In what is hailed as one of the most anticipated albums of 2013, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE finally drops their comeback album with original vocalist JESSE LEACH. When you approach an album that has high expectations such as this one, it’s always interesting to see if a band, especially an established on can rise to the challenge. Not only has KsE turned in a great album, but one that will rank among their finest when their careers are over. If you loved Jesse’s first turn in the band, you will love this album. If you came on board with HOWARD JONES, you will find a lot to enjoy also. If you never liked this band in the first place…move along, nothing to see here and have a nice day.
The very first thing that will impress you about the album is how balls out heavy the band sounds, compared to the last batch of KsE albums. Either as a by-product of being rejuvenated by Jesse’s return, or if they were heading back towards a heavier style, it works. From the opening screaming howl of “The Hell In Me” and the main riff battering your ears, you can just feel the energy coming off the track. Jesse sounds terrific whether he screams or lets his great melodic chops shine. The song sounds exactly like it could have come off of Alive of Just Breathing for many reasons: killer riffs, Jesse’s voice, half-time breakdowns, great chorus etc. Even the lyrics are excellent, it is pretty much as flawless track. The song is over before you know it and you kind of wish it would go on and on.
“Beyond The Flames” keeps up the melodic Metalcore style of The End of Heartache with a cool driving guitar part and great vocals again from Jesse. The chorus is classic harmonized KsE vocals and the Melo-Death inspired licks the band is known for. The contrasting harsh vocals between Leach and ADAM DUTKIEWICZ are just golden. You can tell the band worked on these songs for a long time, because there are few redundant parts and little fat on these tracks if any. ADAM D’s track record as a perfectionist in the studio is also obvious from the crisp nature of the tracks. The mix was also handled by the venerable ANDY SNEAP (EXODUS, TESTAMENT, OPETH, ARCH ENEMY). “The New Awakening” ratchets up the heaviness again for its brutal opening, harmonized leads and blastbeats. The track also has the best guitar solos on the album and Adam D and JOEL STROETZEL kill it on just about every song. The first single “In Due Time” is solid, but actually the most straight forward song on the album. I recall hearing it the first time and hoping the entire album would be cut from this cloth. They certainly exceeded that hope. Either by way of its key or intensity, “A Tribute to The Fallen” sounds like the earliest work of the band. Backing death growl vocals, chugging and urgent riffs and a raw delivery that will take you back about ten plus years. “Turning Point” is just brutal and sounds like a classic MIKE D’ANTONIO/Adam D composition. “All we Have” is another evil ripper of a song. If they played this in a live setting, I can already envision the mosh pits and the bloodbath that follows. As gnarly as the begging of the track is, the chorus is pretty, but not too pretty if you know what I mean. “You Don’t Bleed For Me” is lone track that has the sound of the more recent KsE affairs. It doesn’t bring the album down, but it is a slight notch below all the rest of the songs to my ears. Fortunately “The Call” brings it right back to focus on the heavier aspects of the bands’ sound. Still, it’s a pretty catchy song which as to be expected from this album. Drummer JUSTIN FOLEY plays some over the top blastbeats on this song, but maybe goes to the well a few times too many. Perhaps people were expecting a re-do of the straight up melodicism of the TIMES OF GRACE album, but that is not strictly the case here. “No End In Sight” starts out with slow, head nodding grind and picks up the beat a little bit more over the course of the song. This is definitely a more mature KsE song. “Always” is the longest song on the album and is a much more laid back affair than I care for. I’m not crazy about the song overall, but it is fairly heavy and has some interesting choices in the writing. “Time Will Not Remain” closes things out in great fashion and rebounds a little bit from the previous few songs. For a final track it has all of the trademark sounds from the band that you want. This would be another song I’d like to hear live.
While far from perfect, the album’s strongest points make a case that this band still has a lot left in the tank and much more to say.
