corazine interviews

Interview with Sathor

Corazine — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:16:21 GMT

We are not hearing that much from the Italian metal scene, though here and there, a bright spot appears, and one of those belongs to Ars Macabra. The black metal horde released their second full length 'Hate Induced Trance' in 2007 and is as we speak working on new material. I hooked up with guitarist and songwriter Sathor to get up to speed with the band and to hear what lays below what the human eye can see within Ars Macabra and the Italian metal scene!

Hails Sathor, please start this interview by introducing yourself so we can get an idea of who you are and a little about how you ended up getting into the world of black metal!
I am the co-founder of Ars Macabra, together with Nero Baratro back in 1989. I have been listening to a lot of heavy music since I was a kid and when metal was developing a sort of new extreme expression, like the wave of Swedish death metal in the early 90ties etc. Then I started to listen to the new bands that were combining the grimness and darkness with blast beats and aggression of grindcore. So for me getting into black metal was the natural consequence. Also because I have been into magik since I was 14 and discovered a lot of interesting and illuminating literature way before black metal, was ever connected with "Satanism" or had become its main topic.

So to start a band that could combine heaviness with occult thematics was for me a good input.

Back then there were normal bands that probably were into occult and magik, but nothing that exposed and noone used it as a that explicit mark of their music.

So, on one side the brutal, blasting and sinister feeling of the music fitted my intents to start a band. On the other side too much attention was given to bands that were showing off the glamour side of black metal, for example Dark Funeral, Darkthrone, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and so on; many bands that later showed that, that the topic was for them, a good joke to base their success on (commercially). Don't get me wrong I admire many of them as musicians and businessmen, but I consider them to be a specific phenomenon trapped in time. As it is with the bay area thrash or the Florida death metal scene etc.

All stereotypes always link to a specific trend and business, but without a distinctive soul and unique artistic form, which usually detach itself from time and remains good. We are not there yet, but at least we try not to fall into the bandwagon of clowns out there. Hopefully we will evolve more, to leave some sort of message, but we are not there yet, absolutely, but we are working on it. Thats all I can say.

It's been 2 years since you released your most recent album 'Hate Induced Trance', how many copies of it has been sold?
It has been two years mainly because our drummer had an accident with his legs, so we couldn't practice and the search for a new drummer is a huge pain in the ass. Considering we always have been afflicted to run into millions of idiots and timewasters, since we formed as band.

By contract there were pressed 2500 copies, but also by contract I wasn't entitled to know any details of the sales, this as other odd clauses like not to talk to third parties about any details of the label and the sales… I think it was weird… and I think the label guy was a total jerk.

How do you think about the album today?
It is a good solid album, no matter what, direct and heavy yet still melodic with a sense of sadness. Production-wise it is tiring for the ears, it's too clean and present, no dynamics, it's suffocating in some parts and it has a too modern sound.

Although I was pretty finicky in the studio, some influences from the producer's ears is noticeable, especially on the drums and in the mixing.

The album was released on the Canadian label Sinister Sounds Inc., how did they do their job and are you still signed to that label?
The label did a good job, although he wasn't too much present in the business part and didn't have that good distribution. We are not signed to that label anymore, and I think the label is dead now, or doesn't have any money at all, to do anything.

That was another experience that confirms me in that most of the time, labels are there to get something from you, and not because they believe in you musically speaking.

Labels that works as our latest label did, don't have any future because they don't have any goals or firmly believe in their bands as potentials. They are opportunists who want to exploit the moment, and the musicians that cross onto their path. There's nothing more ruthless and useless for the music business than that…..

You are right now in the middle of working on new songs, how is the work progressing?
We are thinking more on the songs now and listens to them with a different approach than before. We are giving them a nice blueprint that will differ a lot from 'Hate Induced Trance'.

What we wanted to tell with 'Daemonolatria Hypnotica' has been told, what we wanted to express with 'Hate Induced Trance' has been expressed. Now we move on… we have nothing to lose and we are not a band that think their sound is their success, while it becomes their prison and can't get away from it. Which I think is so ridiculous and immature, some bands are like the image of themselves… Who would buy an acoustic Marduk album or Gorgoroth playing a piano song with clean vocals? Maybe me... and very few others. They will never dare to step outside their path if you think about it, unless they can cope with going back to a possible total anonymity.

What can you tell us about the new tracks, how are they compared to the old Ars Macabra material, do you have a song title or 2 for us and so far?
It is diverse from the old material, I am not the best person to talk about what I do. I feel weird talking about it, I appreciate when people tell that they like the songs and why, and then I think ..oh great I reached somebody emotionally… and that is what counts, discussions about musical style or technicality are something I leave to the dorks. Two titles are 'Cursed Paradigm' and 'Breed Of Cain'.

Where will you be recording the album and who will be producing it?
We will use one studio for the drums, where hopefully the acoustic choice will be the best, and another private studio for guitars and vocals. I will first produce a demo with the entire material. Then we will see what to do, in case some label would get interested.

What about the cover artwork, has you chosen an artist to do it or is it already in place?
I have almost finished a drawing myself as I did for our t-shirt. So far I think we will use my work, else I don't know for sure.

Who are your favorite artwork artists and who would you like to work with?
Some artwork and graphics layout done for the NOEVDIA label is pretty good, it is sober and with a good style. The artwork I think, should be as distinctive as the music, and not just a good painting or representation. I prefer good simple graphics with character, instead of a great subject that doesn't fit at all on a 12x12 cm CD cover. I think the CD is still an object and the graphics and design does more effect on it, than to put an excellent painting on it… it just doesn't work like that…

I guess you are looking for a new label as we speak, how is that progressing and what would be your favorite label to release the next album on?
Yes we are. I think we'll use some time, concentration and good evaluation to consider who, we will give our music to this time, that will be really important… Also our attitudes have to connect for a possible deal. A label that we would like to work with, would be a label that has character and is distinct. Being just one band considered as a number, is very frustrating, almost to the point of ending it all, and choosing to produce and release it yourself. Instead of laying your music in the hands of idiots.

What is the philosophy behind Ars Macabra and what does black metal mean to you personally?
There doesn't have to be a specific philosophy behind Ars Macabra. I embrace a lot of concepts and topics in my lyrics, most of them are never direct or explicit. The nature of our texts are inspired by both twisted yet deviated thoughts to mystic subjects. The distinction between whatever satanic, mystic or philosophical term, start to get feeble and become nonsense and the power of khaos and the presence of an unidentified demi-urge begin to play a relevant part, that we all probably not are really aware of. That I think is the energy that inspire me and Ars Macabra.

I suppose you are writing most of the music in the band, where do you find inspiration for your music and how do you work when you compose?
I just play it, then it comes naturally, if it reaches my ear and mind... not really a big deal. I play it if I like it, I record it on my computer and play more with the arrangements. Though it is not the method that I focus on, but the quality of the idea. I found it very useful to try ideas out with an acoustic guitar also. If it works like that, that's already a plus.

What is the best black metal tune ever made in your eyes?
Hmm… there are many that come to my mind 'At War With Satan' by Venom is a progressively well played song with a great idea. A much underrated band in my opinion. Also Emperor's 'The Loss and Curse of Reverence' got an excellent atmosphere. Deathspell Omega do also got some nice tunes.

How do you look upon the future of Ars Macabra?
Perseverance and a lot of sacrifices as always.

I haven't really been following the Italian black metal scene the last few years, so please indulge me in how the shape is and what bands are worth to check out!

Ok… imagine that culturally Italy has really went down to very pitiful levels, in the last 10 years and it's going way worse now.

Add to that, that the majority of listeners of music, and also of black metal music has developed a fake commercial attitude, masked and dulled by joke magazines, that here are able to give a full cover + interview to unknown bands (but recommended by the label guy, who also work on the same magazine). Or promoters who make their bands pay a fee (just mafia methods applied to music) to belong to their roster. Or hundreds of Euros to play at a festival... you name it… here the mafia is so poor of intelligence, that they not even are smart enough to pick, at least decent bands to make a good show or records. They are so greedy to ask you to bring people to the pathetic show, they can organize in a small club or things like that...

It's a suffocating situation in a stalemate.

At least the Swedish or Norwegian extreme protection and patriotism have a sense to make a strong national scene, as well as in France or Germany, but here it's just a plain low level circus, that still gravitates around who would be the next recommended mafia shitty band, to support a big foreign band….

We are champions in licking other acclaimed band asses…

Some Italian bands (recommended or not) could easily play more interesting material than many foreign acts... as I have seen with my eyes at too many shows… Anyways some good bands to mention could be Grimness from Rome because they are pretty tight. I like Nefarium as guys/musicians, but their style is not for my taste. Some others like Viddhar from Rome and Kaiserreich from the North are good. There is also Urna, but this is not a real band with a stable line up.

What 5 albums have been spinning a lot in your home lately?
Hummm, gosh too many, but maybe lately…

Katharsis - Fourth Reich
Deathspell Omega - Mass Grave Aesthetics
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Anvil - Metal On Metal
Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East

...and tons more..

That was all from me, thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
Well thanks a lot for your interview and time we really appreciate it and keep up your good work!

Taken from, and with the kind permission of Nocturnal Horde

Interview with Søren Jensen

Corazine — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:09:39 GMT

A while ago a new CD popped into my mailbox and after some time I popped it into my CD player to see what was hidden on the EP, with the saying title 'The World Slaughter EP'. What I found was a pummeling mix of old school death metal with some more modern influences and great vocals, so again, after some time I got in touch with guitar and bass maestro Søren Jensen and had a little chat.

Hi there, how are things at your end?
Fine thanks! We are currently in studio-mode, working on a bunch of new tracks.

Six String Slaughter, a new band on the Danish death metal scene, how did it all start?
It all started when Nicholas told me he was leaving Corpus Mortale and wanted to know if I was interested in doing a new project together. Nicholas and I have been friends for many years and I thought it could be great fun to work with him again.

The core of the band, guitarist and Drummer Nicholas Maschøln and you, have earlier roamed in Corpus Mortale, how did the stint with that band end?
Personally I left the band in 1999 just after we had recorded the 'Spiritism' album (which was never released). I felt I had to take a break from playing in a band and focus more on writing and recording my own music. There was no drama at all and we all parted as friends. In the time after I started to build up my studio and also played in a few other bands such as Ironfire and Granhammer.

In 2007 Nicholas also felt that it was time for a change and here we are haha!

Now you both are in Six String Slaughter together with vocalist Daniel Wilkens, what do you want to do with Six String Slaughter?
The very first day Nicholas and I met up, we quickly set out a bunch of goals, call them guidelines if you will. First of all we didn't want to assemble a full line-up and waste a lot of time in some crummy rehearsal space. Secondly we wanted the drums to have a bigger influence in the writing process – in fact Nicholas wrote the main riff of 'In Search for Truth We Will Stagnate' just by humming it to me while I was trying to translate his ideas onto the guitar. Thirdly we are a studio based band but in no way just another project band.

This does not necessarily rule out playing live gigs – we will play live, but for a reason. Meaning that due to the fact that we would have to hire session musicians and spend a lot of (their) time rehearsing the material, we aren't really able to play small clubs and such. So the main focus now is writing and recording some great songs and bringing them out to the listeners.

The music on your debut, 'The World Slaughter EP', is a good mix of old school death metal and a more modern take on it, with a lot of grooves, how did it end up like that, it is not like you were known for doing anything too modern in Corpus Mortale?
Again, we have been quite conscious about our musical expression with this band. Just the fact that the drums are a big source of influence combined with the more melodic approach to songwriting that I represent, results in a more varied outcome and a wider range. Or at least, we’d like to think so.

Where do you find inspiration when you write music nowadays?
Well, I would like to give you some kind of deep philosophical answer to this but the fact is that we more or less just pull these songs out of our asses, haha! Don't get me wrong, we do take songwriting seriously but we don't sit and think too much about it, as we basically just play what we would like to listen to ourselves. No egos to satisfy here. If you think about it there's no unnecessary solos or other shit on the EP.

You've been in the game for quite some years, have your way of writing music and finding inspiration for it, changed throughout the years?
Sure! I mean, in the beginning it was all about how many riffs you could fit into one song whereas now it's more about the overall feeling of a song and finding the famous red tread.

Do you have to be in a special mood when writing music, or are you spewing it out all the time?
Sometimes the theme of a song just pops out when driving home from work or from fiddling with an acoustic guitar while watching TV. And last but surely not least - never underestimate the 'pulled from ass' method, haha!

How did you end up with the name Six String Slaughter? When I first saw the name, without knowing anything about the band, I didn't really associate it with death metal.
Actually it came from a song by All That Remains, where the singer yells Six String Slaughter right before a guitar solo.

Lyrically Wilkens is dealing with some not that used topics within death metal, social awareness, politics and some personal lyrics, if I have analyzed it properly, is there a message with the lyrics, or is it just venting off steam?
Daniel really likes to reflect on what's going on around him and writes all the lyrics exclusively. He was also the one who came up with the title for the EP. In fact there is sort of a chronologically order in the lyrics of the five songs which also makes up the title.

Where is the inspiration found for the lyrics and how big a part of Six String Slaughter is the lyrics and vocals?
As mentioned above, Daniel is greatly inspired by the world around him, personal experience and of course, the mood of the songs provided by Nicholas and I.

Right now you are handling the bass together with the guitars, are you looking for a steady bass player and when will we see you hit the live scene, something I am looking forward to, as I think the music will work really well live?
At this point we're not looking for a steady bass player due to our way of working. However I really try to think like a bass player and not just a guitarist when writing the bass parts. I think that the bass is often overlooked in many of the bands out there which is a shame as a proper bass line can really compliment the guitars and drums instead of just doubling whatever the guitars are doing. Something which we are focusing even more on with the new songs.

You have released 'The World Slaughter EP' yourselves, have you had any label interest since the release?
Yeah, in fact we recently received the news from our manager that a Dutch label was interested in offering a distribution deal. But it's still way too soon to say what will happen.

When will we see a full length from you guys, if I know you right, you are working on new tunes all the time, what do you so far have ready and are there any concrete plans for a full length, title, tracks etc. at this point?
At the moment our management (CBBM) is working on a few labels and in the meantime we are (as you very well suspected) working on a bunch of new song. Nicholas already finished the drums and I completed the bass a few weeks ago. Now I just need to records the guitars, but recently my girlfriend gave birth to our lovely baby girl so the rest of the recording process was put a bit on hold as the guitars are hard enough to play even without a baby on one arm, haha! Lyrically Daniel has already written the greater part of the lyrics so now we're just waiting for the guy with the guitar!

How do you look upon the future for Six String Slaughter and what would you like to accomplish with the band?
Hopefully we should have a full-length out in the not too distant future and the visual expression is also something we're working on regarding videos, MySpace etc.

I really think there's a great potential in the band, especially since Daniel came on board. We originally had another singer but when that didn't work out we got introduced to Daniel who quickly rewrote and re-recorded the vocals for the entire EP. This time he has a lot more time to focus on the songs and on the new songs I'm quite convinced we will see another and even stronger side of his vocals as this time, as he has been involved in the songs from scratch.

What 5 albums have you been spinning a lot lately?

Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage
As I Lay Dying – An Ocean between Us
D:A:D – Monster Philosophy
Gorefest – Revolt
Vader – XXV

Taken from, and with the kind permission of Nocturnal Horde

Interview with John Chavez

Corazine — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:59:29 GMT

I was blasted away when I first heard this new Amerian death metal bands second album 'God Was Created'. A concept album which really has it all, you have to hear it... So I did set up an interview with guitar player John Chavez, which I caught a day, where he really wanted to tell everything, so please go ahead and read this killer interview with john, he will tell you all there is to know about Vehemence, a band you will hear a lot more about in the future!!!

Will you please start off by telling us what there is worth to know about yourself and why you play metal and how your metal adventure started?
My name is John Chavez, I was born in El Paso Texas U.S.A. July 27, 1982. I started playing guitar when I was 12 and explored the realms of metal at age 15. I started going to shows and learning about more metal bands off thank lists of albums of the bands I was first excited about. My metal collection and knowledge grew vast and I began thinking to learn how to play extreme music on my guitar. I am self-taught and I learned form many bootlegs of bands that I came across such as 'Cannibal Corpse Eatís Moscow Alive.' I learned how you needed good equipment and a good metal soul to perform this type of music live in a group. My first band that I joined was when I was 16 and the band was a Cynic-Meshuggah based band called Brides Of Christ. Guitarist Bjorn Dannov got me into the band by word of mouth and little did I know that I would be working with him in the future. After a guitar member from Vehemence left the band, I immediately joined in January of 2000 and left Brides because I saw the potential the band had to go farther with their style of music. I added my influence into Vehemence that consisted of underground black and death bands such as Embraced, Resurrection, A Canorous Quintet, Ill Disposed, Mutant, Theory In Practice, Decapitated, Symbyosis, Without Grief, and Deprecated. Deprecated was a project I wanted to join because of a style that I had in me in the summer of 2000, and since they didnít have a guitar player at the time. Working with the band from San Diego helped boost up my skills of technicality and brutality. Many songs were created but never recorded for Deprecated and we hope to release that at a later time under a different name because the line up wont be the same. I sometimes use my influences from the bands I have been in, in the Vehemence compositions. I play metal overall because it calms my frustrations that I have with certain things and helps me have something to hope for in the future of my guitar playing in extreme music.

