Issue 15 by Soundscape Magazine

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d. und. soun ur so your yo fe.. yo life ur li your

issue 15 dec â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;14

interviews

Nachtblut trollfest posthum david croft

Live reviews bring me the horizon suicide silence delain 1349 dying fetus

cd reviews

Ă&#x153;berkill taake midnight playlist and more!

Contents

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14-15 interview with black metal band posthum!

4-5 interview with German dark metal band nachtblut.

16-19 we catch up with the charming trollfest.

6-7 live reviews of delain and 1349 in manchester.

20-23 F1 broadcaster david croft shares his music taste with us!

8-9 live review of dying fetus with support from fallujah, malevolence, and goatwhore.

24-25 our latest CD reviews featuring nachtblut, taake, midnight playlist and Überkill.

10-11 Suicide silence smack down cardiff. 12-13 Live review of bring me the horizon playing wembley bloody arena.

here’s to a rockin’ year and a very metal christmas. Enjoy your holidays and thanks for reading!

26-27 check out our very special metal christmas playlist. it’s not as christmassy as you think...

Contributors Nadine Ballantyne, Natalie Humphries, Anneka Sillitoe, Cornelius Vernon-Boase, Phil Vidamour,

in w iew rvie terv inte

Words: natalie humphries

Interview with... N a c h t blu t

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achtblut is a dark metal band hailing from Osnabrück, Germany. The current lineup consists of Askeroth (vocals), Skoll (drums), Greif (guitar), Trym (bass) and Lymania (keys). They released their debut album Das erste Abendmahl in 2007 and since then they played a lot of live shows and were signed by Napalm Records in 2011. The band recently released their fourth album Chimonas so we thought we’d catch up with Skoll for a chat to find out a bit more about the band.

A few months back, you released your latest album Chimonas - how did you approach the writing and recording process? Most times Askeroth, although sometimes another member of the band, makes demo tracks and sends them to everyone. We discuss what works and what needs to be changed, so that everyone is satisfied with the result and after that we do preproduction. Then everything is set and as a rule, no changes are allowed to be made after that. Then we hit the studio and record the album! Of course, there are also many other aspects and facets of making a record - such as making photos, videos, artwork and so forth. I particularly liked the vocal approach on this album. On previous releases the vocals have a harsher and rougher tone, but on Chimonas there’s a somewhat deeper and darker tone to them. Was this intentional or was it just a natural progression with the band’s sound? I guess it is just a natural progression. We never really think in terms of what we should change or what we should add as a new element. If the sound changes or our look is different, it’s

because we felt and lived it at the moment.

Which song on the album are you most proud of? Puh…difficult question. I probably can’t give you an answer right now but at the moment I enjoy playing Kalt wie Grab live.

it’s always funny to take a look at the disgusted faces of the people who hold the heart in their hands and realise that it’s not fake!

One of my personal favourites was Märchen, and I particularly love the way the introduction builds things up before the full body of the song kicks in. Could you tell me a little more about that song? It’s a song about a girl and a boy falling in love. Both are very beautiful and nothing could ever be able to get them apart but he gets jealous without any reason. So he “bound her in chains” (don’t take it literally!) and destroyed the relationship they had. I guess everyone knows somebody who screwed up a relation by applying pressure and finally crushing it. I caught your set at Wolfszeit Festival and was really impressed by both the tightness of the performance and the visuals (loved the blood!) - how long do you spend perfecting your performances ahead of your gigs? Thank you! It depends on several aspects. If you’re playing a song for years, like we do with Antik or Dogma, you don’t have to prepare for that long and as much as you do as when you first release the record and play a new show, but you should take your time! Speaking about show elements such as pig blood and hearts, of course we have added some new show elements for our Autumn tour and that takes some preparation to be ‘perfect’.

Who made your stage/band outfits? Our outfits are made by a friend of us, she is a seamstress. Do you have any pre-show rituals? Yes we have! But we will keep them secret … Do you have any interesting stories from shows gone by? Oh, there are so many stories…I don’t know where to start! But to come back to your experience at Wolfszeit and to recall the last concert, we are currently using blood and a heart at our performance so it’s always funny to take a look at the disgusted (or delighted) faces of the people who hold the heart in their hands and realise that it’s not fake!! If you could perform on a bill with any band, who would you choose? Of course, everyone dreams of being onstage with one of his idols but there are so many great bands out there that it’s too hard to choose one! And finally if Nachtblut could put their name to a product, what would it be? Suffice to say, it is enough just to put it on our records and merchandise. You can see what we thought of Chimonas in the CD reviews section of this issue!