We chatted recently with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist JOEL STROETZEL, all about their new album, “Disarm The Descent” (Roadrunner) coming out on April 2nd. In a band full of strong personalities, Joel prefers to be the silent type, able to chill out and do his job. We talked about the making of the new album, Jesse Leach coming back into the band, recording, his influences, the importance of family, and the bands touring plans.
JOEL STROETZEL of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
Interviewer: Keith (@Keefy) Chachkes Live photos by Echoes In The Well.
“Eras Lost” by Earthrise is one of the first releases coing soon from Threshold of Pain Records
Like most metallers these days, we here at Metal Army collect quite a bit of vinyl. Not for the shitty, millennial generation, hipster dooshbag commercialized reasons most people are buying them for. I actually grew up on vinyl, miss the beautiful artwork and perhaps like you, I love getting something unique and collectible from bands I love. This is the thinking behind the new imprint Threshold of Pain Records. Run by Nefarious Realm Productions impresario Matt Darcy, these exclusive releases promises to be one of the highlights of the year for the underground. Read the press release below for the full scoop and be sure to visit their web-store and get in on the pre-orders now, since they are expected to sell out quick!
“Nefarious Realm Productions have officially launched their imprint vinyl label, Threshold of Pain Records. The specialty label makes it’s debut with four releases that have not yet seen a release on wax and with plans to release several more albums and splits later this year. The vinyl only label will be concentrating on releasing very limited edition, very high quality, and very special releases spanning genres. With releases from SEEMLESS, ABNORMALITY, EARTHRISE, and ORWELL slated for a May 21st release, Threshold of Pain Records takes its first step as a label.
Nefarious Realm boss and Threshold of Pain Records owner Matt Darcy commented upon starting the label:
“I’ve been collecting limited vinyl copies for the past couple years now. With most music being obtained digitally, the feeling of owning a piece of music is dwindling. I remember flipping through a booklet and being able to smell the paper and ink while gazing upon photos and artwork. With this label, I’m bringing those feelings back, that sense of holding a piece of music that then becomes priceless to you. Which each release being the highest of quality, all will include something special with it’s respected release, never before seen photos, expanded artwork, etchings, and posters… These records will be more than a piece of wax, these records will be pristine keepsakes that will be priceless to the owners as well as trophies to the musicians who created the music.”
The first four releases include the 2004 SEEMLESS self titled, which was then re-released the following year through Equal Vision Records. The vinyl version will see the fan favorite “Haze” which was left off the 2005 re-issue. SEEMLESS, the group formed by ex-SHADOWS FALL/UNEARTH drummer Derek Kerswill, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE vocalist JESSE LEACH, ex-OVERCAST/current DEATH RAY VISION guitarist Pete Cortese, and ex-MEDIUM bassist Jeff Fultz made a splash coming out of the metalcore saturated as a heavy rock group with southern feel in the mid-2000′s before disbanding in 2009.
EARTHRISEis a sonic wall of post-metal drunken sludge hailing from Minneapolis, MN, have released an audio onslaught that mimics the experience of being inebriated in outer space. Eras Lost is over 50 minutes of post-metal that meets experimental hardcore elements.
ORWELL is a continuously progressing metal band from all over the Midwest. Existing in various forms since 2005, the band recently saw their most successful and far-reaching release so far with 2011′s AVOHFASIH. which is an acronym for A View of Heaven From A Seat In Hell. This new album found the band exploring art as whole with their music, presentation, and their live show.
ABNORMALITY, formed in 2005, is an extreme metal band hailing from Massachusetts, United States. Purveying a female fronted violent hybrid of the heaviest subgenres in metal, taking from a wide range of influences, ABNORMALITY mixes technicality and speed with devastating grooves delivering a brutal sonic experience that death metal fans cannot deny. Contaminating the Hive Mind, originally released in June of 2012 through Sevared Records unleashes eight tracks of pummeling death metal that will please all that will lend an ear.”
