafted to be the most epic and climactic material on each of his records, made up 2000’s compilation album The 7th Song, Enchanting Guitar Melodies (Archives Vol. 1). Post this release, the pressue to make his seventh track live up to expectations made selecting a ‘seventh song’ for the new album frankly a little difficult. But eventually, Mullach A’tSi was the piece that won out.

“I was going to make Weeping China Doll the seventh song, but the seventh songs are traditionally melody, melody, wailing, wailing – I wanted to do away with the wailing. I wanted to climax the song without playing aggressively. And this song was such a study, because I fashioned it after a cultural Celtic singer. There are these tremendously fine nuances in the playing, which took forever – I had to re-learn the guitar to do these phrases. And getting just the right wah wah flex with the right volume knob and the whammy bar was a challenge – sometimes there’s whammy bar, a single note slide, volume knob and wah wah all in the span of three notes.

That’s what I did to create that illusion of a voice and these exquisite Celtic traditional music sensibilities. It was a lot of work, but it was really worth it because not only did I expand my vocabulary on my instrument, but also the piece came out very beautifully. The climax of this piece is really one of my favourites because it just consists of one phrase at the

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heavy legend

The leotard years: Steve Vai (with Billy Sheehan on bass) in 1986 with the David Lee Roth band.

end where the notes are impossibly high. They sing beautifully and they have this emotional investment in them that is just… I wish I could hold onto them longer,” Vai laughs.

Vai admits that after a record is released, he likes to gives his own work a good listen.

“I like my music. I find myself going back to certain tracks over and over again, because I don’t really experience a track until it’s released and I can’t change it any more. I’m very critical throughout the process of building something and am very attached to the details, so some-

times I don’t see the forest through the trees.”

Vai recently initiated a digital-only label that operates primarily as a distribution service.

“As the record industry changes, I wanted to keep up. A lot of people feel that when change comes along it’s all grim, we’re all going to hell in a handbag and that the industry’s dead. But the industry is never going to be dead. It’s just that the model is changing. I’m always trying to look beyond the curve, and digital distribution is really convenient. Digital Nations is [essentially] a distribution service and it’s working out pretty well. It’s easy to make your music available digitally around the world in minutes.” Often a new band will put out an EP that they work really hard on, but break up two months later because it didn’t sell. Vai says releasing and distributing your music is only the start of the process. It’s like going through labour and having a baby – then the parenting starts.

“We don’t really cultivate the press, because that’s more what the artists need to do. You’ve got to work your ass off. You’ve got to get out there, you’ve got to play, you’ve got to create a story that’s compelling and you’ve got to continue to figure out ways to get yourself heard.”

But to Vai, even if a band’s music doesn’t sell immediately, or at all, it doesn’t warrant the band folding.

“A lot of people feel when change comes along that it’s all grim, we’re all going to hell in a handbag AND the industry’s dead.

But the industry is never going to be dead. It’s just that the model is changing.”

“If a person is compelled to be a musician, they don’t have a choice. People who are truly musicians, they don’t care! Obviously it’s nice when things sell, but the juice for them is in the creation of the art. And usually that’s when you’re the most successful. Just don’t give up.

There’s a great Frank Zappa quote. He was asked for advice for a young musician and he said, ‘there are only two things to remember.

Number one: Don’t stop. And number two: Keep going.’” H

Davey Rintala PHOTOGRAPHER www.fastlanephotography.com.au davey@fastlanephotography.com.au mobile: 0427 751 828

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white zombie

Sean Yseult D words Amanda Mason photo Leslie Van Stelten

uring her White Zombie days Yseult was often mistaken for a man, a groupie, or a band member’s girlfriend, but, although she dated Rob Zombie for a number of years, she was more than that. She was in the band. And not just in the band, she was a founding member and songwriter. It wasn’t always easy being a woman in a male dominated industry.

“Some of the time it was difficult. During our time on tour with metal bands the only women I would see were groupies and strippers. There were the occasional local crew guys that wouldn’t allow me on stage when I was supposed to be performing, or backstage when I was supposed to be getting ready, but at least the bands we toured with were extremely cool and treated me as an equal, as did the fans, which was all that really mattered to me.”

Yseult was embraced by the media and fans as one of the pioneering women in metal.

“I was awarded best bassist two years in a row from metal magazines and the only difference with how the public treated me compared to the other guys in the band is that I received a few marriage proposals, which were always very sweet and sincere. I was always surprised at how respectful and reverent all of those big, sweaty, metalhead dudes were to me each night.”

Yseult has now returned to the metal scene with Star And Dagger, a predominantly female band, and when asked whether things have changed much for women in the scene over the last 20 years Yseult exclaims, “Yes, drastically! There are so many women in rock and metal now and I have had countless girls come up to me and say they picked up a bass or guitar because of me, which is the hugest compliment.

I owe that to Joan Jett and Ivy Of The Cramps, so it’s nice to be part of the chain. Now with Star And Dagger we’ve been opening for bands like Down, Saint Vitus and High On Fire and their fans are great to us. We were nervous at first, but that barrier seems to be completely

Founding member of the legendary White Zombie, author, and second woman ever to play the stage at Donnington Park – home of the iconic Monsters of Rock festival – Sean Yseult has experienced a life many of us can only dream of.

gone, which is a huge relief.”

Yseult’s book I’m In The Band: Backstage Notes From The Chick In White Zombie is filled with anecdotes, photos and an amazing array of memorabilia. There are pictures of flyers, album covers, logos and zines – many of which are hand-drawn because they’re from the good old pre-digital days. But does more technology mean it’s easier for bands now?

“It’s a whole new ballgame. People have the technology to do everything: the artwork, the recording, the release, but now they have to do it all themselves because there are barely any labels left. It’s a curse and a blessing… there’s something to be said for having a staff of people and financing so you can spend your time being creative instead of running your own business. With us, we were all in design school, so that part was fun. However, I don’t have fond memories of finding cheap recording studios, record manufacturers, packing and shipping records, doing our own radio and press etc. It’s a lot easier today, but it still sucks and wastes a lot of your time to have to handle the business end if you’re a creative type.”

The title of her book was inspired by Pamela Des Barres’ book I’m With The Band and is provides quite an insight into the controversial world of groupies. Yseult has seen her fair share of groupies, which are, according to her book, known as girls who receive a ‘Tulsa backstage pass’ (spell Tulsa backwards and you’ll understand why).

“I have no problem with groupies. I’m not here to judge people, e ve r y o n e should do what makes them happy and I’m sure a lot of groupies have made a lot of other people happy as well. I’ve always said ‘do your thing.’”

Reading her book, you get the impression that Yseult has never let success go to her head, because she writes about her experiences in an excited and appreciative way, as if White Zombie were a little garage band asked to co-headline

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listen now

‘Sold My Soul’ @iTunes Title track from her new album

“My time with White Zombie was a blast, a true success story from rat-filled gutters to soldout arenas.”

Laura Wilde

It’s been a long, hard road for Aussie rocker Laura Wilde but this blonde bombshell is just at the beginning of her journey to rock stardom. words Julianne Pimenta and Sheri Tantawy photos Mark Weiss

photorazzi.com

Y

with Iron Maiden.

“My time with White Zombie was a blast, a true success story from rat-filled gutters to sold-out arenas. I will always feel lucky and excited to have had the experiences I’ve had in life and look forward to more.”

Some of those experiences included pranks on tour (including guys taking photos of their toilet deposits and Marilyn Manson wearing a chicken mask and a burning toilet roll on his manliest appendage), but Dimebag Darrell took the crown for the most memorable moment when it came to touring mischief.

“Dimebag Darrell filled my engineer boots with bags of pennies while I was on stage.

I could hardly move for the rest of the set. To see him doubled over laughing on the side of the stage was worth it though and of course when I got off stage he had to ask, ‘junior, were you feeling weighed down out there?’ [He was] one of the silliest, loveliest men I have ever met. I miss him dearly.”

Yseult now keeps herself busy with her design company, Yseult Designs, and has been touring with Star And Dagger following their 2011 EP In My Blood, which was released on translucent, blood-stained vinyl. Regardless of whether you’re too young, too old, or just right to remember White Zombie, check out I’m In The Band: Backstage Notes From The Chick in White Zombie, a thoroughly enjoyable photographic memoir that’s well worth the money, even if just for the sheer voyeuristic pleasure of getting a glimpse of the crazy backstage life of an internationally touring band. H

our passion for music was instilled in you from a young age. At 16 you took to the stage with a professional band as a fill in. This performance in particular was of great significance to you, an icebreaker so to speak.

It was definitely an extremely significant night of my life, I certainly got a taste for performing live. Because I’ve always had my heart set on music it would have only been a matter of time before I jumped up on stage. The lure of live performance is something difficult to ignore.

Packing up and shipping off to a different country in search of the dream is a story you’re all too familiar with. You were only 19 years old when you moved to LA to pursue music, what was this experience like for you?

It was so freaky leaving for the airport and pondering the fact that I had a one-way ticket and would be over there indefinitely. I had been back and forth a few times before I officially moved over, however nothing can ever really prepare you to leave behind your family and friends.

In your experience, do you feel female musicians are respected as much as their male counterparts for their work?

If you have really taken the time to practice the instrument and are prepared to work hard, you’ll earn respect as a serious player. It doesn’t matter what gender you are.

Could you offer up some wisdom to your fellow chick rockers out there who are doing it tough trying to make it?

Make sure you work with people who believe in you as much as you believe in yourself and never forget who those people are.

Now that you’ve finished up with Sold My Soul are you working on any other releases?

I’m about to start recording my next album. It’s still in the baby stages but I’m super excited. You can expect to hear a lot more of my older influences shine through on the new record.

Do you have any plans on coming back home soon?

I come back home to visit my family and friends whenever I can. I would love to tour Australia in the near future. H

Did you believe moving to LA was the only way you were going to achieve a career as a musician?

There’s a larger market for everything in the USA. Playing rock music wasn’t something that I was encouraged to do here in Australia – I constantly met resistance and was steered to play other genres instead. It made sense to me to make the move for the type of music that I wanted to play.

Your parents didn’t always support your desire to become a professional musician. How do they feel about your career now that you’ve followed through?

My parents didn’t take my desire to be a musician very seriously, however, on seeing the level of hard work and dedication it requires to be successful, they soon gained a new respect and appreciation of my chosen career. They’re very supportive and their continued support and guidance really helps me stay grounded and focused.

You play bass, guitar and drums and play all the instruments on your debut record Sold My Soul, but it’s the axe that really gets your heart racing.

I’ve just loved guitars ever since I was little. I can’t explain it. Whenever I saw a music store or a guitar on TV my heart would skip a beat. To this day, nothing’s changed. I always enjoy my indulgent ‘guitarist moment’ at the end of the show when all of the other instruments drop out and it’s just me playing.

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heavyfeature

latest release

Between the Buried The Parallax II: Future Sequence by

Between The Buried And Me

metal blade

review Rob Brens You always want to tread lightly when reviewing a band like Between the Buried and Me. A band that has a penchant for shooting for something new with each release, part of the experience is that first listen impact.

So without divulging too much about the territories the band venture into, one thing I will applaud Between the Buried and Me for on their latest release is smoother and subtler genre jumping. Don’t worry, there are plenty of twists and turns, but surprises aren’t jarring and are usually prefaced by something else in the song.

A Parallax II: Future Sequence is dense – but only in a good way. A concept album, it’s expertly crafted from start to finish as a single masterpiece, but you can tune into any one song without feeling like you’ve walked in halfway through a conversation. All the main songs are in the 10-15 minute range.

Breathing space is provided by interludes, which also function as superb stand-alone songs and aren’t just there to break things up. BTBAM have crafted one of the heaviest and most technical progressive metal albums this year. It’s definitely the year of the prog.

Genre blending is an art form seldom achieved without sounding like someone has tipped a CD collection into a washing machine, but Between the Buried and Me are an exception to the rule. words Rob Brens photo Courtesy of Deathproof PR

M

aintaining an identity while combining a multitude of styles is rarely accomplished well. North Carolina’s Between the Buried and Me have been the talk of the progressive music scene for a number of years now, due to their command over genre hopping, frightening mastery of their instruments and ability to compose cohesive and wholly unique music.

Singer Tommy Giles Rogers says the band’s writing process is more intuitive than deliberate. “Even though our music is pretty intense and there’s a lot going on, everything is very natural and very organic. We’ve all been writing together for so long we really know what works, what a song is and what makes a part work.

There’s moments when you’ll spend two days on a whole section and you’ll eventually find out it doesn’t work at all in a song. When I write something that’s a bit odd and bring it to the table I know there’s a chance it’s

not going to always work, we all know that. If it doesn’t get us excited, or a part isn’t motivating us to push forward off of that section to go into another world, it shouldn’t be there.”

Between the Buried and Me pride themselves on keeping things fresh and unpredictable. They’ve developed a rapport with fans where the unexpected is always expected, not just from song to song, but from album to album. Yet you always know which band you’re listening to.

“The cool thing is the fact that we all have our own sound individually. Sometimes Paul [Waggoner, guitar] writes a riff that sounds a lot like something, but once we put all our individual input on top of it, it turns into this thing that sounds like us and doesn’t sound like anyone else. Our styles are very different from one another, so when we collaborate it makes this thing that sounds like Between the Buried and Me.” As such a diverse band, Between the Buried and Me have enjoyed the luxury of playing on a plethora of bills throughout the last decade and this year shared a lineup with death metal stalwarts Cannibal Corpse on the now legendary Summer Slaughter tour.

“With Cannibal Corpse we were kind of worried we were going to be this weird, oddball band that sticks out, but it was cool. There was a good amount of diversity in the lineup and the crowd gave everyone a good response… Even in the early days we did tours that we felt were right in that moment, even if they were a little uncomfortable. We do a lot of different stuff, so we need to get out to a lot of different types of fans. I think in our

th e s ta nd out

‘Telos’ @YouTube

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‘Domino the Destitute’ @YouTube

d and Me music there’s something for everyone at some point, regardless of if we look a little different or might be a little heavier than what someone would normally listen to. That’s the motivation behind doing tours that are a little left field. The whole point of the band is to hopefully just have anyone and everyone listen.”

With the internet a catalyst for the development and popularisation of niche music, modern progressive bands have significantly bridged gaps between scenes and genres.

“A lot of the tours that happen nowadays, if they happened ten years ago they wouldn’t have worked at all,” observes Giles Rogers, “Now genres are being mixed and progressive music is a lot more popular than it used to be, so people are becoming more accepting and realising that, ‘hey I can enjoy other kinds of music.’ When I was a child I was super metal, – if there was any melody I would give something a miss. But I think there’s a time where you realise you’re missing out on a lot, there’s so much more out there.”

This year sees Between the Buried and Me release their seventh album The Parallax II: Future Sequence.

Clocking in at a monstrous 74 minutes, it promises to be album of the year material.

“This record is probably the most melodic record we’ve written. I hate to say ‘it’s a journey,’ but I feel like, when you listen to it, it takes you to a lot of places. With the story, it’s something you can sit back and visualise, almost like you’re listening to a movie… We worked off our arses on this one more than we ever have on a record and I think it paid off.“ H

Coheed & Cambria In an age when popular entertainment has become plastic and disposable and people seem to want things in short, sharp, undemanding, unintelligent bursts, progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria stand out like beacons in the gloom. words Rod Whitfield photo Ryan Russel

E

ver-adventurous, long-running New Yorkbased progressive masters Coheed and Cambria return with a double concept album and an epic video. About to unleash volume one The Afterman, with volume two The Descension to follow within the next six months, don’t expect three-minute songs that stick in your head and sell by the bucket load for just 15 minutes. The lead single for Ascension is an epic eight-minute track Domino The Destitute and is accompanied by an equally ambitious, narrative style video. Vocalist, guitarist and main man Claudio Sanchez says producing a project of this magnitude is simply the way his band rolls. The concept behind both albums details the story of Sirius Amory as he explores the energy source that holds the ‘Keywork’ together (the 78 worlds in which the ‘Amory Wars’ is set). “The first record is about the character’s exploration into the Keywork,” Sanchez explains, “He’s a scientist who figures the gravitational pull of the earth to its sun is essentially what’s fuelling all the planets. But he finds out that it’s actually the afterlife… It’s kind of complex, but in terms of my life it holds a lot of weight.”

Apparently, the epic film clip made for the first single, which resembles movies like Rocky and the Fighter, provides some insight into the albums’ storyline.

