RMP Magazine #24 by RMP Magazine

THANKS TO

Executive Staff

Writers

Kenny Leys // CEO

Cameron Smith // Copywriter liaison

David Marote // Managing Editor

Jake Bower

James Cross // Photo coordinator

Jesse Mouart

Design Jolien Krijnen // Chief designer

Editor Frederik Geuvens // Editor in chief

Photography Jake Lahah Carl Battams Jennifer McCord Juriaan Hodzelmans

www.rock-metal-punk.org 2

RMP Magazine #24

CONTENT

Inter view//MC Lars

Inter view//Reel Big Fish

6 I n t e r v i e w / /Suicide Silence

16 I n t e r v i e w / / Herod

26 Inter view//Coma Commander

32 Inter view//We Came As Romans

Photospecial//Photographer's choice of 2015

Album r eviews

RMP Magazine #24

THE EDITOR

A W

FROM THE EDITOR

Hello again! Hello again, It's been a while, winter has hit the land and darkness is now our companion for most parts of the day. This wintery shadow is not the only one that has recently found its way to us. A tragic event has left music fans worldwide with a twisted feeling. The recent Paris venue Le Bataclan terrorist attacks during The Eagles Of Death Metal show have shocked fans and followers all over the world. Useless religious violence aimed towards peace loving show-goers led to over one hundred deaths while enjoying their musical freedom. One minute they are enjoying a rock 'n’ roll show, the other they are brutally executed in the name of a fictional deity. Devastated, millions of music lovers across the globe, where left in shock and awe. Terror has become a part of our daily life, leading to drastic measures to secure our nations from this happening again. A scenario that just begun to unwind and could lead to dangerous premises if not handled with caution. A new wave of fear and religious fanaticism has swept the planet, but luckily tons of people are starting to see through all the bullshit and are standing up for their own beliefs and rights. Rock 'n’ roll can never be destroyed, so music fans and artists are claiming the stages again to give those nutters a well-deserved ﬂick of the finger. For our latest issue of RMP Magazine we want to provide our little effort in this ongoing battle, by bringing you the latest in rock, punk and metal. Like Swiss noise mongers Herod who happened to be on a EU tour during these events. Or what about Belgium's Coma Commander and their new EP on Bearded Punk Records. Two birds of the same feather, cooperating on their first release of this new Belgian label. And what about Suicide Silence, they have been going places for some time now, so we couldn't resist bringing you this interview we recently did with them. Or what about our fresh selection of new releases in the review section. Or our way of new years’ celebration, the RMP staff and some befriended labels have compiled a few lists from favourite albums of 2015 to take you back on a memory trip or even help you to discover your soon-to-be favourite record. Enjoy and never forget: PEACE, LOVE, DEATH METAL!

David Marote

Managing editor RMP magazine

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YOU MAY WANT TO LIS

STEN TO... I g n i t e – A W a r A g a i n s t Yo u “A War Against You”, don't take it personal, it's just the latest album title of Orange County's finest. The gents of Ignite are well-known for their melodic hardcore, driven by vocalist Zoli Teglas’ unique vocal sound. Always on the verge of leading to a giant sing-a-long, Ignite has been touring the globe conquering the hearts of hardcore fans for over twenty years now. A new Ignite album is always good news and after their short hiatus a few years back, I for one was looking forward to hearing how they evolved. “A War Against You” is a typical Ignite album and delivers all of the goodness that kept them around so long. Melodic hardcore, socially driven lyrics and Zoli screaming his guts out. All in all, a nifty album chocked with grade A-tracks, although a bit softer than their earlier work. It’s still enraged but of a gentler kind. It could be the years kicking in or even a conscious evolution for the band. If you like the sound Ignite brings then this will suit you fine. For those new to the band it's a perfect starter to discover them. It's great, but could have been greater.

Innerwoud – Mirre Innerwoud is probably the ugly duckling in the pond for many. Given the fact that it's a one man-project involving neo-classical music with drone and ambient sounds played on a double bass. Maybe some might consider this utter crap, hell it's not even amplified. Still, Innerwoud is deep and dark in a different way, no use for loudness or heavy riffing. The ambient sound layers that Innerwoud composes are of a different kind. Acoustic double bass lines that send shivers down your spine are placed track upon track to create an eerie atmosphere with enough space to create musicality. The minimalist approach will guide you through the experience that listening to Innerwoud evokes. Only four tracks long this debut EP on the Ghent-based Consouling Sounds label will grasp you at the neck and direct you towards the replay button. Time and space shall dissolve for a brief moment, although with tracks such as “Sterveling” that clocks in around 15 minutes you still have some time to be dazed before flicking the switch.

Va l ve – Apnée Paris, France, the light city as stated in many tourist brochures. But Paris also holds a dark side opposite to the bright lights of Le Tour Eiffel and other tourist traps. Valve is one of the torchbearers of that darker side. Down-tuned riffs and haunting screams performed at an agonizing slow pace to evoke the demons that dwell the Parisian alleys is what compromises their second release Apnee. The Paris-based outfit Valve features five new tracks to sooth your trip through this hellhole called life. Holding titles as “Lapsit Ex Illis”, “Apnéé”,” Odds”, “Une Carcasse Vide et de Vie et de Sens” and “777”, the grim tone is set and sonically holds elements of sludge, doom and post-hardcore. From opening track “Lapsit Ex Illis” one gets thrown into subsonic riffs rumbling through. Title track “Apnée” holds the sonic chaos that I admire in that other Parisian legends Kickback during their final release before disbanding. A wall of noise driven by madness is one of the key elements to Apnée and makes it into a five track EP that is perfect for frantic late night car rides. Valve may be too harsh and direct for many but is a force to be reckoned with in the future. I'm looking forward to more of their brutal sound wizardry.

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ver the last decade and a half, ‘nerdcore’ rapper MC Lars has brought his infectious blend of indie hip hop and geekiness to the masses. His newest record, “The Zombie Dinosaur LP”, was released on November 6th in the US. Lars maintains a dedicated fan base, who follow his releases and live appearances closely. We take a look inside MC Lars’ creative process and where he came from in creating his newest release. The album features guest appearances from Less Than Jake’s Roger Lima, Watsky, Kool Keith, and more, as well as a total of six music videos.

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Writer // James Cross

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INTERVIEW // MC LARS

Before we get to the meat of the interview and discuss “The Zombie Dinosaur LP”, which came out in November, I have to ask you– you’ve done Warped Tour four times in the last ﬁve years, which is something not many, if any, other artists can say. What’s your secret to this success? Well, I think that Warped Tour is one of the things where if you’re positive and work hard, and you’re kind, it pays off. That’s very punk rock. Make friends with the people who run it, and the bands, it’s more about having that positive attitude, that PMA, than how many people you draw. We’re obviously not the biggest act on Warped Tour, but we ﬁt the mentality on it, the Warped Tour family. There’s always the band, or the rapper,

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or the DJ, or whatever, that becomes the Warped Tour staple that the crew and the bands love. They might not be the big main stage commercial crossover; I think we kind of have fallen into that territory. Who knows, but it’s something I’m very thankful I got to do so much. Any time they ask me back, I’ll do it because Warped Tour’s done so much for me in my life and in my work, and I’m very grateful for it. To continue a bit on that thread, you’re on the Joyful Smiles Tour with Koo Koo Kangaru, who was also on Warped Tour this year. Was that something that you planned before Warped Tour this year, or something that came out of doing Warped Tour with them?

"Warpe me in m

ed Tour’s done so much for my life and in my work, and I’m very grateful for it."

The speciﬁcs of it came out of Warped Tour, we’d known of each other’s music for years and I was a big fan of them. It was kind of cool because we really clicked, they’d always try to get me a merch booth spot, we’d help each other set up, we’d be in line together promoting. We kind of were like brothers because we were the two acts that were most similar, weird, happy, funny music on the same stage. Our friendship grew from Warped Tour, but I’d always wanted to work with them and this tour has been cool because they bring younger fans, teachers, that demographic, whereas my fans are more like the hip hop, pop punk, ska kids, but we’ve both toured with bands like The Aquabats and stuff, so we have

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INTERVIEW // MC LARS

"Try to pick up young fans that are going to keep following you. They are the best fans, because music just means so much to them."

that world too. It’s been a really natural crossover between our scenes. They’re fantastic and I can’t say enough good stuff about them, and I feel like in a year I’ll be opening for them, and they’re going to be really successful. They have everything going well and they’re really good guys. I imagine they’ll probably be on Warped Tour again, again, and again, because they really proved themselves too, you know? As hard working good guys.

