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Interviews   

David Draiman has a new project, please do not disturb

Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 2:01 pm by Spaceman

On paper, it would be hard to find a more tempting project than Device, steered by Disturbed’s frontman, one of the most respected and recognizable vocalists in his generation. It could be its promise of efficient, catchy industrial metal – the frontman himself mentions juicy inspiration sources like Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, KMFDM, Front 242, or Rammstein. It could also be the deluge of prestigious guests: Lzzy Hale, Serj Tankian, Geezer Butler, Tom Morello, M. Shadows and Glenn Hughes. It could many other things. The albums’ packaging kindles so much curiosity and desire that it could do with no advertisement at all.

But in actual facts, this album was made possible almost out of chance, because of the bond shared by David Draiman and former Filter member Geno Lenardo. The two men wanted nothing more than to “write something good”, without any “playing plan” or “strategy”. By insisting on this, Draiman gives us the key to comprehend this album simply, and therefore as well as possible. For how many works of art have been ruined by excessively high expectations?

At any rate, Draiman is proud to introduce his new project, the first without his mates from Disturbed in sixteen years. And this might well be the key to the revival of Disturbed. It’s impossible not to think of the latter while listening to Device – after all, could Draiman sing anything and not make the listener think of Disturbed? But starting a new project from scratch has probably helped him get away from certainties gained with his main band, and maybe even revive some spontaneity. At least that’s what transpires when he talks about this first album.

David Draiman tells us all about it after the jump.



Interviews   

Peter Tägtgren goes back to te essence of Hypocrisy

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 4:32 pm by Metal'O Phil

Peter Tägtgren is a man to be reckoned with in the metal world – because of his work with Hypocrisy, an influential melodic death band, because of the success of his electro-industrial project, Pain, but above all because he’s everywhere! Peter Tägtgren is always doing something, whether it is releasing an album, touring with one of the two above-mentioned bands, or working as a producer. This year alone, he’ll release an album with Hypocrisy, start working on Pain’s new record, have his name associated with Amorphis’ new record, which he produced, and with Children Of Bodom’s latest effort as a vocal producer, and so on.

After all, it may well be the key to success: always having one’s name in the metal news. It’s probably not his main goal, though, but just a consequence of his hyperactivity. He himself admits that he can’t stop thinking about business, even on holiday, because “the industry never sleeps or take a vacation”. In order to succeed, one needs to always catch the right train.

One of the risks with hyperactivity is to lose sight of the essence of things. But today, with End Of Disclosure, it’s precisely the essence of Hypocrisy that Peter Tägtgren means to go back to – the formula that characterized him in the 90′s and allowed his band to leave a durable mark on the international metal landscape.

More on that after the jump…



Interviews   

Black Light Burns reveals the man behind the Limp Bizkit monster

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 2:28 pm by Amphisbaena

Black Light Burns is Wes Borland’s breath of fresh air, away from all the equivocation, conflicts and torments caused by Limp Bizkit’s heavy exposure. It’s an opportunity to be an artist in his own right, and to practice the many arts he masters, from singing to artwork, costume and stage-setting-making, and from keyboards to, obviously, guitar.

Borland’s playing is experimental and unconventional; it has allowed Limp Bizkit to enjoy killer riffs, aerial ambiences and psychedelic textures. Black Light Burns is a different deal entirely: The Moment You Realize You’re Going To Fall, released at the end of last year, is an industrial record that sees Wes Borland experimenting in a Nine Inch Nails-ish universe served with a punk dressing.

Wes Borland was in Paris on the occasion of the band’s European tour for this album. It was a good opportunity to talk to him about the record, rather different from Black Light Burns’ first effort, about his artistic vision as a whole, but also about Limp Bizkit’s eagerly anticipated new album and his relations with three of the main people behind this release no one believed in anymore: producer Ross Robinson, long-time-no-see DJ Lethal, and of course he who generally causes scandal, Fred Durst.

Read the interview.



Interviews   

Killswitch Engage: a new adventure for a new Jesse Leach

Friday, May 10th, 2013 at 6:40 pm by Metal'O Phil

In the interview published right before this one, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz mentioned how everything seemed new to Jesse Leach after his return in the bosom of Killswitch Engage. We just had to talk to the vocalist to know how he feels about said return.

And he is indeed a very enthusiastic man, now only regarding this new experience, but also his new life as a musician. His happiness is even more heart-warming considering the difficulties the man has been through, and the doubts he had regarding his ability to step into the vocalist’s shoes again. As a result, he talks about these subjects very openly and touchingly. Now the difficulties are over, but they helped him gain a certain wisdom that he wants to share – about singing, life as a musician, and the freedom music should bring. No wonder he mentions Devin Townsend as an example to follow.

Whether you’re a fan of the band, a music enthusiast or simply curious, we strongly recommend you read this interview.

Read the interview.



Interviews   

Killswitch Engage: Jesse Leach’s return as seen by Adam Dutkiewicz

Friday, May 10th, 2013 at 5:32 pm by Metal'O Phil

During the decade Jesse Leach was away, Killswitch Engage has lived and grown. The band’s popularity, their ambition and, therefore, their demands have increased. Even if Jesse Leach was the band’s original vocalist and although they were always in good terms, he was not the obvious candidate after the departure of Howard Jones – especially since Jesse left the band due to vocal limitations in the first place.

Auditions were indeed conducted, and Jesse had to prove his worth.

When we interviewed him a few weeks ago, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz pointed out Jesse’s amazed, childish joy when he discovered the experiences and comfort that come with being in a well-established band.

Read the interivew…



Interviews   

Lost Society: newfound youth for thrash

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 at 2:22 pm by Metal'O Phil

The great return of good old 80′s-sounding thrash is firmly on the tracks. Every year brings its share of youthful bands with patched jackets and a deep desire to go on the road and give their all on stage. The traditional thrash that these bands use as a reference (sometimes with a punk/hardcore influence) is authentic, unadorned music, with a marked taste for partying. No wonder this is working with young people now, the way it worked 30 years ago: to hell with all the problems, to hell with being proper and well-behaved – thrash is here to have fun and to thumb one’s nose at all the worries.

This is exactly the state of mind the Finns of Lost Society (a new band on the thrash revival scene) seem to exude. We talked to the band’s leader, vocalist/guitarist Samy Elbanna, and the outcome was a feeling of unshakable enthusiasm, maybe even healthy naiveté. For when something drives you to follow your guts and charge forward, it can only be called healthy.

Samy answers our questions right here..



Metalanalysis   

Cult Of Luna: the master architects of Vertikal

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 at 2:06 pm by Arroway

Four years ago, Cult Of Luna released an album, Eternal Kingdom, which concept was extended to an audio book, Eviga Riget. In a certain way, the real concept wasn’t the one we had thought, that is the murder of the wife of a so-called Holger Nilsson, but rather the experience of the band to test its audience limits, and the journalists’ one in particular. Cult Of Luna took its time to give a successor to Eternal Kingdom. This record was finally born in the beginning of 2013: Vertikal.

Cult Of Luna clearly offers a well-thought out, meticulous record, matured while reflecting on the 20th century german expressionists’ urban themes, especially illustrated by its movies. Vertikal is indisputably more influenced by Metropolis’ rectilinear and spectacular perspectives than by Der Golem or The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’s architectural fancies. Of course, no obvious link between the songs and the soundtracks of these movies will be found. Vertikal is not a journey into the expansionist past of the big cities of the 20’s. It is a modern and even futurist projection, like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was in its time.

Read more.



Metalanalysis   

Soilwork takes two steps towards infinity

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 at 11:21 am by Spaceman

That’s one hell of a big splash for Soilwork. A double CD, no more and no less. When you make a double CD, you have at least a selection of relevant and coherent songs. When you make a double CD, there’s the risk to loose the listener’s attention in the end. When you make a double CD, it is a real creative declaration which must be assumed. A double CD is, therefore, very much awaited. And it’s been a while since our Swedish guys had not shown such ambitiousness, at least for form’s sake.

For all those who have been following them since the beginning, Soilwork are first and foremost known for a series of four remarkable albums: A Predator’s Portrait, Natural Born Chaos, Figure Number Five and Stabbing The Drama. Four hot records by which Soilwork literally built themselves, by experimenting different approaches. Every record distinguished itself from the other by its originality in terms of sound or musical orientation. Since, Soilwork seems to be in a status quo and doesn’t surprise much anymore, really. Sworn To A Great Divide isn’t a big change compared to what characterized and gave some nobility to its predecessors, even if it has this more polished, pop oriented side. This record just simply reuses and slightly modifies the codes that the band has set up before. The Panic Broadcast, renews with more diversity and spite, but nonetheless confirms that Soilwork have definitely found their comfort zone where they could continue to produce top-quality albums without being challenged.

Read more.



Interviews   

KMFDM: industrial art under all its forms

Monday, May 6th, 2013 at 4:57 pm by Metal'O Phil

KMFDM, one of the founding fathers of industrial metal, is among those bands that are in part driven by indignation and anger. We could therefore surmise that the band’s leader, Sascha Konietzko, is a bitter man. Wrong: he’s just a man who asks himself questions regarding what’s happening in our society and wants to share his feelings to increase public awareness and to make people think. And yet, he confesses himself that KMFDM is also mainly a lot of fun.

Here’s the ambivalence – the band’s freedom of speech, which he refers to by calling his new album “Kunst”, meaning “art”. Art can take on many various forms. The proof of that is the variety of the album’s content, following the example of the band’s entire discography. KMFDM’s music is above all meant to be stimulating, either physically or intellectually: KMFDM want to make the listener react, bang their head to infectious industrial rhythms and think about what happening around them.

What’s obvious is that Konietzko is first and foremost a curious man who wants to understand the world. At the end of the following interview, he reversed the roles and interrogated us on French politics. Don’t consider this dialogue as an intent at politicization (we tried to be as neutral as possible), but it was interesting to see how the man reacted to our answers.

Read the interview…



Interviews   

Fenriz (Darkthrone): the apostle of the old sound

Monday, May 6th, 2013 at 2:30 pm by Spaceman

It probably didn’t escape anyone: Darkthrone’s newest album, explicitly titled The Underground Resistance, is a statement – the demanding of recognition for traditional 80′s heavy metal. It’s also a fight for the preservation of production methods that used to end up in an “old sound”, where “instruments sounded like they were being played”.

Fenriz – Gylve Fenris Nagell on his passport – dwells on this subject in minute detail, with conviction and honesty, in the following interview. From there, we tried to explore the man’s personality and to get him to talk about his vision of superficiality, travels and humor.

The interview was conducted by e-mail, since Fenriz would rather answer questions in writing. Still, the man didn’t try to be evasive and took the time to answer conscientiously. The resulting interview helps understand Darkthrone’s philosophy and that of one of the band’s two masters. We chose to publish the interview as we received it, with certain words written in capital letters and the onomatopoeic laughter.

Read the interview.



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