TRESPASS AMERICA FESTIVAL is underway and reports say the shows have been killer! We are continuing to celebrate by giving away more band merch! Victory Records were supercool enough to team up with us and give away some merch to some enterprising fans. Watch the video below of this amazing Victory band and come back Monday at 12 noon EST to our Facebook page. Answer a trivia question about the video and you might win! Log on to www.trespassamerica.com for tickets and more details. Dates for the Metal Hammer Trespass America Festival are as follows:
Tour Dates:
7/13 –Broomfield, CO @ 1stBank Center
7/15 –Billings, MT @ Metra Park Arena
7/16 – Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Civic Center
7/17 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Sioux Falls Arena
7/19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/21 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County Expo Center
7/22 – Waterloo, IA @ McElroy Auditorium
7/24 – Lubbock, TX @ Lonestar Amphitheatre
7/25 – Belton, TX @ Bell County Expo Center
7/27 – San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
7/28 – Beaumont, TX @ Ford Pavilion
7/30 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
7/31 – Evansville, IN @ Ford Center
8/01 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
8/03–Battle Creek, MI @ Kellogg Arena
8/04–Rochester Hills, MI @ MeadowBrook Amphitheater
8/05–Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica
8/07–Syracuse, NY @ SRC Arena and Events Center / Onondaga Community Center
8/08 – Glens Falls, NY @ Glens Falls Civic Center
8/10 – Scarborough, ME @ Scarborough Downs
8/11 – Montreal, QC @Parc Jean Drapeau Festival
8/12 –Toronto, ON @ Downsview Park
8/14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
8/15 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
8/17 – Worchester, MA @ DCU Center
8/18 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
8/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Penn’s Landing – Festival Pier
8/21 – Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheater
8/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum
8/24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Katt Fest – OKC Zoo Amphitheater
8/25 – Rio Rancho, NM @ Santa Ana Star Center
8/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
8/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium
Here is the remaining band in our contest. In this video is the clue you need, to answer the question, to get some free merch! Got it? Good!
Are you going to the TRESPASS AMERICA FESTIVAL? It starts tonight in fact! The show figures to be one of the coolest tours of the summer and with the help of our pals at Victory Records, we are giving away some merch to some enterprising fans. Watch the videos below of these two Victory bands on the tour and come back Monday at 12 noon EST to our Facebook page and answer a trivia question about it. Log on to www.trespassamerica.com for tickets and more details. Dates for the Metal Hammer Trespass America Festival are as follows:
Tour Dates:
7/13 –Broomfield, CO @ 1stBank Center
7/15 –Billings, MT @ Metra Park Arena
7/16 – Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Civic Center
7/17 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Sioux Falls Arena
7/19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/21 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County Expo Center
7/22 – Waterloo, IA @ McElroy Auditorium
7/24 – Lubbock, TX @ Lonestar Amphitheatre
7/25 – Belton, TX @ Bell County Expo Center
7/27 – San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
7/28 – Beaumont, TX @ Ford Pavilion
7/30 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
7/31 – Evansville, IN @ Ford Center
8/01 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
8/03–Battle Creek, MI @ Kellogg Arena
8/04–Rochester Hills, MI @ MeadowBrook Amphitheater
8/05–Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica
8/07–Syracuse, NY @ SRC Arena and Events Center / Onondaga Community Center
8/08 – Glens Falls, NY @ Glens Falls Civic Center
8/10 – Scarborough, ME @ Scarborough Downs
8/11 – Montreal, QC @Parc Jean Drapeau Festival
8/12 –Toronto, ON @ Downsview Park
8/14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
8/15 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
8/17 – Worchester, MA @ DCU Center
8/18 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
8/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Penn’s Landing – Festival Pier
8/21 – Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheater
8/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum
8/24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Katt Fest – OKC Zoo Amphitheater
8/25 – Rio Rancho, NM @ Santa Ana Star Center
8/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
8/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium
Here are the two bands on the tour that figure in our contests. Study these videos well for a chance to win cool prizes starting next week:
MNEMIC has always had a little engine that could story, at least when discussing the band with fans, that’s the impression I have always received. The comparisons were always there, well they’re o.k. but they’re no IN FLAMES, or no KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, or any other metalcore giant you could think of. All of their previous outings showed you glimpses of what the band could do, but it was as if they could never kick things into 5th or 6th gear to put them over the top. That is until the released Mnemesis.
