Burst Issue #23, December 2014 by BURST Magazine

December 2014 Issue #23 | Free

Was Philip

Seymour Hoffman

Backstage with

Elize Ryd

How do you perceive music…

the greatest actor of his age?

when you can’t hear it? The Pale Emperor Rides Again

Marilyn Manson

A beginner’s guide

Arrow ISSN 2241-5386

9 772241 538000

Inside BURST

Chatting with

Devin Townsend

Photography is a miracle. Do you believe?

www.argophotography.com BURST www.afternoiz.com

3 BURST MAGAZINE

pages 6-15 Articles

pages 16-31 Interviews

page 40Director’s Cut

D evin T ownsend Burst Magazine is about to close two fucking years and 23 issues. On this long journey I had the honor to interview some of my personal idols, men I truly love their music. I have to admit that the most entertaining interview I took is the one you’re gonna read below. Read the whole story and interview on page 16

page 42 Film Reviews

page 44 TV Series Beginner’s Guide

Cover photo by Tom Hawkins.

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Was Philip Seymour Hoffman the greatest actor of his age? By Alexis Seitanidis As Billy Joel once put it back in the late 70’s “only the good die young”. It’s a sad realization when you think about it and what’s even sadder is the fact that it has happened quite a few times in the past. Some examples of young talent gone too soon, that come to mind on top of my head right now, are River Phoenix and Heath Ledger and unfortunately the name Philip Seymour Hoffman was added a couple of months ago next to theirs. Hoffman was born in Rochester in the state of New York in 1967. As a young man it didn’t take him much time to understand that he had a natural thing for the stage, as he attended numerous plays in his high school years and it became pretty evident to the people who were lucky enough to witness him perform even in such a young age, that BURST www.afternoiz.com

being an actor was a one way ticket for him. In 1989 Hoffman graduated with a degree in Drama from the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and just 3 years later he got his first role in a movie called My New Gun starring Diane Lane. But this was just the beginning of a career which Hoffman’s talent left no doubt it would be something more than just great. In the years that followed he secured roles, others being supportive and others being lead in various different movies that were all great in their own way. Some of them include Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia with whom Hoffman worked several times throughout his career, Spike Lee’s drama 25th Hour and my own personal favorite movie of all time The Big Lebowski. Recognition was just around the

corner and it didn’t take much time for his talent and hard work as an actor to be rewarded. That reward came pretty loud when he won an Oscar for his performance as a lead role in the film Capote in 2005. That Academy Award was just one of the 23 awards that Hoffman ended up winning for his performance as Truman Capote an American author that befriended a convict who murdered an entire family in the city of Kansas. Although Hoffman once stated that the milestone of his career was his role in Scent of a Woman, I believe that his role in Capote was the one that clearly gave him that iconic status that he had earned before even turning 40. This performance not only earned him an Oscar but it was also ranked #35 in Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time in 2006.

They say that what makes a great actor is not only his ability to bring to life the characters that he portrays but also the insight needed to choose to be part of a movie that people will enjoy and appreciate later on for lots of different reasons. Hoffman had that insight beyond any doubt. To answer the question whether he was the greatest actor of his generation I always thought comparisons and name dropping in this battle of who beats who is pointless especially when it comes to acting. At the end of the day there is no specific measure on how successful one can be as an actor compared to another. I personally can’t really tell if he was the greatest, but what I can definitely admit is that he was really damn good.

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Iron Maiden, Scream For Me! A Live History

By Mike Ritchie

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9 Very few bands have ever matched or come close to the visually compelling, mesmerizing stage shows of Britain’s legendary Iron Maiden. From the earliest days playing in the Cart & Horse Pub in Stratford, to the lucky meeting of future Iron Maiden/Killers front man Paul Di’Anno, to his dismissal and the almighty Bruce Dickinson’s debut; Maidens had uncountable gigs, each memorable in their own way. In later years when the stages got big enough for life sized props, banners, lavish album decoration and large elevated platforms for Bruce to stand on with Nicko’s kit sitting right below center stage, Maidens music has always been the focus. Any fan worldwide will tell you, they keep coming back to see and hear Maiden. Their shows have always been a mix of spectacle, musical decadence and of course… Eddie. One of the band’s first well known spots was the Cart & Horse pub, where they played several gigs in their very early days. Metal history was born on May 1, 1975 in St. Nicks Hall in Poplar, where the original vocalist Paul Day, Harris played their first gig as Iron Maiden. The first incarnations of Eddie came about when they found a white kabuki mask and made it drip blood above the drum kit. ‘Eddie The Head’ evolved to a black sign with band logo, boarded by light bulbs to a long silver alien looking head, that blew red smoke during Iron Maiden performances, when they’d progressed to playing bigger gigs at places like the Music Machine. When the first album came out they took the punk haired Eddie head adding more smoke. Paul Di’Anno, who joined in 1978, is known as the first longterm singer, so to speak, before Bruce Dickinson’s career span. He fronted the band on their first appearance on Top of the Pops, a show with pre-recorded music with the bands pantomiming, but the band insisted on playing live. During the Killers tour Di’Anno’s self-destructive behavior, drug use and the inability/desire to perform caused much friction in the band getting several shows cancelled. Fed up and wanting to find a singer that could deal with the rigors of the road, Di’Anno was fired in 1981. Shortly after, Dickinson joined