li ew view revi ve re live

Words: natalie humphries

Delain plus The Ravens Age, Wolf

Club Academy, Manchester . 27/11/14

ollowing a successful tour supporting Within Temptation earlier in the year, Delain returned for a headline tour, with dates in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow - with all three selling out! First onstage at the Manchester Club Academy was The Ravens Age, and the set didn’t get off to the best of starts with the drummer coming onstage, who got the crowd to clap out of time with their intro track, and sadly it didn’t improve from there. They suffered from a severe lack of stage presence and unfortunately the music was no better; generic melodic metal that didn’t leave an impression on you with weak and unsupported vocals, and dull instrumentation - not the best way to get the night going. Main support Wolf was a bit of a difficult band to get into. If you’re into your classic rock and thrash then there’s no way you won’t enjoy this band, but if it’s not your

thing then it can make for a very dull and repetitive set, made worse by the fact that their songs are all fairly similar to one another. They had great stage presence and worked the crowd well, and their energy was unmatched. It has to be said that they put on a good show, but for someone unacquainted with them, it did drag a fair bit, which was unfortunate. Things thankfully picked up with headliners Delain, who put on a good show. Something that is a real problem with the Club Academy is that visibility is very poor, with only a few select areas giving a good view of the stage, so sadly it was a little difficult to see what was going on at times - which certainly was not helped by my shortness! However, it was clear that Delain dominated the stage, even though they were one man down due to their bassist being injured in Birmingham, and the addition of Merel on guitar really gave the performance an extra kick

7/ 10 - she was awesome and added so much to the music! The set was a good mix of old and new, with Delain showcasing their latest album The Human Contradiction as well as paying homage to their older material and the crowd hung on to every word that came out of Charlotte’s lips; she is one of the best frontwomen in the business right now and she really knows how to put on a good show! Whether that was by encouraging the crowd to sing, getting everyone involved and even just doing a bit of headbanging, she really was a force to be reckoned with. Indeed, the whole band was very tight as a whole, and it was a pleasure to witness. They closed with We Are The Others, and what a choice it was, bringing a satisfying close to a great set. The crowd was behind them from start to finish, and it really made all the difference - it was a good night all round.

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1349 plus Ethereal, atena

Sound Control, Manchester . 23/11/14 After a lengthy touring drought, it was finally time for 1349 to hit Europe again in support of their latest album Massive Cauldron Of Chaos and the final date of the tour saw them perform at Sound Control in Manchester. The night got off to a strong start with openers Ethereal, who are always a pleasure to see live. Vocalist Naut has really perfected the art of fronting the band and it was difficult not to want to join in as he demanded the crowd to give him the horns, punch the air or bang their heads. It was a powerful and gripping set from the five piece and each song was just as hard hitting as the last; this is a band you absolutely must see live if you can because they kill it every time and are certainly one of the best black metal bands the UK has to offer at the moment. It was almost difficult to know what to make of the next band Atena, as they didn’t really fit in with the other two black metal bands on the bill with their

largely experimental style of music, but by god did they put on a show. The movement from the bassist and guitarist was phenomenal and really striking, keeping your interest throughout and the music was very unique. It was all very engaging from start to finish and you could really see the band putting their all into the performance, which paid off because it made the set all the more enjoyable. Sure, they may not have “fit” with the other bands but it was still an absolutely awesome performance from them. Of course, it was for headliners 1349 that the room fully came alive and it was a very atmospheric and rewarding set from the Norwegian black metallers. With the stage bathed in darkness and the band only dimly lit, it gave their performance an air of mystery, almost, and it suited the style of music perfectly. Frontman Ravn effortlessly dominated the stage, drummer Frost hammered out perfectly punctuated beats, the ever-

9/ 10 mysterious hooded bassist Seidemann kept the pace going and guitarist Archaon injected just the right amount of melody into the sinister music. The set was a good mix of old and new, with 1349 paying homage to their old material as well as showcasing the new material from Massive Cauldron Of Chaos and indeed, it was new song Golem that was one of the definite highlights of the night - it just had that special edge to it and really showed off the sheer quality of their new album. The crowd was into the set no matter what songs the band played though; with people cheering, shouting and throwing up the horns in response to everything the band did! An overall great night with good performances from all three bands. It’s always good when you leave a show feeling satisfied, and that’s exactly what the general feeling was with 1349. Excellent stuff!

li ew view revi ve re live

Words: natalie humphries Photos: Phil Vidamour - facebook.com/philvidamourphotography

Dying Fetus

plus fallujah, malevolence, goatwhore

sound control, Manchester. 21/11/14

hen it comes to quality live bands,

everything he was as he bellowed and

it can certainly be said that Dying

screeched into the microphone, pumped

Fetus is a band that is at the top

his fist into the air and even partook in

of their game and their performance at

some air guitar playing at times! The

Sound Control in Manchester certainly paid

rest of the band was great too, from the

testament to this.

headbanging, to the musically tight set this is a band that has got their live shows

Openers Fallujah got the night off to

down to an art, and there was plenty of

a decent enough start. They had a decent

enthusiasm from the crowd as a sizeable

stage presence and whilst their frontman

chunk of the crowd moved about to

seemed to have a chip on his shoulder

the music.

when the crowd didn’t cheer loud enough for his liking, it was an otherwise good

Somewhat predictably, everything got a

set. For an opener, they got a fairly good

bit hectic once more as Dying Fetus

response from the crowd, which was great

took to the stage to roars of cheers and

to see, and whilst the music was a bit

although the first half of the set or so

samey and wasn’t anything original, it was

suffered from poor sound quality, this didn’t

an enjoyable performance all the same and

dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm and there

Fallujah warmed things up nicely for the

was plenty of circle pits and crowd surfers

rest of the bands on the bill.