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You also mentioned that they have a somewhat younger audience, and you’ve done a few TEDx talks, and you speak at universities and that kind of stuff. Do you see that their fan base being younger and coming to your shows is a way to educate kids and get them to stay in school, too? It’s obvious it’s gotten younger, deﬁnitely, and I think I owe Warped Tour for that, because I’ve been doing this for

so long, 12 years. You need your audience to get younger, because if you don’t, fans get older, and kids when they turn twenty, or even after college, they’re not so passionate about music necessarily. Doing the literary rap stuff has kind of appealed to the kids who are studying it in the classroom, and of course the older school fans still come back. But the younger ones are the ones who tweet about it and vine, and really help you keep

your social media presence up. That’s been an interesting shift that I deﬁnitely owe a lot to Warped Tour. That’s the way you really reach them these days, they’ll either see you online or go to a festival. These middle school kids don’t really go to clubs, at least not by themselves. I think the only way to stay really relevant is to grow your audience and ﬁt. Try to pick up young fans that are going to keep following you. They are the best fans, because music just means so much to them. The music I loved when I was 13 or 14 is the stuff that brings back those emotions, you know? You mentioned them tweeting about it, which is basically free marketing. If you can harness the power of social media and get the young audience

behind it, it may not be easier but it’s better in the long run because it’s something they want to listen to, not just something they’re being told to listen to by a Facebook ad. I think that’s a really great way of looking at it, and the only way you really keep retention. A friend of mine, Brendan Brown, who sings in Wheatus said something very wise I’ll never forget. He said, “Lars, you’ve got to make them come to you.” Meaning, you can have whatever label or corporate structure behind you, but if fans aren’t ﬁnding you organically, through people they trust, or word of mouth, a channel that’s not forcing it down their throat, that’s how they stick around and come to your shows and buy your shirts. Because it’s real. You need that organic connection,

and the real fan connection. I think it’s the bands that have that quirkiness, the special stuff, the weird stuff, it’s never going to be huge like Taylor Swift, but the people that discover it on their own are going to have a soft spot in their heart for it. That’s what’s going to give it its longevity. The audience and the performer, we’re all just trying to ﬁgure life out. Now to get to the real questions, “The Zombie Dinosaur LP” features several guests and a variety of styles, such as ska punk on “Sublime With Rome (Is Not the Same Thing as Sublime)” featuring Roger Lima. You’ve collaborated with many artists in bands such as The Matches, Simple Plan, and Wheatus. Have these collaborations helped to spread your

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INTERVIEW // MC LARS

music to more diverse audiences? Yeah, deﬁnitely, I deﬁnitely have kids who tell me they have discovered bigger bands from my stuff, but it mostly happens the other way around. On the new record, I have a guest from this crust punk band called Leftover Crack. With collabs, if I hear someone’s voice that’s unique or has a different style, I say what would it sound like if we work together and how can we both push ourselves to do something neither of us would do on our own? That’s kind of the bar I hold for guests like that. I always want to make it different and push the boundaries. Often I write their parts, but sometimes it’s fun to see. My guest rappers always write their own lyrics, but with the melody and choruses it’s usually something I

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write on my own or with friends, and that’s fun to see, how can I do a song in their style that they would sound good one, you know? What was your creative process for “The Zombie Dinosaur LP”, and has it changed from your previous releases? The other albums, I ﬁnished them and then did Kickstarter to pay for the promotion. With this album I just had rough demos, so Kickstarter paid for the studio time. I was able to spend a lot more time in the studio for this record with people I trusted, and kind of put more time into the writing. I was spending 10-12 hour days just writing lyrics and making sure that I approached it more as a job. I took more time for this, whereas on other records I did the songs while on the road or between tours. This one

I sat down and took ﬁve months off and really put all my time into it. This album I wanted to revisit characters from previous songs, ‘Hipster Mom’ is obviously based on ‘Hipster Girl’, and I wanted to know what it would be like if we revisited this character ten years later. “Where Ya Been Lars?” is an update letting everyone know why this record took three or four years to make. I tried to study pop culture again and see what was happening, then look at the threads I’d laid out before and connect them. “Hipster Mom” was fun because I went on Facebook and Twitter, I was like, “Okay, parents, what are some of the hilarious things about hipster parenting that would be funny to mention?” All those references were crowdsourced from my audience of parents.

"I was spending 10-12 hour days just writing lyrics and making sure that I approached it more as a job."

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INTERVIEW // MC LARS

Also, the woman, Jessie, who does the voices, she was on the original song. She now has a kid; she was pregnant when she did that character. That was kind of funny, how life and art imitate each other. I think an obvious easy question is why do you refer to yourself as a Zombie T-Rex? The metaphor of the Zombie T-Rex is two things, I consider this album the third in my trilogy of terror because there was “Robot Kills”, “Lars Attacks” was space mutants/space invaders, and this is the zombie dinosaur. On the cover the Zombie TRex has an Oakland A’s hat. Basically a zombie dinosaur is unstoppable because ﬁrst of all it’s a dinosaur and second of all the zombie is undead. It’s going despite whatever cost. I think I consider myself the

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"Good comedy comes from truth and people can identify with being disappointed in this culture of nostalgia, with being disappointed in going to see something and not getting what they want."

Zombie T-Rex because I’ve been doing this so long. Most bands I’ve toured with have quit and broken up. I identify with that creature because the ﬁrst verse is kind of hip hop boasting using dinosaur metaphors, the second verse is just everything that I’m proud of that I’ve done. You know, that swagger, but that swag-

ger of being unstoppable. I feel like that’s what everyone wants. Every artist wants to ﬁgure out a way to make the business and the execution of their craft balance out so you can just have longevity, that’s the dream. Even though you sacriﬁce a lot for your art. I think being the Zombie T-Rex is this cool image that came to

me of this unstoppable reptile. Then the dude (STZA) from Leftover Crack, when he sings the chorus, he sounds like a scary, screaming dinosaur. It’s kind of abstract, but yeah, the metaphor is something that summed up how I feel these days. I’ll always be creating something; I’ll always ﬁgure out how to get it out there. It might not be the most beautiful thing, but it’s beautiful to me.

this person going to all these shows and being disappointed at the bands, so that’s been fun because the video’s cool. Everyone’s skanking to that song. People relate to it because I joke about how I went to see Black Flag and it wasn’t Black Flag, I went to see Dead Kennedy’s, blah blah blah, and then I make a joke saying ‘Well, at least I’ll never break up.’ You come see MC Lars and then it’s someone else.

Last, but not least, which of the new songs are you most excited to be bringing to your live show? The Sublime With Rome one has gone down well live because the video has Roger (Lima) in it. We have multimedia projections; we have a whole audio-visual component of the show. We did an animated cut and paste video about

Just have MC Chris step in or something like that. Yeah, with my A’s hat, that would be funny [laughs]. That’s been a hit live with the audience, we premiered the video on November 2, 2015. That song has gotten radio play on specialty rock radio, that’s been really fun. People get the humour in that song. Good comedy

comes from truth and people can identify with being disappointed in this culture of nostalgia, with being disappointed in going to see something and not getting what they want. At the same time, it’s sad, no disrespect to Sublime With Rome, because it’s hard when a member passes away. That’s hard. I think bands need to be honest with their fans with what they’re seeing. Thanks so much for your time! I appreciate all your thoughtful questions man, thanks! New album : "The Zombie Dinosaur LP"

Out now!

facebook.com/mclars

RMP Magazine #24

Writer // Frederik Geuvens Photography // Jolien Krijnen

RMP Magazine #24

n the gruesome evening some lunatics invaded the Eagles Of Death Metal show at Bataclan, Paris, we at RMP attended a concert too. Unknowingly of the tragedy, we had a chat with John Christianson, better known as Johnny Christmas, from the band Reel Big Fish. We talked with him about Belgian beer, the touring life and when to expect some new material.

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INTERVIEW // REEL BIG FISH

Hi, welcome! First of all, how are you doing here in Belgium? I’m tired. We’re at the end of the European tour and this is a great place to end it. We’ve been through the UK, Holland, Germany and Switzerland this time and we’ve been out for I think four weeks. Wow, I can’t believe its gone by so quickly. All the shows were great, it’s really wonderful to be in a nice venue and be in Belgium where the world’s best beer is! We were drinking some beer after our sound check. We were at a place called “Het Kapitool” and were enjoying the crazy Belgian beer selection because that’s what we do. So you already know that you are in the capital of Stella Artois. Do you have any favourite Belgian beers? Yes, of course.

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My favourite Belgian beer is the St.Bernardus 12. I also like the Westmalle Tripel. Belgian beer is my favourite because they’re really carbonated and it’s a little sweet. I also like the ‘gueuzes’, we had a great gueuze today at the bar. It just makes your face turn insideout because it’s so sour. I really love that. It’s good to have real beer because that has been a while. We too are very big beer fans and the gueuze is also one of our favourite beers to drink and to share with people. Yeah, you know that’s one of our favourite things about beer, that you can experience it together. We’d like to get either big bottles and pour them out a little bit for everybody and it’s a really nice way to share an experience with everybody.

"YOU KNOW TH FAVOURITE THIN THAT YOU

HAT’S ONE OF OUR NGS ABOUT BEER, CAN EXPERIENCE IT TOGETHER."

That’s one of my favourite things to do. Let’s go back to touring. You’ve been touring all over Europe and these last months you toured with Suburban Legends as a support. The last time we saw you, you also performed with Suburban Legends. Is this a coincidence or is it just that you take them with you a lot along the ride? It happens every couple of years that we take those guys out because they’re a great band and a great bunch of guys and we’ve been friends for the longest time. So it just happens that the last time you saw us that they were on the bill and this time again. There were just enough years that went by that it worked out that way but I think this is going to be one of their last tours that will happen for a while but we’ll see

what the future brings. It’s hard to keep a band together and try to make a living. It’s really difﬁcult, even for us, it’s the hardest thing just to pay everybody and you can only go through for so long out of love and not make any money to support yourself or your family. So I think that’s the point that they’re at now. Today is the last day of your European tour. What do you expect from this show? It’s going to be fucking crazy! The ﬁrst show that I played in Belgium in Brussels in 2004: as we played the last song the whole crowd rushed the stage and the whole crowd was on stage with us while we were playing “Take On Me”, it was just one of the most memorable and scary experiences of my life. Because, you know, I play trumpet

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INTERVIEW // REEL BIG FISH

so if anybody bunks me or bunks my horns and cuts my lip, it just makes my life a living hell. So I was all freaked out like ‘Oh my God, look at all these people!’ and then I ﬁnally decided ‘Okay, I’m not playing, I’m running away!’. I was fearing for my life at that point. Reel Big Fish is known for their energetic, full-on shows with lots of humour and lots of jokes. Do you prepare some jokes or does it just come natural for you? They all happen organically. They’re never planned out and it’s great that Aaron (Barrett, vocals and guitar) has a great sense of humour and I think that everybody in the band has. So sometimes things will get thrown in that we don’t expect or jokes will happen that we never thought

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"...WHATEVER SONG THAT ALLOWS ME TO BE CLOSE TO MY WIFE AND GIVE HER HUGS AND LOOK HER IN THE EYES. THAT’S ALL GOOD WITH ME." would have happened. Last night, the song “10,000 miles” came out for some reason and that was awesome because as soon as the ‘tadadada’ came, the whole crowd did the same and it was totally unexpected and so much fun. We were all smiling like little schoolgirls.

The music you play is very danceable. What is your favourite song to dance to? To dance to? Oh my God! Well, it just so happens that I’m always in the band so that the opportunity to dance comes to me rarely. And when I dance with my wife, on special occasions when I’m home, when I’m not working,

I never get to pick the music. I just go ‘we’re dancing girlfriend, wife, lady’ and we both go with it. So whatever song that allows me to be close to my wife and give her hugs and look her in the eyes. That’s all good with me. Last year, you treated us very well with “Happy Skalidays” and our Christmas became a thousand times better! Was it something you wanted to do for a long time, making a Christmas album? [Laughs] Yes, we’ve been throwing that around for many years and it just so happened while we were on tour through Canada we started ﬁguring out Christmas tunes during the sound checks. It happened kind of organically that we were all like ‘Well, let’s try “Little Drummer Boy”.’ and we tried to do it a

Jamaican ska kind of way and put some Jamaican ska-quotes in there from some famous songs. It was initially going to be a full-length record and it turned out to be an EP so I don’t know if we would go back and record some more songs and make it a full-length record or what’s going to happen. Our engineer, David Irish, who was out with us, he lost his studio; the studio that we would do recordings at for about ten years so now he’s looking for another building so it’s going to take us a little while to start recording stuff again. So just be patient. Are their maybe any plans to have some sort of split record Easter/ Christmas? Or is it maybe that you don’t like Easter as much as Christmas?

There is not necessarily any Easter music in the States. At Easter play the hallelujah chorus… I guess we could play a hallelujah chorus/skathing. Can you skank to the hallelujah chorus? [hums the hallelujah chorus]. Yes, we could make it work! Here in Belgium, ska is sort of an underground genre. You don’t see many ska bands performing in really big venues like Sportpaleis. How do you feel about that, that ska still is sort of the underdog? It always kind of has been. When the music started out in Jamaica, those guys were playing for people at casinos, for white people at casinos, mixing soul and jazz and R&B and then mixing it with the traditional rhythms from Jamaica. So it was kind of always an underground thing. It just happens

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INTERVIEW // REEL BIG FISH

that it sometimes gets really popular like with Madness and The Specials in the UK and then it came to California primarily with bands like Fishbone and No Doubt and us. You know, it’s always around. It just takes another band that scores another hit on the radio because that changes things. When they hear you on the radio all the time, there will be another wave of ska bands. But it’s all over the place: it’s in the commercials that you watch, it’s in the movies that you watch. If you just keep your ears open, you’re like ‘Where did that ska-sound come from?’ in this TVcommercial for a Toyota Prius? Your lyrics and songs are mostly very funny to hear. Who writes these lyrics to for example “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer”, “The FU

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Song” and “She Has A Girlfriend Now”? “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer” was a previous song so it’s a cover of… I don’t remember the artist but that’s been around for about thirty years. “Another FU Song” and the rest, that’s all Aaron and his whit, his view on life. It’s easier to look at your life and laugh when stuff kicks you in the head than to get upset about it. And I think that’s one the great things that Reel Big Fish has done for people. We allowed them to laugh with themselves and laugh with the world and not just yourselves too seriously. It’s not that you try to get through live trying to do the best you can, because you are, but if you laugh at yourself and go ‘Okay, this is just bullshit and I’m going to laugh at it.’ you’ll be ﬁne. You know when some-

body cuts you of as you are driving to work who’s trying to drive everybody else of the road that’s just… There are too many people in this world who take themselves way too seriously. That’s deﬁnitely a problem. That’s why we have people chopping people’s heads off because they’re taking themselves way too seriously. Because they can’t laugh at themselves, because they can’t allow people to do other stuff. I mean, when you want control over the rest of the world and other people, you will run into problems. Even if you’re in a relationship and you want control over your signiﬁcant other. Things don’t work out well that way. You can’t tell people that that is what they have to do. No, it’s give and take and the more that you can laugh, you can say ‘Well,

this didn’t work out very well but I’m going to laugh about it and move on and do the next thing and do my best and of someone kicks me in the head again, I’m going to laugh and then keep going!’. It’s a good way to a good life. How many versions are there from the song S.R. (Suburban Rhythm)? There are a ton of versions! And another ton of versions that you have never heard, like there’s a beat-jazz version, there’s a White Stripes version and so on. That song started out just as the reggaeska version of that and it was a really short song and Aaron was like ‘Why don’t we try it doing this way, or that way?’. And then we all adapt and laugh and think ‘Oh, this is great!’. It got to where that part of the show was becoming so long, like over 15

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INTERVIEW // REEL BIG FISH

"...TO GO AFTER A REALLY HARD METAL BAND LIKE TESTAMENT AND TAKE THE STAGE AND EVERYBODY JUST GOES CRAZY, YOU KNOW YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT." minutes long because of all the different styles we would do. It just got to be too big and take too much time so we kind of condensed it down so there are about ﬁve versions that we do now. It’s another way that we’re laughing at ourselves, but also to go ‘Oh yeah, we can do all those other things too.’. I mean, we’re good musicians. All of us are really good musicians. Of course it’s always a hit, like when we’re going to a festival and play like after Mastodon or something and we play S.R., everybody just

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eats out of our hands, everybody just loves it so much! We can kind of be that comic relief, I guess, on some shows or festivals and it really is like a breath of fresh air for everybody, I think. We also saw you at Groezrock some time ago and of course at that festival you have a lot of hardcore bands and then you guys played among them and it was nice to have something completely different. The ﬁrst time that I remember that

happening we played after Mastodon, but right before My Chemical Romance and I was going like ‘How is this going to work?’. Because all these people were roaring their lungs out and then we take the stage and they just go crazy! I think after that Groezrock show we went to play in Dubai and we played this festival as a replacement of a band called Saxon, the old eighties hair metal band, and the bill was us, Testament, 3 Doors Down and Megadeth. “Souls Of Black” by Testament

is the very ﬁrst cd that I ever bought and “Peace Sells” of Megadeth was one of the tapes I had and I loved both of those bands. So just standing on the side of the stage watching those bands, I was like a little schoolgirl ‘Oh, this is so amazing!’. But to go after a really hard metal band like Testament and take the stage and everybody just goes crazy, you know you’re doing something right. Something somewhere we’re doing right! You just mentioned Testament and Megadeth.

