Ten years is a long time. Ten “band years” is an eternity when you’re talking about no new album, no tours, etc. Not that the members of Armored Saint haven’t kept busy. Bassist Joey Vera has become a vital part of Fates Warning as well as popping up in session positions for the likes of OSI, Chroma Key, Seven Witches and Anthrax. Singer John Bush was unceremoniously ousted from Anthrax in 2004, only to rejoin the band on stage in 2009 (his status with the band is currently up in the air). But, this isn’t about any of those bands…this is about Armored Saint. The name alone just screams Heavy Metal. The band’s last studio album, 2000’s Revelation (which was their first since 1991’s Symbol Of Salvation) was a fantastic piece of work. La Raza only continues to cement the band’s reputation as world class American Heavy Metal. I’ll let Joey Vera take it from here…

On Another Breath’s The God Complex it is all about the energy. And we’re talking nuclear-powered energy on this hard rockin’ hardcore/metal gem. It is an album on which the group also takes a deeply philosophical view into questions of faith; the answers found not necessarily uplifting or especially optimistic. The Fulton, NY crew has created what is sure to be one of the year’s best and, in all likelihood, most overlooked hardcore records. Your mission then is to check it out and see what all this raving is about. Vocalist Ted Winkworth answers the questions.

When I first listened to Sybreed’s latest album The Pulse of Awakening, I didn’t know how I felt about the band’s Marty McFly shenanigans (read: ’80s influence). While it was different compared to their previous two albums—Slave Design and Antares—the band’s sound had still remained somewhat intact… go figure. And figure out I did as I got to interview the main man behind the controversy, lead singer Benjamin.

The last chapter has been written and the book of Catholicon has been closed. The Baton Rouge band, which formed in 1994, has disbanded with some members going on to form Heir to the Throne. Throughout Catholicon’s career, which includes four full-length albums and multiple demos, the unique, creative, blasphemous, and downright diabolical style of black/death metal has not only gotten better with each release, it has stood the test of time. The culmination of that improvement comes in the form of Of Ages Past, the final Catholicon album and one that features the act’s best songwriting to date within the quasi-parameters of its unconventional, yet more refined/conventional (relatively speaking, of course) this time around, brand of sonic sacrilege that chills to the bone and melts the face. The release comes with a DVD-ROM containing a veritable treasure trove of material from across the band’s career (more on that below). With that I present to you a Q&A session with Chad Kelly (a.k.a. Blasphyre) the former Catholicon member who was an integral part of the creative/professional process and who has chosen to simply let sleeping dogs lie, rather than continue on in a new incarnation (ala Heir to the Throne) of it.

I won’t blather on about how Exodus is one of the greatest thrash bands of all time or that over their last several albums they’ve proved to be better than ever at delivering violent thrash metal. We all know this and if you don’t, you better find out soon, lest you miss out on the excellence that is Exodus. Instead, we thought that an update on the band after the release of the outstanding DVD, Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live at Wacken (and other assorted atrocities) and before The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit B – The Human Condition drops in May. I caught up with iron man guitarist Gary Holt at his band’s Tyrants of Evil tour stop in Seattle.

I last interviewed Overkill vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth for the Killbox 13 album in 2003 and since that time have held the man in even higher esteem, not only for his steely resolve and unwavering devotion to thrash metal, but also for the enthusiastic and amiable way he comes across. Why I waited seven years to interview him again is beyond me. His is an interview to which you look forward because you just know it’ll meet the gold standard. This time was no different.

After many, many years stuck in the wilderness, the UK is finally getting back into the Death Metal arena with legions and legions of quality bands. Despite the intricate nuances of these new minions, they all comfortably sit under the encompassing banner of “Death Metal,” be it the blitzkrieg insanity of Infected Disarray, the guttural perfection of Embryonic Depravity or the freakishly bizarre Crepitation and Amputated, these bands are Death Metal to the bone. Ingested, produced one of my favourite (and most played) albums of 2009, they are another cast iron example that extreme music is healthy and vibrant on these shores. Ingested first came to my attention as the standout band of the North-West Slam Fest 3 way split extravaganza that was released in 2007. The potential demonstrated on that juicy entrée was mouth watering, and they satisfyingly outdid themselves on their full length. I spoke with drummer Lynn Jeffs, on whom the band’s guttural insanity is pivoted, he had plenty to say on the scene, his tenure in Annotations of an Autopsy, and the future plans for Ingested.

