So, you may remember THE SOULLESS under a different name. Earache originally signed them as IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION but the band changed their name after one album because, well, that didn’t really roll off the tongue easily.
Now, THE SOULLESS are back and gearing up to release their first record under their new moniker for Earache which brings us to this little diddy called “Unaltered”. Overall, it’s a pretty fucking heavy track – reminds me of a British Unearth or August Burns Red. It’s different from their older sound which was more Ion Dissonance, but it’s catchy and heavy as a really heavy thing.
DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED just released their latest record, ‘Taking’, last week and put on a killer show that included a song with Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor at the Revolver Golden Gods. Along the way, we were able to catch up with Mike Squires and talk about the record, touring plans and more!
‘Taking’ is your 3rd Duff McKagan’s Loaded record, fourth recording from the band overall, and first time not working with producer Martin Feveyear (Presidents of the USA). This time you guys used producer Terry Date(Soundgarden) – How did that come about?
Mike Squires: Our drummer, Isaac, was working on a project with Terry and he heard some of the demos that we’d been doing for the new Loaded album. Terry really liked it and expressed some interest in working with us. We were all, of course, super excited considering Terry’s resume.His body of work speaks for itself. I think Duff and Terry ended up on a flight from LA to Seattle together, coincidentally, shortly after he heard the demos and we sort of worked it out from that conversation. The whole experience was really awesome and Terry is a great dude and makes you feel right at home while you’re recording. He makes things sound really fucking good, too.
Also this is the first record with new drummer Isaac Carpenter. Can you describe him coming into the band, were there auditions held for the guy or just “Let’s call Isaac”?
Mike Squires: We tried out a few guys. He honestly wasn’t the very first guy we tried or thought of. I remember when the light went off and we thought of calling HIM, though. It was like, ‘oh, right. duh’. We phoned him and he stopped off for a few hours to play with us while he was on tour and nearby where we were in Eastern Washington and absolutely killed it. We played 3 or 4 songs and he nailed them. He’d never physically played the tunes, just listened and mentally prepared. But, he’s that kind of player/dude. He’s turned out to be an amazing addition to the band. He can play every instrument about as well as any of us!
I believe the last record “Sick” started from all of you guys and acoustic guitars, and even had a horn section, how was the writing process this time?
Mike Squires: Well, a bit of stuff came from riffs on the road, soundcheck riffs. That sort of thing. We were recording ideas in to garageband and revisiting them once we got off of tour. Other ideas came once we were home and had that aggressive energy still in us from touring. When you’re touring and working, your energy is up and you play more aggressively. We relied on that momentum and energy for the writing of this album. Then, once Terry was at the helm our aggression was met by someone who really knew how to channel that energy and aggression in to a mean-ass sound that was tailor-made for our new songs.
You guys just performed at the Revolver Golden Gods awards, what were some of the highlights of evening?
Well, those kinds of events are always pretty fun, strange and exciting. There’s a ton of folks roaming around backstage. Lots of guys that I watched from the audience growing up right there in our dressing room, kicking it and being friendly. I’d have to say that the absolute highlight of the evening for me, though, was hanging out with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. He’s a fucking knight of the highest order, in my opinion. Talking to Sebastion Bach was pretty great, too.
We shared a room with Scott Ian who I got to meet for the first time. I was a huge Among The Living fan and I ended up being too nervous and proud to ask him to take a photo with me. That was dumb. I bumped in to a guy at the bar and turned around and it was Geezer Butler. I almost shit myself. This is the kind of thing that happens backstage at these events. Duff is well acclimated to this type of company but I’m pretty green. So, I was like a kid in a candy store!
Really, I’m just stoked to be 39 year old guy basically getting a fresh start right now. Not many guys my age who’ve not already met with greater success get to do this stuff. I’m one of the luckiest guys around and I’m grateful for every moment!
You guys just did split home town record release shows in Seattle and Los Angeles what’s next?
Mike Squires: Well, we head to Europe for the month of June. We’re doing a ton of the big fancy rock and metal festivals there. We have a blast doing them. There are so many bands to see and meet and the crowds are amazing. We’re working on dates for North America next for the end of Summer and hopefully we’ll be getting out to see our other fans in South America, Japan, and then back to Europe and the UK in the Fall!
Directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscatelli (Schweet Productions)
I had the opportunity to attend The Tenth Annual Tribeca Film Festivalthis week to see the debut of the film GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE. For those fans not into film having a movie shown at the festival is very prestigious, let alone premiere here. Many films, including GBOO will be sold to major studios and distributorships based on the response to the film. The premiere screening was attended by the Osbourne family, a huge crowd of fans, media outlets and music industry types. The press screening was the next day, followed by an interesting Q&A session which I was able to take part of. The movie is unlike any rock documentary I have ever seen and I believe it will really resonate with his many fans as well as the casual observer.