What are your favourite bands aside from the ska genre? Maybe some sort of guilty pleasures? Oh no, I have no guilty pleasures! I love all the traditional Jamaican ska, I love bands like Desmond Dekker and The Wailers. We’ve been fortunate to play quite some shows with The Wailers and it has always been awesome. It’s just we’ve been really lucky to play with some of the biggest names in Jamaican ska. So aside from that, I love traditional bands like Madness, The Specials, I love it all.

It’s really hard to pin me down because I listen to a lot of different stuff. With this we’re at our last question. Thank you very much for the interview. Do you have any last words for our readers? We’ll be on tour so come and see us, come say ‘hi’! We’re really approachable guys that are really sweet, shall we say. We’ll be in a town near you soon! [laughs] facebook.com/ReelBigFish

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uicide Silence is one of the leading metal bands in the industry right now bringing on massive crowds and putting on incredible shows. With their newest tour supporting Korn, the band is opening a new chapter bringing fans and music enthusiasts a chance to see Suicide Silence in a new light. While the tour itself has been massive with tons of sold out crowds, the band is moving forward reaching a new realm of musical achievement within this industry. We got the chance to sit down and talk to vocalist Eddie Hermida to learn a little bit about what it is to be a musician and how Suicide Silence thrives in the music industry.

Writer //Jake Lahah

RMP Magazine #24

ARTICLE// SUICIDE SILENCE

From the start of a band, every musician moulds and forms himself into an artist. While each artist builds upon themselves to create something unique and beneficial, the idea of why an artist creates music is interesting. Vocalist Eddie Hermida believes it is an urge that separates the real artists and those who do it for cheap reasons. It’s this natural flow of impulse that builds an artist and creates them. One of the things that can greatly influence the mind to becoming an artist and pursuing the lifestyle of a musician, is your childhood. From a personal standpoint Eddie explained to us how growing up influenced himself to becoming an artist. “I’ve been drawn to music my whole life. I can recall my mom telling me that as an infant I would

RMP Magazine #24

sing along to anything that was on TV. I was always driven to be on stage as either theatre or music. I played trombone in elementary, middle, and high school all the way into college.” From this to starting bands at such a young age, Eddie realized that being an artist was in his blood. “Existentially, I’d say it’s something I’ve been driven to my whole life.” It’s this factor that drives a musician to pursue their career. Being an artist is an important thing and can contribute to a bigger community. When talking about the role of music in society, Eddie says that it’s one of the most important and essential parts of life. “It’s one of the many languages that everyone speaks. You don’t have to be trained in music to understand it,”

"THE THIN

Eddie says when talking speaking about music’s inﬂuence. “It’s probably the most important next to air and water.” The thing that fuels this

NG THAT FUELS THIS BAND IS PASSION THEY HAVE FOR THEIR MUSIC."

band is passion they have for their music. The passion this band has for their music and their fan base is unbelievable, reaching to

new heights unknown to other bands. While the band Suicide Silence holds back from feeling the responsibility to preach a message

or prove a point, they just try to do what they love and play music. Eddie explains, “We just want people to be there and present and have a good time.”While this is what Suicide Silence wants their fans to do in a more simplistic term, it goes much deeper than that. Eddie explained, “Your life is yours and if you aren’t being there and present in it every day, you are doing a disservice to yourself. There’s multiple facets behind that and if you look into the lyrics individually you’ll realize there is more behind it.” The importance of being present and actively engaged at a show is what matters to Suicide Silence, and reality they just want people to share the experience of their live shows with them. This translation between the band and fans is done through the live show.

RMP Magazine #24

ARTICLE// SUICIDE SILENCE

"THE BIGGEST THING IS BRINGING IN POSITIVITY AND LETTING OUT NEGATIVITY."

A Suicide Silence show is nothing without a loud, in-your-face experience. The legacy of a long-time band is translated into what is one of the most powerful live shows out there bringing out the best they can. Eddie brings out the best in the crowd with people going absolutely crazy for their sets. This inviting and enthusiastic performance calls fans to participate and really

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enjoy the show, even with a genre that isn’t the best in taste. What really motivates the band to put on top notch performances, is the importance of being yourself. The live performance is what makes a band great, and that they love what they are doing. When talking to Eddie about it, he explains that it easy to tell when a band does it because they love it versus a band that does it for other obligations. “There’s a big difference there,” he says. “One of those guys is going to have a great time for the rest of their life, while the other person is probably going to struggle.” Eddie also explains how this is something that can relate to anything, and that it is something universal that anyone can apply to their life.

When being yourself there is more to just the live show. Within the actual writing process there’s a level and truth and honesty. When we asked Eddie if artists hold the responsibility to speak the truth in society, he said that it simply doesn’t matter and that it is completely possible for an artist to talk about something false. Eddie, explains, “If you are going to be speaking about topical things such as the government or your personal experiences, it’s better to be honest because you are going to get a real reaction.” To Suicide Silence, the importance of being honest is what makes the development of the music and person. All in all, Suicide Silence just wants people to be true to themselves and wants people to be

creating music and art for the sake of honesty and positivity. Up next for the band: writing a new record, and they are very excited to get back into the studio. Eddie told us, “We are really excited to start doing that and start writing mainly just to write it even if we don’t put it out. It’s one of those things that we want to write a record. It’s almost as if we can satisfy ourselves and throw the damn thing away. The biggest thing is we want to write a record that is pure and is us.” Be sure to stay on the lookout for some new music from Suicide Silence as they ﬁnish up 2015 with a killer tour. facebook.com/suicidesilence

RMP Magazine #24

Writer // David Marote

RMP Magazine #24

witzerland, hidden between mountains, renounced for its chocolate, cheese and of course their world famous privacy concerning ďŹ nancial banking. And also home to Herod, the sludge noise mongers whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re blazing trails for a few years now. We at RMP Magazine had a nice chat with Pierre, guitar player and founder of Herod, regarding their project and the recent European tour during a turbulent period for live music in Europe. Cheers !

RMP Magazine #24

INTERVIEW // HEROD

For the readers that don't know the phenomena ‘Herod’ yet. Please introduce yourself and the band. Hi! Pierre here, guitar player and founder of the band. I started riffing the first chords when I was living in Sweden in 2006. Eight years later, we released the debut album “They were none” on the Danish Label Mighty Music influenced by the great north like Breach, Meshuggah and Cult of Luna!

know the biggest Metal Swiss bands which are Coroner, Celtic Frost or Samael? Actually Switzerland is a great place to live and the music scene is quite rich. In our music genre (sludge/postcore/ chaotic prog-shit) there are many great Swiss bands we use to share the stage with such as Cortez, Kruger, Coilguns, Abraham, Zatokrev, and many others, we all actually were fan of before Herod.

Herod hails from Switzerland, a country that many don't know too well except for Swiss athletes and the magniﬁcent chocolate and cheese. But asides the obvious clichés, how would you describe Switzerland and your position within the Swiss music scene? Maybe people will

Herod's music is highly inﬂuenced by another, not Swiss, music scene, namely Swedish death metal. One of the members even lived in Malmo. How does Sweden connect to Switzerland and Herod? I lived in Malmö for six months in 2006 and that was the ﬁrst time I started writing music. I bought a baritone strat

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and I tuned it as low as possible and I started rifﬁng in my room, that was a really creative trip. It’s weird because I try to ﬁnd again that creative mood to write the second album, but today I live in a chalet in the middle of the vineyards in Switzerland!

"I BOUGHT A BARITONE STRAT AND I TUNED IT AS LOW AS POSSIBLE AND I STARTED RIFFING IN MY ROOM, THAT WAS A REALLY CREATIVE TRIP."

The band recently embarked on a European tour with bands as Carcass and Obituary. The Deathcrusher tour led you to many European countries. How has it been? Amazing and exhausting as we were also part of the Carcass crew. We played

amazing venues in front of massive audiences and every band was really nice to us. We made friends for life and gained a lot of fans. There was also a sort of tour journal online 'Le Journal du Hard'. Although in French

I understood that it's sort of a blog describing how tour life can be. How has the response been on the journal? Really funny you heard about that [laughing]. Yeah, the local newspaper asked me to make like a diary of the tour,

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INTERVIEW // HEROD

"I WISH EVERYONE WILL EAT AS MUCH AS THEY CAN DURING CHRISMAS TIME BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT WE ARE GONNA DO."

so I did an article every week. Next to the exciting parts of being ignored by headliners and the constant dreadful waiting game that touring is, you also wrote about the Paris 'Le Bataclan’ terrorist incident. Herod was touring Europe at the same time the at-

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tack occurred and still had to play Paris later during the tour. What were your thoughts on this terrible news? Sure, that was weird. We were in Leipzig when that happened. We had to play in Paris 10 days later and mostly everyone wanted to play the gig, the show must go on.

Regarding the tragedy, I think we all have a different opinion, mine is quite rude because I think France cannot be naive and think they can have that kind of international policy and no ‘feedback’. We enter a new era and those people have the advantage to die for their ideas, in Europe

get back to rehearsal, I already have a few riffs in the pocket.

no one is ready to die for a cause or values.

“They Were None”, your latest album has been released some time now. Any plans on recording new material soon or has the touring bug got to you and will touring be a priority ﬁrst? Sure, so for 2016 we’ll

If we need to deﬁne Herod, then the mostcalled genre would be ‘Progressive Sludge’ according to the internet. Citing inﬂuences such as Meshuggah, Cult Of Luna, Converge, and Breach, it makes it hard to categorize your sound. How would you describe your band and style if needed? As we play 8-strings it was important to us to take an opposite direction ampwise, so we only use vintage amps on the record. Our producer Julien Fehlmann worked previously with awesome Swiss bands such as Unfold, Forceed or Coilguns and I was really pleased when he decided to produce our album.

features some noise/ drone sounds and uses intros frequently. Like the Russian female voice at the beginning of “No Forgiveness For Vultures”. For us nonRussian speaking folks, could you explain what the intro deals about? That is words from Master and Margarita from Mikhail Bulgakov (1967), the story talks about a visit by the devil in the atheistic Soviet Union. Any last words, advice or other news you'd like to share with us? I wish everyone will eat as much as they can during Chrismas time because this is what we are gonna do. But check our sound ﬁrst www.herodnoise.com Cheers! facebook.com/HerodNoise

The album also

RMP Magazine #24

oma Commander, repeat it fast for ten times and you'll probably blur out something resembling an 80's hit by Culture Club. But enough with the crap of male cow, time to introduce Belgium's newest punk heroes, Coma Commander. Hailing from Diest, these fellows have recently released their second EP since their conception in 2012 on the brand new Belgian record label Bearded Punk Records. Coma Commander had the pleasure to have the ďŹ rst release on the new label and RMP is here to bring you the grit and dirt about their hit EP â&#x20AC;&#x153;Council Of The Jackalopesâ&#x20AC;?.

RMP Magazine #24

Writer // David Marote

RMP Magazine #24

INTERVIEW // COMA COMMANDER

"WE HAD THE BEST TIME RECORDING THESE SONGS, AND I SOMEHOW LIKE TO BELIEVE YOU CAN HEAR THAT ON THE RECORD."

RMP Magazine #24

Hello, ﬁrst things ﬁrst, congratulations with the new release “Council Of The Jackalopes”. It's been on the streets for some weeks now, how has the response been so far? Thanks man! The response has been pretty amazing so far. Some people really seem to dig the new songs, which is really cool. We’re also quite happy with the way the EP turned out ourselves. It was a real treat working together with Thomas Valkiers at his Hightime Studio. We had the best time recording these songs, and I somehow like to believe you can hear that on the record. Coma Commander was formed late 2012, this release is already your second (excluding the demo), could you introduce Coma Commander and its current

path to the readers? Sure. We did our ﬁrst show in Diest at the end of 2012. Then we went on playing shows for an entire year without releasing anything. At the end of 2013 we released a ﬁrst EP which contained six songs. The next year or so we kept on playing these songs over and over again whilst slacking off completely writing-wise. Then when we started writing again and it turned out we’ve gotten a little better at it so we got super excited for doing the “Council Of The Jackalope” EP, which we released at the end of November. Right now we’re keeping ourselves busy trying to get the new songs out there and we’re also writing new stuff already in the hopes we get a little better at it this time.

“Council Of The Jackalopes” is the ﬁrst release on the spanking brand new Belgian label Bearded Punk Records. Coma Commander is the ﬁrst band releasing on it, how does it feel? It feels amazing, man! It’s been pretty rad having Gregory and his crew helping us getting the EP out for the masses to hear. I’m pretty sure they’re destined for great things and bands! They’re also just really cool and fun people doing this thing they love in their spare time, just like all the bands they sign. That’s something to admire. DIY ethics and such. You recently performed the release show in your hometown of Diest. Was it an allnighter that has left Diest with some deep wounds or even worse? I think it’s safe to say

it was even worse. We had the best time that night! More or less 200 people were crammed into our local youth club ‘Jeugdhuis Tijl’. The sets from Old Souls, Off The Charts and the almighty Cornﬂames were super sweet and we might have played our best set yet ourselves. To top it all off, Piekpries spun some sweet records at the after party. We couldn’t have wished for a better turnout. Early December Coma Commander embarked on an international mission. A prolonged weekend-tour starting in France and ending up conquering the UK territory. Any dirty deeds from that tour you wish to share? I’m going to have to let you down here man, no dirty deeds for these fellers. Turns out we’re a pretty boring band.

RMP Magazine #24

INTERVIEW // COMA COMMANDER

"IT'S EASY TO SELL PEOPLE ON THE IDEA THAT THEY EXIST BECAUSE ADMIT IT, WHAT WOULD BE COOLER THAN RABBITS WITH ANTLERS?" We basically did some sightseeing and somehow always ended up playing pool and drinking expensive beers at some bar in the afternoon. Our pool skills got way better though! The artwork of “Council Of The Jackalopes” is an eye catcher. It features a rabbit with antlers aka the mythical creature ‘the jackalope’. But what is ‘the council of jackalopes’ then? Horny/horned rabbits on sexual a

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quest? Well, basically it's a metaphor for the way politicians run and promote their agendas. Most of them claim to serve the greater good, but in the end that greater good often turns out to be non-existent, like a jackalope. It's easy to sell people on the idea that they exist because admit it, what would be cooler than rabbits with antlers? Sadly though they're just a myth.

The ﬁrst music video is also out on the world wide web, “Christopher Robin And The Giant Blisters” received the honour of being immortalised by an animated video. How has the response been? Pretty okay. At least three people told me they really like the song. It's actually a lyrics video that sports Popeye the sailor man. What led to the choice of that spinach indus-

try supporting cartoon figure and how should we perceive the connection to the band? Yeah, there's not really a story behind the Popeye. He's just a cult figure from our youth and we love hinting towards old pop culture in our music. For a large part they sort of shaped our creative minds, just like Christopher Robin from the title did, or Scooby Doo from the song “If It Wasn't For Those Meddling Kids”. The band has been compared to some varying bands yet, from Lagwagon and NUFAN to the more gruff-orientated bands. But what defines Coma Commander to yourselves? Bands, scenes, movies anything goes. I’m going to go ahead and give the cliché answer most bands give. It’s the sum of all

our different influences that makes Coma Commander what it is. We all listen to so much different styles of music, so it’s hard to really name bands that influence us as a band. We mostly write the basic songs as a threepiece because Bram’s a famous graphic artist and has no time for our shitty punkrock band and Jef’s a psychologist in Gent, so he actually has stuff to do. Jeroen, Ward and me work out the basic parts, riffs and structures for the songs, then Jef puts on a bassline and Bram adds the main vocal part. We come up with all the harmonies and dubbing stuff in the studio. I don’t really know how other bands work on their songs, but this could define us, I guess. Any news, gossip or future plans that you

wish to inform of us? We’re busy writing new stuff right now. We hope to hit the studio again around February and to release two songs in the form of a split 7” with a cool band by next summer. In February we’re also going on a three-day French weekender with our new buddies in The Burnt Tapes (UK). We’re playing Crossbonefest, our favourite Belgian fest, so that’s really cool. Maybe a full-length by 2017? Who knows, we’ll see how writing goes.

New album : "Council Of The Jackalope"

Out now !

facebook.com/comacommander

RMP Magazine #24

Writer // Jake Bower

RMP Magazine #24

e Came As Romans is on a global attack conquesting their empire. Recently they toured extensively leading them into eastern territories such as Russia, Latvia and Lithuania. RMP took some time to get to know some more of the Troy based gladiators during their UK stop. With a new self titled release under the arm and a new direction soundwise we thought it would be nice to dig in and ďŹ nd out what We Came As Romans see for the future of their music in 2016.

RMP Magazine #24

INTERVIEW // WE CAME AS ROMANS

So, how’s the tour going? Tonight’s technically only the second night but we’ve been out for two weeks previously in Russia, Latvia & Lithuania, it’s been an extensive trip already. Awesome! So which has been your favourite show? Russia was pretty wild, they’re just always so crazy over there! Not many bands get to go through there so when a band does make it through people just lose their minds. Plus, they’re so drunk on vodka and emotions [laughs]. Obviously the crowds on this tour have been bigger so far but it’s hard to top that type of energy. You guys released your self-titled album “We Came As Romans” earlier this year, and it’s a bit of a different sound

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- it’s awesome by the way - how do you think it’s been received? We knew we were going to lose some fans because it’s a step in a different direction, but I think for every couple we’ve lost we’ve picked up a few new ones and that was kind of the goal. You can’t just keep writing the same shit, you have to change and unfortunately with change you’re going to lose some fans but you just have to hope that the new music is good enough to pick up some new fans. Do you have any big touring plans for 2016? We’re coming back here for a lot of the festivals so that’ll be cool! I think especially with the new sound the festivals will be really good for us. In the past couple of

years, we’ve seen a lot of venues close down due to a lack of funding and a lot of bands break up because they can no longer afford to tour or commit to the band full time, what do you think we can do to keep live music from becoming irrelevant? It’s a really big problem with millennials, they don’t want to pay for music and they don’t want to pay for your show, they just want to watch it on YouTube. I’m not saying that everybody does this, but for venues and bands that are just trying to sell records to live, it’s really starting to hurt. My only advice for people that like music is, go fucking see them. As soon as bands stop getting support, as soon as venues stop getting support that’s when bands stop coming around and venues start shutting down. It

"OBVIOUSLY THE CROWDS ON THIS TOUR HAVE BEEN BIGGER SO FAR BUT IT始S HARD TO TOP THAT TYPE OF ENERGY."

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INTERVIEW // WE CAME AS ROMANS

"MY ONLY ADVICE FOR PEOPLE THAT LIKE MUSIC IS, GO ." all comes down to the listener. We get a lot of fan mail where people say ‘Oh please come to Florida’ or wherever and it’s down to them, if you like a venue and you like a band: go. If you’re going to listen to music on Spotify instead of buying an album, use that money to buy a ticket to see that band play live. Do you think there’s a way to encourage people to come down to shows more? Unfortunately, bands don’t make money selling music anymore so bands have to tour which means there are so many bands and

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tour packages competing for audiences. Bands have to think about what’s going to make people come see their show instead of the one down the street and I think on the band’s part that just involves making sure you keep the tour packages interesting, so right now we’re on tour with One Ok Rock and I don’t think any of their fans have heard of us and I don’t think many of our fans will have heard of them so it’s a good way to get too. Finally, what does music mean to you? Beyond being my en-

tire livelihood it changes my mood, helps me pass the time, I hate saying something generic like ‘music means everything to me’ but when I’m travelling I’m listening to music, in my down time I’m writing music, when I’m working I’m making music. It just consumes my life.

New album : "We Came As Romans"

Out now !

facebook.com/wecame asromans

09.01 KAVKA ANTWERP

AVERSIONS CROWN(AU)

14.02 M.O.D. HASSELT

ESCAPE THE FATE(US) + NEW YEARS DAY(US) + FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS(UK) + LIKE A STORM(NZ) --------------------------------------------------------------14.02 HET BOS ANTWERP (ND) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------16.02 AB BRUSSEL

+ RINGS OF SATURN + A NIGHT IN TEXAS (AU) --------------------------------------------------------------10.01 M.O.D. HASSELT

(US)

SPIDERGAWD

THERION

(SE)

+ LUCIFERIAN LIGHT ORCHESTRA(SE) + EGO FALL(CN) + IMPERIAL AGE(RU) --------------------------------------------------------------17.01 DE MAST TORHOUT (US) IGNITE + TERROR(US) (US)

+ H2O + IRON REAGAN(US) + TWITCHING TONGUES(US) + WISDOM IN CHAINS(US) + RISK IT(DE) --------------------------------------------------------------27.01 M.O.D. HASSELT

TRIBULATION(SE)

+ GRAVE PLEASURES(FI) + VAMPIRE(SE) --------------------------------------------------------------07.02 TRIX ANTWERP

THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE &

I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE + MEWITHOUTYOU(US) ---------------------------------------------------------------

10.02 KAVKA ANTWERP

MAYDAY PARADE

(US)

+ HAVE MERCY(US) + BEAUTIFUL BODIES(US) --------------------------------------------------------------11.02 HET BOS ANTWERP

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN(IS)

+ DEAD LORD --------------------------------------------------------------13.02 M.O.D. HASSELT (SE)

LIONHEART

(US)

+ DESOLATED(UK) + KUBLAI KHAN(US) + FALLBRAWL(DE)

Up In Smoke Roadfestival VII

STONED JESUS(UA)

+ MARS RED SKY(FR) + BELZEBONG(PL) --------------------------------------------------------------04.03 M.O.D. HASSELT (NL) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------05.03 TRIX ANTWERP

TEXTURES Together Fest:

PARKWAY DRIVE

GORILLA BISCUITS(US) (US)

Up In Smoke Roadfestival VI:

MAYBESHEWILL

(AU)

EMP PERSISTENCE TOUR:

03.03 VK BRUSSELS

+ ARCHITECTS(UK) + THY ART IS MURDER(AU) --------------------------------------------------------------18.02 TRIX ANTWERP

MY SLEEPING KARMA(DE) + GREENLEAF(SE)

TRACER

+ MAMMOTH MAMMOTH(AU) --------------------------------------------------------------19.02 TRIX ANTWERP

BURNING DOWN ALASKA(DE)

STICK TO YOUR GUNS(US)

+ STRAY FROM THE PATH(US)

+ COUNTERPARTS + WOLF DOWN --------------------------------------------------------------24.02 KAVKA ANTWERP (CA)

+ MODERN LIFE IS WAR + TOUCHE AMORE(US)+ GWLT(DE)+... --------------------------------------------------------------11.03 VK BRUSSELS (UK) +... --------------------------------------------------------------14.03 KAVKA ANTWERP (AU) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------19.03 M.O.D. HASSELT + ACRES(UK) + CASEY(UK) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------27.03 MAGASIN 4 BRUSSELS (CA) + PSYCROPTIC(AU) (US) + DYSRHYTHMIA +NERO DI MARTE(IT) --------------------------------------------------------------03.04 KLINKER AARSCHOT

GORGUTS (DE)

FRANK CARTER & (UK)

DECAPITATED(PL)

SATURNALIA TEMPLE(SE)

POWER TRIP

THE RATTLESNAKES +... --------------------------------------------------------------01.03 TRIX ANTWERP + SARDONIS(BE) --------------------------------------------------------------02.03 TRIX ANTWERP (JP) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------02.03 M.O.D. HASSELT

CROSSFAITH

AGAINST THE CURRENT(US) + ...

+ HEART OF A COWARD(UK) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------25.05 KAVKA ANTWERP (US) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------01.06 TRIX ANTWERP (US) + ... --------------------------------------------------------------04.08 DE STIP HAM

ISSUES

WHILE SHE SLEEPS(UK) + ...

---------------------------------------------------------------

05.08 M.O.D. HASSELT

FLAG(US) + ...

RMP Magazine #24

//PHOTOSPECIAL photographer's choice of 2015

RMP Magazine #24

PHOTOSPECIAL// PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE OF 2015

//MAYDAY PARADE

JAKE LAHAH:

This is probably close to my favourite photo I took in 2015 because I’m indecisive. Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade always is a wild one when it comes to stage performance. When I found out Mayday Parade was headlining this year’s Alternative Press tour, I made sure to make it out and photograph it. The AP Tour in 2010 was my very first concert I had ever gone to. So it was a bit of a nostalgia to be photographing the show five years later. I knew that Mayday Parade was going to have the largest production they have ever had before with an insane lighting rig. I caught Derek Sanders mid-air during their third song and it was an honoured moment for me because I had finally gotten a Mayday Parade shot that I was really happy and proud of. My exposure, composition, and lighting was set perfectly and I am super grateful of the outcome of my work.

RMP Magazine #24

PHOTOSPECIAL// PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE OF 2015

//COHEED AND CAMBRIA

JURIAAN HODZELMANS:

RMP gives so many opportunities for me to shoot pictures at so many gigs. I even could go to the UK to be a photographer at Hevy Fest and shoot this pic of Coheed And Cambria. This certainly has been one of the highlights of 2015.

RMP Magazine #24

PHOTOSPECIAL// PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE OF 2015

//BLESS THE FALL

CARL BATTAMS:

This shot is of Beau Bokan from Bless The Fall taken early in 2015 when they supported Architects on their European tour. There are many reasons why I like this image, the most noticeable is the stance of Beau: "Hors up!”, the symbol of rock and metal. I also like the composition: he is almost in the middle of the band’s banner, which brings me onto the colour and tone of the image. I really like how the colours are the same and reﬂect the album cover "Hollow Bodies". Especially as the lighting was challenging and forever changing. Last of all I feel the image represents a thank you back to the audience for supporting them and making everything that they do possible. Which of my photographs is my absolute favourite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow!

RMP Magazine #24

PHOTOSPECIAL// PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE OF 2015

//FRANK CARTER

JENNIFER MCCORD:

I picked this shot because it was not only one of my favourite shows of 2015 but I just like that it's a moment of sereneness. Frank is such a crazy front man and I just felt like I wanted to highlight the emotion and energy he puts into his performance.

RMP Magazine #24

LIST// BEST OF 2015

Lisa Gritter //LisainLaLaland BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Lonely The Brave //The Day’s War 'Victory Edition’ 2. Pianos Become The Teeth //Keep You 3. Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes // Blossom 4. Foals //What Went Down 5. Elegies // Daylight Disease

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Brand New, Melkweg//Amsterdam (NL) 2. Lonely The Brave, Melkweg //Amsterdam (NL) 3. Every Time I Die, Patronaat //Haarlem (NL) 4. Pianos Become The Teeth, Winston //Amsterdam (NL) 5. A Place To Bury Strangers, Melkweg //Amsterdam (NL)

Johan Quinten //Vocals Homer & owner Funtime Records BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Baroness //Purple 2. Kendrick Lamar //To Pimp A Butterﬂy 3. Steak Number Eight //Kosmokoma 4. Adventures //Supersonic Home 5. Boy Sets Fire //Boy Sets Fire

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. The Guru Guru, Funtime Festival //Aarschot (BE) 2. Not Again, Brakrock //Duffel (BE) 3. The Loved Ones, Groezrock //Meerhout (BE) 4. F.O.D., Groezrock //Meerhout (BE) 5. Miava, Sojo //Leuven (BE)

RMP Magazine #24

LIST// BEST OF 2015

Jolien Krijnen //RMP magazine BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Bring Me The Horizon //That's The Spirit 2. Papa Roach //F.E.A.R 3. Lamb Of God //VII: Sturm Und Drang 4. Halestorm //Into The Wild Life 5. Five Finger Death Punch //Got Your Six

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Nothing More, Trix //Antwerp (BE) 2. Halestorm, Pukkelpop //Kiewit (BE) 3. Reel Big Fish, Depot //Leuven (BE) 4. Slipknot, Graspop Metal Meeting //Dessel (BE) 5. Linkin Park, Pukkelpop //Kiewit (BE)

Frederik Geuvens //RMP magazine BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Lamb Of God //VII: Sturm Und Drang 2. Bring Me The Horizon //That's The Spirit 3. Periphery //Juggernaut: Alpha 4. Marilyn Manson //The Pale Emperor 5. Carach Angren //This Is No Fairytale

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Lamb Of God, Graspop Metal Meeting //Dessel (BE) 2. Nothing More, Trix //Antwerp (BE) 3. Marilyn Manson , Graspop Metal Meeting //Dessel (BE) 4. Slipknot, Graspop Metal Meeting //Dessel (BE) 5. Motionless In White, Graspop Metal Meeting //Dessel (BE)

RMP Magazine #24

LIST// BEST OF 2015

Gregory Lambrechts //Owner Bearded Punk Records BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Jeff Rosenstock //We cool? 2. Beach Slang //The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us 3. Spraynard //Mable 4. Hop Along //Painted Shut 5. The Sidekicks //Runners In The Nerved World

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Beach Slang, JH JoeNiz //Zoersel (BE) 2. The Menzingers Acoustic, Fest //Gainesville, Florida (US) 3. Rozwell Kid, Fest //Gainesville, Florida (US) 4. Apologies, I Have None, Crossbonefest //Houthalen (BE) 5. Muncie Girls + Such Gold, Dvorana Gustaf //Maribor (SI)

Elegies //Band BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Don Broco //Automatic 2. While She Sleeps //Brainwashed 3. Creeper //Calious Heart 4. Crooks //Are We All The Same Distance Apart 5. Bring Me The Horizon //That's The Spirit

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Frank Carter and the rattlesnakes, Leadmill //Sheffield (UK) 2. Bring Me The Horizon, Ziggo Dome //Amsterdam (NL) 3. Kendrick Lamar, Leeds Festival //Leeds (UK) 4. While She Sleeps + Elegies + Halfsight, Leadmill //Sheffield (UK) 5. Brand New, 02 Acadamy //Sheffield (UK)

RMP Magazine #24

LIST// BEST OF 2015

David Marote //RMP magazine BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Supergenius //Making Shapes 2. Wiegedood //De Doden Hebben Het Goed 3. Nightbirds //Mutiny On Muscle Beach 4. Joey Cape //Stitch Puppy 5. The Infamous Gehenna //Deathkamp ov The Skull

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Wiegedood, Broelkapel //Kortrijk (BE) 2. American Nightmare, Groezrock //Meerhout (BE) 3. NĂ&#x2DC;FX (coverband NOFX), Jera On Air//Ysselsteyn (NL) 4. The Smith Street Band, Dynamo //Eindhoven (NL) 5. The Hell, Groezrock //Meerhout (BE)

Trophy Lungs //Band BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Choke Up //Black Coffee Bad Habits 2. Timeshares //Already Dead 3. Remnants //Remnants self titled 4. Fuck You Idiot //The Winter Of Our Diss Content 5. Warm Needles //Inconsolable

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Fucko, Charlies Kitchen //Massachusetts (US) 2. Save Ends + Rebuilder, Sinclair //Massachusetts (US) 3. Mike and Chels engagement party, Liars Club //Chicago (US) 4. Remainders + CID, + Bernies, Gooski's //Pittsburgh (US) 5. Timeshares + Choke Up + The New Warden, Great Scott //Massachusetts (US)

RMP Magazine #24

LIST// BEST OF 2015

Lode De Feyte //Drummer F.O.D. BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Local Resident Failure //This here's the Hard Part 2. Boy Sets Fire //Boy Sets Fire 3. Hellions //Indian Summer 4. Strung Out //Transmission.Alpha.Delta 5. Youth Decay //The Party's Over

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. F.O.D., Groezrock //Meerhout (BE) 2. Strung Out, Elysee //Oostende (BE) 3. Lagwagon, Den Atelier //Luxemburg (LU) 4. Adrenalized, Mogambo //Donostia (ES) 5. Hellions, De Helling //Utrecht (NL)

Jesse Mouart //RMP Magazine BEST ALBUM 2015 1. Stick To Your Guns //Disobedient 2. Wolf Down //Liberation EP 3. Turnstile //Non Stop Feeling 4. H20 //Use Your Voice 5. Terror //The 25th Hour

BEST LIVE SHOW 2015 1. Darkness Over Christmas tour, Sputnikhalle //Münster (DE) 2. Bane's ﬁnal European tour, Kavka //Antwerp (BE) 3. Steel Panter and Lounge Kittens European Tour, AB //Brussel (BE) 4. Die Antwoord European Tour, Lotto Arena //Antwerp (BE) 5. Ieper Hardcore festival, Ieper Hardcore festival //Ieper (BE)

RMP Magazine #24

playing …and out come the wolves

Me First & the Gimme Gimmes FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS Sick Of It All © Less Than Jake Four Year Strong Dillinger Four 30 years anniversary

excl. benelux

excl. mainland eu

Biohazard © Dag Nasty © The Movielife © Emmure © Letlive Saosin (with Anthony Green) © Juliette & The Licks © No Fun At All Youth Of Today © BlessTheFall © The Aggrolites © burn Modern Baseball © Venerea © Flatcat © Success © Night Birds Rozwell Kid © Siberian Meat Grinder © Bad Cop Bad Cop © Pears