“The main character discovers Domino right at the front of the album and he becomes possessed by this character. To get out of this possession, he needs to

relive Domino’s life, so essentially that’s what the video does. When I started talking to the director, we didn’t want to make it too ‘science fiction,’ because, obviously for financial reasons, that would be ridiculous. At the same time we wanted to make it classic and timeless. We thought the film noir idea would do that, so we went down that route.”

Fuelling the band’s output is Sanchez’s search for means through which to express himself.

“I create these concepts because I have a problem communicating. I have a hard time communicating my emotions to, say, my wife or my family. I’m just poor at it. I don’t know what it is about my upbringing that’s made it that way. The partnership between music and the concept means I can tell my stories but not give them away completely. I can hide in this fiction. It allows me to be myself, confirm all of my feelings and release them. For me, it’s about writing music that cures me of the problems I have. I know that can sound cliché, because I’ve heard assholes say it all the time, and sometimes I wonder why they would say it, but then I realise that I do.”

After adjusting to a brand new rhythm section and giving birth to such a monstrous project, the band are taking the time to steady themselves before embarking on an extensive list of tour dates across the States and Europe.

“Right now we’re just re-introducing the band into the world, with the new lineup and a new record. But next year when the second record releases and the full double album is out there in the world touring is really going to pick up. We’ll come out to Australia without a doubt.” H

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heavyfeature

converge latest release

words Damo Musclecar photo Thomas Sweertvaegher

All We Love We Leave Behind by

Converge

Epitaph

review Damo Musclecar One of metal’s most anticipated releases, Converge’s latest is a chaotic barrage of riffs, blast beats and screams. Mixing elements of punk, grindcore, hardcore and death metal, All We Love We Leave Behind isn’t for the faint hearted and is brutally intense throughout.

Vocalist Jacob Bannon isn’t here to sing you a lullaby or win you over with harmonies. He’s angry and you’re in his way. By the time the title track hits, you’ll feel relieved as melody creeps through the speakers à la Fugazi meets Extreme Noise Terror. Kurt Ballou’s guitar work is flawless and freestyle blast beats from Ben Koller are incredible. Four and a half neck tattoos out of five.

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ork on All We Love We Leave Behind commenced in January this year, a process guitarist Kurt Ballou says was extended by his singer’s painstaking attitude.

“Jacob [Bannon, vocals] likes to take a long time recording. He likes to spend a lot of time perfecting the lyrics. I found a lot of time to recover between each song so his voice was at its strongest. The vocals probably took four weeks, even though in total it was about four days worth of work.”

Not only was Ballou playing the guitar on the recording, but he was also the album’s producer and engineer behind the mixing desk. One would think it’d be hard to concentrate on both, but Ballou wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is the third album I’ve done everything on and even three of four albums prior I was doing at least some of the production work, so I’m accustomed to it at this point – it’s all just part of the same creative process. When it comes to recording, I have a particular artistic vision as to how I want the record to sound and feel. While there are other

When Converge released Jane Doe back in 2001 it became one of the most influential albums in the ‘screamo’ and metal world.

Now, All We Love We Leave Behind, so refined and technically sound, is sure to be held in the same regard. engineers out there that may have a greater set of skills than I do, nobody else is going to care as much as I do about what the record sounds like. It’s really important to me that I’m at the helm, massaging this record into feeling the way I want it to feel.”

Converge’s complex songwriting and unique style has always set them apart from other bands of the ilk and one has to wonder just how such chaotic arrangements come to fruition.

“I like the idea of taking these inaccessible, harsh riffs and then finding some way to make them memorable,” Ballou recognises, “You can put some melody into something harsh, or play something with melody in a harsh way. One of the other tools I use is trying to create a memorable song structure, to find what the hook of the song is musically or vocally. In terms of where I come up with the ideas for riffs… they just kind of appear in my head, whether I’m in the shower or [inspired by] the weird rhythm of a train. It’s like a big mass of

th e s ta nd out

‘Aimless Arrow’ @Vimeo

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listen now

‘Self Made’ @iTunes From their new album Young Blood

clay. The clay is all the rhythms and notes. You start pulling stuff away and sticking stuff back on until you find what resides in that clay.”

When it comes to live shows Converge are at their strongest and the band’s connection to their fans must be seen to be believed.

“It amazes me that people get as much out of it as we do ourselves – we’re just so thrilled. And that’s not even the reason we do it. We’re not writing a record and thinking, ‘oh yeah, I’ve got to do this for that guy,’ or ‘the kids are going to love this riff’ – that’s never a topic of conversation. I think people can recognise the honesty in what we do.”

Earlier this year the band produced one of their most interesting releases yet, a split 7” record with grindcore legends Napalm Death. Converge recorded a cover of Entombed’s Wolverine Blues and Ballou acknowledges the Swedish death metallers as one of his band’s biggest influences.

“Wolverine Blues is a song we’ve been playing live.

It was released in ’91/’92, which is around the time we started our band. Under the drinking age, our only real outlet to metal was Headbanger’s Ball. The video for Wolverine Blues came on and it was so different to everything else that was out there. It was heavy as f**k, but it had this swagger to it that metal didn’t have yet. We’d been trying to find a way to merge a punk attitude with metal but hadn’t really figured it out yet, then came Entombed with that song and it had this giant impact on us.”

Converge wear their influences on their sleeves and Ballou is quick to point out Entombed are only one of the many bands who’ve influenced their sound.

“A lot of people think Converge are this really original band, but we’re not. We’ve stolen from a lot of places, but people just don’t know what we’ve stolen.

I like the idea of us doing that song and saying, ‘hey, look everyone, this is one of the places we’re stealing from, so go check out this band.’ I don’t think our version is better than theirs – I don’t think that song could be improved upon.” H

Obey The Brave

A strong pedigree, experience in the biz and a positive attitude has made Obey the Brave strong in the face of starting out in this most cut-throat of industries. words Rod Whitfield photo Thierry Lord

V

irtually a brand new band out of Montreal, Canada, Obey the Brave have been around for less than a year. But, due to the band members’ extensive experience in the Canadian heavy music scene, their debut album Young Blood is extremely well developed for a young band. Frontman Alex Erian fills us in on their notable individual and collective histories, to which he attributes the very swift development of the band’s sound and profile.

“We’ve definitely been around,” he laughs, “My previous band Despised Icon released four records and did about a thousand shows in 35 different countries, including Australia. Luckily, that experience just stays there and doesn’t fade, so we definitely got to skip a bunch of steps when starting Obey the Brave, whether that’s me or the rest of the dudes. We all knew what we were getting involved in, we all knew how to do it, how to time everything, pace ourselves and so forth. John [Campbell, guitar] and Miguel [Miguel Lepage, bass] were in Blind Witness together and the rest of the band were in a band called Darkness Rights. We all grew up in the Montreal and Ottawa scenes, we all played shows together, so when all of our respective projects sort of ended at the same time at the end of 2010/early 2011, we were all still very hungry to keep playing music… We’ve already toured half of Canada and all of the US and we have

a record out on Epitaph, my favourite record label in the world. And I’m not just saying that, I grew up on that shit. It feels like winning the lottery… It’s a dream come true and a second shot at doing what I love, so I’m definitely grateful.”

Obey the Brave are a very different beast from Despised Icon, their debut punching out vicious hardcore as opposed to Erian’s previous band’s more progressive, deathcore/death metal vibe. Like the band, the album came together very quickly and Erian couldn’t be happier with the results, especially considering how little time was actually spent on it.

“It’s definitely an accomplishment for us,” he enthuses, “we’ve been working really hard. Some of us, if not all of us, have been treating this as a nine to five job. We’ve been doing everything in our power to get shit done. As far as I’m concerned, personally, it’s the record I’m most proud of. I think it accurately represents me, lyrically and musically. It’s also a new challenge for me – it’s been quite refreshing. I’ve been in more death metal oriented bands in the past, ever since the nineties to be honest, so this is me acknowledging another part of my musical roots and trying something different.”

Preparing to tour Canada shortly with a band from Down Under, Obey the Brave hope the favour will soon be returned.

“Our upcoming Canadian tour is with Northlane.

We’re bringing them here, so hopefully they’ll give us the opportunity to come your way.” H

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heavyfeature

listen now

‘Global Flatline’ @iTunes Title track from their new album

aborted

Vocalist and founding member Sven de Caluwé of Belgium’s death metal butchers Aborted chats about the face-melting death/grind of the band’s most extreme and polished record to date, Global Flatline. interview Todd Hansen photo Patrick Haberli

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ou released your seventh full-length Global Flatline in January earlier this year. How have fans received it, on record and live?

So far so good – people are bashing each other’s skulls in and tossing midgets around. That’s what we’re looking for.

With seven LPs, two EPs and a few splits, is it getting harder to put together a set list with so much material?

Yes and no. We disregard two albums, because we don’t want to play anything off Strychnine or Slaughter and Apparatus.

Global Flatline really sees Aborted return to their roots. Was that something you set out to achieve?

It just happened that way. We wanted to as well though, because we weren’t really happy with the last two records. But it was also a natural evolution due to lineup changes – the people

who came into the band were also fans of that [earlier] period.

You brought friends Trevor Strnad of The Black Dalia Murder, Keijo [Niinimaa] of Rotten Sound and Julien [Truchan] of Benighted in to do guest vocals. Do you think you’d perform these songs live with these guys if you were on the same bill?

Yeah sure, why not? We’ve toured with all of them in the past. If we tour together again of course that’d be awesome.

Having had so many members in Aborted over the years, do you think it’s helped to keep the music interesting with so many great musos to write with, or does it hinder progress?

On one hand it helps to get some fresh blood in, but that’s not really what we want. It’s always nice to keep the same group of people for a while, but it’s not that easy because the band is international. We don’t live close to each other and a lot is done over the internet. A lot of the

time it’s easier to have a miscommunication through digital media than it is face to face. Also, in Belgium, life is very straightforward [laughs].

People go for the whole, ‘go to school, go to college, get a job, get a wife, get a kid, get a house.’

There’s not really a lot of room left to sacrifice everything for music.

You formed Aborted in 1995 and the band are now pushing 20 years. Which memories stand out most for you?

The first time we played Graspop was really cool. The opportunity back then, when Goremagedden came out, was a big thing.

Getting a tour with Carcass was a really big deal too, as was touring with Suffocation. I’ve been lucky to tour with most of the bands I looked up to as a kid, most of the death metal bands that influenced Aborted. It’s really great to call these people you looked up to your friends.

You recently teamed up with your former drummer Dirk Verburen [Soilwork] and Devin Townsend to do a killer new project called Bent Sea. What can you tell us about that?

That was a very funny experience [laughs]. Dirk had someone else in mind that didn’t come through, so he asked me. It was grindcore and when he showed me the lyrics, it was exactly what I had in mind, exactly what I thought about the current state of the music business and I thought ‘this is right up my alley.’

I recorded the entire EP in about three hours – everything took just one take, because I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit if it’s not tight or not perfect, it’s grindcore.’ It’s that human element [you’re looking for] and it should have that one take feel to it. Now I believe Shane Embury [Napalm Death] is doing bass on the new stuff.

Kevin Sharpe is going to be involved as well and I should be recording a bunch of new songs.

Any plans to tour Australia in the near future?

We’re with Soundworks, so hopefully. They looked after us well when we were in Australia last time. And I’ve got to say Australian McDonalds is the best McDonalds in the world.

It’s still shitty McDonalds, but it’s the best.

Any last words for Aussie fans?

Buy the album you limey bastards! H

“I’ve got to say Australian McDonalds is the best McDonalds in the world.

It’s still shitty McDonalds, but it’s the best.”

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Miss may i Miss May I frontman Levi Benton tells HEAVY why metalcore isn’t a dirty word.

words Lucy Valentine photo Courtesy of Soundwave

L

onghaired metalcore kids Miss May I are set to storm Soundwave next year and while they’re stoked to be a part of the lineup, singer Levi Benton is less than satisfied to see his band name printed on the bill.

“I hate our band name!” laughs Benton, “We tried to make it all different and weird when we were a local band and now we’re stuck with it. Everyone always mispronounces it. Parents will buy merch for their kids and be like, ‘can I get that Miss May One shirt?’ or ‘that Mother May I shirt?’ and I’m just like, ‘oh my god.”

It may be a bit of a terrible name, but Ohio’s Miss May I have been throwing out some damn good tunes. Touted by critics all over as the band’s most mature and genuine record yet, their latest release At Heart solidified the band’s place as one of metalcore’s most talked about. Metalcore can be a bit of a taboo word for the stringent metal fan, but Miss May I have managed to appeal to heavy music fans across the board.

“We actually like the label metalcore, it’s a big compliment for us,” admits Levi, “I think what makes us a metalcore band is our musicianship.

We’re not out there just playing breakdowns all the time – there are drum solos, there’s singing.

Genres aside, At Heart is well-crafted and executed, but with the perfect amount of rough edges to make it convincing.

“I feel music-wise we’ve matured a lot on this one,” says Benton proudly, “On our other albums I was singing three feet away from a tenthousand dollar microphone like every other vocalist. That’s not what I do live, so there was no point doing that on the record. We wanted it to sound as real as possible. We got the mic we use live, a cheap one, hooked it up and I just stood on a chair like it was a show. I think that’s what made it come out as real as it did.”

In addition to its raw energy, At Heart is a notably more sincere, down to earth record than a lot of others coming out of the metal scene.

“I got fed up with metal bands trying to be the scariest or the toughest. I listen to a lot of hip-hop, because it’s just real stuff. Lyrically, [the record] is just a lot of stuff I’ve been through. It was easy writing lyrics because I wasn’t faking it. It’s definitely the album we’re most proud of.”

All this considered, it’s strange to remember that Miss May I are still such a young band,

recording their debut album in 2009 when Benton was only 18.

“I do feel like I never got to grow up. I never got to go to college or work flipping burgers to make it through school. It’s definitely been weird, but I feel like even although we didn’t grow up normally we’ve matured a lot more than most people. Since we are gone a lot [on tour] we’ve always had to take care of ourselves.

It’s win and lose.”

So is being in a band all it’s cracked up to be?

“Travelling and seeing the world is everything I dreamed it would be. The only thing I didn’t expect is how crazy the music industry is, how messed up a lot of people are and how mean people can be. I don’t think you can prepare yourself for that – it’s not a normal thing. Everyone’s really cutthroat and crazy.

There are a lot of lies and everyone’s out to win – everyone’s really competitive. But that aside, I still want to do this until I’m 50 years old, an old man up on stage. I love it.” H

listen now

‘Hey Mister’ @iTunes From their latest album At Heart

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heavyfeature

listen now

‘Reaching Home’ @iTunes From their latest album Dualism

TEXTURES words Rob Brens photo I Am Kat

A

fter clearing up a case of mistaken identity, wherein master drummer Stef Broks explained the reason for his lateness was that another Rob requested an interview at the exact same time (except from Costa Rica), he quickly set about explaining the band’s position on visiting Australia.

“Australia is one of those countries that has a high potential for us, but we’ve never done it.

It makes me sad,” Broks confesses, “The distance is the first problem. If you want to get over with six people, it’s already at least 10,000 euros. It’s hard to conquer.”

While it may be an ambition of both Broks and Textures to get over to Australia, the feeling is more than mutual when it comes to their Australian fans – and they know it.

“We have more interviews coming from Australia than Holland and we see bands like Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and Cog who are in our league, so we’re like, ‘what the f**k are we doing here? We’ve got to get to Australia!’

No one who knows of the band would dare doubt their determination to achieve this goal or any other, having developed a reputation as a DIY benchmark.

“We were in a rehearsal room some time in 2001 when Textures had just formed. We were coming up with a plan to record a demo when a friend came by and saw what we were doing and said, ‘A demo? That’s f**king old

school. Looking at you guys, I see one guy who can record, one guy who can do the artwork, one guy who has media contacts, one guy who can build a studio,’ and so on. We looked at each other like, ‘oh, f**k yeah.’ Our guitarist was studying to be a producer, the other one was studying art, I was studying journalism and suddenly it all fell together.

In Holland it was like a bomb in the metal scene, not just the record, but how we did it [DIY].

Nowadays, eleven years later, it’s very common.“ The product of their initiative was a style of music that has influenced the progressive genre in a big way, especially within the current djent movement, impacting bands such as Periphery and Tesseract. But despite their metal roots, these days they seldom listen to their early influences.