as the night progressed! The energy both from the band onstage and the crowd was

Up next was Malevolence, who did

phenomenal, and the atmosphere was

seem like the odd band out on the bill due

electric.

to the fact they played hardcore, and it was a difficult set to get into, least of all because

The set contained a good mix of songs,

of the kids doing ‘hardcore dancing’ in the

with fan favourites such as From Womb

middle area of the room. It seemed like

To Waste and Second Skin going down

they had no concept of space and I was

especially well, and something that was

constantly on edge, making sure I didn’t

particularly good about their set was that

get hit as they inevitably slammed into the

they didn’t waste time with their encore -

people on the edge of the “pit” who weren’t

after leaving the stage, they were barely

all that interested in joining in. The band’s

gone for a minute or two before drummer

performance wasn’t the most interesting

Trey emerged onstage and screamed to

either and the music was nothing special,

the crowd, asking them if they wanted

so for those not into the hardcore scene, it

some more, which of course garnered a

was a difficult performance to endure.

positive response! The crowd really was incredible from start to finish and absolutely

However, Goatwhore picked things

could not be faulted. All in all, it was a

right up and gave a blistering performance

fantastic night with particularly strong

from start to finish. Frontman Ben was

performances from Goatwhore and Dying

a powerful performer and was really

Fetus in particular - these are two bands

engaging, and you could tell how into

that are definitely best appreciated live.

8/ 10

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li ew view revi ve re live

Words: Alex harris Photos: nadine ballantyne

Suicide Silence

plus Thy ARt Is Murder, Fit For an autopsy Y plas, Cardiff. 20/11/14

here’s a certain feel in the air tonight, it’s welcoming and the queue is buzzing. Due to their early start we unfortunately miss most of Black Tongue waiting to get in but what we do catch is a treat, the singer is like a bare foot monster on stage and their precence doesn’t go amiss.

Fit For An Autopsy are up next and come out and play in practically darkness. They feel menacing, the sort of band your parents warned you about. They play well and a portion of the crowd intereact but feel let down vocally. It doesn’t quite feel as distinguished as it should be and fall short compared to the end of Black Tongue As Thy Art Is Murder wait on stage their singer strolls on, hood up and eerily sways and stares down the venue ready to pounce. It’s powerful and the crowd connect back. Their singer throws in a comment about his favourite footballer Gareth Bale coming from Cardiff to which we can only give him brownie points for. Depsite the itimidating name the band are clearly not. The crowd throw themselves into a frenzy and it’s a shame to see bands like these play a short set, just as you think it’s going great it’s suddenly over. The venue is excited and feels like a full house for Suicide Silence. For many it’s a first seeing new vocalist

Eddie front the band and it could go either way but of course, with a vocalist like Eddie it’s always going to go great. From the start the place breaks into craze and remains like that for the rest of the night. The band work together and play off the crowd, there’s a ton of interaction, laughs, funny faces and a genuine attitude to play from the heart. We get told that we’ve smashed all the other places and for once it genuinely feels like it. The atmosphere in the room couldn’t be any higher. The night ends with You Only Live Once and the crowd literally go fucking nuts. The security are overrun with crowd surfers and the band play hard one last time. A great show with a great line up. There’s no doubt peoples ears will be ringing for days after tonight.

9/ 10

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li ew view revi ve re live

Words: Alex harris

BRING ME THE HORIZON plus young guns

SSE Arena wembley. 05/12/14

o here we are, Wembley fucking arena. Bring Me The Horizon have aquired a lot of hatred since they started and it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come. I remember seeing them young and play basement shows but I never imagined they’d one day sell out Wembley.

nice spectacle, although, asking fans to sit down later on felt tedious.

We catch Young Guns play comfortably to this crowd, despite being heavily pop influenced it doesn’t seem to deter the crowd and many pits break out. One moment sees the singer call out the crowd to raise their phones and makes for a

Mid set Oli talks about being young and brings out old guitarist Curtis to play old school hit Pray For Plagues, a song that’s been amiss from the set for many years. It’s great to witness, and for older fans like myself, great to hear again.

Bring Me The Horizon have barely been on the stage seconds before the crowd goes crazy and pits break out. They keep to the hits whilst playing against a backdrop of video visuals and flames.

9/ 10 Depsite this being their biggest show throughout the band feel like they’re owning the arena. They don’t stop and neither does the crowd. Songs like Antivist have the whole arena screaming “middle fingers up if you don’t give a fuck” and it’s a spectacle and a half watch a sea of mosh pits, crowd surfing and phones. Sempiternal has done alot for BMTH and it’ll be interesting to see where they go next. They end suitably with Can You Feel My Heart before posing for a stage photo. Long live Bring Me The Horizon.

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in w iew rvie terv inte

Words: natalie humphries

Interview with... Posthum

we wanted to do something aggressive and maybe a little more oldschool

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osthum is a three-piece black metal band hailing from Nannestad in Norway who recently released their third studio album The Black Northern Gathering. They recently toured Europe supporting Vreid on their special Sognametal tour, and we got the chance to have a chat with two of the members ahead of the show in London.