This album is solid start to finish; there isn’t one weak track on it. It runs a little over 43 minutes, and before you know it, it’s over. Very few albums do this to me where you listen to it, and before you know it, the album is over, leaving you wanting more. As usual, you’ll probably have some fickle purist think otherwise, but this album was a pleasant surprise, as I did not expect to enjoy it as much I have.
The album kicks off with the track “Transcend”, and it starts a trend that can be heard on this album, continuous infectious melody that carries over from one track to the next. GUILLAUME BIDEAU pulls off one of the strongest vocal performances to come out this year. He paints each song with strokes of harsh and flips things with straight forward clean vocals. Where most contemporary bands would stick to generic guttural vocals, and throw in rudimentary, paint by numbers chorus on each track, each of the songs on Mnemesis really stand on their own, and could have easily been the leadoff single, instead of “I’ve Been You”.
The album takes some chances here and there, which is what puts it over the top. The track “There’s No Tomorrow” is a song 99% of the current metal crop would be hesitant to put on their album. The track is a mix of FEAR FACTORY, BAUHAUS, FAITH NO MORE and perhaps even a splash of JANE’S ADDICTION. Although a lot of bands will cop to certain influences, it’s one thing to say who has influenced you, and another to say, “screw it, this track kicks ass, it’s going on the album”! If more bands did this we wouldn’t have all of the monotonous drivel, cash in on the latest fad copycat bands that are thrown at us all of the time. Some detractors will think, well it isn’t as if MNEMIC is reinventing the wheel, they’re not, but who in the last 20 years has? At the end of the day the music needs to be strong, entertaining, and memorable. I do believe they’ve covered that with this album.
MNEMIC: You may in fact call it a comeback!
Mnemesis is highly recommended to anyone that is remotely interested in a band like IN FLAMES, and been disillusioned with their last few albums. This is in no way Clayman, but it is the strongest album in this sub-genre to come out this year. It is chock-full of melody, the right amount of keyboards, heavy detuned guitars and bass, and a tasteful amount of drumming that varies from complex double bass patterns to simple straight forward playing to fit and propel the mood of each song.
For a long time, especially recently, metal has been a huge part of the wrestling community. Often times, it’s the soundtrack to your favorite superstar taking the ring and then, once he’s won the title, it’s the soundtrack to the in-ring celebration. This, for me, was the way I originally discovered metal as a kid – hearing it bring my favorite wrestlers to the ring. So, I decided that I should pay tribute to the best metal theme songs in pro wrestling. Check out my thoughts below and weigh-in with your own in the comments section!
And don’t worry, I won’t be putting LIMP BIZKIT’s “Rollin’” on here — I try to forget that the UNDERTAKER went through that stage!
5. EVAN BOURNE: The beginning of this song is excellent and the chorus is very solid too. Not only that, but it really fits the whole “AIR BOURNE” gimmick. The verses are fucking weak though so I take away points for that.
4. HULK HOGAN: This goes to heel Hulk Hogan for “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix. Who doesn’t love Hendrix? That coupled with the coup that was Hogan as a heel was completely groundbreaking. Really impressed by the whole era…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAerFXpUFkY
3. TRIPLE H: He took a MOTORHEAD song that no one really cared about and made it into an iconic song. The lyrics are great for his gimmick and anytime you get to hear Lemmy & Co, you can’t help but be pumped up!