Will you introduce the rest of the band?
The line up for Vehemence is: Nathan Gearhart-Vocalist and lyrics, Bjorn Dannov-Acoustic, Guitars & Leads, John Chavez-Samples, Guitars & Leads, Andy Schroeder-Drums, Mark Kozuback-Bassist & Screamis and Jason Keesecker-Keyboards and Piano

A history of the band will be cool too!
The Vehemence name was created by Nathan in 1995. Nathan and old guitarist Scott Wiegand wanted to form an atmospheric melodic death metal band in the vein of old Pyogenesis and Cathedral. Bjorn later joined and brought his influences of Gorefest and Carcass. Vehemence created several demos with a drum machine and shortly after found Andy and Mark from a punk band called Mistaken Identity. The music sounded like it was punk/death so they decided to recruit them into bringing their style in to Vehemence for metal purposes. The basic line up was complete and a demo in 1998 of 100 copies was created. The Thoughts From Which I Hide was Vehemenceís first self-released album which was paid for by Andyís father and limited to 1000 copies. I helped with worldwide promotion and graphic design shortly after the recording was completed in November 1999. Scott Wiegand quit the band and left the position open right after the recording. With me in the line up, Bjorn and I started writing songs together for a new album. It took about 2 years of composing to create the new album which is now called God Was Created. Anyways, Vehemence was in the self-promotion process until we decided to jump on a tour which ended up with us headlining by ourselves. Mark Kozuabckís father had the record label connection because he works with C.E.O. Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records in the minor leagues of hockey. Metal Blade kept and ear out for good word of mouth and media for our band through out our first 15 date tour in the west coast of the U.S.A. We were offered a contract in the summer of 2001 and held on to it for 6 month layer negotiations. We finally had a real budget to make a professional studio album with in January of 2002. Before the real recording of GWC, we recorded a pre production demo in October 2001 for Metal Blade to see how it would turn out and in hopes to learn something about being in a studio. After our album was recorded within 4 months we asked an artist to work with us called Evil Dave to make a killer artwork package for the album. We have been on a full U.S.A. tour with Incantation, Impaled, Decapitated and Dead To Fall, after our release of God Was Created in July worldwide.

You have just released your second album 'God Was Created', how do you feel about it, are you satisfied with it, what makes it great?
We stand confident knowing the accomplishments we have made. We think it is a very innovative release and so do the reputable media all across the world. What makes the album great is all the people that were involved that made it sound possible. All of Vehemence produced the album which means each member was in the studio making sure every part was tight and account for. We recorded this album at The Saltmine Studios in Mesa, Arizona where Soulfly and Megadeth have recorded. Basic analog tracking occurred there with the help of Will Solaris and Mike Schomig. Then, we decided to mix the album at Trident Studios near San Francisco, California with Juan Urteaga and his assistant Mike Blanchard. Having a Death Metal vocalist from Vile helped in the studio as well, by adding some ideas. Mix down was a stressful process because all of the unique effects and notes can be brightened to perfection. The experience in both studios gave us ideas for upcoming albums we may have. The artwork for the entire album speaks for itself and we are proud to support such explicit lyrics and content. Being on one of the largest recording companies in the world

How has the reactions toward the album so far been?
There has been amazing responses towards God Was Created and has been making top 10 & 5 lists everywhere. It was good for us to tour shortly after the album because the album was still being promoted heavily at stores. The hype was defiantly up in certain large cities we played at because there were mobs after us for autographs. So we know some metal kids worship the music we play and we thank those that give interest in us. We have been getting responses like this 'Vehemence have recreated the same kind of sensation when I listened to Entombedís Left Hand Path 11 years ago... by Digital Metal. Another comment was 'The fact that these lyrics are well-written and exhibit both intelligence and a cohesive theme only to serve to make them more frightening to the mainstream America' by Metal Judgment. Look forward to a lot of press and media from Vehemence worldwide, just give the world media time to catch up!

How is 'God Is Created' compared to your self released album 'The Thoughts From Which I Hide'?
God Was Created cannot be compared to the recording of The Thoughts From Which I Hide because the overall budget difference we had. It takes a lot of time and money to create a layered masterpiece. Our first album sounds more studio basic and almost compared to a demo quality recording. To us, we consider The Thoughts album a demo and GWC our first professionally released label album. We still push The Thoughts album because we still play the songs live at times and some of the songs on the disc are fairly popular like ëWhore Cunt Die and I Take Your Life.' We have advanced in musicianship and the ways we present our CD packaging. You can expect more innovative releases as we push further through Metal Blade Records. Aside from how The Thoughts album sounds like, the lyrics of the album are more in the gore exploration lyrical style. Also, GWC is a concept album and has no connections with the first album.

Why did you choose to call the band Vehemence, and what is the Vehemence directed towards?
Nathan titled it because it is a word to describe the fury and aggression presented by our music. It also means to commit an act of forceful and violent hatred. We have been getting a lot of responses saying that Vehemence is an all time catchy name to have, and we respect that.

I can see in the booklet that the music is mainly written by you and Bjorn Dannov, where do you guys find the inspiration for Vehemenceís music. What influenceís you and what factors in the everyday life makes you write angry as hell music?
Bjorn has various influences from his past such as Gorefest, Testament, and Carcass. Now and days he is influenced by different styles of music, mostly in emo-mainstream. Bjorn still writes just as heavy as the era when death metal was becoming standardized with a little mix of his new influence. He is not an angry person and his writing mostly comes form the skills he has acquired over the years. The way I compose my music is when I am very bored and tired. I sometimes get fed up with the day and create some riffs that I hum to myself. I always try to add new guitar skills in my compositions that require great practice and study. I have a habit of promoting our band more than practicing my guitar and I must change this habit sooner or later. It is all for the better cause anyways. I have influences from a lot of Swedish black and death metal bands such as the bands I listed in the first question.

The lyrical side of the album is made by Nathan Gearhart, where did the inspiration come from to create such colorful and intelligent lyrics?
Nathan is inspired by horror books and movies. The music he listens to is stuff like Hypocrisy, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Twisted Sister, Jethro Tull. He really concentrated on making the lyrics as meaningful and depictive. Nathan reads a lot of books from Alastair Crawley to Steven King that involve twisted horror stories. In my book, intellectual is his middle name and you can see it within the lyrical structures he composes.

As I read the lyrics it starts off with a girl that fantasizes about Jesus, Jesus is obsessed with fucking her, so he does in a dream later on in a different song. Will you tell where you got the exact idea to make this great story?
All these lyrics in the 10 songs presented are influenced by Nathanís sick and twisted mind. Made For Her Jesus is the song you describe which starts off the album. The song was created in Nov 1999 (1st song created for GWC) and contained a lot of characters that Nathan can spawn off a whole story with.

Why are you blaming god for all the bad things in the story, what is your problem against christianity?
We blame God through out this whole album because God Was Created by human minds and is only a ghost to scare you. You do not have to believe in the Sunday fucking fairy tail to build your own kingdom of happiness. The rule and regulations of Christ have made humans kill for their Gods through times of war. We are not only against Christianity we dislike all religions that use their religion as a crutch to fall on when they do something that is morally wrong. You are your own savior and it takes a lot of understanding from a atheist point of view to understand this concept album. This album is our bible and we stand by its lyrical contents.

Does god create serial killers, have you studied the phenomenon a lot or how did you get inspired to make the connection?
God does create human monsters, religion is too confusing to understand and those with enough problems in their life tend to be misguided by what the lords book intends to say. The bible constructs evil, for example, even if unconsciously, within familiar religious coordinates such as the expression of 'you must do the lords work, in order to live in a paradise in the afterlife.' This conception has been often practiced over the century, where murder turns to a justifiable cleansing. All members in Vehemence feel the same way about these methods of explanation. We do not believe in heaven or hell, we are to be considered Atheist metal heads!

The album is a concept album, which is a hard thing to make, but you have done it astonishingly and the music follows the moods in the lyrical concept as well, how did you manage to make it work?
Nathan has a lot of experience with writing short stories and lyrics. It is something that comes easily once you have done it for a while. Practice makes perfect and there has been many changes with the titles and even the lyrics. Sometimes you have to back up and re-write a part because it doesnít make sense. We try to make our albums make sense for everyone to understand them, but it takes an intellectual mind to deal with another intellectual mind. The music speaks for itself and I suggest listeners to really take the time to read the lyrics, let your whispering turn to a loud angered voice when flowing with the lyrics.

Will you continuing writing concept albums or is it a onetime happening?
This is a onetime happening because we would like to make each and every album different. We do not want to go off on a 10-album spree of concepts like King Diamond does. Just wait and see what we come up with, it just might have a similarity to what was done in God Was Created.

The sounds on the album are very dark and sinister and I really like it, why did you choose that sound and donít you think it will scare a lot of potential fans away?
Usually the vocals are complained about, but we see these kind of discriminations in every genre of music. The guitars were designed to be heavy, dark, emotional and melodic. Saddened riffs I suppose, most bands that accomplish such riffs have the most emotional backing and heart in their music. We choose to write in whatever speed we choose to and if it is mid paced, that is fine with us. You just have to open your mind and understand what we are trying to do.

Your artwork is made by Evil Dave and is very gory, why did you choose the gory side?
We choose Evil Daveís gory talent because he is a friend of the band and we respect his efforts in creating such masterpieces of gory artwork. He drew these paintings within 4 days each and thought of them only by reading all the lyrics to the album. We didnít tell him what to draw because every artist does not work by command only by inspiration.

What do you like about Evil Daveís work, can you recommend other of his creations?
Evil Dave has worked with a band called Mortem before, but other than that his artwork on our album is a worldwide debut release. ìIf you can only see the original canvasís he drew them on.î He has worked with Jon Zig when he was younger and lived in Austin, TX. 'I suggest any band interested in getting some art, just email him!'

Your front cover is ruined by the hated PAEC warning, why is it back to haunt us and destroy great artwork and what is your attitude towards PMRC?
Our album is banned by SPV Germany because of it, and we hope our German fans can respect the type of artwork and purchase the album elsewhere or demand the disc. We have an parental advisory explicit content label on our front cover and we donít mind, it gives our album a sense of 'what horrid contents could be inside to the general media.' Please visit his website at http://evildave.brutaldeath.net we are trying to get him famous here!

How is it to witness a Vehemence live show?
To witness a Vehemence show, you will see that we include all the creative parts preformed from the albums. You will see that Nathanís voice is more coherent simply because of the gestures he makes. You will probably see my hair in a windmill state through out our fast double bass drum parts. You will probably see us drinking on stage, and not water. You will see that Mark is going bald and Bjorn doesnít look like he is into metal at all. You will probably see some new equipment because we are always buying new necessities. In the future you will probably see some God Was Created banners in front of our guitar cabinets. You will see that Nathan is a funny man on stage and knows how to work a crowd. You will see that Nathan explains what the song means before we perform it in a brief summary.

When will you come to Europe and destroy all the live venues and do you know if Denmark is a part of the tour?
I will make sure we play in the home of Illdisposed and Gorefest (as most of you know, Gorefest is from the Netherlands and not Denmark!!!, ed). Denmark looks like a pretty cool place to devastate some farm animals and to wear some wooden shoes. Just joking, but I am sure playing there would be an ode for us to perform our Gorefest cover of ìReality Is When You Dieî (go kill yourself... or learn some fucking geography!!!, ed).

When will we see new material from you? Some of us canít hardly wait?
We already have seven new songs and they sound explosive. They are unlike anything we have created before. We are anxious to release them so we play some of the songs live. Some song titles are ìKill For God, Darkness is Comfort, You Donít Have To Be Afraid Anymore, and We Are All Dying.

Will you tell the Danish metal hordes your 3 all time fave albums?

Resurrection-Embalmed Existence on Nuclear Blast Red 1993
Mutant -The Aeonic Majesty on Listenable Records 1999
Illdisposed-Kokainnium on Diehard Records 2001

Thanks a ton for doing this interview, I hope it has been great to answer my questions! If we have forgot anything or if you just have anything to add, please feel free to do it now!
If anyone is interested in our godforsaken band, please feel free to email the band at vehemence@brutaldeath.net for a free 3 song pre production demo of God Was Created that comes along with a personalized newsletter. Please visit our band website at http://vehemence.brutaldeath.net and our label website at http://metalblade.com or http://metalblade.de . Our new album is sold directly through Metal Blade Germany. I would like to thank Nocturnal Horde for this pleasant interview.

interview

Corazine — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:27:16 GMT

Hi guys, to start the interview with a traditional question: introduce yourselves to the people that are not (yet) familiar with Hearse! Who are you and why do you play (this kind of) metal?

Max: I'd say we're just three losers that should know better than starting yet another silly metal band with no future. But I guess we're just too stupid to really realize that. Guess that metal has always really appealed to us. For myself I begun listening to hardrock back in the middle 70's and I was pretty determined already at the age of 5 that I would spend a lot of time playing heavy music!

I recently reviewed your new album, I liked it a lot but I'm not familiar with the previous one. In what points is the new album is different (and better?) than the first?

Max: I guess that this one turned out much more the way we wanted it to. To be honest I'm not that satisfied with the first one when I look back at it now. Still think that some of the songs are really cool, but the sound of it all isn't really what we wanted. And it somehow lacks that energy I think we managed to capture on the new one! I also think the songs are really a lot better on the new one. And we had a pretty natural, organic and rough production just as I wanted. So I'm definitely a lot more satisfied with this new one!

Out of curiosity: why did you pick the name Hearse (and Armaggeddon, mon amour)? Any personal feelings involved?

Max: I've actually used the name "Hearse" for different projects way back in time. The when we were about to name this band both me and Johan suggested ìHearseî as an option. It's taken from a song by an old English band called Rudimentary Peni. Great band and great song!
About Armageddon Mon Amour it's taken from the book / movie Hiroshima Mon Amour. Johan just changed the words a bit there!

On Armaggedon, Mon Amour I was most stunned by (and I quote myself) "the range of styles there's to be found in their music. I hear heavy, death, melody, groove, rock'n'roll,... characteristics". This leads me to the question: who writes the music in the band, and name me some of your main influences!?

Max: Me and the guitarplayer Mattias come up with the song ideas. I find it rather difficult though to point at bands that have influenced us, because I don't get influenced intentionally nowadays. But I'd take a wild guess at The Cult, Motörhead, Entombed, Conflict, King Diamond, Poison Idea and Uriah Heep.

Did the album live up to your own expectations? Happy with the result?

Max: Yep, it turned out pretty much the way we wanted to. Of course there's always things you'd like to do differently looking back at it now. But in the whole I'm definitely very satisfied with it!

How about the other reactions from media and fans then? I'm guessing most of them were rather positive?

Yep, we've had some really good response on the album, especially in the States, which was a bit nonexpected. Haven't seen that much reviews from Europe yet to be honest. Swedish mag Close-Up hated us as usual and the reviewer couldn't understand how the hell we could choose a Kim Wilde song to cover. I have no whatsoever problem with the fact that everybody can't love our album, but sometimes I feel that narrowminded fucking idiot shouldn't write about music at all! Then there's always some reviews like for example this one from the Dutch mag Shadows of disgust: "The songs are boring and lack structure, the production is worse then the average promo and the cliché solo parts also fail to hit the spot."
This guy wasn't that bloody impressed, he he!

So how are things for the future? Is everyone feeling 100% comfortable with the current style of music, or will Hearse grow more experimental, or the contrary: will it grow more into a fixed genre?

Max: I think that this is the Hearse style. We might change in some direction, but that's nothing we'll decide. Then it'll just happen. We never really plan anything. This is just the music that comes out when you put us three together in a band!

Hearse is quite a young band, yet from the start it has drawn the
attention (and contract) of a huge label (Hammerheart recs). Were you surprised by this?

Max: Well, to start with I wouldn't say that Hammerheart was a huge label. It was actually a pretty small label, but still managed to do one hell of a job and spread their records. Guess I was a bit surprised, but Hammerheart turned out to be a label that don't go for trends and they must have known that we ain't that kinda band that sell one hell of a lot of albums. I mean, we don't sound like any of the big bands, we don't dress in leather and wear the latest black t-shirts with unreadable logos and we don't play those ugly BC Rich guitars with strange formations. Don't get me wrong now. I don't have anything whatsoever against those kinda bands, it's just not what we're into. And we don't worship the devil either, so there goes another round of possible album buyers. So Hammerheart have been really supportive and I'm extremely thankful that they wanted us on their label! And now after the reformation into Karmageddon Media it's become even better!

With a headstart like that, how do you see the band's future and what are you aiming at? Is this mostly for fun and music, or when the chance presents itself, grow big and famous?

Max: I've never really had the intention of getting famous. I wouldn't mind making a living out of the music though, but on the other hand then we'd have to change a lot of the concept and that won't happen so... As long as we have a good time playing we'll continue. The day I wake up and feel that playing music is a pain in the ass, then i'll begin playing tennis or whatever instead!

Alright, let's end this here... The last word is up to you here! Thanks and good luck for the years to come!

Thanx a lot for your support! I really appreciate it! Check out the new album folks. It's pretty cool really! And make sure to visit one of our shows halfway September in the Benelux when we play with Dismember and Callenish Circle a.o. (Belgium date = 18.09 in Biebob).

Live well and be happy! /Max

interview

Corazine — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:14:22 GMT

I don't reckon that there are many death metal fans out there who don't know who Jeff Gruslin is! The vocalist on the 2 first legendary Vital Remains albums 'Let Us Prey' and 'Into Cold Darkness'. After those 2 releases Jeff more or less disappeared from the metal scene, besides a single gig with Vital Remains in '99.

