Heavy Music Magazine Issue #11 by HEAVY Music Magazine

Aussie venue closures: live music in crisis?  a u s t r a l i a’ s p u r e s t h e av y m u s i c m a g a z i n e 

$9.95 inc.gst

OPETH

Is it over for Åkerfeldt and metal?

Metal Down Under: The Documentary Mastodon Flying close to the sun CANNIBAL CORPSE /// HAM M ER FALL OVERKILL /// A NAT H E MA /// ALLEG AEON CORROSION OF CONFORMITY T H E A M I T Y A F F L I C T I O N A L ISSA GLUZ-WHI T E /// K IN G S WOOD

oz underground

Psycroptic

The terrors from Tassie return

EYE OF THE ENEMY ♦ DON FERNANDO

INTERNAL NIGHTMARE ♦ SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER plus THROUGH THE LENS OF CHAD MICHAEL WARD

ISSUE 11 $9.95 inc.gst ISSN 1839-5546

THE NEW ALBUM ‘WHITE DEVIL ARMORY’ IN STORES 18th JULY Lay back, put in the record... wait, no! stand up, pump up the volume, raise your fist, bang your head and f@�#ing THRASH your living room!

THE NEW ALBUM ‘BLIND RAGE’ IN STORES 15th AUGUST (TOURING AUSTRALIA IN NOVEMBER)

“ACCEPT's latest attack comes with red rage and rough, catchy riffs. Strong and balanced new album charges upon you like a bull.” SUE (FIN), Jussi Lahtonen

THE NEW ALBUM ‘(r)EVOLUTION’ IN STORES 29th AUGUST

“Back to the birth. Sounding like HammerFall I fell in love with, with their debut album, but with a more modern, revolutionary touch.” - ROCK SVERIGE (S)

here right

contentsissue11

16 OPETH

23 MASTODON

18 CANNIBAL CORPSE

26 PSYCROPTIC

20 Heavy Special Report

The Swedist prog metallers are back but is their relationship with death metal over?

The grandfathers of gruesome explain what it’s like to shock for a living.

Australia’s live music venues are closing en masse but what’s it mean for the scene?

Masters of the unique, Mastodon, have returned for one more trip around the sun.

The Tassie tech terrors serve up another dose of devastating death metal.

OVERKILL

We corner Overkill’s Bobby Blitz to chat about life as a thrash metal legend.

Photo: John Raptis

20 4

6 Shrapnel 12 Hi-Rotation 28 Anathema 30 The Amity Affliction 31 Kingswood 32 Metal Down Under 36 Allegaeon 41 Hammerfall 43 Corrosion of Conformity 44 Hour of Penance 45 Chicks That Rock 47 Pinups: Chad Michael Ward 49 Industry Insight 52 Oz Underground 56 Heavy Surveillance 59 Dotted Lines 61 Strings & Skins 66 Fuggenweirdshit

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!

welcome

c u l p r i t s Executive editor & publisher

Olivia Reppas

editor

Nick Lord

Art Director

Peter Falkous

Publishing Consultant

Effie Dimitropoulos 186Red Pty Ltd

ASSISTANT editors

Tennille Secomb Amanda Mason

COVER PHOTO

Courtesy of Warner Music

Distribution

Gordon & Gotch

Printing

Blue Star Group (Printed in Australia)

Specialist contributors

Sam Bean – bass Rob Brens – drums Dave Higgins – airwaves Amanda Mason – legal Doug Steele – guitar

Other Contributors

Matt Allan Brendan Cole Kimberley Croxford Nathan Eden Kiel Egging Nick French Billy Geary David Griffiths Paul Hammond Damon Jackson Steve Jenkins Gareth Jones Karl Lean Amanda Mason Anthony Moore Damo Musclecar Lav Nandlall Carl Neumann Will Oakeshott Michelle O’Rance John Raptis Tennille Secomb Sheri Tantawy Justin Tawill Tom Valcanis Josh Voce

Tide goes out, tide comes in

fter all the bluster, the marches and the Facebook spam, the Palace closed. If you’re not from Melbourne, you’re probably sayin’, “Wot?” The Palace was originally a live venue in St Kilda (Melbourne’s failed attempt at re-creating Bondi Junction) for ages. Hell, I saw RATM tour Evil Empire there for $22! Best gig ever. Anyway, the venue closed but the Palace name was saved when Metro, another mid-sized venue in Melbourne’s CBD that ran for years as a terrible dance club with underage disco on Sundays, rebranded as the Palace. Older heavy music fans feel something for the site ‘coz Metro allowed the alternative club Goo to use its upstairs cupboard for event nights many years ago and everyone got wasted there to Alice in Chains and Pantera tunes. Anyway, now it’s closed again after the owner had the audacity to sell his own building. Venue closures are nothing new, of course. Cities change, evolve and grow until they are unrecognisable from what they were before. It’s what cities do but people love a Kony 2012 and lately the social media drum has been beating off over the closure of live music venues. There’s been guilt-tripping, finger pointing and a helluv-a-lot of hot air but now that the Palace has officially closed, the mob has disbanded. We all have venues we love for our own reasons and of course we want our favourite ones to remain open – I played my first ever gig at a North Melbourne pub that now has pokies in place of a stage; I launched an album (a lifetime of work) at a Brunswick staple that converted the band room into apartments not long after; I played to no one at the Arthouse on more occasions that I can remember. We miss what we miss but we already know it’s not always practical to get venues to remain open and that scenes rely on new entrants to establish venues of their own. Is the closure of a few venues really the knell of imminent destruction? HEAVY’s own Kim Croxford answers that burning question on page 20. Enjoy - Nick Lord Photo: Nelli Scarlet

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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.

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Words: David Griffiths

Big Screen Brutality

Here at HEAVY we love our tunes and we love our flicks. To us, there’s nothing sweeter than when our favourite musicians appear in our favourite movies.

When 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto accepted an Oscar for his role in the The Dallas Buyers Club, newspapers across the world quipped that he was now the most successful actor/ musician of all time. Big call considering the list of musicians (albeit vocalists) turned actors is long and includes pop megastars Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and even Britney ‘close shave’ Spears. Funnily, it never seems to work the other way, actors to singers that is. (Sorry Russell). Anyway, here are a few hard rockin’ dudes who’ve made the crossover and done a shitload better job of it, we reckon. Rob Zombie Not only has he carved out a pretty decent music career with White Zombie and also as a solo artist, but Rob Zombie’s also revealed himself to be a pretty good horror film screenwriter and director. If his directional debut House Of 1000 Corpses wasn’t enough to frighten the shit out of you, he backed it up with The Devil’s Rejects, one of the most confronting and gruesome road movies you’re ever likely to see, outside of Britney’s Crossroads. Even Lords Of Salem is worth a look though not as good as the others. Courtney Love When she’s not slinging shit at Marilyn Manson or Dave Grohl, Courtney Love was topping music charts and getting ticks (no, not those tics) from movie critics. Ms. Love’s band Hole achieved alternative rock stardom with albums like Live Through This and Celebrity Skin but most people probably don’t realise that she had a budding career as an actress also. Hell, they even nominated her for a Golden Globe award in 1997 for The People vs Larry Flynt and she didn’t completely butcher her role in Jim Carrey’s Man On The Moon also. Clap, clap, Courtney (no, not that kind of clap).

Marilyn Manson Okay, maybe it’s a controversial selection but back when ol’ Marilyn was shocking the crap out of American families he also dabbled in acting... and he wasn’t terrible. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, Jawbreaker and Party Monster all featured Mr Manson, the latter a cult favourite also starring Macaulay Culkin. Seriously, what is it with him and creepy musicians? Anyway, all those films were pretty decent as was his interview defending his role in the Columbine school massacre in the Michael Moore documentary Bowling For Columbine. So there you have it. Jared Leto isn’t the first to rock the mic and the screen with some degree of success and he sure won’t be the last. Excuse me while I kick back and watch Mick Jagger mumble his way through Ned Kelly.

Words: Josh Voce

Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation (JAP)

F.I.D. are a four-piece all-female grind band from Tokyo, Japan whose Reek of Putrefactionera Carcass sound is paramount to those who wish to revisit those earlier incarnations of grind with a sleeker production. It’s astonishing to think that the immense wall of grindcore that F.I.D. emits comes from four rather petite women from Tokyo. Forget about that Baby Metal nonsense, F.I.D. is a way better example of what Japan’s heavy music scene has to offer. [Hear, hear – Ed.]

Super Fun Happy Slide (AUS) Super Fun Happy Slide specialise in gory facetious humour that is alarmingly present in so much grindcore music. Their latest album Drop Your Pants And Grind showcases the band doing what they do best, blasting furiously with only infrequent stops for the occasional awesome riff. There are an endless samples sprinkled throughout the 24-track album too, including a snippet from Andrew Haug of Triple J’s The Racket. It’s inconclusive though

whether or not the band actually had pants on whilst recording. We’re going with no.

Entrails Massacre (GER)

Entrails Massacre have now been excreting quality grind for the past 24 years – that’s a lifetime in grind years. With 27 releases since ’93, but just two full-length albums, Entrails Massacre is in the business of releasing splits with other bands. Latest EP Alienation Anarchism sounds not unlike a swarm of killer bees buzzing around an almost-dead carcass complete with the pain of screeching vocals.

Instinct Of Survival (GER)

Rough as f**k German crustpunkers Instinct of Survival have been grinding the world since 1995. Whilst their name pays homage to the legendary Napalm Death album Scum, the band have gone through some stylistic changes over the years and now push a modern sound of crust punk. Latest album Call Of The Blue Distance mixes elements from early Napalm with a splash of spooky Necrophagia, all enveloped in a thick, chewy ‘80s crust.

I’m writing this as AJ Maddah is announcing what’s happening with Soundwave 2015 so, by the time you’ve got to this point, you’re already across the details of the now two-day event. True to form, social media lit up in response to the new format and thankfully it was mostly favourable; however, just like in years gone by, the whingers crawled out from under their respective rocks to throw a handful of drawing pins under everyone’s bare feet. The old saying that you can’t please all the people all the time has never been truer. Come on! If you’re one of the people whinging about Soundwave, I don’t wanna hear it, and here’s why. A two-day event has so many benefits: there’ll be longer set times; some smaller stages are now gone so more bands will play on the main stages; the headliners will now get more dark time; there’ll be better stage productions; there’ll be fewer clashes. Read that again. Fewer clashes! Easily the biggest bug bear of festival goers in years gone by has been scheduling. Now most of us normals deal with clashes by planning early and going to sideshows when our cash allows but sometimes you just have to accept that you’re going to miss a band and you make a promise to

yourself that you’ll catch them next time around. Priorities, people. Instead of seeing a band you’ve seen before, see someone new that you dig. It’s not that hard, is it? History has shown us that the gang at Soundwave deliver a damn solid line up every year. Personally, I’ve enjoyed (and been extremely lucky) going to multiple events to get as many interviews as I can. This time around, I may be able to get it all done in just one or two cities due to the new format. Will this give more Aussie bands a chance to play on the festival? Who knows? Maybe the announcement will have been made by the time this column hits shelves but the early indicators are looking like Ne Obliviscaris and King Parrot are likely to do the full tour in 2015. With bands like Truth Corroded, Helm, Se Bon Ki Ra, Chronolyth, Red Bee and Chaos Divine making a mark on their local cities this year, I can’t see why more local bands won’t be added given the 2-day format moving forward. So for me, the new Soundwave is a definite win and it should be for you too. Every band I interview constantly rates this festival as their favourite, so plan ahead and embrace what Soundwave Touring is doing for Australian music fans like us because we’re damn lucky. Tune in to Distortion every Saturday night at 11pm1am (Melbourne time) on MMM 105.1FM as Higgo spins the best in metal from around the country and the globe.

Words and compilation: Amanda Mason

Photo: Courtesy of WackenOpenAir

25 Years of Wacken Playlist

We’ve spent 25 years whackin’ over 25 years of killer Wacken line-ups. Beginning with Ax ‘N Sex from Wacken’s inaugural 1990 festival, this whopping 54-song playlist chronologically highlights the best of Wacken’s stellar quarter-century history. To have a listen and to pretend you were there for even one of those 25, visit bitly.com/wacken25

Ax ‘N Sex – Apokalypse Bon Scott – Gloria Blind Guardian – Theatre of Pain Doro – Hellbound Bai Bang – Ridin’ High The Tea Party – Heaven Coming Down Atrocity – Die Liebe Angra – Holy Land Tiamat – Ancient Entity Kreator – Love Us or Hate Us Crematory – An Other...? Dimmu Borgir – Spellbound (By The Devil) Sodom – Agent Orange Motörhead – Damage Case Arch Enemy – Sinister Mephisto

Tankard – 666 Packs Mercyful Fate – Buried Alive Mayhem – Necrolust Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face Enslaved – Alfablot Immortal – Solarfall Overkill – Elimination Venom – Black Metal Entombed – Left Hand Path W.A.S.P. – Wild Child In Flames – Pinball Map Soilwork – Neurotica Rampage Opeth – Blackwater Park Behemoth – Demigod Children of Bodom – Are We Dead Yet Amon Amarth – Vs. The World Slayer – Angel of Death

Testament – Electric Crown Rotting Christ – In Domine Sathana Dio – Holy Diver Anthrax – Madhouse Machine Head – Imperium Suffocation – Pierced From Within Obituary – Slowly We Rot Ministry – Jesus Built My Hotrod Fear Factory – Demanufacture The Black Dahlia Murder – Everything Went Black Iron Maiden – Run To The Hills Nightwish – Amaranth Hatebreed – I Will Be Heard Napalm Death – Silence is Deafening Mötley Crüe – Kickstart My Heart Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train Decapitated – Spheres of Madness Deep Purple – Highway Star Lamb of God – Redneck Fleshgod Apocalypse – In Honour of Reason King Diamond – Salem Megadeth – Holy Wars... The Punishment Due chill out

‘Get Wacken’ @Spotify

intothevoid

Stoner/fuzz news with Anthony Moore

Words: Damo Musclecar

Unveiling the Wicked

DIAMOND REXX Land Of The Damned (1986) Polish the diamond

‘I Wish I Was Rich’ @YouTube

At Half Price Books in Palatine, Illinois, one must keep their eyes peeled for cheap finds when crate digging amongst the 20 copies of Toys In The Attic or Dream Police that usually line the shelves. One fine sunny afternoon, I discovered this hot piece of wax just left to rot amongst the dusty record racks. The cover immediately caught my eye and I turned the album over for further inspection to see a band photo screaming “You need this!” At $2.95, something told me that this album was going to be a bonafide winner and it was probably the band photo, showing four guys with crazy big hair holding their weapons of destruction. No, not their privates! Here was guitarist S. St Lust rocking some killer bottle-blonde locks with axe in hand, vocalist Nasti Habits looking heaps tough with his steel chain and mean expression and bassist Andre, er... holding a bass. Standing up the back, struggling to stay upright, is drummer Johnny Cottone. There was no denying it any longer. Right here was Chicago’s very own sleaze rock band and I wanted to be a part of their (surely) huge fanbase. Land of the Damned kicks off with air raid sirens – of course, it does – before racing off with the fast-paced title track. It’s all business as Habits rips out his best Rob Halford scream and my first thought was, ‘This ain’t no Poisonesque jam.’ Nor was it borrowing from Shout At The Devil-era Crüe. Weaving in and out of Habits’ angry lyrics, guitarist S St. Lust shreds away like a motherf**ker from hell. Man, this dude can play. Like really. Why he was holed up in Diamond Rexx is beyond me but his solos are just insane. Second track ‘All I Need’ is a slower number that still packs a punch with bad lyrics-a-plenty and incredible guitar work. As the record continues, I grow more confused about what this guitarist was even doing in this band. It’s not that this is a bad band – I’m partying hard Andrew WK style even as I write this – but it’s a crime he didn’t go on to bigger (and better) things . Third track ‘Cuz I Wancha’ is another full-pelt rocker with chanting choruses and great guitar work. Next track ‘Wish I Was Rich’ is the single, again surprising as it’s not one of the album’s strongest moments. Even so, you’ll still be singing along within seconds while air-guitaring Lust’s bitchin’ solo. It’s inevitable so don’t bother fighting it. Closing side one is the drivin’ anthem ‘Don’t Start Without Me’ and it dawns on me that every song on this record is the same, both structurally and sonically. The songs are written with such simplicity (and the melodies so predictable) that you’ll be singing along in no time because you’ve heard it all before! Genius? Possibly. Side two kicks off in sleazy style with the sexed-up anthem ‘Up And Down’, which has a chorus so repetitious and bad that the only saving grace is once again Lust’s impeccable guitar work. ‘Rock Gun’ follows next, a song that was probably best known as the band’s party track, complete with requisite chants of “Rock!”. The party ends with the terrible ‘B.A.T.S.’, which one website suggests is an acronym for Boys After Teenage Sex. Fact or fiction? Who knows, really. It may have been one of those KISS or W.A.S.P. moments where people just make up their own meanings. ‘Kick In Your Face’ continues the mediocrity and is again only saved by guitar work before final track ‘Life And Death’ arrives, another flat rocker with chanting vocals and forgettable lyrics. After a strong start, side two really was a letdown. Still, for a few bucks, it’s hard to complain [I’m sure you’ll find a way – Ed.]. Production on Land Of The Damned is very ‘80s with loud drums, lots of guitar effects and plenty of reverb thrown in seemingly at random. Habits’ vocals sound the same the whole way through, even with his trademark squeal, which is overused. The album’s only saviour is Lust’s guitar work, which is seriously flawless. This album is so obscure that when I presented it to Steel Panther during my HEAVY TV interview with the band, even they didn’t know who they were. My guess is Diamond Rexx never escaped the Windy City but if they’d managed to get their own tour bus, they could have been as big as Seduce or even Jackyl... maybe. Word on the street is that the band still plays clubs in the Chicago area. How I would love to catch that! As a great man once said, “I have a dream!”

Detroit blues rockers The Muggs are releasing their fourth studio album Straight Up Boogaloo late in 2014. 2011’s Born Ugly LP received some rave reviews and deservedly so; their blend of blues, rock and swagger is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes. German heavy fuzz trio Bone Man are releasing their new full length Plastic Wasteland on Pink Tank Records Aug 29. Vinyl limited to 100 white, 100 clear and 300 black, and the CD includes a bonus track. Pink Tank is also the home to the newly signed Camel Driver, Libido Fuzz and Sautrus. Melbourne hard blues psych band Two Headed Dog have released their long awaited debut album Cuidado Con El Perro, Spanish for ‘beware of the dog’. It was recorded live in their home studio to truly capture their sound and also features guitarists Mick Simpson (Grindhouse) and Nick Konikkos (Voodoocain). Sydney stoner fuzz punk two-piece Witch Fight will be releasing their self-titled debut LP in October with an east-coast tour to follow. The album was recorded to 2” tape with plans to release it on vinyl including a CD and download code – the all-in-one package. RECOMMENDATION

Texans Wo Fat have released The Conjuring, their fifth album and second on Small Stone Records. This release proves once again that these guys are one of the tightest stoner blues doom bands around. It’s absolutely solid with some of the fuzziest grooves that ooze that sweet ‘70s vibe. The vinyl version is a limited-edition release of 250 black, 250 random colour. . G e t Wo Fat

‘Beggar’s Bargain’ @Bandcamp

Words: David Griffiths

Labels We Love: Art as Catharsis Most music fans, at some time, dream about owning their own record label. It’s impossible not to get excited at the thought of having all your favourite artists in your own fold and sharing your new discoveries with those that you feel will enjoy their work. For Lachlan Dale, that dream has come to life. Three years ago Dale started up the Sydney-based record label Art As Catharsis, a label which has become highly regarded by those that love good music that’s a little left of centre. Dale is also the guitarist for psychedelic progressive outfit Serious Beak (and also various other bands) and he started the label as not only a way to get his own music out to their fans but also a way for him to spread the kinds of music that inspires him. Dale’s belief is that the digital age may mean it’s a lot easier for bands to share their music, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to noticed any quicker, which is where Art As Catharsis comes into play. Art As Catharsis has redefined what a record label should be in the digital age. Instead of helping bands to fund their own full-length albums, the label instead uses compilation releases to promote both bands and label in the most economical way possible, a great example latest release Distortion And Dissonance, a digital compilation that showcases the work of seventeen different hardcore bands from Australia and New Zealand. This humble label has certainly grown and today it represents bands and artists such as Face Command, HUSK, Snakes Get Bad Press, Jxckxlz, 100 Years Of Solitude, Adrift For Days, Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt (who are one of Dale’s personal faves), Space Bong, Killsong, Hydromedusa, LOG, Anklepants , Battle Pope and of course Serious Beak. With such a strong stable of bands, it’s easy to see that Art As Catharsis is weaving its way into the Australian music industry fabric and is only going to get stronger in the near future. So if you like quality musicianship and to listen to artists that are a little different to the norm, then this is a label that you need to know about.

OUT NOW! The Swedish icons of Extreme Metal are back with the perfect mix of melody and heaviness. “…anthemic hooks you won‘t be able to shift from your cerebral cortex” 4/5 Blunt Available as LTD. CD MEDIABOOK EDITION (+bonus track & patch) STANDARD CD · DIGITAL ALBUM

MONUMENTS THE AMANUENSIS OUT NOW!

THE NEW SOUND OF PROGRESSIVE METAL Available as: LTD. EDITION incl. 3 live tracks DIGITAL ALBUM incl. 3 live tracks

THE DAGGER THE DAGGER · OUT NOW! FINEST HEAVY METAL ROCK FROM STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. THE DAGGER combine outstanding songwriting skills with the power of early 80’s metal and the spirit of 70’s rock. Inspired by the gods ... destined to deliver the goods! Available as: CD (+ bonus track) · DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

FOZZY DO YOU WANNA START A WAR OUT NOW!

FOZZY’S NEW ALBUM IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE! Available as: LTD. EDITION DIGIPAK · DIGITAL ALBUM

www.CENTURYMEDIA.com

album of the issue

Once More ‘Round the Sun by

Mastodon

Warner Music Australia

Alternative metal Atlanta, USA mastodon.com Review: Billy Geary Once More ‘Round the Sun bursts out of the blocks with the raucous ‘Tread Lightly’ and doesn’t look back, not even for a second; Mastodon have well and truly hit their straps with this album. As a band, Mastodon have always managed to change it up with each release; Crack the Skye was laden with progressive tendencies, while The Hunter saw a more straightforward direction. Their latest presents somewhat of an amalgamation of their previous work – traversing both the stomping rock (‘High Road’) and progressive leanings (‘Diamond in the Witch House’) of the Mastodon musical spectrum – and with new producer Nick Raskulinecz at the helm, there is a noticeable trend towards a slicker, more accessible sound. While musically, Once More ‘Round the Sun sits snugly

among the band’s previous efforts, lyrically, there is a vulnerability not found elsewhere in Mastodon’s discography. In fact, this newfound emotional part of their sound has improved the band’s song writing tenfold and the album explores a side of Mastodon we haven’t really seen before. Tracks such as ‘Chimes to Midnight’ offer the listener dynamism and sensitivity in amongst pounding riffs. Indeed, this is aided by having the luxury of three vocalists, all of which, in a vocal sense, give rise to the bands’ best album yet (i.e. ‘The Motherload’). No matter the context though, this is Mastodon at their best. Once More ‘Round the Sun is all about big riffs and big choruses. There are hooks galore here, so if that’s your thing then look no further.

Never Surrender

War Eternal

Independent

Century Media Records

Darker Half

Melodic metal Sydney, Australia darkerhalf.com Review: David Griffiths Vo Simpson and Brad Dickson. Remember those names, Australia, because they are currently two of the best guitarists you have. It only takes a few a minutes of listening to Darker Half’s latest offering, Never Surrender, to realise that this is an album made up of stunning guitar playing and vocal notes that no human should be able to reach. Never Surrender takes metal back to its purist beginnings and it’s easy to conjure up thoughts of past legends like Iron Maiden as Darker Half delve into epic sounding tracks like ‘Stranger,’ ‘As Darkness Fades’, ‘Duality’ and ‘Heads Are Going To Roll’ that actually feel like they are taking the listener on a journey. Slaving away until they reached perfection, Never Surrender is the audible product of a band’s blood, sweat and tears that is certainly worth your time.