APRIL 29 & 30 | MEERHOUT (BE) TICKETS FRIDAY €65/€75 SATURDAY €70/€80 DOORS: FRIDAY 15.00 SATURDAY 11.00 CAMPING THU 18.00 COMBI €98/€115 CAMPING €15/€20 CAMPING TICKETS ARE NOT SOLD SEPARATELY

W W W.GROE ZROCK .BE

RMP Magazine #24

ALBUM REVIEWS

Shit Outta Luck New Generation Hardcore punkrock at it 's meanest and rawest, that's what Shit Outta Luck is aiming for. And bull’s eye is exactly what these Antwerp punks have achieved with their first EP “New Generation”. Five raging tracks clocking in at a total of over ten minutes. Pure vitriol regarding life, work and all that other shit that keeps us from being truly happy. Starting off with the national anthem of Belgium as an intro and “Der Fuhrer” as an outro proves that no restraints are at hand for Shit Outta Luck. Streetcore raging through the speakers is what you'll get and if you disagree the fellows will gladly take a dump on your chest and if you're lucky they might not even wipe their asses with your face. Oh, and they will also be playing a GG Allin cover set at Eindhoven Classic Fest later this year!

By David Marote

RMP Magazine #24

The Waiting Game Bend Or Break

Baroness Purple

Screamo, indie and punk rock: three main ingredients that Belgian band The Waiting Game put in their blender and contorted into a cocktail of fresh tunes. A dash of '90ies feel and their amazing talent top off their debut EP “Bend Or Break”.

"Purple" is the highly-anticipated fourth studio album of Baroness. These four guys from Savannah, Georgia, show once more why they’re getting in line with larger acts in the genre like Mastodon or Valkyrie.

Hailing from other Belgian bands as Campus, The Violet and Get Off My Shoes, these fellows already earned their merits in the local scene and are ready to break some glass ceilings. Emotional, heartdriven tracks and a passionate, energetic live set will lead them onto bigger stages and venues soon. If you're into Get Up Kids, Brand New and so on The Waiting Game might be your next revelation soon.

Their raw sound with wailing vocals grasp you by the throat with just a few occasions to breath normally like during “Try To Disappear” or “Fugue”. Real highlights are “Shock Me”, “The Iron Bell”, with a guitar solo that could remind you of Thin Lizzy, and the heart-breaking “If I Have to Wake Up (Would You Stop the Rain?)”. Last but not least the 30 seconds long “Crossroads of Infinity” leaves you with a confused but satisfied feeling with a strange preference for the colour purple...

By David Marote

By Frederik Geuvens

ALBUM REVIEWS

Night Birds Mutiny At Muscle Beach

Evening Call Restore

‘Modern hardcore’ always seems like a strange term to me, but it's actually what Evening Call is all about. Hailing from Liege, Belgium, this band recently released their latest EP titled “Restore”. Blending hardcore (or better called ‘old hardcore’ then) with the more progressive sounds that makes a band ‘modern hardcore’. Melodic parts, clean vocals and clean guitar parts all contributing to an eclectic mix that finds it roots in hardcore but takes it a step further. Another step forward in the organic growing process for Evening Call.

Surfpunk! Night Birds are one of the bands I have been following on my radar for a while because they just kick ass! They are straightforward, ‘no holds barred’ punk rocking madness. Giving the fact that these fellows recently released their latest album “Mutiny At Muscle Beach” on Fat Wreck Chords they had to be doing something right. Their previous album “Born To Die In Suburbia” has already been spun to smithereens on my record player and “Mutiny At Muscle Beach” is sure to receive the same destination.

The "Restore" EP holds four tracks that bring contemporary hardcore, heavy sounds, tons of breaks and ranging from cleaner melodic vocals to straight-up grunts. Evening Call takes it all out and balls it into one ferocious EP. Following their examples such as Stick To Your Guns, Defeater and even Architects these Walloons deliver a nifty EP featuring four tracks of hardcore version 2015.

Mixing old school ‘Hey ho let's go’ punk rock with more surf-orientated sounds leads to the blood pumping tunes of Night Birds. The fellows of Night Birds are chock-full of adrenaline and energy when playing live, bouncing back and forward off the stage as if their live depends on it, delivering a raunchy, edgy performance. Just the thing that punk rock should be all about. “Mutiny At Muscle Beach” is a must-have for those who love energetic music that oozes out of the speakers.

By David Marote

RMP Magazine #24

ALBUM REVIEWS

Born Of Osiris Soulsphere

Illinois’ finest deathcore band, Born Of Osiris, has treated us once more with a mathematical masterpiece! Their fourth studio album “Soulsphere” is drowned in airtight guitar riffs with a mix of heartbreaking and beastlike vocals. As a listener you will get sucked into an unworldly universe with no chance of escape before the end of these 12 highly technical tracks. Of course because of the tight mix everything could sound too generic, especially the drums which are triggered to the maximum. The excessive use of sound samples could be positive or negative, depending on the listener but I think if Born Of Osiris can pull off the tight performance on this album in a live setting, no one would dare to whine about the samples. Highlights on this album are the very catchy “Throw Me In The Jungle”, “Illuminate” and “The Louder The Sound, The More We All Believe”. The outsider on the album could be closing track “The Composer”. This song begins with the typical Born Of Osiris wall of sound but ends with an interesting techno/classical composition. A real ‘ear catcher’!

By Frederik Geuvens

RMP Magazine #24

homer Loved Loss

“Loved Loss” is the latest EP from Belgium hardcore punks Homer. The band has been paving the way for Belgian hardcore and punk for over 17 years and vocalist Johan even runs his own record label named Funtime records. So these guys have earned their merits in the scene long time ago, and still continue to amaze the scene with their epic live performances. And now with a new EP called “Loved Loss”. Six new tracks will make you jump in the pit and wreak havoc on all around. Homer's typical style of hardcore and punk rock with the trademark vocals of Johan ranging from straight-up screaming to melodic clean parts are being supported by the magnificent musical talent that this bands holds. The guitar parts sound better than ever before, the drums are spot on the beat, not too much, precise and all leading to one epic release by Belgium's pride. If you haven't seen Homer live over the years then 2016 is the year you need to drag your ass out there and witness this live monster. You won't regret it, RMP guaranteed.

By David Marote

ALBUM REVIEWS

We Came As Romans We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans has been paving their wayward way for about ten years now. With their latest album, simply called “We Came As Romans”, this five-piece from Troy, Michigan, illustrates once more they are not afraid to reinvent themselves. Of course you’ll hear the clean vocals of Kyle Pavone, although far less auto-tuned than we’re used to, and the typical positive message We Came As Romans stands for. But you’ll also hear a lot of clean backings from screamer Dave Stephens and more modest intermezzi with samples to build up the contrast between the sing-a-long pieces we all know so well with this band. We even hear Dave rap in “Tear It Down”, a song that could just as well be released by Linkin Park or Papa Roach. The only downside on this album is the simplicity of the musical arrangements in comparison to their older songs. The musical instruments seem to be of secondary importance to the samples which seem to be in their turn in function of the vocals. Nevertheless, this album has a couple of songs you have to listen. For example, “The World I Used To Know”, “Blur” and “Defiance” are tracks that in a live setting will be in line with older hits like “To Plant A Seed” and “To Move On Is To Grow”. By Frederik Geuvens

Zebrahead Walk The Plank

“Walk The Plank” is already the twelfth studio album of Californian punk rockers Zebrahead. Their straightforward, ‘I don’t care what everyone else thinks’ attitude is once more reflected in these 13 songs of pure happiness and absurdity. This whirlwind with black and white stripes will make you dance in no time! Who could stand still with instant classics like “Who Brings A Knife To A Gun Fight?”, “Headrush”, “Save Your Breath” or “Wasted Generation”? Of course there’s also time for the more soft-hearted fans. “So What”, “Keep It To Myself” and title track “Walk The Plank” are slower songs talking about typical teenage angsts like not being accepted and change. Zebrahead won’t be Zebrahead when they woud let you end up with any negative feelings, so after singing along with these teen anthems you’ll feel a whole lot better! So cheer up, Buttercup and pogo your heart out with these veterans of punk rock! We are the wasted generation!

By Frederik Geuvens

RMP Magazine #24