Finland’s Rapture has been described as a mix of Katatonia and Opeth. Fair enough. Scratch the surface, however, and there’s far more Finnish in Rapture than a knee-jerk comparison to Swedes a sea and culture away. In fact, across three albums (Silent Stage came out in 2005), the members of Rapture sought not to emulate […]

When was the last time you heard of a band from Slovenia? Devil Doll doesn’t count. So, maybe never. I mean, it’s a little country. Smashed between Italy, Croatia, Hungary, and Austria, with a slice bordering the Adriatic Sea, Slovenia is like, say, Estonia (Hello, Loits) or any of the other Baltic countries. There’s a […]

Hangin’ tough at the crossroads can be interesting. You either make a deal with the devil, move on, and rock the F out or you go home with the same crappy guitar and poor playin’ aptitude. For Arsis, it seems they’ve finally made a deal with the devil. No, not Nuclear Blast. The devil gave […]

Since inception (from the ashes of Catacomb), Italy’s Novembre has defied convention and categorization. While the majority of its work can be filed under atmospheric death, the band, helmed by brothers Carmelo and Giuseppe Orlando, is much more than that. In fact, as early as 1997’s Arte Novecento Novembre ventured so far as to employ […]

Lately, Italy has been a stronghold for quality doom metal. The Foreshadowing, formed out of members of avant-garde metallers Klimt 1918 and Spiritual Front, is one of the country’s newest acts to bridge the gap between Candlemass, My Dying Bride, and Anathema. And there’s a touch of Type O Negative, too. The sextet’s latest offering, […]

As recently discussed here, I recently attended a Protest the Hero concert, and thought what better way to open the interview section of this new internet endeavor than to interview one of the most polarizing bands in metal today. And find out a little more about these Canadian kids (literally, they are all just 22-years […]

Amon Amarth has been a favorite of mine for ten years so when the opportunity presented itself to conduct an interview I jumped at it. In the middle of a North American tour, Johan graciously offered some of his time to sit down and answer some questions.

My top album of 2005 was the sophomore effort, Alaska from North Carolina’s Between the Buried and Me. Formed by members of short lived metalcore legends Prayer for Cleansing Tommy Rogers and Paul Waggoner and joined on Alaska by Glass Casket members Dusty Waring and Blake Richardson, gives Between the Buried and Me an arguably all star line up and it showed. The album defies categorization and oozes brilliance from every jagged riff, clean segue and introspective jam. So when given the chance to see the band along with The Red Chord and A Life Once lost on an Ozzfest off date at a local dive bar, Mojo’s in Columbia, MO, I jumped at the chance, and at the chance to visit with vocalist Tommy Rogers….

Sadness prevails in my musical taste. I marvel in the beauty of despair. Even as a musician, I find my compositions to be filled with gloom. Nevertheless, I have always found it difficult to explain to people why I hold this type of art close to my heart. That is until I met with North Carolina’s kings of gloom, Daylight Dies. On April fool’s day 2006, I ventured down to R.F.Ds of Washington D.C. for Daylight Dies CD release party of Dismantling Devotion. Hanging with the band is always a good thing, especially if you want to get drunk, and lead vocalist Nathan Ellis took care of me on that end by supplying me with beers from Belgium and Germany that I couldn’t pronounce. Weinstephaner was definitely the favorite of the night. Talking throughout the evening with the band and their many fans I heard tale of Daylight Dies own brand of beer. That is something I would love to try one day. Proceeding to get drunker and discussing our metal tastes, the party went on until the early hours of the morning. Somewhere in the mist of all of this I got a chance to sit down with drummer Jesse Haff and discuss the happenings with Daylight Dies thus far.

In the late ‘80s, the death-metal genre was first forged in the heat ‘n’ humidity of Tampa, Florida. After three of metal’s most durable records’including their 1989 debut Slowly We Rot and 1990 follow-up Cause of Death’the venerable Obituary seemingly peaked with 1994’s World Demise. After managing to squeeze out the tired Back from the Dead three years later, they went into permanent hibernation, and fans thought it was indeed the end complete. Excitement started to build in early 2004, however, when the band reconvened for a one-off hometown show, and the following year brought more gigs plus a new studio album, Frozen in Time, and Obituary sound like they haven’t aged a day. At the Hartford, Connecticut stop on their autumn East coast tour, frontman John Tardy was happy to talk about the band’s colorful history, his collaboration with rap artist Necro, and what the guys have been doing for the past seven years between albums.