Arch Enemy

Melodic death metal Halmstad, Sweden archenemy.net Review: Nick French The latest offering from Arch Enemy, War Eternal, is the first to feature the legendary Angela Gossow’s replacement, Alissa White-Gluz (formerly of Canadian melodeath merchants The Agonist). It also boasts another debutant, guitarist Nick Cordle, who fits in seamlessly from predecessor Christopher Amott. For those who feared for Arch Enemy’s future, fear not; if you were already a fan, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. The band have played it safe on this one and not strayed from their fairly well-worn sound – blistering leads; aggressive drumming; slick, catchy, stomp-along choruses and vocals that can strip paint from walls. It’s therefore somewhat of a shame that the band, despite the injection of new blood, haven’t updated or elaborated from their past few albums by going a little outside the box. It’s a solid, but not spectacular effort.

With The Lost Souls On Our Side by

Illdisposed

Massacre Records

Death metal Aarhus, Denmark illdisposed.dk Review: Brendan Cole Danish death metallers Illdisposed return once again for their sixth release in eight years. With such a constant output of new material it must be getting rather difficult to keep coming up with album names and fans would recognise the latest title as the closing track off their first studio album, Four Depressive Seasons. It’s been more than 20 years since that release and, while some bands can noticeably alter their sound through the writing process, Illdisposed’s sound changes are due to the advances in recording technology. Even recent line-up changes haven’t affected the vintage Illdisposed sound. Bo Summer’s vocals still sound uniquely inhuman, the riff-machine that is Jakob “Batten” Hansen still hasn’t run out and the new kid on the block, drummer Kim Langkjær Jensen, must have big feet because he’s certainly filled the shoes of his predecessor, Thomas Jensen. Illdisposed haven’t reinvented the wheel, but who said the wheel needed reinventing?

FEEL THE HEAT

SURRENDER

U P IN ARMS

HAVE A TASTE

‘Tread Lightly’ @YouTube

‘Blinded By Darkness’ @YouTube

‘No More Regrets’ @YouTube

‘Light In The Dark’ @YouTube

Cranking out low, loud riff rhythms while shredding the dark energy of the universe with searing light beams of power and brilliance. Motherslug do that in spades. - Heavy Planet

ONE TWENTIES BOOK YOUR SPOT NOW

Music and merch available at www.motherslug.bandcamp.com

Redeemer of Souls by

Judas Priest

SONY

Misery

The Hunting Party

Isolate and Medicate

Disentomb

New Standard Elite

Heavy metal Birmingham, UK judaspriest.com

Brutal death metal Brisbane, Australia facebook.com/Disentomb

Linkin Park

Warner Bros

Seether

The Bicycle Music Company/Concord Music

Alternative rock California, USA linkinpark.com

Titan

Post-grunge Pretoria, South Africa seether.com

Septicflesh

Season of Mist/Prosthetic

Symphonic death metal Athens, Greece septicflesh.com

Review: Karl Lean

Review: Steve Jenkins

Review: Dave Griffiths

Review: Lav Nandlall

Review: Steve Jenkins

For the first time in 40 years there is a Judas Priest album minus guitarist K.K. Downing and, perhaps surprisingly, it’s good! Ritchie Faulkner is the new guitar twin opposite Glenn Tipton, and he fits perfectly into the Priest playing/writing style. There’s an obvious attempt to go ‘raw’ with the sound of the album, matching the overall simpler song construction. The effect is to give the tracks a feel that invokes the band’s early offerings like Sin after Sin and Stained Class. The energy and pacing of the album is solid, and Halford delivers his trademark vocals with an enthusiasm that has seemed lacking in recent times. At 61 minutes for the 13 track ‘standard’ release and 83 minutes for the 18 track ‘deluxe’ version, there’s a lot of great music here. Redeemer of Souls is easily the best of the three albums since the return of Halford in 2003, yet falls short of the glory days of the ‘80s.

It’s been a long four years since Brisbane’s BDM heavyweights released their stellar debut album, but for fans, the wait has been totally worth it. Misery presents 32 minutes of non-stop, in-your-face brutality that is utterly crushing from start to finish. While the scene overflows with copycat bands, Disentomb continue to deliver sounds that set them apart including catchy hooks, thunderous riffs, down-tempo slams and the insanely talented, spleen-rupturing gutturals of frontman Jordan Philp. Also taking up the mic on Misery is The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad, Steve Tucker of Morbid Angel fame and Defeated Sanity’s Konstantin Lühring. Well-known for their aggressive live performance, with Misery Disentomb have managed to capture their fury on record and leave the listener with plenty to unpack from this complex and dynamic sophomore effort.

It’s taken a number of years since Meteora but Linkin Park are back to their heavy best with their new album, The Hunting Party. Yes, finally we can forget all about the radio friendly albums that have littered Linkin Park’s discography over the past few years as tracks such as ‘Keys To The Kingdom’, ‘A Line In The Sand’ and brand new single ‘Guilty All The Same’ take fans back to the sound of Hybrid Theory. Hell, they even give screamo a go on the thought provoking and brutal track ‘War’. Often rebuked for their style, Linkin Park are certainly fighting back as lead guitarist Brad Delson brings out a slew of catchy riffs throughout the album. The electronic and rap sounds are still there, but so is the brutality that we all wished would return one day. Welcome back to the game, old faithful friend.

Seether manage to revive the crusty chunks of post-grunge and channel it into radio-friendly music on their sixth studio album Isolate and Medicate. The fresh release contains 14 tracks that peel layers off emotional wounds with each strumming guitar chord. The lyrics are heartfelt, raw and entirely personal with vocalist Shaun Morgan delivering it in his signature apathetic tune. The album has a few highlight tracks but the two stand-outs are easily ‘Words as Weapons’ and ‘Goodbye Tonight’. They both take on the undertone of earlier releases by Seether with less distortion and more vigour. The latter track features South African alternative rock band Van Coke Kartel, which allows for a break from the distorted and fuzzy grunge genre. Despite the album’s post-grunge classification, there is evidence of top notch production value and this will be the first album that Seether has released on vinyl LP.

Formed in 1990, Septicflesh have always been at the forefront of the symphonic death metal elite and with their ninth studio album, Titan, they are again sure to be ranked highly among many end of year lists. The orchestral elements of the band are nothing short of epic, added with extreme sounds of crushing metal on the listeners’ ears. Dark, powerful, mysterious and brutal are the first four words that come to mind when listening to this opus of extreme metal. The production on Titan is absolutely flawless, with each sound having its own clear distinction, making you want to go back for more after each offering. Septicflesh have once again defined a genre, while creating their own special and memorable masterpiece that is sure to cement them even further into the legacy of extreme metal.

FIND REDEMPTION

Hear The Pain

HUNT IT DO W N

GET MEDICATED

SPIN THE SYMPH’

‘Dragonaut’ @YouTube

Disentomb @Official Site

‘Guilty All The Same’ @YouTube

‘Words as Weapons’ @YouTube

‘Prototype’ @YouTube

HARDCORE SUPERSTAR

From Parts Unknown by

Every Time I Die

Epitaph

Metal/hardcore Buffalo, New York everytimeidie.net Review: Will Oakeshott “Blow Your F**king Brains Out”. The first line screamed in your ears by Keith Buckley on opener ‘The Great Secret’ sends an extremely suitable message about what Every Time I Die are attempting to do with From Parts Unknown. No, it’s not a suicide reference, it’s just what the quintet are here to do: rock, shock and damage you – but with a smile on your face. After sixteen years of service ETID know what they are doing and do it well, so there’s no huge departure from their signature sound on From Parts Unknown. ‘Pelican Of The Desert’ is a thrashy blast of hardcore featuring Sean Ingram from Coalesce that would have fit very well on 2012’s Ex Lives. Hit single ‘Decayin’ With The Boys’ – quite possibly the catchiest track ever written by the band – incorporates a hazy southern rock interlude found frequently

iPad

on 2007’s The Big Dirty, while a similar situation occurs on ‘Old Light’, which features The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon and plays out like a follow-up song to ‘INRIhab’, which included Dallas Green, from the same record. The real gem of From Parts Unknown lies in ‘Moor’, however, which may simultaneously be the strangest hardcore song ever crafted; a combination of eerie piano parts and Buckley’s creepy crooning, it is simply brilliant and wouldn’t be out of place on the Wolf Creek Soundtrack. To close out the record, ‘Idiot’ hits the listener like an uppercut, a mathcore slab of intensity that is going to threaten the safety of concert-goers. For ETID, it seems getting older does not mean slowing down at all. Album number seven could act as the perfect introduction to the band, drawing on all the elements of their discography and expanding them. If you’re not already riding this deathly bandwagon, From Parts Unknown is beckoning you on board.

Senium

Blissfucker

Year of the Dragon

Independent

Prosthetic Records

Tankcrimes

Hadal Maw Death metal Melbourne, Australia facebook.com/hadalmaw

Review: Josh Voce Hadal Maw waste absolutely no time in flexing their musical muscle, showcasing their distinct style of death metal with seriously twisted melodies within the first thirty seconds. While there is an insane amount of blasting to be found on Senium, there are plenty of other things to sink your teeth into. The Atheist-like interludes trickled throughout the album have a tendency to catch you off guard and the tribal percussive element in ‘Ancestry’ brings to mind the likes of Nile. The sluggish riff on ‘Dissent’ has a demented characteristic whilst ‘Altar of Ire’ has more of a Gojira vibe to it. Tracks like ‘Coil’ weave the signature Necrophagist guitar web and accentuate the overall chaotic feel of the album. Hadal Maw deliver an immensely evil full-length and fans of Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse and Cryptopsy won’t be disappointed. Even Gojira and Meshuggah audiophiles will have something to look forward to with this textured and refreshingly dynamic debut album.

Trap Them

Hardcore Boston/Seattle, USA shirtkiller.com/trapthem Review: Will Oakeshott After thirteen years together it is criminal how Trap Them have flown under the radar. Album number four, charmingly titled Blissfucker, is hopefully the record to change this; it’s heavy, ugly and purely evil in the best ways possible. Opening with the adventurous ‘Salted Crypts’, at first reminiscent of Eyehategod, then blasting into grindcore mayhem, this starting point sets up the record to infect the listener for the following ten songs. ‘Gift And Gift Unsteady’ has perhaps the most peculiar riff ever written for a song of this genre, which is accentuated further by another clean sound in ‘Organic Infernal’. The Doomriders inspired ‘Sanitations’ has the quartet slowing things down as does ‘Bad Nones’, ‘Ransom Risen’ and ‘Savage Climbers’, but this is counteracted with the blast beats of ‘Lungrunners’ justifying Trap Them’s expertise. The songs on Blissfucker would translate remarkably well live, so when will Australia see it?

Fucked Up

Punk Toronto, Canada matadorrecords.com/fucked_up Review: Justin Tawil

Year of the Dragon is the sixth instalment in the Canadian Punk group’s Zodiac series. Released shortly before their fourth full-length studio album Glass Boys, it’s impressive how different and stylistically unique the two records are from each other. Year of the Dragon’s A-Side is a whopping 18 minutes of gargantuan riffs, and some of guitarist Young Governor’s more grandiose writing. A song that’s full of outstanding, dramatic changes and shifts in emotive motifs throughout, it is vastly contrasting to the B-Side which is comprised of two covers of two of Toronto’s earliest punk bands, Cardboard Brains’ ‘I Wanna Be a Yank’ and The Ugly’s ‘Disorder’. The title track is the intended highlight of the EP, and much like the rest of the Zodiac series, it is their way of taking Fucked Up’s unique sound into that next level of creative space, separate to what people have come to expect from them.

TAKE A RIDE

Di ve D ee p er

BLISS OUT

THE STANDOUT

‘Decayin’ with the boys’ @YouTube

‘Aetas de Morior’ @YouTube

‘Salted Crypts’ @YouTube

‘Year of the Dragon’ @YouTube

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Omnipresent by

Origin

Agonia Records

Brutal death metal Topeka, Kansas facebook.com/origin

Nebulae

Nefarious

Hemina

Bird’s Robe

Sectu

ViciSolum Productions

Prog metal Sydney, Australia hemina.com.au

Death metal Stockholm, Sweden sectu.se

Corrosion of Conformity

Candlelight Records

Monsters by

Diamond Noir

Independent

Hard rock/metal/punk rock North Carolina, USA COC.com

Nu metal Melbourne, Australia diamondnoirofficial.com

Review: Tennille Secomb

Review: Karl Lean

Review: Tenille Secomb

Review: Gareth Jones

Review: Dave Griffiths

The blistering speed, technical complexity and sharp production on Origin’s sixth full-length is unquestionable, and those with a penchant for musical wizardry will certainly find what they are looking for on Omnipresent. Simultaneously, it is this factor that will leave other fans unable to grab onto anything they wish to return to. That’s not to say Omnipresent isn’t without its dynamism, however, as there are obvious attempts to take the listener on a pulverizing intergalactic journey. With no time to breathe, opener ‘All Things Dead’ and highlight ‘Thrall:Fulcrum:Apex’ launch straight into a brutal death metal attack; there’s a bit of filler before ‘The Absurdity of What I Am’ and ‘Source of Icon O’ form a solid midsection, and from here, with the instrumental ‘Continuum’, the album really enters the cosmos. It feels like a long way to closer ‘The Indiscriminate’, but there’s a lot to unpack on this diverse album and it’s worth the time.

Nebulae is the second album from Sydney based Hemina, and continues the strong recent tradition of great Australian prog metal releases. From the opening two minutes of understated brilliance that is ‘Before’, this is a diverse and extremely well written body of work. The most prominent feature of the album is the vocal work. With all four members contributing vocals there are some amazingly good moments spread across Nebulae. The presence of a female voice adds so much, expanding and complimenting the arrangements. Memorable choruses and melodies are everywhere. The choice of the track ‘Freedom’ as the single seems a little strange. It’s a fine track, but neither the most accessible nor the strongest on the album. ‘Nightlives’ might have been a better choice, although the seven minute length probably works against it as a ‘single’.

Nefarious is wickedly captivating from the outset; dark, twisted and dripping with death, this eight-track monster of fury won’t bore you for a second. Heavy and haunted, the deep growlings of vocalist Stefan Lundgren are a highlight of the album, as are the profound bass lines that exude a groove you can’t get away from. The songs are all relatively long, giving Sectu time to develop terrifyingly evil soundscapes that are laced with a dissonant and ghastly malice. Gushing open at the intro, you can’t go past ‘River of Oblivion’, as the standout track morphs from a confident, pummelling speed into a slow grind that staggers across a putrid, swampy terrain and suffocates you under its immensity. From song structure to production, Nefarious is a world class release from these relative newcomers that evidences the proficiency of its musicians and makes a delightfully unsuspected entry into potential Album of the Year lists.

North Carolina’s Corrosion of Conformity become candidates for Album of the Year with their latest and ninth studio album, aptly titled IX. Marking their second album as a trio since reforming in 2010, Pepper Keenan (Down) is again absent from the fold. CoC have evolved from the punk/crossover sound of the early years to the southern-influenced sludge of the latter, and IX continues down that path. Loaded with bluesy riffs, tempo changes, and melodic drawls from Mike Dean, who has largely assumed most of the vocal duties since the return of the band; ‘IX’ is a definite return to form for the new era of CoC. The album’s production is full with plenty of low end, showcasing their huge riffs and potent rhythm section, without sounding overly muddy. Clocking in at just over 42 minutes, CoC deliver the goods and certainly do not overstay their welcome on this release.

It has been a fantastic past couple of years for Australian metal bands taking the plunge overseas and now comes an EP from the latest Aussies making a big splash right across the United States – Diamond Noir. Now this is not a band that all metal fans will savour, but if you think you like the sound of Beki & The Bullets mixing their sound with The Golden Age Of Grotesque era Marilyn Manson, then this is the album for you. As an album Monsters seems to sail between genres with absolute ease. While ‘Insomniac’ mixes a strong electronic sound with brute force, there is also the gothic and haunting ‘Always The Villain’, which certainly deserves its metal tag. The one thing that really hits you about Monsters though, is this is an album that is going to launch this band into the stratosphere. Australia your next big thing in metal is here.

BLAST IT LOUD

TURN IT UP

Kill The Lights

PUMP IT UP

CHECK IT OUT

‘Thrall:Fulcrum: Apex’ @Bandcamp

‘Strength’ @YouTube

‘River of Oblivion’ @Bandcamp

‘On Your Way’ @YouTube

‘Monsters’ @YouTube

Heavy’s YouTube Channel Cranking out low, loud riff rhythms while shredding the dark energy of the universe with searing light beams of power and brilliance. Motherslug do that in spades. - Heavy Planet

Music and merch available at www.motherslug.bandcamp.com

cover story

Words: Michelle O’Rance

check em ou t

‘Cusp of Eternity’ @YouTube

Opeth are a band that defy logic, never bowing to the ideals of a record label and always writing the music they want. Vocalist and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt speaks with Michelle O’Rance about the band’s new album, the direction Opeth are taking and whether the relationship between Åkerfeldt and death metal is truly over.

hile Opeth’s latest offering, Pale Communion, seems a natural progression from Heritage, their previous release, it is also something completely different. No band can make that kind of statement with their music like Opeth can. In their 24 years of writing and recording music, whether it be the death metal styles of their early to mid career or the melodic and heavily atmospheric soundscapes of their latest releases, Opeth still manage to create epic albums that are always a topic of conversation and debate. Pale Communion is the eleventh release from the band and Åkerfeldt is confident that Opeth are making the music that the band want to write and that they have the freedom to be true to themselves as musicians. In today’s industry this kind of freedom is rare indeed. Åkerfeldt says that Pale Communion is something he wrote with a plan in mind. For him, this is almost uncharted territory as he loves his schizophrenic, ‘all-over-the-f**cking-place’ style of music and has never really attempted to write an album to a plan before. “Pale Communion it is a bit more focused on melodies,” he says. “I think it is a lot more straightforward than Heritage. I don’t want to say the word streamlined. It is a lot easier to understand and a bit more mainstream, but then that wasn’t our intention either; we just wanted to write songs that we like. It’s still a matter of us writing for ourselves.” With this new release, there is a question burning on the minds

of all Opeth fans. Is the relationship between Åkerfeldt and death metal over? Will Opeth ever write a distinctly heavy album again? Or are the fans blindly holding on, clutching at an old hope, in the same way that Metallica fans hope for another Master Of Puppets? Åkerfeldt doesn’t feel that his relationship with the heavier style of music that the band was once known for is over, but he suggests that heavy music has taken on a different definition for him. “In the next song that I write, if I feel that it is required, I will add in some screams because that is what people are talking about I think, the lack of screaming vocals. So if I feel that the song requires it, I will certainly add that element,” Åkerfeldt says. It’s a never-say-never proposition, but it’s clear to all that, at this moment in time, Åkerfeldt feels that his music is not in that particular mindset. It’s also the touring life that hasn’t let that relationship die out as Åkerfeldt knows that Opeth’s heavier songs translate much more easily to a live arena. While the relationship with metal isn’t over, and is far from forgotten, it just might be on the back burner a little. “It is not over because doing a record for us is just a little chain in everything that we do,” Åkerfeldt says. “I am a bit sad about the fact that these days you spend so little time writing records and so much time touring these records you know? We still do all of those heavy songs live when we tour so I can say that it is not over, but when it comes to the creative side, the writing side of the band at the moment, my head is somewhere else right now. I don’t feel like incorporating any element of our music just because some people think we are supposed to do just that.

cover story

“For me our music has to be honest,” he adds. Åkerfeldt is not a huge fan of life on the road. He much prefers to harness his creativity and write, rather than tour a seeminglyendless cycle that focuses on the latest particular release. “As boring as it sounds, live music is the bread and butter. That is what you have to do to stay alive as a band. While it sounds like I am lamenting that, this is not entirely true,” he explains. “We aren’t getting any younger. Touring a lot puts a strain on us as individuals and with our family lives, but also morally, as a musician. Touring has put a strain on me as I am not doing what I love the most and that is the creative side. I love to write songs and work on songs and spend time in the studio. That is what makes me feel like a musician, while being on tour feels like you are part of a corporation.” There are aspects of touring that every musician enjoys and being treated like a rock star is most definitely one of these, Åkerfeldt laughs, but he admits that it is more like work now days. Touring is such a huge part of a band’s life in today’s metal world even for a band as established as Opeth. Does this constant cycle mean that the music of today is more about quantity over quality? Åkerfeldt was recently quoted in a Metal Hammer interview as saying that “metal fans just want their ‘happy meals’ served to them”. His belief that fans have become closed minded has divided fans and critics. Some agree completely with the statement and agree that genres like metalcore are the fast food of the metal scene and that the music is reproduced over and over with no imagination. Others have disagreed, believing that Åkerfeldt’s comments are stereotyping every metal fan. “I am a bit of a cynic in a way and maybe I don’t have the most positive outlook on the metal scene, but I think it is increasingly difficult for bands today to get through today,” Åkerfeldt admits. “When you are young and naïve, you think if you just write a couple of good songs or a good record and you think I am fine, I will just put it up on Myspace and just sit here and wait and I can reach these big goals that I have set myself. But that is just not true. What makes a band successful, so to speak, depends on your priorities. With us, we have been lucky in that sense as our priorities have always been with the quality of the songs that we want to listen to and we have been quite fortunate in that sense that we can do almost whatever we wish and that there are people around the world that want to listen to it.” He continues, “Being in a new band these days must be extremely difficult and people are kind of blind and it is almost like people are lying to themselves about the music scene being better. I mean there is much more music available, but as much good music as there might be available, there is as much bad music I think. “Some of these talents then kind of disappear in amongst all of this shit that is available,” Åkerfeldt laughs. In many ways Åkerfeldt hits the nail on the head. In today’s

immediate environment, anyone who has access to a computer and the internet can create music, but are they really musicians? Or is it really nothing but heavily-influenced imitation that unsurprisingly sounds identical to the bands it is ripping off. This is what makes it harder for the bands and musicians who have a truly unique identity to make it out of the mire – the quagmire of imitation. Åkerfeldt is nostalgic as he remembers the bands like Judas Priest, Scorpion and Deep Purple, the bands he loved that shaped who he became as a musician. He worries that the metal scene won’t change any time soon because there are no new ideas coming through. “It does upset me to a certain extent that I don’t recognise even myself in today’s metal scene. It Words: Justin Tawil is not the same metal scene that Opeth’s 11th studio album, Pale I grew up with. It is so easy for an Communion, boasts the same old fart like me to sound nostalgic Åkerfeldt mastery of multi-faceted and and everything and I seem like I contrasting progressive styles present am living in the past, but the bands on other Opeth albums, but there is a distinct lack of those passages of that I grew up with had their own death metal that have been popular identity. Today, for me, I listen to the in past releases and the absence of newer bands and it is either a retro this consolidates this album as a band trying to sound like Sabbath comprehensive showcase of Opeth’s or Pentagram or it is something, ability to create majestic and utterly especially in the American scene, exquisite material. The track ‘Moon Above Sun Below’ exemplifies the where so many bands sound similar album’s focus on melody, both with to me that it is hard to tell them Mikael Åkerfeldt’s signature style of apart.” he explains. beautiful guitar leads and the vocal “It is difficult for me to see harmonies. While melodious sections metal bands doing anything new are the main features throughout the album, Martin Axenrot’s drumming is and fresh these days but I want magnificent, adding a welcome flare those bands to come, I want this without being too overbearing and to happen. I want to see a strong distracting from the bountiful melodies healthy metal scene.” that make up the key elements of Hopefully one day soon, a Pale Communion. The album doesn’t bring anything new or refreshing to strong metal scene is what we will the table, but it delivers everything all be able to enjoy. Until then, we that makes Opeth the iconic band that can rest assured that Åkerfeldt they’ve grown to be. and Opeth will continue to be true to themselves in creating quality DI VE RI G HT IN music. And maybe the odd heavy ‘Moon Above, song or two will find its way back Sun Below’ into Åkerfeldt’s mindset. H

Pale Communion by Opeth

@YouTube

Words: Steve Jenkins Photo: Soundworks Touring

Becoming death

It’s been 24 years since the biggest name in death metal sprayed its first vile creation Eaten Back To Life all over the metal world and they add a thirteenth disgusting addition to their discography this year. Alex Webster chats to Steve Jenkins about what it’s like to be Cannibal Corpse.

his monster needs no introduction but we’re giving them one anyway. Ladies and gentleman, from Buffalo New York, here to smash you in the face and leave you pounded into dust is Cannibal Corpse. If you’re into metal and you haven’t heard of Cannibal Corpse, well... you’re not into metal. The most controversial, gory, banned and brutal band on the planet is a household name even in non-metal homes but how does a band stay at the top of Mt. Offensive for over two decades when so many others are clawing at their heels? “We’re not too worried about maintaining our status as a controversial band anymore,” bassist Alex Webster says with cool nonchalance. “We never really set out to achieve that [reputation]; it kind of just happened. We just want to be an excellent death metal band and make the best songs that we can. We still obviously want to keep the lyrics violent and brutal but it’s not so much about the controversy – if it happens, it happens. We just want to make the best sounding music as possible whilst telling a violent story through the lyrics.” Thirteen albums is a f**king career, especially in an industry that chews up and spits out bands by the day. Staying around is one thing but staying recognized and relevant is a whole different challenge, and yet Cannibal Corpse are more than just a well-established band. This is a brand, an obsession, a name that divides opinion and polarises the community. New album A Skeletal Domain is expected to keep the same formula as their previous work and, after recording three incredible albums with Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Morbid Angel), the band decided it was time for a change. “The last time we recorded with someone different was back in 2003,” Webster says. “We were just kind of due for a change on the new album. We had heard some very good things about Mark Lewis and we got to know him over the past couple of years so we decided to go down to Audiohammer Studios in Sanford Florida and he did a great job – I’m really excited about it.”

Diehard fans of Cannibal Corpse will know that there’s always something a little bit special and different with each new release. When asked about the new album’s sound and general vibe, Webster had the following to say: “Of course the production is going to sound different but, in terms of each song, we try and make it so that each track has its own character. We don’t want an album where every song has a similar vibe that all blends into one. Some of the songs have a darker and eerie vibe, whereas others are very aggressive and straight forward. We want variety and that’s where I think having multiple song writers in the bands really comes in handy.” Webster is no fool. He’s well aware of the rarity of making a living from brutal death metal and says the band is eternally grateful for the opportunities they’ve received. “We’ve been very lucky that our career has been steady and we keep getting a lot of opportunities,” he says. “We keep getting added on these big tours – we’re on the Mayhem Festival here in the United States, for example.”

“There’s definitely going to be a fourteenth album. We don’t have any plans to stop and, in fact, it’s never even been brought up.”

G ET CANNI B ALISED

‘Sadistic Embodiment’ @YouTube

A Skeletal Domain by Cannibal Corpse Words: Nick French

Cannibal Corpse haven’t deviated from their sound during their 25 year existence and they aren’t about to change now. Their latest offering, A Skeletal Domain (their lucky 13th?), is a lesson in the “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-try-to-fix-it” ethos. All of the classic Corpse elements are present: powerful drumming, relentless riffing, skilful soloing, understated but effective bass mastery, and of course George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher’s legendary vocals, which have lost almost none of their trademark sound. Producer Mark Lewis (of Devildriver, Whitechapel and ironically, Six Feet Under fame) has captured the perfect sound - clear, full and polished, without being sterile. You need not worry about the band running out of ways to describe gore either, as the lyrics are typically gruesome, yet fun. Standout tunes include the staccato ‘High Velocity Impact Spatter‘, the unrelenting ’Headlong Into Carnage’ and the dark (even for Cannibal Corpse) ‘Funeral Cremation’. A gory, bloody good listen!

Webster goes on to mention that he’s sitting on the tour bus as we speak while bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Suicide Silence and Body Count are playing [Korn? Good time to get some beers – Ed!]. “We’ve been able to play some really diverse shows, and through that diversity it enables us to reach out to fans that might not normally go out of their way to see someone like us perform,” he explains. “That helps our band become known to more people and it also brings new people into the death metal scene.” It’s become the modern-day process, especially now in the face of dwindling income from album sales. Bands need to play shows, a lot of shows, and do so with other bands that might not sound very similar to their music at all. Webster goes on: “The truth is that a lot of the old school fans you had when you first got started might be

getting married and having children or working more, so they might not be able to get out to shows as much anymore, which is where the younger crowd come in – they’re more likely to go and check out shows. You’ve got to introduce your music to new audiences sometimes in order to stay relevant and successful.” As far as studio output is concerned, Cannibal Corpse are nothing if not consistent – 13 albums over twenty-six years is a terrific achievement, and doesn’t count the wicked amount of live material on both DVD and CD that the band has also released over that time. Is there ever going to be a break in the workload? Do they look like they’re going to slow down anytime soon? Webster says it’s unlikely. “It’s so hard to say what the future holds,” he states. “There’s definitely going to be a fourteenth album; I don’t see why not? We don’t have any plans to stop and, in fact, it’s never even been brought up. At some point, things might have to slow down for us because we’re all in our mid 40s and we have a rigorous touring schedule that takes its toll but right now we’re happy going full-steam ahead.” These tour plans involve Australia, of course, and Webster mentions how excited they all are to be coming back Down Under in September right before their official album release. “We’ll be playing some songs from the new album so that everybody will get a little advanced taste of the record in a live atmosphere. We can’t wait to get back down there; we always have great tours in Australia and we have some of the best fans in the world in your country. Every show we play there, we are always well-received and welcomed by everyone and I’m certain that this upcoming tour will be no exception.” H

Words: Kimberley Croxford Photos: John Raptis & courtesy of Save The Palace

Australia’s streets ring out with the sound of guitars and the cries of protest. As live music venues close across the nation, Kimberley Croxford explores what it all means for the future of Australian heavy music.

t’s hard to feel alone in Melbourne if you know where to go. Within the walls of the city’s iconic venues, you’ll find much more than bands and a bar. Every night in our music capital, people feed off of one another’s energy – elated, inspired, and connected by live music.

Melbourne famously demonstrated its fierce love of music with 2010’s SLAM rally yet in early 2014, the streets were alive again with the sound of protest as musicians and fans determinedly defend the Palace Theatre. The magnificently-decorated historical theatre, with its uniquely flexible 1,855 capacity space, is irreplaceable and yet the howls of the vox populi were ignored and the venue lost to hotel development in seemingly inconceivable fashion. The local music industry has since breathed a collective sigh of relief with the announcement that the Melbourne Pavilion, a sports centre in Kensington with a potential capacity of 2,200, is to be revamped as a music venue to help soften the blow for larger touring companies in search of medium-sized venues, like Soundwave for its Soundwave sideshows. Since the SLAM protest politicised live music, The Palace isn’t the only venue to have closed. A storm of media reports on closures around the country has created an air of uncertainty in the music community but is the anxiety about the future of live music warranted? How healthy is live heavy music anyway and what is the industry’s outlook for the scene going forward?

What’s the score? The closure of two more Melbourne venues, Pony and the Barleycorn Hotel, marked definite low points for Melbourne’s heavy music scene in recent times and the 400-capacity East Brunswick Club is still sorely missed since redeveloping its band room just two years ago. Back then, fans had barely finished mourning the beloved Arthouse (The Royal Artillery Hotel) when its owners successfully opened The Reverence in Footscray, which is now a well-established home of heavy music. Other closure announcements have proven to be false alarms, with venues like North Melbourne’s Public Bar and Brunswick’s Gasometer Hotel changing hands but reopening for business as usual. Welcome additions include DIY space Dropout in Yarraville and The Star Hotel in Southbank, which recently opened itself up to live music. Perhaps the biggest nail-bitter for heavy fans was when The Bendigo Hotel came under threat due to noise complaints, but thankfully that stalwart of the scene was spared. Dave Collins, The Bendigo’s booker and a prominent figure in Melbourne’s heavy music community, says venues opening and closing is the nature of the business and that the heavy music scene is stronger than ever as venues diversify. “There are probably more places to play now. I used to book The Arthouse years ago and, when I first started, there wasn’t a lot of support for heavier, punkier, dirtier bands elsewhere,” he says. In 2012 the Victorian Live Music Census found that Melbourne is possibly one of the best cities in the world for live music and is spoilt for choice with 460 live venues. Rob McManus, who runs touring company Heathen Skulls, says Melbourne’s quality venues, diverse both in size and production capabilities, allow him to present heavy, underground, and experimental music in a variety of ways. “If Sydney and Brisbane were just as strong as Melbourne, touring bands in Australia would be amazing – you could tour more bands on a much higher level,” he says. Melbourne certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on quality live music, however. Brisbane is thriving and promoters consistently praise the owners of Crowbar, which opened in Fortitude Valley in 2012, for building and

driving a healthy, diverse and passionate scene around the venue. “Crowbar is like the saving grace of Brisbane,” McManus says. “It’s where you go now for heavy music; it has such a good vibe.” Sydney has been enduring a long period of hardship but things have begun to look up. When the renowned Annandale hotel went into receivership, many were devastated but new owners The Oscar Group have since vowed to re-launch live music with the help of original operators the Rule brothers. The former Sandringham Hotel has also reopened as the Newtown Social Club. The new venue is now booked by the Corner Presents group – exciting news for Sydney since the company’s long-standing Melbourne venues, the Corner Hotel and the Northcote Social Club, were recognised in January as among the highest ticket-selling venues in the world (ranking number 13 and 91 respectively). Glenn Stewart (aka The Drunk Promoter) identified the Hi-Fi, which opened in Sydney in 2012, as another asset to the scene. “The crowd is getting really good in Sydney,” he says, “Everyone was warning me about it, but lots of people came out for the D.R.I show we did at the Hi-Fi and the people who worked there were really awesome.” Glenn ‘Dysie’ Dyson of Soundworks says that venues are fairly limited around the country for the touring company’s larger-scale operations. Melbourne and Sydney may have the largest selection but quality should be valued over quantity – Perth’s touring scene is strong on both a local and international level because of key venues keeping promoters satisfied and pulling punters. “We pretty much exclusively use Amplifier Bar in Perth. It’s central, people are familiar with it and it’s consistently good quality,” he says. Dyson does admit that Adelaide is disappointing in terms of suitable infrastructure, with the exception of Fowlers’ live, adding that, regrettably, community support and ticket sales also make it a less appealing destination when routing tours. “The first time we toured Carcass in 2008 we got 800 people in Perth, 800 in Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne sold out at 1,100. In Adelaide we got 350.” Heathen Skulls’ Rob McManus agrees and says venue support contributes significantly: “Adelaide is a total and utter write off. It has a bunch of venues that couldn’t give a crap –you feel like you’re an inconvenience. You just don’t feel like you’re part of a scene there.” It’s a long way up and a fast way down Bookers and promoters agree that Australian live music as a whole is prospering, reporting an influx of international tours, booming ticket sales, and Australian acts selling out consecutive nights; however, the particular strength of live music in Australia appears to rely considerably on the active involvement of front-running owners and operators and venues creating a supportive environment for bands and industry professionals. “Everyone behind the bar is a musician – the staff help to develop everything and they all support the heavy music scene in some sort of way,” Crowbar owner Trad Nathan says of his venue’s ingredients. “If someone is not really focusing on [heavier music], it’s something that gets forgotten about.” Promoters consistently cite Melbourne’s Cherry Bar, the Reverence Hotel and the Bendigo, whose operators are all instrumental in their contribution to Melbourne live music, as critical to the scene’s continuing success. “If they were to disappear, you would really feel it – I don’t think the scene would recuperate for a while,” says McManus. Owner-operator of Cherry Bar, James Young, who recently bought Smith Street’s live music staple Yah Yah’s, says Melbourne’s current good fortune shouldn’t be taken for granted and that failure to protect its iconic

“Over my dead body will I let a music venue I am personally involved with close.” James Young, owner, Cherry Bar, Melbourne. venues is a very real concern. A vocal champion of local rock’n’roll, Young worries that the disappearance of existing venues would cause the scene to decline like other once-prominent music scenes around the world. “New York and Los Angeles had these amazing scenes in the ’60s to the ’90s but now CBGB is a clothing shop,” he says. “Even though a lot of bands still go to New York to play, in terms of there being a ripe scene that’s really nurturing up and coming talent, it’s just not there anymore.” Hitting challenges head-on Ben Thompson of the Corner Presents group says that, across the board, individual venues remaining financially viable is the Achilles heel of an otherwise flourishing music industry. Thompson says venues relying on bar sales to cover their overheads and outgoings when punters tend only to occupy the venue for a short time during a band’s set can be unsustainable. Corner Presents’ business model was designed in order to help venue owners avoid having to pay individual bookers and publicists at higher cost. “I think there needs to be some creative thought about business models, because live music venues aren’t money pits; they need to be run well to remain open,” he says. More specifically, Adelaide’s most significant hurdles to confront in attempting to strengthen its scene are inhibiting clauses in state and local licensing and planning legislation that are preventing its live entertainment from diversifying, constraining healthy competition, putting pressure on small and medium venues, and making it challenging for new venues to emerge. Brisbane has seen great success since the establishment of its Fortitude Valley Entertainment precinct in 2004 but as the residential landscape shifts and the precinct becomes saturated by large clubs it has been predicted that the once successful solution of concentrating live entertainment will soon require extensive review. Skylar Kyu, booker of Sydney heavy music haunt the Bald Faced Stag, says that, while there is widespread concern that lock outs and liquor licensing laws recently instated in NSW will cripple the Sydney music scene, the direct impact on live music won’t be as significant as currently perceived. For Sydney, the increasingly growing risk of noise complaints as a result of residential development is the issue of foremost concern and has already adversely-affected venues such as the Annandale. Matt Bodiam, owner of The Reverence Hotel and former owner of the long-running Arthouse, says Melbourne’s greatest challenge will undoubtedly be negotiating Melbourne’s imminent residential boom while ensuring established businesses achieve longevity.

“The licensing stuff venues have to deal with, while challenging, is all kind of workable. The real threat for live music is complaints from residents moving into areas,” Bodiam says. “We drove past the Arthouse and there is probably three new 15-storey developments that have gone up in that block since we left. There was a big billboard right next door to the Arthouse advertising a 30-storey building still to come.” The consensus in the industry around the country is that encroaching development due to population increase is the principal looming threat for existing venues in the next five to ten years, especially in Melbourne and Sydney. The City of Melbourne was the fastest growing local government area in Australia last year with its population jumping 11.5 percent, and the impact of this increase is already being felt in a very real sense. Cherry Bar has recently been made vulnerable to noise complaints due to a new 12-storey residential building at the end of AC/DC lane. Cherry’s James Young, despite potentially facing up $80,000 soundproofing costs, is confident and determined not to let the development adversely affect the internationally renowned rock’n’roll bar. “Over my dead body will I let a music venue I am personally involved with close,” he asserts. Young, with his background as a lawyer and relative financial security, says he is prepared for the challenge ahead but he worries that other venue operators may be less practically equipped to fight the same battle. “It’s not beneficial to Cherry for other venues around us to close. All ships rise with the tide – you want a very healthy music scene throughout the entire city,” he says. Help is on the way Just as the population has been growing so has awareness of the cultural and economic significance of the live music industry within government bodies. The National Live Music Office was established in 2013 and a range of positive state and local government initiatives have mobilised since the legendary SLAM rally. While Adelaide still desperately requires more engagement from government, Reverb: The Future of Live Music in South Australia – a comprehensive ‘live music thinker’ produced by WOMAD co-founder and Glastonbury booker Martin Elbourne in 2013 – is a welcome resource to help pave the way for change and is full of innovative ideas and recommendations to help bolster Adelaide’s local scene. Sydney has formed a particularly-united front in its approach to injecting new life into its live music scene, with councils Leichardt, Marrickville, and the City of Sydney deciding to move together when calling for legislative

“The licensing stuff venues have to deal with, while challenging, is all kind of workable. The real threat for live music is complaints from residents moving into areas.” Matt Bodium, owner, Reverence Hotel, Melbourne change to support music venues. The councils have resolved to consult one another on live music policy, especially in regards to alleviating the effects of residential development on venues and mediating noise complaints. The City of Sydney’s Live Music and Performance Action Plan, which came to fruition following recommendations from the Live Music and Performance Taskforce, was the catalyst that sparked a series of meaningful actions, including Leichardt council expressing its desire to establish Parramatta road (where venues like the Annandale are located) into a live music precinct. Since the Victorian Live Music Census highlighted live music’s massive contribution to the state economy (over $1 billion per annum), the Victorian State Government and Melbourne councils have been working closely with Music Victoria, the Victorian music industry’s independent advocacy organisation, to provide appropriate support for the industry. The City of Melbourne (the municipality within which Cherry Bar is located) has released the detailed Melbourne Music Strategy 2014-17. Councillor Rohan Leppert, chair of the Music Advisory Committee, says the council’s investment into a specific and actionable music strategy – developed in close consultation with venue operators, musicians, industry professionals and Music Victoria – highlights a strong political will to support live music. “It should give hope to music fans, musicians, and everyone working in the industry that they’ve got our attention,” he says. Leppert says City of Melbourne is now more prepared to take a lobbying and leadership role when cooperating with higher levels of government to get results for Melbourne music: “This strategy will provide us with a platform to have those discussions more effectively.” Some of the unique actions outlined in the strategy include plans to up-skill and inform prospective live venue owners and operators. “The regulatory framework to establish any new business is daunting enough and there are a whole lots of specific challenges facing live music venues that need to be understood by owners and operators in some depth,” Leppert says. “If government really is serious about the music industry it needs to make sure all this information is available in the most digestible and accessible way possible.” He hopes the plan will help council and potential venue operators adopt a hand in hand approach to establishing successful live venues in a changing city. “There shouldn’t be any accidental hurdles to operating a live music venue in the city – people need to know what they’re up against,” Leppert says. The City of Yarra, the council that encompasses the Bendigo Hotel, has announced a number of initiatives that Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan says prove a level of support for live music that is “unprecedented in Australia”. On July 15, City of Yarra funded an acoustic master-class to educate venue owners on soundproofing. They are also planning to provide $25,000 dollars in grants to local venues for acoustic consultations. Most significantly, compliance officers liaising with neighbouring residents have now agreed to consult with Music Victoria before resolving issues and complaints.

While it may seem to some venue operators that councils’ explicit support for the music scene contradicts their actions when actually engaged in noise complaint negotiations, Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan says that greater consistency is emerging as policy infiltrates entire councils. “The support for live music through the arts and culture managers is now filtering down to other levels of council. It’s fine for the arts portfolio to support music but if you’ve still got the compliance officers busting these venues for perceived noise complaints then it doesn’t flow on. A couple of years ago, councils started to support music but now they are starting to support music across the whole council,” Donovan asserts. On state level, planning minister Matthew Guy has stated his intention to reform state planning legislation to acknowledge the ‘agent of change’ principle, a term on every venue operator’s tongue. The reform would strengthen requirements that the responsibility of sound attenuation lies with new developers, obliging them to take measures to effectively soundproof new residential complexes, rather than the onus falling on existing venues. State government is also in the process of a much-needed review of State Environment Protection Policy (Control of Music Noise from Public Premises) No. N-2. An amendment would alter the way noise emitted from venues is measured and also put in place a two-tiered approach to noise standards, which would mean more suitable noise standards would be applied to inner city cultural hubs. Guy announced his commitment to implementing the agent of change principle eight months ago. Venue owners like Young, for whom the problem is immediate, aren’t convinced that the government is moving with enough urgency. “Painfully all these words are worth nothing unless they can transfer their thinking into actual legislation and give us some real statutory relief and defence,” Young says. “The reality is if I get a noise complaint tomorrow, Cherry is in the wrong.” But Music Victoria is confident that concrete change is closer than ever. “It is taking too long,” Donovan says, “but the planning minister was very strong in what he said and we have faith.” Donovan explains that legislative change can take time because complicated terms need to be negotiated by both state and local bodies and then tested by a trial VCAT hearing to ensure its practical ability to resolve issues. “You can have the state law but then you’ve got to have some detail at local council level because they’re making the decisions on planning permits,” he says. “We’re hopeful that some detail for local councils combined with the legislation of the planning reform at state level will add up to very meaningful change.” In the meantime, Young and other owners are comforted by the Melbourne music communities’ proven ability to use people power to stand up for what they love most. “There are people out there that care more about my Cherry Bar than I do,” he says, “and that fills me with joy.” H

Mastodon Words: Michelle O’Rance Photos: Travis Shin

Go Once More ‘Round the Sun Mastodon are a band that have consistently created great records, acclaimed by just about everyone in the music industry, and they’ve mastered their own signature sound that is yet to be emulated. There’s never a time when you hear a Mastodon song and think “Who is this?”

nless, of course, you live under a rock. Mastodon released their sixth studio album Once More ‘Round The Sun on 24 June, 2014 and this latest album shows that they are still way ahead of the curve when it comes to progressive sludge metal. It also shows a true dynamism within a band when the musicians can create an album where their core sound is ever present, yet there is obvious experimentation in their music. When asked about creating their own brand of metal, one that they have perfected in the fourteen years that they’ve been a band, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders says he believes that it’s the band’s chemistry that has let them be able to do what they do without compromising who they are as musicians. Since the band began in 2000, the four members, who are also the four founding members, have had a unique chemistry and Sanders assures that the base formula will not be changing any time soon, no matter how they decide to experiment. The heavy-as-balls Remission could have easily seen Mastodon written off as another million-beats-per-second band with the standard growls and distorted guitars, but after that release they changed direction completely, they explored and experimented and then released Leviathan. This completely changed the way people viewed Mastodon. In a 2004 interview with extreme music webzine Chronicles Of Chaos,

Mastodon were asked if they believed that Leviathan was primed to be on the cusp of making a cultural impact in the metal scene, much in the way that Nirvana broke through with Bleach. Drummer, Brann Dailor, opined “I guess I hope that happens, but we’re definitely not banking on anything like that. We’re just trying to concentrate and make sure we write the music that we want to write and make sure we’re not writing for anyone but ourselves.” But Sanders believes that ten years down the track the band has made a cultural impact in the music scene. By writing music for themselves, and by not being under pressure from a label, they have become a band that always pushes the envelope and they have managed to somewhat break into the music mainstream with their unique brand of metal. In addition to the band’s natural ability to work together, their mutual love of High On Fire (the four met at a High On Fire gig) and Neurosis (Scott Kelly could almost be the fifth member of Mastodon) keeps their formula working and allows them to create progressive music. It’s also the band’s mutual decision to take that leap of faith, to dabble in the very old and the very new and the willingness to experiment and Sanders believes that it is that feeling, that taking a chance, that has never changed for any of the members and it’s also what drives Mastodon to create the music that they do. Sanders had a good laugh about the fact that Scott Kelly has, again,

appeared on this album providing guest vocals on the final track. Kelly has collaborated with Mastodon on every album they have released. As Mastodon have always been huge Neurosis fans this comes as no surprise and Sanders even jokingly hints at a joint tour and possible live collaboration. They have a great relationship with Kelly and, in an interview with Paste Magazine in April, Sanders was quoted as saying “I think subconsciously that we’re trying to involve him with every album enough to have a full set of songs eventually.” Without launching into a review of Once More ‘Round The Sun, it is easy to see that on this album they are fusing the old with the new. There are strong ties to Leviathan and Remission with their new music as well as a variety of different influences from their previous work and from bands such as Deftones and Alice In Chains. The band are known to like writing their music with a concept and Once More ‘Round The Sun is no exception. The meaning behind this release is open to interpretation, Sanders assures, although the common theme is that the album is very loosely based on death. Sanders did mention, however, that the album title can be viewed as the complete opposite of death. Moving once more around the sun can also be construed as a new beginning, a new cycle in a life, as opposed to the idea of death. The band is no stranger to death though, having had to deal with their fair share over the last few years. It was these experiences, along with the aftermath of the events surrounding Brett Hinds’ head injuries following the infamous brawl he was involved in after the 2007 MTV Awards, that inspired them to write the album, picking up where The Hunter left off. Sanders believes that this album hits every element that Mastodon were hoping to achieve and then some, which, for a sixth studio album, is a pretty awesome feat, especially when their peers, fans and the majority

of critics agree. And so the Mastodon legend continues. Fourteen years on and they are still creating music that challenges and captivates their listeners. Their secret? Having an amazing chemistry within the band, faith in each other and willingness to take a risk. We can only hope that the band continues these leaps of faith for the next fourteen years continuing to create music that no one else can. H