“We were introduced to Meshuggah at a young age and were struck by it right away. So, by the time we started doing Textures, the style was always in the back of our minds. We don’t listen to much heavy music [anymore]. I’ve had a soul period, an R&B period, a metal period and lately I’ve been listening to hip-hop. We don’t really see the boundaries of the genre anymore, it’s just sound. But what is it that makes us play metal? Maybe we’re just too energetic and this is the only way to express it.”

Textures’ sound has evolved over the years from its thrashier beginnings to today’s much more open and layered sound, yet the progression was hardly calculated.

Any fan of modern progressive rock or metal over the past decade has been chomping at the bit for this Dutch six-piece to finally grace our shores.

“We just write music. That’s why it takes so long – we don’t have a formula. I can say some songs are very drummer minded, such as Laments Of An Icarus or Singularity, so that’s my contribution. Bart [Hennephof, guitars] brings in riffs, drums and vocal lines. I write a lot of lyrics, Jochem [Jacons, guitar] brings in his production ideas and also riffs and sounds.

Everybody does everything. Most of the time we write alone or in pairs though and share it on our server. It would be crazy with all six of us in a room at once.”

So where does Textures stand right now?

Aside from their hectic touring schedule, they’re accepting the challenge of a unique cover performance. Dutch artist Aenout Mik has invited Textures to perform John Cage’s 4:33 to be filmed and turned into a piece of art for the new Muziekpaleis in Utrecht, Holland.

For those unfamiliar, 4:33 is a piece consisting of four minutes and 33 seconds of pure silence.

Something tells me Australians will be hoping for a considerably louder show.

“Right now we’re talking with our booker about creating some lines to Australia. Musically, we’re free. We released Dualism a year ago and it’s like we’ve just climbed a very steep mountain. We’re at the top and now we’re floating down. We’ll land somewhere, but I don’t know where.” H

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listen now

’Bloody Knuckles’ @iTunes From their latest album De Vermis Mysteriis

high on fire High On Fire’s Matt Pike talks about distorting the Immaculate Conception story, losing his mind and his unique guitar collection. words Peter Hodgson photo carbiewarbie.com

H

igh On Fire’s latest De Vermis Mysteriis translates as ‘the mysteries of the worm.’ It’s a tribute to a fictional grimoire by Robert Bloch (author of Psycho, which was of course adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into the classic flick of the same name).

“It’s a concept record, a little bit,” Pike says dubiously, “I got this idea about Jesus Christ and the Immaculate Conception: what if Jesus had a twin who died at birth to give Jesus his life? And then, what if the twin became a time traveler? He lives his life only going forward until he finds this scroll from an ancient Chinese alchemist who derived a serum out of the black lotus and then he starts traveling back in time. He can see the past through his ancestors’ eyes, but his enemies can kill him if they kill the ancestor that he’s seeing through at the time.”

Pike says inspirartion for the album came from a pretty twisted place.

“I was losing my mind. I just went off the deep end during the whole writing process for this album.”

That process involved lots of legwork to lock down the lyrical themes.

“I research. I study religions and mythology. I read a lot. When it comes time to write, I research on subjects I find intriguing, have my own thoughts on them and put them together in a story to explain everyday life in non literal, colourful terms.”

At the helm of his band, Pike not only composes this complex lyrical content, but also has guitar responsibilities to consider. Pike has a few go-to axes: Gibson Les Pauls and a few nice acoustics including a Takamine 12-string and an Epiphone Kalamazoo, which is his ‘couch beater guitar.’ But the instrument he’s most associated with lately is his First Act nine-string. He actually has three of these behemoths, and unlike a traditional twelve-strings (which pairs most strings in octaves) the guitars’ string pairs are in unisons.

“I used [the nine-string] on a lot of the record. It gets a really nice chorusy effect. The leads get this chorusy tone and for big chords that thing just screams. But for playing really accurately and fast – I can do it but you get hung up a little – it’s not as quick. When I hit the Les Paul I’m quicker and more accurate.”

Amp-wise, Pike prefers high-gain heads and while he definitely has his preferences he’s not scared of adapting to whatever’s provided wherever he is in the world.

“I use Soldanos and I’m endorsed by Blackstar.

It depends. I always get stuck with Marshalls but I like Hiwatts, Oranges, Bogners. I use a lot of pedals too. I have Pigtronix, I’m endorsed by MXR and then there’s a bunch of companies that make stuff for me.”

One of the stars of the De Vermis Mysteriis sessions is a Rocktron octave and distortion pedal. “[Producer] Kurt Ballou had this crazy Rocktron pedal.

I use it all over the record. It just sounds like a chainsaw that thing! It’s so badass. I’ve been meaning to get one but they don’t make them any more and they haven’t reissued them, so I have to get a vintage one and they’re kind of hard to find. But that thing’s an animal.”

Speaking of animals, they’re what intrigues Pike most about our country. Just recently treating us to shows in September, our natural enviroment seemed to have more of an impact on him than our music scene.

“I just like Australia in general. It’s pretty awesome. It’s a crazy place. The wildlife there trips me out! It’s very weird, in an awesome way.” H

Above: The habitually shirtless Matt Pike at the Melbourne Soundwave (March, 2011) with his custom designed 9-string double-cutaway, solid-body guitar, made of mahogany and maple.

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heavyfeature

CANCER BATS Frontman Liam Cormier chats about playing Soundwave, McDonalds, instant oatmeal and what it takes to become one of the most notable live acts in heavy music. words Rob Brens photo Courtesy of Soundwave

R

eleased in April 2012, Cancer Bats’ latest album Dead Set On Living bares a title that appropriately describes their determination. Australians who were pulverised by their undeniable ferocity back in 2010 will have a chance to experience it once again at Soundwave festival in 2013.

Cormier is as much of a music fan as he is a musician and will be ensuring he catches some of his favourites such as Anthrax, Kyuss Lives, Red Fang and of course Metallica at Soundwave. Regardless of love-hate relationship fans have with the band, Cormier hasn’t lost sight of Metallica’s significance to heavy music.

“There are definitely haters out there and I’ve got no time for it. There’s a reason why [Metallica] are one of the biggest bands in the world.

It’s like when people rip on McDonalds.

They’re the number one restaurant for a

reason, because they’re food tastes really good.

Sometimes you have a McPizza and it doesn’t figure out, but you still got the f**king Big Mac, so whatever. You can’t f**k with McNuggets.”

No matter who you are, a large festival such as Soundwave is a great opportunity for a band to harvest a new crop of followers. For people attending, it’s a chance to discover new acts they may have heard of but wouldn’t have otherwise sought out. Cancer Bats is a name hard to escape these days, but musically the band’s title doesn’t allude to a great deal and has served them well when it comes to piquing the curiosity of festival goers.

“I love playing festivals because we have people

wearing Metallica or Motörhead shirts who are like, ‘whoa I never knew, I thought you guys were like a ska band,’ and I’m like, ‘oh yeah, no. We’re really heavy.’ Or they’re a girl in a 30 seconds to Mars t-shirt who’s like ‘holy shit, I’ve never heard of your band before, this is the best thing ever,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah! We both win!’”

Cancer Bats’ rapidly expanding fan base is no accident. A key recruitment tool has always been their live shows. Renowned for unrelenting energy, it’s hard not to get swept up. But there’s a method to the madness.

“You’ve got to go in with all the songs you know will translate in a [live] setting. Now that we have a lot of songs to choose from we want to have some thrashy songs and songs that everyone can pogo to. When you have 5,000 people pogoing to your song, it’s the greatest thing ever… You want stuff that people can circle pit or jump up and down to. That’s the whole science behind it.

Maybe we’ll pump some fists, but it’s all about bangers.”

Cancer Bats place emphasis on creating the ultimate party atmosphere as opposed to the brutal, pulverising vibe that other bands tend to employ.

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“With Cancer Bats we’re not calling out the wall of death. Our fans are just up for partying, so I feel like people don’t get too frightened off. They get more scared off by the club show, they’re like, ‘eww that guy’s sweating and spitting,’”Cormier laughs.

Cancer Bats’ endeavour to engage effectively with a live audience is aided by new material on Dead Set on Living. Departing from their more agitated, raw, old school hardcore beginnings in favour rock, sludge and indie influences, their latest work definitely reflects a more accessible sound. But make no mistake, they’re as heavy and aggressive as ever.

“Touring as much as we do, we realised sometimes raw, all over the place songs that have tonnes of different parts that never repeat – as fun as those are and as much as people like to listen to them – no one likes to party to them. Sometimes they don’t translate. Or we think ‘that really long intro, man that thing is really cool to listen to but it’s boring as f**k to play. So let’s not do that anymore. Get to the point. We’ll head bang and then the

latest release

“we have people wearing Metallica or Motörhead shirts who are like, ‘whoa I never knew, I thought you guys were like a ska band,’ and I’m like, ‘oh yeah, no. We’re really heavy.’”

song will end.’ We’re 100% a live band. When we wrote this record it was like, ‘let’s write an entire album that we could basically play as our set list. Fast songs, slow songs, nothing too drawn out, nothing too shoe-gazey or over indulgent. Let’s just make a party record.’”

In keeping with their party band ideals, the band’s touring lifestyle began with a collective, almost reckless decision to just take the plunge.

“When we were first coming up, we made that conscious decision to be on tour constantly, full-time.

None of us had places to live, none of us wanted jobs, we just wanted to be on tour so we said, ‘let’s just book tours so we’re not at home bumming out our friends and sleeping on couches.’ We ended up booking nine months of tours straight. We would finish a tour in Canada, get a plane the next day and fly to Europe, finish the tour, get back in our van and drive across the US. It was just constant. We took that gamble, established ourselves as a band and a lot of that worked out. In hindsight that totally could’ve killed us.”

Delivering night after night saw Cancer Bats successful forge their career, which hopefully means they’ll never have to return to their friends’ couches.

“We just kept that momentum going when we put out Hail Destroyer. We were able to tour like crazy off the back of that and suddenly we didn’t have to do it while eating instant oatmeal and bread with peanut butter. We were able to eat a bit better and figure out how to do it better.” H

Dead Set on Living by

Cancer Bats

shock entertainment

review Rod Whitfield It’s angry, distorted, gnarly and full of grit, spit and attitude.

They’re more than just your garden variety punk hardcore band. They throw in a touch of groove-based metal (Bricks and Mortar), dredgey, doomy stoner (The Void) and straight out ballsy rock’n’roll (R.A.T.S.) The rage inherent in their music is palpable, especially in the vocal delivery Liam Cormier. He spits out his lyrics with paint-stripping fury, but has a strong concept of dynamics.

This is a great lisaten, and there’s more than enough variety and substance to keep things engaging. t h e s tan d o u t

‘Bricks and Mortar’ @iTunes

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heavyfeature

PROPAGANDHI latest release

Constantly evolving crossover kings Propagandhi have married the energy and ethos of hardcore punk with the technicality and structural creativity of metal, to produce deliciously thrashy masterpieces on their most innovative album yet. words Damo Musclecar photo carbiewarbie.com

Failed States by

Propagandhi

Epitaph

review Damo Musclecar Over the years there’s one band always becoming progressively better – that band is Propagandhi. Failed States is 12 perfectly structured songs of protest played by metalheads with punk rock ideals. Lyrically fantastic and musically effective, Failed States is nothing short of amazing and is possibly their best release to date.

They may have worn long shirts and had coloured hair in 1990, but in 2012 these guys are playing the riffs of Iron Maiden and Raven with the punk and hardcore of D.R.I. This album is huge and scores five essays by Noam Chomsky on political analysis out of five. th e s ta nd out

‘Failed States’ @iTunes

C

anada’s Propagandhi first made their mark with the melodic skate punk of their debut How To Clean Everything. Now, nearly a decade later, they’ve dropped their sixth album Failed States which, mixing chaotic riffs and charging drumbeats, is consistent with their evolution towards a heavier, more metallic sound reminiscent of early recordings by black metal legends Venom.

Frontman Chris Hannah was ecstatic to receive such a comparison.

“Venom were the first band I ever loved. When we were kids it was all metal. Then we discovered punk bands that took the energy of metal and had something more to say. We grew up in the crossover era, so it was all the same to us. When I was 13, I lived an hour away from Winnipeg. I found out that Venom and Slayer were playing there and there was a snowstorm.

I was begging my mum to drive me into the city – I was crying and she wouldn’t take me in. That was my one chance to see Venom and it didn’t work out.”

Over the years, fans of Propagandhi have noticed a dramatic difference between earlier recordings and their later works. Was it a label? Was it the band’s decision?

“It was fairly natural. Back on those older records I still see the odd attempt to try to incorporate metallic influences. When we started we thought we were

Propagandhi lifting the roof off The Corner Hotel (Melbourne) in May 2011.

a metallic band [but] when the first record came out it fell into the genre of skate punk. In my mind we were trying to be a little heavier, but we were also new to our instruments and we literally couldn’t play a lot of the stuff we wanted to. It’s taken us all this time to get to where we wanted to be back in 1989. When we first started the band we were interested in MDC, Bad Brains, a lot of the punk bands, but there was also ’80s metal like Sacrifice. We thought we were going to be this combination of Voivod, Kreator and Dead Kennedys, but we didn’t have the skill to pull that off.

We’ve inched closer to that goal over the years as we’ve gotten incrementally better at our instruments and arrangements.”

Something that’s remained consistent from the beginning of their career and has always infiltrated their music is Propagandhi’s politically and socially motivated material.

“We’ve been born into this insane capitalist framework. [But] you either go live in a cave and nobody hears what you have to say, or you engage the system to some degree and compromise, which our band has always done.”

Epitaph Records released Failed States in September, and remain the largest label to represent the band.

With other political acts making the jump to major labels, Hannah affirms he’s happy with where his band is now.

“It would never make sense to do what bands like Rage Against The Machine or Rise Against have done.

Those bands are able to navigate that world more effectively. It’s better to just stay where we are and do what we’ve always done. We seem to get a lot of interested feedback from people around the world, so we’re not preaching to the converted… We’re always talking to people with different ideas. I do think there’s a place for bands like Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, Anti-Flag, or whoever it is doing it in more of a mainstream mould and I think a multi-pronged attack on the prevailing order is necessary at this point.”

With all of these bands doing their best to create awareness, is anyone taking notice?

“Things have gotten [much] worse in terms of how high the stakes are now... Even mainstream scientists now are expecting we are going to see some crazy weather in the next century. Some of that may result in a spiral downward of civil society if states can’t act to protect the population. On the other hand, despite all that, there are more people globally doing a lot more efficient, smart and righteous work to try stave off that disaster.” H

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listen now

‘‘I Believe In Goddess’’ @iTunes From their latest album Self-Entitled

nofx

The notion that ‘punk is dead’ has little validity as long as NOFX are around. Back with their latest, aptly titled punk rock ripper, NOFX have been answering to nobody but themselves for nearly 30 years.

words Kimberley Croxford photo Hew Burney

“I

can’t f**king hear what you’re saying.

What’s the question you’re asking…?”

Notorious punk icon Fat Mike is perpetually direct. He’d much prefer be challenged than flattered and, accordingly, doesn’t hesitate to challenge others.

The man can smell bullshit miles away and he’ll call anyone’s crap. After expressing his dissatisfaction with a less than perfect phone line, Fat Mike says naming NOFX’s new fulllength Self-Entitled was a no-brainer.

“We are self-entitled. We go on stage and make fun of anyone we want to, because we don’t have to f**king impress anybody.”

This freedom and self-assuredness, besides having always been NOFX’s chosen attitude, is facilitated by the fact that the band have become successful entirely independently. But Fat Mike asserts the reason for his band’s longevity is their honesty, rather than their choice to remain an independent band. “[Being independent] contributes to our happiness, but we’re successful because we’re a good band and people believe us – they don’t think we’re writing to make a radio hit. You may win on a major [label], you may win independently – it all depends on what you want and your idea of success. If money’s what you want, you’re in the wrong business. If you want be an alcoholic, do lots of drugs and get laid, it’s a good business,” he says with total conviction.

Self-Entitled is a flat-out punk record with incredibly memorable motifs – particularly the infectious main riff on the track Cellout. The song describes Fat Mike enduring criticism for being a ‘poser punk,’ which seems bizarrely unfounded considering the band’s consistency, integrity and unrelenting punk ideals have secured the loyalty of their fans. So was the song based on real events, or simply a critique of the sometimes ruthless nature of the punk scene?