the band in September 1981 and they embarked on a short headlining tour in October where Bruce made his first appearance on stage with Maiden in Bologna, Italy. The Best of the Beast tour followed. Then they hit the road supporting Piece of Mind on the World Piece tour where on the last night in December 1983, he did the unthinkable and killed Eddie on stage, tearing off his lobotomized head and ripping his brains out. Next was the mammoth World Slavery Tour supporting Powerslave, where Eddie, after being reincarnated got ‘wrapped up’ in everything. One of the best road stories from the tour was when the large Eddie Mummy torso was stolen from the backstage and the crew had to wait for another one to be made and shipped out. In the meantime they made a new one out of a large amount of bath towels leading to the running joke of ‘Eddie’s out of the shower again.’ The tour lasted for 331 days and 187 concerts, it was filmed and immortalized on Live After Death at Long Beach Arena in California, during two nights of their four night stay, in March 1985. The Somewhere in Time tour dubbed ‘Somewhere on Tour’ aka ‘the inflatable tour’ had several large inflatable pieces of Eddie’s cyborg like body including claws and head. The hands rose on hydraulics and at one gig, a stage lamp burned a hole in one claw, deflating during the show and leaving Eddie one handed. After being patched up at the next show, he was inflated again, but they’d tied some of the fingers together and the claw rose up accidently giving everyone in the audience the bird. 1988’s Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour, supporting their occult themed concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, led them to their first headlining gig at The Monsters of Rock show at Donington, playing for a record number of 107,000 people. Later in November they recorded and released a video from their show in Birmingham called Maiden England, re-released in 2013 as Maiden England ’88 with extended footage. The bands second headlining appearance at Donington was in 1992, on the Fear of the Dark Tour recorded for Live at Donington. In 1993 Dickinson left

the band to further his solo career playing the farewell Real Live Tour and appearing on two live albums, A Real Live One and A Real Dead One. His final show in August 1993 was recorded and released as Raising Hell. The show featured the band playing next to the magician Simon Drake as he ‘killed’ Dickinson in a real Iron Maiden, then was subsequently chased and impaled by Eddie. The show closed with Eddie decapitating Dickinson and impaling his likeness Vlad Tepes style on a pole above Drake’s dangling body. Possibly some of the most notorious live shows in Maiden history happened during the X Factor/Virtual XI era with former Wolfsbane singer Blaze Bayley as Dickinson’s replacement. Several shows on both tours were cancelled due to Bayley’s vocal issues coupled with the fact that several Dickinson songs were beyond his range and was asked to leave the group in 1999. Dickinson to the joy of the worldwide Maiden Nation returned to the helm in ’99 on the Ed Hunter Tour. Saint John, New Brunswick Canada was the first show since 1993 with Dickinson. A Brave New World followed in 2001 followed by the Brave New World Tour, the last night of which was filmed for the Rock in Rio release in front of 250,000 people. During the next years touring hiatus they played three consecutive shows at Brixton Academy, for ailing the former drummer Clive Burr who was recently diagnosed with MS, performing two further shows for his MS Trust Fund charity in 2005 and 2007 before his death in 2013. From May-August 2003 they played the Give Me Ed…’Till I’m Dead Tour featuring new song Wildest dreams from the upcoming Dance of Death album. The Dance of Death World Tour followed with the Dortmund, Germany show recorded/released as Death on the Road. In 2005 they announced the Eddie Rips Up the World Tour coinciding with their The History of Iron Maiden-Part 1: The Early Days DVD release. The tour would feature material exclusive to the first four albums. The band co-headlined/headlined depending on Ozzy’s health on the Ozzfest tour that year with Dickinson making several state-

ments about reality TV, raising the ire of Sharon Osbourne. On the last date, Osbourne tried to sabotage Maiden’s show by cutting power during their songs, having members of other bands run across stage and having family members throw eggs, bottle caps and other objects from the front rows. From 2006-2007 A Matter of Life and Death and A Matter of the Beast, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Number of the Beast, were two tours where the band played the new A Matter of Life and Death, which was met with mixed reaction and to the latter a mix of songs from the new album and Number of the Beast. They played in Eddfest at the Bangalore Palace Grounds in India in 2007 for 38,000 people, with 4000 watching from outside. That was the highest paid concert in the country’s history and was also the first time a heavy metal band came to the Indian subcontinent. The concert was documented on Banger Films Global Metal DVD showing fans openly weeping for joy that metal had finally come to their country. In September 2007 they announced the Somewhere Back in Time Tour, a revisiting of their Somewhere in Time Tour, with songs from that era and a few added tunes from the 90’s. This was the first tour to use Ed Force One, their personal 757, hauling literary everything including the band across the world which was documented in the DVD Flight 666. In 2011 on the Final Frontier Tour they released the En Vivo! DVD from Santiago Chile. In early 2012 they announced the Maiden England World Tour commencing through 2013-2014. For the legions that just can’t get enough of Ed, the band has confirmed there’ll be at least one more record with a potential tour in 2015. As millions of fans over the decades know, you have to see Iron Maiden live to truly understand why millions keep coming back, every time, in every tour for more. They’re a band that brings it like no other, every night and must be ‘experienced’. As diehard fans tell others, you can’t see them enough times. So now we wait to see when Eddie and the boys come back around so we can scream for them one more time.