2: EDGE: Ok, so points off for this being the guys who used to be in CREED but this song is fucking incredible. Back when Alter Bridge released their debut album, this was the only song that I actually kept on my ipod after all of these years. It’s a great track and EDGE has been able to use it for years, whether he’s a heel or face!
1: CM PUNK: This one is a tie for both his old theme song (“This Fire Burns” by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) and his current theme (“Cult of Personality” by LIVING COLOUR). Never have there been songs that better suit a performer. He’s enigmatic and his entrance music helps get your blood pumping, leading to some of the most memorable entrances in wrestling history!
Well, today is New Music Tuesday once again, so it’s time to run to the record store and pick up all of the cool, new shit that is coming out today! I’m going to quickly run through a list of stuff that I’m excited about, if I missed something you’re excited for, tell me about it! Here we go….
TRIVIUM – ‘In Waves’: I know that a lot of people don’t like TRIVIUM because they aren’t kvlt or trve enough. However, I have always enjoyed the band because they are ferocious and they are one of the few metalcore bands that can hold a melody while still sounding like a metal band. I like these guys for the same reason that I like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. If you are also a fan of TRIVIUM, come out to METAL ARMY NIGHT tonight for the official ‘In Waves’ release party!
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – ‘Agony’: This is one of the best new bands to hit the American scene. Italy’s death metal darlings have finally teamed with a label that can get them the distribution and press that they need so it will be exciting to watch these guys blow up. I am beyond stoked to hear this modern extreme metal masterpiece!
Once again I headed to the MAYHEM FESTIVAL stoked for a full day of metally goodness, rock n roll shenanigans, blazing temperatures and once again pissing in the eye of death and trying not to die of heatstroke. I had enough SPF 50 on my pasty body that I looked like a walking mayonnaise sandwich on Wonder bread in the cloudless, 100 degree day in Mansfield, MA. Yes, that is a gross image even to me. Sorry for that! Still, I was ready to rock and was determined to stay hydrated and covered up. Especially for the early part of the day at the side stages on the Comcast Center blacktop. That was my goal at least. This year I have grouped the reviews by stage, which is in contrast to the alternating stage method the festival uses. I have to say this was one of the better run shows I’ve ever been to, at least from the Mayhem staff point of view. The venue people and their behavior is another story entirely, but I digress.
Since I was busy conducting a bunch of band interviews I missed the “Jager band” DEADSEASON. All for the best since it was hot as Hades out there. RED FANG was the first up on this stage and I was worried they would have their work cut out for them. As a straight up old-school stoner rock on a side stage full of hardcore, tech death, sludge, deathcore, melodic metal and thrash influenced music I wondered if the growing masses would “get” what they do. Well they went over great with people moshing in the early afternoon heat and headbanging like mad. It’s tough to be a band that has to a lot of hype to live up to, but I’d say so far they have done a great job. This was my second time seeing them and they were even better this time playing baddass tracks like “Into The Eye” and “Sharks”. Although everyone was waiting to hear their “hit” “Prehistoric Dog” (likely due to its hilarious video) I much preferred the mini-epic “Good to Die”. Overall they were excellent and I am looking forward to catching them again. Next up on this stage was KINGDOM OF SORROW whom I saw last at last summers quasi-disastrous OZZFEST. Since Kirk Windstein was on the road with DOWN last summer he didn’t make that trek. This time around we were treated to the full compliment of the band which of course includes front man Jamey Jasta on vocals. Opening with “Behind The Blackest Tears” the band sounded great and Jamey as always was killer. He incited a ton of crowd surfers and moshers despite the oppressive conditions. Windstein sounded amazing on guitar and he occasionally chipped in some of his unmistakable vocals too. Strangely, during “Free The Fallen” the power to the stage went out. When the power came on a few minutes later the band went right into “Enlightened to Extinction” which was totally kickass. I think Jasta and Windstein really achieved a true marriage of their two styles, especially on album number two. “Monuments of Ash” helped Jasta keep the energy up high. Then for a nice surprise they played a track off of Jasta’s recently released solo album entitled “Mourn the Illusion” and it went over really well. For those wondering he sang his ass off and it was cool to hear this new facet of his game. They ended with “Lead the Ghosts Astray” and it was a fitting closer for the set.