Can you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band? Morten: I’m Morten, I’m the drummer. Jon: And I’m Jon, I do vocals and guitars, and write most of the music in the band. We have our ten year anniversary this year, but we only released our first album in 2009, and last week we released our third album. So it’s really good to be on tour now and play some new stuff. So, you’re currently on tour with Vreid, how’s it all been going? Morten: Really great! I bet - especially since you’re both celebrating anniversaries, since they’re celebrating Ulcus, Windir and Vreid anniversaries as a band too! Jon: Yeah, it’s been good. They’re all great guys and it’s all working out very good. And the shows as well - not only the friendship that has formed, but just the whole package with the concerts as well. It’s been getting better and better! What’s been the best show so far? Jon: Paris, last night. Morten: Yeah, definitely Paris. Maybe London will beat it tonight! But what made Paris so good? Jon: Hopefully! It was packed and I think we did a really good show. We

had this connection with the audience all the time and it was just a great feeling.

So keeping on the subject of live shows, what can fans expect from a show of yours? Morten: To be honest, the way we sound live is probably quite close to the album. I don’t mean to brag, but I don’t think you will think that it sounds completely different onstage to the way it does on the albums. The production on the new album is very much the same as how you see it live. Jon: Yeah, we try to sound as close as we can. On the subject of your new album The Black Northern Ritual, how did writing and recording it go? Did you do anything different to past releases? Morten: We approached it in the same way we have with all our other albums. Jon: Yeah, so it makes it easier each time. We’ve been doing it for such a long time now, so we know what we want to go for musically and it was easier to find the sound. We all agreed that we wanted to do something aggressive and maybe a little more old-school. So going back to your previous question, that’s sort of what you can expect from our live show as well! Were there any tracks that were more of a challenge to get right? Jon: Any of the tracks we struggled with, we threw away. Of course, there were some more technical things that we didn’t expect to be a problem, but as a whole it all went okay! We took two weeks in the studio and then a couple more days recording the vocals, and it was all a smooth process. Which one are you most proud of?

Jon: After playing some shows, for me it would be The Black Northern Ritual. It’s just so good to play! Morten: I think that it’s great playing most of the new songs, actually. I prefer playing the new songs more than the old ones. But for me, it’s The Black Northern Ritual as well.

If you could go back and change anything about the album, would you? Jon: (After a long pause to think) No. Maybe just the tempo of one of the songs, but that’s it. How do you feel about the stereotype of Norway being ‘all about the black metal’? Morten: It’s getting a bit old now. I think when we come to Europe, everyone always wants to talk about old stories and things that we never even think about. Exactly - and you’ve not even been involved with any of it! Jon: Yeah, we started out in 2004 after all that stuff had happened! We’re just part of a country. And if Posthum could put their name to a product, what would you choose? Jon: That’s a difficult one! Don’t say beer, everyone says that! Morten: I don’t think it would be a beer. That’s too simple! 1349 did that recently, actually. Jon: And everyone seems to have their own wine. Morten: Maybe a popsicle. Jon: Or toilet paper! (laughs) The Black Northern Ritual is out now via Indie Recordings. You can see our review of it on the Soundscape website.

in w iew rvie terv inte

Words: natalie humphries

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Interview with... Trol l fest I

t’s always a pleasure to see TrollfesT live and when they announced they would be visiting the UK for a second time in 2014 to support Equilibrium, we eagerly caught up with accordionist Manskow and guitarist Dr. Leif Kjønnsfleis to see what’s been happening in the world of TrollfesT since the last time!

We last caught up with you in April when you’d just released your new album Kaptein Kaos - what’s been happening in the TrollfesT camp since then? Manskow: Since April, we’ve done some Summer festivals. Leif: Yeah, we played Hellfest, Motorcultor... Manskow: And a festival in Ukraine, up in the hills. What was it called again? Leif: Carpathian Alliance. How did the rest of your headline tour go? Manskow: It went well, I think! Leif: Yeah, quite well. For our first headliner, at least! On this tour, drummer Trollbank and bassist Lodd Bolt were unable to

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we’re too nice to really think about methods of torture! make the tour so you got stand in musicians K.C.Bjørn and Nissefanten respectively. Can you tell us an interesting fact about each of them? Leif: Well, our session drummer is smaller than Trollbank if you find that interesting! Manskow: And our bassist has played with us before, which I think is even more interesting! Leif: They both kick ass though! Manskow: Yeah, they’re very good. And they stepped in on really short notice, which was great. On the subject of standins, can we keep Bokn once your saxophonist DrekkaDag recovers enough to come back onstage again? (note: DrekkaDag has been unable to tour for a while so Bokn has been touring in his place since April playing extra percussion and dancing about the stage) He’s awesome, and since he doesn’t play the sax I reckon you can keep both of them! Leif: Well, he’s been with us ever since the headline tour, and you cannot deny that he fits in well with us! But we haven’t really discussed it as a band yet, though. You recently released a new video for Solskinnsmedisin how did filming it go?

Manskow: Well, I guess it went as you saw it on the video! Leif: Yeah, it was really funny. Manskow: We just had a day out in the sun. Leif: It was quite a sunny day until the very end, when it started to rain and the wind started to blow like merry hell! Actually, we had a friend that was going to assist us in his little boat, but his engine got stolen so he had to row and he got stuck in the storm! He did try to call us but he ended up stuck in the storm with nothing but a t shirt for hours in the rain! Manskow: Yeah, we were like “we’re almost done with the filming” but as always it takes so many tries to get right and then we kind of forgot that he was stranded! But he made his way home at last.