“I pretty much made up the whole thing, but it was inspired by a real event. I was at a punk show once and felt something on my face. I scratched it, felt it again and realised some woman next to me was squeezing her breast milk in my face!” he laughs heartily, enjoying the memory, “One of her friends asked, ‘why do you keep doing that?’ and she goes to me, ‘because you’re a sell-out!’

I thought it was so funny, because we’re like the anti sell-out band.”

It’s easy to mistake Self-Entitled as a more personal record lyrically, with songs like I, Fatty and Down With the Ship, which appear to be rare, candid self-reflections. But Fat Mike quickly quashes the idea.

“I, Fatty is about Fatty Arbuckle, the old silent

No effects needed for these four naturally endowed Californians.

movie comedian,” he laughs, “I read his book and it was so awesome I wrote about it.”

But that’s not to say Fat Mike has never written material closer to his heart.

“I have one song I’ve never released about killing my mum. She was dying of cancer and she was tired of suffering, so she asked me to end it early,” he pauses, the experience still raw, “I wrote a song about what that entailed and how horrible it was. It’s just a piano and me. I don’t think I should release it, it’s almost too personal, but on the other hand it’s a really beautiful song and I’m proud of it. I’ve never felt like such a good person, such a man, or such a good son.”

Fat Mike’s reluctance to release songs with intimate subject matter may have something to do to the strange reaction he received last time he exposed private struggles, during emotional live performances as his alter ego Cokie the Clown.

“I told the worst stories of my life and a lot of people didn’t believe me,” he says, his incredulity obvious, “Which is okay, but also kind of insulting. I opened my heart and told people about how I had to get my hanging roommate down and take the noose off his neck. People thought I made that shit up – why would I make that up?”

The album is, of course, packed with plenty of tunes with political and social significance and laced with sarcasm and satire. First single

“…some woman next to me was squeezing her breast milk in my face!”

Ronnie And Mags is one such song, its humour residing in its absolute irrelevance to our current political context.

“What’s funny about it is that it’s not an issue,” Fat Mike laughs, delighted with his own joke, “Singing about Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher now is just so stupid that it’s awesome,” Dealing with something more current, opener 72 Hookers playfully proposes sex would appease terrorism and foreign warfare, ‘when everyone is getting blowjobs, that’s when we’ll finally have world peace.’

“There were four suicide bombers who were caught because their bombs malfunctioned and French journalists did a movie about them. None of the suicide bombers were doing it for political reasons, they were all doing it because they were told that they could get 72 virgins if they died in jihad. I just put two and two together and said, ‘if we send hookers over there, then there’ll be no more bombers,’” Fat Mike concludes casually, “And, you know, hookers go to Alaska, they go to a lot of f**king places, they don’t mind where the money’s coming from, they’re hookers.”

“These kids don’t get to see any girls growing up,” he says emphatically, suddenly serious, “They get to see their mother’s face and that’s it.

Of course they’re going to be frustrated. I’m not saying US policy isn’t crap, it totally is, but a large reason suicide bombers do it is to get laid. It’s the truth. They’re not offensive lines if they’re true.”

Many of us can’t handle the truth, so where does Fat Mike summon the confidence to deal with these controversial things in such a humorous way?

“Like I said, self-entitlement. I feel like I can say anything and get away with it.” H

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heavyfeature

wat c h n o w

Ramin Kuntopolku Open air performance at Tuska Festival

Tuska Festival

finland’s celebration of all things metal

Tuska (meaning pain) is Finland’s largest metal festival. This year an incredible lineup of more than 50 bands, including headlining acts Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Ministry, Sabaton and Apocalyptica played to over 25,000 metalheads over three days. HEAVY travelled to the other side of the planet to experience the event first hand. words & photos Julianne Pimenta

T

uska was my first international metal festival and I had no idea what to expect. The first thing you hear about the Finns is how much they love to drink, then about their taste for heavy metal, of course.

When I arrived I observed (not to my surprise) that people had brought their favourite sixpacks to drink before entering the grounds. A few things stood out to me. Firstly, there were plenty more females in attendance, which was pretty awesome.

Secondly, this event has no age limit and yes, people brought their kids along! Even better,

Overkill’s Derek Tailer shows off his favourite finger.

people over 65 years of age can attend the event for free – and they did. One thing I didn’t quite understand is that with such a fantastic lineup, why was

the crowd in general not absolutely huge? It can’t be because of the lack of resources – there were drinking fountains, a Coke van complete with pretty promo girls and various hot food stands.

There was even a supermarket van where you could buy anything from batteries, to sandwiches and water for very affordable prices, much cheaper than I’ve ever seen at any of our events, and the food was tasty.

When it came to the music, there was one strange act that caught my attention. Oddly enough, it wasn’t anyone playing on stage – in fact this particular ensemble have a reputation for playing in the most ridiculous of locations, like the back of

a supermarket. And why not? Who wouldn’t like to listen to two-man band Ramin Kuntopolku while doing some light grocery shopping?

Their only instruments were a megaphone and a small drum kit, which they played while wearing balaclavas (why not?), as they sang their maximum-of-fifteen-second songs.

The other bands were amazing, of course. Sonata Arctica and Apocalyptica were full of energy, which fuelled the crowd.

Behemoth, what can I say? They love their blood. At Skeletonwitch’s show there was even a boy about ten years old getting really into it and joining the circle. That’s one tough cookie.

I recommend every metal fan attend this event at least once, dive head first into every single mosh pit, speak Finnish (and fail) to every person possible and head bang until their neck snaps.

Tuska festival: 4.5 out of 5 wasted Finns. H

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▲ SONATA ARCTICA

▲ METSATÖLL

After Sonata Arctica’s fiery performance onstage, vocalist Tony Kakko spoke about their latest and strangest album yet, Stones Grow Her Name.

Metsatöll are one of the few folk metal bands around that have made it internationally with Estonian lyrical content. I had the rare opportunity to sit with the whole band and talk about their latest album.

Tell us about the title of your latest album Stones Grow Her Name?

There’s a line in the song Alone In Heaven that says, ‘it hurts to be all alone on the field where the stones grow dead names,’ which of course refers to a graveyard. We couldn’t have a graveyard on the cover, it’s too grim, and so we used ‘her’ referring to Mother Nature.

Some of the songs on your new album, like Cinderblox and Wildfire Part: II, sound completely different to your previous material. What inspired such different tracks?

I always try to surprise listeners and myself.

Cinderblox, especially, was like an accident waiting to happen. I had a banjo sound on my keyboard and I started playing around with it – soon I had a riff and thought ‘f**k that’s cool.’ Suddenly I had a song that made me smile and laugh out loud.

What’s the meaning behind the Wildfire songs?

It’s about the ‘human animal’ vs. the environment fight we have here and it’s morphing the story every time, finally ending with the realisation that we are destroying this planet and we need to start paying

attention to it… We should make sure the environment survives us. If we manage to live on this planet for a long enough time we will probably build a spacecraft, move onto another planet and destroy this one. We are a shit animal. Of course, there are individuals who are good, but the rest of the species are terrible.

Sonata Arctica’s songs are full of positivity.

Where does this come from?

Life… When I can’t think of anything I write about human relationships. If any of my writing can help [anyone] in any bad situations, with answers, or questions they’ve not been brave enough to ask, then it’s served its purpose.

Are there any ideas floating around for your next album yet?

I’ve been working on my solo album but I might not be able to get that out next year for a lot of reasons. I hope next summer I get to work on some new songs. We definitely need to tighten the whole package a bit. The time span between the last two albums was too long for a band.

Any plans to come back to Australia soon?

I hope. The first [tour] was a huge surprise, in that it actually came to be. We are good friends with Vanishing Point, so it would be really cool to see the guys again. It’d be great to go back.

– Julianne Pimenta

“If we manage to live on this planet for a long enough time we will probably build a spacecraft, move onto another planet and destroy this one. We are a shit animal.”

Besides slaying this incredible festival, what have the band been up to?

Markus: Well we recorded a new album [Ulg] last year and we are preparing for a tour to go to USA. One day we have to come to Australia.

We want your good lamb meat. Tell everyone in Australia Metsatöll are hungry.

I will make sure I do that! Tell us a bit about the making of Ulg. Kuriraivo: At first we wanted to make a demo recording, so we went to the countryside. It sounded so f**king cool that we decided to straight away make an album.

Markus: No extra production was done to make something more beautiful… it’s from the heart, it’s on that goddamn disc and it’s true.

Atso: No over thinking it either, we just did it.

I just played what came out of my mind.

Kuriraivo: Then we started to learn our new songs.

Lauri: [Laughs] like a normal band, first we make up song names, band pictures, then maybe after two years we think about making songs.

At the end of the day, after all the magazine reviews, fan forums and gigs, does the opinion of these outside forces matter when it comes to writing music?

Lauri: Absolutely not. We’re happy when people like our songs but we make what we love and we cannot change ourselves for everyone else.

Atso: And we never make songs that are to be played on the radio. If the radio plays it that’s okay, if not it doesn’t matter. It’s great when people like the music you make when it’s for yourself, not because of someone else.

What do you think is most important, Metsatöll on CD or Metsatöll performing?

Atso: I think if you hear our CD you don’t get our whole picture, [but] we like to sound as close to our CD as we do live. You have to have a very good record, but if the live show sucks there’s no band, only production.

Markus: We love to share our energy with people and we really love it when people share their energy with us while we’re on stage.

– Julianne Pimenta

What were the goals you had in mind when you started the group?

Atso: To get more girlfriends of course!

Markus: It was actually [because] rock music was so dead in Estonia. Our goal was that metal music would be played on radio shows, and now we have that. Also, we wanted to sing in our native language.

Right: Apocalyptica’s Eicca Toppinen rocks out with his cello at Tuska.

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metalrewind

metal for the brain

If you remember Frankenbok’s first show, chances are you were one of thousands who congregated yearly for Metal For The Brain. Once the country’s leading alternative music event, the festival brought together the heavy community for the love of metal and a good cause. words Jay Clair photos Rod Hunt

I

n 1990, after attempting to break up a fight, Alec Hurley’s life was transformed forever.

Tragically left permanently disabled, government aid wasn’t sufficient for Hurley’s need. Thankfully, the metal community was there to lend a hand.

A close friend, Joel Green from legendary Australian death metal act Armoured Angel, devised a plan to help Alec and his mother, Liz, cover the cost of the bills and equipment he now required.

Green assisted in the only way he knew how, with metal music, and so came about Metal For The Brain, an incredible metal extravaganza that lasted 15 years.

Organisers digging deep in their

pockets funded the festival – some even re-mortgaged their houses to provide the upfront costs – demonstrating a community’s commitment to helping out Alec.

It was risky initiative – and it worked.

The event was scheduled at the end of the Australian yearly touring round and was held in Canberra, which allowed for all-ages to attend – at that stage no other state was catering for under 18s. Very accessible from Melbourne and Sydney, punters from all around the country would travel to be there.

An event with an initial entry price of $15 and an original population of about 800 fans, the entry price grew to $65 as the festival began attracting close to 4,000 punters – it’s hard to imagine this kind of pricing today.

One of the major highlights was 2000’s event when Canadian legends VoiVod joined the bill.

Not only were they an amazing act and musical pioneers, they were humble enough to play the show for a reduced price to help raise money for the cause.

Former organiser and promoter Adam Agius [Alchemist, Levitation Hex] remembers back in the day the metal community was like a big gang.

“Most bands were a pleasure to deal with.”

The beauty of Metal For the Brain was that it really cultivated the local scene, with only a couple of international acts on the bill, and still drew up a huge crowd, proving to the world that the Australian music scene was a force to be reckoned with.

It sure does beg the question as

to whether an all-Aussie outdoor festival today would pull enough of an audience to make it successful.

Agius thinks not, and says that Australia’s cultural crush on things external to this nation nowadays would see a mostly Australian festival struggle to draw crowds of 3,000.

So you’re probably wondering why such a successful event ended? Well, so does Agius.

“I don’t think all the business partners were as passionate as others and some internal pressure grew. Having said that, it was great it ended on a high note and didn’t dither away.”

Metal for the Brain provided Alec Hurley with a life he probably wouldn’t have been able to lead without the support of the metal community. Unfortunately, as with many great stories, this one has a sad ending. Alec passed away in 2011, at age of 39. But the Australian heavy music community should be proud, their efforts and this inspirational event will be remembered forever. H

MFTB faves Blood Duster busting eardrums and raising hell, all in the name of raising money for Alec Hurley.

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unveiling the wicked Damo Musclecar scours the globe in search of metal’s forgotten gems

SMASHED GLADYS Social Intercourse (Elektra, 1988)

There aren’t many things you can buy for a dollar these days. In fact, you could probably count them on one hand: a chocolate bar on sale, a few spins on the five cent pokies at the Casino, maybe a sticker from some band’s merch table, or, if you’re really lucky , the album Social Intercourse from some small-time vinyl store in Michigan.

Bingo!

This purchase was a no-brainer. I was combing the record shelves when the cover struck me and I grabbed it thinking, ‘Smashed Gladys? That sounds familiar,’ and turned the record over. The band photo showed a bunch of black-haired bad boys lookin’ tough, except there was a catch – the one standing in the middle with the ripped jeans, revealing booty, was no boy. No sirreee. Vocalist Sally Cato is all woman! I knew right then I was holding analogue gold and that this record was coming home with me. I strolled up to the counter, got ‘that look’ from the sales person, threw down my $1 (plus tax) and left the store knowing I was wielding something mightier than the sword. As we drove back to Chicago, I longed for a car with an inbuilt turntable. The suspense was building. I needed to let my hair down, put my finger on the trigger and hear this hard rockin’ gem.

NYC’s Smashed Gladys kick off their magnum opus second LP with a lovely anthem titled Lick It Into Shape, and let me tell you, my friends, the party is quickly underway and a good time is had by all within seconds of the needle hitting the wax. Mixing AC/DC crossed with Faster Pussycat, KISS and The Dogs D’Amour, Smashed Gladys deliver hit after ass kickin’ rock’n’roll hit. Packed to the brim with cheesy lyrics about sex and debauchery, Social Intercourse only gets better from here on in. Second track 17 Goin’ On Crazy is exactly how I felt growing up in the ’80s. Yeah dude, I can relate. These guys

speak to me the same way Cobain’s fans worshipped his every word when grunge attempted to bury metal music. If you were there, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This isn’t corduroy trousers, this is rock’n’roll. Third track Play Dirty, a title I think every ’80s glam rock band has used at least once, is just as trashy as you’d expect. And by trashy, of course I mean awesome. If there was ever a song about oral pleasure to be sung by a woman in charge, Dive In The Dark is indeed that song. It’s uncompromisingly crude, and gutter trash is Cato’s trademark. She’s got more power and command in her raunchy voice than many of her male counterparts.

It isn’t all hanky-panky though, the band does try to get serious with the album’s token balled in Eye Of The Storm, but we’re not exactly fooled. Not when the first track on side two is titled Hard To Swallow – and I can assure you she isn’t talking about peas, carrots and brussels sprouts. Legs Up and Eye For An Eye are two tracks that roll right on through Cinderella’s bluesglam years, while Cast Of Nasties has that tough, street gang sound made famous by Twisted Sister. The album finishes with the war cry closer Sermonette. The band must have known their well decorated career was coming to an end, chanting ‘We did it to get laid!’ Well, I just hope it worked out for them before they disbanded in 1989.

The truth is, Smashed Gladys were active many years before Steel Panther ever decided to put pen to paper, yet strangely enough they don’t and most likely won’t ever get the same praise that today’s glam rock superheroes are receiving, which sadden and confuses me. Cato’s glorification of fornication and sleaze to please runs rampant right through Social Intercourse, a kind of proactive sexual freedom crossed with hard rock feminism that was years before the riot grrl punk movement of the early ’90s. You owe it to yourself to throw down a dollar and get yourself a copy of this classic. H

get them now...

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industry insight

Dito Godwin regular expert columnist Dito Godwin’s career flourished and he found himself in Los Angeles producing and promoting some of the biggest acts in music including: Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, Great White, Jani Lane of Warrant, Tim Bogert (Beck, Bogert & Appice), bassist Dave Spitz (White Lion, Black Sabbath) Drummer Kevin Valentine (Kiss, Cinderella), Mike Stone (Queensryche, Speed X) Rolan Bolan (son of rock legend Marc Bolan of T Rex), and the North American promotion of Mötley Crüe’s Too Fast For Love.

Dito is a regular contributor here at HEAVY, sharing his experience and knowledge in sound engineering, including helpful hints and information for HEAVY readers, so be sure to take notes! email dito godwin now

dito@heavymag.com.au

L

ast year I successfully recorded a band from Ohio (located in the mid-west of the good old US of A) who had limited time and funds at their disposal. I recorded and mixed a full tensong album in ten days, while still performing re-takes when necessary and without skipping over opportunities or inhibiting the band when it came to trying out all their ideas. How you might say? It all comes down to one essential consideration: preparation.

Pre-production

The key to a well-organised, speedy recording session is being super prepared. This means lots of preproduction. Since the band was more then 4000 kms from me (in LA) the work was done via email and telephone conversations. I went through each song. Was the intro just right and were transitions from verse to pre-chorus to chorus smooth? Did the solos work, were they even necessary? How about the meter of each song? Did the vocals seemed rushed?

Did the lyrics drag? Once all these questions were answered, we were ready to record. The entire preproduction process went on for about a month before I told the band to buy their plane tickets.

Tuning & gear

I rented a great set of drums and had a tech come to the studio to tune them. This way, I knew the drums would sound great. Next, were the right amps there for guitars? To solve any potential problems I used a studio that had a good selection of amps. This way

Engineer extraordinaire Dito Godwin reveals how to produce a recording in record time.

the band didn’t have bring gear and on the first day everything was set up and ready to go.

Monitor the mix as you go

My plan was to first record drums, bass guitar and then double track basic rhythm guitar. At that point I could start to record vocals. At the end of each vocal session I would sweeten the tracks with various percussion, solos and background vocals. As I recorded each day I was constantly preparing for the mix, which included paying attention to the EQ of the drums and cleaning tracks as we went.

Have a program in place

Once the band got into the rhythm of my daily work schedule it became easy. We worked very hard, for more than ten hours a day, but still managed to laugh and have a good time and at the end of six days I’d recorded the ten tracks.

I took the next 50 hours to mix after everything had been laid down. Since we had a jump-start on the mix, monitoring it as we recorded, I asked the band to chill out and let me mix without their presence until the end when I would listen to their comments and make any last adjustments.

I call this kind of process assembly line recording. It’s not for everyone, but if you do it correctly you can most certainly produce a kick-arse CD under time constraints. Whether you’re planning on taking a year or just ten days to record, be prepared.

H

Advertising & Marketing Your Band In today’s social media driven world it’s easy for bands to get lazy when it comes to advertising and marketing.

However, how much interest do you really generate on Facebook and Twitter? Sure, prospective fans can ‘like’ your page, or start following you, but be honest, how many of these people are friends, family, work colleagues and schoolmates, compared to people who have listened to and really genuinely like your band? And how many actually equal real life attendees at your shows? Not many!

Advertising and marketing is one of the most important areas for bands to focus on. You can write the most amazing music, but if nobody

hears it you’re not going to get far.

There are plenty of free advertising opportunities such as Facebook, Reverbnation and Twitter, but there are many more avenues and opportunities to help your band get noticed.

Many bands like to take the Do It Yourself approach, but usually it can only get you so far.

For bands that have exhausted the DIY avenues, hiring a publicist who has direct access to industry insiders and experts, as well as media lists, is one of the best ways to kick-start your advertising campaign. Having someone not only take care of the work while you concentrate on the music makes sense when they are directly hitting

your target market every time.

Gaining as much media attention as possible through advertising in the right publications, securing interviews in print, radio and online media, and getting your name out to touring companies and promoters both Australia wide and internationally is priceless.

So, instead of spending all of your time on social media spamming your events, buy an ad, hire a publicist, get out to gigs and hand out flyers. Hit your direct demographic. Don’t target people who are into pop if you’re in an extreme death metal band, get out and seek death metal fans. Do as much as you can yourself, but look outside the box for ideas. Release

a promotional CD of new material and hand this out for free at international shows to garner more interest in your band. Most importantly, when it comes time to take the next step, don’t hesitate, just do it. If you believe in your band and want fans and industry insiders to do the same, put your money where your mouth is. Don’t solely rely on free services, because all this shows is that you won’t invest in your band and yet you expect the industry to invest their time and money into you. Your most valuable resource is your time. Is it better spent spamming your band on social media, or writing killer songs? You do the math.

– Nicole Makin-Doherty

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Tricks with tix I words Vix Vile

n my late teens I camped out the front of a BASS office so I could get my hands on Mötley Crüe tickets, because that’s what we did before the web took over the world. We’d head down to the ticketing booths at around 5am, never surprised that fifty other people were already ahead of you waiting for 9am when tickets would go on sale.

Remember that gut-wrenching moment about 10 mins after 9am when it would filter down the line that the tour was already sold-out and all your efforts were in vein?

And who remembers the only other alternative, sitting with your landline phone and constantly pressing the redial button only for your heart to sink every time you got the busy tone as thousands of people around the country were attempting the same?

These days, with the internet and mobile phones, you only get the occasional story of someone missing out on a ticket, there are so many choices and avenues to use for purchasing a ticket to a gig…

TICKETING SITES

Ticketing sites like big guns Ticketek and Ticketmaster still rule the roost, but these days we have smaller players starting to make big waves. Moshtix and Oztix have come out punching in the last decade, keeping prices low and competitive. Even more independent companies catering specifically to heavier tours are also making a name for themselves. The Coffin Slaves is a distributor that also sells tickets to events they hold and have had some successful sell-out tours in the last few years. Then you have sites that you might not even realise exist. Virgins Blue tix allows Velocity members to get first access to many upcoming gigs and Preferred Seating gives you the chance to secure seating of your choice. As a last resort, if you’ve ever missed out on a big arena tour, Lasttix is always worth checking out –you’d be surprised what you find on there.

FAN CLUBS

Speaking of big arena shows, if you want to almost guarantee admission to a big band’s tour, then join their fan club.

If you were lucky enough to be a member of Metallica’s Met Club and happened to be in the Bay Area during their 30th Anniversary, the band played an exclusive four-day tour for members only at the crazy price of $19.81 US (get it, that was the year they formed?) for each show. Megadeth’s Cyber Army fan club gives members the chance to win meet and greets when they purchase tickets through the fan club and Iron Maiden has ‘first to the barrier’ prizes if you purchase through their fan club. Most band fan clubs offer presales.

TICKETEK FOR MOBILE

Let me let you in on a little secret. If you have a smart phone, you need Ticketek for Mobile. If the main site crashes, no worries, you’re more likely to get through on the phone app. Before the last Foo Fighters tour, while everyone was trying to refresh the page to try again when the ticketing site crashed, a number of people got through instantly through this app.

SONGKICK & BANDSINTOWN

Never heard of either? Well, they’re about to become your favourite sites. Sign up and create a wish list. When a band on your list announces a tour the site will email you, most of the time before the gig is publically announced. It’s also great if you’re travelling overseas, you can track if any of the bands on your lists are playing where you’re going.

These days the choices are almost endless and it’s a lot easier for you to get your hands on tickets to see your favourite artists. Happy gigging. H

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industry insight

Michael Summerton

Picture this: You’ve just finished playing one of the best gigs of your life and as you walk off stage you’re met with dreaded news. No one heard that amazing guitar solo because the sound was horrible. Still don’t think your mixer is important? words Rob Brens

M

eet Michael Summerton, who has manned the desk at festivals such as Brutal Assault, Soundwave, No Sleep ’Til and Party San, just to name a few. His resume is a veritable who’s who of death metal: Hate Eternal, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dyscarnate, Carcass, Decapitated, White Chapel and his main call of duty, Psycroptic.

“Essentially, most of the time I’m

a front of house engineer, I do what the punters hear out the front, and tour manage. My day usually consists of talking to everyone for tomorrow’s show and checking that all the small details surrounding the show are organised. Usually around 2pm we’ll roll in and get the band up to sound check, we’re usually done with that by 5 or 6pm.

We have a bit of downtime while the support bands are on and then we roll out the show around 11pm.”

For the layman, the mixer is the guy you’ll find somewhere about

three quarters of the way towards the back of the venue negotiating a desk that looks like he’s piloting the Starship Enterprise. The first and most obvious thing is to ensure that all the instruments are audible, but if that were all that was needed for a good mix, Summerton would just have five or six volume knobs.

“We spend quite a bit of time during sound check making sure all the source sounds are good, such as the drums being in tune.

I try to spend as much time on

microphone placement as I can to make sure that everything’s correct.

Even shit like stage presentation, we try and make everything look as neat as tidy as we possibly can.

Michael’s travels haven’t just seen him work in a variety of metal bands, but all genres.

“I do a lot of jazz stuff. I’m in house at the Hifi bar, which is excellent, it’s like a family – and I’ve been in and out of Federation Square doing all kinds of weird and wacky stuff. Doing all kinds of stuff is the key – that really gave me a whole new perspective and a bunch of tricks that I applied to Psycroptic that I think work really well.”

Michael started out playing music in his early teens. However,

"A devastating live show a huge catchy grinding metal machine with blistering violent riffage" - Heavy mag

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discover more at

heavymag.com.au

THE PHOENIX OF RADIO instead of asking other players about how they play a particular riff or how to speed up his picking, his curiosity led him to ask how they set up their amp or how they achieved their sound. The same curiosity encouraged him to do a six-week training course in studio engineering and then volunteer at a local recording studio. Michael’s passion gravitated towards the live scene, as the meticulous and drawn out nature of the studio didn’t appeal to his restless nature.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a mixer. I got volunteer gigs, watched other people do it and thought it was really cool. I hung out with heaps of engineers and bugged them to death until I could work my way around a desk. I think the turning point for doing metal live sound was when I saw Pantera in ’98 and they had Aaron Barnes doing sound for them. It was just ridiculous how f**king heavy it sounded and that was it – I wanted do live sound. I wanted to make drums sound like that and create that kind of impact. I don’t think I’ve gotten anywhere near close to that, but that’s what inspired me to get into metal mixing.”

At the end of the day, if you stay on top of your game and keep meeting people, opportunity comes knocking.

“My first big thing was Psycroptic. I picked that up the first time Behemoth toured, I got the call because I’d known the guys for a while. They had Marita [Fitzgerald] doing sound but she was away with Parkway Drive and couldn’t do the gig so Dave [Haley, drums] called me up and asked. The band and I worked really well together, so after that it was pretty much it. They helped me get other, bigger things.

Dave’s been a help in a big way, I’m indebted to him a lot.”

From there, Michael got his foot in the door with national promoters such as Soundworks and Heathen Skulls. As well as being taken around the world with Psycroptic, the various tours he worked on eventually saw him being flown overseas with deathcore masters Whitechapel. H

In our sunburnt country, Andrew Haug is a household name.

After a long career with triple j hosting The Racket, Haug has risen to bring to the masses live rock and metal radio, online and 24/7. words Vix Vile photo Jon Hocking

A

ndrew Haug never planned on forging a career hosting radio shows. It was a chance meeting with then The Hard Report host, the late Alan Thomas, that led a teenage Haug down the path of rock radio infamy. Fast-forward two decades and Haug is now one of the country’s most respected metal personalities. Having spent nine years co-hosting The Hard Report on Melbourne’s community radio RRR, before going national on Australia’s largest metal program on triple j, Three Hours of Power (later changing its name to Full Metal Racket and eventually The Racket) it’s safe to say the majority of metalheads in the country grew up with Haug’s influence.

Things all came crashing down in late 2011, when triple j decided a changing of the guard was needed, seeing Haug replaced after ten years.

Albeit disappointed in their decision, Haug remained ever the professional, continuing to bring audiences a polished show week after week, all the while plotting what was next.

Dedicating his entire life to all things metal, Haug wanted to continue keeping the music alive and growing in Australia for generations to come – so he started toying with the idea of a 24/7 radio station that would feature all styles of heavy music, all day, every day.

“Many times I’d be driving home from the studio after only doing three hours [on The Racket] and just feel empty, knowing I had to wait a week to do it again,”

remembers Haug, “[Australia] has always dreamed of having twenty-four hour metal radio and I want to continue on my journey flying the flag for heavy music… [My career] has always been a massive opportunity and it’s never been about me, it’s about what I can do to get this music out to listeners. It’s always been an absolute privilege to be doing what I’ve been doing and it’s a privilege to continue it.”

And what better platform to launch his new program than the web? With his driving passion, Andrew Haug has now launched andrewhaug.com, an internet radio station with twenty-four blistering hours of every style of rock and metal out there.

“The technology is here now… People are working all hours of the day, the internet has enabled the world to be a lot closer and you can connect

with people day or night across the world. I figured while people sleep in Australia, someone in an office in the UK might be tuning in. It’s a global approach. The bulk of it will be for Australian audiences, but at the same time I can give a global ear to Australian music.”

Like everything Haug throws himself into, this isn’t about to be a half-arsed effort. Investing in quality studio equipment and a staggering music catalogue of the highest audio quality, this was never going to be some guy connecting his iPod and pressing the shuffle button.

This is the real deal. Included will be a live show, which will broadcast once a week, and magazine style segments will be scattered throughout the day. There’ll be a huge focus on Australian metal, and all the elements you’d expect from a radio station produced by Haug will be there: interviews, new releases, metal classics, requests and then some. The website andrewhaug.com will be the primary avenue for listeners to tune in. Smartphone apps like tunein radio even allow the station to go mobile. The site will feature competitions and giveaways and will also provide a way for the audience to guide and suggest what types of shows they might want to listen to. Open to all suggestions, Haug promises this will be a station for fans produced by a fan. H

ch e ck o u t

andrewhaug.com

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metalluminati

e m a i l m e ta l l u m i n at i n o w

jeff@metalluminati.com

with Jeff Schenck

Coming to America?

Touring the US isn’t all weekend shows, trips to White Castle and Lemmy spotting at the Rainbow. Packed schedules and long bus trips are the realities you’ll face trying to conquer a foreign continent.

Flights & Rentals

The biggest initial cost will be flights, van rental and gear. Flights can run anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000, depending on the airline, time of year and if it’s a direct flight. A van can run you around $3,000 plus for a month’s rental.

Space in the van is at a premium, so the best thing is to roll with the bare minimum. Then there’s the backline equipment. A drum kit alone can run you about $1,000 plus for a month’s rental, depending on whether you’re sponsored.

Gasoline

The biggest expense you’ll face on tour is gas. If you think about even a small tour of 3,000 miles, you’ll be in a van that is roughly getting 20 miles to the gallon with all the gear or a trailer attached. Gas is about $3.60/gal, which will make your trip cost about $525.00 for gas alone. Don’t even get me started on buses and drivers, they come at a much larger cost. The best thing to do is to put all your guarantees and merch sales into the tank to offset this cost.

Food

Try not to eat out too frequently because it can be pricey. Fast food is awful for you on the road. So, if you do go fast food, choose the healthy option. Best advice: go to

Walmart or the like and buy up supplies. Load up on peanut-butter and jelly, bread, mayo, mustard, cold cuts, beef jerky, trail mix and fruit, and load up again on the road halfway through. Buy in bulk for foods and snacks (even alcohol) because, long-term, it’ll keep the costs down.

Health

You’re going to be on the road, residing mostly in a van and in close quarters, drive 6-8 hours a day, pour out your energy onstage, load and unload equipment, have a few drinks (or more) with your fans and finally get back in the van and do it all over again for the next 30 plus days… This is one thing I know a lot of Aussie and South American bands aren’t used to, because they usually play weekend gigs, not everyday. Dez Fafara [Devildriver, Coal Chamber] often talks about his tea and herb regiment. Others talk about their vitamin intake, singers drinking honey or not speaking, keeping drinking to a minimum and eating healthy.

The reason? They’ve all gotten sick on the road, but the show must go on. You are already punishing your body each day for your art, so do your best to minimise it. Drink lots of water, have a vitamin routine that works for you, eat well (your body is a temple, treat it that way), sleep at every opportunity you can and keep the brutal drinking

Jeff Schenck Jeff is a musician, contributor, musician rights advocate, sales director, and the founder of The Metalluminati, a global organization for helping musicians utilise the latest technologies and cutting edge marketing to become more independent in the global market.

down. I know the last one is rough, but it does hurt you every time. Let go of the little shit, and just let it roll off your back. Have a healthy sense of humor and enjoy it all.

Networking

Finally, touring is the greatest way to network. Not only will you build a base of fans, but you’ll build long-term relationships with the bands you play with. Don’t be the band that sits back and doesn’t get to know the others. Introduce yourself to the local bands – you never know what connections you’ll make and how they might help you in the future (share equipment on tour, venue connections, etc.) H

Touring Essentials Welcome to touring life. You’ll make new friends, share the stage with some great bands and enjoy seeing people other than your local rent-a-crowd pumping your album and wearing your shirts. Touring is certainly not for every muso, but it’s an important part of the business.

And hey, you’ll never know if you never go. A lover of the touring life, I’d be more than happy to permanently be on the road. But there’s certainly a difference between a good tour, a bad tour and a great tour. Let’s discuss a few simple things that’ll make a world of difference.

Obviously, you’ve packed all your instruments or at least pre-organised a backline to use. However, it’s the small things we forget.

Guitar picks, strings, drumsticks, drum key, earplugs and spare leads should all be picked up from your local music store before you leave.

Let’s face it, we all have our ‘guy’ who gives us a deal and it beats driving around in a new city looking a music store only to find they don’t stock what you need. Think ahead and avoid the headache.

We live in the age of technology.

So why use a map or street directory to get around? The map age is over my friends, to the relief of many bands who’ve had huge fights after going hours in the wrong direction because someone (usually the singer) couldn’t navigate a map properly. A GPS will save your life and prolong the life of your band.

Living in a vehicle with your band mates will truly test friendships.

What makes it worse is when a member of your travelling circus gets sick. When living in a confined space, the germs spread quickly.

How do we combat this? Vitamins!

A good multivitamin, as well as vitamin C, taken by each member a couple of times a day are as important as new strings and with the lack of sleep due to playing, partying and the living conditions of van life, you and your band will be so much better off by looking after your immune systems. Being in each other’s faces 24/7 can certainly take its toll on a band. Be conscious of this at all times. And most of all, remember why you’re on tour and have fun!

– Todd Hansen

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strings & skins guitar

Gear of the Gods Peter Hodgson road tests the DiMarzio Gravity Storm Steve Vai signature Pickups

G

uitar god Steve Vai has used various signature DiMarzio pickups over the years: the Evolution, the Breed, the Blaze, Evolution 7 and Evolution 2 (as well as the set made exclusively for the transparent acrylic 20th anniversary Jem, and a few other non-sig models like the PAF Pro and the X2N, if you want to get really picky about it). His signature pickups all have something in common with his music: they’re designed to explore and address a specific sonic question. The Evolution is bright, middy and somewhat hyper, while the Breed is warmer and more vintagevoiced. Vai’s new Gravity Storm set comes from a different place to the Evo, Blaze or Breed. He was looking for something fatter, thicker and not as overpowering as the Evolution. The pickups are available in neck and bridge models in a variety of colour, and in either standard or F-spacing (the latter for guitars with vibrato bridges or Fender-style string spacing).

The bridge Gravity Storm (model number DP253) has an output of 340mV and a DC resistance of 15.19Kohms, and it’s built around an Alnico V magnet like the Breed rather than a ceramic magnet like

the more strident Evolution and Evo 2.

The Gravity Storm neck pickup (DP252) has a ceramic magnet, an output of 290mV and a DC resistance of 12.56Kohms. For testing, the Gravity Storm set were installed in a 1987 Ibanez RG550 with a basswood body, maple Wizard neck with rosewood fretboard, and a floating Ibanez Edge double locking vibrato bridge.

Bridge

The DP253 is definitely Vai’s fattest sounding pickup to date. The treble content in particular is almost the inverse of the top-happy Evolution and players who were scared off by the Evo’s high end will be much more comfortable. The high end is smooth and the attack is nice and round – this encourages the player to explore sustained notes and legato techniques. It has a big fat midrange and full low end and these qualities help to make it Vai’s biggest ‘power-chorder’ to date. It doesn’t

cut through a mix so much as sit confidently within it, with enough clarity to draw attention to itself without having to tear your head off with treble to do so. And while the Evo and Breed seemed to have a slight compressed vibe, the Gravity Storm is bold and dynamic. It’s almost like taking a Breed and pressing the ‘fat’ button on certain amps or overdrive pedals. It absolutely thrives on being plugged straight into the amp. The clean sound is quite nice too, not jangly or stabby, and it plays quite nicely with chorus and delay effects. It also has a nice clear ‘ring’ when split and combined with the middle single coil.

Neck

The DP252 is much fatter than the scooped Evo and Blaze and more focused than the Breed. The bass is just thick enough to achieve

“I dreamed about using DiMarzio products as a kid. The perfect audio synapses between my heart and hand.”

that ‘mushing up’ sound, which Vai sometimes employs when he plays super fast on the bass strings through a distortion pedal, and the ratio of midrange to treble is almost oboe-like. Again, this really invites legato techniques. The focus is quite tight – there’s a directness to picked notes which is almost like a hot version of a ’60s voiced noiseless single coil. It’s still quite recognisably a humbucker, but a very defined and slightly grainy one.

Of course, if you’re after a particular Vai sound from previous albums, the Gravity Storm set isn’t quite going to get you there. The bridge has maybe a little bit of an Alien Love Secrets vibe about it, but it really should be taken as its own unique pickup. If you’d like to hear it in a Vai musical context, check out the track Racing The World from his new album The Story Of Light. But, like any piece of gear, it’s best to think about what the Gravity Storm pickups can do for you and your music.

The Gravity Storm pickups offer a pair of voicings that are fat and smooth but more ‘hot’ than ‘warm.’

H

Pre-order your copy now

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strings & skins bass

The Engine Room

of heavy music’s most influential Rhythm Sections

Every muso can reel off a list of bands who have inspired them. But there are certain musicians whose influence has been so extensive it can be observed in the music of... well, everyone. HEAVY nods to pioneer rhythm sections that have helped define the heavy music landscape as we know it. words Drew Dedman & Rob Brens

LED ZEPPELIN

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones is quite possibly the most influential bassist of all time, which makes sense, seeing as Led Zeppelin are one of the most influential bands of all time. JPJ’s talent on multiple instruments, most notably the mandolin and keyboard, facilitated Zeppelin’s unique combination of styles including rock, folk, early metal and even funk.

But it was those melodic bass lines that made Led Zeppelin stand out from other early heavy bands. Sure, it probably helped that there was Page, Plant and

Bonham complementing JPJ’s fine work, but his balance of groove and subtle melody created something special in the world of bass playing.

John Bonham Topping ‘best rock drummer of all time’ lists everywhere, Bonham is an obvious choice.

The modern rock drumming sound can be traced straight back to Zeppelin. Most drummers can be identified by distincive parts they play, but Bonham merely had to hit a bass drum and you knew immediately it was him. Despite the sheer awesome power behind his playing, the feel and dynamics he employed are what set him apart from

Rhythm section royalty: Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and the late John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham.

the rest. Fool In The Rain is the epitome of groove and taste, particularly because of the use of ghost notes from the half-time shuffle to the Latin bridge. The cheeky displacement in Black Dog still has drummers arguing over where the ‘one’ count is and When The Levee Breaks sounds like Bonham’s bass drum beater is going to burst through your speakers at any moment. And, of course, an archetype for the modern drum solo, Moby Dick is a veritable library of rock chops, but still not without melody and structure. You’ll never put on a rock record without hearing a bit of “Bonzo”.

BLACK SABBATH

Geezer Butler I read a great article years ago which featured Geezer Butler talking about his early days as a bass player in Sabbath and how he merely played the ‘dots.’ But, in the process of ‘simply playing the dots,’ he managed to pretty much write the rule book on heavy metal bass playing. Butler’s style can be described as meat and potatoes metal playing – it all just works. It’s nothing too fancy, but it’s affective and satisying.

He was one of the early innovators of drop tuning, tuning his bass down one and a half tones to C# F# B E to match Tony Iommi’s guitar, an essential element to Sabbath’s early heavy sound. His use of the wah pedal on the song Bassically (later to become the intro of NIB upon re-release) off of Sabbath’s first album not only inspired countless bass players to start adding stomp boxes to their setup, but also embellished the first heavy metal bass solo ever recorded.

Bill Ward I remember being handed a 10” vinyl with ‘the Wizard’ on it when I first started playing drums and being absolutely blown away.

No doubt many passions for drumming were ignited this way.

Neither the band nor this drummer need an introduction, nor need I convince you of their influence. Just listen to metal to hear it.

The most important thing to note is this guy wasn’t just your typical rock pig. There’s a very clear jazz influence in his playing, right down to his drum sound. Whether it’s the waltzing feel of Behind The Wall Of Sleep, the almost jazzfusion groove leading The Wizard, or the blues shuffle in Evil Woman, Ward’s intricate and tasteful yet powerful drumming significantly contributed to rock and metal.

METALLICA

Cliff Burton Burton is to metal bass playing what Hendrix is to guitar, an icon.

Although only recording three albums before his tragic death in 1986, his influence on heavy bass players is unparalleled. Known for his distortion and cry baby drenched tone, Anesthesia – Pulling Teeth and For Whom The Bell Tolls are great examples of his incredible ‘lead bass’ chops.

However, it’s the straight up side of Burton’s playing that I find the most amazing. Unlike a lot of other players in the thrash genre, Burton didn’t merely follow the guitar riffs note for note. Heavily influenced by classical music and layers of harmony, Burton created some very interesting bass lines in his time with Metallica, holding the guitars together while keeping it extremely solid with the amazing foot work of Lars Ulrich.

Lars Ulrich I don’t care what people have to say about the quality of the man’s playing. When you create parts people can identify with, and sing

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strings & skins drums

“Harris’ three-fingered right hand technique and heavy play style on his Fender Precision basses gives Maiden a defined, almost percussive feel to their bottom end…”

Iron Maiden’s four string powerhouse, the great Steve Harris.

photo by carbiewarbie.com

Clive Burr/Nicko McBrain It was hard to decide between two excellent drummers who both made significant contributions to one of the biggest English heavy metal bands of all time.

So I picked them both. Clive Burr laid down some of the most

along to, even long after hearing them, you’ve created something special. I would even hasten to call them parts, Lars Ulrich wrote songs. Who as a young drummer wasn’t blown away the first time they heard One? Aside from the ability to create iconic, memorable drum parts featured in songs such as One, Enter Sandman and Dyers Eve, my favourite aspect of Ulrich’s drumming is his use of syncopation. A good example is his snare placement in songs such as Call Of The Ktulu. Shifting his backbeat around, he creates a push and pull effect that keeps driving the song right up until it opens into a straight feel after the guitar solo.

The song itself is another shining example of Ulrich’s ability to craft a piece of music instead of just thrashing his way to the finish line.

There’s a reason why Metallica are one of the biggest metal bands of all time and they’d be less of a band without Ulrich.

IRON MAIDEN

Steve Harris When you think of all-time great rock/metal bass players, Steve Harris will always make the top five. For the past 35 years his bass playing and songwriting with Iron Maiden has inspired literally thousands of metal bands and musicians all around the world.

Harris’ three-fingered right hand technique and heavy play style on his Fender Precision basses gives Maiden a defined, almost percussive feel to their bottom end, providing a solid foundation for the band’s signature harmony guitar melodies. Harris has a way of playing complex lines without cluttering the overall sound, such as the intro riff from Innocent Exile or Losfer Words. He can also make the most simplistic bass lines sound huge – see Running Free and Stranger In A Strange Land.

recognisable drum intros ever, all on one landmark album, The Number Of The Beast. His style perfectly supported the intensity of Steve Harris’ bass playing and still provided space for Bruce Dickinson’s soaring vocals.

Add in some absolutely blazing single stroke work and you have the foundations of thrash metal in the making. Look no further than the opening number Number Of The Beast’s Invaders.

Nicko McBrain took the reins after this album, adding a new flair. Initialy I had thought McBrain merely picked up where Burr left off, but he did so much more than that. His inhuman right foot is usually the first thing mentioned when McBrain’s name comes up, but I like to look towards songs like The Clairvoyant which display his versatility. It’s all about that extra spice: the variations in ride cymbal patterns, the disco like chorus and all those tom rolls that give a really melodic contour to his fills. Take your pick, this is the history of Euro metal.

TOOL

Justin Chancellor Tool are more than a band, they can almost be considered a genre. How many times have you heard people say, ‘oh, they’re a bit like Tool’ or even use the expression ‘Tool-like’ when describing a song or a band. Renowned for their defintive bass and drum interaction,

Tool’s bass parts are always dominant in the overall mix.

Rarely following the guitar note for note, Chancellor’s bass tends to solidly riff and weave in and out of Danny Carey’s amazing drum style, laying a foundation for Maynard’s vocals. The bass is probably so influential that Tool are one of the few bands that you see people playing air bass to, there’s so much to be learnt from these guys that it’s hard to imagine what music would have sounded like in the last 15 or so years without the release of their EP Opiate.

Danny Carey It’s been said that Tool are the only band where their frontman is a drummer. I would go further and argue that Danny Carey is one of the most innovative rock/metal drummers of the ’90s. Even the staunchest Tool hater can’t deny the sheer prowess of this man, with his solid command over odd time signatures coupled with a stunning ability to orchestrate rudiments of all sorts around the toms to create rich, melodic drum parts that few can pull off. Not only that, he never loses sight of a song. He knows when a chorus is a chorus and just rocks out. To say he’s possibly one of the most imitated drummers in today’s progressive/alternative movement would be an understatement. H

Honorable mentions Geddy Lee & Neil Peart (Rush) Billy Gould & Mike Bordin (Faith No More) Les Claypool & Herb Alexander (Primus) Tommy Araya & Dave Lombardo (Slayer) Tim Commerford & Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine)

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Dotted Lines with Amanda Mason, Dwyer & Co. Solicitors

Social Networking: the fine print Most bands upload their music to social networking sites because it’s a great way to gain exposure, but are you unknowingly uploading your rights along with your tunes?

D

o you just click ‘I accept’ without reading the terms and conditions when signing up to social networking sites (SN sites) like Facebook, YouTube, ReverbNation and SoundCloud? Well, you’re not alone. But you should be aware that by clicking ‘I accept’ you are entering into a legally binding contract with the site. That click of the mouse is essentially the same as signing a contract, so in regards to your music, it’s something to consider.

This article will provide you with information on contractual terms that are common to many SN sites (keep in mind it’s only general information and isn’t legal advice in relation to any specific site). You should always refer to the terms and conditions of any site you sign up to and if in doubt, see a lawyer.

Do the SN sites own your music?

No, not usually, but this is something you should definitely check.

The majority of SN sites don’t gain ownership of the copyright in your music or in your bio, artwork, or photos. They do, however, obtain a licence to use any content that you upload.

The terms and conditions of many sites are fairly similar in that, by accepting the terms and conditions, you’re providing the SN site with a royalty free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to use the material you upload.

What is a royalty free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence?

A copyright owner can licence the copyright in their work to others as a way to make money from it.

The person or company you licence your work to (the licensee) gets to use that work subject to any conditions you impose and they pay you for their use.

Royalty free A royalty free licence is the same as a normal licence, only you won’t get paid anything by the licensee.

If you’re also signing up for a digital distribution service you’ll usually be paid a percentage of the income from the sale of your work.

Non-exclusive A non-exclusive licence means that you can licence that same piece of work to a number of people, whereas an exclusive licence means you’re only providing one licence and can’t licence the work elsewhere.

Worldwide The geographical area or territory within which you can grant a licence can be a portion of the world or the entire world.

Normally, when we’re talking about a licence that involves the internet or digital distribution, the territory will be the world because the internet is accessible worldwide.

What rights are you granting under the licence?

Most SN sites require, under the

licence, that you grant them the right to sub-licence, use, copy, distribute, translate, transmit, perform, display, broadcast, reproduce, publish and adapt your work.

Many of those rights will be exercised just by making your work available on the site, so they’ll be necessary. Their right to sub-licence your work however, is a cause for concern. A sublicence is when a licensee licences your work to someone else. In the context of social media, this is likely to be to the users of the website or, if the site offers digital distribution services, to distributors such as iTunes, Spotify, Google Music, etc. In the case of a sub-licence to the users of the site, you can easily access the site’s terms and conditions which set out the terms of the sub-licence providing you an idea of how your work may be used. In the case of a sub-licence to a distributor the terms of the sub-licence will be difficult to establish unless they are actually provided to you by the licesee, which is unlikely.

What if you’ve already exclusively licenced the work elsewhere?

If you’ve previously entered into an exclusive licence for the same work, you’ll be in breach of that agreement. Many SN sites state that by accepting the terms and conditions of the site you are warranting that you haven’t entered into any previous agreement that would affect your performance under your agreement with them, therefore, if you’d previously entered into an exclusive licence for that work, you’d be breaching both agreements and could potentially be sued by both parties.

What if you don’t own the copyright in the work?

If you don’t own the copyright in the work and haven’t obtained

appropriate licences or permissions from the owners, then you’ll be breaching the owner’s copyright by uploading it to the site and the owner could sue you or the site. Most SN sites also require that you indemnify them (cover their costs) in the event that they are sued or suffer loss because of the content you have uploaded.

What else do you need to be aware of?

Different sites may have particular things you need to note and they can’t all be listed here, but the following issues are common to most SN sites: Termination Most SN sites allow you to terminate the licence by requesting the termination in writing. You want to be able to terminate the licence reasonably conveniently and preferably whenever you want.

Limitation of liability Many SN sites require that you agree that they will not be held liable if you sue them, at least to the extent permitted by law. If you are able to successfully sue them, the amount that they’ll pay you will be limited to the amount that you have paid them under the agreement, which is often nothing.

Royalties Almost all SN sites make it your responsibility to pay royalties owed to artists or third parties.

Most distributors will handle the payment of mechanical royalties only, but some may not. It’s important you understand your obligations in this regard.

Digital distribution If you are signing up for digital distribution you need to make sure you look at the percentage of the income that the site will pass on to you and whether there are any annual or termination fees. H

heavy’s top dozen most popular social networks for bands

youtube • Facebook • bandcamp • Soundcloud • Reverbnation • Twitter • Last FM • Music Xray • Spotify • Mog • Buzznet • Myspace

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win beck’s song reader

Got a unique promo idea for releasing music? Head to heavymag.com.au and share it. The most creative entry wins!

21st Century music machine Beck Hansen’s solution to surviving the present is to return to the past. Releasing his new material as sheet music only, Hansen got HEAVY thinking.

raking in more than the total sales of their previous album. The physical album’s artwork came in the form of stickers that the owner could use to decorate a jewel case, adding a DIY twist to the project and enhancing its appeal.

words Rob Brens

I

t’s a tough time for bands trying to get noticed, but there are many marketing and promotional tricks that can help you stand out from the crowd.

One method that’s recently been brought into the public forum by eccentric artist Beck is developing a unique way to release music.

Beck has elected to release his latest album Song Reader in the form of sheet music. Only sheet music. Call it an artistic spin on an otherwise worn out system, or a publicity stunt, but while strictly releasing sheet music may present a quandary for those who can’t play an instrument, it very much appeals to YouTube’s prolific covers culture.

The modern industry is fast becoming geared towards touring as an income stream, as recorded music increasingly fails to return monetary reward, and Beck’s strategy caters to that business model.

After absorbing the numerous renditions of Beck’s new material online, fans will almost certainly be salivating by the time they get to see the man himself perform his original versions live as they were intended to be heard. Does promotion get

better than that?

If you or your band are searching for some inventive ways to present your own music, here are some creative methods that have already been ventured to get your mind warmed up.

Radiohead In Rainbows (2007) Radiohead decided to digitally release their album In Rainbows under a ‘pay what you want’ scheme.

While the move was lambasted by critics, only a third of downloads weren’t paid for and subsequent presales of the new album ended up

Kaiser Chiefs The Future is Medieval (2011) UK indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs released their fourth album The Future is Medieval in a ‘make your own’ digital format. Fans were given the opportunity to create their own album by choosing ten out of 20 songs released online and adding their own artwork. The beauty here was that fans would be able to download albums premade by other fans, with those fans receiving one pound per download from each album. Voila! An instant sales force.

Nine Inch Nails Year Zero (2007) If you want to talk next-level marketing, have a look at the lengths Trent Reznor went to with

Unique ways of Releasing Music the release of Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero. The storyline concept of the album involving a dystopian, Orwellian America that was being ruled by a Christian fundamentalist theocracy was the basis of an alternate reality game. You heard right.

The campaign began with letters highlighted on a Nine Inch Nails tour shirt that spelt ‘I am trying to believe.’ This was linked to a number of websites describing the dystopian future as outlined on Year Zero.

Clues were spread across websites, phone numbers, emails and videos that would lead to unreleased audio, images and more, encouraging fans to delve futher into the fictional world created by Reznor. However, this scheme wasn’t just carried out online. During NIN’s 2007 European tour, USB sticks were left behind for fans to find, containing unreleased songs from the upcoming album.

As if that wasn’t enough, groups of participating fans received phone calls to attend a ‘resistance’ meeting in a car park, where they received ‘resistance kits’ which would provide them with further instructions. This led them to a surprise Nine Inch Nails concert that was concluded with a fake SWAT team raid that rushed fans out of the building.

The key across the board here is fan interaction. You might not have a fake SWAT team, but creating an experience, so the audience can feel a part of something along with the artist, can help build a stronger rapport with followers. H

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shrapnel

shards of metal

DON’T CHOKE THE GOAT!

Karnivool’s Jon Stockman gives us a brief history of the horns and a guide to acceptable wielding practices.

For those of you who went to the Big Day Out in 2009 (the one Neil Young headlined) you may remember seeing a giant robotic contraption called the Hand of Man, which allowed users to control a hand-like mechanical assembly using only a device that resembled an oven mitten, similar to the Nintendo Power Glove. Most people saw horns and metaphorically got the horn themselves, as did I. The hand gesture itself, ‘the goat,’ is synonymous with metal and has been since 1969, when Coven started printing images of themselves brandishing the metal salutation on their album artwork.

In the same year, John Lennon can also be seen punching a metal prong behind Paul McCartney’s head on the cartoon version of The Yellow Submarine LP. Quite a contrast, although there’s speculation that the artwork was an incorrect rendition of a similar hand gesture in which the thumb is pointing out, which means ‘I Love You’ in both sign language and as an Hawaiian greeting. Just another classic example of an historic epic fail, although if the reverse situation had occurred for Coven, I think you’d agree it would probably have been much worse.

Regardless of who threw up the first fork, it was Black Sabbath’s second frontman Ronnie James Dio who undoubtedly established its legacy.

Dio popularised the gesture and cemented the ‘maloik’ as the property of metal enthusiasts. Even now, it universally pertains to all things of, with, and for metalness.

While the name ‘the Goat’ was derived from Satanic subculture, the practice of worshipping Beelzebub (a goat-like manifestation of Lucifer) was seen as a direct link to Black Sabbath and Dio in

particular. Incidentally, it was a symbol he adopted to connect with fans in a similar fashion to Ozzy’s habit of throwing a peace sign out to the crowd. It’s funny then that he was actually using a hand gesture passed down to him via his gran, which was meant to directly ward evil off, not encourage or foster its influence.

Having said that, I don’t think that really matters to millions of metal fans worldwide – they’ve effectively ‘taken back’ it’s meaning and adopted it to mean something along the lines of: “It means something is so amazing that even the Devil is saluting it!” And it wouldn’t be the first time a symbol’s meaning has evolved. Hitler forever changed the swastika from being a universal symbol meaning ‘to be good’ to mean ‘to be a good Nazi.’ Modern times have seen what metal purists would refer to as ‘an abomination,’ with artists such as Britney Spears joining in and throwing up the horns after a breathless performance of Kiss Me Baby One More Time. I can still remember some contention at the beginning of the millennium when nu-metal adopted reversing the horns so the back of the hand faced forward.

Dio’s dying wish would probably be that music lovers stopped misusing and overusing the symbol and treated it with the reverence he held for it, which was to smash it out sparingly for added impact during key points of a show, such as a single synchronised movement timed with the explosion of pyros. And if you still insist on wielding it as much as possible, maybe mix it up with a hang loose, or throw the bird. Or just make sure you’re controlling the Hand Of Man when you’re in one of those moods.

– Jon Stockman \m/

Every board deserves a second shot Whether it’s the old school skate punk of the ’80s or Tony Hawk’s game soundtracks, Skateboarding and music have always gone hand in hand.

Canadian company Second Shot have taken the association further with their growing range of recycled skate deck products. Owner John Gibson collects used decks from “local skate shops and homies,” cuts them down and uses them to create new, unique items.

A project getting a lot of the attention is their skate deck guitar. On this first guitar, the fretboard and head are made out of decks as well. Any more made in the future will likely only feature the recycled skate deck body, due to time constraints as well as cost. There’s so

much involved and Gibson isn’t even sure how it’ll handle being played.

“I thought it’d be a good challenge. We think it might be cool to do a drum or two next.”

– Anthony Moore

waxing lyrical

Christian Doherty gazes deep into the crystal ball of lyric writing

Psycroptic Since taking over the lyrical duties after previous vocalist Chalky exited the band, drummer Dave Haley has put together an impressive body of work in this department. Writing all of the lyrics to 2006’s Symbols of Failure, 2008’s Ob(servant) and half of 2012’s The Inherited Repression, he’s provided stories to the band’s incredibly intricate music and made them whole. Haley took time out to reflect on his writing style, interpretations of their concepts and the future of the Psycroptic lyric writing machine.

“I think over time my lyrics have improved, just due to learning how to structure them. I’d have to say the lyrics I wrote on The Inherited Repression are my ‘best’ work. I use the term ‘best’ in the loosest possible way, as I don’t consider myself particularly that good at writing them – it’s just a necessity really. Initially, I started writing lyrics because no one else really wanted to after Chalky’s departure. I wrote 50% of the lyrics for Inherited and Jason [Peppiatt, vocals] wrote the other half – he was keen to try his hand at them for this album. They turned out really well, so we’re encouraging him to write more in future.

I think it’ll be a shared effort on the next album as well, as even though sometimes it’s a bit of a chore to write them, I do get satisfaction out of my lyrics once they’re completed. It gives my mind a chance to purge some of the crazy ideas that are spinning around in it [laughs].

The lyrics I write are done without any music in mind whereas Jason’s lyrics are written to the songs, so sometimes sections of my lyrics have to be re-worked to make

them fit as I don’t take into consideration any particular rhythms. Maybe in future I’ll try to write with patterns in mind – it would make sense, I’m a f**king drummer [laughs]. When I write, it’s more about the concepts behind the lyrics rather than the actual words, so if something needs to be changed to fit in better I let Jason do that.

He’s the one that needs to fit them to the music. To be honest, once I’ve written a set of lyrics I’m done with them, I don’t revisit or think about them again. It’s kind of like once its down on paper the idea is purged from my mind. I couldn’t even recite any lyrics from any of our songs if you asked me to.

None! When I’m writing them, I take a great deal of care and spend a lot of time getting them to a point where I’m happy with them, but once I’ve sent them through to Jason I don’t think about them again. I’m not one for reminiscing. Once it’s done, it’s done.

My lyrics are predominantly based within the sci-fi realm, but all contain metaphors able to be adapted to our current society.

They all have a specific meaning to me, but they are very much open to interpretation.

A lot of people have written to us and given us their personal interpretations on what they are about, which is very cool.” H

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! FR E E E

Y TO C

S! 3

RS

N TR

FL O O

www.facebook.com/venomclub

LEV LUB EL

METAL. ROCK. ALTERNATIVE. NIGHTCLUB + LIVE BANDS

higgo’s distortion I want to share with you some (there’s no way I could give you ALL) of the brilliant Aussie bands that have been thrust into my world since starting Distortion. Bands have either sent me music themselves, or their fans have, and it’s bloody awesome to see how much talent Australia’s producing.

Now, this is in no order of preference, I’ll just tell you who they are and why they appeal to me. Every CD, MP3, or WAV I get is like a box of chocolates, but you can’t make it drink. Wait…

I was never good at analogies. Let’s go.

4ARM: I was floored by their musicianship, production and song structure.

They were just one of those bands that felt right. Know what I mean?

Submission For Liberty is their latest offering.

Teramaze: I first saw these guys at ET’s in Prahran Victoria way back in the ’90s and bloody hell, haven’t they come a long way? Interesting songwriting and slick production won me over. Grab Anhedonia.

Heaven The Axe: As they say, it’s like a woman driving a Mack truck. Phoebe up front is hot, she’s got pipes and the band has mega metal heritage. Check out Sex, Chuggs and Rock’N’Roll.

Ouroboros: Technically perfect, aggressive, melodic and catchy. One listen to their album Glorification Of A Myth and you’ll be hooked.

Ne Obliviscaris: Weird band name, weird song names that are sometimes epically long and, oh, a violin. Get Portal of I. Alarum: Alarum are a band who’ve been around for a LONG time and rightly so.

Metal please. Throw some jazz in. And a feisty singing six-string bassist called Mark Palfreyman. This is dizzy stuff folks.

Be’Lakor: I like interesting music, stuff that you listen to over and over and pick up different things. That’s what these guys have made me do with their latest Of Breath And Bone. Haunting and aggressive.

Chaos Divine: These guys can do it all – they really can. Progressive, melodic, heavy, yet with a soft tender side when required. If you haven’t heard their cover of Toto’s Africa you’re missing out. Pick up Avalon and The Human Connection.

EVERY SATURDAY!

OPENS AT 9:00P.M. / PHOTO ID REQUIRED / WEEKLY DRINK SPECIALS & GIVEAWAYS!

AGINCOURT HOTEL 871 GEORGE STREET SYDNEY 27th OCTOBER: The Black Halloween! RECOIL V.O.R. + DATURA CURSE + TO THE GRAVE + ENTER REALITY 3rd NOVEMBER: The 100th Venom! PARADIGM + More TBA Live!

10th NOVEMBER: MERAUDER (USA) + THRASHED + More TBA Live!

17th NOVEMBER: Venom 2 Year Anniversary! GRAVEYARD ROCKSTARS + More TBA Live!

31st DECEMBER: Venom NYE! End Of the World Party!

Goddess

Hair and Makeup Artists for your Alter Ego

Datura Curse: It’s fuzzy, it’s heavy, it’s groovy, it’s the vibe, it’s Mabo. One of those bands I keep finding myself going back to like a KFC zinger. Tasty. Grab their EP Reasons.

A Million Dead Birds Laughing: They’re brutal, their songs are short, they’re even occasionally humorous… and I just bloody love ’em.

This is just scratching the surface, there are shitloads more like October Rage, Aveira Skies, Naberus, Frankenbok, Zombonimo, Lomera, Helm, Empire, Driven to the Verge, Arrowhead, Flatstick, LORD, Nekrofeist, Devoid Of All, Subjektive and New Skinn, the list goes on.

Tune in to hear more on Distortion.

Midnight Saturday on Triple M Melbourne and Sydney. check ou t

Triple M Distortion @Facebook

www.goddesstar.com Leesa 0408257304 Lanie 0431137111

Photography by Angela McConnell - Bike from Victory Motorcycles

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King Parrot vs Devour The Martyr Devour The Martyr photo by talia russel

King Parrot photo by Devils Note

Liam Ford from Devour the Martyr interviews King Parrot

LIAM FORD: What would be your funniest touring moment?

MATT YOUNG: Rizzo cracked the shits and stayed in the car all day while everyone else went to Wet’n’Wild last time we were in Queensland. I thought that was pretty funny, because he fell asleep and was sweating like a pig. He was wetter than all of us who had just gotten out of the water. It’s also pretty funny when I go into the crowd and smash peoples beers out of their hands and they try and fight me.

Who’s the bitch of the band and why?

Probably me, I’m a bit of a control freak. Everyone else in the band seems to like letting me do everything, so I just do it and then I bitch to them about how lazy they are. Occasionally I crack the shits, chuck a wobbly and storm out of the room. I apologise about an hour later and we start the whole process again.

If you could tea bag an international celebrity who would you choose?

If I said Hillary Clinton or Condeleeza Rice would it be funny? Probably not. Shirley Temple? Still not funny. Okay...

Gary Glitter? Or, what about the Dad from that TV show Hey Dad? He deserves it...

What motivates King Parrot?

We’re all addicted to playing music so we just don’t want to stop. We’ve all played in shit bands, so it’s cool to find a good one and run with it for a while.

What are your plans for the immediate future?

The new album Bite Your Head Off is out now. We’re touring on the back of that as part of Bastardfest and doing some of our own shows too. We have some international supports coming up next year and then we will just keep pumping out records.

Matt Young from King Parrot interviews Devour the Martyr

MATT YOUNG: You guys are heading out on the Whiplash Festival this year, what shenanigans can the audience expect live?

LIAM FORD: Matt will fall off the stage at some point, guaranteed, I’ll unintentionally break something, Marty will quietly run around carrying us all and Dan will poke himself in the eye doing stick tricks. And that will all happen within the first song.

Well done on your recent overseas support with Decapitated. What sexual favours were you required to perform to secure the show?

You’ll need to ask Dan that question – we pass him around like a joint!

How’s the Perth metal scene at the moment?

Healthy as f**k! Some phenomenal bands across all styles are based here. Sensory

Amusia, Animistic, Prescient, Voyager, Bloodklot, Gates of Perdition, Empires Laid Waste, Blunt Force Trauma, the list goes on and on... We even have kick-arse viking metal, Claim the Throne!

You guys are catchy as crabs, what bands do you consider your biggest influences?

Any band that squats on stage, flicks their fringes, or has ‘put your fingers in the air’ in the lyrics. Seriously though, Capture The Crown influence us, they’re a constant reminder of what we’ll never be. As long as we steer as far away from that trendy shit as possible I’m happy.

When the hell are Devour the Martyr and King Parrot going to play a show together?

Ain’t it time we got that happening? Let’s do it. You guys make Charles Bronson look like Bob Downe!

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hi-rotation album reviews

Nomads

Wish

Coils of EntropY

Awakened

by

by

by

by

Mos Generator

Ripple Music

Germ

Eisenwald

Nephelium

Independent

As I Lay Dying

Metal Blade Records/Riot!

Stoner/blues Port Orchard, USA

Black metal/electronica Sydney, Australia

Death metal Toronto, Canada

Metalcore San Diego, USA

facebook.com/MosGenerator

facebook.com/germofficial

facebook.com/nephelium

asilaydying.com

Without Reserve Or Regret by

Nekröfeist

Independent

Neo-classic heavy metal Wollongong/Sydney, NSW nekrofeist.com

review Anthony Moore

review Mitch Booth

review Vix Vile

review Mark Lennard

Mos Generator have had a few labels thrown around in an attempt to describe their sound, but one that definitely sticks to their latest LP Nomads is groove.

Nomads has a Southern US stoner rock vibe blended with the blues.

It’s tight and to the point, and each track is deservedly included on the album. Lonely One Kenobi, a Monster Magnet-style track, with a solo Jimmy Page would curl up in, stands out as does Solar Angels – Paul Stanley would be jealous he didn’t get to record this one.

Anybody who pays attention to the Australian black metal scene will know of Tim Yatras (Austere, Woods of Desolation, Pestilential Shadows). Germ is his latest project and it’s unlike any other.

Debut full-length Wish takes the atmospheric black metal he’s known for and completely transforms it with huge orchestral elements and a good dose of trance. A whole new take on using electronic elements in metal, those sounds actually take the forefront while the drums and guitars are pushed back in the mix and both bleak, harsh screams and clean vocals make appearances. Breathtaking, Wish is atmospheric metal from outer space.

You know a release is good when you can feel neck pain just by listening to it. Originally forming in Dubai in the early ’90s and now blasting out of Toronto Canada, Nephelium have the potential to radiate some serious heat. Coils Of Entropy has a sludgy complexity to it, yet has hooky moments without abandoning true brutal death style. With traces of early Morbid Angel running through the six-track release, they have the ability to appeal to a wider audience while still residing within the genre of death metal.

Album number six Awakened packs all the punches fans would expect and more. As I Lay Dying’s All That Remains/KSE style of metal is consciously familiar, laden with the choruses and fist-pumping moments that have seen them become metal festival favourites. Single Cauterize opens with a blasting intro, leaping into a fast-paced verse that trades-off with a massive chorus. Highlight track Resilience is huge, with tricky riffing and big melodies.

The riffing throughout is a standout element on the record and their trademark technicality is used with effective viciousness.

Fans will eat up these new tracks.

t h e s ta nd out

the stand out

th e sta n d ou t

th e sta n d ou t

t h e s tan d o u t

‘Lonely One Kenobi’ @YouTube

‘Breathe in the Sulphur’ @YouTube

‘Burial Ground’ @Bandcamp

‘Cauterize’ @iTunes

‘Cesium-137’ @YouTube

review Mark Lennard This four-piece have a meaty, guitar heavy release on their hands – a mixed pot of straight up, old school metal with a dash of Alice in Chains vocal melody, a pinch of thrash pace and gallons of Aussie metal attitude. Nekrofeist have received kudos from some of the biggest metal media outlets and much praise here at home. Openers Celsium-137 and Carbon Black come out swinging, Sweet Junkie Sleep crawls out of swamp sludge, Australian Made strives for Oz metal anthem glory and closer Headless Parabolic Man bookends a solid effort that boasts lyrical messages and tight performances.

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hi-rotation album reviews

Harakiri

Epicloud

Results

A Bit Of Devil

by

by

by

by

Serj Tankian

WANRER MUSIC

Devin Townsend

Insideout

Murder Construct

Relapse Records/Riot!

Zodiac

Lillie: F-65 by

Honest Hound Records

Saint Vitus

Season of Mist/Riot!

Hard rock Los Angeles, USA

Metal New Westminster, Canada

Death/grind Los Angeles, USA

Stoner/blues Germany

Doom metal Los Angeles, USA

serjtankian.com

hevydevy.com

murderconstruct.com

zodiac-rock.de/

facebook.com/saintvitusofficial/info

review Athena Marangos

review Damo Musclecar

review Mark Lennard

review Anthony Moore

review Anthony Moore

Be prepared to detach yourselves from SOAD, and previous solo albums by Serj for that matter, if you want to wrap your head around Harakiri. The loud, multi-genre album will expose a side of Serj you haven’t seen before. Seemingly an experimental platform, songs include everything from Balkan guitar melodies, to electronic industrial synths, to chuggy guitars. The album’s message leaves no room for ambiguity, as Serj grabs the opportunity to sing out a big ‘F you’ to mainstream conventions, challenging modern democracy. Harakiri, in its entirety, is strange. The alternation between genres may keep you on your toes, or it’ll lead you to question whether you’ve been listening to the same album over the past hour or so.

Whether you enjoy it or not, Harakiri will definitely leave an impact.

When Townsend announced he was working on another project, Canada’s most prolific songwriter and the hardest-working man in metal surprised fans when he revealed it was going to be his most commercially friendly effort yet. Whether he’s playing ballads (Divine) or writing radio friendly pop metal (Save Our Now), Devin Townsend is dishing out nothing but quality. Sure, the futuristic metal groove and sound that we’ve come to know and love from Devin is still there, it’s just that Epicloud has all that and more.

This album is simply phenomenal.

Five Punk Brewsters out of five.

Murder Construct, featuring Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation), Leon del Meurte, and Danny Walker (Intronaut, Exhumed), follow up their 2010 self-titled EP with debut full-length Results. Fans of Ryan’s tortured vocal arsenal will be grinning like demons as the unhinged harmonies that haunt Cattle Decapitation’s latest release filter in. The riffing is sheer grind gold with an injection of malevolent melody adding atmosphere to the chaos. Walker’s drumming is brutal, blasting and erratic, but inventive and measured when required.

There’s the same maniacal feel on Results that Nasum, Pig Destroyer and Misery Index wield by weaving something different into their brutality, keeping grind fresh and evolutionary. Uncompromising, brutal and relentless, Results is intense.

German band Zodiac are instantly addictive. Slick production enhances this blues-driven album of grooves and emotion. While at first you may think you’re hearing just another stoner rock outfit, your jaw will quickly drop at just how well written these varied tracks are. A Bit Of Devil thunders along before the foot-tapping Southern US rock strut of Diamond Shoes. A cover of ZZ Top’s Blue Jean Blues is a Joe Cocker-style vocal feast, with one of the sexiest wah solos I’ve ever heard. Zodiac have so much depth and are brilliant musicians to match.

With Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich back on vocals for the first time since 1990’s V the godfathers of doom metal Saint Vitus return. It’s title inspired by a particular ‘downer’ Dave Chandler used to frequent back in the day, Lillie: F-65 showcases the dark guitars of co-founder Chandler that we’ve come to expect. Lovers of ‘doom’ shouldn’t mistake this as just bottom-feeding bass and pummeling drums though, this is as theatrical as the genre gets featuring ’70s grooves, Sabbath meets Dio riffs and imagination.

Blessed Nights’ chaotic, feedbackdriven, swampy, fuzz riffs are the backdrop to Wino’s story telling.

Chandler’s solo is brilliant, but also pay attention to Mark Adams’ bass and Henry Vasquez’ drums laying the foundations.

t h e s ta nd out

check i t out

th e sta n d ou t

th e sta n d ou t

t h e s tan d o u t

‘Harakiri’ @iTunes

Preview of every track @metalinjection

‘Compelled by Medicority’ @iTunes

‘Diamond Shows’ @YouTube

‘Let Them Fall’ @iTunes

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Poster designs from $75 T-shirt designs from $150 CD designs from $300 Website designs from $600 Email us now for a quote

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Suffocating In The Swarm Of Cranes by

Downfall Of Gaia

Metal Blade Records/Riot!

Post punk/doom Germany downfallofgaia.bandcamp.com

Book Burner

Silencing Machine

Stargazer

by

by

by

Pig Destroyer

Relapse Records / Riot!

Nachtmystium

Century Media

British lion

Black Majesty

by

Steve Harris

EMI

Limb Music/SPV GmbH

Grindcore Virginia, USA

Black Metal Chicago, USA

Power Metal Melbourne, Australia

Hard Rock London, England

facebook.com/TheRealPigDestroyer

facebook.com/OfficialNachtmystium

facebook.com/pages/Black-Majesty

steveharrisbritishlion.com

review Mark Lennard

review Daniel Maloney

review Mark Lennard

review Vix Vile

The bleak and desolate sit alongside the beautiful and ethereal on this fine release. Downfall Of Gaia are in some ways similar to Cult Of Luna, but choose to throw in fast drumming to back the riffs and guitar effects. Drowning

By Wing Beats, I Fade Away and Beneath The Crown Of Cranes are highlights, but are just a few of many epics on offer. Interestingly, sitting low in the mix, raspy vocals are almost secondary to the instruments as they build huge ‘soundscapes.’ Fans of Neurosis and Isis will find much to lose themselves in here.

Combine one of extreme metal’s finest skinsman Adam Jarvis [Misery Index] with grind riff master Scott Hull’s ruthless guitars, and Pig Destroyer instantly become even more deadly. JR Hayes once again holds court as the unhinged prophet of despair, spitting venom like a cornered cobra, while Blake Harrison’s left-field samples and atmospherics are now an integral part of Pig Destroyer’s macabre arsenal. Among the 19 bursts of schizophrenic sonic violence Valley Of The Geysers, Machiavellian, Baltimore Strangler, The Bug and Permanent Funeral all aim for the head.

A lot of mainstream black metal bands sound well produced and clean. Trendy, in short.

Nachtmystium are a band that lean towards this sound but incorporate interesting and original instrumentation, thus going beyond this archetype. I grew to understand and appreciate this band’s fusion of psychedelic elements in black metal. First track, Dawn Over The Ruins Of Jerusalem opens with a strong riff. Third track And I Control You failed to hook me as the band intended it to, but The Lepers Of Destitution carries a haunting melody that works well with the down-tempo vibe of the song.

Big riffs, big solos, big vocals – Black Majesty are Australian power metal legends and deservedly so. The boys can play. Add to this solid, world-class songwriting and production and it’s little wonder the European market loves these guys. Vocalist John Cavaliere has a massive set of lungs and summons a range comparable to Bruce Dickinson’s with ease (Voice Of Change, Killing Hand). The twin guitar attack of Stevie Janesvki and Hanny Mohamed, from riffing to twin soloing to memorable harmonies, leaves few boxes unchecked. Edge Of The World is my pick of the bunch, for overall pace and power metal fury.

If you’re expecting an Iron Maiden album when you listen to Steve Harris’s debut solo effort British Lion then maybe you shouldn’t bother. Why would he release a Maiden album under a different moniker? Steve Harris gets to broaden his writing on this album with a softer sound. The ten-track album offers hints of Maiden, but overall has a more ’70s rock feel. Although, if you had Bruce singing on track four, Us Against The World, it could easily land on Maiden’s last album. Vocalist Richard Taylor doesn’t come close to Bruce’s powerful chops, but then he’s not trying to. Despite more than likely dividing Maiden fans, British Lion is a solid effort with some catchy moments.

t h e s ta nd out

the stand out

th e sta n d ou t

th e sta n d ou t

t h e s tan d o u t

‘In The Rivers Bleak’ @YouTube

‘Burning Palm’ @YouTube

‘These Rooms In Which We Weep’ @iTunes

‘Edge of the World’ @iTunes

‘Us Against the World’ @iTunes

review Mark Lennard

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For whom the jingle bell tolls

Christmas Stocking Stuffers

words Amanda Mason

D

o you always leave your Christmas shopping to Rotting Christ-mas Eve, resulting in Mayhem or Megadeth? Well not this year, pumpkin pie, because HEAVY is here to stuff your stocking! Put on your adult onesie, grab a cup of eggnog and some gingerbread men (or ginger bred men if you prefer) and smash out all of your Christmas shopping online like a super organised, tech-savvy hermit, with the help of this little HEAVY Christmas miracle.

FOR THE GUITARIST

Custom guitar picks Inspire your guitar-playing lover to write a romantic glam metal power ballad about you by putting your face on a guitar pick. For the monogamous, a single fullcolour custom pick is $9 or, for the promiscuous, you can get 1,000 picks at 33 cents per pick from groverallman.com.au

FOR THE DRUMMER

Drumstick pencils Drumstick pencils for the drummer in your life, or even just for that annoying person that pretends they’re a drummer by tapping their pencils on the desk when you’re trying to concentrate. Two drum pencils for £5 ($7.80 AUD) from suck.uk.com

FOR THE recycling ENTHUSIAST

Nintendo guitar A guitar that’s also an old school Nintendo? Recycling at its finest.

Each Nintenguitar is custom made to order, but there’s a waiting list, so get your order in asap. All this 8-bit awesomeness is yours for just US $300 ($293 AUD). Available at getlofi.com/?page_id=3715

FOR THE GIRL YOU’RE TRYING TO IMPRESS

Mix tape memory stick If you’ve ever made a mix tape to impress a teenage girl, then don’t buy this to impress another teenage girl – you’re probably in your 30s by now and that’s creepy. For those of you who are still teenagers wanting to impress other teenagers, this is a 1GB memory stick in a case that looks like a cassette tape. Note: a cassette tape is kind of like an old school iPod that holds hardly any music and you have to put into a giant iHome so you can play it. £20 ($31 AUD) from suck.uk.com

FOR THE OVERLY FESTIVE

We Wish You a Metal Xmas Do you have an overly festive person in your life? Well, this CD is for them. It’s Christmas carols with a metal twist featuring the likes of Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Lemmy and Dave Grohl. 2CD special edition US $10.35 ($10.10 AUD) from amazon.com

blance to Dave Mustaine, if only the hair was more luscious and red. US $15 ($14.65 AUD) each from citizenbrick.com

FOR THE FOODIE

Mosh Potatoes cookbook Mosh Potatoes features recipes from the members of metal bands including Mark Morton, Max Cavalera, Zakk Wylde and David Ellefson. It’s filled comedic recipes like Shrimp Clits on Grit Cakes from Balsac of Gwar and Krakatoa Surprise (a hideous combination of beans, syrup and curry powder molded into a volcano) by Lemmy of Motörhead and is a deliciously entertaining read. US $12.99 (12.70 AUD) from amazon.com

FOR YOURSELF

FOR THE MANLY MAN’s man

Mastodon horn beer stein A big horn, beer and Mastodon.

The only way it could get any manlier was if the stein had a beard. US $65 ($63.40 AUD) from shop.mastodonrocks.com

FOR THE KIDS

Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal game This is a free reward that you can give yourself for getting all your Christmas shopping done. Robots, unicorns, heavy metal all in the one online game – and it’s free. Play as the robot unicorn to the music of Blind Guardian’s song, Battlefield.

It’s available at games.adultswim. com and will keep you amused for a good two minutes before you get angry because your unicorn keeps falling down holes. H

Metal Lego There’s a Lego metal guy with mad bangs and a Lego black metal guy complete with corpse paint.

The metal guy bears somewhat of a resem-

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