Image used with permission of Tribeca Film Festival.
The tale of the tragic hero has been told over and over in stories. Often an iconic, charismatic figure comes along and makes a powerful contribution to society, only to be undone by a fatal flaw. Rarely in life to we see this figure able to rebound and win in the end. Many of myths and legends have been told and retold about Ozzy so many times that the facts get lost and truth about these events disappeared. Until now. Jack Osbourne, through his company Schweet Productions (formerly Jack-O Productions), along with his producing partners and the directors were able to present the over-arching story of Ozzy’s life that has never been told. As the ominous opening line of the film states “The directors of the film followed Ozzy around for over two years…..nearly everyone survived.”
Image used with permission of Tribeca Film Festival
Told from an intensely personal point of view where many details of John Michael Osbourne’s life are picked apart and analyzed under a microscope throughout the the films’ entirety. Many of the scenes are inter-cut with tour and concert footage and life on the road from several years ago (Zack Wylde was still in the band). Starting from his humble beginnings in abject poverty in post-World War II Aston, Birmingham UK, the film sets the scene with his childhood, a teenage stint in jail and his fateful meeting that led to the formation of BLACK SABBATH. This early back story of his struggles with school, drinking and crime (he said he might have had a life of crime, but “wasn’t any good at it”) and a healthy disregard for authority colors the context of his later actions. After forming the seminal metal band he shot to fame, particularly after the second album Paranoid, sending the band careening off into the stratosphere with a crazy lifestyle to match the dark subject matter of the songs.
The major turning point of the movie is when the topic turns to examine Ozzy’s first marriage and home life in the 1970′s. Described as an erratic and absentee father by his children, he was often gone from his home for long periods of time. First wife Thelma, daughter Jessica and son Louis suffered when he was around due to his partying lifestyle. Even into his solo career Ozzy’s problems continued to wreak havoc on his family’s lives as they dealt with the fallout. Later on when Ozzy and Sharon had married and had their own family, his behavior worsened. This directly affected them exponentially in relation to his success and all of the excesses that came with it. In addition to disappearances and wild behavior, Ozzy was on occasion extremely violent too. Many people don’t understand the psychology of addiction and it’s not as simple as saying no, not wanting to use or being confronted with the risk of losing everything. This film takes a brave look at this topic. These problems compound over the years and the price remains steep for loved ones. Ozzy’s family managed to stick by him in spite of the huge emotional cost to themselves. Sharon Osbourne’s interview segments are painful at times, but she couches everything with a sarcastic gallows humor that is pure Sharon. Even now Ozzy couldn’t recall the birth date of his first child Jessica, which details how serious the specter of addiction can be.
One of the most striking things about the film is how brutal and unflinching everyone is about the facts, most of all Ozzy himself. Many of the stories are unflattering and awful and other bio pictures would have glossed over the truth in fawning, feckless tribute. Co-directors Mike Piscitelli and Mike Fleiss (producer of the Hostel movies and the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre re-make series) do a great job of catching Ozzy and his family in very intimate moments. It never feels like an interrogation, but the questions are often probing and unbiased all the way through. There are some humorous moments that lighten things up from time to time, but his life is seen for the most part with a harsh lens. This is also the first time we have had a chance to meet and hear from children Jessica, Louis and Aimee who all open up for the first time on camera, as well as Jack and Kelly who also share like never before. Piscitelli in particular was able to get Ozzy to become so candid about himself that he was nicknamed the “Nazi therapist”!
Image used with permission of Tribeca Film Festival.
Ozzy managed to bottom out for the umpteenth time (he has attempted to get sober 40-50 times an attended at least 10 rehabs in his life by his count). Following the popular, but contentious The Osbourne’s television show when Jack finally got clean and sober, it inspired his father to once and for make an honest attempt at sobriety and try to consider the damage his actions caused. Amazingly it has stuck for five years now. His relationship with his family, including his children from both marriages, three sisters and a brother are all repaired and have never been better.
Ultimately this is an uplifting story of wild success, excess, failure, loss and eventual redemption. Addiction plus celebrity often equals death. Ozzy has come through to the other side, unlike many of his peers. He is still here and quite grateful to share his story. As he said of himself at the press conference his story is one of “survival”.
At the press conference following the screening I asked Ozzy if he ever worried if his many exploits and antics in the past would ever outshine his musical legacy. He said “No. Because I can’t change the past, but I can try to make a better future for me and my family.”