On the subject of boats, what are your thoughts on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise? Seems like the perfect thing for a band such as TrollfesT! Manskow: Well, we want to play there, obviously! But I guess it’s up to the people in charge to book us. Leif: I think it’s such a cool concept. My friend plays in a band called Last Question that also wears lab coats onstage and hers went mouldy after she left it in a wet backpack for a while. Have you had any lab coat mishaps yourselves? Manskow: (laughs) Nothing with our coats! But our stage gear

often gets forgotten in bags and some of our things have gotten mouldy too. Our bass player recently discovered his old shirt in his bag from the previous tour he did with us two years ago and it was still moist! But yeah, we’ve had nothing happen to our lab coats...well, not yet! Leif: We’ve been treating them well, actually. They’re quite dirty of course, since you don’t wash stage gear...and I wouldn’t want to go searching through the pockets in my coat. I don’t know what’s in there!

You might find mushrooms in there! Leif: Quite possibly. Your cover of Toxic has become somewhat infamous now - but reversing things, if you could get Britney Spears to cover one of your songs, which one would you like her to do a rendition of? Leif: That would be AWESOME. Manskow: I think any of our songs would be fun. Leif: I’d quite like to see Britney trying to do some blast beats. Maybe she could do Brumlebassen! Manskow: I’d like to see her try that, and see her pronouncing Norwegian, that would be interesting! Leif: Yeah. But seriously, if she was to do it, I guess she’d go for one of the songs from Kaptein Kaos since it’s our ‘softer’ and more melodic album. You never know, maybe she’s into the heavier stuff! Leif: Yeah, maybe she blasts

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Napalm Death in her bedroom at night! Manskow: You never know! Leif: That’s right, you never know.

it grow through. I’m a big fan of that! It’s the fastest-growing plant in the world and it takes about a day to grow a foot!

what it is...but I don’t remember what it is! (laughs) Manskow: It’s this brown stuff that you can have it on toast.

And if you could collaborate with any artist or musician, who would you choose? Leif: I think we could do some really cool stuff with Mike Patton - that would be interesting. Or we could work with Finntroll - that would also be fun.

Sounds pretty gruesome! Leif: They actually tested it on Mythbusters - they put a seed under Buster, and it went straight up his body in just a couple of days!

What’s the band’s favourite alcohol? Manskow: Beer probably. Or maybe rum or vodka for making drinks, yes? Last year, we started drinking whiskey sours a lot and it became a bit of a tour drink - well, on that tour at least. It’s very good! Leif: On our first US tour, we did a lot of gin and tonics. We’ve been desperately trying to get hold of some orange juice so that we could make screwdrivers on this tour but we’ve got some now so it’s all good! Manskow: I also like a good single malt, in some ice.

You could call yourselves FinntrollfesT! Leif: Exactly! Actually, we could do a collaboration with a Balkan band - some non-electric Balkan band. Manskow: Maybe Farmer’s Market? That would be good. We’ve both had transport delays today - you got stuck because of border problems with Equilibrium and we got messed about for nearly two hours by the incredible British public transport system, so we think those responsible should be punished. What is your favourite method of torture? Manskow: Wow, I don’t know! Leif: Of course, there’s the old bamboo torture - plant a bamboo inside someone’s body and letting

Pretty good method of torture. Leif: I know! But TrollfesT...we’re too nice to really think about methods of torture! Manskow: It would have to be a fun torture for us. Leif: Yeah, like tickling or something! Manskow: Yeah, tickle them extensively! Make them giggle! Do you love or hate Marmite? Manskow: Oh! I haven’t tasted it in a very very long time. I remember the first taste was a bit strange but then I got kind of used to it and started to enjoy it, and realised it wasn’t actually that bad. Leif: I haven’t tasted it. I read an article about it a couple of days ago though! What was the article about? Leif: It was about Marmite and

Good call. And finally - any closing remarks? Leif: (putting on a silly voice) TrollfesT is looking forward to playing in the Islington area club! Seriously though, it’s good to be back in the UK but we haven’t had any sleep! Well, I haven’t have you? Manskow: Yeah, a little bit. But not too much! Leif: So we’ll see how it goes tonight!

TrollfesT’s new album Kaptein Kaos is out now and can be picked up from the band’s bigcartel store. You can read our review of the show on the site!

http://www.trollfest.com https://www.facebook.com/trollfestofficial

in w iew rvie terv inte

Words: anneka sillitoe

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Interview with... d av i d cr o f t R

ock music spreads far and wide. Once you’ve been sucked in, it’ll keep a hold on you for life. We already know that bands love other bands, but rock music does spread out elsewhere and we’ve started a series titled Famous Fans. David Croft is a F1 commentator and all around awesome guy. He does his homework, has an abundance of formula one knowledge that will knock it out of the park every time and frankly, he’s a really nice guy with some great taste in music. He is always tweeting about music and advising his mass of fans on what to listen to when he’s not talking F1, darts (another sport he loves and commentates on) or anything else from within the mind of Crofty. So we caught up with the man on a Sunday afternoonin October, in a pub in London with his lovely wife to discuss music and when and how this lovely genre lured him in.