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do you perceive music… XStorieS Ray How when you can’t hear it? by Maria Tountasaki

To me, Music means Movement 1,2,3,4......5,6,7,8 No, that’s not how it is. More like, one… and two… and three, f-our……….. five… and six… seven.. aand eight. Like the “to be, to be, to be, to be”... Just a bit longer. Close your feet. The back goes front, slight turn, leave the bar, now take your hands down gracefully… That’s it. Now repeat from the other side. More or less, that was how I heard music at the ballet class. I could hear the keys of the piano. Hands altering positions. The harmony. The rhythm. The tone changes on the piano was something I really had to put effort to hear it. Me and my ears decided it made no real difference. Because if I tried to hard to listen to it, I would lose my concentration on the exercises. I discovered music through dancing. I experienced its magnificence, this thing everyone talks about, seek for, share, get inspired from, cry about, feel happy - even remember through it. I felt all that from my inner music. The one that came from inside of me and the one I sang through dancing. BURST www.afternoiz.com

They say that children, even when they are fetuses, seek and react to music. I don’t know if I ever did that. Music never meant that much to me. Especially in my condition, sensorineural hearing loss, something I faced since I was born, well I can assure you that music does not charm me the way it does other people, people that perceive it like their personal drug. Thank to technology, my hearing aids were advanced enough to show me this special thing called music. I could see the rhythm, harmony, intonation. That’s about it. The rest could get through me without touching me. However I still think that deep inside I could feel them, unconsciously. What was very challenging for me was to listen to the words of a song, single out the words. Only if I had learnt it by heart (I could remember a lot of songs if I liked them enough) or if I was reading the lyrics while I was listening to it. Even today, when I get to a song that has the lyrics together, like in a video, then I feel I can understand more. Enjoy more, get my share of magic. But the true magic laid inside

of me. That was where I found it - in, not out of me. A flow that came from me. A movement that my senses felt, sometimes more realistic than others. I figured out that I could hear through seeing, touching and an inner vibe. Smelling in under testing. Taste is not there yet. But, rhythm was there, I could feel it all over and I didn’t need my ear for that. And for me this is what music is, a movement, the true rhythm. I started dancing lessons in a very young age. Although in everyday life I lose my balance, that never happened there. In ballet I could count in my head, thus keeping my rhythm. If I closed my eyes I could do it even better. But I didn’t feel so secure, when you cannot hear very well, closing your eyes for long is not so nice, you feel insecure because there are two senses missing. That was a small vicious circle. If I closed my eyes I could let go more. I felt the vibration on the floor and followed the rhythm better. I rarely danced in front of the others, or alone. Then I was not able to close my eyes or count. Seeing the rest of the team, working together made me feel supported

and confident that I could do it. But in my dreams I always danced alone. There all was one. Music, dance, harmony, it didn’t matter. I took it all out and I let go. It always was nicely blended and the result was greater that all of them separately. Maybe I am becoming too lyrical. But I felt a wholeness, greater that me, I was just a part of it. I discovered rhythm in percussions. Low frequencies, bass sounds felt closer to me. Maybe there’s a reason that one of the best percussionists is actually deaf The knock, bang, bang…. is closer to my body; it enters through my feet and hands,straight to my heart, explodes in my head, seeking for a way to redemption. It gets you to move, because it only manifests in movement. It cannot stay too much inside, it looks for a way to be communicated. That was how I met eastern dances, oriental, it’s practice is as tough as ballet, but its music… Oh, I get the difference between the melodies. One is more lyrical, the other is more earthly. I let myself go to the one that makes me feel better. Besides for me music is movement. And many times I dance barefoot. Milton H. Greene

Marilyn Manson:

The Pale Emperor Rides Again By Mike Ritchie

Palpatine ruled the dark side in space while Manson sang about being crucified in it. The ultra-tan-challenged antichrist superstar has made a career out of releasing a large variety of music encompassing many sounds, genre’s and tastes. Much like a mortician putting tools on the table, each cutting blade, cold steel instrument or scooping tool represents a song that once heard a few times, can’t be removed until death. From the early rebel rousing, arena filling, pulpit-bashing metal days to the mechani-

cally alternative flashback to Bowie and 70’s rock by Omega to the critically acclaimed and creative high points of Holy Wood in the shadow of the Golden Age of Grotesque, he might have any many faces as his hippie cult guru surname. Going the electronic route on Eat Me, Drink Me and High End of Low, Manson’s shown more creative/character makeovers/reinventions than Madonna and has never shied away from his feminine side. Whether he sold his soul to do it or not, may never truly be known.

The Pale Emperor will be released on January 20th 2015 on his Hell, etc. imprint via Cooking Vinyl Records. Ten songs will comprise the album with bonus tracks appearing on different deluxe versions. Production began in 2013 and in early February Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter stated he’d been working on a song with Shooter Jennings which Manson would sing on and also play a jailed white supremacist character in the final season of the show. A few new tunes have been

used in various shows. Cupid Carries A Gun made its debut on Salem, as Killing Strangers was released in the movie John Wick and Third Day of a Seven Day Binge was made available for free download on October 26th - after it debuted on BBC radio. Cupid making its live debut in Santa Ana California, while the Hollywood crowd got a special treat on Halloween. Johnny Depp made a surprise stage appearance performing the Beautiful People with Ninja from Die Antwoord at the Roxy.

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Knockin’ On

Heaven’s BY helen Door marie joyce

Fact File Days on Earth: August 22, 1967– April 5, 2002 (aged 35)

Associated Act: Alice in Chains (1987–2002), also Mad Season (1994– 1999) and Class of ’99 (1999) (Genres: Grunge // Alternative Metal // Heavy Metal // Alternative Rock // Blues Rock)

Biggest Influence: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Van Halen

Quoted: “When everyone goes home, you’re stuck with yourself”

All photos are property of their rightful owners. BURST is using them to accompany this article. We have no right on the photos.

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Layne Staley’s voice is immediately recognizable as being the deepest and most hauntingly enchanting in the Grunge scene of Seattle, that was bursting with music and drugs circa late 80’s. For some reason Seattle was the birthplace of this alternative, more distorted electrical sound, with growling vocals and lyrics that were aimed at punching holes in society. Nirvana was one of the prominent bands at the time, with the front man Cobain also having been featured in the Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door column (issue 15.) Alice in Chains was also distinguished among other leading bands (Soundgarden is another one of their caliber); eerie as it be, the two aforementioned front men died exactly 8 years apart, to the day, April 5, both in the prime of their lives. So was the Seattle sound a dangerous genre to be venturing in? Did the sound corrupt the artists or were the artists so self-corrupted

they couldn’t outlive the scene they created? One thing is certain, Staley’s voice outshines all of Grunge as he was a better singer than Cobain ever aspired to be, and contributed more to the diversity of the genre combining elements of metal and blues creating an atmosphere, as well as emotion. Layne in Chains Born in Kirkland, Washington, Layne didn’t roam far from his roots. After his parents’ divorce at the age of 7, Layne had to accept a new father figure as a step dad. This was an extremely disconcerting time for young Layne as he had to deal with his biological father’s abandonment and his own feeling of being rejected, all the while trying to accept an new father whom he had to get along with also minding his mother’s wellbeing. This is a handful for a child of less than 10 years of age. It was no secret that his father was a drug user either.

It was something Layne had known and believed was a regular occurrence in his absence. Layne’s sensitivities towards his family situation showed intelligence and although there is no evidence to suggest that this step dad was a hound from hell, a split from the biological father would deeply affect any boy at that delicate age. There is a bond that can never be re-joined wholly ever again. He was appreciative and kind mannered and he assumed his stepfather’s name during the high school years and was in that time known as Layne Elmer. He had a difficult time in school, not ever being able to properly fit it, he felt inadequate and rejected, stemming from his trauma of the divorce. Info Alert! And then Layne found consolation by discovering music; being one of the lucky ones, his parents’ were Black Sabbath fans (Hail! Hail!) So essentially it’s no wonder how the Sabbath metal sound seeped its way

13 into the music Layne later wrote, differentiating Alice in Chains from the other more rock affiliated bands of the time. Yet, with a music library of metal gems such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow and others, Layne’s horizons began to widen as he had identified an outlet of creativity to deal with his frustrations that had been building up inside of him, all concealed in good manners. Starting to play the drums at age 12 he became heavily involved in glam bands, Sleze being the most known from which Alice in Chains were born; Layne decided he wanted to give singing a try. From 1984 to 1986, Sleze was the stepping stone to Alice in Chains, where a shy timid Layne, who could effortlessly hit all the right notes, with depth, with soul in his voice, astonishing as he was a proper virgin of a singer, yet suddenly had the great-sounding guts to do this. But, before Alice in Chains were Alice N’ Chains in 1986, when Sleze disbanded (notice the subtle, yet very defining difference between in and N’?) N’ Chains played more cover songs, as did Sleze before them; but also released two demos of their own. However, they only lasted for about a year, so in 1987 Layne and his creative partner Jerry Cantrell formed Alice in Chains. Alice in Chains ignored the female bondage connotations and rose to international fame despite that, or in spite of it. Staley (vocals) and Cantrell (guitar) were joined by drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr (later Mike Inez in 1993). With more mature metal influences coming across through the music the band finally found a sound that was very fitting for the Seattle scene at the time, angsty, all the while deep rooted, atmospheric, music that you can actually listen to, and not only head bang to. Staley’s tone is metallic, with reverb, it has range, grind, depth, and control. His appearance on stage resembled a Grunge version of Morrison perhaps. The sound combined acoustic elements for creating an atmosphere and featured harmonized vocals between Staley and Cantrell, with metal elements in riffology. Their debut album “Facelist” (1990) was the result of 3 years playing at gigs before a local promoter volun-

teered to pay for their recordings. Song Alert! ‘Sea of Sorrow’ actually shows some remnants of the bands’ old glam days, with elevated notes finishing verses, and uplifting interlude solos. My personal favorite from this album is ‘Love, Hate, Love’ because it is so direct, soul baring, you can relate to Staley’s pain whether you are a drug user or not. “ Facelift” was an under achiever when it was initially released in the first six months but after MTV added ‘Man in the Box’ on its Music Video shows it eventually went platinum. They began to tour playing alongside Iggy Pop,Van Halen, Poison; in early 1991, Clash of the Titans tour with Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, gave them exposure to a wide metal audience. After touring ended, Alice in Chains wrote material for their second release, a 5 track EP “Sap” (1992). “Sap” was chosen because Kinney had seen a dream about making an EP called Sap. No joke. This reached gold sales within 2 weeks of its release, thriving on the thirst of the teenage, young adult audience for angry melodic Grunge music. The following release was the critically acclaimed, “Dirt” (1992-3) that was more sinister sounding than the last full length album, and more personal, as the majority of songs spoke about Staley’s struggle with addiction. It became quadruple platinum; people devoured it. Ironically enough, on the tour of this album Staley saved Starr’s life after he overdosed. Staley was far from sober himself however. His addictions were in deed as heavy as they get crack, cocaine, heroin and the list goes on. Shortly after, Starr leaves the band in the middle of the tour, and so all the above factors contributing, the tour is cut short. Staley writes volumes of lyrics in his state of heavy addiction and his internal struggles come through in the band’s lyrics. They next release, another EP, “Jar of Flies” (1994) was an instant success becoming the first ever EP debuting at no. 1. However Staley’s worsening condition meant that he seemed unable to tour and so the band decided to not tour with the EP, and put Staley in rehab instead. During this time he worked on a side project with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees. This

product would become the Mad Season’s debut album “Above” (1995). The press had a field day with Staley’s condition, and there was a general wonderment about Staley’s rockstar persona. Staley rejoined Alice in Chains for the release of their final album together “Alice in Chains” (1995) for which Staley had written the main bulk of lyrics. It was another success, (double platinum) marked by a move away from harsh metallic influences and experimenting more with varied arrangements, creating more texture and a more delicate sound emerging through down tempo riffs. Staley’s continued addiction did not allow for the band to be as professional as their widespread success would demand; they left tours unfinished, and making the expected appearances, so to speak. Staley’s Mad Season Between 1995 and 1999 had been eventful years for Staley. A year after he formed Mad Season with Pearl Jam’s guitarist Mike McCready, and Barrett Martin, the Screaming Trees drummer, they newly formed supergroup release their debut album “Above” (1995). It has 10 tracks, was co-produced by Pearl Jam, and also features Mark Lanegan on guest vocals. The material was written in about a week, and it is impressive. The most well-known track after ‘Wake-up’ which is phenomenal, is probably ‘Lifeless Dead’, but my personal favorite is ‘Artificial Red’ for the sheer electric pained blues that oozes from the guitar and Staley’s voice! The album will stand as a testament to what their second album could have been like. Staley was also an artist, did I not mention that? He illustrated the album cover for “Above” featuring striking dark and distressed embrace. Mad Season was sadly short lived as the members parted in 1996 to return to their original bands and during this year Staley makes his final appearances before becoming a recluse for a period of time with two bands in hiatus, suffering from his usual addictions but an added newfound depression through grieving for his girlfriend who died from drug related heart complications. He resurfaced in 1997, attending Grammy awards and

joining Alice in Chains shyly by contributing to some tracks. His condition was continuously frail however, and it was constantly worsening. He looked like a ghost. He made his last public appearance on Jerry Cantrell’s show in October 1998, although he contributed vocals to another supergroup, Class of ’99. His final transmission was in July 1999 when he called in to a radio show to participate in the band’s interview broadcast. From the end of that year until 2002, he remained primarily in his Seattle condo rarely being seen around even by family and friends. And actually in his final interview in December 2001 he had mentioned of his wanting to be alone, for people not to contact Alice in Chains members, that they were “not his friends.” Staley spent this dark period of his life shut away, self-consumed by his thoughts, his feelings, his frustrations, his fears, his hopes, his humanity, his bestiality, his demons. His addiction had won and there was no turning back. He had a sensible realization for the end that was near; he needed to consume the drugs, crack, heroin, cocaine on a daily basis and then some, there could be no resistance, no refusal, no denying that this was going to be his exit. He regretted having done this to himself openly and spoke out about how “dope sick hurts the entire body.” On April 19th 2002, it was his accountant who put two and two together and realized that money had not been withdrawn from Staley’s account in two weeks. He notified his mother who called the cops who made the sad discovery. There on the couch in front of a lit TV, across the coffee table with stashes of cocaine and two crack pipes, was the shocking 39 kg body that remained of Staley’s earthly being. He had come to degrade his talented, kind and sweet self into a rotting corpse, due to the subordination he showed to his addiction, a message that in his darkest hour he managed to communicate and share amongst all those near and far, who cared for him. The maddest of seasons had finally ended for him; the voice of and angry angel had been released into the Heavens and the Hells for all eternity, for he had both worlds within him. BURST www.afternoiz.com

would you kill for a photo? www.argophotography.com

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WordsOf Wisdom by Karolina Pacan

Ariadne Georgiou asked Karolina: Do people recognize you while walking in the street? How does that make you feel? Answer: Hello Ariadne, Yes that happens... people recognize me, and they take photos with me.

CEnsored

How does it makes me feel? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nice feeling, and I am happy to make conversation about art outside of a concert venue, and such situations allow me also to know people better and talk with them about their own arts and passions. I am still a normal person just like anybody else.

www.argophotography.com

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Chatting with

Devin Townsend

Burst Magazine is about to close two fucking years and 23 issues. On this long journey I had the honor to interview some of my personal idols, men I truly love their music. I have to admit that the most entertaining interview I took is the one youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re gonna read below. Ladies and Gentlemen: The one the only, Mr Devin Townsend himself talks about him, Ziltoid, Royal Albert Hall, heroine and many many more BURST www.afternoiz.com

17 So Ziltoid finally returns! Tell us few words about this one? As you may know I made a record with Casualties of Cool, a peculiar one. Α strange, quiet one right? After that I started thinking that there are so many people supporting me for so long so it’s about time to make something more fun than experimental. Ziltoid’s return based on that priority and the concept itself is basically Ziltoid and Humans having a battle. There’s a whole bunch of dancing alien puppets on it. I think it’s a combination of a high production values plus a humorous approach on the story of Ziltoid.

heavy metal and really great looking visuals and stage and sound and everything. I think that they’re going to be two sets, considering a lot of people choose what they wanna hear. They may choose songs we’ve never played before, they have this opportunity. For the rest of us who cannot attend to this event there will be a special release, am I right? More

info please! I think that this release should be viewed on a Blu-Ray. In that way it makes sense, if you’d like. I think I couldn’t lose the opportunity to not do that. To record at Royal Albert Hall gives you the room to do that and we are trying to find what the best solution is. I think it would be awesome to have it. Don’t you?

Yes, definitely. I’m with you 100% Fine so let’s make it happen. Is Greece by any chance in your tour schedule so far? I don’t know. To be honest I had my head so far up my ass to finish this album that I know I have tours to come, but I have no idea when I leave and where I’m about to go. I hope so, I

The men behind your new album! Mixing , mastering, production, artwork. I produced it and I mixed both records with separate records. Sky Blue with Jason Van Poederooyen who is our drummer’s brother and also an engineer. For Dark Matters I worked with Sheldon Zaharko. As far as artwork I worked with a man, who takes part at all the Devin Townsend projects, Antony Clarkson who did amazing job. Both records recorded by me and the band. Then I have been honored to have Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in this project. You are about to play in Royal Albert Hall on the upcoming April, probably one of the most famous music halls in the world. How do you feel about it and how does Ziltoid? If I thought about it, I would feel overwhelmed, so I choose not to if you know what I mean. Ziltoid on the other hand he feels like he is not big enough! He’s complaining! The Lucky ones who will get a ticket what are they going to see? I think that what I did with The Retinal Circus was very theatrical like a musical, but I don’t wanna direct that way. I like it to be a really awesome experience like science fiction and BURST www.afternoiz.com

18 won’t lie! After so many projects is there anything you’ve never tried yet? (Musically speaking) Hm, -long pause- Heroine Musically speaking I don’t know man. Polka I guess I haven’t done polka yet. I don’t have a checklist. I am not trying to accumulate the things I like. First I’ll do this and then I’ll do this. I just follow where it goes and sometimes leads on this kind of music, but I’ve never do this on purpose. You said that Retinal Circus has a theatrical point of view. Have you ever considered doing something for cinema? I would love to, but till now I haven’t been given the opportunity to do so. I have to do it myself I guess. I always wanted to make a soundtrack, to work with an orchestra but I can’t really afford that and no one is giving me the opportunity. So I’ll do it myself. Gather some puppets, write a stupid story and put some crazy music on it. So here it is Ziltoid. So you are about to make the movie of the year. Yeah! Economic crisis plus the rise of the internet affect the music industry which has been changed a lot over the last years. Do you think things are better now or fifteen years ago? It depends. I think one thing that’s good now, is that someone like me could do all this stuff. Fifteen years ago I couldn’t. Fifteen years ago would I be able to make this music and people would accept it? I don’t know. Maybe not! I choose not to think about it whether it’s better or worse or anything. I do what I wanna do and I’m very thankful about it and that’s the bottom line. So many songs, so many characters, so many BURST www.afternoiz.com

shows, so many hours writing, playing, soundchecking, performing. Is it worth it?

Which was the most intense moment of your career and which was the most humiliating one?

Yes it is. That’s a question I asked myself for years, but no one have asked me that but the answer is YES!

The most intense moment was parting away with my manager and the most humiliating one is things I’ve done on stage. Its hard to choose one moment because I don’t regret anything and I don’t dislike anything I’ve done.

So you don’t have any regrets for being a professional musician? You may choose to pick that way of life that is full of regrets, but this isn’t going to change anything. There are times when I say oh this is a stupid idea but at the end of the day I feel very well doing what I love.

I have to ask the last one, because if not my girlfriend would kill me! Is there any chance to see Strapping Young Lad back on stages?

I don’t think so man! I don’t know If in the upcoming you’re about to see Devin Townsend on stage, because I keep moving on change my music so just enjoy as long as it’s here. Thank you very much. I so fucking enjoyed this interview I hope you did too. I cross my fingers to see you in Greece someday! Thank you very much! Bye! Thank you too man! Always a pleasure!

Giving life to your instincts... www.argophotography.com

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Backstage with

Elize Ryd By Joe Prostredny

The Swedish sextet Amaranthe bursted onto the metal scene seven years ago with their infectious brand of pop/death metal; filling a niche that the world seemed to be ready and waiting for. Despite being criticized by “metal purists” as too “light” or too “pop” for metal, the band has managed to build an ever growing fan base, has millions of Youtube views on each and every song they release, and is obtaining impressive album sales. As one of the converted who is a rabid fan of this band, I was thrilled to find out I would have the honor of interviewing BURST www.afternoiz.com

one of their vocalists, Elize Ryd, during their North American tour this fall… just one week before the release of their third album, “Massive Addictive”. I arrived at the interview a little early and was greeted by one of the other vocalists, Jake E. I had a pleasant chat with Jake in a backstage break room before Elize appeared. She had just gotten up and was in a diligent but unsuccessful search for a cup of coffee. After giving up the search she greeted me with a pleasant smile and the interview began. Here is how it went:

Photos by Tim Tronckoe BURST www.afternoiz.com

22 This is Joe Prostredny with Burst Magazine and I’m here with Elize Ryd from Amaranthe. Hello Elize, how are you this afternoon? I’m doing very good. I just woke up actually and I feel fresh and ready for a great show tonight. Great! Well thank you for waking up to talk to us today. (laughs) (laughs) Exactly…yes! So as a band, Amaranthe just seemed to come out of nowhere a few years ago, at a time when a lot of people thought the last thing we needed was another metal band out of Sweden. But instead of giving us the same old stuff you gave us something really new and exciting: Metal music very effectively fused with catchy pop vocals, and not one, not two, but three very talented vocalists with just the right mix of melody, harmony and death metal growls. Your band really blew a lot of people away. Where did this idea come from? Thanks! Well… I was educated as a musical artist and that’s what I thought I would do in the future. My dream was to record an album, write my own music, and get it out there to people. Because, I think, if you’re not a politician, it’s the best way to express yourself to the world, to do it through music. I met Jake first and I did a collaboration with him and his old band called Dreamland, and then I met Olof and he wanted me to do guest vocals with his previous band, called Dragonland. At that time I was still in school educating… this musical school… it’s called performing arts school, it’s like, higher, after high school… I don’t know how you say it here…. College? Yeah college, like after college or… Graduate school?

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It’s like you pay 300,000 Swedish kronor to get that education. So I did that because I really wanted do this for a living. While I was working at the cabaret, I started to just hang out with Olof showing him all of my song ideas and we planned to make a project together, a band together. But he and Jake also had a relationship going where they wanted to create an all star project with their friends, because they know so many talented people in Sweden. So they invited me during the songwriting process and I put my vocals on there and helped come up with ideas. Since I was very much into music at that point, like soul and pop and all that, I was like “yeah it would be cool” …but I didn’t know that they were going to save my vocals… I thought that someone else would be singing it in the future. So it just came out very naturally. They called up Andy because they wanted a growler and they thought … it’s almost like writing a musical… That’s how it began. And well, we listened to the tracks and we thought it sounded awesome, so we thought we’d put it out there on My Space. We had 2 songs that we put out and we got so much attention. People said “wow this is such a cool mixture” and “wow its really unique”. I think the goal to put it out there originally was to maybe to attract other persons to want to be in the project, but then we just realized, at some point, that this was a keeper. They actually asked me, “Would you like to be in a metal band? We know that you have other dreams, but we think that this is gonna be great”. I thought, I’m also convinced that we cannot not go, people will not miss this because it’s so unique and very special. So that’s how it all started.

take the world by storm and, unlike a lot of bands that tour North America for the first time, you toured as a headliner last year instead of a supporting act for a more established band.

And here we are!

Oh really? That’s awesome… good (laughs). It seems like we connect here… Like our style and your … open mindedness… you know… you are always striving for new things…

And here we are…stuck…7 years later (laughs) …and you still don’t have any coffee! ( laughing) no, exactly… Amaranthe seems, as a band, to be determined to

Exactly! It was kind of a brave move, but it seems to have worked out really well. I personally saw you in West Chester, and the show was awesome. The place was packed, and the fans went crazy. Why did you decide to headline? Were you that confident in your fan base here? Actually, I hadn’t thought about that. We had a booking agent that works in the US and I think that it was basically his idea to bring us over here and we were like “oh, but we maybe should do a support tour to start with or whatever”…but he was like “No!.. just come here and we’ll see what happens like, how many people we actually attract”. Apparently we had sold plenty of albums here in the US. And he was right, we did have fans here and that of course led to where we are now, supporting Within Temptation and… yeah, the US market is definitely something we enjoy… taking care of, so we want be here a lot. Well we would like to have you here a lot as well! Your US Facebook fan site is the largest Amaranthe fan site on Facebook, I don’t know if you knew that… No, I didn’t know that.. Yup. It has almost 4500 followers..

for the next big thing and you’ve given us that! So, this year you are on your second US tour and you’re supporting Within Temptation, with a few headlining shows as well. How is everything going so far this year? So far it’s been going very well I would say. We recorded an album, as you know, in the beginning of the year. We’ve played festivals, and we’ve had our own shows [in Europe] and it’s very smooth I think. I think all of us were actually looking forward to this [current tour] because it’s probably the longest time we’ve been away from home…. without going home. So we’ll have been out for 6 ½ - 7 weeks in total. We are going to Japan, and then to Mexico, and then back to the US. So far it’s been very smooth and the audience has been awesome toward us, so, that helps and we also meet a lot of nice people, which also helps us. Now, unlike a headlining tour, a lot of the people in the audience may not be familiar with your music, but it seems like a great opportunity to connect with people that may not know you. Do you approach a tour like this differently than when you’re a headliner and you’re playing to established fans? No. Actually we don’t, we do like, we always do…(laughs) Just get on stage and be awesome? Yeah, yeah we try to….. of course it’s important to present our music in the right way…. And I think it’s also positive that [Within Temptation] also has a female singer. That shows the fans are not against females at least, which could be an issue if we were supporting a male dominant band, like maybe their fans are more accepting….

I like that!

Yeah, because there certainly are a section of fans that… like the male vocalists.

Yeah, we’re always looking

Yes, exactly….

Yes, we are …

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24 But you have that too….. Yeah, yeah we have that as well, but it’s um… Did I answer your question? Where were we…?? (laughs) Yeah, I was just asking if you approach the support show any differently…. and you said no.. Exactly. We do our thing! So after touring as a headliner, which you did here last year, and you did a European headline tour, you’re a support act on this tour. Does it get frustrating to have to do a smaller set, pick songs and how do you pick what you sing when you have to do a more abbreviated set? We try to pick songs from all 3 albums… I think we play less songs from the first album. How many songs do we have? My god, I haven’t counted… But yeah…we try to pick the best tracks. Of course we have to play the singles, you know… the ones we put on video… so

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the singles we definitely play… all the singles we have on video now … including Drop Dead Cynical, which is new. We also play 2 more songs from the upcoming album. It’s good that we agree… like… we talk about it and say “yeah we should do this song and that song”. It’s just very clear to us.. all of us.. which songs should be in the set and, I don’t think it’s frustrating at all. I think it’s fun actually…to have this short amount of time and you know that the audience…well, our fans have their expectations, but the ones who don’t know about us don’t have any expectations at all.

you know… meet the fans, or go out and eat or whatever… so it’s much more smooth to be the support than to do the actual headline… it’s more difficult to headline.

A lot of people were raving about how good it was…

One of your members, Henrik, sang with Within Temptation….

But they can’t take him!! …maybe they can just borrow him…

Oh yeah, he jumped in… yeah he was, uh, invited on stage..

They can borrow him yes… I think it’s ok if they borrow him (laughs). Other bands have borrowed me too so … it’s ok.. (laughs)

Yeah… so you want to play the stuff that’s really going to “grab them”…

“Silver Moonlight” I think it was…

Yeah! All of it really grabs me personally, but.. Good!! …but no… it’s very fun. I like to be the support. After the show, we have a lot of free time so we can see the Within Temptation show and we can…

Was that planned? He was invited? Yeah they talked about it and he was rehearsing that track, and… he got invited onstage

Yes … it’s from Within Temptation’s newest album and yeah… he was very happy about that… The fans were very happy about it too.. there was a lot of internet buzz about it. Oh really?

Oh good, so maybe they want to have Henrik now for their show…

JP - (laughs) So, what is life like on the road with Amaranthe? When you’re not on stage do you go out and do things together, or are you more likely to go out and do your own thing… or do you just sleep when you’re not on stage… Umm… I’ve been sleeping less this tour, but usually I sleep longest… so I don’t do much besides sleep. But on this tour I’ve been trying to do stuff… its always that I end up doing things on my own. Because we have the crew and we have to work, and we have Jake, who’s

25 sitting there with his computer….. (Jake is sitting behind Elize during our interview) Working away… Yeah.. and we have Olof, who is sleeping right now…I think he is… and Henrik, take the prize now, on this tour, with the sleeping the longest… so they won’t wake up until… I guess 4 pm maybe…so I’m basically like….yeah we are doing things our own… I know you go shopping (laughs) I would love to, but sometimes I don’t know where to go and stuff… but I have this app which is very good, Yep…. So I just put in like, what I want and see it tells me where it’s at…. I know last tour you posted a lot of the things you bought… (laughs) Oh yeah.. But I haven’t seen that on this tour though. I know.. I haven’t shopped for anything so far…. I haven’t bought anything…I don’t know why…? Well, you’re going to New York in a few days… are you going have time to shop there? Yeah… Is there good shopping here? In Baltimore? Umm… soso. Save it for New York if you have the time while you’re there.. Yeah, Only the first day I was in a mall, then I bought some makeup and some small things that I need for the tour… underwear… but I won’t post them of course. (laughs) JP - You posted a picture of yourself in your pajamas (laughs) and bathrobe…

that… I was out on the street with it today… yeah. I was planning on wearing it tonight… Here we wear anything you know… It’s so fun… here I’m just lost in the like… I don’t know how to say this in English… but it’s very fun how on tour that you feel like any kind of corner on the street is your home. I was walking around in my bathrobe saying “Hi” to people… of course it looks for very weird for them, but for me it’s like natural by now (laughs). So you kind of answered my next question, I was going to ask you if you’ve done anything fun… but it doesn’t sound like you’ve had a chance to yet. