LIFE OF AGONY

PHOTO BY PAT GILRANE

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST ALAN ROBERT BY NATALEE COLOMAN L ife of Agony paved the way for we never set out to duplicate many bands in the metal scene, what we've done before, but we starting in the late ’90s with their did include certain songwriting debut album, River Runs Red. elements that the ’90s-era Life of Agony records had.” 26 years later, almost to the exact date of the release of their debut, Robert also mentions how evthe group returns with their kickerything had to be right with this ass new album, Sound of Scars, record, including the authenticity released to the public on Oct. 11, of the EMT and police codes used 2019 via Napalm Records. in “Prelude” and throughout the album. “We did our homework. We Sound of Scars begins where River got our friends on the police force Runs Red leaves off, with “Prelude” involved. We made sure every easing listeners back into the detail felt legit. We're very proud of storyline with the sound of blood what we were able to accomplish dripping, a slow and faint hearttogether.” beat in the background, and emergency responders calling in All the hard work that went into an attempted suicide. Sound of Scars is very evident - whether it’s the seamlessness of “Every aspect of it had to be right each song flowing into another, the - from the sonics and performancpassion driving the music, or the es, the audio scenes, the artwork, heart and soul heard in the vocals. to the common message of the “Every song had to move the listener songs telling this story,” bassist both physically, with groove and Alan Robert shares. “Musically, hard-hitting riffs, and emotionally, through the honest lyrics and soulSound of Scars is the first record ful vocals that only Mina [Caputo] that drummer Veronica Bellino could possibly deliver,” Robert says. has recorded with Life of Agony, “We have never been more focused and the connection the band than in the making of this record. shares with Bellino’s talents on the Every detail was thought through.” kit only add to the album’s quality and perfection. Robert also shares that the timing of this album was almost magical. “When Veronica joined the band “Once the record was all done and last year, it gave us such a boost in we sent it to the label, they immedispirit and morale. We felt energized ately loved it and gave us a release and enthusiastic about the future, date that fit into their schedule. and I think that all shows on this Without even knowing the conrecord,” Robert adds. “The dynamic nection, they gave us Oct. 11, 2019. between all of us changed for the Our minds were blown. River Runs better. We are having fun again. It Red came out 26 years earlier, reminds me of the feeling I had long practically to the day! That's some before we ever signed a record deal.” cosmic shit right there.” Whether you are a first-time While the band was writing the listener, or you’ve been a fan music for Sound of Scars, they since the ’90s, there’s something were reminiscing about memoin Sound of Scars that every metal ries they had of their 30 years as fan can enjoy. Life of Agony. “To see our fans completely flip out “We laughed a lot, we always do. It over it - they're just so thrilled! All was like the old days again in a lot that makes us smile,” Robert adds. of ways. Especially when it came “I encourage each and every Life time to track the backup gang of Agony fan to turn just one pervocals,” Robert reflects. “Joey and I son they know onto the band. Life just screamed our asses off for like of Agony has saved so many peosix hours straight, going from song ple's lives through the music, and to song. That brought back a lot of you never know who might need it memories from the River Runs Red most. If we can help just one perdays, for sure. I think I lost my voice son feel less alone in this world, for like two days after that.” then we've done our job!” ��

JINJER INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST TATIANA SHMAILYUK

BY CALEB R. NEWTON O n their new album Macro, the On Macro’s closer “Prophecy,” ShmaiUkrainian band Jinjer’s music is lyuk memorably asserts: “I reclaim my somehow both groovy and brutal. kingdom, ‘cause your sun will never rise. The tracks flow with powerful melody and I reclaim my kingdom!” It’s a personal pack blistering intensity. The group’s Ocjourney of brute honesty that has resotober 2019 release on Napalm Records nated with many. delivers a deeply personalized take on extreme metal. Macro is Jinjer’s own jourJinjer have progressed in recent years ney and tells their own story.

“I understand that I don’t provide people with solutions,” frontwoman Tatiana Shmailyuk notes. “The only thing that I do from song to song is shame human beings for what they do. I completely understand it. Probably I should give solutions, but I am not a politician, you know, I am not an activist. I’m just an artist. I’m not supposed to find a way out. I’m working on changing my mind, changing my mindset, and I start from myself.”

Jinjer ultimately pack a range of themes into Macro, including furious, metallic challenges to those in authority who shouldn’t have it. Closer to home, there are contemplations about the external and internal limits on our lives, including the march of time, and mental hurdles like anxiety and dissociation.

“Basically, this record is about everything,” Shmailyuk explains, laughing. “Everything that bothers me. And I think there is no one song that can reflect the whole idea of Macro. I think it’s all the same theme, like the harmful effects of human beings on our planet.” from comparatively short tours around their home country of Ukraine, to their first headlining U.S. tour that unfolded in the fall of 2019. That headlining run came just a year after their first time in the States, when they were on tour supporting Cradle of Filth. Nonetheless, most of the dates on Jinjer’s headlining tour sold out.

“After the last show of this tour, we wanted to have our poster printed with all the sold-out shows that we had, and see how many of them there were,” Shmailyuk shares. “It has only been a year since we first landed in the U.S., and we were a support band then. Right now we are headlining, and every single show is alThe band will be back in the States as soon as they can and hope to hit cities they’ve never been to before.

SILVERTOMB Brooklyn, New York Edge of Existence | Out Now | Long Branch Records RIYL: Reading About Near-Death Experiences. Commiserating. Perspective. Rising from the ashes of Type O Negative (RIP), Brooklyn’s Silvertomb is the latest sonic adventure for guitarist and vocalist Kenny Hickey. Taking members of Type O and his other band Seventh Void, among others, the band feels like a continuation of the spirit of Type O with a different focus. Musically, there’s a much grander scope at play, recalling if Pink Floyd worshipped at the altar of Black Sabbath and Typo O – there’s a real transcendent nature to the music that melds beautifully with the haunting exploration of life, death, and whatever the hell is after. Thematically, Hickey’s self-dubbed “NearDeath Metal” ponders the meaning of life after so many brushes with death. In other hands, this might be a Donnie Downer, but Edge of Existence, out now on Long Branch Records, is resplendent.

PHOTO BY TEMENTIY PRONOV

“Everything I write about is personal,” Hickey notes. “Drawn from my own experience or from the experiences of people that are closest to me. Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be a dull moment in life.”

Although Shmailyuk notes that choices like singing predominantly in English have helped the band get ahead globally, she makes it clear that Jinjer haven’t arrived here by chance.

“We worked our asses off, day by day, and I think it’s a normal thing for people who want to achieve success,” she says. “We didn’t do something extraordinary. It came naturally.” �� �� ��