What was the first band that you really got into? Probably Queen. First album I

ever got was a Christmas present and I think it was Christmas ’75 and it was Queen’s A Night At

always loved music. When I was a kid, I used to listen to the radio a lot. I’m 44, so I was 10 in 1980

The Opera. Which I remember getting and not being able to play on Christmas day because I loved Bohemian Rhapsody, that was the big single at the time. But I couldn’t play the record because the record store had slipped A Day At The Races in instead, so it might have been ’76. But it was definitely A Day At The Races, we had to take it back and swap it over and then I could listen to it. I’ve still got the original vinyl, it’s still there in my office as part of the collection. I’ve got the CD as well and it is still one of my favourite albums to date. There is not a duff track on there, so I would Queen were the first band I really got into. After that, I was a massive Meatloaf fan, I got into Bat Out Of Hell very young as well. I’ve seen him god knows how many times in concert, and the rock sort of evolved from there. A Night At The Opera and Bat Out Of Hell, they were the two albums that I religiously played before about 1980 time.

and my listening was restricted to Radio 1 during the day, I don’t even think Capital Radio existed and I certainly couldn’t get it where I lived in Stevenage. At night time, I’d listen to Radio Luxembourg with Stuart Henry, the DJ and a guy called Tony Prince was on there as well. It was on medium-wave 208. This crackling reception used to fade in and fade out. When the pirates started up again, I was a big Laser 558 listener and Radio Caroline which at the time I was listening kind of early ‘83/’84, was an album only station. They didn’t play singles, so that kind of expanded my musical tastes quite a lot by just listening to a lot of album tracks. I would listen to the sport and music and take myself off to my bedroom and then it kind of graduated into the likes of Iron Maiden. I was a massive Maiden fan as well, Guns ‘N Roses and the rock music, it was something I always loved and always enjoyed and it’s stayed with me ever since. You can’t get it out of your system really.

I just loved rock music. I’ve

in w iew rvie terv inte

If I could be anyone, I wanna. be John Bonham I want to be the power house. What was the first gig you attended? First gig I attended was Knebworth 1985, Deep Purple, Mamas Boys, Black Foot, UFO, Scorpions and Meatloaf. Guy I used to do some babysitting for was a massive Deep Purple fan and said, you’ve gotta come, so I was like ok, don’t know much about Deep Purple but was totally hooked from the minute they started. It was the Return of the Purple Mark 2 line-up, so the classic Purple line up and it was the return of Knebworth too because they hadn’t had a gig at Knebworth for ages and it rained for about 3 weeks before hand, rained all day as well. You can actually get the concert on vinyl. I’ve actually got the vinyl and CD of my first ever gig and what I thought was brilliant that day, was probably not Ian Gillham’s best vocal performance and Richie Blackmore was kind of playing his own thing and not really in tune with the rest of the band. But it was just a brilliant gig and at the age of 15 to be surrounded by 50/60,000 rock fans, it was an experience that you’ll never forget. You either sink or swim in that sort of situation; I just adored

it. So when Team Rock gave me a 2 hour show, the first track I played on that show was the first track that Purple played that night, which was Highway Star. It made sense to

do that.

What newer bands are you into at the moment? I hear stuff on the radio and I stick it down in my Spotify discoveries file. The new track from Mallory Knox, which I really like called Ghost In The Mirror which I heard on the radio the other day. Babymetal, I’m getting quite into it. It’s a bit bizarre. What else is in here? Young Guns. I quite like Young Guns. I’m massively into Volbeat at the moment, I think they’re brilliant. There’s a slight rockabilly, country edge to basically what is Metallica. If Metallica were making good records today they’d be making stuff akin to Volbeat. A bit of Deaf Havana. Lonely The Brave, a Cambridge band. I love Lonely The Brave. Rival Sons, I love them. The Pretty Reckless. I’m gonna mention Skindred because I think they’re fantastic too. Five Finger Death Punch as well. Favourite band? To be honest, it’s not a band, my favourite artist is Bruce Springsteen. And has been for a long, long time. And everything he does, apart from Working On

A Dream which wasn’t a great album, he just keeps reinventing his wheel a little bit without losing where his identity is and where he comes from. He strikes me as a man who is making music for the fun of it, not because he’s told he has to produce one record a year for the next five years and with that creative freedom he’s gone off and the band has changed obviously. To lose Clarence (Clemons) and to lose Danny (Federici) was a massive loss from what was a really tight musical ensemble, but the people he’s replaced them with have not only fitted but have taken the band to new directions as well. And Tom Morello, who has kept that band a bit young and Jake (Clemons), Clarence’s nephew on sax has taken that folk element and put it into the mainstream stuff as well. I think High Hopes was a super album and Wrecking Ball was a magnificent album in recent times. When he’s got something to sing about, I think his raw emotion and beauty come out a lot more and there was obviously a lot to sing about in America at that time and there still is today and I think he captured it perfectly. I’d like to think, other than the few bootlegs that are coming out now, that I’ve got every Springsteen release.