Moving once more around the sun can also be construed as a new beginning, a new cycle in a life, as opposed to the idea of death. F EEL THE HEAT

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Words Nathan Eden Photo Mitch Booth

Psycroptic’s Dave Haley talks to HEAVY about album number six, Australian bands touring internationally and a devil named Psycro.

uring a HEAVY chat I had late last year with Max Cavalera, the Sepultura and Soulfly legend listed some of the bands inspiring him at the time. Top of the list was Tasmania’s Psycroptic. I tell this to founding member and drummer Dave Haley and ask if he thinks such attention could be on the back of Psycroptic’s heavily-praised 2012 tech-thrash benchmark The Inherited Repression. “I hope that sort of attention is based on the strength of the last album,” he says. “It is our favourite thing we’ve done so far. Each album should be or what is the point in making it?” He pauses briefly then adds, “Then again, who gives a shit?! It’s Max Cavalera,” he laughs. Following up The Inherited Repression is surely a tall order for a technical death metal band about to notch up album number six but, as Haley explains, his band is one that grows as it evolves. “Each album has a different sound and basically we do whatever we want. I don’t mean for this to sound arrogant or anything but I think we might have outgrown the technical death metal tag. Maybe ‘outgrown’ is not quite the right word but, at the end of the day, we just play metal,” he insists before addressing the obvious technical aspect of his band’s sound. “Some songs are harder to play than others and I guess Joe’s riffs are technical in their nature. We don’t really care what we’re labelled in terms of genre but personally I feel we’re more progressive than anything else,” he offers. On the pressure to step up and make a bigger album than the last, Haley is introspective: “Any pressure comes from within. Not in a negative way but just in a way that keeps it interesting and ensures we

go that extra mile, or rather that extra kilometre. Whether something is good or not is completely subjective. In each album we aim for the best possible step-up in composition.” Haley’s brother Joe, guitarist and chief songwriter, is again producing the new album as he did with earlier releases. “Having Joe as producer makes sense of course. You never know, one day on an album in the future we may get someone else just to change things up if we should happen to meet someone with some kick-arse ideas. But in the studio, this is Joe’s vision and not only does he get to display his skills but it also keeps costs down and allows us to take our time in getting it to sound the way we like,” Haley says of his brother. Psycroptic are aiming to release their new full-length sometime in October. With the album in its finishing stages, Haley mentions the difference a listener may find on the upcoming release. “Probably the main difference on this record is the vocals actually,” he says. “Jason’s not quite finished but there’s a lot more variation vocally. We want to add something new and keep it interesting.” So what about touring? It’s fair to say that, at the moment, Australian metal bands are making some sort of impact globally. As Haley suggests, “There’s a rise of awareness that has been building where Australian metal bands are concerned. We’ve been touring internationally for the past ten years or so and have witnessed it.” Some may suggest that Parkway Drive’s international success has afforded other have-metal-will-travel bands to roam the globe. It may be argued, however, that Psycroptic have been at this game a little longer than most. If not for Psycroptic before them, would American audiences

Ex perien c e it

‘Initiate’ @YouTube

have expected the heavy-as-a-dead-polar-bear frenzied, black/thrash attack when they got their tickets to see King Parrot? Or rather would they have expected a bunch of long-haired Steve Irwins pretending to play metal? Haley humbly offers his thoughts upon considering his band’s place as trailblazers. “No, I don’t see us as pioneers in any sense. Ultimately, it’s up to the drive of each individual band,” he insists. In particular reference to King Parrot Haley adds, “Youngy is such a driven bloke that it wouldn’t have mattered if he was in a band during the ‘70s or ‘80s, he would still have made it to where he is now through determination.” Haley does acknowledge that Psycroptic have played at least a minor role in opening the door for others, if only by acting as an example of what can be achieved. “If four retards from Tassie can do it then there’s plenty of hope for other Australian metal bands,” he says. “If we provided some inspiration in this way then that’s great.” We talk about the difficulties Australian bands encounter when touring the planet and Haley inadvertently offers insight into the attitude it takes to be held in the high esteem that Psycroptic is held. “Financially, it can be particularly difficult for Australian bands to tour overseas but you know what? Monday night is Monday night wherever you are. We will play to small pockets of people if they feel like they want to listen. We’ll play to 10, 100, 1000 people, whatever. We keep ourselves busy doing a number of things but we play purely for the love of it.” H

“Probably the main difference on this record is the vocals. There’s a lot more variation.” The devil’s name is Psycro Words: Nathan Eden There’s a new devil on the ark and he goes by the name Psycro. As Tasmanians, the guys from Psycroptic are well aware of the plight of the fragile species known during the nineteenth century as sarcophillus satanicus (Satanic Meatlover), AKA the Tasmanian Devil. The band decided to stage a filmed show at their home base, Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel, to raise funds and awareness in support of fighting DFTD (Devil Facial Tumour Disease). In association with the Devil Ark project, Psycroptic were able to raise enough funds to adopt Psycro, a healthy, disease-free Tasmanian Devil bred in captivity at the Devil Ark Sanctuary.

The weight of expectation Words Tom Valcanis Photo Scarlet Page

If you’re wondering why Anathema is featured in these pages, you’re well within your rights. Anathema isn’t a heavy metal band, at least not a metal band any more and hasn’t been for over a decade. But what does it mean to be heavy? The band’s frontman Vincent Cavanagh joins Tom Valcanis for a candid, in-depth interview that dives deep into that very question.

incent Cavanagh is a paid-up member of the league of dreamers. Born and bred in Liverpool, he moved to Paris, France eight years ago where the promise of a bohemian life rooted in a flourishing arts scene was like a siren’s call. “It feels more like home than anywhere else, even more so than Liverpool where I’m from,” Cavanagh begins, voice thickly gobbed in Scouse – if you’ve ever seen Red Dwarf, Cavanagh sounds like Lister. Exactly like Lister. “I’ve been here eight years. It’s just the right fit. I wanted to experience life in a different place and see what it was like.” Prior to Paris, he lived on New York’s well-to-do Park Avenue. Anathema is not a band that settles. It’s why they aren’t a metal band any more. Brothers Danny and Vincent founded Anathema as spotty, long-haired teens in the early 1990s. Anathema’s first recordings The Crestfallen, Serenades and The Silent Enigma typically befit an emerging death/doom genre and the metal press rounded them up with labelmates My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, part of the mythical “Peaceville Three” in reference to the label they shared. This trio of British bands were similar in that they married death vocals with funereal, bleak odes to woe. Unsurprisingly in hindsight, all three kept in sonic step only a handful of years. “When I was 17, I was working in this recording studio in Liverpool,” Cavanagh remembers of Anathema’s beginnings, his words flowing freely. “The guys who owned it were in this electronic band. When I worked there, I learned to program beats using Cubase. We did a few raves with them because they liked to have a couple lads with long ‘air bashing away. They introduced me to Aphex Twin and Hardfloor. Basically the early ‘90s trance stuff. I’d never heard anything like it at the time.” Could this have sewn the seed for the band’s exploration into electronic music many years later? “We never consciously choose directions of music,” Cavanagh says. “We never consciously say, ‘Let’s write some electronic music.’ It’s always a natural thing; it’s always because the song actually demands it.” Does musical taste dictate the shape of tunes to come? It didn’t back in their early doom days. It would be disingenuous suggesting Cavanagh and Anathema were swept away by musical passions and unable to fight against the current. Life is filled with choices and upheavals, the impacts of which pass by undetected for days, months, years at a time. For an artist, consequences of these choices inevitably appear in their output. “We all experience big life-changing events and that all affects our personal evolution, “Cavanagh argues, “but you can find yourself in a situation where your evolution is accelerated or in a situation where your evolution is slowed down. It’s a process of acknowledging all of them. The struggles you go through teach you more about yourself than anything else. As far as that affects your music, it’s only natural. The music that we do and did was always very progressive.” In Cavanagh’s mind, progression was Anathema’s standing order

from song one, album one. This is Anathema’s first and only article of faith. “Somewhere in our minds, we had this enthusiasm for experimentation,” Cavanagh says. “We had a 23-minute ambient piece using keyboards and synths on our first record; we had acoustic stuff; we had a song that was recorded entirely in reverse; we had a classicallydefined, distinct doom metal sound. It was only natural we’d explore that more experimental side.” It’s a freedom of expression that Cavanagh credits to another Liverpudlian act. “The Beatles were our first ever love of music, coming from Liverpool especially. They were complete free spirits, especially in the studio. If anybody’s taught us anything in music, it would be The Beatles. We could’ve had that doom metal sound right through the ‘90s, right through the 2000s. We’d all have houses by now too,” Cavanagh jokes, “but that’s not the way this band works. We still have to look ourselves in the eye. For good or ill, we have to experiment. We have to try things.” In metal’s realm, Anathema is a boulder of contradiction. They definitely aren’t metal and some would even classify them as pop, yet one often finds them on heavy metal festival bills. In 2010, they played the German Summer Breeze Festival with Dark Tranquillity and Hypocrisy. The next year, Portugal’s Vagos Open Air hosted them with Morbid Angel and Tiamat. 2012 saw them play Getaway Rock Festival with Nightwish and Manowar. This year, the Download Festival with Opeth, Avenged Sevenfold and Trivium. Anathema isn’t a heavy band anymore but metalheads still come back for more. Why? “It’s intensity, isn’t it?” Cavanagh answers succinctly. “Fuckin’ ‘ell. There’s other forms of music that are way heavier than metal. Metal fans learned that when Nevermind came out. When you get over-produced, synthesised fuckin’ double bass drum on Pro-Tools and all these utilities to get this plastic fuckin’ metal sound? It’s not intense at all. It’s bullshit. Play me the first Mars Volta album. They’d blow any of those bands out the water in terms of intensity. Cavanagh’s quick to assert that Anathema music still carries the darkness and weight of a storm-drenched shawl. “With us, personally, there’s certain darkness to our music,” he explains. “The last proper metal album we did was The Silent Enigma in ’95. People saying we haven’t been metal a couple of years now, that’s complete bollocks. We’ve never followed expectations. It’s been an interesting arc and it’s only going to continue to progress and expand.” Instinct leads metalheads too. The metal scene survived the McDonaldisation of metal in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. It survived rave, it survived punk. Despite encroachments, metal thrived and thrives still. Metalheads innately feel bullshit vibrating through air before they see or smell it. Anathema may not have kept true to metal but they kept true to something greater. Themselves. “When you start to listen to what your fans or the media or your record company wants, and when you let any of that into your

E x p erience it

‘The Lost Song Pt3’ @YouTube

songwriting, you’ve lost the game,” Cavanagh markedly points out. “I mean, people call us a ‘prog’ band. We’re not because we don’t know what that is. We don’t want to write complicated, cerebral music. It’s about feelings. It’s about trying to move people. It’s not fuckin’ rocket science. “Why did Dark Side of the Moon sell 60 million albums? Because it’s got good fuckin’ songs,” Cavanagh continues. “These records will be around forever. OK Computer will be around forever. You get a band with a new haircut on the front page of a magazine and they’ll be cast off the shelf in a few years. All that music is just dull. I mean, Metallica have really got it, you know. They’re not the cleverest band in the world

but they’ve got real soul. Metallica has moved me to tears. That is a band with heart. Every other band is trying to sell you something. Are you listening, Fall Out Boy?” He’s right, of course. What we truly want, music lovers and metalheads all, is heart. We want bands to play with utmost conviction. We want bands to set upon the stage and bleed. This is what we want, what we crave and why we’ll ditch our jobs and family to travel crosscountry to catch a gig that lasts as barely long as a film. We want to feel and we want intensity. We catch pieces of a band’s heart and we carry them like totems, deep inside ourselves. It never ever fades away, which is why Anathema endures in metal’s kingdom. H

Anathema’s watershed moments saw them sail ever further away from metal. Here are the albums that retain Anathema’s signature intensity, heart and unquenchable thirst for experimentation long after they left the metal behind. by Tom Valcanis Eternity (1996) Eternity was Anathema’s first foray into dreamy prog rock, borrowing heavily from mid-era Pink Floyd. Doom vocals were slowly fading into the background. “We weren’t happy with this album when it was done,” Cavanagh confesses. “It was muddled and there were too many things going on. The mix wasn’t good; there were too many elements. We realised if I’m going to actually sing melodies we need to tune up from low B!” Alternative 4 (1998) “Duncan Patterson had a lot to do with this. ‘Let’s tune back up to E, let’s have fewer elements in the mix.’ Not have more than three or four things happening at the same time with songs like ‘Inner Silence’ or ‘Control’. A lot of that album was such a huge departure from Eternity. It was pretty much a straightforward dark rock/ambient album. It had elements of metal but not really much.” Judgement (1999) Duncan Patterson left Anathema, leaving Danny to take up the songwriting mantle. All traces of metal were washed out of the band’s fabric. Instead, they carried the modern prog rock torch, taking on influences from Radiohead. They also veered toward gothic rock and emphasising the simplistic, acoustic touches of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. Weather Systems (2012) On Weather Systems, Anathema finally arrived at the sound the band had seemingly been chasing through A Fine Day To Exit, A Natural Disaster and We’re Here Because We’re Here. The slow build is king here, and the layering of elements to create waves of melodic intensity back in full force. Front and centre is female vocalist Lee Douglas. Considered by some fans [and this ed –Ed.] to be the band’s crowning achievement post metal.

DI V E RI GHT IN

‘My Father’s Son’ @YouTube Words Will Oakeshott Photos Kane Hibberd

One Amity’s

Affliction Roughly one in four young Australians currently suffers from a mental health condition, according to depression assistance organisation BeyondBlue. The Amity Affliction’s Joel Birch is that one. He talks to Will Oakeshott about dealing with depression, the new record and the band’s widespread commercial success.

aking the courageous action, Birch sought help and realised the importance of his presence in this world. This significance has since exploded. Whilst the dark thoughts still haunt his mind now and again, Birch has been able to translate these feelings into songs that have become a voice for fellow troubled minds worldwide. Let The Ocean Take Me, album number four for the Aussie fivepiece finds Birch once again expressing his issues as his own form of therapy; however, he now sees his role as almost a spokesperson and even a counsellor to his fans, many of whom he believes understand perfectly the difficulties that depression can create. It’s a role he reluctantly accepts, even if it makes him feel slightly uneasy. “I do find it difficult when I am looked to for guidance and difficult to counsel people because they can relate to my lyrics,” Birch explains. “I don’t necessarily think that it should be my ‘role’ if that makes any sense but it’s a 50/50 thing – I half feel like I’m doing my bit with the music I write for me, then also have to expect my fans to become connected to it.” For Birch, writing about depression isn’t a conscious choice but rather something that comes naturally and without thought. “I really put myself out there with what I write and it helps people because they discover that other people are going through the same shit as them. It becomes a responsibility that comes with the music; I want to make sure to the best of my ability that everyone who listens to us and relates to what we write is okay, you know? Whether it is words of support pointing them in the direction of a help line or whether it helps them in any other way. It’s [depression is] a pretty heavy situation and I do take it very seriously.” The result of Birch’s honesty is fourth album Let The Ocean Take Me, which instantly hit number one on the ARIA charts and was certified gold soon after. More impressively, the band’s international attention has risen accordingly with the record hitting 28 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums in the USA at the time of print. Birch credits the band’s recent US tour supporting Arizona’s BlessTheFall as instrumental in this

Let The Ocean Take Me by The Amity Affliction Words: Kiel Egging When you debut at No.1 and churn out 25,000 sales in your first week, it’s one hell of a victory for local metal. Yet despite The Amity Affliction’s obviously gigantic fanbase, individual taste will determine if fans lap up or shrug their shoulders at the Queensland metalcore kings’ fourth studio effort. Each track is filled with the requisite pounding drums, crushing riffs and the signature howl of Joel Birch yet tracks are partially tainted by clean vocals from co-vocalist Ahren Stringer that this reviewer finds whiny. The double shot of ‘FML’ and ‘My Father’s Son’ is the closest thing to a headbanger’s delight here, closely followed by closer ‘Give It All’ (if you minus the choir at the end). Elsewhere, the added flourishes of pianos and bleeps could get ‘The Weigh Down’ some solid airplay and the voicemail at the end of ‘Never Alone’ shows a serious side.

success. “That tour was pretty amazing man, easily our best US tour to date. The kids actually gave a shit this time around, which was cool,” he laughs. “The reaction to our first single ‘Pittsburgh’ got the biggest response out of any of the songs we played even though it had only just come out – that was f**kin’ crazy. I think we were about a week into touring when it was properly released and we were playing it in the set list but the following month it became the feature track and we had to play it every night; it was really in demand. It’s really hard to comprehend how big it became so quick to be honest.” Soon begins the global touring cycle for the quintet who are no strangers to life on the road. With headlining dates booked worldwide with some incredible supports and an already sold-out Australian tour, it’s incredible how far The Amity Affliction have come since the days of playing to a dozen people in 2007. The band noticeably grew after 2012’s Chasing Ghosts, and have gone to the next level again with the inclusion of new guitarist Dan Brown as a songwriter on this latest record, which Birch says has been quite the perfect fit. “I think the inclusion of Dan [Brown, guitar] into Amity has achieved that cliché of pushing the extremes,” he says. “The heavy parts being heavier and the pop parts being poppier. His resumé includes being a former member of Confession and also 50 Lions, so he knows the mosh stuff and melodic hardcore really well and his presence brought this more aggressive tone to the band. The counteraction is Ahren [Stringer, bassist and clean vocalist] and his well-known obsession with 1980s pop music, for which Dan actually shares a surprising adoration so those two were able to connect on that wavelength also. Dan is also really great at structuring songs, which Troy [Brady, guitar] and Ahren are amazing at also, but this was just a new and fresh perspective on top of that.” The Amity Affliction play across Australia from Aug 29 to September 5 before hitting the US. H

DI VE RI GHT IN

‘Sucker Punch’ @YouTube

Words Will Oakeshott Photos Kane Hibberd

Words Kiel Egging Photos Piper Ferguson

Kingswood

Kingswood’s Alex Laska talks to Kiel Egging about recording in Nashville, feeding pizza to hungry fans in the mosh pit and how they fulfilled their swagger quota.

lex Laska admits that there are four core ingredients underpinning the debut album from one of Australia’s most exciting new rock bands: blood, sweat, tears and plenty of swagger. Upon reflection of Kingswood’s forthcoming record, Microscopic Wars, the guitarist states there was an intentional overdose of one of the four core ingredients. “Heaps of swagger went into it, I’m not going to lie. Bucketloads,” he says. “The tears and sweat and blood, I’d say about two buckets each of those… and then about six buckets of swagger.” He jokes that the band called on some big names to inspire and assist them with producing their high swagger quota. “Pharrell (Williams) came by, he told us he was ‘Happy’ and to use that energy. (Mick) Jagger came by too – but he didn’t say anything, he just moved around the studio.’” Laska is always on the move; our conversation is taking place while he’s pulled over on the side of the road, en route to getting some motorbike parts in the gorgeous Melbourne suburb of Williamstown. It’s a far cry from the magical wonderland of American music mecca Nashville, which he and bandmates Fergus Lingcare (vocals), ‘Mango’ Hunter (bass) and Justin Debrincat (drums) decamped to for four months last year to create Microscopic Wars. Laska describes Kingswood’s time in Nashville as “like being in a movie for four months”. “It’s like the coolest place in the world next to some of the weirdest things as well. And then there’s this other layer of a melting pot of cultures and music and interesting ideas. “It’s also a mecca of recording studios, resources, amps, microphones, instruments and anything… it’s just awesome. We always talk about how much we miss it.” Despite heading over with 65 per cent of the record composed, Laska jokes that the Melbourne four-piece were happy to let the record have a distinctively Nashville flavour. “Funnily enough, we wanted to branch out and hit up the Americana country market,” he says. “We tried to make an album’s worth full of Keith Urban stuff but we failed miserably, because it turned out to be a rock ‘n’ roll record. “That’s what happens when you work with Vance Powell, he’s one bad-ass dude.” Kingswood worked with producer Powell (Arctic Monkeys, Kings Of Leon) at the city’s famous Blackbird Studio – and took the approach

of recording each take live to tape together in the one room. Laska said Powell’s no-nonsense attitude and desire to get the best out of every take resonated with the band’s own objectives. “Vance is really good at getting you making decisions and sticking to them, so you work hard during the day and then party hard,” he says. “We like having fun and getting up to mischief, but we take our music very seriously. We’re all about trying to make the best stuff possible… and that correlated with Vance’s work ethic so it was a really good match.” After giving punters the first taste of the album late last year with kick-ass single ‘Sucker Punch’, the impending release of Microscopic Wars follows on from new single ‘I Can Feel That You Don’t Love Me’, which features Laska on lead vocals. Instead of being excited at his moment in the sun, he’s loathing the fact that his vocals are in the spotlight. “I was like ‘No, we’re not putting that out, I sound like a dickhead.’ And then Ferg was like, ‘Man, f**king deal with it, this is what I’ve had the whole time.’ “I mean I wrote the song so I’m really proud of it, but I just don’t like listening to myself. I don’t know anyone who does.” Kingswood are taking Microscopic Wars to the masses on a gigantic national tour over the next few months – playing everywhere from Warrnambool to Wagga Wagga. After generously donating pizzas into the mosh pit to celebrate their sold-out hometown show at Melbourne’s Hi-Fi Bar in May, Laska hasn’t ruled out providing punters with other culinary delights if they pack out your local on the forthcoming tour. “Maybe we can start up a system where people bring in home-baked goods, and we’re the distribution network,” he says. “They can bring it in, and we’ll throw it out en masse to the people.” And whilst the album’s success is yet to be determined, Laska is hopeful he can listen to Microscopic Wars many years down the track and still be as chuffed with it as he is today. “We set out to just make a really great album, that’s it. “Something we can look back on regardless of what happens and when we’re old one day and put it on for our grandkids, we can listen back and think ‘F**k, that was just such a great time and a great album.’” Microscopic Wars (Dew Process) is out August 22. Kingswood are touring around the country from August 20 until October 24 – visit kingswoodband.com for dates and venues. H

Words: Karl Lean Photo: Nick Calpakdjian

For most of the past 35 years, the local metal scene in Australia has been a passionate but largely ‘underground’ part of the music business. It’s also been poorly documented. Filmmaker Nick Calpakdjian chats with Aussie metal pioneer Karl Lean about how new documentary Metal Down Under sets out to fix that.

riginally conceived as a feature-length documentary of around 80 minutes, Metal Down Under has now evolved into three 55-minute episodes to be shown later this year on Australian television. The ambitious brainchild of filmmaker Nick Calpakdjian has come far since he initially conceptualised it. “I was finishing up a couple of other films while I was over in East Timor and I started thinking about what my next project could be,” Calpakdjian says. “I saw there was a film being made on the Cosmic Psychos and I thought there were many great bands in Australia that deserve to have their history told so I started looking into the kind of music I liked and discovered that, apart from there being many great heavy bands, their history had never really been told on film.” For Calpakdjian, the film has been a chance to combine work and play, enabling him to explore the music that has always been a part of his life. “I come from the fan side of the metal scene,” he explains. “I’ve always been into heavy metal, from the time I swapped my first AC/DC album for an Allegiance album. I’m a fan of all things heavy, whether it’s metal, punk, rock and what not.” Calpakdjian dabbled in punk and hardcore bands in Perth in the late ‘90s before moving to Melbourne. Eventually his interest in becoming a filmmaker surpassed his interest in being a musician and a career was born. Calpakdjian has had to overcome many obstacles in creating Metal Down Under but the largest has been the tyranny of distance. He currently resides in Indonesia and so shooting an Aussie documentary came with its fair share of challenges. He maximised short visits to Australia with tight shooting schedules and found himself filming in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Ballarat, Canberra, Wollongong, Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Brisbane. In addition there was footage shot of Aussie bands on tour in both London and Jakarta. “The hardest part was trying to fit everything into short trips and getting everyone’s schedules to match,” he says of the demanding

task. “I think the positive side was that it forced me to look outside of Melbourne. If I was still living in Melbourne, it might have been too easy to just focus on filming people and bands from Melbourne as they were cheaper and quicker to arrange. Coming from afar, I would plan a range of interviews with the people I wanted to talk to and then work out how the hell I could get to them all.” Even more difficult than figuring out ‘how’ was figuring out ‘who’. Congesting 35 years of metal music into what was then a single film is a formidable task that required extensive research. “I used my own knowledge to get started,” Calpakdjian says. “Because I did the interviews in stages, I was able to learn who else I should be interviewing. People like Brian Giffin from Loud Online and [ex-Triple J metal presenter] Andrew Haug provided a wealth of knowledge and pointed me in the right direction, as did Greta Tate from Metal for Melbourne.” There were tough choices to be made at times but Calpakdjian was guided by a simple principle throughout: “I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible but I was always conscious of not having the film be one sentence about every band or person. I would much rather have good solid segments on a selection of bands and moments in time.” He does perhaps regret not broadening the piece to show what internationals think of Aussie metal but admits that the resources only stretch so far. “The one thing I would have liked to do if I had the funds and time would be to get an outside point of view; to have interviewed bands and identities from overseas and get their perspective on the Australian metal scene.” On the topic of funding, Calpakdjian launched a comprehensive fundraising campaign that included crowdfunding pledges, DVD preorders, merchandise sales and a decent amount of his own cash to raise the necessary funds. “I realized that no government or commercial funding body was going to provide the budget for this film and that I would have to use

G et a p eek

Metal Down Under trailer @Youtube

an alternative method,” he explains. “I set up an initial campaign that fell flat on its face – no one wants to give cash to someone’s big idea with no real runs on the board. When that failed, I arranged interviews in London with Tony Campo and Steve Hughes and then filmed a few interviews in Melbourne and Perth to get things started. This way, I could show that I was serious and that I actually knew what I was doing. “I was lucky that Dan from Frankenbok was running a printing company at the time and offered to print some t-shirts and stubby holders free of charge. That was great because I started bundling preorders of the DVD with some merch and then developed the idea for the member package. I think I got about 40 members joining up for 100 bucks each and sold almost 200 pre-orders of the DVD. So through these campaigns, the Pozible campaign and donations I raised about $15,000. This along with about $7,000 of my own money and a hell-of-alot of unpaid time have seen me able to put this together.” Calpakdjian was also very aware of the need to make his documentary about the music, the energy and intensity of Australia’s unique take on heavy metal, and not just about talking heads. He set out to capture the dynamic in-your-face nature of metal through pacing, the character of his interviewees, and the incorporation of plenty of live and music video clips. “The quality and power of the music definitely comes through,” he says. “One of my favourite parts of the film is towards the end of episode three where we talk about the idea of an Australian sound when it comes to heavy metal. And we talk to a range of people and have clips from different bands. I just think it peaks when Matt Young starts talking about what King Parrot are trying to achieve and it intercuts their live music video for Bozo. There is just so much energy in the interviews and the crowd and the music that it really sums up what all bands are trying to achieve.” Calpakdjian has formed his own views on the nature of metal from Australia: “It comes from individual personalities and then there is a certain rawness to the sound,” he explains. “Perhaps in the last 10 years, this rawness has disappeared a little, but definitely through the

‘80s and ‘90s [and likely a product of limited recording equipment and facilities] there is a unique rawness to the music. I think Steve Watts from Manticore put it perfectly when he was describing Damaged. He said, ‘I love nothing more than hearing something that is so intense that it sounds like it’s going to fall apart but it just doesn’t.’” But this feeling of rawness is much more than just a consequence of the equipment and money available at the time. Calpakdjian believes the character of the people involved has been crucial in shaping that Aussie sound. “This feeling comes from the individuals that write and perform the music. There’s a realness there, an honesty, and I’m not saying this can’t exist elsewhere in the world but I feel this is what connects Australian metal. The people make honest, no-frills music and more often than not they leave their egos at the door. Australian punters don’t put up with big egos in anything – sport, actors and art – and they are definitely don’t put up with it in their metal.” Almost as an afterthought, Calpakdjian adds a final ingredient into the local metal mix: “I also think there is also a healthy dose of humour in Australian metal. From Blood Duster to King Parrot to Mass Confusion, there is a definite Australian sense of humour in there.” I guess the question everyone wants to know is whether Calpakdjian’s extensive research has revealed whether Aussie metal has a home, a heartland, an epicentre. His answer won’t surprise the old-schoolers. “There was always healthy competition between Sydney and Melbourne in the ‘80s and early ‘90s and there probably still is today,” he says, “and Perth has always done their own thing being so far removed, but I guess the one place that people would consider as the heartland would have to be Canberra in the ‘90s and early 2000s when the Metal for the Brain festival was happening. It brought everybody together for that one day each year and always for a good cause. On the back of the guys from Armoured Angel and Alchemist, I think Canberra became the Mecca and if you played Metal for the Brain, you definitely thought you really mattered as a band.” H

Metal Down Under will be available through iTunes and on DVD from August 22, 2014. Fans can order it online from metaldownunder. mywaterfrontstore.com or pick it up through the usual DVD retailers.

Words: Amanda Mason

Following the release of Elements of the Infinite, Greg Burgess, guitarist of US melodic death metallers Allegaeon, talks to Amanda Mason about the evolution of the band’s sound, the state of the US death metal scene and the departure of one of the band’s founding members.

llegaeon’s (pronounced ah-lee-jun) third album Elements of the Infinite, their first since parting ways with guitarist and founding member Ryan Glisan, sees the classically-trained influence of guitarist Greg Burgess rise in the wake of Glisan’s departure. The abundantly technical album breaks new ground while still maintaining the band’s sound, adding complexity and texture by incorporating new elements. Glisan’s exodus left Burgess to write the majority of the album himself, resulting in some freedom that allowed his creativity to bloom. Burgess had wanted to incorporate symphonic and choral elements into the band’s music for a long time but up until now hadn’t had the opportunity to do so.

“The way [Glisan] likes to do things is different to how I like to do things,” he explains. “I’ve always wanted to go in a more orchestral direction, not as much as Dimmu [Borgir] – as much as I love that band I don’t think it’s really compatible with how technical our guitar playing is but it is a style that can add a lot to what we do.” Burgess composed the orchestrations for the album himself, a clear demonstration of the depth of his classical training. “I won’t take all the credit,” he clarifies. “Joe, the orchestral guy we got, did a good job and he’s far more versatile in the actual orchestrations and he knows what sounds better in certain areas than I do.” This album also sees bass player Corey Archuleta featuring more prominently than on previous albums. “On both Mike’s [Michael Stancel, guitarist] songs Corey has solos

Ch a n g e It Up

‘1.618’ @YouTube

potentially disprove biblical teachings, the album’s lyrical theme shouldn’t be misconstrued as the band taking any sort of anti-creationist stance. “We try not to be anti anything. Not that we’re trying to not piss anybody off but everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe,” Burgess confesses. Recently Behemoth front-man Nergal claimed that the majority of US death metal bands are boring and generic to which Burgess, as a guitarist in a US melodic death metal band, surprisingly agrees: “I deadon agree with him. I think there’s a lot of cookie-cutter crap going on, especially in the US, and part of that is to our detriment. It seems like I’m bashing the US but I’m really not. The way things are here, it’s just not designed for the benefit of what we do. [The US and Europe] are very different cultures.” Australian fans of Allegaeon can rejoice, because the band have aspirations to tour this part of the world. “That is our main goal from this record. To tour to Australia and Japan,” Burgess admits. “It’s something that we really want to do, to play for you guys and all over the world.” It’s something we really want them to do too. H

“I think there’s a lot of cookie-cutter crap going on, especially in the US, and part of that is to our detriment.”

l ate s t re l ea s e

and on a couple of my songs he has very intricate parts,” Burgess says of the bassist. “A lot of the stuff we did before Corey didn’t work with us; everybody was really independent so he would come in and would just lay down whatever he did and if one of us had an idea we’d just write parts for him but on this album it was like ‘Hey man, why don’t you write your own parts and we’ll get together and hash it out.’ That way we can say, ‘What do you think about this? Or why don’t we do this?’ and we can go through and play counterparts.” The two most recent additions to the line-up – Michael Stancel, who replaced Glisan on guitar, and drummer Brandon Park – have also played their part in adding to the band’s evolving sound. “New generations have new influences that get added to the pot. That takes our sound a little higher,” Burgess says. “We all get along a little bit better and things just flow a little smoother – we’re very open to each other’s ideas. I think the personal relationships we have now makes the working environment much easier and therefore everyone is a lot happier.” The band’s current emotional state is evident in the video clip for the first single off the album ‘1.618’, which Burgess considers a reflection of the band members’ different personalities. Lyrically, the song is about a scientific/mathematical theory found in nature known as the golden ratio; however, the video features the ‘Wheel of Sub-genres’, a giant wheel which lists various metal sub-genres, including crabcore, which the band comically imitate. When asked if the band are worried about fitting the traditional serious, death metal stereotype, Burgess replies, “The only thing that we’re worried about is that people will consider us a joke band. We’re entertainers; that’s what we are. To try to be bad-asses when clearly we’re not is absurd to us. We don’t want to be considered a joke but we want people to have a good time and to be entertained.” As with ‘1.618’, the lyrical themes of the album are based in science because the band are big fans of science. It’s a theme that can also be heard on their previous albums. “On our last record I had a song called ‘Secrets of the Sequence’ and that was about finding the aging gene and about three months after the album [was released] scientists disproved what the whole song was about. It was actually really cool,” he laughs. Despite the inclusion of songs on scientific hypotheses that can

Elements of the Infinite by Allegaeon Words: Amanda Mason

Allegaeon’s third album is a divine assault of technical, eight-string guitar wizardry right from the get go and the inclusion of accentuated and intricate bass riffs adds another layer to the complexity of the album. Following the departure of guitarist and founding member Ryan Glisan, existing guitarist Greg Burgess has stepped up as main songwriter. With the addition of drummer Brandon Park and guitarist Michael Stancel, the band’s sound has evolved to bring a level of depth and texture unseen in previous releases. While the album’s sound is still clearly Allegaeon’s unique, elaborate brand of melodic death metal, the inclusion of choral and orchestral elements adds something new here. Complex scientific lyrical themes ensure the album is just as stunning lyrically as it is aurally. In short, Elements of the Infinite is everything you want in a melodic death metal album and is easily a contender for album of the year.

Words: Damo Musclecar Photo: Hakon Grav

With a career spanning over three decades, with 17 albums under their belt and over 170 songs, Overkill’s Bobby Blitz tells Damo Musclecar how they achieved such longevity while still managing to stay relevant.

verkill vocalist, Bobby Blitz, is calling from his home in New Jersey, still in good spirits not only from celebrating his 4th of July weekend with a few brews, but also due to their upcoming new album White Devil Armoury. An album of unrelenting thrash metal that just slays from start to finish, packed with insane riffs and Blitz’s unmistakable voice. Staying true to the Overkill sound and formula, there’s no real surprises in store, apart from a killer batch of songs, and it’s this formula that has helped carry the band through 17 albums spanning over 3 decades. “We do have a formula and that formula seems to work for us,” an enthusiastic Blitz explains, “We record in DD’s [DD Verni, bassist] studio and Dave [Linsk, lead guitar] has a very similar studio to DD. They almost mimic each other for the type of gear that’s in there and the type of microphones that are used. The rooms are a little bit different so that can change the sound but Dave records his leads down in Florida and we record the basic tracks in New Jersey. I go to a different place and work with an engineer I really like, Johnny Charles, because he’s a no bullshit guy.” Following on in the same tradition and spirit as 2012’s The Electric Age, Blitz points out that while the band does stay true to their sound and formula, they still like to try new ways of getting the right results for the best possible record. “Probably the new thing that I have done is that I like writing when we’re touring now. That’s one of the things that I think brings in an energy to the songs. We were on the road with Kreator when I was finishing up stuff for White Devil Armoury. I’d get off the stage and have a couple beers and go down the back of the bus and I’d turn on my 8-track and just start whistling down to what I was doing and I’d add pieces. So, sure, it’s a formula, but we’ll deviate from

that formula as we to try to learn new things to make the music more relevant in the current day.” It wasn’t always like this for Overkill though. The band started in the early ‘80s as a cover band playing Judas Priest songs along with punk bands’ songs that inspired them. They found a sound that was morphing between punk rock and New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and into something different. From here the band began promoting themselves the old fashioned way, before the internet and social media helped bands and artists get their voice heard. “Back then it was all about putting flyers under the windshield wipers of cars, being on the telephone and actually writing a physical letter… it was a real different time and I think there was a scene out there that was waiting to break out,” he explains, “The exciting part about it was the scene was being created as we were being a part of it. It wasn’t something that came from a mould as we were part of making the mould. I don’t see us as the band who created it, I think it was being created around us, seeping in through our ears and our eyes and then we tried to do something original with it.” Much of Overkill’s success, Bobby feels, is because of the heavy metal community that surrounded the scene then and still does to this day. “We were part of this thrash community, and that was one of the key words there; that it was a community, and if they saw you were the real deal, that’s where the support came from and it didn’t just come for Overkill, it came across the board. Around the world shit was happening and people were veering themselves to the real deal. That’s where longevity comes from; community based acceptance.” It’s this community that, after 17 albums, finds the band still making

(OVER)KILLING IT FOR THREE DECADES

a career out of it, writing and recording albums and touring the world. The band never strayed from their ideals and the fans were always right there beside them, hailing their legacy as one of the originals who are still here today. “It’s definitely an accomplishment to have longevity,” continues Blitz, “but I really think a greater accomplishment is to be relevant with your longevity, not to be resting on your laurels. I think that’s the most important thing that we’re able to say that White Devil Armoury is relevant and current day 2014. I think that’s the greater of the two accomplishments.” It’s clear that Blitz has no ego. He’s very content with the stature of the band’s place in heavy metal. “One of the things with Overkill is that we know who we are, there’s no identity crisis. We’re not trying to sneak in the backdoor with a ‘hit’. We do what we do. We write fast, hard, aggressive songs. It’s what we are and it’s not hard for anyone to figure out what that definition is because when you press play, it’s obvious what it is.” The band signed to Megaforce records and released their debut Feel The Fire in 1985. The album was met with critical acclaim and it wasn’t long before the band were signed by major label, Atlantic Records. Blitz remembers, “Thrash had become the flavour of the day for major labels. It was just us, Metallica opened that door by going to Elektra, Testament went to Atlantic, Megadeth was on Capital. It was very much the flavour of the day and we had come from a label that’s very similar to our current label Nuclear Blast, called Megaforce Records who were fans of the stuff. That’s really how it worked. I remember sitting with DD back in ’93 and we were in the guy’s office at Atlantic and he had the big oak desk, he’s wearing a thousand dollar suit, smoking Cuban cigars and he had a secretary outside and he’s telling us the plan. He was saying ‘this is what we’re going to do and that’s how we’re going to promote it, we’ll get you there and take you here and we’ll make you tour’ and he got a phone call and excused himself and left the room and I looked at DD and I said ‘we’re f**ked! This f**king guy knows nothing about us or what we’re about. It’s nice if this formula works for pop or some other genre of music but for us we’re f**ked because he has no understanding of it’ and no sooner than later we became persona non grata and we ended up on a smaller label.” Thankfully, after a whole slew of albums, in 2009 the band signed

with heavy metal giant, Nuclear Blast, which suits Blitz just fine, “when you’re talking to these guys, you’re talking to a guy in an Exodus shirt.” Now that the band is settled in their home of Nuclear Blast, they have found a label who really believes in the band and is going to reissue the band’s previous works so those hard to find early works and postAtlantic releases will once again see the light of day in the vinyl format. “In the early days we signed away in what’s called ‘perpetuity’ meaning that the record companies owned the masters and this is from the Atlantic days up until approximately 1994. We have brought someone on into our management team to try to obtain those records and make them viable re-releases. From 1994 onwards we just got everything back and we have cut a deal with Nuclear Blast to make vinyl reissues. The idea is to have the whole catalogue done on vinyl and released in a series.” With the band spending so many years on the cycle of write, record, tour that is pushed strongly by larger labels, you have to ask when does one take a break? When does the band change from rehearsing, playing, touring, etc. to having a fulfilled life without spending the majority of it shacked up on a bus and being away from home for so long? “To some degree, we have always thought of it, especially DD (Verni, Bassist) and myself, as kind of living the dream. This is what we were cut for and we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to make a record and it’s managed to string itself along through years, then decades.” Overkill’s vision has stayed true throughout their career. There were never any hits or jumping bandwagons to join in on the newest, hippest, popular vibes. It was about staying true to themselves and kicking out the jams through a unique style of punk attitude mixed with heavy metal riffs. “Overkill is more so DD’s vision than my own,” Blitz recalls, “Now obviously a good visionary needs a good partner and that’s what’s worked between DD and myself. He’s the one who writes those riffs and thinks abstractly when it comes to putting a song together. One time DD and myself were doing an interview with Eddie Trunk (That Metal Show) and he asked DD ‘is it better to be in Overkill and have a levelled career over countless decades when you’re doing pretty much the same thing or is it better to be in a band like Twisted Sister that blows up after three records and has to play those three records for the rest of their lives but they’re rich, famous and powerful?’ and DD without hesitation

1980: Overkill form as a cover band playing punk and metal covers. Members are DD Verni (Bass), Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (Vocals), Robert “Riff Thunder” Pisarek (Guitar) and Rat Skates (Drums). 1983: After numerous line-up changes that included Dan Spitz (before moving on to Anthrax), Overkill record and self-release the demo Power In Black. 1984: The band release their self-titled debut EP on Azra/Metal Storm which got the attention of Megaforce Records who quickly signed the band to release their debut full length album, Feel The Fire. 1987: Overkill release their second album through both Megaforce Records and Atlantic Records. 1988: Under The Influence, the band’s third album, is released and the single ‘Hello From The Gutter’ becomes a staple on MTV’s Headbangers’ Ball garnering the band much attention.ttt 1989: Overkill release their biggest album to date with The Years Of Decay. 1990: Long time guitarist and songwriter, Billy Gustafson leaves the band, his guitar tech Rob Cannavino joins along with Merritt Gant and they record their fifth album, Horrorscope. 1993: After drummer changes, Overkill sign directly to Atlantic Records and they release I Hear Black to much criticism for the band’s slight change in sound. 1994: Their seventh album W.F.O. is released and the band returns to the fast paced thrash metal from their earlier years but with the height of grunge and punk, it failed to resonate with the audience and resulted in the band parting ways with Atlantic Records. 1996: More line-up changes and the band record The Killing Kind and in 1997 re-issue and repackage their long out of print notorious EP F**K You including their debut EP and a live promo single, they follow this up with From The Underground And Below, their ninth studio album. 1998: Blitz is diagnosed with a form of nose cancer. It was found in its early stages and he underwent a successful surgery. They then record the album Necroshine. 1999: The band release Coverkill; a collection of cover songs of bands who influenced Overkill including Black Sabbath, KISS, Motorhead, Manowar, the Ramones, and the Dead Boys. 2000: Bloodletting is released before the band take a much needed break. 2002: The band return, signing to Spinefarm Records. 2003: Killbox 13 is released. 2005: Overkill, the hard workers that they are, release yet another album RellXIV. 2007: Another album, Immortalis, and another record label, Bodog Music. 2009 - 2010: Overkill sign to long time metal label Nuclear Blast for a multi-album deal, tour the world, including Australia and release the flawless albums Ironbound. 2012: The Electric Age (2012) is released. 2014: White Devil Armoury (2014) is released and Aussie metal fans wait (im)patiently for a return to Australian shores.

looked at Eddie and said ‘Well, Overkill, for sure. I still have so many songs inside me that I need a place to get them out.’ I thought to myself ‘now that is actually admirable, that’s the vision’. I think Overkill’s honesty and purity comes from that vision. I love the guys in Twisted Sister and I think they had a huge impact on the metal and rock n roll scene. They were something different and their presentation was different and energetic but when I think of DD in regards to his writing

“The exciting part about it was the scene was being created as we were being a part of it. It wasn’t something that came from a mould as we were part of making the mould”

and what he’s done, he’s been involved to some degree in almost 170 songs and many of them he’s done on his own.” Getting your head around 170 songs just sounds exhausting. It may have been easier to chase a hit and live off the royalties and nostalgia but, as Blitz explains, “It’s better to be happy where you are instead of being envious where you’re not.” Words of wisdom, my friends. I think there’s something in that for all of us. H

Time For Revolution

Words: Carl Neumann Photo: Courtesy of Nuclear Blast

HammerFall are back with glorious new album (r)Evolution. Guitarist Oscar Dronjak chats to Carl Neumann about the new offering and how it came to be such a powerful piece of work.

idway through 2012, power metal legends HammerFall announced that they would take a well-earned creative break during 2013, due to an excessive and rigorous touring routine. The band then released the highly-acclaimed live DVD Gates of Dalhalla to keep fans busy until the next album. Well, that time has arrived. HammerFall are back and have unleashed new album (r)Evolution, a title inspired by classic cinema, according to Oscar Dronjak, founder and guitarist of the Swedish power metal quintet. “The name comes from the second remake of the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Dronjak explains. “In Swedish, it was titled Apornas Planet: (r)Evolution and the name stuck with me ever since I saw and loved the movie. It seemed like a fitting title for this album; we’ve taken everything that makes HammerFall and evolved it.” Touring can be a blast but the persistency of travel can grind bands down. Even HammerFall, an outfit made for live music, finally crossed that precarious line between pleasure and pain in 2012. “It was good to get a break from HammerFall,” Dronjak says of the time off. “Everybody did different things. I wrote a biography about the band. My life is 85 per cent HammerFall, which is mainly what the book is about and that took me back a lot. I started

writing just before Christmas 2012 and finished the book in July of the next year so it took me about seven months of intense writing and intense reliving of everything.” Legenden Om HammerFall, which translates as ‘Legend of Hammerfall’ is not available in English at this point in time but a translation is on the horizon. Dronjak says the book has helped him to appreciate what he had. “It helped me re-find the passion again, not just for live shows but for everything else. We were all worn out – there was never any break in the touring. Normally we would have a summer where we don’t do any festivals but this time we had no break for a few summers and it was like there was no ending.” The relentlessness of the process was slowly stripping the band of its soul, Dronjak continues: “When you start doing something again and again just because you just have to do it – you have to write songs; you have to produce an album – it takes some of the fun out of it no matter how much you love it. For me at least that was the main point of the break. I want to do things because I love to do them, not because I have to do them.” With time comes change. As the clouds pass and new processes develop, new ideas are borne. There are many ways to record an album, for example, so it’s always interesting to see the crossover

experiencing,” he says excitedly. “I’ve seen the passion; I see that they love it when we play because when I go and see King Diamond that’s how I feel too.” The burning question remains: Will Australian fans ever get the chance to experience Hammerfall live? “There is a very strong possibility that we will be touring Australia in 2015,” Dronjak says. “We really regret that we haven’t been yet. We have been lucky enough to tour Japan, South America, the US and all that, but we have never made it there yet. I have heard a lot of good things from people who have been playing there and they say that Australian fans are something that shouldn’t be missed. Touring Australia is something you have to do before you die.” H

”We were all worn out – there was never any break in the touring. It was like there was no ending.” Sw in g Y ou r Ha m m er

‘Chapters of (r)Evolution’ @Youtube

l ate s t re l ea s e

of skills and technologies that different bands use when recording. Fresh from their year-long break, Hammerfall entered the studio revitalised. “The process of recording this album was by far the easiest that I have ever had on any HammerFall album,” Dronjak says. “The main difference between the new album and the last one [2011’s Infected] was that we had Fredrik Nordström [Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork, Opeth, Dream Evil and Hammerfall’s first two albums] as the producer. This is why this album sounds as heavy and as powerful as it does.” Dronjak is quick to add that the band is fairly self-sufficient when it comes to recording now and that Nordström acted like a producer in the classic sense, overseeing the process and injecting ideas where relevant. “I have a studio on my property now called Castle Black Studios and we recorded the drums there with him [Nordström]. His role in the recording was more as a consultant after that – he came in with us and set the guitar sounds and we all agreed that it was a good sound that gave him something to work with later when he did the mix but the actual tracking was done by Pontus [guitarist] and myself,” Dronjak says. “The vocals were recorded in Los Angeles with James Michael [Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, Meat Loaf]. Joacim [Cans, vocalist] really wanted to work with him again because he feels relaxed and comfortable when singing with him and he respects James a lot. I have seen Joacim record with many people over the years yet I have never seen him record as comfortably as he did with James. We were getting goosebumps watching him sing. It was really something else.” Now that the album is complete, the touring must begin again. The road will soon become home again for the band and their crew, and concert halls, theatres and festivals the world over will experience the melodic holiness of HammerFall once more. What excites Dronjak is the energy of the performance, the motion of the crowd as fans buck and roar. It’s the power of metal and it remains irresistible. “When you look from the stage you might not see the people who are at the back. All you see is just the first few rows but I know they are there and I know what they are

(r)Evolution by Hammerfall Words: Carl Neumann

Without doubt, if you are a HammerFall fan you are going to really like (r)Evolution. It’s got everything you could ever wish for in a HammerFall album. It’s as if a metallurgist amalgamated each of the previous eight albums into one. The production is impeccably crisp, transparent, bold and brave and it’s spread out a lot more than the band’s previous works. Each song is different from the last and albums like this can be played over and over without the listener getting boring too quickly. The hymn-like ‘Bushido’ is a good pick-me-up while driving home after a long day’s work but it is the glorious ‘Hectors Hymn’ that is, as guitarist Oscar Dronjak pointed out, “what represents HammerFall the most”. Even producer James Michael helps out with the vocals on ‘We Won’t Back Down’, which gives the song a different edge to the traditional HammerFall sound. Hold your hammer high; you won’t get knocked down with this one.

Words: Gareth Jones

And Three Makes IX

North Carolina Metal legends Corrosion of Conformity have been through a lot of changes throughout their 30 plus year career, both stylistically and with a seemingly revolving door of members, but with their ninth album IX, they’re back with a vengeance.

fter reuniting following a four year hiatus in the mid 2000s, Corrosion of Conformity have returned refreshed, and with a renewed sense of purpose as a trio, featuring the Animosity era lineup of Reed Mullin, Woody Weatherman and Mike Dean in tow. The omission of guitarist/vocalist, Pepper Keenan, whose constant recording/touring commitments with Down have so far prevented him from rejoining the fold, is a notable missing piece of the puzzle, but this has not stopped or slowed the Southern stalwarts output since returning from hiatus. Since their reunion, they’ve released a full length album and an EP and now they’re back with yet another batch of crushing, southern-fried tracks in the form of their ninth studio album, aptly titled IX. Speaking from his North Carolina home, guitarist Woody Weatherman explains that the feedback from their new album has been overwhelmingly positive. “So far everyone’s been really grooving on it and we’re feeling really great about it.” For IX, the band opted to go for a raw sound, more in line with their live performances. Weatherman admits that for the previous self-titled effort, which was recorded at Dave Grohl’s studio in California, the band had to pull backlines together on site, but on IX they set up their own full live rigs to get the authentic COC vibe fans experience live. The record is clearly steeped in ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll roots, owing to the bands listening choices during the recording process. “We were listening to a lot of ‘70s heavy rock at the time of recording this album,” Weatherman explains. When discussing his favourite tracks off the album, Weatherman lets slip a few tracks that audiences can expect to see on their Australian tour. “I’m digging the opening track ‘Brand New Sleep’ when we play live at the moment, that’s the fun one to play and we’ll probably throw that one in the Australian set list.” When quizzed on what else Australia and New Zealand audiences may find on the set list, Weatherman professes, “We’re a three piece at the moment so we’re going to do some stuff off the Animosity record, we’ll touch on some of the mid period stuff and, of course,

we’ve got three new releases since we’ve been back, so we’ll touch on some of that also.” Weatherman also explains that it was Pepper Keenan who originally inspired the band to reform. “Pepper sort of swung that one around for us, he was calling us all trying to get us back together to do some of the four piece stuff and the timing didn’t quite work out, but we just kind of kept on going and doing the three piece stuff with the original line-up and it has just kept rolling on from there (laughs). It’s just one of those stories, where we didn’t plan it, but it just worked out this way.” The return of Pepper Keenan has not been ruled out by the band however, with Weatherman quipping, “We all still talk and hang. In the last couple of years we’ve had the pleasure of supporting Down a couple of times and whenever that happens, he’ll jump up on stage and bust out a couple of songs with us. I think it’ll happen again in the not too distant future, when everyone’s schedules finally match up.” Speaking fondly of their previous trip down under in support of Pantera in 2001, Weatherman reminisces about the fun they had and how well they were treated during their time here. As well as recalling many good times with the Pantera crew, specifically sporting a hangover while on a deep sea fishing trip with Pantera’s guitarist, Dimebag Darrell. Weatherman laments that they’ve taken this long to return to Australia, although not through a lack of trying, unfortunately it just didn’t work out until now. This touring cycle in support of IX will see the band on the road for a string of US dates immediately after the Australasian tour. Although after that the future is uncertain with Weatherman adding, “We’re just going to roll with this, until we get tired of it and who knows what after from there. Maybe some four piece stuff, who knows man. We don’t have this all planned out, we’re just going to roll with it and whatever happens, happens.” One thing that is for sure is that Corrosion of Conformity aren’t going anywhere soon and with IX it shows the band are clearly not resting on their laurels and are ever increasingly finding their feet as a trio once again. H

Rising against religion I

f you are a blackened death metal band and you hail from Rome, the epicentre of Catholicism, then you’re probably used to encountering challenges. Hour Of Penance are a band that have faced plenty of struggles but still crawled out of the underground Italian scene to make it on the worldwide stage. Not content to sit in the shadows, the band give a big middle finger to both religion and the Italian government on new album Regicide. Regicide, which was released back in May, is a concept album dealing with the mutilation and destruction of Italy at the hands of both the Government and the Vatican. Lead guitarist Giulio Moschino says vocalist Paolo Pieri came up with the concept. “The Vatican has a big role here in our country and we wanted to explain that in a way that is different by giving an image that shows it is wrong,” Moschino explains. “A lot of people mistake the [cover] artwork – the statue – of being Jesus Christ but we wanted the artwork to tie into the lyrical content of the album. It is the statue of Italy that is being mutilated and destroyed.” Moschino identifies the cover as a deliberate attempt to avoid some of the death metal cliches of the past. “We never liked the cover artwork of the death metal albums from the middle of the ‘90s, where they have these big, beautiful paintings but they have nothing to do with the lyrical content of the album,” he explains. “We wanted artwork that is plain and if you see the cover artwork of Regicide you pretty much know what is going to be inside musically and lyrically.” According to Regicide’s lyrics, the impact of the Vatican is dire, way more invasive than outsiders realise. “The Vatican is in Rome but it is like this in every part of Italy; churches are everywhere and unfortunately, since they have such a wide rule, they influence people and our culture so deeply that everywhere is the same,” Moschino says of the impact of Catholicism in his homeland. “Even if you live in some smaller part of Italy, you can feel the power of the Vatican and the church from Rome.” Regicide is a big album for Hour of Penance and a natural progression from their 2012 release Sedition. As their sixth fulllength release but only their third under a label and their second with their current line-up, Regicide really shows how the band has hit their stride and how the musicians have discovered their own chemistry when it comes to making music. “In 2010 we had a big line-up break when we lost our singer and our drummer so with Sedition, it was like we had to start all over with the line-up change,” Moschino says. “With Regicide, we had touring members who had been with us for two years so we felt more aware of what we could do. We were more aware of our perceived capabilities and our musicianship so that is why there is

Words: Michelle O’Rance Photo: Diana Gabrielli & Fabrizio Giannese

Giulio Moschino, lead guitarist of Italian death metal band Hour Of Penance, chats to Michelle O’Rance about new album Regicide, the band’s second tour to Australia in under 12 months and how the Italian metal scene compares to the rest of the world.

a lot more [chemistry] on Regicide.” Now the band is bringing that chemistry back to Australia and way sooner than expected – fewer than twelve months have passed since Hour of Penance’s last visit here with Behemoth in October 2013. This time they return with another of their biggest influences in Cannibal Corpse and they are pumped to be back so soon and are even hoping to see a bit more of Australia on this trip. But it is the crowds that Hour of Penance love when they are on tour. Moschino describes the Italian metal scene as beginning to flourish but says there remains a lack of support. With the introduction of internet sites like Facebook and Myspace, local bands have been able to get their music out there but the scene remains small. Perhaps to illustrate the point, Hour of Penance only plays two to three shows a year in their home country, which Moschino says is because of a venue problem. “We don’t play any more as all the venues are shutting down due to the economic crisis and they don’t want to invest money on the underground bands,” he explains. “They prefer to book cover bands more than bands that play their own music. It is becoming harder and harder to play here because of this and the only way to get known is to play outside of Italy and create our fan base that way.” Only having limited opportunities to play in Italy also means fans are harder to win. In comments that sound a lot like many of the criticisms levelled at the Australian scene, Moschino says Italian fans come to shows to critique, don’t get involved in the performance, hardly ever mosh and instead scrutinise every chord and beat. “In Italy it seems like they are jealous that you are playing in a band,” he laughs. “They pay attention to every little note and, the day after, you find a guy in a forum who is bitching about that note that you missed in that one song. That is how it works here.” Conversely, the band loves playing in Indonesia. “They have a lot of respect for bands [in Indonesia],” Moschino says. “People nowadays feel that they have a lot to say on bands; people always say something about the production or they comment on things that they don’t know but in Indonesia, they don’t do that.” It is a humbling experience for Hour of Penance to visit a country [Indonesia] with a bigger economic crisis than their own and see the huge amount of support they receive from their fans there. It’s this as well as the overwhelmingly positive response to Regicide that keeps the band on the road. Hour of Penance will hit Australian shores with Cannibal Corpse in September. Be ready to mosh. H

Alissa White-Gluz Words: Michelle O’Rance Photo: Courtesy of Century Media

Chicks that rock? In Alissa White-Gluz’s case, it’s definitely more accurate to say chicks that roar. The new Arch Enemy vocalist chats with Michelle O’Rance about what it’s like to take over from Angela Gossow and what is means to be a woman in metal.

ans will know her by her trademark blue hair and striking sex appeal but Alissa White-Gluz’s is more than just a pretty pin-up. Her unique combination of brutal roars and angelic melodies played a large role in helping put Canadian melodic death metal band The Agonist on the map. Beginning The Agonist in 2004, White-Gluz learned the ropes of the music industry and what it takes to make it as a woman in a male-dominated world. She has now stepped up to fill the rather big shoes of Angela Gossow as she takes on the role of vocalist for Arch Enemy, a role for which White-Gluz was headhunted. It was definitely a surprise for her to be asked to succeed Gossow, one of the premier female vocalists in the metal industry, but White-Gluz is relishing her new role. “In the past she had always sort of hinted that one day I would take her place,” White-Gluz laughs. “It was sort of a joke but I guess it wasn’t a joke!” Now at the helm of Arch Enemy, things are a little different to when she was in The Agonist. “It’s completely different [being in Arch Enemy]. It’s actually similar to being in Kamelot in a way,” she says, comparing her new band to the US power metal act with which The Agonist toured extensively. Everyone in the band is very mature and very appreciative of everyone else’s contributions and it’s very professional, which is something that I value.” The opportunity to perform in a professional, self-sustaining band is definitely an experience White-Gluz is really appreciating as she now has more time to write, to focus on the creative process of the music and the lyrical content that goes along with it. “It’s quite calming to be in a band that doesn’t have that struggle; to just be able to make music is great. Obviously we work extremely hard but not all bands get the opportunity to do this,” she acknowledges. And White-Gluz knows all about working hard, not only musically but at maintaining respect amongst fans and peers. As a female in the metal industry, and now the second female fronting a band that was originally an all-male band hailed as something of

a super group in the thrash scene, it would be understandable if she found the whole experience daunting; however, White White-Gluz takes it all in her stride. “When Angela had given her final decision about stepping down, in the same breath she said you should talk to Alissa, you should consider her to replace me. If she had suggested a male they would have definitely considered it but the way it happened they only considered me,” White-Gluz recalls. “The trials went really well and, as it was, Angela had the right idea.” White-Gluz believes Gossow and Arch Enemy paved the way for females in the metal industry in general and says, as the only female on most tours, she couldn’t ask for a better band than this one. White-Gluz is undeniably attractive and further accentuates her look with a striking blue mane but she is quick to emphasise that there is a fine line in this industry between dressing accordingly for performance and looking like you are using your looks to get ahead. It’s so important to let your talent speak for itself, she insists. “I don’t want to go onstage looking like a dude or in my pyjamas,” she laughs. “I want to go onstage wearing nice clothes and I want to do my hair because I am a girl and I like those things – to me, that’s fun. It is a tricky situation because I don’t want to be tagged as the girl who is using her looks, which is hilarious to me because even outside of the music industry anyone going to a job interview isn’t going to go in rags. No, they are going to want to present themselves properly. “To me every show is like a job interview – we are showing ourselves to new fans and hoping that they are going to become permanent fans,” she continues. “I want to make our show visual as well a musical experience.” She suggests critics need to perhaps spend a day in a woman’s shoes to see what it’s really like in the metal industry before passing judgement: “Men will never have to deal with what we deal with in this scene but, me personally, I feel well-equipped to deal with it and I maintain my own sense of self and that is important.” Having someone like Gossow recognise this makes it all the

H e ar h e r r o ar

‘As the Pages Burn’ @Youtube

“Men will never have to deal with what we deal with in this scene but, me personally, I feel well-equipped to deal with it and I maintain my own sense of self.”

more obvious as to why she chose White-Gluz as her successor. Gossow has passed the baton to White-Gluz and is concentrating only on managing Arch Enemy, which has left Alissa to make her own mark on the new direction that the band is heading. White-Gluz came into the band with the new album War Eternal still in its early stages – guitarists Michael Amott and Nick Cordie had written just five of the album’s thirteen songs. WhiteGluz worked collaboratively with Amott to not only pen the lyrics but write and record an album of which the band is immensely proud. “I came into this wanting to write a killer album that, as both a vocalist and a fan of Arch Enemy, I would really love and I think we have achieved that,” she beams. “It really is an album that feels like one of my own albums and I am very proud of it.” War Eternal hit the shelves in June to a positive response from old and new fans alike. This is perhaps the best validation yet of not only the band’s new vocal direction but also the choice of WhiteGluz herself, who is firmly focused upon driving the band forward and who definitely has the passion and talent to do so. H

Words: Sheri Tantawy Photo: Chad Michael Ward

Through the lens of Chad Michael Ward

Photographer, visual artist and now film director Chad Michael Ward takes a stroll through his dark and twisted world with HEAVY’s own design nut Sheri Tantawy.

hen I was but a wee lass, I somehow talked my parents into buying us our first computer. We purchased a Compaq PC and I made monthly payments from my part time job over four years to pay it off. The computer changed my life. It opened up my world to a plethora of ideas and various expressions within the artistic realm. I was drawn to the dark side and something moved me to find Chad Michael Ward. From his very early images in 1998 posted on Deviantart, my world was changed. Ward began his career as an album cover artist, and is probably best known for Soilwork’s Chainheart Machine, Nagalfar’s Diabolical and Darkane’s Rusted Angel. Ward’s rustic, textured style encompassed some 3D modelling and his early body of work is appropriate and indicative of this dated time period. Growing up a metalhead in the ‘80s, listening to the likes of Slayer, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, Ward muses that a lot of ‘80s metal helped influence his dark style. Ever since he was a young child, he was also very much seduced by the sounds and images associated with genres of horror. Over the years, Ward’s macabre digital creations evolved into

even darker, more twisted representations of the most demented and perverse horrors. In 2002, he began shooting professionally for clients with his weapon of choice – a Canon7D loaded with his favourite workhorse 85mm lens. With every shoot, his legend grew. Marilyn Manson once told him, “You get it” and Chris Motionless (Motionless In White) has dubbed Ward his “favourite photographer of all time”. Even with the calibre of clients in his portfolio, Ward remains incredibly humble and still considers himself a struggling artist: “I don’t know that I’ve necessarily had a big break in those terms. I’ve always believed in the mantra that luck favours the prepared so I continue to prepare and luck continues to find me from time to time.” So lucky is he, in fact, that a chance meeting with Dita Von Teese at his family home almost a decade ago when she was shooting with Ward’s then partner led to a phone call from Marilyn Manson some days later. “I gave her [Von Teese] a copy of my first book Black Rust, which made its way into Manson’s hands. He called to wish me happy birthday and we spent the next year working together on his best-of album Lest We Forget,” he remembers.

Mixing mediums: a fetish for film Chad Michael Ward, album-cover artist, noir-portrait photographer and all-round provocateur, has just made his directorial debut for the film Strange Blood, which he says is the natural progression from his time spent directing music videos. How did he wind up behind the movie camera? Around 2002, director Nathan Karma Cox (All That Remains, Suicide Silence, Monster Magnet, KoRn, DevilDriver, Bleeding Through, Marilyn Manson) invited Ward to shoot stills on the set of Static X’s Cold music video for the Queen Of The Damned soundtrack and Ward immediately fell in love with the process. By 2007, he was directing music videos that all have a similar cinematic, highlystylised, sometimes heavily-textured visual aesthetic not unlike his photography. “In 2011, my production partner at the time brought me onto a horror film project and pitched me

Ward designed the album, DVD and website, shot the album’s interior photos and worked on the video for Personal Jesus with Manson and director Nathan Karma Cox. This led to a directing gig on a music video for Dream Theater’s Derek Sherinian, featuring Billy Idol on vocals and Slash on guitar. “It was only the second music video I had done at the time and was an amazing and surreal experience,” Ward remembers. The embodiment of women and the female form has always been celebrated in Ward’s images and eventually he began to slowly add in the use of male subjects, although they never really had the same powerful allure that the femme fatale or tortured dame idolised. For Ward, his work is about the vulnerability of being human: “Our insecurities; our mortality; our dreams and nightmares; our love and hate – women are central to all of those things and as an artist you need some type of framework in which to hang your story.” When asked why women are so pivotal in his work, he passionately quips that women have historically been treated as the lesser, weaker sex, “which is obviously a bunch of bullshit”, he says. “Life is a dichotomy of light and dark. To ignore one side in favour of the other is fraudulent and disingenuous at best.”

as the director. Once again as luck would have it, I was awarded the film.” Chad spent the next few years writing the script until October 2013 when the team went into production. “It’s a story about a brilliant but obsessive scientist going to extremes to develop a universal cure-all but instead infects himself with a bizarre parasite that transforms him into a blood thirsty madman,” Ward explains. “With time running out, he must find a way to stop the monster growing within and prevent the rest of the world from being ‘cured’.” If The Heirophant series is anything to go by – think Silent Hill with The Hills Have Eyes gore – this neo-zombie film is going to be a hell of a visual feast and, considering Ward’s ties to some incredible heavy musicians, the soundtrack is sure to impress. Strange Blood will be out by the end of the year.

I ask him if he’s ever fallen victim to accusations of chauvinism, misogynism or any other negative misconception because of the controversial images he creates and he tells me that, for most of his career, he has been left untouched by critics and accusations. “However, when Combichrist released my video for their ‘Throat Full of Glass’ single, a lot of people fuelled by the band’s misogynistic reputation pointed fingers at me and the body of my work,” he explains. “I thought it was ridiculous then and I feel the same way now.” Many visual artists and music artists working in this context have been subjected to such accusations, accused of perpetuating rape culture or violence towards women. In Ward’s opinion, dark imagery and heavy music have as much to do with this as “cartoons on Saturday morning perpetuating child violence”. But surely the artist is responsible in some degree to consider the content of the media they put out? “Absolutely not,” he shoots back, defiantly. “I’m presenting to you, the viewer, a fictionalised, artistic viewpoint through words and pictures. How you choose to interpret those ideas and images is up to you. Everyone can and will see my work differently depending on their own world view and experiences.” H

Sheri Tantawy is a Melbourne-based graphic artist lecturing at SAE Qantm Creative Media Institute. For more on Chad Michael Ward, check out thechadmichaelward.com

Words: Will Oakeshott Photo: John Raptis

Converging on

Kurt Ballou

From biomedical engineer to sound engineer, Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou tells Will Oakeshott about his transition from the lab to the studio.

n 2001 the world of hardcore and metalcore was to change forever when Massachusetts based quartet Converge released their seminal, critically acclaimed album, Jane Doe. Becoming a benchmark for pushing the boundaries of the hardcore and metalcore genres, the album was named Terrorizer’s Album of the Year, Sputnikmusic’s Album of the Decade in 2010 and number 35 in Decibel’s Hall Of Fame, among many other accolades. However, there is more to the story than the collection of geniuses coming together to create twelve tracks of intensive mathcore; Converge’s guitarist Kurt Ballou was also acting as

the album’s producer, a role which helped launch his career as a producer and sound engineer. But, as Ballou explains, being a producer was not his first choice of career. “I was formerly a biomedical engineer and a project I was in was cancelled, so I took a voluntary redundancy. This was actually the time when Converge had just released Jane Doe; it was literally the same week. At this point also GodCity Studio was doing fairly well, I was already working with bands from all over the USA and some from Europe, so I was busy enough to think that I could coast by just focussing on music. The lay-off I saw as an opportunity, I could

“The last band I turned down, I explained to them: ‘I think you guys are a great band and you play really well together. Personally, I don’t really enjoy your music, I’m sorry I don’t think I am the producer for you’.”

tour more with Converge and also really jump into production and sound engineering. I thought I could do that for a while and then go back to a straight 9am-5pm job, but it has been 13 years since I have had to work full-time, I feel very fortunate that the stars were aligned in a certain way that I was able to pursue music as a career.” Even though the title of sound engineer and biomedical engineer share one familiar word, as occupations they’re are obviously worlds apart. The transition of vocation was as Ballou recalls, a very natural one. “When Converge used to record, I always felt at a loss when I was interacting with whatever engineer we were working with at the time. A lot of these engineers may have been talented people, but I felt that maybe they didn’t share the artistic vision we had. So trying to communicate my ideas to them I found rather difficult. I began demoing my own band’s material mostly, just to learn about the process and as a song writing tool. Then it just snowballed, I started recording demos for my friends’ bands, which grew to seven-inches then to albums. I actually worked at several different studio places before I ended up where I am now. It was just quite a natural progression for me, similar to how a musician or band progresses. You don’t typically start out with an end goal in mind, but if you love doing what you do, you tend to follow the opportunities that are presented in front of you.” Since then Ballou has gone onto produce and even mix countless releases for bands worldwide and achieve a status as one of the most sought after producers in heavy music. He brings his signature gloomy and crunchy, natural sounds to bands within a range of genres including post-punk, hardcore, mathcore, metalcore, postmetal and any other music of interest. With such an expansive taste in music, how does Ballou decide which bands to work with? “I do have a selection process for which bands I will work with and it comes in several tiers for me. My goal first is to enjoy my life and what I am doing; that starts by working with good friends. So

either people I have known for a long time or people I have a good connection to. The second tier is existing clients. People I have worked with before I would like to continue working with, some bands like to do a record with a different producer every time and others like to stay associated with the same engineer; I like to do the latter. I feel the more I get to know the musicians and people, the more I get out of recording them and I improve. The third tier is a kind of obvious but very important, I have to be into the music. I am going to have to listen to the stuff for ten hours a day for up to three weeks or more; so I have to enjoy the music.” He continues, “I try not to get too involved with the politics of a band, if they do have something that I politically object to, I will not work with them. Basically, if I get excited about the music, I’m interested in recording it. I have to be a bit choosey. The last band I turned down, I explained to them: ‘I think you guys are a great band and you play really well together. Personally, I don’t really enjoy your music, I’m sorry I don’t think I am the producer for you’. That is always awkward to say to someone, but a band spends up to years developing their sound and if they are going to hire someone to act as an additional creative force, they have to have the same level of enthusiasm as the band.” In closing, any words of advice for the future producers? “Practice by ear, read and take all advice with a grain of salt. Buy a small amount of high quality equipment first, especially good monitors. If you can’t hear what you are doing it doesn’t matter how good your microphones are. Record for free at the start and be careful about spending money at school when you can spend it on gear. This kind of work does not require a degree, I’m not saying you won’t learn anything at school, but be cautious. Most importantly good luck, producing can be a painful process, but extremely rewarding too.” H

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Don Fernando

Stoner Melbourne www.donfernando.com

One Australian band that has consistently served up mammoth riffs and canyon-esque grooves is fourpiece rock act Don Fernando. Originally forming in Wollongong in 2005, the band have been through several line-up changes, moved to Melbourne and settled into what seems like their most proven line up yet. Currently consisting of singer/guitarist Andy Simpson (The Wardens, Rockafella), guitarist Jonny Driver (Uptown Ace, The Devilrock Four), bassist Ryan Kemp (Uptown Ace) and drummer James Innes, Don Fernando’s alumni can now be found playing in other well-known Australian bands including Warped and King Parrot. Taking their name from a cocaine dealer Simpson ‘met’ while holidaying in Chile, Don Fernando seemed a great name for a band. Fast forward to 2014 and they’re one of Australia’s premier stoner rock acts, having supported some massive internationals like Clutch, Helmet, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Pentagram and Imperial State Electric. Don Fernando’s sound includes the standard low-end stoner drone but there’s a lot more to it; some of the tightest riffs this side of Fu Manchu are coupled with a tougher, harder edge that makes their live set a force to be reckoned with. The guys have released two albums, 2008’s The Banquet Of… and 2011’s Dia De Los Muertos, which were both recorded at Melbourne’s Head Gap Studio. The first album was mastered by Jack the Bear at Deluxe and the second was mastered by Paul Fox at Indie Masters [Foxy is the bomb! Highly recommended – Ed.].