After two excellent splits, UK-based pagan black metal outfit Wodensthrone has delivered one of the most impressive debut albums I’ve heard in years. Grand, savage, epic and beautiful, Loss has not only found itself high on my year-end list, but it’s also quickly become one of my favorite albums in the genre. Much of this has to do with the sweeping songcraft, but it’s the evocative, atmospheric nature of the music that really transports the listener. No surprise, given that these guys take their history, their heritage and their philosophy quite seriously. Read on and you might even learn a few things…

I’ll get straight to it. One of my favorite releases of the year, and indeed of the last few years is the debut from California’s Fatalist, “The Depths of Inhumanity”. Why? well, I’m a sucker for old school Swedish Death Metal, and Fatalist, right down to the logo, song titles and even some promo photos are Entombed incarnate. I caught up with band founder Neil Burkdoll to take The Left Hand Path and discover The Truth Beyond….

Vetis Monarch – vocalist/guitarist/leader of Canada’s Weapon – is a thoughtful sort and one whose art cannot simply be explained by alter ego\ or the commonly accepted conventions of artistic expression. Weapon is his living, breathing personification. Taking a far deeper philosophical approach to concept/lyrical development, Monarch’s worldview is somewhat atypical for black metal in that it is based not on a Christian, and ultimately anti-Christian background, making the exploration of Satanic philosophies far more refreshing. But it is the music of Drakonian Paradigm that sucked me right in and kept me coming back for more, making the album an immediate 2009 Top 10 selection in the waning weeks of the year. Black metal at its core, yet not solely traditional in a tremolo-picked and blast-beaten sense, Drakonian Paradigm brilliantly mixes in elements of thrash, death, and even traditional metal, in the process creating memorable songs and varied arrangements all wrapped up in the kind of palpable genuineness and sinister atmosphere that is lacking on so many BM releases. And now to answer my feebly probing questions, I give you Vetis Monarch.

Like the deadly bacteria lying dormant at the bottom of your gut, Witchmaster sits and waits until the time is right for them to resurface in a choking, splattering, sickly mess that ruins your golf game or whatever the fuck else you had planned for the day. Their last grime-encrusted offering, a self-titled album released on Agonia Records, came out five years ago, and now the wait is over for Trucizna, a hellacious, gnashing beast that saw its US release in November courtesy of the invulnerable Ibex Moon Records. Axe-slinger and original member Kali talks about the new album, Polish extreme metal, and just not giving a fuck.

Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many band spotlights here at Teeth of the Divine .com. Think of this as our version of VH1’s Behind the Music. The aim with these features is to take you a little deeper into some of the more influential, important and respected band in metal. Band’s that through their albums, shaped genres, defined sounds and for many, changed lives. Some bands are still charging on, continuing to adding to their legacy, while other have since call it quits, allowing their recordings to continue their impact and legacy…

One of many thrash bands of the 80s firing up the engine again in the 21st century, New Jersey’s Whiplash have released an album in Unborn Again that is outstanding on numerous levels. In large part it is due to the dynamic and varied songwriting, which includes not only neck snapping thrash, but also groove based heavy metal and hard rock. Most surprisingly is how well it works as a complete listening experience. Although the band followed up 80s classics Power and Pain and Ticket to Mayhem with a handful of 90s albums, 1998’s Thrashback was the last we’d heard from Whiplash until the release of this year’s Unborn Again. Certainly the passing of original member and bassist Tony Bono in 2002 put a damper on things, to say the least, but the Jersey boys are back and without a doubt better than ever. Guitarist/vocalist Tony Portaro and drummer Joe Cangelosi check in with TOTD to bring us up to date.

Many bands talk the talk of file sharing being something to be embraced, rather than eschewed, but how many bands do you know that walk the walk and actually release an album for free, especially a band on a big metal label? You’ll know at least one now, as Ireland’s Gama Bomb have done it through Earache Records with Tales from the Grave in Space, the follow-up to the extremely well written, balls out thrash masterpiece Citizen Brain. At the time of this interview I had not yet heard the album, as it was not available, so the idea was to focus on the band’s/label’s decision to release it for free, a preview, if you will. Now that I’ve gotten my own digital copy of the album (and you can too), I can tell you that it is every bit the rip roaring, fun-filled vintage (with modern sensibilities) thrash extravaganza that is Citizen Brain. Vocalist Philly Byrne fills tells that tale of Tales and how file sharing can be a good thing for metal bands.