Until 2005 when Paul Flynn (ex-Vital Remains lead guitarist) and Jeff Gruslin got together and formed Godless Rising. The cooperation between the 2 lasted for 2 good albums 'Rising Hatred' and 'Battle Lords'. Now Jeff is running the band together with guitarist and bassist Toby Knapp and they are as we speak in the middle of finishing the third Godless Rising album entitled 'Trumpet Of Triumph'.

I got in touch with Jeff to hear about the new album and what has kept his flame for old school death metal burning all these years! And if you are into old school death metal, give Godless Rising a shot, they know what it is about and a couple of tracks of the coming album can be checked out at their Myspace site!

Hails Jeff, how are things in your end?

Hails and horns to you. Things here could not be better...

You have quite a glorious past within the world of death metal, would you like to tell what had been going on, until the formation of Godless Rising?

Well thanks for the words. yes indeed… Well after I left Vital Remains in '96 I returned to the band for a very short time in 1999 and did one large metal fest in New Jersey, then decided to call it a day. After that I decided to go into hibernation to clear myself of all the backstabbing bullshit and hordes of useless people surrounding me. I went into my cave so to speak. Then I finally got the itch again, to create music again and get back out there and please some people, not all but some hahahahaha.

How and when did you get the idea to form Godless Rising?

Well Paul Flynn, the original guitarist from Vital Remains, when I was in the band, approached me in 2005 after numerous attempts and pesterings, I kept saying no way I have no interest in doing the band thing any more. I finally gave in with one condition, that we make metal like we did in the past and nothing else. And use it to our advantage and tour and make records.

You've so far released 2 albums 'Rising Hatred' and 'Battle Lords', how have the reactions towards the band and those 2 albums been?

So far it has been great and well accepted all over the world.

How do you look upon the 2 previous albums today and which tracks would you highlight as the best?

The last 2 albums are great and classic slabs of old school metal that a lot of bands seem to shy away from these days... All the tracks on both albums have their own special meaning and feel, I love them all.

What is Godless Rising all about?

Just what the band name says?!? A world of no gods, no religion, no organized bullshit. Be your own god and fight and forge forward without any crutches in life. No god is making any of your life decisions for you.

So far you've had a hard time to keep a steady line-up, why has it been like that?

Well I'm not really looking for a solid line up any more. I'm done with babies and stroke me hard fake humans. I've got Toby Knapp (guitars and bass) with me now and we have musicians to tour and that’s it. The core is alive and well with Toby and myself and I don’t need any one else. I don't need fucking egos!

Would you like to get a solid line-up and go touring and such?

We got solid musicians to tour when we are ready to make this move. I will not go on the road just to go on the road and tour. I mean I love touring, it's my life but the metal scene and the business bullshit that goes with it is retarded. Everyone is out to screw you... Been in the business too long to get screwed any more… Buy our records and bang your fucking head!

You've been involved in the death metal scene for many years now, what keeps your flame burning?

The flame will always burn man, it's in my blood. I've been into metal since 1977 listening to Alice Cooper, Kiss, Led Zepplin etc. But honestly the newer death metal does nothing for me at the moment. I love all the classic death metal from the late 80's into the mid 90's. I don't pay much attention to anything new in death metal…

The music Godless Rising is doing is hard hitting old school death metal, with a good blend of smashing parts, well-placed melodies and all out brutality, which leads us to: Who is writing the music in the band and where is the inspiration found for it?

Well I'll speak for the new era of Godless Rising with Toby Knapp. The new material I wanted to be about what Toby and me really like and wanted to hear and appreciate as a fan of metal. I wanted Toby to use all his attributes as a musician and bring them out on this album. The new material mixes old school thrash, death metal and neoclassical guitar playing... This new CD has hints of older Slayer, Possessed, Celtic Frost, some old school black metal as well as guitarists like Jimmy Page, Kerry King etc etc etc.

I reckon you are writing the lyrics, where do you find inspiration for your lyrics and what do you want to tell with them?

Well I always tend to lean towards the darker aspects of life and the occult themes. A lot is always built up in my head and I have always been against the whole organized religion thing. Keep them brutal… I've got other issues pent up inside as well, but don't feel death metal is a place to vent those lyrics.
How important are the vocals and the lyrics for the essence of Godless Rising?
I would say the vocals are more important than the lyrics, but with my style of vocals, as I try and pronounce everything when I sing I guess the lyrics need to be equally as important.

You are working on a new album as we speak, how is the work coming along?

The record is done as far as all the music. I'm in the process of recording all my vocal tracks as we speak. It should be out really soon!

What will the title of the album be, who's made the cover artwork and is Moribund going to release it?

The new album is called 'Trumpet Of Triumph'… Recorded for Moribund Cult Records. The legendary art mastermind Chris Moyen came through yet again with another great cover for the album. He's been a good friend since the early 90's and I'll use him as long as he will draw for me.

When will it be released?

I'm not sure of an actual date yet. It all depends on me and when I finish the record. I will not push anything just to release an album. Not until I'm 100% happy with it all.

You've just released 2 rough mixes of 2 new tracks, 'Ungodly Incantations' and 'Damnation Of Angelic Souls', on Myspace, how have they so far been received?

I'm not to sure, I don't really pay any attention to the page... I moderate the page that's it. But I've gotten some good responses to the tracks... But those tracks are so rough and un-mixed. The final product will be much better.

Who is going to do the final mix of the album?

Tony Ricci in the Triad Recording Studios here in my home town. He's the same producer that did all our early Vital Remains recordings.

What do you expect of the new album?

A change for the better as far as musical accomplishments go!

What 5 records have you been spinning a lot lately?

Wow there's more than 5, but OK, 5 I've spun a lot recently have been:

Entombed – Left Hand Path
Helstar - Every single one of them
Venom – Black Metal
Fastway – Fastway
Iron Maiden – Piece Of Time

Thanks a lot for your time, if I have forgot something you find important, or if you just have something to add, feel free to add it now!

No… Thank you for taking the time to interview myself and Godless Rising… Hails and horns to you all…

Taken from, and with the kind permission of Nocturnal Horde

Interview 2-8-2009

Corazine — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:55:16 GMT

I didn't know of Dawn Of Tears until a promo copy of their latest release, the MCD 'Dark Chamber Litanies' found its way to my mailbox and later on my CD player. A Spanish band playing melodic death metal sounded a little obscure in my ears, hail prejudice.

I came through all my ingrown notions of Spanish metal and gave the release a spin with fresh ears and a clean mind, and liked what came out of the speakers. Well played and -composed metal with influences from death metal, sweeping melodies and a nice melancholic atmosphere surrounding it all. Later on I got in touch with the musical mastermind behind the band J.L. Trebol and threw some questions his way, his answers are to read below here!

Hi there, how are things at your end?

Everything is ok. Thanks a lot!

Will you please start off by telling a bit about yourself and how the band got started?

Of course! I started thinking about the project in 1999, but it didn't became a reality until Jesus joined the band on 2001. Then we started working hard, a thing we still do. In general, Dawn Of Tears can be considered as a melodic death metal band, but we have many other main influences like gothic metal, classical music, and I think that makes our music richer.

Dawn Of Tears is not a name I'd expect from a melodic death metal band, how did you come up with the name and what does it symbolize?

Although we consider Dawn Of Tears as a "melodic death metal" band, I think our compositions have a deep gothic sense, especially in the thematics of our lyrics and melancholic and sad melodies. Dawn Of Tears is a name that reflects our music in a perfect way.

You released the MCD 'Dark Chamber Litanies' earlier this year, how has the reactions on the release been?

We are really surprised and satisfied with the reactions of the metal press and people in general. One of the premises of this MCD was to do it better than our first release 'Descent' because it received a lot of excellent critics all around the world, and was nominated to Metal Storm Awards '07 as the best melo-death album (In the same category as bands like Dark Tranquillity and Arch Enemy). I really think we have done it better!

How do you feel about the record now when you have gotten a little distance to it?

Sincerely, we are very proud about it. I think we made a great MCD and I just cant wait to see if we can do it even better with our next album.

Who is writing the music in the band and how are you working when you finishing the songs etc?

I am used to write all the music and orchestral arrangements. Then when the song is done, me and Jesus work on the lyrics together. Maybe, this way of writing songs may change in the future, because we have three new members in the band.

Where do you find inspiration for the music?

If we talk about the music composing process, I really can not talk about inspiration, because all the music is born in a spontaneous way, you know? I just play the guitar and imagine the melodies... I don't think on anything special.

Melodic death metal has in way too many cases been quite boring the latest years, though you have added a touch that makes your music great and exciting, what do you have that other bands lack?

Thanks for your kind words. I think the big attraction with Dawn Of Tears is that we don't play melodic death metal in a strict way. We don't discard any kind of influences in our music and although we are considered as a melo-death, you can find some gothic metal melodies, classical music influences, power metal riffs, etc...

Who is writing the lyrics in the band and what topics do the lyrics deal with?

One of the differences between 'Descent' and 'Dark Chamber Litanies' is in the texts writing process. This time, 80% of the lyrics have been written by Jesus Alonso and me. Literature, art, love and personal feelings are really important when we compose, especially when we write lyrics, not in a descriptive way, but we like to use those feelings to create stories and carry the listener out of reality.

You are currently searching for a label to release your future material, have you had any label interest since the release of 'Dark Chamber Litanies'?

Yes, we had several offers from small labels. But our music is too important to us and we prefer to be patient and wait until we find guarantees of good work and promotion for the band.

Are you working on new material and what can you tell about it, if that's the case?

As I said before, our composing process is so spontaneous. We don't stop writing music when the album is done and starts again 5 months before recording a new release. We are composing constantly.

What do you expect or hope from the future of the band?

We would like to get signed with a good record label soon, but we are patient. We'll go on working hard the same way, we have done so far.

If you should sell Dawn Of Tears in 5 words, what will those 5 words be?

Passion, darkness, honesty and heavy metal.

What 5 albums have you been spinning a lot lately?

Hard to answer, though I'll try!

Guns 'N' Roses Appetite For Destruction
Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side
Cradle Of Filth – Dusk... And Her Embrace
In Flames - Clayman
Faith No More - The Real Thing

Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!

I just want to thank you and invite everyone to download our two albums for free on our website www.dawnoftears.com.

Taken from, and with the kind permission of Nocturnal Horde

Dornenreich

Corazine — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:47:03 GMT

When In Luft Geritzt reached us in 2008, we stared at the carve in the air on the cover artwork while listening to the interaction between strings, acoustics and Eviga’s vocals. The album itself was an extraordinary piece of art driven by personal poetry, an intimidate atmosphere and melancholy. To understand the ideas behind this passionate music Corazine had the opportunity to interview Dornenreich’s mastermind, Jochen Stock aka Eviga.

Dornenreich was founded in the summer of 1996 by two young musicians and since then the Austrian band already recorded 6 albums. Nevertheless Eviga expressed “it should not be a purpose to live on music. To live on music a lot of compromises have to made”. Dornenreich sounds indeed very artistic and is working completely independent. It was the opening of conversation on music, nature and mankind.

The acoustic side

While hovering in the atmosphere of In Luft Geritzt it becomes apparent the band likes to express their emotions in acoustic instruments. Eviga confirms, talking on his passion for the acoustic guitar: “I always create and record my songs on an acoustic guitar because it is more real, authentic and organic” and for the strings: “the violin for example is very lyrical, passionate and there are a lot of dynamics . It is very lively and exciting.” As we could hear, for Dornenreich the acoustic instruments are the fundament to build on. Nevertheless he was also convinced of the values of wild metal shows: while the former has a very intimate and fragile atmosphere, there is “a more physical side in the latter, together with ecstatic and fierce power” he explained. This is not surprising as Eviga continued: “to express both sides is interesting as life is full of contrasting elements and contradictory powers.” Talking on the musical of side Dornenreich seemed to be a talk on the philosophical side of life as well.

The other side

These two sides of Dornenreich are also to be discovered on the upcoming DVD “Nachtreisen”. The band played a metal show at the Summer Breeze festival in 2006 and an acoustic one during the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig. “An ideal opportunity to see both sides of the band, despite the stress and hastiness typical for a festival”, Eviga said, “the Summerbreeze-show was the perfect opportunity to introduce Dornenreich to thousands of metal fans and to celebrate the first 10 years”. Another upcoming release for Dornenreich will be a next studio album. In contrast to the acoustic In Luft Geritzt Dornenreich will grab again to a more tragic and rhythmic heaviness. “Melodies and rhythmic structures are already written”, the calm and charismatic frontman revealed, “but for the lyrics I want to take my time, because of the importance of new experiences.” As the authenticity and personal life have always been important for the lyrics, Eviga wants to take his time on writing lyrics. Besides his love for acoustic music, while talking about his musical inspiration, Eviga is still enthusiastic about the old Ulver, Kvist, Gehenna and The 3rd and the Mortal. “I think black metal offers spiritual qualities even though its appearance is extremely physical at times. Actually, it combines all the important contrasting elements of life and, thus, it depicts the cycles nature relies on .”

Carved in air

“Wounds tent to open a human being even on a spiritual level.” Peacefully – but still passionately - he explained “the whole metaphor [in the artwork] is based on the attempt to carve something into air. Musical expression, is such a strong thing, actually just something invisible - like airwaves - but it really touches human beings and gives goose bumps. It is a symbol for a transcendental, invisible world. It felt we were like carving into the air when we made the music because it should get across some kind of pictorial expression of emotion, because you can not carve into air actually.” An inspiring explanation to remember.

Lyrical power and inspiration

Eviga also revealed some interesting words on the lyrical strength of Dornenreich which is in the first place a reflection of his personal experiences. “I don’t think about the later reception of an album because actually it is a very personal thing. There are topics that I want to get across, for myself to be honest. He did not forget the passionate Dornenreich-listeners: “of course it is great when people find something of themselves in the lyrics and music that I write.”

Authenticity and pureness are always returning elements in Eviga’s thoughts. Expressing his love for German language he admitted “the authentic vibes are the most important thing in the music. I always appreciate bands who sing in Norwegian for exmaple, we do not understand the lyrics word by word but to me the emotion is still there.” Another sign of the frontman’s poetic lyrics is his deep interest in German literature and philosophy.

Many musicians – a lot of (black) metal included - are inspired by the power of nature. Eviga confirmed the importance of the recording of In Luft Geritzt in an ancient house in the middle of Tyrol. Eviga talked on the inspirational side of the atmosphere in Tyrol: “first of all we wanted to rent a room that offered us good acoustics, a well sounding room because we did live recordings. Second, the Tyrolean landscape is very important because of nature and it is a bit like Scandinavia with mountains, woods and rivers. In nature we can find all big cycles of our life which determine our lives. For example nature shows that one has to let some things go now and then, for example in autumn, the trees have to say good bye to their leaves. It is like the fundament of life.” Instructive words from a wise musician to end this authentic story.

A few hours after the profound talk with Dornenreich’s Eviga Corazine formed part of a passionate black metal show. The review of this show, together with Agalloch’s performance, can be viewed on the next link.

Withered interview with Mike

Corazine — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:20:55 GMT

What's the album name mean and where did you get the idea?

Memento Mori is Latin for "Remember Death". It's used in many Different connotations. It's a reminder that death is inevitable and it also refers to those things that remind us of death or the dead. Our other guitar player, Chris, ran across the term and looked into it. Since most of our lyrics are about emotional strife and dealing with death/depression, it was a perfect fit.

"Withered" is a great band name for a group as heavy as yours but isn't it odd when compared to the striking melodicism of your music?

I guess it depends how you look at it. On one hand there is the Direct interpretation that helps illustrate the heaviness we try to achieve but we also look at it as the point where you might be so broken down that you accept your demise then realize the comfort and peace of knowing it's finally over. That's where we like to employ somber melodicism. And, sometimes we're just in the mood for a little melody :)

I called you melodic grindcore in my review; is this a fair assessment?

I would say that it's a fair assessment though we do have a lot of Doom styled parts that are slower and sludgier as well.

Was this oxymoronic juxtaposition (grind with tunefulness) a driving force behind the songwriting or just a result of what happened when you all got together and started jamming?

A what-ymoronic juxtapo-who-now?? Actually, we were conscious of it but I wouldn't say it was a driving force. Mostly when we jam and start writing, we'll start with a grind riff for example (just because that's what we happened to write) then we'll say, "We should write a crusty punk part" and try to come up with something we like. Then we'll say "let's keep it different so how about a good black metal melody". We try not to think about it too much because things can start to sound too contrived if we just write for the sake of writing.

How heavily did the thrash genre figure in your music?

I would say not much at all. At least not intentionally. I mean, Thrash has been around for so long and I do like some thrash. It's probably inevitable that it has some affect in our music though we haven't realized it if it has :).

In "It's All I Said," who tears and rapes levity from your life?

Ha! I would say that a few people have in my lifetime. that song

Is about emotional oppression. For example, it's about an overbearing

Parent that is actually so miserable, they emotionally abuse their child because they don't want that child to experience any joy if the parent can't (not my parents, I love them dearly). It's about selfishness and control. This can also apply to an overbearing friend or abusive spouse. It's also about overcoming that negativity in your life and being able to break away from it. So it has a happy ending, sort of.

I take it you see humor and frivolity as major factors in a happy life (duh)?

Ummm......absolutely!! It might seem that we're a bunch of depressed and sad boys by reading our lyrics but we do nothing but joke and try to enjoy every minute that we can. I really like to keep an optimistic outlook and just roll with the punches. Being that death is inevitable and I never know when it'll come, I try to enjoy as much as I can and help others to enjoy, at a minimum, the time they spend with me.

Is "Like Locusts" a suicidal song?

It's about deep depression and emotional suffering to the point where the end is welcome. When things get so dark that the end looks like the best alternative. "Like Locusts" is actually a consolidation of a few poems that Chris wrote.

"Like Locusts" is almost a sequel to "It's All I Said," in that it sounds like the words of someone who has had the levity and joy ripped from them.

I can almost see that. It wasn't intentional though. Chris wrote "Like locusts" and I wrote "It's all said" many months later. Very interesting interpretation. I guess when you are dealing with a circle of similar emotions, they will inevitably relate.

Are you a nihilist or are you actually a happy person since you get all your angst out cathartically in your lyrics? Or are you a happy nihilist?

I'm not much of a nihilist myself. I usually see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's important for me to keep a balanced outlook and to really cherish the people and things that are important in my life and focus on them. I can't help the entire world but I can be there for everyone in my life. I try not to consume myself much with "the big picture" because the world will always be fucked up. People just can't help it. I mean, shit, at least 80% of the population are out-of-touch morons bound by their upbringing. Our entire society is based on being a part of one "team" that's at odds with another "team". Maybe it's just survival instinct but I think it's mostly ignorance. Maybe there is a little nihilist in me......

Curious ... what is your spiritual worldview, if any? (I'm an agnostic and a bit of a nihilist.)

I was raised in a Christian household that was never overbearing or harsh in that regard. So, I have taken a lot of good lessons from that upbringing and a lot of the teachings do bring counsel to me. I'm pretty spiritual I suppose but not religious. The church and organized religion is just another "team" trying to be right. I suppose a lot of that 80% I mentioned earlier needs someone to guide them, which is probably good for some. I just can't see entrusting my views and beliefs in someone just as fallible as I am. As far as the rest of the band goes, we're a mixed bag. Chris, for example, is an agnostic and we're very close friends. I realize that each individual has to go through life the best way they see fit. Chris is a good, caring person so I absolutely respect his choices in that regard.

"Beyond Consciousness lies wrath. Beyond wrath lies birth and awakening of that which haunts you. Sterility of fear overcomes you." Those lyrics are from "Beyond Wrath"; tell me in detail what you mean by those words.

Those words are about the realization of death as it is happening. Imagine knowing that you are dying and as everything is fading, you realize tremendous regret for something in your life. At this point, there's nothing you can do to right a wrong and whomever you may have affected will go on with that negative impact on their life. Maybe they will never be able to get past this trauma and suffer emotionally for the rest of their life. I guess it's about guilt. It's mostly introspective (as is most of the material on the album) so I guess it's something I have pondered at points in my life.

What bands are influences for you?

Wow, there are a lot of bands. When writing for withered, I would say that I pull a lot of influence from early Swedish death like Entombed or Grave. I also like a lot of black metal in the vein of Immortal, Gorgoroth, and Weakling for example. Then there're modern bands like Neurosis that have a lot of impact on me. Oh, not to mention, all the grind stuff like Assuck, Napalm Death, Nasum, and a bunch more.

Anybody you'd love to share the stage with?

Any of the afore mentioned influences, Mastodon (good friends, good times), High On fire, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and about 50 other bands I love.

Final thoughts?

Yep, it's 10:00AM and I need a beer already! Thanks so much for the interview and interesting questions. The support is always appreciated. Hopefully we'll see some of your readers on the road soon. Take care!!

Interview with Masato

Corazine — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:00:24 GMT

Greetings Masato. An introduction would be shamefull for the ones not knowing Bathtub Shitter, wouldn't it? But please, can you tell us something about the start, the present and the (possible) future of Bathtub Shitter? For instance, when did the story started, how do you feel right now and what do you think tomorrow will bring?

OK but say simply, We were formed in 1996,our base is at Osaka Japan,also original member is only Keisuke(Drums) and me,We was doing endless change current line up is me,Keisuke(Drums),Kuroki(Bass),Kushi Zashi 85(Guitar),I think this BATHTUB SHITTER is keeping good condition,finally calmed down aha, did you know a our song,ASU ? ASU means tomorrow in Japanese not ass,read that lyric,I sang that I'll shit for the future more ahaha. This is answer from me

We're on the verge of a new year, 2004. What are your expectations for this new year? And wishes you want to fullfill?

I think next year will be so busy as hell,but this will be good for our fans, no sure don't say yet but please look forward to our news, now I am Japan,I'll greet 2004 years than there,see you next year,We have a plan to do a lot of releases and tour !!!

Bathtub Shitter is known for its lack of interest in webzines, isn't it? Why don't you like them? And most of all, why the sudden change right now?

Yes man,I am sure I didn't like them but I thought there was one of good idea when I viewed your webzine,Fishcomcollective also thought I wanna wear T-shirts,get a button of Fishcomcollective,ahaha easy joke.

There was an attempt on your life a few months ago. Are you up to enlightning us a bit? What happened and why did they want to kill you and ruined your place?

I don't wanna say a lot about this anymore,Okay I think They were like one of our followers,frendly and I was helpping them out 2 years ago,but they have their own ideology which was destroying the stage,also I decided We never play with them but they frequently called me of couse I ignored,time has gone I heard a lot about their bad rumor from young bands and promoter,that night this bad accident came when I gave them advice. We can't understand for them being destroyed yet becouse police's investigation is too late, but just heard that group decided to break up tonight,It sucks... still have some problem but I am really well please don't worry La-La-a-La-a !!! aha

I just heard the news that you released a full length CD 'Lifetime Shitlist'. I must admit this is fabulous news. Who releases the album? Tell us something about it, can we expect some rare or very weird things with it?

this has released on our own label,named SHIT JAM RECORDS,unfortunately those website doesn't work by that accident,but if Who's interested,get in touch with this info@bathtubshitter.com it' same,there is 14 tracks including cover of WITCHFINDER GENERAL,not new that tracks were already recorded in 2001 but I think this is best works till this day,please listen !!! play loud !!!

Bathtub Shitter gained the status of a cult band, here in Europe lots of people worship you and your band. How do you think this is possible,when the one and only time you came to europe with the band was last year? What did you think of the gig at Fuck The Commerce last year by the way? Did you like the sound, audience and place?

Really ? I don't feel that a thing is real becouse I am Japan and so far,Nothing gives me a so much pleasure if Who has our platter in our unknown town,thanks a ton well FTC was cool,I felt staffs,audience,bands all had enjoyed there,I'm really envious of European underground music scene

Would you ever consider coming back to Europe, maybe even Belgium?

Yeah We always think,not sure,We are planning to go there,of couse We wanna tour on your country but try a lot before touring,I promise We'll go in a near future,Maybe...aha

In the USA, Brad and Amanda released the Fertilizer EP in a special edition. How did you get in contact with these people? Do you like the work they did for you?

I knew about him before,in a past,He was running RHETORIC RECORDS,I am sure I had not bad feeling, think They are nice people but are they doing so busy ? unfortunately I have not heard from him since...

The subject you're 'singing' about is quite funny, being shit. Why the fascination for this brown love?

No I am sure I don't sing about excrement,take those things more easily,read my lyrics again,I am so funny to sing from other point of view,for instance,view this world from trash can inside or shit in bathtub,don't think answer is one in a life,not arithmetic or computer,only I am a shit from my mother ahaha

Japan has a great history in sicko bands. Which ones are your favourites?

I like SxOxB, MELT-BANANA a lot, I have heard Japanese heavy Metal as early LOUDNESS, VOW WOW, KUNI, E.Z.O. when I was really young ahaha yearn for me at Metal now I am very pleased with NAIAD and LIMITED EXPRESS (has gone?),both is not GRIND band but I like

Do you know any music by Japanese band Confuse? If so, do you like them?

Only I know band name

How would you describe Bathtub Shitter for an audience not familiar with the band?

Teacher ! don't understand for this question,aha I am just broken...

People dig merchandising. How about Bathtub Shitter merchandise? Any t-shirts for sale? Or other stuff?

Check our website out,so easy to find out,address is this www.bathtubshitter.com

Time for some plain self-promotion here, and to wrap this thing up. Feel free to spread some advertising for your new cd, why we should buy it and furthermore, thanx for the offer in interviewing you. Thanx!

Thanks for interview,nothing to say more,only I wanted merchandise of Fishcomcollective,ahaha if Who'll do for readers present,let's me know at info@bathtubshitter.com I'll post aha

The Death Kids interview

Corazine — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:50:53 GMT

The American DeathKids is a band that consists of teenagers (sorry for calling you this, but the truth hurts!!!). They started playing very young, and that makes them rather special, don't you think? Here's 'daddy' to answer the questions...

Hell-o Ken Sr. Wootto,! How the hell are you doing? Here in fucked up Belgium, the DEATHKIDS aren't that known in the scene, so it might be better if you gave us a bit of background on the band. Please tell us something about the beginning and first rehearsals and stuff. How old were you then?
Ken and Harley always listened to metal of some kind since they were born. They listened to stuff like Judas Priest, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, but mostly we listened to Slayer and Mercyful Fate. People always used to give me promos or stuff they couldn't sell. So we started listening to Cannibal Corpse (Butchered at Birth) and Exhorder (Slaugther in the Vatican). Someone owed me money and couldn't pay, so I took his guitar and gave it to Harley along with a small amp. He started playing AC/DC songs within a couple of days. About the same time we got copies of Deicide (Once Upon The Cross) and Death (Symbolic), and we were hooked, we started buying all the death metal CDs we could get. A kid from across the street played bass and Ken Jr. played on an old drum set I had used to be a jazzy drummer. They would just fool around, and after a while it started sounding pretty good. Harley was eight, and Ken Jr. was 10 when they actually started making music.

You wrote me that Harley was 11 years old when he did the vocals on 'Born In Hell'. What did you do to him? I don't know a lot about kids but I never met an 11-year old kid grunting like Glen Benton does. Do you make him drink boiling beer or something like that?
Harley actually was 9 and Ken Jr. was 10 when they recorded 'Born In Hell'. The kid who was playing bass at that time wasn't allowed to go to the studio, so Harley and Ken Jr. did the whole thing themselves. With Harley overdubbing the bass. We had gone to see Deicide , a few months before they recorded Born In Hell, and Harley was standing right next to the speakers. Harley is like a parrot. He can imitate anything, his voice changed for good whe he heard Glen live. Glen was real nice to us. He took us into the dressing room and gave us all autographed t-shirts. We've played a few shows with Deicide, and he's always been friendly. I don't know how Harley does it with his voice, it never seems to hurt him, and he changes the vocals around whenever we play live. He's an incredible vocalist.

What's the age difference between you and the other members?
Currently I'm 51, Harley is 15 and Ken Jr. is 16 . We originally hired a real short guy with long hair to play bass after the other kid quit. This guy was 21 years old and about 5 feet tall. We tried to make him look like a kid even though he had a beard. But he quit anyway because he didn't want to travel.Harley and Ken didn't really want me to play bass with them because it looked kind of ridiculous, I'm 6'2" and weight 220 lbs, and Harley and Ken were still skinny little kids, plus I hadn't play bass in about 25 years. And really sucked, but we didn't want to turn down any more jobs, so we just kept playing, and everything worked out. Harley and Ken are just about bigger than I am now, and don't have to worry about any bullshit , like people quitting the band!

Now enough about the age. Please explain us why you choose to create the best music style ever on earth: death metal. And some sissy style like Hanson. By the way, do you like Hanson?
We didn't really choose to play death metal, Harley and Ken have a natural talent to play it. We love the music and the lifestyle. I think Hanson is finished, I don't think they'll be popular anymore. Overhere all the white kids wanna be little black ganstasn they all listen to rap and imitate black people. Hanson is a joke, and I would never listen to them, but I guess I gotta give them credit for becoming rich and famous withing having any talent. For a while people were calling us the 'anti-Hanson'.

Are your sons heavily into Satanism? If so, did you forced them to do it?
We don't really believe in anything, I'm an atheist, but I am a non-active member of the 'Church of Satan'. I don't force my kids to believe in anything. Christiannity is a big pain in the ass. Christians want you to think the way they do, and if they don't, they kill you. Christians are the most twisted, violent people on Earth. Throughout history, they've persecuted all non-believers. The Romans should have fed a lot more of them to the lions. All religion is stupid, I don't believe in anything spiritual. We only get one shot in life, and we're trying to take everything we can get. Fun and money. When you're dead, you're dead. My kids have listened to death metal, shot guns and watched pornography since they were born. We don't follow any rules.

Aardvark (reminds me of a 'Veirken', this is the Flamish slang for a 'pig') is your label, isn't it? What CD's have you already released? Or is it only to release your own DeathKids albums?
You're one of the few people who actually know that Aardvark is Flamish for 'Earth Pig'. I used to do business with a few record distributors in Belgium, and they told me that Aardvark was African for Earth Pig, which is an ant-eater. Aardvark is my label, I mainly do tape-CD distribution. The only CDs I released so far are Born In Hell, Bleeding and Praying, Live in Haupton and a live video. All by DeathKids. I've tried signing other bands but most of them turned to be egotistical and worhtless fucking morons. I'm always looking for interested bands, but everyone wants to do things their own way, fuck em!

Do Harley and Ken Jr. drink? You gotta taste the Belgian imported beer called 'Palm'!!
Harley doesn't drink, but Ken Jr. does. He also smokes pot. I don't think it's wrong for a 16 year old to drink, smoke pot and get tatoos. I don't need the government or the christians telling me how to raise my kids. The only Belgian beer I've had was 'Monks Pale Ale', and I've gotta say, that is wicked shit. I think it's 20% alcohol. I'll see if I can hunt some Palm beer down at the distributor.

I guess you don't feel like coming to Europe for a couple of live-shows? Or are there plans? Please tell me when!
We'd love to go to Europe, but it's hard without the support of a record label. We just signed a licensing deal with Sonic Wave Signapore. They have an office in Germany, so maybe next summer we'll get over there. I'll let you know!

Are you a co-operater from the Grimoire Of Exalted Deeds? Do you also write in it? What's Bill Zebub like in real? Or is he always like he claims to be?
I don't own any of the Grimoire, but we get quite a few interviews because I spend a lot of money advertising in it. Bill Zebub is one of the funniest people I know. He's pretty much how he portraits himself in the magazine. I've never seen him drink more than a few beerz, but he's always drunk of his ass. He thinks people are going to give him a beating because of all the bad reviews he gives bands. He's done really well with the Grimoire. It's the only magazine I advertise in , we get calls and letters from all over the world.

Did you like the Milwaukee fest? Tell us something about it , please? We don't know festivals like that here. How many bands played there?
The Milwaukee Metal fest is, as the promoters say, 'the only Metal Fest that Matters'. We always have a good time, everyone is drunk and fucked up and hanging out. I'm always happy being with my kind of people. This year, there were 160 bands playing on 7 different stages. For me, this is too many bands, any band that wants to sell 20 tickets or pay $1000 can play. And I'm sorry to say a lot of bands aren't that good. Probably about 5000 people show up. I thought there were a lot of open air metal meetings in Europe?

Can you name your all-time top 10 record list?
Deicide - Once Upon The Cross; 2. Death - Symbolic; 3. Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated; 4. DeathKids - Bleeding and Praying; DeathKids - Born In Hell; 6. Pro-Pain - Foul Taste Of Freedom; 7. Deicide - Legion; 8. Slayer - Reign in Blood; 9. Gwar - America must be Destroyed; 10. Soundtrack from a Clockwork Orange. There are a few CDs we frequently listen to, we listen to a lot of new groups, but usually we got back to listen to Deicide and Cannibal Corpse. I'm not sure about a lot of the new stuff. A lot of it is all starting to sound the same. No matter how 'brutal' music is, it should still sound like music, not just ultrafast riffs and constant double bass drumming that no one can understand. I'd rather listen to 'Once Upon The Cross' a hundred times than some of the stuff labels are putting out these days.

Never had troubles with the 'authorities'?
I've only actually been arrested 3 times, once for gun possession, once for drunk driving and once for having an ounce of marijuana, the charges on that were reduced when the ounce of marijuana disappeared after the cops took it. Ken Jr. has had a few running with the cops for fighting, Harley never got in trouble.

When will we be able to hear the new stuff from your band? Further releases? Plans?
We're hoping to get a new CD called 'A bullet from God' and by January 2000 Dean Adams/ Lord Slayer wrote the lyrics for a couple of the songs. He's in jail for torturing christians 'till they denied christ. We're also doing a couple cover versions of Slayer's Tormentor from Show Now Mercy. We're just gonna keep playing and see what'll happen.

If someone from Europe would be interested in your merchandise, what does he/she has to do?
I've send along a list with all our merchandise on it, generally all our merchandise is for $10 for each CD, shirts and video. The price includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Anyone can call our hotline # 5/6226503301 or write to DeathKids, PO 139, Lindeshurst, NY 11757, USA. We send free 4 song demo tapes to anyone who calls or writes.

You may end this shitty interview.
Thanx for this interview, you can e-mail us at DeathKids666@Hotmail.com .