Favourite album? It’s very hard to pick a favourite album, because it reflects the mood you are in at the time. But I think Born to Run is a brilliant album and he slaved away at

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that and it was worth it. But then I think Darkness is equally as beautiful but for all the opposite reasons. What was optimistic for Born to Run, turned into a bit of realism by the time Darkness was released. So you can’t have Born to Run in life being your favourite album without Darkness being equally up there. The two go hand in hand. Because life is opposites, you’re up one minute, you’re down the next. You can’t take one without the other. I think I have to put the two of them as equal on that one.

What genre or sub-genre would you say you listen to most? I have a fairly eclectic taste and you can say I listen to rock more than anything else but there is a bit of country on my Spotify and some folky stuff. I would say it’s a bit of everything. I don’t think you should as a music consumer, as a music fan ever limit yourself. There’s too much good music out there to limit yourself to just one type. There’s stuff that the kids or Vicky will put on that’s nothing to do with anything I’d normally listen to and yet I’ll like it. Do you have any specific playlists that you have for work, or cooking or the gym? I have a couple of running playlists which has Iron Maiden’s Running Free on there. Buckcherry’s Lawless and Lulu. I love Buckcherry. I try to stick to up-tempo. Gaslight Anthem gets quite an airing when I’m out running, and it’s good that they do

cause the new album I didn’t like when it first came out, but give it half a dozen plays and actually it’s superb. It’s a really good album. When I’m working I’ll have the radio on most of the time. If I’m in the commentary box, I will put a bit of music on if I’ve got 10 minutes of down time before we go on air. Just to get the tempo up a bit.

If you were in a band, what would they be called and what genre of music would you play? That’s way out isn’t it?! If I was in a band, I’d probably want to be the drummer because I’ve got no sense of rhythm. The drummer can have a good time, but the focus isn’t on him. But he’s actually the most important part of the band because he keeps them together. If I could be anyone, I wanna be John Bonham. I want to be the power house. We’d probably be some boyband tribute act, like Take Fat. I honestly don’t know because I’ve never been in a position where I could sing well enough or play and instrument well enough to be in a band. We would be old men rocking. We discovered two chords that suited us and away we went. What’s been your favourite gig of the year? I would have to say Metallica at Sonisphere. I’ve introduced Metallica to Vicky this year. We made it after the British grand prix. They were good and Steel Panther were superb.

Who do you hope releases new music next year? New AC/DC album this year. Foo Fighters are releasing a new album, I’m so excited about that because I think Dave Grohl is like Springsteen, he’s got it sussed, he’s making music for the fun of it and it comes over in everything he does. We all wanna be Dave Grohl. New Slipknot is coming out and I wanna hear that. Blackberry Smoke have a new album coming out in the new year. Who would you like to see live still that you haven’t? I’d like to see Pink Floyd reform so I could see them one more time because I think Floyd live are an experience that everyone should witness. I’d like to see the Dropkick Murphy’s live because I think that would be quite the party. I’ve never seen Motorhead live. I fear I’m never going to get the chance. I’ve never seen Motorhead live which is shameful I must admit. I would’ve liked to see The Pistols in their high point. I’ve never seen Van Halen live. I’ve seen David Lee Roth, but I’ve not seen Van Halen live so if ever they wanted to reform I’d like to see them. Pearl Jam are another one I’ve never seen live and I missed them this year and Foo Fighters are another one I’ve got to see live, I’ve not seen them.

Music is there to be enjoyed, there’s no barrier.

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Our latest CD reviews. for coverage email: info@soundscapemagazine.com

7/ 10

Midnight Playlist Built To Break

ondon pop punk band Midnight Playlist bring the summer to the winter with their new EP Built To Break, and the upbeat happy songs will get you in the mood for sunshine and days out with friends. With a winter release, you won’t be able to do that unless you want to freeze so you’ll just

8/ 10

Taake

Stridens Hus

t’s fair to say that Taake is certainly one of the more prolific names in black metal, with each release being

have to enjoy the upbeat tunes. The EP opens with a Year In Hell which is driven with some pounding drums and thrashing guitar. The vocals are extremely modern pop punk, a bit nasally and toneless in a pleasant way, but it’s a voice you have to get accustomed to. The drums are well performed and written throughout the EP and sound awesome. The vocals and lyrics are typically pop punk, lyrical content from disliking where you live to your exes. The vocalist has a great range and shows it throughout the EP; he can do some very nice low notes and some stereotypical pop punk high notes. He has a nice voice to listen to but he just lacks some power - he has a soft voice and if the songs were to be sung acoustic, his voice would be better suited. Some of the riffs on the EP sound incredible and the tone

of the guitars are powerful and suit the individual songs. The riff at the start of Desperate sounds a lot like early Mayday Parade and the guitar at the start of Tear Away sounds so rich and powerful, just like the bass. The bass compliments the songs well and sounds really rich and is well performed, however it’s not the most complex sounding, but if it’s not broken, why fix it? Overall it’s a decent EP. It’s a bit generic and it doesn’t stand out above the crowd, but it’s well written and nice to listen to. It’ll definitely add some sunshine to the dreary winter, just like every other pop punk band. With some risks and experimentation, the band have some good foundations to create something fresh and original, they just have to take the plunge.