It is not often I’m totally smitten with a doom band, much less a funeral doom act, but Germany’s Ahab has shocked and awed me ever since I reviewed The Call of the Wretched Sea, the act’s second release (after The Oath EP) in a trilogy (the “Nantucket Saga”) of sea-based tales, based upon stories […]

The last couple of years has been spectacular for old school classic Swedish styled death metal; you’ve had albums from the likes of veterans such as Bloodbath, Séance, Necrovation, Evocation, Dismember as well as new blood from Hail of Bullets, DeathEvocation and Fatalist just to name a few. Heck, even Entombed returned from the land of suck on 2007s Serpent Saints. What was missing was a big name reunion- a glorious name from the past, the return of a legend (Séance doesn’t quite count). And that happened earlier this year (at least here in the US) when Ibex Moon Records released Death …the Brutal Way from Dutch death metal legends, Asphyx. Complete with the duo that was mostly responsible for the legendary The Rack, suddenly busy vocalist Martin Van Drunen, founding member Rob Bagchus returned to the fray in spectacular fashion and I caught up with Mr. Bagchus to find out how this legendary comeback came about and other things….

Even though European heavy metal fans have always trounced their stateside counterparts in terms of dedication to their bands, it still puzzles me that so many folks on this side of the pond bypass Novembers Doom. Not only has the Chicago act perfected a unique brand of doom/death, but they’ve improved and expanded their sound, resulting in albums like The Pale Haunt Departure, The Novella Reservoir, and Into Night’s Requiem Infernal that are filled with quality metal and memorable songwriting from top to bottom. That Novembers Doom can play a Minneapolis festival with the likes of Primal Fear and Atheist and be lucky to draw 100 people, then turn around and fly to Spain to play a show for 800 people that sold out in advance speaks volumes about the difference between European and U.S. punters. In the interview that follows I discuss that contrast, the new album and generally all things Novembers Doom with guitarist Larry Roberts.

Acheron is one of those bands that has been making quality death metal for a long time, yet has remained far underground. Whether due to the overtly Satanic/anti-religion themes – which I find odd, considering that this is death metal – or vocalist Vincent Crowley’s sometimes controversial views and comments (or, rightly or wrongly, the interpretations of such), Acheron has never gotten the level of acclaim that its peers have, yet continues to give the fans what they want. The Final Conflict: Last Days of God has been a long time coming, but it has been worth the wait. Released on Displeased Records, the album is proudly rooted in the old school with an organic sound (from Bill Korecky), beefy riffs, strong arrangements, and a songwriting approach that is pretty damn catchy (in a death metal sort of way). I spoke to Mr. Crowley by phone, but failed to ask him whether he rode his white horse or spoke to the dead. It’s still a good read though, helped in no small way by the guy’s affable nature and willingness to leave it all on the table.

That discrimination is an alien element to the metal scene is common knowledge. Today it’s played by people in every walk of life, from high school students to street cleaners, from conservatory graduates to white-collar clerks. Daniel Estrin, the leader of Australian Melodic Metal phenomenon Voyager, is a lawyer. But first of all, he is a man of huge musical gift and romantic spirit, who writes songs nearly as exotic for metal as his motherland’s aborigines are exotic for the rest of the world. No wonder, the band’s upcoming third album I Am The ReVolution is being impatiently awaited by the fans all over the globe. It’s not that frequent that we are exposed to metal stuff proposing such a perfect match of 80’s neo-romantic grandeur a la Depeche Mode, Ultravox and A-Ha and catholicity of contemporary metal. If you are still in the dark, it’s high time to ‘come to light’ and jump the leaving train, for the revolution has begun and it won’t be waiting for latecomers.