Interview conducted somewhere in 2002-2003

Zero hour interview

Corazine — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:19:02 GMT

At times am I a sucker for technical metal. And the re-released debut album “Metamorphosis”, from this Canadian band, did hit me in such a period. And wauv, the musicianship showed on the album is superb. The same can be said about the compositions, damn a great album. I had to get hold of one of the men behind the music and I got hooked up with guitarist Jasun. Here are what he had to say to my questions.

Please start off by introducing yourself, tell why you are playing metal and how your metal adventure started!

I'm Jasun the guitarist of Zero Hour and have been doing Zero Hour for 10 years. When Mikey, Troy and I got together 10 years ago, we wanted to play music that was dark and intricate. Erik came into the picture a couple years later and we just started writing “Metamorphosis”. That's the CD that started it all for us.

You are now ready with an re-release of your self financed debut album “Metamorphosis”, how did you decide it was the right time to release it again?

We always had people looking for our “S/T” CD and the problem was we ran out of copies a very long time ago. The “S/T” CD was released 5 years ago and when “Towers of Avarice” came out we had about a hundred copies left. So many people who had “The Towers Of Avarice” never heard the “S/T” disc. When we went to Europe we sold the rest of the copies out in 2 days and had so many people wanting the disc. After so many emails to the band and Ken of Sensory, it just seem to be the right time to put it out. I'm happy we were able to get the other tracks ëRebirthí and ëA Passageí on the disc in order to make it a full-length. These were tracked at the time of the “S/T” but we didn't have enough money to mix them.

It was initially only released in 2000 copies, has there been a great demand for it lately?

When people heard that "Metamorphosis" was coming out, we had a lot of people emailing us saying they can't wait for the disc to come out. Just from that alone I would have to say yes.

Now 5 years after recording the album and putting it out, how do you feel about the material, does it represent the Zero Hour we know today or is it a faded scream from the past?

It does represent Zero Hour and I'm very proud of this CD. This is the disc that got us fans, magazine press and label interest. This is the disc that started it all for Zero Hour and I can honestly say we are very proud of it.

How will you describe your development from your first days to now?

We had a lot Keyboards on "Metamorphosis" and very little on "The Towers Of Avarice"!!! Plus we were very angry with the music biz when we wrote "The Towers Of Avarice". We had so many labels wanting to put out the “S/T” but they played so many games on the contract end. What they said verbally was very different from what they put on paper. So the sound on "The Towers Of Avarice" is very cold because we were going through a very cold period.

How much has your way of songwriting changed since your first material and do you still have the same influences?

We never want to do the same CD twice. When we did the “S/T” we listened to a lot of Meshuggah, Dream Theater, Pat Metheny and Cynic. When “The Towers Of Avarice” came out we listened to a lot Meshuggah, Pat Metheny, Dillinger Escape Plan, Soilwork and Nevermore. As of now I still listen to a lot of Meshuggah, Pat Metheny, Dillinger Escape Plan, Killswitch Engage, Mudvayne, Lamb of God, Blood Has Been Shed, Nevermore, etc, etc. I think our influences have grown.

Who is writing the music in the band?

Troy and myself write all the music and Erik writes the lyrics.

How does the songwriting process work in Zero Hour, are you making the music as a band or are you composing your material on your own and compile it later as a band?

Troy and I would write a lot of parts at home for "Metamorphosis" and just bring it to rehearsal. We wrote all the parts at band rehearsal for "The Towers of Avarice".

Where do you find inspiration to your music? The initial inspiration is most likely from music, but when listening to your music, one thinks a much broader field of inspiration is used!

I think it's just how you're feeling inside at the moment in your life and it comes out in your music. When we wrote "The Towers Of Avarice" we were very angry and upset with all the games from the record labels. You can hear in the music we didn't have any warm feeling, so the music was very dark and depressing you might say. The “S/T” was more of finding our sound and putting together a great progressive metal disc.

You have a tendency to make music that initially is easy to listening to, but are spicing it up with some very complex and very technically structures. Is the contrast between the catchy melodies and the very complex structures intentionally?

When we wrote the music, we wanted it to lay it out for vocals but also giving it a lot dynamic textures with our technical playing. It gives the listener a lot of colors to paint a picture. We wanted the music and vocals to flow and not be overdone on technical aspect. This way you get the best of both worlds.

What do you want to accomplish with your music?

Creating good music and seeing the listeners enjoying the material.

Are you listening to a lot of music yourself and what do you prefer to listen to?

I listen to all types of music from jazz, new age, death metal, technical metal, hardcore, the list goes on and on.

Are you listening to a lot of music yourself and what do you prefer to listen to?

I listen to all types of music from jazz, new age, death metal, technical metal, hardcore, the list goes on and on.

What does a band have to offer to make you tick?

Something that is pleasant to the ear and is in key lol!

What is the most important for you when you are buying music: Good songwriting or a high level of progressiveness and technicality?

Good songwriting.

You are in the middle of making your new album “De-Evolution”, how far are you with the work, what can we expect from the album and when will it be released?

All the music has been tracked since March of this year. Erik just emailed me recently saying he's ready to lay down the vocals. I do feel “De-Evolution” is our best material to date and We are very proud of the material. I don't know how long it will take Erik to track the disc and it's too early to say when “De-Evolution” will be released.

You are signed to the excellent label Laserís Edge/Sensory how has the cooperation been so far and is it the right label for you?

Sensory has been great to the band and the relationship with Ken (Sensory owner) and Zero Hour is very good.

Please tell us what your band name Zero Hour is referring to, what does it symbolize for you?

Never-ending time to your dreams.

Will you please share your 3 all time favorite albums with the European metal hordes?

In no order, Pat Metheny "Still life talking", Meshuggah "Chaosphere", Mudvayne " LD50", Killswitch Engage " Alive and Breathing", Brian Culbertson "Modern Life" Nevermore "Dead Heart", Pat Metheny "Travels" , Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton, The new Lamb of god is really good, the list would just keep going. 3 is not enough.

Thanks a ton for answering my questions, feel free to end the interview as you like!

Thank you so much for helping Zero Hour gain more listeners and thank you most of all for supporting our scene, YOU RULE \m/!!!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:03:12 GMT

Hot Texas metal. This is it! The kind of thick grooves that Pantera fans have been gnawing on for years isn't dead and gone with the dissolve of that great band and the death of the beloved Dimebag. No, the flame is alive thanks to such bands as Cradle to Grave. But these guys are no Pantera rip-off. They drink from the same trough, but Cradle to Grave gets around. There's more than one trough to sip from, you know. Or to gulp from. These guys also incorporate some excellent hardcore-crossover tendencies. What it boils down to is this: Texas. Thrashy. Groove metal. Need I say more? Nah, I'll let the band take it from here ...\r\n\r\nQ: This is probably an obvious question, but are you inspired by Pantera?\r\n\r\n

A: Pantera is one of the many inspirations/influences that we have.\r\nMotorhead, Skynyrd, GWAR, Slayer, Johnny Cash, Suicidal Tendencies, Pearl Jam, Deftones, The Beatles, Maiden, Nugent...pretty much anything that any member of the band likes will end up in the final CTG mix. We really don't try to have any limits as to which style we'll play or what direction we'll head in.\r\n

Q: The groove part of your Texas groove metal is obvious - but what makes it Texas? Why did you call your new album "Texas Medicine"?\r\n\r\n

A: Sasquatch and myself have always been huge fans of Southern Rock. Blackfoot, Black Oak Arkansas, Skynyrd, etc...which is funny because this actually album has the least amount of southern rock on it, yet it's called Texas Medicine. Weird, no? Well, we called the album 'Texas Medicine' as a tribute to two of our favourite things: Bob Dylan and mescaline. It's from a line in Dylan's 'Stuck in Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again'. Mmmm, mescaline. \r\n\r\n

Q: There's a gob of metal in your sound, but you can't deny that there's some hardcore in there too? What hardcore bands have brought you inspiration - or even just enjoyment?\r\n\r\n

A: Well, I'm personally not that big of a fan of hardcore...some of it's alright. Hardcore, Punk, Metal...it's all good.\r\n\r\n

Q: What recurring themes are there in your lyrics?\r\n\r\n

A: Anything that I come across in my own personal life usually ends up somewhere in a CTG song. 'Five Years Of Fire' is a tribute to the persistence it takes to last in this so-called music business. I wrote it for our Five Year Anniversary show we had back in 2007. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have song called 'Ten Years Of Debt'. Other than that, my views on religion, suicide, love, and drug use are all evident on this album. We generally don't do any fantasy because I like to base a theme on a truthful standpoint but 'Beheaded In Paris' goes in that direction. It even has a whole verse in French! \r\n\r\n

Q: What makes you stand out from the crowd?\r\n\r\n

A: These days I find it really hard to find any honesty or imagination in music. Although I might be looking in the wrong places I really don't think so. Everything seems either overproduced, contrived or downright phony. I hope I'm wrong but probably not. What happened to people thinking? Or lyrics meaning something? I hope that whoever decides to give this album a listen will sit down and actually get into the songs and pull something out for themselves. That's what we aim to do and if we're not doing that yet, we'll keep trying until we get it right.\r\n\r\n

Q: Do you see Cradle to Grave graduating from indie status to mainstream metal? Why or why not?\r\n\r\n

A: Having Devin Townsend work on this album with us was a major step forward. He brought in all his crazy ideas and opened a lot of musical doors for us. He actually captured the sound/essence of what we're trying to do with this band. Sometimes it's hard getting that across. But, all we can do is keep doing what we're doing and if people start to notice, that's great. If not, then that's alright too because we're making this music for ourselves first and if we're happy with it then that's the goal. We have high standards for ourselves and if we reach that high-water mark we set for ourselves then I'm confident that that will show through the albums, the live shows, and everything we do.\r\n\r\n

Q: What do you listen to that might surprise your fans?\r\n\r\n

A: I listen to every style of music. I really can't rule out anything because I'm sure that once I do, I'll find some song from that genre that'll turn my world upside down. That's the best part about music, it can tear apart anybody's perception of anything. \r\n\r\n

Q: If you could share the stage with any artist, alive or dead, who\r\nwould it be?\r\n\r\n

A: Johnny Cash.\r\n\r\n

Q: If you had to play a different style of music, what would you choose?\r\n\r\n

A: Bluegrass.\r\n\r\n

Q: Final thoughts?\r\n\r\n

A: We're going to debut our new video for the song 'Broken God' very shortly so keep an eye our for that. And we're in the planning stages of a West Coast tour for late August, the venues and dates will be announced shortly. So everyone out there who actually put up with mine rambling for this interveiw, I dare you to come out to the shows, steal some merch, and beat your friends with the album!!!!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:03:07 GMT

Answering Questions: Jarkko

Did any particulary tale(s) in your national tradition figure into this CD? If so, elaborate.

Not this time. The Finnish lyrics, that were by the way all written by a guest writer Mr. Virva Holtiton, are just poems about various times and places written in the same style as the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

Some metal bands have taken their texts directly from Kalevala, but these are all new stuff written in the same kind of old Finnish with the same poetic measure.

The English lyrics on the album you can of course figure out yourself!

Do you regard the old religions of your part of the world as myth or religion?

What's the difference between myth and religion? Isn't every religion just collection of myth and stories that some people decide to believe in? The old Finnish "religion" was much more than just worshipping a few gods. It wasn't just believing in the supernatural. It was part of everyday life. The sacred things were part of people and nature and it was quite hard to tell the difference between religion and normal life. I don't myself believe in or worship anything, but there's an old Basque saying: "Even if you don't believe in them, you must still not say that they don't exist."

Exactly what all instruments are at play on this album?

Of course there's the basic set of drums, bass and guitars. Then there are acoustic and electric violin, jouhikko, tin-whistle, recorder, Estonian bagpipe torupill, mandolin, mouth-harp and accordion.

How challenging is it on the production end to get this stuff mixed together just so?

It is quite challenging in fact. We've now had the same producer Samu Oittinen on the last two albums. His studio has become quite popular and he's been working a lot between our albums and he has learned many new tricks which is the reason why the new album sounds so good. He has of course also learned more about us, and he knows what we want and how do we sound. So, Samu is the right man for the job. Live environment is totally different thing and there we've tried many different acoustic instruments but none of them have really worked well. Therefore we've been forced reduce our arsenal to basically just electric violin and accordion.

Is the folk metal thing a growing scene in your neck of the woods?

The metal scene in general is quite big in Finland. Folk metal however is quite marginal. Most of the Finnish folk metal bands are probably more popular outside Finland. A good example is our concert date list for this year. At the beginning of the year we had about 40 confirmed concerts for this year and only one of them was in Finland. Now the things have changed though. We have doubled that number. Now we have TWO concerts in Finland!

What other bands of this style do you appreciate?

I don't know if there are any bands that are exactly like us, but from the folk/pagan/viking/whatever metal scene I really like for example Turisas. Battle Metal album is really good and there are also quite a lot of those fun elements that so many metal bands are missing nowadays.

How's your fan base building up?

I think we now have a second fan too. And we've been talking about a third one too so it's growing quite fast.

Do you feel your music is reigniting interest in the old beliefs?

I think it is. It's not that we are trying to do that, but for some reason many people think about ourselves as some sort of a modern day pagans. Quite many interviewers, like you, ask us about the paganism and old Finnish beliefs. First and foremost Korpiklaani is a band, whose main idea is to play music that we like and bring some joy to lives of our own and the audience. Now that we've been touring quite a lot in central Europe, we've noticed that people are also getting interested in Finland and Finnish culture, which in my opinion is much better thing than just

the same old pagan thing. Finnish language is at least one of the oldest if not the oldest language in Europe, the Finnish culture is a unique mixture of east, west and north, and if we get people interested in that, at least I am satisfied.

Explain the cover art.

Artwork is based on Jonne's idea. It was done by Jan Yrlund, a Finn who is now living in the Netherlands. Some may remember him from his days as a guitarist of the early Finnish speed/thrash metal group Prestige. The man on the cover is the same shaman that we've had for a few years now. We though that this would be the right time for him to get some flesh around his bones. The original logo was a shaman with a drum and an axe. The same or similar images have been found in an ancient rock carvings around Scandinavia and north-western parts of Russia.

Final thoughts?

Go and get the new album!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:03:02 GMT

How`d you get into black metal?

Well I have been listening to metal since I was 6 years old starting up with kiss and ac/dc. But it took not long before I was searching for more power and extreme forms of music. So after many years of searching my self I ended up with black metal if you can say so! Starting up with my first band mock in 1991. This was just a natural development for me it seems this was the first form of music which I was really 100% comfortable with. Both when considering music , attitude and feelings! Black metal is a lifestyle! Black metal is life. Or at least that’s how it should suppose to be in my opinion.

Who are your influences?

If you mean other bands I have non specific fave bands. But I have a lot of bands I respect and really like. Some bands are: Immortal, Masters hammer, Absu , Darkthrone + more.

But I must say that my influences to make music comes more from the mighty nature itself here. This is where I get all my inspiration from. This and the northern pagan beliefs and heathendom is my main influences.

Who do you like outside black metal? Any influences there?

I guess you are talking about music here also? Well to be honest.. im a metal head for all that its worth. But offcourse I listen to other stuff too. But when it comes to specific influences I guess that must be some of the old classical stuff. Like Bach , Grieg etc. But all in all as mentioned before, Nature is my blood and main source for music really! It can maybe sound a bit strange, but nevertheless the truth so!

What do you think lies at the heart of the genre?

Well I think that what lied in the genre back in 91-92 was a complete other fundament than what`s lies in this genre nowadays. But for me black metal is life and life itself. And offcourse a strong belief in your self as a human being. People is far too much into whats suppose to be right or wrong in this society , rather than just think for them self. Follow your own heart and beliefs. Be free under no god, you are your own god. This is my ground principle and belief in black metal!

What in your opinion sets you aside from the black metal scene? Whats your originality?

To me kampfar have always been original. Both when it comes to lyrics and music. Ever since the start of kampfar back in 94 there was originality in my opinion. But offcourse it should be like this for me also since im the creator of this band. I had always a specific idea and plan for kampfar. The folkloric stuff in our music is quite unique in my opinion the guitar riffs and sound is also something special compared to other black metal bands I think. But this is really not up to me to decide if that’s succeeded or not I think. Cause I think every person/listener have to make up their own mind about these things. But when that is said I must say that I doesn’t care too much about what others think about it either. Cause I know what we are dealing with and im totally 100% into kampfar and doesn’t care too much about others and what other black metal bands do to be honest. I concentrate on kampfar only. I live and breath for this! This is my life!

Whats a kvass?

Kvass is offcourse our new album first of all. Its a Norwegian word for “sharp”. This is a very strong word and it can be putted upon a lot of things in life and music, But this is a word you are suppose to look at as a whole unit. Take a look at the cover of the album and lyrics etc and figure out yourself what you get out of this! I live this totally up to the listeners to decide the meaning of this word!

Do you find it difficult to incorporate melody into such a raw style of metal?

Well, this is another thing which I think sets kampfar aside from others too. Offcourse this can be a really hard and difficult thing to do. But we are really working so hard on this matter. And I think that the folkloric stuff and melody structure is really something that’s coming through in our music. For me kampfar sounds quite special on this matter and there is very important for us to be able to create music with melodies , structure and feelings rather than just play in 200 all the way if you know what I mean? This can be difficult offcourse. But as mentioned, we work really hard on this matter and its very important for kampfar!

Describe your overall lyrical focus?

My lyrics have always been about the once pagan beliefs and heathendom that once where here in the northern lands, the superstitions in mankind and what peoples used to belive in and about faith! But not at least about nature! Nature and the deep forces In nature have always been the main topic in kampfars music. What can possible be more real than this? This is so much more powerfull than any shitty religion around. That’s for sure!