just as eagerly anticipated as the last, and after the traditional three-year wait between albums, Taake is back with Stridens Hus. As is the norm with Taake, mastermind Hoest plays all the instruments himself on the album, but this time around, Stridens Hus actually features some contributions from Taake’s touring lineup, which does mix things up a little. Admittedly Stridens Hus doesn’t really tread any new ground when it comes to material by Taake, so you won’t find any surprises within the seven tracks but nevertheless it is an incredibly meaty offering and one you will keep wanting to revisit, with tracks such as Orm and

Stank really packing a punch. En Sang til Sand om Ildebrann is perhaps the strongest track of the album and features a very mighty guitar line that injects a fantastic amount of melody into the otherwise dark-sounding number. Everything else about the track is rough and harsh, and the two different elements really juxtapose well against each other as a result. As a whole, Stridens Hus is another great album from Taake and whilst it might not be full of surprises materialwise, it’s certainly not an album to be missed and once again shows Hoest firing from all cylinders.

(Cornelius Vernon-Boase)

(N. Humphries)

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10/ 10

Nachtblut Chimonas

himonas is the longawaited new album from German dark metallers Nachtblut, a band who we have been keeping an eye on ever since they laid waste to the stage at Wolfszeit Festival 2014 with their mindblowing live performance. There’s just something about this talented outfit that sets them head and shoulders above the competition and Chimonas

6/ 10

Überkill

Sex On A Leash

s far as classic rock goes, Überkill have pretty much got the genre nailed, and whilst their music all sounds very old-

absolutely pays testament to this. “All killer and no filler” could well be the best way to describe this album, which is a succinct and powerful ten-track release packed full of fantastic music and showcasing some excellent songwriting. An early highlight is mini-epic Wien 1683, beginning with the most majestic of introductions and the track truly becomes something to behold when the vocals kick in, with frontman Askeroth giving a grim and dark performance that really adds that extra ‘oomph’ to an already-formidable track. Kalt wie ein Grab, which the band also released a single for, is another powerful inclusion, with the band projecting a crushingly heavy riff at you almost as soon as the song starts. Nachtblut then keeps the momentum going right through to the eerie and atmospheric ending that finishes

with white noise cutting off abruptly. However, the song that absolutely steals the show is the absolutely mindblowing Märchen. Grabbing your attention with a striking introduction that swiftly builds things up and up until the vocals get going, and the song really holds your interest from start to finish, and a particular highlight is the guitar solo from Greif, a fantastically complex and technical inclusion that fits seamlessly into the song. Nachtblut have taken things up a notch with Chimonas and have crafted an absolutely faultless album. If you’re looking for an engaging, unique, rewarding and allround mindblowing listen, then Chimonas is an album for you.

school, there’s also a modern touch to it. There’s a good amount of energy within the four songs and it’s just a fun piece to listen to. The songs will get your foot tapping and your fist pumping in the air, and you can’t help but feel massively involved with the title track Sex On A Leash, which seems to be a song tailor-made for performing live because there’s moments crying out for a bit of crowd participation - the verses are great for clapping along to and there’s a section at the end which I can already see crowds chanting along with them!

However, it does have to be said that as a whole, there isn’t all that much variation between the tracks. You can’t fault Überkill’s enthusiasm when it comes to Sex On A Leash but as each song follows largely the same format, it’s not the most exciting of releases as a result. The songs are fun, there’s no doubt about that, but Überkill have played things very safe by essentially creating the same song four times with a few variations here and there. They’ve got potential, that’s for sure, but it does feel like they can do better than this.

(N. Humphries)

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Top

the soundscape team A

hh Christmas, that time of year where humans put up with bright lights, bad jumpers, rain, overpriced shopping and more rain. Here’s a rockin’ playlist to get you through till the new year. Make a CD for grandma, we’re sure she’ll love it. (P.S. You’re getting socks)

Antivist Bring Me the Horizon

MIDDLE FINGERS UP, IF YOU DON’T GIVE A FUCK! #christmas

Villanden TrollfesT

If you like your music absolutely insane, then give this a spin and quack along with the wild duck! A blinder of a track in a live environment.

The Negative One Slipknot

Because it’s A) Slipknot and B) A month until they smash a hole in the UK with their live shows.

be down with the cool kids but it’s a hell of a tune off a hell of an album.

Infected Chaosweaver

An adventurous and completely over the top song but in the best possible way. Wait until you reach the insane laugh at the end, it’ll send shivers down your spine!

Vibetech Marmozets

If you were to interpret this into dance this would be us on New Years Eve - sporadic and not for everyone but having a damn good time.

Christmas Time (Don’t The Gravedigger’s Song Let the Bells End) The Darkness Mark Lanegan

‘dat bassline tho. He may not

I guess we had to throw at

least one Christmas song into the list, right?

Ukkonen Vorna

Just try and get that keyboard line at 1:30 out of your head. I dare you.

Cease To Exist Suicide Silence

Perfect for when you go out Christmas shopping and can’t quite express how much you love pushing through hundreds of people, queuing and waiting in the cold for public transport.

Raadot raunioilla Kuolemanlaakso

Doom with just the right of aggression and melody. A highly emotive track that you’ll want to revisit time and time again.

soundscape 27