Kirk Windstein and Jamey Jasta rip it up live with KINGDOM OF SORROW.
Playing basically in their backyard since they are from just north of Boston, UNEARTH came out of the blocks like a killing machine of metal! They were pumped up and played a lot of songs off of their new album Darkness In The Light (Metal Blade). They got a heroes welcome from the crowd which was cool since I will say that Massachusetts always represents for their bands. Coming on stage to the strains of intro piece “Equinox” you could see how jacked up they were. “My Will Be Done” is always a great song live, but as the opener here it was even more effective. Vocalist Trevor Phipps is just a beast and terrific at working the crowd into a lather. Guitarists Ken Susi and Buz Osbourne were running and jumping all over the stage as always and soloing their asses off. They even made use of the stacks of gear flanking the sides of the stage to come out into the crowd a little more. “Sanctity of Brothers” was next and also killed. Behind the kit for the new album and this tour is Justin Foley (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE/BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED) and he was just awesome. He hit all the familiar beats and played with a bit more finesse than previous guys on the drum throne in this band. He was also sporting a dope beard as per usual! Next was the classic track “This Lying World” Phipps came out into the crowd to the railing to lead the charge on the song and it was down right inspiring watching him. He had openly addressed the crowd saying he wasn’t sure they were gonna be able to rage as much as usual with the heat, but gave them respect for beating his expectations. After this the band played a few new songs like “Watch It Burn” and “Eyes of Black” and these tracks meshed perfectly with the older material. When Susi jumped on the microphone to add some melodic singing it took me right back to the days of The Oncoming Storm. Bassist John “Slo” Maggard was solid as ever and also contributed fine backing vocals.Even though they eschewed some of their more well known singles on this day gems like “Endless” and the finale “The Great Dividers” more than made up for it. UNEARTH are collectively first rate showmen and performers and never disappoint live.
UNEARTH get the welcome that hometown heroes deserve.
Set List:
Equinox (intro)
My Will Be Done
Sanctity Of Brothers
This Lying World
Watch It Burn
Endless
Eyes Of Black
The Great Dividers
The last band on Jagermeister stage was IN FLAMES. Out of respect for them, MACHINE HEAD and TRIVIUM the three bands are in rotation for the main stage opening slot, followed by a headline stint each on the side stage. This modicum of fairness didn’t affect Gottenburg’s melo-death masters. Sounding as ferocious as they have at any point in their career they came on stage led by singer Andres Friden who let loose a demonic scream to announce their arrival. He held this scream for a full minute and the band arrived with lots of energy and fire. This woke up the crowd the honestly might have been flagging a bit by now. Opening with perhaps their most popular song of the latter half of their career “Cloud Connected” kicked things off with a bang. It was cool to hear thousands of people sing the chorus and the band was just going off like I hadn’t seen them do in a while. The rhythm section of drummer Daniel Svensson and bassist Peter Iwers just lock down the low end and they propel a majority of these songs. Another recent jam, “Alias” soon followed with the band sounding great. With Jesper Strombland now departed from the group, guitarist Niklas Engelin is a full fledged member and he is a terrific performer and player. Coupled with mainstay Bjorn Gelotte they form an impressive duo and handle all of the fretboard acrobatics for the band. There were fully on point and missed nothing you would expect. This proved handy with the classic “Pinball Map” from the Clayman album up next. The old-school fans in the crowd seemingly awoke for this song and sang along loudly. Friden sounded as good as ever here, disputing the notion that he has lost anything from a vocal standpoint. He is just in a different place now as a singer and prefers melody over screaming on the new material from Sounds of A Playground Fading (Century Media). Jumping forward to the present day with the current single “Deliver Us” again the entire crowd got into it which was cool. Then they took it way back with “Hive” from my favorite album Whoracle. The track sounded perfect and one gets the feeling the band will be doing a lot more of this type of thing when they headline, so do not miss them! Friden was lively between songs, telling jokes and generally looking really happy for the band to be back on the road in America. Another deep cut off of the new album,“Where the Dead Ships Dwell” was a nice, out of the box addition to the set. Closing with popular songs like “The Quiet Place” and the cathartic “Take This Life” the band wrapped a top notch showing that certainly was worthy of closing out the first part of the day.