What do you belive in more than anything?

Hehe.. well I think I have made that clear many times already!

Nature and life in general is the most important thing for me!

final thoughts?

Its fucking great to be back after almost 7 years in the shadows now. And I can assure anyone that it will definitely not take 7 more years before the next album is out. We have now just finished our European tour so lets hope we soon can do the us lands too! Keep the banner high!!

Thanx for the interview!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:57 GMT

Some time ago i got this cd from Indonesian Kekal. Was pretty impressed by its beauty, so had to ask Jeff a few questions.

Howdy ho there Jeff! Kekal isn't really a band i'm so familiar with, so a small introduction would miraculously change that... Can you tell us something about the start, the evolution and maybe even the present?

Well, KEKAL started in August 1995 when original member Newbabe (pseudonym) met his friend Yeris and formed a one-time project band.. Actually KEKAL was formed for the purpose of recording some tracks and releasing a tape, just for fun.. There were some songs that already written at that moment, and they just needed to write some other ones to record the demo.. The demo were finally recorded in November 1995 with Harry as a vocalist.. The tape was dubbed into 20 copies and were spread around the tape-trading circuit.. A guitarist named Leo heard one copy of this tape in his friend's house, this guy (the Leo's friend) was a friend of Harry too.. Later Leo contacted us as he was interested in joining us as 2nd guitarist.. In about June 1996 KEKAL became active again, but this time with a vision and commitment as a serious band, not only a one-time project.. We remixed the very first demo and with some new material we released "Contra spiritualia Nequitiae", our official demo.. I wasn't officially a member of KEKAL back then, but I helped wrote and produced it.. The demo itself has got a good response from the underground and sold 500+ copies quite fast.. Some additions in line-up appeared, with Harry on Vocals, Leo on Guitar, myself on Guitar/Vocals, and Azhar on Bass/Vocals, we continued to write new material.. Early in 1998, the first full-length album entitled "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" was recorded and licensed to various labels.. "Beyond The Glimpse of Dreams" has got very good reviews from 'zines around the world.. The response has also been very good since it has been sold for over 5000 copies now.. At the end of 1998 Harry left the band.. There were 3 of us remained but we kept continue working with this line-up.. Our 2nd full-length album called "Embrace The Dead" was finally recorded independently again in 1999.. Early 2001 we entered the studio to record songs for our 3rd full-length album "The Painful Experience".. Leo left the band in 2001 because he moved to Australia, and thus KEKAL became a 2-piece band.. In April 2002 we recorded few songs for a split CD with Dutch metal band Slechtvalk.. Few months later we started to work for our 4th full-length album "1000 Thoughts of Violence"..

What does Kekal mean? Is there a certain meaning for that?

It means 'immortal' or 'eternal' in Indonesian language..

Lots of band-members in several bands, have side-projects. Have you got any? Some hidden things nobody should hear about maybe?

I'm currently involved in 4 active bands.. That means 3 bands outside Kekal..

Is there a strong scene in Indonesia?

The metal scene is quite strong here in Indonesia, but it works more in the underground than in mainstream.. Here in Indonesia the popular death metal band can sell more than 4000 copies of tapes locally, but still without a major record-stores distribution.. The most popular style is brutal death metal and gore-grind type of band.. Most of the better metal bands here play death metal.. Indonesia is quite known with its underground brutal death metal scene with some bands already have CD's released by overseas labels..

The 1000 Thoughts of Violence is just one in the row of many albums right? You seem to be very productive in writing new stuff to. How do you do this? Have got plenty of time to sit back and write things? Or are you just a mastermind for creative input?

I don't think that I'm a fast songwriter, but if I was in the mood for it, I can write up to 10 full songs in a month.. I don't have plenty of time to write the songs on the regular basis, like sit down in front of a computer or in the studio playing guitar or keyboard.. Most of the times the ideas come suddenly and I just write down all the basic ideas on my notebook.. I can't read and write music myself, so I just write down some private symbols to it, and then record it later when I get back home..

By the way, how is it divided, this work of creating an album? Who writes the lyrics, and who the music?

All the members can write both music and lyrics.. We don't decide things like who will do this and who will do that..

To be honestly, i was totally surprised by the Kekal cd (1000 Thoughts of Violence) being .. well, amazing actually. Was that the intention to make such an album?

Thanks.. Well, we love to experiment with many new things.. We don't limit ourselves in listening and writing music.. Anything that fits with Kekal's standard will be used..

Do you witness and disadvantages being an Indonesian band, like getting less chances, not enough feedback or things like that?

Yes, of course.. No doubt about that.. Geographically, Indonesia is far removed from the center of the world's metal scene that is Europe.. Our music have actually got some interests by bigger labels, but the main thing is we live in Indonesia and it's very expensive to bring us to tour over there, and tour is what makes the album sales better and makes the band bigger.. And also, from the heavy metal fans' views, many people tend to see that Indonesian bands are just delivering some below standard metal music, not only to Indonesian bands I guess but also to Asian bands in general.. Asian bands just couldn't sell that good in Europe or America just because those 2 factors.. But anyway, it's really cool that we have a record label in Europe, Fear Dark, who push and promote us over there..

Is Kekal a typical live-band? I think it's very difficult to get the same atmosphere on a stage somewhere...

We are more as a studio band thing.. In the studio we can put plenty of things, put many elements into our songs.. All that we cannot re-work them live without adding many guest or additional players.. To be honest, we need at least 3 guitarists, one keyboard player, a DJ, and also some background vocalists to fully recreate all the details on the album.. So we need about 7 people minimum..

What's your biggest dream with the band?

Having Neil Peart playing drums with us.. It's the biggest dream ever, because it will happen only on a dream.. You know.. haha..

You're from Indonesia, and to be completely honest, i have no good experiences at all with Indonesia. Don't take it personal here, but i prefer not to trade things for instance with Indonesian bands. Why not? Well, same reason as trading with Polish people actually, postal system sucks and there seems to be a lot of rip-offs.... How do you stand towards this? Have had problems with the postal-system in Indonesia? (I once traded some tapes with an Indonesian band, called Trauma (also from Jakarta). Now, the band has an amazing tape, but the datestamp was 9 months older then the time of delivery. You can have a baby in 9 months! I don't even know if my letter ever reached his place.)

Indonesia is just a poor country.. And our postal system is one of the most corrupted ones because of the low salary.. Sometimes a postal officer looked into the content of the mail, and when there is money, CD, or anything else inside the packet, he would probably steal it.. Right now, we couldn't help but sending every mail registered to avoid getting lost in the mail-outs, but that costs us a hell lots of money.. To send one CD to USA without jewel case, for example, we have to pay Rp.55,000 that's around US$7.. That costs a half of the CD retail price..

You have set a big discography already, will more of that follow in the future? Still plenty of creativity?

We haven't think for our next album yet for right now.. So I don't know what kind of surprises we will bring..

That's it i'm afraid, thanx for the interview and take care!

Thanks.. Good luck n have a nice day..

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:52 GMT

I was instantly hooked on Kult Ov Azazel when I first heard them on the compilation “Visionaries Of The Macabre vol. II”. Their fast and punishing black metal was killer. Winters have come and gone since then and the band has just released their second full length album “Oculus Infernum”. I got hold of vocalist/guitarist Xaphan to get updated on the situation in the band.

Hails, how are things in Florida at the moment, hot as hell and awaiting tropical storms?

Hail! Things are going well as I sit here soaking in sweat from the Florida heat and humidity. One of my favorite parts of the season in South Florida is here and that is hurricane season. Violent storms are quite inspiring.

Will you introduce yourself, tell us everything there is worth knowing about you and how your metal adventure started?

It first began when I started listening to music consciously back in 1977. I started out listening to Black Sabbath, Kiss, Judas Priest, AC/DC and stuff to that extent. Then in the early 80’s I got turned onto Iron Maiden, WASP, Mötley Crüe and from there I discovered Venom, Exodus, Possessed, Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and the list goes on. Since then I have lived and breathed metal to the fullest extent. It’s become my life and my passion.

How did you get introduced to the art of black metal?

Through Venom's "Black Metal " LP in 1985.

It will be great with an introduction of the rest of the band and a bit of the bands history!

Kult ov Azazel was formed in the spring equinox of 1999 under the infernal name Azazel consisting of Xaphan (myself) on guitar/vocals and Xul on vocals/bass as the main components of the band. Under this name and lineup we recorded and self-released “Order of the Fly”. In 2000 we participated on a 4 way split with Obitus, Humanicide and Thy Lord which was put out through Christcrusher Productions. Also in the same year we recorded and released the material on the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD through Genocide Music. In March 2001 we released our first full length “Triumph of Fire” and now in 2003 we have released ”Oculus Infernum” both through Arctic Music and is the first time in our history that we have recorded with a full permanent lineup. Currently the band consists of Xul on vocals/bass, myself on vocals/guitar, Nocturath on guitar/vocals and Goss ”The Hammer” on drums.

You are ready with your second full length attack on christianity “Oculus Infernum”, what do you expect from the album?

Honestly I don’t expect anything; all my expectations were finalized when we completed the mix down and mastering. It’s completed, out and we are pleased with the final result. It has exceeded our expectations much more than we had envisioned.

Have you gotten any feedback on the album yet, how has the press and your fans responded to the album?

It has gotten some mixed reviews but the majority has been in favor of the newer material. Seems a lot of people like the newer stuff much better than the last album, including the people that show their support to this band.

How much did your debut full length “Triumph Of Fire” stir up the scene, how many copies have you sold and how has the black metal community responded to it?

The reactions towards “Triumph of Fire” were quite good to say the least. It got killer reviews the world over and gained us some new supporters. We have sold 3000 copies of the CD as well as 300 copies of the vinyl LP version so I would say the metal community has responded to it very well and much better than we had expected.

The sound on “Oculus Infernum” is more powerful, ugly and raw than “Triumph Of Fire”, why did it turn out like that?

Because that is how we wanted it to be. We had a vision from the beginning and stuck with that same vision up until the mastering. Although both of us, Xul and myself that is, were pleased with “Triumph of Fire” we wanted to make this new album much darker and even rawer than the past. We wanted to make an album that would surpass the last one. It also has a lot to do with the fact that we now have two new members which both bring their own characteristics into the fold.

There have been some confusion about who delivered the drum work on your releases, will you one final time go through the releases and tell who is drumming on what and how you ended up with your current killing machine Goss “The Hammer”?

It started in 1999 with Von on drums and the release "Order of the Fly." Not long after we recorded this Von was kicked out and Hellspawn took over drum duties and appeared on the material that’s become the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD. In the spring of 2000 we kicked out Hellspawn and incorporated Vetis (Gus Rios/ex-Sickness, ex-Malevolent Creation) as a session drummer. In 2001 we wrote and recorded "Triumph of Fire" with Vetis appearing on the album and just recently we have released the new album ”Oculus Infernum” with Goss ”The Hammer” on drums and he is a full time member. The way we ended up with Goss was through the Hateplow tour I did with them in 2001 since he was our tour manager. Both Xul and myself knew we needed a full time drummer and Goss heard the material and was totally into it. Once the tour was over he flew down from Buffalo NY to try out and everything clicked. He was the perfect fit for the band and we are very pleased that he has choose to become a part of this band.

You have done very much to mark the band in the underground scene, with various split releases, how important is for you to have contact with the underground?

It’s the underground that keeps this music alive. Without it there would be nothing.

Some of the split releases offered the same material from your side, how come?

Plainly because there wasn’t any new material available, this is especially the case with the 4 way split on Christcrusher. As for the split with Krieg there’s only one song that appeared on another recording and that is “Forever Heaven Gone”. It appears again on this Krieg split because it’s a different version than the one on “Order of the Fly” not to mention a different and better drummer, which isn’t saying much but that’s the reason.

The band has build up a strong satanic image, is it all image or are you burning with hate to the church?

I am as you would say “burning with hate to the church”. I can definitely tell you this is no image for me. I live and breathe my beliefs along with having the utmost disgust for religion as do the other guys in the band. We don’t use this imagery in our lyrics and art as gimmicks. We have never and will never present ourselves in a false light for the sake of selling something. What you see read and hear are all real emotions channeled into a musical form and presented without any misrepresentations.

What is satan to you?

Satan is a metaphor for the dark driving force of the soul and represents adversity to all that is considered holy and sacred.

Your music is fast, atmospheric, furious and a bit chaotic, almost like a blaze, how did the band come up with the musical style which you now are delivering?

You got me there. I don’t know how to answer this question. We just play the style that we play, don’t know what else to say. I guess it would be that each of us has our own individual inspirations and when these ideas are put together the result is what you hear on a Kult ov Azazel release.

What did inspire a bunch of people from the sunny Florida to create a black metal band?

I can’t speak for the others but as I said earlier it was Venom’s “Black Metal” that inspired me. I am not originally from Florida so it definitely wasn’t anything here as I did not move here until my twenties. The other guys are all from other States as well so I doubt Florida had anything to do with inspiring them. But Venom was the main inspiration for me and that’s where it began.

What are inspiring you when you are writing music, any certain moods or do something else which sets you off?

Many things can trigger inspiration for me. It can be anything from a single note to an idea that continues to reoccurring in my mind. Just different things trigger the motivation to write the music and then from the music I draw the inspiration for the lyrics. But overall there is no special atmosphere needed for me write songs.

The band are delivering a triple vocal assault, which is giving a great specter of ugliness and evil, why did you choose to use 3 vocals and how do you share the vocal lines?

Well Xul and I do the majority of the vocals. Nocturath is more or less a background vox except where he does the vocals on Oculus Infernum during the blast riff. I decided to start doing vocals again because it was something I felt comfortable doing again. I had done vocals on past stuff since we did dual vocals back then but it got to where I just wanted to write the music and play it rather than do vocals. On the new album I wrote a majority of the lyrics which is something that in the past had been Xul’s department so when it came time to lay down vocals it was decided that instead of me doing background vocals this time around we’d go back to doing dual vocals since we finally had a solid lineup. We knew having the dual vocal approach happening again would add to the overall result.

“Oculus Infernum”, what does the title mean and why have you chosen that exact title?

The title is Latin for ”Eye of Hell”. This title was chosen out of the inner vision we had going into the writing process. It then evolved from there.

The release is covered with Latin phrases, medieval like paintings and occult symbols, how important is it for you to have mystique and occultism around you as a band and as a person?

The thing with the album is all the Latin phrases, the paintings and symbols all act as aids to the lyrics/music. Everything was used for a specific purpose, not just for visual aesthetics. It’s not so much of an importance as it is a natural need to have these things around me personally, but as far as the band goes, what we use visually has a connection to what the overall picture is about. They are there to explain rather than just be viewed.

You are signed on Arctic Music, is it a good label, are they doing their job?

Yes they are a very good label to work with and I think they are doing a fine fucking job when it comes to getting our music out there be it distribution or promotion. They have done a great deal over the past 2 years for us and for that we hail the ones at Arctic Music!

Where are your biggest following USA or Europe?

I’m not quite sure. We have good response from both countries. In the beginning it was definitely in the USA but with the past few releases we are starting to get tremendous response from the people in Europe, so it’s not so easy to say now.

Have you been affected of “the black metal war” between Europe and US, where Europeans are marking US bands as copyist of the European black metal, and US followers meaning that real black metal only are the old US bands?

We have had people say their share about this band but overall it doesn’t effect us. People nowadays are too worried about looking true to other people rather than being true to themselves. The ones crying over this or that band and what they can and cannot play are a joke. People need to wake the fuck up and realize that black metal doesn’t come from the forest, snow or anything bound to Earth, it comes from the inside, the soul and from something which is vaster than the universe. Darkness, evil and blasphemy have no ties to any culture or nationality and when these idiots realize this fact then they will begin to understand what this form of music and ideals are all about.

You have recently joined the grind/death squadron Hate Plow, why did you choose to join the band and how is to deliver another style?

I run live sound for Malevolent Creation, which Hateplow includes 3 members of, and both bands were doing a European tour with Rotten Sound and In Aeternum back in 2001. I was going over to do sound for all 4 bands and two weeks before the tour was to start the bass player of Hateplow quit. So instead of Hateplow dropping off the tour I was recruited to take over bass duties. Once the tour was over they made me a permanent member and that’s that. We just returned from a tour we did in June over in Europe so I have now done 2 European tours with them. I find playing their music not much different than playing ours other than I’m playing a bass instead of a guitar. It’s much easier as well since I have no vocal responsibility in Hateplow. Other than that, Kult ov Azazel is my main focus, I do nothing other than show up, play the bass and drink in Hateplow.

Will you share your 3 all time favorite albums with the Danish ‘bangers?

I can tell you Venom “Black Metal”, Darkthrone “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” are my top two favorites, in that order, and everything else falls into third place.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my questions, please close the interview as you like!

All those interested in more on the band can write to Kult ov Azazel, PO Box 23308, Ft. Lauderdale FL 33307 USA. We can also be contacted online through our website at www.kultovazazel.com. I thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of Nocturnal Horde webzine and speak for all of us when I say the support is appreciated!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:47 GMT

The Italian metal scene is very exiting and ever growing, one of the most exiting bands in my opinion are Kiss Of Death. The delivers powerful thrash metal with a nostalgic hint to the 80’ties. I hooked up with mainman vocalist/guitarist Max Serafino to get all the information about the I needed!