(Special thanks to the TFF staff , the makers of GBOO and the team at BWR Public Relations for all of their help.)
Emerging from relative obscurity-having released only a singular demo in 2007-France’s Cruxifiction slams the nail right on the proverbial head…or more accurately into Christ’s flesh, with this pretty amazing debut.
The Coming manages to embody a number of varied and interesting black metal archetypes within its blasphemous attack; an instantly memorable album experience which takes the Gallic penchant for blackened orthodoxy and measures in a heaping scoop of genre traditionalism for good measure. As a result, The Coming is imminently balanced, and benefits greatly from an ultra-mature songwriting sense, solid production value and capable musicianship.
It’s actually quite rare to witness a debut this accomplished and confident. Cruxifiction seems to almost know this, and make sure that each song works even better than the last, ensuring that listeners will find The Coming to be captivating from first note to last. The band sounds vintage and classic at times, while pushing things forward very much in a modern day, forward thinking manner, melding their old school metal and thrash influences into the black metal pot with utter ease.
Doubters need only take one listen to The Coming for absolute, irrefutable proof that Cruxifiction have indeed come to play with their game faces on, ready to take on all comers with their unholy metal attack. Don’t let this one slip by unnoticed.
Kaiserreich-Ravencrowned (De Tenebarium Principio)
Italy has never exactly been a hotbed of heavy metal activity, generally cranking out a host of lackluster, stylistically dependent acts whose sense of originality usually lags somewhere in third or fourth place behind sonic photocopies of their collective influences.
When it comes to black metal, the country has an even poorer track record, with very few notable names to mention alongside their Northern, French, Russian or Polish contemporaries.
Kaiserreich do their best to buck this trend with their admittedly Norsecore brand of black metal, with Ravencrowned resulting as an above average effort for the Italian team. Although there is nothing particularly exciting, over-the-top or original withing Kariserreich’s sound, the band’s energy, enthusiasm and readily apparent respect for the source material leads this album to marginally conquering heights…at least when compared to some of Kariserreich’s more execrable countrymen or contemporaries.
This is melodic black metal to the bone, nothing more and nothing less. The band capably manage their instruments, varying from churn to blast with enjoyable precision, while maintaining a solid melodic base throughout the flow of Ravencrowned. Is this enough to lead the album to masterpiece heights? Of course not, but there IS something to be said for the album’s rock solid nature, even if we’re placing against Italy’s disappointing black metal track record.
Ultimately, Ravencrowned isn’t essential in the least, but if you’re an absolute black metal devotee, you could do far worse than this one. Still, an average record such as this isn’t really deserving of the cash or even shelf space, when compared to the truly exciting metal out there nowadays.
When it comes to under-appreciated, near-forgotten acts of the 80s thrash day, Italy’s Necrodeath-a redundant, yet admittedly Very Metal name, indeed-tends to take the cake…or pizza, as it were.
Formed way back in 1985, Necrodeath have actually been remarkably consistent over their sparse career, having taken a nine year hiatus from 1989 to 1998, during which the band regrouped with the considerably more extreme vocalist Marcelo ‘Flegias’ Santos for ’99′s breakout Mater of All Evil LP.
Indeed, although the band’s two 80s efforts, 1987′s Into the Macabre and ’89′s Fragments of Insanity showcased the band’s raw, proto-black/thrash aesthetic, it was Mater of All Evil which cemented Necrodeath’s position as one of Italy’s most extreme thrash acts; a band who seemed to relish their occult, anti-Christian speed metal assault.
Over the years since their reformation, time has been kind, and Necrodeath have continued to deliver fast and aggressive, Kreator, Destruction and Sodom-styled black/thrash at their own pace. The Age of Fear is a retrospective release from the band, and very nicely sets up Necrodeath’s trend of killing it old school style. Although the recent material possesses production values and an overall attack which is quite modern in scope, the band’s old school pedigree is always on prime display, similar to how Destruction has presented themselves since their own resurrection back in 2000.
If anything, Necrodeath should at least appeal to fans of these aforementioned acts, so why not give this bad boy a chance, and relish in some relatively obscure black/thrash from back in the day!
Sometimes, respected bands just shouldn’t reform. The end results never justify the means, and we’re left with a heartless, soulless ‘comeback’ effort which just doesn’t do said band any justice.
Luckily for us, Italy’s Bulldozer are determined NOT to become a casualty of said scenario, instead providing us with Unexpected Fate; a blower effort which, while not necessarily capturing the relentless, reckless charm of the Italian band’s ridiculously OTT 80s efforts, more than suffices for a ‘fuck yeah, bring it on!’ comeback ass kicking.
Bulldozer do certainly try their damnedest here on Unexpected Fate, delivering a tight-as-hell, extreme and super-heavy thrash assault which sounds frenetically modern in its attack. If anything, such an effort smacks more of latter day Bulldozer-think IX or Neurodeliri-than any of the sloppy and off-time Motorhead worship of the early 80s. It was those albums-1985′s Day of Wrath and 1986′s The Final Separation-which cemented Bulldozer as Italy’s answer to Venom and Sodom; an out of control, proto-black metal enigma which was rabidly violent and aggressive in its intent, and charmingly offensive in style.
These days, the band seems a bit more serious, and Unexpected Fate reflects this, displaying a more mature and capable outfit which seems a bit more focused on creating one heavy racket than indulging in past craziness. There’s still a slight tinge of classic Bulldozer groove within Unexpected Fate, however; a strong reason for fans of the band’s old school output to give this one a fighting shot.
Scar of the Sun-A Series of Unfortunate Concurrencies (Scarlet)
Man, talk about being a product of one’s influences.
Greece’s Scar of the Sun possess a severe case of identity crisis here on their awkwardly-titled debut, A Series of Unfortunate Concurrencies. The fanboy quintet never seems to get off the ground here with a unique sound all their own, preferring instead to stylistically ape their metal heroes and inspirations, going so far as to include Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Staane as a guest musician, while recording with Paradise Lost producer Rhys Fulber, to boot.
The end results speak for themselves: A Series of Unfortunate Concurrencies is a blatant rip off of recent Paradise Lost and Dark Tranquillity outings, most criminally within frontman Terry’s shameless Staane/Nick Holmes plagiarist croon. Elsewhere, guitarists Alexi and Greg do their own set of six string impressions, borrowing liberally from the Fiction and One Second songbooks, while daring to call these compositions ‘original.’
No, there’s really nothing to enjoy here which hasn’t been performed much, MUCH better-no to mention with actual passion, energy and originality-by Scar of the Sun’s superior contemporaries. While every band is influenced at some point or another, the real musical key is to take those inspirations and create something of your own with them…not to mindlessly steal and harness a false stylistic concept which belongs to someone far more talented.
On this, Seidr’s proper full length debut, the Kentuckian quintet have a lot to offer in terms of measurable melody and atmospherics, capturing a unique sound which blends post-rock, doom and death metal into one intriguing little package.
Perhaps ‘little’ might not be an operative word to use, however, given Seidr’s mammoth-sized mastery of space and power, the end results of which combine to create a fairly expansive and open-ended world of fear, beauty and aggression.
For Winter Fire succeeds at setting the proper mood; an ice cold chill which runs right for the listener’s bones and sets in for good, ruining all hope for smiles, laughs and a good time. Instead, Seidr dwells on the negative in the most enjoyable of ways, lurching forward with crushingly heavy riffs, methodical tempos and a subtly beautiful, delicate guitar atmosphere reminiscent, at times, of Disembowelment, Mindrot or even Sigur Ros.
With such a classic doom/death pedigree working for them as a unit, For Winter Fire appeals as such to an older schooled crowd, leading Seidr out on a musical journey which sounds light years beyond their young age and relative newcomer status. Regardless, this full length is impressive on multiple levels, proving that Seidr is indeed a name to follow and check off for the future.
Despite the fact that this neo-metalcore band is being touted and promoted as some sort of melodic death metal, there’s something rotten in Denmark, for Nightshade is more than fairly separate from the genre’s classic stylistic roots.
No, instead Lost in Motion is peppered with every kind of genre gimmick in the book, from useless breakdowns, ineffectual ‘n auto-tuned clean singing and chintzy keyboard lines which sound like bad Deadlock album outtakes. Writing songs around the breakdown is never a good idea for young band seeking to find their place within a crowded scene, yet Nightshade seems perfectly happy sounding like everyone else, so why bother them with needless pointers or advice, right?
Actually…maybe this IS the key to weeding out bands like Nightshade. Perhaps if we stop trying to steer them in the right direction, this sort of music will all become so cross-pollinated and inbred that it will just fuck itself into oblivion.
In all seriousness, however, there’s not much more to mention about Lost In Motion, other than sad promotional ads, attempting to steer this band in the direction of Bodom or Darkest Hour fans, despite the fact that Nightshade is neither as frenetic as the former, or as aggressive as the latter. No, don’t think In Flames, At the Gates, or even Soilwork when it comes to Nightshade’s Lost In Motion. Instead, just avoid the affair altogether, and hope it goes away.