“Terraphobic” from Lansing, MI’s Dagon is one of those albums I casually grabbed from my ever overflowing box of promos to check out. I’m not ever certain why I decided to grab it. Perhaps it was because I’d realized that I’d not reviewed any albums yet from Bombworks Records. Regardless, it was a fortuitous grab, as Terraphobic knocked me square on my ass with what is sure to end up one of my favorite albums of 2009. The band’s self-described “ocean metal” is a blistering slice of classic Swedish melodic death metal (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy) with traditional metal (ala Iron Maiden) flourishes, thrashing riffs, white hot soloing, and a knack for writing memorable melodies. This one has got it all. Oh yeah, and the lyrical themes are entirely ocean-centric. Guitarists Chris Sharrock and Briant Daniel, bassist/vocalist Randall Ladiski, and drummer/vocalist Jordan Batterbee better be ready for the big leagues because metal this good won’t go unnoticed for long.

Don’t ask Mike Scalzi about the true metal scene or his presumed secret formula for penning Celtic inflected “cult” heavy metal. A shit he does not give, as such conjecture presupposes premeditation. As guitarist/vocalist/leader of Slough Feg he simply writes what comes naturally and the “secret” is no secret at all. The inspiration comes from the Big Three of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, and the delivery just happens to have a unique, Celtic folk slant. It really is as simple as that. Just spin the outstanding new release Ape Uprising and give it some thought; you’ll hear it, trust me. As you’ll see, I didn’t have to say a whole hell of a lot to elicit a marathon response; or maybe I’m just that good. Nah, I just caught him in the right mood and moment. Onward we go.

There is no secret formula to the death metal performed by Wisconsin’s Jungle Rot. It’s about a riff, a groove, and a growl. It is what it is; always has been and always will be. Themes of battlefield horror are spat out over tight, rumbling rhythms and choruses into which you can sink your teeth. Label troubles be damned, Jungle Rot soldiers on with a new album in What Horrors Await that is even tighter, better produced, and just as memorable as anything they’ve released thus far. With the firm backing of yet another label in Napalm Records guitarist/vocalist/founder Dave Matrise brings us up to date on the war-torn world of Jungle Rot.

Death, magic, and doom; yep, sounds like Candlemass to me. And what a rejuvenated band the legendary quintet have become with the addition of Solitude Aeturnus howler Robert Lowe. It’s not like the self-titled comeback album with Messiah Marcolin is anything to sneeze at (it is indeed a great disc), but when Lowe entered the fold for King of the Grey Islands, he breathed new life (new death?) into the band, a quality that is even more evident on Death Magic Doom, an album that saw Lowe actually record with his band mates. It is certainly my favorite of the last three albums and, dare I say, one of the best albums of the group’s career. It is a grand declaration of Candlemass doom that weaves Leif Edling’s crushing, yet darkly beautiful, riffs with morose melody and a songwriting effort that is nothing short of stellar. Lowe discusses his place in the band, as well what will easily end up one of 2009’s top metal albums in Death Magic Doom.

Only 2 albums into their career, Scotland’s purveyors of “True Scottish Pirate Metal”, Alestorm hardly need any introduction. Their debut, the raucous, Captain Morgan’s Revenge, put the fun back into metal, and with the follow up, Black Sails at Midnight, the band have further upped the Pirate-y goodness. Chock full of brazen metal seas shanties of rum, women and plunder, the band seems destined to truly blow up on an international level, aided by the bands recent tour of the US. I caught up with the pleasant and portly pirate who plays guitars, Dani Evans to find out a little more about this group of amicable musical privateers….

Interestingly enough, the same week this interview was conducted with Ben “Boss” Hogg the vocalist was also officially welcomed as one of two new writers for Teeth of the Divine. I always enjoyed reading Ben’s work in Metal Maniacs (R.I.P.), his preference for the gnarly ‘n nasty aspects of metal (not unlike mine) and I look forward to reading his contributions here.

Speaking of the gnarly and the nasty, in addition to his front man responsibility in Beaten Back to Pure (new album coming later this year), Hogg has been the vocalist of underground super group Birds of Prey for three albums strong now, including a brand new release called The Hellpreacher. A concept album about an inmate-turned-priest, Birds of Prey – also including guitarists Erik Larson (Alabama Thunderpussy) and Bo Leslie (The Last Van Zant), bassist Summer Welch (Baroness), and drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis) – continues with its southern ‘n sludgy brand of old school death metal and brings along with it an even better compositional approach. Read all about it right here, straight from the Boss’ mouth.