Hails, Max how are you doing, did you get into the new year in a great way?

Hi Anders, here all is ok! I hope 2003 will be a great new year for us!! We’re working on the songs that will compose our new full length and I hope we’ll find a label to release it!

You are the singer/guitarist in Kiss Of Death, but besides that what kind of guy are you, why do you play metal and how did your metal adventure start?

I think I’m a normal guy! I have a job, a girlfriend, many friends and I like to spend my free time going to concerts!! Furthermore, I play with my band and it’s a great satisfaction for me!! I love to play Metal, it’s my life!! It has been love at first hearing when I was fifteen and my cousin gave me a Guns ‘N Roses tape, “Appetite For Destruction”!! The sound of Slash’s guitar drove me crazy so I decided to play this instrument! For the first years, I played Hard Rock, practicing on guitar playing the most popular songs of great band like Guns ‘N Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi ‘till I listened one of the greatest Thrash Metal Band, Metallica! In that moment, I decided to play Thrash Metal and set up a band!! Later, in 1994 I founded Kiss of Death!!

Kiss Of Death has been around for some years, but I don’t think a lot of people know of you, so would you please give us your band history?

Kiss of Death was formed in Lecce (Italy) back in 1994. Founding members Max Serafino (Rhythm guitar and vocals) and Ivan Scrimitore (Lead guitar) shared an artistic vision and decided to find some like-minded musicians. The temporary arrival of a bass guitarist and a drummer will compensate the band, but they will eventually leave before two more permanent members join the group. Luigi Greco took up the bass guitar duties (Who's still a member of Kiss Of Death) while Andrea Doria tackled the drums. As fate would have it, Andrea left in December 2000 due to evident musical misunderstandings. A new drummer by the name of Dario Congedo finally filled the vacated seat after exhaustive auditions. The musician merry-go-round struck again in April 2001 when Ivan Scrimitore decided to leave the band. The final piece of the puzzle was found when new guitarist Marcello Zappatore took up the challenge as lead guitarist. While most bands tend to be held back recording wise with an ever-changing roster of members, the opposite seems to have had an effect on Kiss Of Death. Within a short five-year period, Kiss Of Death has independently released four CD's. 'LIES' was the first to appear in March 1997, with 'UNDISPUTED REALITY’ followed soon after in June 1998. The band really came of age with ‘STRONGER THAN BEFORE’ (Released in March 2000) as well as receiving a host of positive reviews from the underground press. In between recording, Kiss Of Death also hit the stage supporting international bands like SEPULTURA, SAXON, SHELTER, RAW POWER, EXTREMA, LINEA 77, WHITE SKULL, NODE, STORMLORD, OPERA XI, SADIST, NECRODEATH, UNDERTAKERS, NATRON, DEATH SS. In march 2002, Kiss Of Death finally delivered their self styled hard and sharp 'thrash/hardcore/death metal' three tracker ‘PROMO 2K2’.

What have you so far released?

As I’ve just explained in the previous answer, we’ve released four CDs “LIES”, in march ’97, “UNDISPUTED REALITY” in June ’98, “STRONGER THAN BEFORE” in March ’00, “PROMO 2K2” in March 2002.

Which of those releases do you like the most and why?

Without any doubt, my favorite Kiss of Death CD is the last, ‘Promo 2k2’ ‘cause it’s a really punch in your face! It’s more Technical, Violent and Powerful than our previous releases and sound really cool! However, I like very much our full length ‘Stronger Than Before’ and the second demo ‘Undisputed Reality’!

How has the band developed since the first time you played together?

Our sound has developed through this years becoming always more Powerful and Aggressive! We began to play Thrash in the way of Metallica or Megadeth but through this last years we’ve steered our listening to other bands like Slayer, Machine Head, Pantera and the Death Metal Scene that comes from the North Europe with great band like In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy and more besides, so all this influences has modified our primary sound into a sound more Powerful and Violent that we definite POWER THRASH METAL!!

All I have heard by Kiss Of Death is your newest release “Promo 2K2” how do you feel about the release nowadays?

I’m really satisfied of it! All the reviews for the new promo have been very good. It's been reviewed on so many websites and in lots of metal magazines. The promo has even made it as the best reviewed demo in some magazines! I think if someone wants to have an idea about Kiss of Death’s Sound, he must listen to our Promo 2k2!! I’m very proud of this CD cause it sounds good and the production is excellent too!!

What will the next thing we will hear from you be, are you working on new tracks, do you have some song titles etc...?

Yes, we’re working on the new songs!! We're already working on some new songs! We've got five completed, and many others in various phases of completion. I hope to have ten songs ready by the end of the year, so that if we happen to find a label, we'll have our second official CD released within 2003. Some songs titles are ‘NEW BLOOD’, ‘VIOLENT ATTITUDE’ and ‘MY WORLD’!!

How would you yourself describe your style?

As I’ve just said, we describe our genre as POWER THRASH METAL where the adjective Power means that we play a kind of Thrash more powerful than the Classical Thrash of the 80’s!! Furthermore, listening to our songs you’ll find many influences of other genres like Hard Core and Death Metal too!!

You are based in explosive thrash metal but are incorporating other styles as well, how have you developed the exact style you play today?

We’ve developed our own style playing everything without any fixed idea of who it sounds like, and what we think we should sound like. That's why our songs are so varied. So having said that, you'll find thrash riffs, hardcore riffs and also death metal riffs within our songs. The most important thing is that the songs have the power to strike you down!

I think there are something nostalgic over your music, there are a lot of influences of older bands, but there are also some modern aspects in your music, where did you get the influence to incorporate them?

Kiss Of Death’s music is a melting of all the influences of the bands we’ve listened from the 80’s ‘till nowadays!! We can’t forget our roots, we are grown listening to Metallica, Megadeth and Testament but today, this kind of Thrash is almost dead so we listen to a lot of younger band! That’s why in our music you find so many old and modern influences!

As said earlier so are you playing guitar in the band, when and why did you start to play guitar?

As I’ve just said, I was fifteen and my cousin gave me a Guns ‘N Roses tape, “Appetite For Destruction”!! The sound of Slash’s guitar drove me crazy so I decided to play this instrument!

What are inspiring you when you are writing music?

I understand that the riff I’ve found is good when I begin to bang my head and the adrenaline starts to flow through my veins! It can seem strange, but I compose my song in this way!!

You are also singing and writing the lyrics, so what inspires you when you write your lyrics?

All the lyrics to our songs speak about reality, either personally or as an observer. But they speak also of nightmares, dreams or ways of thinking of mine!!

There are 3 tracks on “Promo 2K2”, will you guide us through each tracks and tell us about the music and lyrics?

'House Of Pain' speaks about the death penalty, 'Uncontrolled Reaction' speaks about the abuse of power held by the police and 'Stronger Than Before' speaks about our living standards, and if you want something, having to fight to get it. It's about facing up to problems and having to be always stronger than before!

You are from Italy and that is one of the fastest growing metal scenes at the moment, but how do you see upon the quality of the Italian bands?

I think Italian Metal Scene is a great scene!! It's very strong, with many great bands like Linea 77, Extrema, Lacuna Coil and thousands of independent bands good, but also bad, as everywhere I think!!! Unfortunately, it is still an underground scene ‘cause there aren't many places where you can play concerts if you are an independent band . However it is growing faster and, sooner or later, something will change, I'm sure.

Are you working great together as a scene in Italy or are there fights among the bands, styles etc...?

I think that all over the world as here in Italy, among the bands or the styles there is love but also hate!! In my view, the most important things is work hardly with own band and don’t spend time throwing shit on the others!!

How was the year 2002 for Kiss Of Death, what did you accomplish in the past year?

The 2002 has been a great year for Kiss Of Death! We’ve got many satisfaction, we’ve released a great CD like “Promo 2k2”, we’ve played like supporting band with RAW POWER, SEPULTURA, SHELTER, and recently we’ve played with one of the greatest Italian metal band ever, DEATH SS. We even managed to play on the most important rock stage in Italy, the Rolling Stone in Milan!

How do you think the new year will treat the band and do the band have some goals to accomplish?

I hope so!!!! Now, our most important target is to find a label to release our new CD a I hope 2003 will be the decisive year!!

Are you playing a lot live with Kiss Of Death and will you tell us how it is to attend a Kiss Of Death show?

It’s a vulgar display of Power and Aggression!! Kiss Of Death is a live band and we like very much when our fans enjoyed with us!!

Why should people check out Kiss Of Death?

They should check out Kiss Of Death cause we are a band that believe in Metal and what is doing! We don’t spend our free time playing with the band, we’re spending our life for Kiss Of Death!! We can still give more to the survey of Metal but we need your help, your support!!

How did you come up with the name Kiss Of Death, is there something deeper behind it?

I've always been a huge fan of Megadeth! So one day, when I listened to their song 'Tornado Of Souls' (From 1990's “Rust In Peace”) I noticed in particular that last verse. "You'll feel my cold breath, It's the kiss of death". From the first time I heard it, I liked the sound of the words. So I decided to call my band Kiss Of Death! It was as simple as that!

What does METAL mean to you?

For me, Metal means life, passion, a way to express my emotions, my way to live, my inner soul!!

What will you and the band be doing in the first couple of months of 2003?

We’re working on the new songs and sometime we’re playing some concerts just to have a break cause the sessions to arrange new songs are really stressful!!

Will you share your 3 all time favorite albums with us?

Appetite For Destruction of Guns ‘N Roses, Reign In Blood of almighty Slayer and Far Beyond Driven of Pantera!!

Thanks a lot for doing this interview Max! If you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!

First of all I want to thank you Anders and your NOCTURNAL HORDE Webzine for your support and last but not least, I want to thank all our fans and supporters all over the world! You can visit our website at http://www.kissofdeath.it to get all the information about Kiss Of Death and get ready for our new killer stuff! We'll come back soon, stronger than ever! Thrash 'till Death!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:42 GMT

The hearse is coming this way and it brings death, not in the normal sense, but in the sense of the new Dutch 5-piece death/thrash squadron Katafalk (a Dutch word for hearse). They deliver an all out assault with their debut album 'Storm Of The Horde', so here are the 2 guitar players Christiaan and Pier Abe, to tell us tales from the dark past, current atrocities and about the future Armageddon...

Will you please start off by telling all there is to know about you, why you play metal and how your metal adventure started!

Chris: I'm Christiaan, the guitarplayer of Katafalk. My metal adventure started a long time ago after hearing Iron Maiden's Live After Death. It completely changed my life, dedicating it to Metal! So I got myself a guitar, learned to play and finally got a band together.Pier Abe: We play metal because we like it, and we all started listening to metal in the eighties.

Will you also introduce the band?

Chris: Besides me (Christiaan-guitars) Katafalk currently consists of Pier Abe (also guitar) on drums Michiel, on bass Henk Jan and our new vocalist is Niels, replacing Wokkel who sings on the CD.

The history of the band would I also like to know!

Chris: Katafalk was started in 1995, we released a demo in 1997 and a promo in 2001 which did really well. We experienced a lot of line-up changes though, I'm the only original member left.

You have just released your album 'Storm Of The Horde', how do you feel about it?

Chris: We're very proud of it! It's great to finally have a full CD out on a decent label.

Pier Abe: A lot of hard work was put into it and to see the final result in the record stores is really satisfying. We are pleased with the way the album turned out and we hope that we reach many metalheads across the world with our cd.

How has the album been received by the press and have you made some fans?

Chris: We've received about 25 reviews and they're all fantastic. Mostly 80 points or higher, even some times the maximum score!

Pier Abe: So far, the reviews are really good. We are grateful for all the support we get and it’s great to know that other people enjoy themselves by listening to our music. We’ve indeed received fanmail, especially from France, where the cd came out a few weeks earlier. One guy wrote us that he felt that Storm of the Horde was the best metal-cd since the latest Nile. That’s amazing, man.

What have you released prior to 'Storm Of The Horde'? Are some of the things still available?

Chris: We released a democasette in 1997, called "Through The Storm" (200 copies) and a three-track promo CD in 2001 called "Promo 2001" (800 copies). All items our sold out but the promo tracks ended up on the album in a re-recorded version, as well as one classic track from the demo called "Rise Now". The promo tracks were "Birthmark 666", "Hatred" and "Operation Mindloss"

The band is called Katafalk, how did you come up with that name, which thoughts are behind it?

Chris: I found it in a dictionary even some years before actually starting the band and thought it was a cool name. It's a Dutch word and means hearse. It's coming on wheels and it's bringing death, exactly like we do when we come and play somewhere!

The music is pretty brutal and fast and filled with aggressiveness, where do the inspiration for the music come from? Is the band made of 5 angry men?

Chris: Speaking for myself: my inspiration comes from 80's thrash, 90's death metal as well as some newer stuff. All guys in the band like this music, that's why we play it.

Pier Abe: The inspiration comes from the love for metal, and we’re not really that angry, because we can relieve our anger while playing this extreme form of metal. Maybe we would get totally fucked up if we didn’t have this kind of stress relieve, haha.

Why was the band formed in the first place, what inspired you to play death metal?

Chris: I don't intend to play death metal only. I started Katafalk in order to create a real metal band in general because that was what I always wanted. Plus there was too less metal going on in my area at the time and too much crap music like grunge and nu-metal. It was time to show people the real thing!

The album is titled 'Storm Of The Horde', will you explain that title?

Chris: Our American friend Rodney (at that time singer of the band) wrote a lyric which had that title. We used it for a song and thought I would make a great album title too. "Storm Of The Horde" means us coming you're way. We are the horde that's storming forward.

You are signed to CBI, how is the cooperation coming along?

Pier Abe: After hearing our Promo 2001, Henri Sattler of God Dethroned invited us to do some shows with his band in The Netherlands. We did five shows with them, so Henri had the opportunity to check us out a couple of times in a row. Well, he liked what he saw, because at the end of the minitour, he offered us a record deal on his own label, Cold Blood Industries.

Chris: We're very satisfied with CBI, they're doing a lot of good work for us and their office is right in our hometown Groningen.

My guess is pretty well, and the credits is also featuring a guest appearance from The Serpent King Henri Sattler, why is his guitar playing featured on the album?

Chris: On the song "Cannonfodder" we were gonna record some Slayer-solo's, and since Henri also likes that kind of solo's we asked him if he would like to do some too. The night we were recording solo's he came over to the studio and the three of us had great fun together coming up with the most craziest solo's.

Rodney delivers vocal on the track ‘Redeemer’ and ‘Storm Of The Horde’, besides that has he also wrote the lyrics for 3 tracks on the album, who is he?

Pier Abe: Rodney is our ex-singer. He is an American and right before the recording of the cd, he told us that he had to return to the United States, due to personal circumstances. Wokkel, who was also already an ex-singer of Katafalk, has temporarily returned to Katafalk and we was our singer during the recordings. Wokkel has now left again, and we have a new permanent singer, namely Niels, as mentioned before.

Most of the lyrics are written by Wokkel, will you go through the album song for song and tell a bit about each lyric and your thoughts behind it?

Chris: This is what I know about the songs (all written by Wokkel, unless stated otherwise):

Succubus - about fatal attraction to the female demon. written by Rodney.

Aesthetic Vampires - about people sucking your energy like psychic vampires.

Birthmark 666 - fantasy lyric reminding of "The Omen".

Cannonfodder - about these low self-esteemed youngsters joining the wrong kind of clubs just to belong to something; they'll be used and eventually disposed of, like cannonfodder.

Redeemer - about people constantly complaining about their misery, let's help them out of their misery by killing them, haha!

Storm Of The Horde - about a horde storming forward. You can also see this as Katafalk coming your way! written by Rodney.

Hatred - the title says it all.

Empty Life - about people complaining about futile things.

Operation Mindloss - about empty-minded people acting like flock.

Rise Now - fantasy lyric, dark kind of story.

One Last Flight - funny one, about someone who jumped off a building trying to commit suicide but isn't completely dead yet.

Blind Envy - about jealous people.

Baptized in Fire - about messing with evil and its consequences, haha! written by Rodney.

What inspires you when you write your lyrics, which things sets you off?

Pier Abe: Wokkel’s main concern is his desire to be free, to live his own life, not to be bothered by anyone and not to bother anyone. Life your own life, be your own person.

Inside the booklet are Christiaan wearing a Hypnosia shirt, Pier Abe an Angel Corpse shirt, Henk Jan an Emperor shirt and Wokkel a Darkthrone shirt, will you each tell what the bands are meaning to you and your life?

Chris: These are bands we like and that's why we wear their shirts!! We did a gig with Hypnosia and I traded a Katafalk shirt with the singer/guitarist. Great band, too bad they broke up!

Pier Abe: Just like any other metalhead, we have a lot of metalshirts. We all like the bands on the tshirts in the booklet, but I guess it’s just coincidental that these particular shirts are on the pictures.

When a potential buyer of the album is standing in the record shop, which tracks should he listen to, to get convinced about that 'Storm Of The Horde' is an album worth buying?

Chris: Just play the CD, they're all good songs. In every review we've got till now different songs have been picked as favourite. Songs like "Succubus", "Birthmark 666" and "Cannonfodder" should do the trick though.

Pier Abe: Listen to all of them. If you don’t like it, then don’t buy it. If you do like it, thanks a lot man!

Are you playing a lot live and how is it to witness a Katafalk live show?

Chris: We've always played live a lot cause we're very much into the live thing. Sweat, flying hear and adrenaline!