I don’t go to many shows being that I live in rural Central Missouri. So when the mighty Origin somehow got booked to play 30 minutes from my hometown in Columbia, Missouri I had to go. Not only for this interview but to witness arguably the most intense band around in a live setting. I was curious to see how the technical maelstrom of Origin translated live. Needless to say, even with a pain faced, triggerless James King, limited space and a relatively small (surprisingly female heavy) crowd, watching the eclectic racial mix of Origin perform live is a sight to behold. Particularly noteworthy are diminutive but always grinning bassist Mike Flores and guitarist Paul Ryan who literally mesmerized me with their fingers. After metalcore openers River Runs Red and local death metal act Omichron, I caught up with Paul Ryan to dig deeper into Origin…..

So far this year one of my very favorite albums has been the debut album from Ligeia, Your Ghost as a Gift. And while most roll their eyes at the very mention of metalcore, the Ken Susi produced effort does everything right. So when given a chance to see the Massachuset’s youngsters on their current tour with From A Second Story Window, Dead to Fall and Ed Gein, I made the trip to the Creepy Crawl in downtown St. Louis to brave my first ‘metalcore’ show and interview with the bright eyed and youthful group of kids in their tour bus…

Swedish death metal, the old school kind, exists in our CD collection (Carnage, Entombed, Unleashed, Dismember) and in our memories, for most of us in this for the long are still actively searching for bands that remind of the days when American death metal just didn’t cut it anymore. That sentiment still holds true, for the most part. Bands such as God Macabre, Utumno, Hetsheads and the cult line-up on the Projections of a Stained Mind all were direct descendants of Nihilist and Carnage, and to that end shared a similar sound. For Gorement, another lost gem in the sands of time, the above statement plays a part in their sound, but unlike most of the pure death metal acts, these five guys were also heavily influenced by the likes of early Paradise Lost and Benediction. Really, Gorement’s only full-length album, the masterful The Ending Quest (circa 1994), played well on this diverse foundation, and materialized as an album that still speaks volumes not only of the timeframe in which it was released, but also about how the songcraft of death metal a decade later is slowly diminishing into involved but substance-less drivel. While searching for a full copy of The Ending Quest, I ran across a band called Genuflection to Limbo and found out that Gorement guitarist Patrik Fernlund is still involved in music. While I thought Fernlund would see Gorement’s chapter as long closed, the axeman agreed to talk about a band he put to rest over eight years ago. And hopefully this chat will spur more interest in Gorement and the band’s impressive but scant catalog – if anything The Ending Quest is due for re-release like yesterday, but legal issues could shelve the project for at least another two years.

Norway’s Enslaved is clearly out to redefine itself on its newest album, ISA. With a new line-up, a new label and a powerful, striking new record, Enslaved returns to the spotlight, using musical prowess, adventurous spirit and damned fine songwriting skills to direct much deserved attention. Long exploring the byways of Extreme Metal psychedelia across three albums (Mardraum through Below the Lights), the core of Enslaved, Ivar Bjornson and Grutle Kjellson, revisits the past (Vikingligr Veldi and Frost) while having a keen eye on the future. ISA is a monumental album, one which is carved in modern Thrash Metal chops, Black Metal ethos and experimental songcraft. Read on as guitarist and songwriter Ivar Bj�rnson gives insight into the new Enslaved.

Ever since Mithotyn were sent out on a burning ship into the Gulf of Bothnia, many bands have clamoured to claim the crown as Viking metal’s undisputed king. Some like Hin Onde and Twin Obscenity have failed, others like Enslaved have simply given up the battle and progressed. Only Thyrfing have truly flirted with Viking metal brillaince consistenly, unchallenged for the vacant throne. Until now. With the realese of Voimasta ja Kunniasta (or Of Strength and Honour in English), Finland’s Moonsorrow have catapaulted to the top of the Viking metal heap with a brilliant second album. It is an album deeply rooted in Viking culture and Norse mythology with songs that envisage heroism, bravery, family, life and death. I had the pleasure of visiting with Baron Tarwonen and Ville Seponpoika Sorvali, two of Moonsorrow’s warriors, who are obviously beaming with pride from the superb opus.