Excitingly, Don Fernando are currently working on their third album at Melbourne’s Salt Studios, which they’re planning to release later in 2014 ahead of an overseas tour. As the band have grown over the years, they’ve learnt what works for themselves as well as what the punters have come to expect, telling HEAVY that they are now “settling into a groove that is both heavy as fuck, and swinging like a bitch!” The beginning of their bio sums up their sound best: “massive riffs, massive hooks, tight as fuck, no bullshit.” With two successful tours of Europe and a South American tour late last year under their belts, the band admits it can be difficult to maintain a line-up with the overseas touring, though it’s also necessary to continue to grow their fan base. Their last tour saw them hand-picked to headline the Dosol Festival in Natal, Brazil. For a fiercely independent band that’s toured off their own back, they’ve done extremely well and are proud of what they’ve achieved to date. After releasing their latest album through Impedance, the band are now currently unsigned. Truth be told, that in itself is bewildering considering some of the massive international heavy music labels currently picking up Australian bands. While this year has so far been a busy one for the band, supporting Monster Magnet as well as Clutch in both Sydney and Melbourne, there is plenty more to come in 2014. As fans eagerly await the next fulllength release, we urge you to get on board now and keep an eye on Don Fernando. H

l ate s t re l ea s e

Words: Anthony Moore Photo: Jay Hynes

Dia De Los Muertos by Don Fernando Words: Nathan Eden

Released through Impedance Records in 2011, this album is huge; massive hard stoner riffs, heavy grooves and belting rhythms. You’d be forgiven for thinking Don Fernando were some European band that annually headlines Roadburn and DesertFest and never makes it to Australia. Standouts on this release include the high-octane opener ‘Take You’, the chunky riffs of ‘The Setting Sun’, and the down-and-dirty slow and steady groove of ‘Welcome To The Fold’. If you don’t file your music alphabetically [and who the hell doesn’t?! – Ed.] throw this in the middle of Clutch, Kyuss, Orange Goblin and Monster Magnet where it’ll be nice and warm. F l ame u p

‘Take You’ @YouTube

Eye of the Enemy Words: Damon Jackson Photo: Marc “Xenoyr” Campbell Since their inception, Melbourne’s melodic death metal quintet Eye of the Enemy have been turning heads and attracting the kind of critical acclaim that a band of their calibre deserves. The band’s founding members discovered each other via an online forum in 2006 and released their first recording, a self-titled EP, in 2008. The EP was so well received that, only a year later, they found themselves opening for UK symphonic black metallers Cradle of Filth and Sweden’s melodeath legends Amon Amarth, as well as playing alongside renowned international artists Rotting Christ, Edguy, Ensiferum and Destroyer 666 at Sydney’s Screamfest festival. Eye of the Enemy stepped up a level in 2010 with the release of their debut album Weight of Redemption. Not only did the stellar album receive gushing praise from media outlets but it also won the band support slots with pioneering US death metal kings Malevolent Creation and Canadian deathcore darlings Despised Icon during each of their Australian tours. If that wasn’t enough, the band also embarked on their own national tour. In the wake of Weight of Redemption, the band continued to ride that wave of success, opening nationally for Amon Amarth for the second time and supporting Switzerland’s Sybreed in 2012 before opening for progenitors of melodeath At The Gates in 2013. In addition to a staggering array of international supports, Eye of the Enemy have clawed their way onto the bills of some of the better-known Australian metal festivals, playing Melbourne’s Sonic Forge festival in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and Adelaide’s iconic New Dead festival in 2011. Various line-up changes impacted Eye of the Enemy throughout the band’s formative years but

when founding members Julian Detar (vocals) and Chris Kane (guitar) added Ben Hunt (bass) in 2011 then Simon Headley (drums) and Justin MacDonald (guitar) in 2012, the line-up stabilised. The band espouses Melbourne metal pedigree, with members who have played in Mordhel, Internal Nightmare, The Committal and My Burning Empire. Breaking their previous two-year release cycle, Eye of the Enemy’s long-awaited sophomore album The Vengeance Paradox was released this year. The devastatingly crushing album is the perfect amalgamation of pounding drums, driving melodic riffs and powerful vocals with just a hint of orchestra, resulting in the kind of stunning depth and richness of sound that could easily rival that of any successful European melodic death metal band. The Vengeance Paradox has already received commercial radio airplay and strong local reviews, beginning what is set to be a massive year for the band. Eye of the Enemy have already started 2014 off with yet another huge international act support slot, opening for Finnish melodeath magnates Children of Bodom in a performance that had some reviewers calling the local upstarts superior to the vastlyexperienced Bodom. Having just completed an Australian tour off the back of The Vengeance Paradox, which included a performance at the Adelaide farewell show for the Queensland deathcore veterans Lynchmada, the band is currently planning another and looking to deliver its brand of Australian melodic death metal to its steadily-growing fan base on international shores. If you haven’t had the privilege of hearing Eye of the Enemy, make them your next album purchase because they are a certainly a band destined for greatness. H

Melodic Death Melbourne facebook.com/EyeoftheEnemyBand Ey e Op e n e r

‘The Deed’ @YouTube

Eye of the Enemy Discography

Eye of the Enemy: 2008

The Weight of Redemption: 2010

The Vengeance Paradox: 2014

Sav e y o u r s e lf

‘‘These Diseases’ @YouTube

Save The Clocktower Words: Nathan Eden Photo: Haydn Robertson

band has been picked up by Bullet Tooth in the USA and Faction/Sony Music in Australia and New Zealand for the release of their debut full-length Wasteland, which follows two EPs – 2011’s Letters and 2012’s The Human Condition. Released in July of this year, Wasteland was recorded and tracked with Dave Venter, Joel Hallam and former Save The Clocktower guitarist Tim Westwood. After co-headlining with Alesana in 2013 and appearing at the charity event Breath of Life Festival in Tasmania, the band are pushing forth to become a headline act in their own right. It’s in maintaining their commitment to playing as often as possible that Save The Clocktower have been able to refine their skill as an outfit. They aim to develop a more distinguished, professional sound and have adopted an attempt at depth where lyrics are concerned in the hope that audiences may connect in some way. Lyrical themes centre on youthful mistakes as well as their political and religious views but impactful aggression is the finished product. Just as Back To The Future’s clock tower lady had a positive effect on the future, so too do Save The Clocktower aim to keep the horizon something worth chasing. They will do so through, you guessed it, “touring, touring and more touring,” says the band. A united Tasmanian front, the individual members of Save The Clocktower clearly share a strong work ethic, love of heavy music and also... “We are all massive fans of dogs,” they conclude. So get your tails wagging ‘cause Save The Clocktower’s bite is as big as their bark. H

Post-hardcore Tasmania www.savetheclocktowermusic.com

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The first yell of “Save the Clock Tower!” was heard in 1985 from the clock tower lady in Back To The Future. Now, there exists an ever-swelling chorus, growing and spewing its way over the Bass Strait and beyond from Launceston, Tasmania. The menacing four-piece post-hardcore outfit Save The Clocktower have commanded a following through good old-fashioned hard work, touring a live show that blends sheer ferocity with a tinge of melody and buckets of sweat. Formed in Launceston in 2009, the band consists of Luke Vaessen (Vocals), Alex McNulty (Bass), Joel Hallam (Guitars/Vocals) and Owen Broad (Drums) who have been playing together as musicians for up to ten years. At some stage, all members have played in at least one band together before Save The Clocktower. Touring with the likes of Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction and Dream On Dreamer, their sound encompasses an aural spectrum as diverse as modern post-hardcore, rock, metal and punk. Influenced by underground hardcore acts such as Dead & Divine, Glassjaw and Letlive, Save The Clock Tower are as aggressive as they are melodic. Heavy music fans will be reminded of Alexisonfire or The Amity Affliction, only with a much bigger pair of Hatebreed-sized balls. Save The Clock Tower started out with a collective focus to play as many gigs as possible in as many different places as they could. At first, Tasmania’s isolation presented its share of roadblocks but eventually the boys were lucky enough to get the right people behind them. With a hard work ethic, they’ve been able to build solid fan bases across the country through regular interstate weekenders and tours. The

Wasteland by Save The Clocktower Words: Nathan Eden

One of Tasmania’s (many) currently shining lights in heavy music, Save The Clocktower have released their debut album Wasteland. It kicks of like it knows you already and hates your guts, with ‘The Beautiful Lie’ assaulting the listener in the vein of Hatebreed but with a countering melodic, clean vocal chorus. From there, things get more diverse with “Hope, Sweet Home” and its soaring vocals accompanied by a slight electronic flicker, to the title track’s piano-tinged intro. This is followed by a more traditional post-hardcore light/shade dynamic, rounded out with scream-ya-tits-off vocals. Heartfelt lyrical delivery ensures the album sounds like they mean it. Fans of bands such as The Amity Affliction will find safe familiarity at the same time as those who prefer a bit more meat with their veg will dig the aggression.

Internal Nightmare Words: Josh Voce & Tennille Secomb Photo: Nicole Makin-Doherty

Thrash’s evolution into death metal was a natural one; it was heavier, more complex, driven by blast beats and deep, growling vocals but the underlying speed and energy was retained. Internal Nightmare don’t experiment too much with the established thrash/death metal formulas, striving to keep the balance of both influences well-centralised. Their edge comes from the successful combination of the speed and atmospherics taken from old school death metal bands such as Morbid Angel, fused with the catchiness and hooks of early Sepultura. Their debut album Chaos Reborn (2013) boldly emphasises their influences, with furious guitar solos and memorable riffs scattered all throughout the impressive 11-track offering. Recorded by the band themselves and mixed/mastered by Dean Wells (Shredville Studios), it clearly demonstrates the infectious energy of the band’s live performance, yet showcases the band’s capacity for refinement and complexity. The production is crisp and typically huge sounding: everything, from the heavily downtuned guitars to the Cannibal Corpse-esque pinch harmonics, can be heard with a clarity and richness comparable to that of death metal heavyweights Hate Eternal. Since banding together in 2012, the quartet have also released two EPs and a demo that has slowly built their fan base and earned them the status of one of Victoria’s most-renowned modern death metal bands. Internal Nightmare’s distinguishing feature is the allure of more than just the run-of-the-mill brutality that is rampant in the death metal community. While traditional death and thrash elements are prevalent throughout the band’s discography, vocalist/bassist

Paul ‘Doomsday’ Hammond offers up lyrical content that attempts to exceed the usual carnage and gore that the genre favours. Without losing any intensity and maintaining an aggressively eerie vibe, Internal Nightmare have created their own sound, and they provoke the listener to question their own views and perspectives on the world while still invoking memories of their death metal ancestors. The band’s name was taken from one of their early lyrics, with guitarist Christian ‘Dirtbag’ Doherty describing his inner turmoil as an ‘internal nightmare’. Over the past eight years, Internal Nightmare have had their fair share of line-up changes. Beginning as just a few mates in a garage – as all good bands do – it wasn’t long before the band were headed in a more serious direction and the members had to decide if they were in or out. Today, the band features Doherty on guitar, Hammond (Sordid Sanctity) on bass and Tom Jarratt on drums. While both Doherty and Hammond lend their throats, newest addition to the band Davine has taken over as lead vocalist, and Internal Nightmare have wasted no time getting into the writing process to showcase Davine’s abilities. It looks like it’s going to be a big year for the Internal Nightmare guys. The band have already locked in a slew of shows, including an appearance at the second annual Living Death Fest in August alongside Disentomb, Carnal (NZ), Whoretopsy and more. With their triple vocal attack and focus on energetic and destructive live performances, Internal Nightmare simply thrive on the stage. Fans of thrash and death metal should waste no time getting down to one of their shows as they will surely not be disappointed with this four-piece aural army’s attack. H

Death metal Melbourne internalnightmare.bandcamp.com

The Origin of the Nightmare Words: Josh Voce In the case of Internal Nightmare, you might expect the band’s members to have been influenced by extreme music from an early age, and yet the opposite is true. Three out of four members of the band started off with more classically-oriented instruments, such as the violin (Jarratt, Davine) and the piano (Davine), with Christian ‘Dirtbag’ Doherty beginning life as a musician on the trumpet. One can’t help but imagine a classical spin-off of the band, complete with vision of Hammond’s cascading locks billowing away to the soundtrack of Chaos Reborn... on the cello. Luckily for us, Internal Nightmare know how to make classically brutal tunes that are nothing like what you’d find in music class.

Wake u p

Chaos Reborn @Bandcamp

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Words: Nathan Eden Photo: James Brady

Words: Anthony Moore

Zeolite Zeolite challenge, move and inspire at the same time as they smash the listener’s face into the floor. Forming less than a year ago in Launceston, Tasmania, Zeolite is a four-piece unit with grand designs of creating challenging and unpredictable tunes. The band’s name might sound like an ingredient of a sports drink but rather than replenish sodium and potassium salt levels, the band probably achieves the opposite effect, judging by the crowds who’ve lost copious amounts of sweat at their gigs over the past eight or nine months. Playing in support of Interview with an Escape Artist, Save the Clocktower and, recently, Boris the Blade, Zeolite have crafted a live show that is as professional as it is powerful. Whilst relative newcomers to the live music scene, it is clear that Zeolite are purposeful when waving the metal flag. The band’s Soundcloud page offers an interview from Launceston’s ABC Local 91.7 FM where the boys passionately and articulately explain their love of metal as an art form. Zeolite consists of self-taught musicians Patrick Haas (guitar), whose most recent

project was a hardcore punk band Parasites Without Foresight, Lucas Tolputt (bass), Fraser Mainwaring (vocals) and current Shark Puncher drummer James Howard who “eats babies for days” according to the skinsman. Haas was flying solo when originally operating under the name Zeolite. He always wanted a band name that had a more significant correlation to the music it produced and so, after getting in touch via Facebook with other members, the band was born. With core elements of the music itself including progressive, death and technical metal, Mainwaring explains the moniker: “Zeolite as a physical material is a catalyst. The Greek origins of the word entail ‘to boil’ (zeo) and ‘stone’ (lite). The rest is for interpretation.” Our interpretation? These guys are ones to watch. check em o u t

‘Earthmover (Demo)’ @Soundcloud

Brave Black Sea Formed two years ago in Palm Springs, California, Brave Black Sea have released one of the most anticipated albums in a long time within the larger desert rock scene; however, Fragments isn’t simply another stoner album and displays a much broader sound. It encapsulates what Brave Black Sea describe themselves as “writing heavy, dynamic songs with a keen sense for catchy and memorable hooks and a sound that is a perfect blend of vintage and modern”. The buzz around the band may have been generated before the release due to the success of the three tracks that were posted on social media, though their line-up certainly helped create initial excitement even before any music was released. Brave Black Sea includes former members of some of the most influential bands of the last few decades, with Damon Garrison and Chris Hale (Slo Burn) and Alfredo Hernandez (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age). It seems that Brave Black Sea was bound

to happen as Hernandez spent a short period of time as the last drummer in Slo Burn before they disbanded in the late ‘90s. He was also a founding member of Yawning Man, in Mondo Generator, Che and Brant Bjork and The Bros. After that first short period of playing together in Slo Burn, it only took one phone call to finish what they’d started and get singer/guitarist Garrison, guitarist Hale and drummer Hernandez all back together. Bassist Clint Cunningham then joined the band by way of a mutual friend. Brave Black Sea have signed a European deal with V2 Records and, in the wake of their debut album Fragments, we expect to see big things from this band. c h ec k e m o u t

‘The Five Visitors’ @YouTube

Words: Paul Hammond Photo: Photo Jake Lowe

Words: Will Oakeshott Photo: Julia Henning

Life Pilot

The DIY band-management approach has become de rigueur in the music world but there’s one local group executing it at an elite level. Enter Adelaide noisecore quintet, Life Pilot. Consisting of brothers Angus (vocals) and Jake (guitar) Long, their cousin Tim Lawrence (guitar), drumming extraordinaire Eli Green and his previous roommate Nick Evans (bass), Life Pilot formed from the remains of other local bands in 2011. Not concerned to be bogged down in subgenres, the boys may walk a fine line between metal and hardcore – there are elements of Southern, noise and math rock thrown in but really they’re just a metal band that like to play big rock riffs and break stuff. Life Pilot’s first recording was a three-track demo EP released two years ago, aptly titled 2012. Self-produced by Jake’s production company Apiary Productions, the release was on high rotation on Stu Harvey’s Short. Fast.Loud program on Triple J, leading to the

invitation to play Soundwave. Second release Compass followed, a 10” split with fellow noisecore merchants Statues. Since then, Life Pilot has supported Kvelertak, Every Time I Die, and Senses Fail and topped the JJJ Unearthed charts. In 2014, Life Pilot will release the High Noon EP, which is yet another venture in self-production. Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (Every Time I Die, Converge), the first taste of the seven-track CD was the remarkable single ‘Raw Hide’, produced by drummer Eli and his partner’s production company Imagenel. From here the quintet are setting out to tour in support of the EP, with plans to further explore Brisbane and Perth. Life Pilot have also indicated it won’t be long before they’re writing and recording their first full-length album, so keep your ears open and get ready to mosh. check em o u t

‘High Noon’ @Bandcamp

In Malice’s Wake In Malice’s Wake are a Melbourne thrash metal band who formed in 2001, building themselves a solid name amongst the local scene and proving time and again that they are a sight to be seen. The band’s name is inspired by the horrors of mankind and this is demonstrated when the vocals kick in, displaying haunting melodies and a style that is on the heavier side of thrash metal. Over the past 13 years, the band has risen amongst the ranks of the Melbourne and Australian scene supporting Destruction, Warbringer and Forbidden. After four stellar releases filled with a relentlessly thrashing assault, the band has returned with a new line-up that is sure to turn heads. Along with two of the band’s founding members – Shaun Farrugia on lead vocals and guitar and Mark Farrugia on drums – the band has recently recruited Leigh Bartley on lead guitar (previously of Albury’s Heathen Ritual) and Karl Watterson on bass (also from Heathen Ritual as well as Volume Addicts). The new line-up has a big schedule

planned for the remainder of 2014 with appearances in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne including HEAVY’s own Brewtality fest. Their onstage onslaught is what the band wants the audience to remember... and with good reason. In Malice’s Wake are definitely veterans of their craft and receive a big reaction at each one of their live shows. With plenty more to come from these guys, In Malice’s Wake should just about have their live DVD out by now (slated for a mid-August release) and are also hard at work recording their third studio album, to come out sometime in 2015. They’ve made lofty promises to surpass all their previous material so we can’t wait to see what they come up with next. c h ec k em o u t

‘Endless Possession’ @YouTube

Words: Will Oakeshott Photo Georgia Sassenfeld

Vanity Forming a band via social media and online music forums can be a risky venture to take. In late 2008 Perth’s Vanity was shaped from such beginnings, albeit with the slight advantage of members having met at local hardcore shows. With extensive experience in other prominent Western Australian acts, Vanity sees Shaun Griffiths (vocals), Ryan Finlay (guitar), Riley Walpole (drums) and Tyson Helliwell (bass) combine their talents to create a chaotic and aggressive hardcore punk sound with a variety of influences thrown into the mix (including noise rock, southern rock, sludge metal, black metal and more). A bold, one-word statement, the name was agreed upon because, aside from its narcissistic connotations, Vanity also includes an ironic definition of something that is futile or worthless and represents the band’s reluctance to be categorised and pigeon-holed. In the outfit’s five-year existence, Vanity

have released a demo, two EPs and 2013’s exceptional full-length, The Cast Shade, which was recorded/mixed by James Balderston at Capitalsound Studios in Adelaide and mastered by New Alliance East Mastering in the USA. These records have ultimately enabled the band to support some of the leading international bands in the hardcore and metal genres, such as Converge, Terror, Norma Jean, La Dispute, Misery Signals, The Chariot, Defeater, Touché Amoré, Blacklisted, Tragedy, Backtrack, Being As An Ocean, Burning Love, Bitter End, Rosetta and Parkway Drive. The guys also played Soundwave Festival in 2010. With plans for more touring, as well as some international travel and a new fulllength sometime in 2015, Vanity have got a very impressive schedule coming up. For fans of Converge, Saetia and Xerxes, Vanity are a rising export from our Western ward that are not to be missed. check em ou t

‘Sorrowed Be Thy Name’ @Bandcamp

Words: Damo Musclecar Photo: Ben Gunzburg

Lung Rising from the ashes of Dark Horse, White Cell and A Lonely Crowd, Melbourne heavyhitters Lung formed in Melbourne back in 2012. They have quickly garnered themselves a cult following and shared the stage with some of the country’s best acts. Dishing up a mix of hard rock cut from the same mould as New Zealand’s Shihad, and crossed with stoner groove akin to that of stalwarts Queens Of The Stone Age, Lung blend different elements from each genre into their style, even incorporating screamo. Last year the band took up residence in the renowned Sing Sing Studios (you know, that place where KISS recorded most of ALIVE IV) to record five tracks for debut EP Parasympathy under the watchful eye of famed Australian producer Dan Murtagh (Cola Wars, Double Dragon). The recording not only shows off the band’s skilled musicianship but also the sound of a group of guys who have bonded together to create some monstrous songs on par with plenty of global hard rock acts. To round out their sound and give it that extra bit of

Words: Tennille Secomb Photo: Iris Engen Skadal

Khonsu If you like your metal black and heavy, this is probably your new favourite band. Spawned from the darkest parts of his psyche, Steffen ‘S.’ Gronbech is the mastermind behind Norwegian black metal act Khonsu. Taking the name from the ancient Egyptian moon-god, Khonsu roughly translates as ‘he who travels across the night sky’, a perfect metaphor for the dark and immersive journey the band’s music will take you on. Fans of European death and black metal will probably recognise Gronbech’s surname as his brother Obsidian C. is the founder of popular extreme metal band Keep of Kalessin. Famed for his guitar wizardry, Obsidian C. warned metalheads of his brother’s comparable prowess and listeners were suitably impressed when the one-man-band released Anomalia in 2012. S. Gronbech is Khonsu’s lone composer and he hired different vocalists for each release, including Keep of Kalessin’s Torbjørn ‘Thebon’ Schei. Anomalia was written slowly over a period of around eight years before French label Season of Mist signed Khonsu for the release. Khonsu have only made one live appearance to date, performing at Oslo’s Inferno festival in early 2012 with Shandy McKay (Absu) on bass, Thebon on vocals and Kenneth Kapstad (Gåte) on drums so they aren’t likely to be gracing our shores anytime

soon; however, the band still has plenty to offer its underground fanbase. In March this year, Khonsu released five-track EP Traveller, showcasing a gritty, industrial black metal style. Both Anomalia and Traveller were recorded in Gronbech’s home studio in Bergen, except for guitars and vocals, which were recorded in different studios in Trondheim. Gronbech also produced both albums himself, then had them mixed and mastered by Stamos Koliousis and Vangelis Labrakis (210 Studios in Berlin). Gronbech is already working on another full-length, nine-track album due at the end of 2014 that will feature Terje Olsen (Chton, Eternal Silence, Killing for Company) on vocals.

c h ec k e m o u t

‘Visions of Nehaya’ @YouTube

Words: David Griffiths Photo: Natasha Xavier

Ancient Ascendant oomph, they had their EP sent to New York’s infamous Sterling Sound to be mastered by Ted Jensen (Muse, Green Day, Alice In Chains). When asked what the band hope listeners can take away from their music, guitarist Brett Burnell believes it’s up to the individual: “Take whatever message [you] want away from the lyrics; that’s the beauty of music.” A true sentiment devoid of any evangelical preaching or political commentary, Lung make impassioned music that asks you to draw your own conclusions. With an EP like Parasympathy up their sleeves that is gaining national radio play and with a drive to perform as much as possible, it won’t be long before we see Lung heading interstate to play a festival near you. check em o u t

Parasympathy @Lungband.com

Out of the ashes comes something dark. No, not burnt snags. British black metal band Ancient Ascendant is resurrected from the remains of a band known as Heretic. Hailing from Reading in the UK, Ancient Ascendant formed in 2008 when Heretic disbanded and band members Alex Butler (singer/songwriter) and Dave Moulding (drummer) decided they wanted to keep working together. They quickly approached Nariman Poushin (from Chaos Incarcerated) and Alan Webb (from Immodestia) and the new band was ready to go. The band’s name is loosely taken from author Steven Erikson’s fantasy series Malazan Book Of The Fallen and, since 2008, the group have developed their blend of melody and groove laden black metal into something that fans right around the world have grown to love. They are also well known in the British metal scene for their fervent work ethic and their painstakingly-perfect guitar riffage. Aside from supporting Bolt Thrower, Enslaved, Hypocrisy, 1349 and Pestilence

(just to name a few), Ancient Ascendant have also released a number of recordings over the years – The Heathen Throne EP (2008), The Grim Awakening (2011), Into The Dark EP (2012) and Echoes And Cinder (2014). Their latest album Echoes And Cinder is the first under prestigious metal label Candlelight Records. On the back of the release and the good press generated by Echoes And Cinder, the band have just completed a tour with Pestilence and are already gearing up to work on their next release in addition to planning a full European tour in 2015. They’re also thinking big and hope that they can look at touring in other countries around the world, possibly even including Australia within the next few years. c h ec k e m o u t

‘Patterns of Bane’ @YouTube

Moral rights, the lesser-known rights accruing under the Copyright Act, are an important aspect of copyright that people in creative industries need to know about. What are moral rights? Moral rights, while not copyright as such, are ancillary rights that accrue to the creators of copyright works under the Copyright Act 1968, which is the piece of legislation that governs copyright in Australia. This article only discusses moral rights and not copyright but you can find a detailed explanation of copyright in issue three of HEAVY, which is available at heavymag.bigcartel.com. Conceptually, moral rights are not new. Other countries began incorporating moral rights into their copyright laws in the late 1800s but they were the subject of much discussion and debate by the government and various lobby groups in Australia for over seventy years before they were finally enacted here in 2000. This was many years behind other countries with similar copyright laws. Copyright in an artistic work is an economic right of the creator akin to a piece of property that can be sold or licensed, whereas moral rights are the personal or non-economic rights of the creator that exist independently of copyright and are aimed at protecting the non-economic interests of the creator of the work. The different moral rights conferred on the creator of a copyright work are as follows: The right of attribution of authorship In the language of the Copyright Act, author means the creator of a work and not specifically the author of a literary work, hence the right is referred to as being of authorship.

The creator of the work has the right to be attributed as the creator of that work unless it’s reasonable in the circumstances to not attribute the creator. Where a literary, artistic, dramatic or musical work or a cinematograph film is reproduced, published, performed/ exhibited or communicated to the public, the creator should be attributed. Where the work is a film, the creator also needs to be attributed if a copy is made and where the work is a literary, dramatic or musical work the creator also needs to be attributed where an adaptation of the work is made. As copyright and moral rights are separate, this does not mean that attributing the creator of the work is sufficient to avoid a breach of copyright. Apart from a few exceptions, the copyright owner will still normally need to give their permission for their work to be used in any of the above ways. As an example, if a band wants to record a cover of a song it will first need to obtain the permission of the copyright owner and second, credit the creator of the song on every copy of the recording that includes that song. The right of attribution of performership This right is very similar to the right of attribution of authorship but it relates to a performer in a live or recorded performance, rather than the creator of a work. The performers should be attributed (unless it’s reasonable in the circumstances not to attribute them) where a live performance is communicated to the public or staged

in public and where a copy of a recorded performance is made or where a recorded performance is communicated to the public. In the case of performers performing under a group name, such as a band, attributing the group name is sufficient. Right not to have authorship of a work or performership falsely attributed Just as creators and performers have a right to be attributed, they also have the right not to have their work or performance falsely attributed to another. Right of integrity of authorship of a work The creator of a work has a right of integrity of authorship, which is the right not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment. Derogatory treatment in this context means doing anything in relation to the work that distorts, mutilates, materially alters the work in a way that is prejudicial to the creator’s honour or reputation or doing anything else in relation to the work that is prejudicial to the creator’s honour or reputation, unless it was reasonable in the circumstances. In relation to an artistic work, it also includes a public exhibition that is prejudicial to the author’s honour or reputation because of the manner or place in which the exhibition occurs unless, again, it was reasonable in the circumstances. Right of integrity of performership Similar to the right of integrity of

“The owner of copyright and the owner of moral rights are not necessarily the same person because copyright, as an economic right, can be sold, whereas moral rights cannot.” 59

authorship for creators, performers in live or recorded performances have a right of integrity of performership in respect of the performance, which is a right not to have the performance subject to derogatory treatment unless it was reasonable in the circumstances. Derogatory treatment is anything that results in a material distortion or mutilation of or a material alteration to the performance that is prejudicial to the performer’s reputation. Reasonableness exception The failure to attribute the creator or performer or the derogatory treatment of a work or performance will not be a breach of the creator or performer’s moral rights provided that it was reasonable in the circumstances. Various factors will be considered to determine whether the conduct was or wasn’t reasonable, such as the nature of the work; the purpose, manner and context in which the work was used; any industry practice relevant to the use of the work; any relevant industry code of practice; whether the work was made in the course of employment or commissioned by another; whether the treatment was required by law or to prevent the breach of a law; and, where the work has multiple creators, the opinion of the other creators.

Who has moral rights? The creator of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or a cinematograph film or the performer in a live or recorded performance so long as they are an individual (as opposed to a company). A band that performs on a live recording will still receive moral rights as the band is made up of a group of individuals unless the band has been incorporated as a company. The owner of copyright and the owner of moral rights are not necessarily the same person because copyright, as an economic right, can be sold, whereas moral rights cannot. How long do moral rights last? The duration of moral rights depends on the type of work and the particular moral right. The duration of the moral rights are as follows: • Right of integrity of authorship – in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work until the expiration of copyright in that work and in a cinematograph film until the creator dies; • All other moral rights conferred on an author/creator – until the expiration of copyright in that work; • Right of integrity of performership – in

respect of a recorded performance until the performer dies; • Right of attribution of performership – in respect of a recorded performance until the expiration of copyright in that recording; • Right not to have performership falsely attributed - in respect of a recorded performance until copyright expires in that recording. Can moral rights be waived? Yes, provided that written consent is given by the creator/performer. Where a contract is entered into for the creation of a work or for a performer to perform, it’s not uncommon for the contract to contain a provision whereby the creator/performer waives all or some of his or her moral rights, especially where that creator/performer has only contributed a very small part to the whole work. H

Amanda Mason is our resident legal expert. When she’s not changing the world as a lawyer with Dwyer Bruce Legal, she loves to scour Twitter for tour rumours. Follow her at twitter.com/metalawyer.

Deconstructing Davidian

Words: Doug Steele

In 1994, Machine Head brought out an album that made metal manly once more. With lots of droptuned hell, bursting with muted power chords, natural harmonics, pinch harmonics and dissonant triads, Burn My Eyes is an album chock full of metal goodness.

I was fortunate enough to see Machine Head in the mid ‘90s supporting Ice T’s Body Count. This was when Grunge was in full force and metal (it seemed) was on its way out. I’m glad it didn’t work out that way. In this issue’s lesson, we’ll be getting stuck into the track that changed everyone’s lives: Davidian. Guitar Robb Flynn used Gibsons, Washburns, Epiphones, and ESPs. He also used the rusty trusty EMG 81 pick-up in the bridge position as well. All you really need is your guitar. The best and easiest way to play these songs is with a fixed bridge electric. This song is in drop-B tuning but it’s not exactly spot on so you’ll have to tune by ear here. The easiest way to do that is to match your lowest string with the very first power chord played in the song. It rings forever so there’s plenty of time to match it up. From there, tune your A string to be an open power chord off that low B note then tune the rest of your guitar accordingly. If you plan on playing this song with a guitar that has a Floyd Rose locking whammy unit, I suggest you put that guitar down and borrow a friend’s fixed bridge guitar. Detuning a guitar with a Floyd is nothing short of a serious pain in the ass and will drive you close to tears. These Machine Head songs are fun to play and you’ll want to get stuck into them quickly so spending an hour f**king with the tuning is counter-productive. With a fixed bridge, it took me less than two minutes to tune to ‘Davidian’. Amp I read that Burn My Eyes was recorded with a Peavey 6505 and I believe it. I have Phil Demmel in my FB friends list but I’m not going to bug him, especially when he wasn’t even in the band at that time. Peavey 6505s are straight powerhouses and they nail the metal sound perfectly. Whichever amp you use, make sure to crank the hell outta the gain, and boost the lows and highs. Mids can be subtle to none. Most of today’s amps can get this metal sound relatively quickly. Davidian intro

The coolest part of this intro are the two natural harmonics played on the fifth fret of the D and A strings. There are tons of natural harmonics on this album but it has the most impact here because ‘Davidian’ is the first song. The song is slow enough to use all downstrokes if that’s your thing. My only suggestion is to maybe play those natural harmonics using alternate picking. Upstroke on the D string, downstroke on the A string before going back to the first fret barred power chord. In the intro, you’re barring the drop-B tuning using only open, first, third, and fourth frets. Nothing happens on the second fret at all. Totally barren wasteland of a fret! I would use first finger on the first fret and third finger for both third and fourth frets – if you play the intro with just your first finger, it’ll look jack assy. Plus, you’ll be using your third finger to hit those fifth-fret harmonics.

Standard tuning

= 120 Davidian chorus 1

E-Gt

<5> <5> <5> <5> <5> <5> <5> 5 <5> 0 0 0

3 3 3

0 0 0

6 6 6

5 5 5

0 0 0

3 3 3

4 4 4

0 0 0

1 1 1

0 0 0

3 3 3

0 0 0

6 6 6

5 5 5

0 0 0

3 3 3

4 4 4

The chorus is very fun. Half blues, half whole tone, half tone metal [wait, wut? – Ed.]. Fret wise it’s not too different from the intro, with the 13 B note as the tonal centre. You’re only really adding frets five and six to the mix. As far as right hand goes, it’s all open chords with no muting until you get to the double-picked part at the end of the chorus. That’s all single-string goodness, using frets one, three and four on your lowest string. Alternate-pick this, starting on a downstroke. Davidian solo I’m not tabbing that part. Just mess around in B Minor pentatonic (the infamous blues scale at the seventh fret). Do you know the five boxes of the pentatonic scale? Yes? Nice, you are awesome and I love you. No? Hop on YouTube and watch any of the trillion guitar dudes who know it. Pick the least annoying douche, always the key to learning guitar on YouTube. Davidian outro Great riff to end the song. This is more of an exercise into right-hand palm muting and a dancy picking motif. The first four notes are alternate picked. The last two notes are both downs until you get to those four-note stutters which are just quick down, up, down, ups. Just think of triplets with an extra note. Quads. Guitar buddies call them quads. If you ever have any trouble leaning any new song, there’s a few ways to tackle it. First, listen to the song until you know the structure. Second, try and learn it by ear. Tune your guitar to the song and sit there and get stuck into it. Even if your version is different, you’re sure to learn something, even if it’s “Hey, these are not the right notes!” Lastly, get on YouTube and watch two or three different guys play the one song. Not everyone is going to play it correctly, so it’s best to watch a few dudes going for it. And, as always, pick the least annoying douche and sub his ass.

1/1

Doug Steele is guitarist for progressive metal and jazz fusion masters Alarum, a popular emcee, a radio presenter and a voiceover artist. He’s also a guitar teacher, founder of the eclectic Guitar Fight Club clinic and something of a YouTube celebrity, thanks to his prolific output of free lesson material via his own channel. He can be seen on HEAVY mag’s own HEAVY TV, and followed via his website: dougfcknsteele.com

El Duce: master of the stab Words: Sam Bean

Some albums are ageless. Machine Head’s jaw-dropping debut Burn My Eyes is not one of them. Sure, you can hear the seeds of good old nu-metal in there and more than a hint of mid-’90s groove-metal but there’s just no way to listen to this album in 2014 and not have it sound incredibly different to when it was released. This was fresh and groundbreaking when it came out but when I hear it these days, I tend to hear the metal superstars who came soon afterwards and who stood on Machine Head’s shoulders. That’s not to say that it’s aged badly, just that you’re very conscious when listening as to what succeeded it. Burn My Eyes is one of those albums where the sum of the band members is greater than the individual parts. All of them are competent musicians but there are no acts of next-level wizardry on this album: it’s four very metal guys banging out some solid-as-shit songs. Adam Duce on bass was the unsung backbone of Machine Head, the longest-serving member behind Rob Flynn, and he was a template metal bassist: chunky and sweaty with a punchy tone coming out of his Zon Sonus bass. He was Flynn’s right-hand man, standing firm with him while members were booted out left, right, and centre... until he was eventually booted out himself [dem loyalties – Ed.]. Stylistically, Duce found a midway point between the extremes of upfront mid-heavy show-ponies and the template ‘80s metal bassists who were regrettably buried in the mix. His playing nailed two things perfectly: menace and impact – the start of ‘Old’ has a naked bass line over which everyone else makes a bunch of noise and it works beautifully in setting you up for that epic

Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes is 20! “Oooooooold Maaaaaaan” – Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel now when I listen to this record. Shit, I was drinking milkshakes and playing pool at the Golden Triangle when this puppy came out. A moment in time that will never be repeated. main riff; ‘None But My Own’ has the bass stalking you while Flynn emotes over the top; ‘Death Church’ kicks off with more low-end prowling once the samples are out of the way. Not convinced Adam Duce is the backbone on this album? Count how many songs start with a bass intro while everyone else gradually joins in. The naked bass line is the ‘Burn My Eyes’ leitmotif, alerting the listener that they’re about to get their ass kicked. And just listen to every stab on this album. Jesus. They’re like right hooks to the jaw! Bassists are tempted to use stabs (staccato accent notes) as an excuse to slap bass – even us fumble-fingered pick-players – but every stab here is played for impact. This is a product of some tight picking, a willingness to sit in the background knowing that a well-placed note of the correct length beats senselessly smacking your bass every time. Opener ‘Davidian’ has a bucket load of these stabs coming in at all angles, each one landing with incredible heaviness. Don’t let the simplicity fool you. The fretting hand mightn’t have been flying all over the place but his picking is absolutely tops. Ever hear a metal bassist try and play some locked-in gallop picking? It’s usually as sloppy as a bulldog eating a cement mixer loaded with ten-day-old porridge. Not El Duce though – his picking locked-in with the other guys stroke for stroke. This man could actually gallop, not just flail. Don’t believe me? Check out the fast section of ‘A Nation on Fire’. Duce’s picking matches the guitarists note for note. He’s not half-timing it and there’s enough attack in his tone that the picking is discernible. He also managed to play the punch on his ampeg SVT and

summon up extra distortion to accentuate sections. In doing so, he imbued a surprising amount of subtlety into what were essentially very simple bass lines. If you need to get an idea about the bass on this album and you’re pushed for time, just check out ‘Old’. It laid out the lesson for all up-and-coming bassists for the next decade: what to do when the guitarists incorporate harmonics into the riffs; how to lock with a bass drum in a song-opening combo; reversing roles with the guitars to provide a constant bass line interval while the guitars are relegated to providing the stabs… it’s all here. Special mention needs to be made of the production. Bass can so easily go missing on metal albums or be awkwardly forced out of its background role and into the top of the mix. It sits perfectly here, providing body blows while the rest of the band tap-dances on your face. It’s perfectly audible for those who want to listen to it, without ever losing its place as the muscle of the songs. Colin Richardson really needs to be kidnapped and forced to mix every metal album ever. He went from doing English grindcore releases to being Roadrunner’s go-to guy pretty much since Fear Factory’s 1992 debut and he’s knocked it out of the park on just about every album he touched, especially this one. Don’t be afraid to pump the bass on the EQ when listening to Burn My Eyes. Seriously, I have the 60hz and 170hz ramped up and my speakers still refuse to fart. The balance is glorious. But why am I still talking? Dig out your copy of Burn My Eyes (everyone has one!) and “Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast!”

Sam Bean played bass for The Berzerker and UK death metallers Mithras, releases solo CDs as The Senseless, and records with international breakcore outfit Kiri Kiri Kiri. Read about his unprintable industry experiences at www.thesenseless.wordpress.org

Burn My Sticks Odds are if you’d listened to Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes for the first time, you’d be forgiven for thinking a garbage truck just crashed through your front door. The drums are as loud, fierce and menacing as they were just 20 short years ago. Words: Rob Brens

To the layman, (then) Machine Head drummer Chris Kontos’ flawless performance on the all-time classic Burn My Eyes probably sounds like one of those unattainable performances that only the elite can execute. Fortunately for the budding metal drummer, Kontos draws heavily upon the standard metal-drummer toolkit to achieve many of his fills, making them well within reach. Before we talk fills, let’s talk sound. When I was a lot younger and started dissecting these fills and playing them along to the recordings, I found I struggled to get the same impact despite playing all the notes in the right places. Naturally there is some studio magic that goes into creating the thunderous impact on this record but you can get closer just with careful drum head selection and a little tuning. The key here is attack so I would invest in replacing the skins on your toms with something clear and two ply, something along the lines of Evans Hydraulic or Remo’s pinstripe range. You’ll need to tune them nice and low, almost to the point where you can see ripples around the edge of the head. You wouldn’t even have to worry about how accurate the tuning is; just get them tight enough to produce some kind of tone, which is much easier. From here, you should get a nice ‘slap’ out of the drum. If you’re getting some nasty overtones, just add a small strip of gaffer tape to the head to calm things down.

With the kick drum, take a similar approach. There are plenty of clear, three-ply bass drum skins that have in-built dampening but I would also add a blanket inside of the kick drum. Coupled with a low tuning, this will keep the ringing in the bass drum to a minimum and add additional ‘click’ to your kick, which is a prominent characteristic of the metal bass drum sound. The snare drum is a much more personal instrument. With a plethora of head and shell choices available, the only consideration would be ensuring that the top head is tuned relatively high – not too much, otherwise it will have too much ping and possibly choke out, which will make it less powerful. Beyond that, the choice is yours. No matter the genre, tuning is always important – if you can’t tune, it’s just not going to sound good no matter what you play. Bear in mind that I’ve only described one particular approach. The reason I’ve brought this up is because achieving a sound between your toms and kick that’s similar in timbre allows you to create an illusion of one continuous roll, similar to that heard on the monstrous fill that opens ‘Davidian’ – it’s not dissimilar to Gene Hoglan’s opening fill in Strapping Young Lad’s ‘Oh My F**king God’ and legendary Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo’s infamous ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ fill, which you can hear before the second verse. Also, it allows you to be much more

economical with your fast fills as they will be split up between hands and feet. Let’s focus on a few fills in ‘Davidian’ that utilise this particular technique, starting with the opening fill (example 1), which is very straight forward. This one only relies on two hits on the hands and two on the feet, the building blocks of most of these fills. The next one you’ll find at the 1:00 mark (example 2). This fill is a real pressure cooker. It starts off pretty intense but it then blows its top at the end with sixteenth-note triplets. Despite the flurry of notes you’re hearing, this one is a simple case of orchestrating alternating rights and lefts on certain parts of the kit. So follow the transcription one note at a time as slow as you need to and build speed. Another fill is the one leading into the second verse at 2:09 (example 3). After the accent pattern on the snare, this particular pattern revolves around the same ‘three and three’ pattern as the second verse. Thanks to some almighty production and clever drum tuning, Chris Kontos’ playing on Burn My Eyes inspired a generation of drummers. Whether or not you’re able to get these fills happening, you can at least experiment with skins and tunings to extract a sound out of your drums that will give your own playing some seriously heavy vibes... and let’s face it, isn’t crushing the neighbours what drums is all about?!

No matter the genre, tuning is always important – if you can’t tune, it’s just not going to sound good no matter what you play

Rob Brens is one of Australia’s hardest-working drummers. As well as being a fixed member of death metal demons Hadal Maw and progressive metal masters Alarum, he has handled the sticks for King Parrot, Dreadnaught, Desecrator, Aural Window, Infinity, Moneypenny, Cherry Bomb, Brad Pascoe, Luthor, Tristan Coates, Stan Bicknell, Phantom Power Wizard Master Smasher, Sexual Chocolate, Ace of Spades and The Australasian Michael Buble Show... and that was just last year. He also offers lessons through his website at www.robbrens.com

Words: Amanda Mason

What do I do when I can’t think up anything for FWS?! I hit the interwebs, of course – a never-ending source of amusement.

FuggenWeirdAnswers to Yahoo Questions (source: Yahoo Answers}

Question: Should Slayer retire? Answer: “Yes, Kerry King’s beard has gotten too long and started to talk to him. They must retire ‘cause it’s picked up a knife before and threaten to kill him. The back of his neck also has too many rolls.” – Anon Question: Did Marilyn Manson do stuff with Make-A-Wish? Answer: “She died a long time ago. I don’t believe she did stuff with ‘Make-a-Wish’ but she did do stuff with John F. Kennedy!” – Googly

Question: Why are today’s heavy metal bands so gay and useless? Answer: “Because you touch yourself at night.” – Erikson11 Question: Is Slayer in a cult? Answer: “No but Glen Danzig has his own religion which involves karate and Satan worship” – Never Knows Best Question: Is heavy metal for gays? Answer: “I prefer light aluminium.” –Anon Question: Best Slayer song? Answer: “You Make Me Feel Like Dancin’, Easy To Love, Dancing The Night Away, When I Need You. Oh... you said Slayer, not Sayer (as in Leo). Nevermind. “ – Anon

Now let’s see what’s going on at good ol’ Google

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STRAY FROM THE PATH Anonymous OUT NOW

au.roadrunnerrecords.com

THE AMITY AFFLICTION Let The Ocean Take Me OUT NOW

ISSUES Issues OUT NOW

HEARTIST Feeding Fiction OUT AUG 8

TOURING AUG/SEPT

riserecords.com

TOURING AUG/SEPT

sumerianrecords.com

maniacsonline.com.au