Pier Abe: We try to play live as much as possible and that goes pretty well. At a Katafalk live show, you’ll see five guys going crazy on stage, a storm of hair and top speed from beginning to end. Take a look at our website for live pictures.

Will you share your 3 all time favorite albums with us?

Chris:

Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Slayer - Reign In Blood

Dissection - Storm Of The Lights Bane

Thanks a lot for answering my questions. If you have something add, feel free to do it now!

Pier Abe: Thanks for your interest in Katafalk. Check our website at www.katafalk.com and if you get the chance: come see us play live!

Chris: Yeah thanx for the interview! Buy our album, drink a few beers and bang that fucking head!!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:37 GMT

My first meeting with Kamelot was their newest album 'Epica' which was released in the start of 2003. An amazing album consisting of epic progressive metal and hard rock, really really beautiful. Great musicians and a killer vocalist in the Norwegian Roy Khan. Khan was also the man who answered to my questions and besides ,that, tells a lot about his own musical preferences, now go read on...

Hi, will you start off by introducing yourself and tell why you play metal and how your metal adventure started?

I started listening to metal in 1985 (after having been totally into pop for a couple of years). My first metal record was "Marching out" by Malmsteen. Queensrÿche kicked me in the face with "Rage for Order" the same year, and that's probably when I started to wanna do this myself. I joined the Norwegian power/prog-band Conception in 1991 after having met a friend of the guitar player (Tore Ostby) at school.

You are about to release your new album "Epica", are you satisfied with your work?

Absolutely...and since I'm a little late with this interview (Epica was released yesterday) I also see that the people out there seem to like it ;-)

What are great about "Epica", what can your fans expect from the album?

What's great about it is up to you and the fans to decide, but I'm extremely happy about the fact that we managed to fulfil our vision of doing a different concept album.

The album is a concept about Goethe's Faust, why did you choose to make a record about that story?

It's not about Faust, only loosely based on it. The story of Faust is very complex and Goethe spent an entire life to complete his work. It is impossible to capture the whole story on a 60 minute CD. But the story is very similar. There is a main character (Ariel) that is searching for the ultimate truth and he can't find the answer he is looking for in religion or science. So he leaves everything behind and goes out, into the world, to see for himself for the answers. At some point he makes a deal with the devil, also called Mephisto in our story, just like in Faust. So this partnership with the devil is causing him a lot of problems, especially with his love interest, which is representing good in the story. The reason why we wanted to use it is mainly because it deals themes we're interested in and have dealt with earlier.

What do you like about the story yourself?

Everything! The way it deals with the eternal, universal questions of life pretty much lines up with how Thomas and I think and what we like writing about.

When you write music to a concept album, how do you work, which parts are made first etc etc...?

The lyrics, or at least the plot for the whole thing came first. It was a big challenge for me and Thomas to finally come up and complete this concept thing, but it was a very natural step for us. It has to do with the way we live our lives as artists, as musicians and as songwriters. We always seek challenges to try develop ourselves, to try not to repeat ourselves and keep music interesting to ourselves.

Isn't it easy to loose some musical details and spontaneous moments, when you always have to consider if the music fits the story line?

You gain some and you lose some, the important thing is that the approach was different from earlier sessions. Trying different angels and atmospheres during song writing is a very common thing for experienced artists I think.

What do you weigh as the most important thing, the story line or the music?

The music is normally what gets the listeners attention first, hence I find it more important. Then again; there's a lot of music in words, and this is a point I think many oversee.

Did the music work with the story line as intended or did you have to make adjustments along the line?

You always make adjustments along the way, so also with 'Epica', but I have to say it's very close to our original visions and intentions.

Why did you choose the title "Epica" for the album?

There are three reasons for that. The first is the fact that 'Epica' is a physical place in the story, whereto the main character will venture in part two. The second reason is that in his book, Goethe describes essential human thoughts, mind and emotions, what we chose to call the epicentre of the universe. Lastly, and more literarily; this is our most epic album to date.

How is your new opus compared to your previous works, this is the fist time I have heard your music, so please tell a bit about your highlights etc...?

We are always trying to bring new elements into our music. We want to express ourselves as musicians within the concept of being a heavy metal band. 'Epica' is a more progressive album, and way more theatrical than previous releases. All of the songs are linked together to give the listener a "theatre" or "musical" feeling...and of course it's the first time we do a concept record.

Is it wrong if I say the chorus of 'Lost & Damned' has a lot of similarities with a Bon Jovi tune, what do you say?

Which tune could that be? I, for sure have no idea.

Why do you make music, the band has a long and glorious past, how do you keep up the pace?

I don't know why I do it, and I never really ask myself that question.As long as this is fun and interesting to us, I'm sure we'll be out there screamin' and chuggin' our way.

What is appealing to you concerning the hard rock/metal scene?

Not really sure...sometimes I don't like it at all ;-) I love heavy guitars though!

What do you expect from "Epica" is it going to break the charts or what do you hope?

We have made another album that we're extremely happy with, and if others like it too we're happy.

The album is produced by Sascha Paeth and Miro, why did you choose them, what do you like about your work and what do they add to the Kamelot universe?

As I always say; They make the raw diamond shine!

Are you satisfied with their work, if you in retrospective could change anything about the sound, what should it then be?

I've always been happy with them, but of course there's also always things you would have wanted to have done differently.

You are going on a world tour to support "Epica", do you know if the tour will include Denmark?

Sorry...no idea yet!

How is it to witness a Kamelot concert?

From what I've heard it's fuckin' fantastic ;-)

We have just ended the year 2002, how has that year been for Kamelot?

It's been pretty much 'Epica' all over: The production started in the beginning of June and was finished end October. Before that we wrote it, and after we've been promoting it.

What will the year 2003 bring Kamelot?

Hopefully (and quite surely ;-) a lot!

Will you share your 3 all time favorite albums with us?

Nope...too hard, but here's 15+:

1) Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Heart Club Band/Beatles

This is just one of the Beatles albums that stood for a big part of the creation of me as an artist/songwriter in the earlier days. My parents had them all and over the years I have understood how important they were to me.

2) Best of/Simon & Garfunkel

Simply wonderful songs...

3) Dark Side of the Moon/Pink Floyd

Another album from my parent's collection that had a great impact on me (amongst other Floyd productions).

4) Jazz på Svenska/Jan Johansson

Jazzed up Swedish folk songs. Performed by Jens Johansson's father, I believe. This album has followed me since my childhood, and has had a great influence on my piano playing.

5) Hunting High and Low/a-ha

Without this Norwegian trio's debut album, I may never have become a vocalist at all. The combination of Morten Harket's high and clear voice, extremely melancholy songs and outstanding lyrics, totally thrilled me. Together with Queensrÿche's "Rage for Order" and "Mindcrime", the most important album for me as a singer.

6) Knights of the New Thunder/TNT

My very first "close encounter" with metal. I was simply amazed by Tony Harnell's sky high voice and Ronnie lè Tekrö's juicy guitar riffs on "Seven Seas". The fact that they were Norwegians (most of them at least) and living only a short hour by car from where I lived, sure made TNT a special act to me.

7) The Number of the Beast/Iron Maiden

After having fallen for heavy guitars and high-pitched vocals, this was the first album a good friend lent me to check out. I remember trying to hold out Bruce's long note in "Hallowed be Thy Name" in front of the mirror. This album, the successor "Piece of Mind" and then "Powerslave" were the only Maiden productions I paid serious attention too...

8) Rage for Order/Queensrÿche

...and all of a sudden my perception of what metal could be, totally changed.This LP caught my attention in a way I had never expected. Great band, awesome singer, unique songs and lyrics with depth...I was sold! Over a period of 2 years I found myself having different favourites from this production, starting with the opener "Walk in the Shadows". The last one I remember digging was "Screaming in Digital", and the only song I never really liked from this album was the cover version of Dalbello's "Gonna Get Close" (from the album "Womanfoursays" that also well could have been on this list)which I preferred in its original version.

9) Operation Mindcrime/Queensrÿche

With this one Queensrÿche delivered a concept record that always will have its place in metal history. Further comments are needless.

10) Images & Words/Dream Theater

I heard "Pull me Under" on my car radio one day, and remember thinking; Wow! The production is a little slick and cold, but extreme musicianship and good songs made up for that.

11) Amused to Death/Roger Waters

After Syd Barret, Pink Floyd's main man. "AtD" is probably not his most outstanding work, but I have a very personal relationship to this record.Opens with what probably is my all time favourite guitar solo, played by Jeff Beck.

12) Sheik Yerbouti/Frank Zappa

Extremely complex music, great melodies and fucked up lyrics. It doesn't get much weirder than this! Say whatever you want about this guy, but you surely won't find too many Zappa cover-bands around. Unbelievable discography!

13) Homogenic/Björk

Our time's Kate Bush...a unique world of songs, sounds and atmospheres. Extremely significant and expressive voice. I could probably list any of her other albums too. Don't let the electronics scare you ;-)

14) Angel Dust/Faith No More

One of the few Seattle bands I really liked. This record was released when I was in London trying to get a record deal with Conception, back in the early 90's. We found out they were supporting Guns 'n Roses at WembleyGreat songs, great singer and a very significant drummer!

15) Carmina Burana/Carl Orff

Thanks a lot for doing this interview, I hope it has been great answering my questions! If you have a closing remark, please feel free to fire it off now!

Khan: Ka-booom!

Interview

Corazine — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:02:31 GMT

No need for a real introduction here i think, this band (Kaizen) has an insane powerfull way of playing their instruments, a total raging bull on stage. Here's Johann, the foreground-figure of the band.

Hi Johann! What's up in France? The weather equally cold overthere then it is in Belgium? It's freezing but the sun is shining. That's weird isn't it? Do you prefer the cold weather or more the blood-warm sun-shine?

Yes, you're right. It's the same weather here. It's five degrees above zero here and the sky is deep blue. It's beautiful and pretty weird. I prefer the warm sunshine in order to use my Bermudas collection than the cold weather that I hate even if this last one is a better source of inspiration and anger for Kaizen's music. But my turn to ask a question, isn't it weird to begin an interview about weather? (mm..you got me there...i thought it was better not to start with the typical 'introduce yourself please' question...and admit, what's more interesting then the weather to talk about? -ahfish-)

The farts from Anal Cunt once called France a gay country with people talking like two gay men fucking. Do you agree with that? I must admit, french language is one of the most irritating ones i ever learned. How do you experience this? I presume you don't hear a difference, since it's your native language.

You can say to Anal Cunt they are stupid to say such provocative shit. I guess it's not their fault this kind of low reflexion comes from the big typically American arrogance "we are the best of the world". They don't have to make a single effort to speak another language as I am trying to do when I answer to this interview. French language is rich and full of possibility. My most irritating language is german, because it's too hard to speak with all the grammary rules. (you got that right, but german language was not a major subject at school with us, french was ... then again, I’m very glad i know these languages, makes me feel intelligent ;) -ahfish-)

Every one seems to have a favourite movie. Which one's your favourite and why is that? It doesn't have to be a movie, could be something else too. What drives you too choose that particular movie?

Well, I don't really have a favourite movie. I like plenty of it. I studied movies for 4 years and have now a big cinematographic culture. To give some names: Cronenberg, Von Trier, Coppolla, Murnau, Gillian, Burton.The list is long.

Kenneth from Syrach (norway) once played in a short-movie as a wolf/dog, he had to growl real hard but never got in view of the camera. Don't you think metal/grind-vocalists are best suited for this job? The all-night growling voice, live on show!

Well, what you're talking about must be impressive to see. I remember we had been discussing about a common tour with Syrach in Norway but it would have been to expensive for us. So it never happened. I think death metal singers are perfectly designed to sound like monsters.

So you're the guy behind Kaizen? Sorry for saying it like this, but it seems you're really addicted to the underground and your name pops up once in a while...so I guess you're the most active person in Kaizen too. Is that true? I think most bands have one engine dealing with everything, while the rest of the bands just makes music. Do you consider yourself as the driving force behind Kaizen?

Yes, you're right, let's say that I am a sort of spokeperson for the band, I am now pretty active for the undergound and really fond of every metal subgenres. I care about the career of the band, sending a lot of promos all around the world, try to find gigs. But Julien, one of the guitarist is also very active with his phone calls. It's definitely true that a band needs an engine to go forward. It's a long effort to gather enough informations and contacts. I began this work to promote our first demo and took pleasure and self-confidence to do it. That's why I continue.

I'm not bragging here, but to me you're one of the best French bands i know. It's just, Kaizen combines lots of different important facts in their music, so it's very hard not to like it. Is that a strategy or is baked into all French bands?

I am pleased that you say that. We like to brew several styles in our music. It's not a strategy because it's how we compose and it's not baked in all French bands. We try to have our very own originality, even if some people say we are not original. Sometimes it's not easy because we are not enough death metal for death metallers, not enough hardcore, not enough Indus. But it's a pride for us not being labelled properly.

I think you like Nostromo too, i personally love that band even though i only heard their latest album. Do you know these guys personally? Playing live with them a lot? If you would have to compare Kaizen with Nostromo, which one's the best? Or can't they be compared with?

Yes, we like them a lot, if you have not heard their previous stuff, try their EP "Eyesore" which fuckin' kills. Their first album "Argue" is not bad too. Yes, we played 2 times with them and saw them a bunch of others. We had fun sharing the stage and the backstage with them, especially in November when we had great time after the show.Nostromo is a step higher than us, their music is great and they are very skilled musician. But I guess, we don't have to be compared each other because we don't play the same music.

What was the reason of starting Kaizen in the first place? To get free booze 'n chicks on gigs? Another reason?

That's one of the reason, but it never worked (or we never wanted to). The first reason is the love of music and be together having fun on the road.

It's been about a year now i guess, since the last album came out. When will there be another one?

What you're talking about were only a promotional demo that owes us to sign a record contract to spread the disease everywhere it will be possible. The first album should be released in late March in France by XIIIbis Records (licensing in France, Rammstein, Loudblast, Nightwish..). Recorded again by Alexis Phélipot, it's a strong piece of artillery ready to explode in your face. This album is entitled "Clear the path".

The albums have a certain atmosphere, like an oriental thing... how's that? What's the reason for this?

Well, we are influenced in a way by Asian culture because of our name. It became a sort of gimmicks. We like to use samples with japanese dialogues or graphic design inspired by asian iconography.

What's a 'kaizen'?

Kaizen means in japanese, "Supporting continual improvement". It's a word from economy (toyotism) and is a way to improve and simplify the productivity with good sense in industry. But we like to use a definition of kaizen for our music, trying to be better everyday.

A band plays gigs, that's the normal thing to do. But the only thing we see is the gig itself. Tell us something that happened on the road. A story, something funny, something really bad, something weird, whatever,... Tell us something that might amaze us.

We already played at a concert in front of 3 people because of a bad organisation, I once make a hole in the stage with a too heavy jump and passed through without any casualties. We set a crowd on fire and everybody went on stage at the finale like Biohazard did before. A drunk punk wanted to offer us a present and send a terrine he stole at a sandwich stand on stage. You see sometimes very funny things on stage and how you can have the power to drive them crazy! I have not a lot of strange stories to tell, we never had big problems on the road.

A very cliché question now, tell me your all-time top three album list, once in a metal-version, once in a non-metal version. So i want six albums here...

metal top: Meshuggah "Chaosphere", Pantera "Vulgar display of power", Strapping young lad "City"

non metal top: Muse "Origin of symmetry", Radiohead "Ok computer", Michael Jackson "Thriller"

You just won the jackpot at the hamburger-fest, you ate 40 hamburgers in 3 minutes top. You can choose between 3 prizes. One, a big festival, Kaizen headlining and 25 other bands at your choise. Two, 50 million one-dollar bills. Three, a gun with 5 bullets free to shoot at anyone you like. What would be your choise?

I would choose the 50 millions one-dollar bills because I am always broke, and because I could organize the first price and could buy the gun you're talking about. (damn, you picked out the only good answer, now buy some world-peace please! - ahfish-)

Do you believe in innocence of Iraq? What do you think of the all-american Bush?

Well, I don't believe in innocence of Saddam Hussein but I am against the war overthere. It's a fake war for oil. I'd like that if they have some, Iraq disarms and USA too because they have weapons of massive destruction too. I hope they won't wage the war in Iraq against the UNO' opinion. If they do so, they must be warned that terrorist represals will happen again on the american soil. Bush has some interest to do this war because his family owns some weapon factories. Anyone knows that Bush's ancestors were the bank of Adolf Hitler? At the moment, this afternoon, there are big manifestation in france against this war and I am happy with the French actual position even if it don't please Americans and british.

Back to the music-stuff, you're in charge of the Europe Metal Group. Can you tell us something about that? What's the reason of starting this?

Well, EMG is a free discussion group on the internet in English to share infos about metal with members strongly involved in music from all the world. There are small labels, distros, bands, zines and everything else from Peru to Australia. It's a way to promote our music and their music all around the world very quickly. But it's just the beginning, we're just 80 people there. I like to review records. You can join, send a blank email here: europemetal-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and look at all my reviews here: http://kaizen.cyberblast.free.fr/phpBB2/index.phpthat also appear on fishcomcollective.

I guess we'll stop right here, if there's anything left to say, please do so. The way people can contact you might be very interesting. Thanx for the interview, and damn, hope to see you live real soon!

Hope you will listen to our album to come soon "Clear the path" and that will like. Visit our website: www.kaizen-utd.com. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for everything.