A couple of years ago Bloodbath started a mini phenomenon by paying homage to classic Swedish death metal albums such as Left Hand Path and Like an Ever Flowing Stream. By gathering a group of influential, talented musicians the album was well received in no due part to the source material. Others followed; Murder Squad, Incapacity, Ribspreader,Facebreaker as well as other veteran bands still successfully pawning that style, delivering solid albums (Dismember, Fleshcrawl, Centinex, Grave)after many years. Enter the Fins. With arguably equally a killer influence on modern metal, Amorphis and Sentenced had their own special niche in death metal, so a special group of Fins decided it was their turn to pay homage to the Swedish classics in the form of super group, ChaosBreed. If the name doesn’t give it away (a track from Entombed’s seminal Clandestine), ChaosBreed is a pure throwback death metal album, Finnish style. Complete with a Sunlight buzz and infectious grooves, the simple yet aptly titled Brutal is the collaborative effort of vocalist Taneli Jarva (The Black League, ex Sentenced), guitarist Esa Holipainen (Amorphis), guitarist Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow), drummer Nalle Osterman (Gandalf) and bassist Oppu Laine (ex –Amorphis), and is in fact…brutal. I caught up with Esa Holipainen to get the lowdown in this killer album as well as the band’s take on the classic era they captured perfectly.

European hardcore seems to be growing in stage dives and spin kicks, and more so, it seems to be more influenced by mid 90’s hardcore and old school brutal death metal than the melodic metal influenced stuff the US is chucking out now. One such band of brothers of Instil from the Netherlands. Their debut album Fire Reflects in Ashes, is a rumbling, chugging barrage of sweat and blood that sounds more American that most American bands who are in turn trying to sound European. It was actually one of the most underrated slabs of heaviness I heard last year, so I thought I’d talk to voclasit Rene Smit to not only find out more about the band, but also give them a little well deserved exposure…

Dedication (n): getting up at 5.30am to interview one of the most exciting bands in Finnish folk metal who unfortunately (for me) happen to reside in an entirely different time zone. Then finding out one of you must be on daylight savings and consequently staying up until 1.30am interviewing one of the most exciting bands in Finnish folk metal. Korpiklaani literally translates to ‘Forest Clan’, and they play an exciting and novel form of organic folk melodies and traditional metal. I conversed with bass player Jarkko Aaltonen regarding the bands roots, their live act and their future endeavours.

As Carl Jung paved his existential path through the mass of behavioral psychology, so have Scholomance have carved their own path through the generic fields of satanic black metal and gore-ridden American death metal. They have forged a path of individuality that breaks the mold and challenges the American extreme metal scene. With a deeply intellectual approach and a musical ability that sometimes dazzles and confuses, Scholomance look to take a place among American metal as a leader, not a follower. The three piece consisting of Scott Crinklaw (guitars, percussion, and keyboards), Jimmy Pitts (vocals and keyboards) and bassist Jerry Twyford seem poised at the edge of abyss of greatness, just waiting for a push over the edge. The latest album The Immortality Murder, might be the album to do just that. Residing on The End records, Scholomance seem to fit the progressive nature of the label, I visited with guitarist and keyboardist Scott Crinklaw about The End records, lyrical influences and the promising future for Scholomance.

NFL Football and heavy metal music are inherently linked. From the rebellious souls of the sport’s fledgling athletes decades ago, to the rebellious spirits in heavy metal that terrified the general public, hard-hitting sports and music are bound to find each other. Both are beautiful and brutal simultaneously, and both are the extreme of sports […]

Finland is fast becoming a hotbed of musical growth that rivals the Swedish explosion of the early and mid nineties, bands like Kalmah, Children of Bodom, Moonsorrow and Finntroll are putting Finland on the metal map as Sentenced and Amorphis did nearly a decade ago. Leading this creative charge is Finntroll. By fusing folk music and black metal with their native “humppa” or “polka” melodies, they have created a sound that is hard to define, yet enjoyable to listen to. It blatantly defies the inherent seriousness of black metal, but ala Bal-Sagoth; they don’t care and are content to put out the music they want to regardless of the genre restrictions. Last year’s Jaktens Tid, was my top album for 2001 and was a natural progression from the debut. I visited with guitarist Somnium to discuss this seemingly out of place group of trollsters.