IN FLAMES played a diverse set honoring their entire career.
Set List:
Cloud Connected
Alias
Pinball Map
Deliver Us
The Hive
Where The Dead Ships Dwell
The Quiet Place
Take This Life
UNEARTH is back and about to drop their new record Darkness in the Light (Metal Blade). It has been a long road for the metallers from Massachusetts. In many respects they were one of the forerunners of metalcore and pre-dated the current wave of modern American metal bands. They have remained largely consistent release after release, but have tried to move forward on this new album by returning to their sonic roots somewhat. We chatted with their decidedly candid guitarist Ken Susi about the new album, songwriting, THE BEATLES, competition and other topics.
MAA: Everybody always says their latest record is “the best thing they’ve ever done”. How does Darkness in the Light compare to your other albums?
KS: You know what? Honestly I have been saying this for a few days now. It is very cliche for bands to say this is our best record. I wanna say that it’s not whether this is our best record or not. It’s the record I personally can listen to. I really, really enjoyed this record as much as I did The Oncoming Storm. I’m not saying it’s better or worse than The Oncoming Storm. I love The The Oncoming Storm as much as anyone does. What I can say about the record is that during the process I really focused on songwriting mostly. Songwriting coming first. Meaning everything tying in together very well. Everything being more meticulous. I really focused on dynamics. I wanted to write stuff that was fast, aggressive, heavy and melodic. If there was a part that was overly melodic, I would add clean vocals on it like how we did on The Oncoming Storm here and there. Trevor’s performance on this record is very assertive and very dark. I don’t wanna to say it’s our best record to date, but what I can tell you is this: in the history books when I’m old and gray and I’m 65 or 70 years old I can look back and have very fond memories about how this one was written and how it came out.
Ken tears it up last year at The Palladium in Worcester, MA.
MAA: The new album does sound like a throwback to the early days of the band. Was that a conscious effort to look to the past on this album or did it come about organically?
KS: Because we didn’t have a drummer on this album cycle, on my side of things it gave us more freedom to do things I wanted to do. Freedom to things we haven’t done in a while and new things we haven’t done yet. But you’re right! A large part of The Oncoming Storm was myself and Buz writing all of the music, just putting it together. And on this record I definitely spent four months straight in the studio morning until night just trying to capture what we do the best. And it does. I think it really paid off. If you love “The Storm” you will probably love this record. I think it really is on that caliber. I hate to ever talk about THE BEATLES and put us in the same category or ballpark as them, but in comparison THE BEATLES were singing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “Love Me Do”. And then later they went on to make Sgt. Pepper and all that stuff. They just changed their mind with what they wanted to do. Now going back to The Stings of Conscience and The Oncoming Storm, we came up with a style and we coined it. At the time everybody and their mother started copying us exactly, our exact formula and style and getting big based on our hard work and our sound. It was kind of disheartening. So on “Fire” and The March we took different approaches to remain unique and to be the band that we are. Sometimes you have to strip it all down. I’m not gonna name names, but when I hear a new band come out with the endless breakdown, doing a stupid, shitty crab-core dance, jump up and down thing and getting popular off of it I just wanna be on the forefront and say we did this fucking first. We were the first band to put those ingredients together. Fuck you and the proof is in the pudding! So we’re coming back and we’re coming back hard!
And then there were four....
MAA: How did Justin Foley get tapped to play on the album?
KS: I’ve been a fan of Justin before he was in KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Even before BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED I used to see him play in Connecticut at a place called the Hanover House with a band called RED TIDE. I was always a big fan of “J-Fo” and I’ve known him for many years. What basically happened was when we parted way with Derek (Kerswell), he wasn’t fitting in stylistically with our band because we wanted a more aggressive drummer. J-Fo was the first guy I had in mind and I called him up and said ‘Yo, we don’t have a drummer, but you are the perfect guy for what we want to do.’ and he was like ‘that would be a blast” because he didn’t have anything going on right now. Sure enough time-wise everything worked out. I’m telling you we would send him the tracks with some drum parts I put down with Drumkit From Hell and he would send them back with stuff that was much better. (laughs) That’s how the record got written. It was really easy and easy to work with him. And I think the rhythm section on this record is far superior to any other records he have done because of experience and talent across the board.
MAA: How do you and Buz (McGrath) split up the guitar work when song writing and recording?
KS: It’s kind of like a “King of the Hill” situation. Whoever is on top of the hill pushes the other guy off and vice versa until the song gets written. Then when we are both trying to share the top of the hill, then it gets finished. In the past I have always been there to bail Buz out on songs when he has had the main motivation. But on this record Buz has bailed me out part for part and it was time for that too. Whoever is feeling inspiration and who ever is moving forward leads and the other guy takes a backseat to them and help out with the process. Sometimes songs just happen with the two guys sitting side by side. In the past we might have been writing more things side by side. But for this record we really had to keep a schedule so like I said I spent a lot of time in the studio morning, noon and night. Buz would come up with his stuff and I would have my stuff and then Adam would poke his head in and fight off the dogs and tame all the monkeys at the zoo, you know? (laughs)
Buz McGrath.
MAA: You went back to Adam Dutkiewicz in the producers chair. What is Adam like to work with compared to Terry Date one record to the next?
KS: Adam D is far superior based on this experience. I am not at all putting down Terry because he’s great and what he has done in the past is great. He has worked on some big records. For the most part Adam has a really musical ear. I really do believe that since Adam is so multi-dynamic, all of the different instruments he plays and what he hears; you can always lean on him that no matter what guy you are in the band. He can always help you. So for instance if you say ‘hey my beat or this guitar part, I don’t like it.’ Adam is there. Anything he can do to heighten the part, he does. And he can suggest things other guys don’t and bouncing back and forth ideas off of him until we find the right method works. Everybody should use a producer too, I don’t care who you are. Even THE BEATLES always had a producer to rely on.
MAA: Actually the one time they didn’t use George Martin to produce (Let It Be), the band fell apart.
KS: Right! See even Paul and John needed someone to regulate. And Adam having no passion for the songs, its always good to have him come in when you are fighting over a situation or a part. Or I’ll say something like ‘this is the greatest guitar riff ever!’ and then he walks in the room and he’s like ‘Nah. No it’s not!’. And you’re like ‘Really?’ I trust his judgment because he’s usually right. Or nine times out of ten we’ll comb over other demos that I’ve had he’ll be like ‘what about that part you played three weeks ago? We should put that part here.’ And we’re like oh yeah! Okay! And things happen that way. And it will be perfect, of course. So its good to have a guy with no emotion towards the writing process to come in and orchestrate the things you might have been passionate about.
MAA: You guys are part of a very stacked lineup of talent at the Mayhem Festival side stages. Do you feel the pressure to go out there every day against so many killer bands?
KS: No, not really. I really think we do what we do and other bands should be a little bit nervous of us to be honest. We’re bringing our “A game” and when we come, we come hard. Other people will have a hard time keeping up with us. Out of all of the other bands on this festival, we have the most to prove as far as showing people that we are who we are and we plan to stay that way. We really want to move people!
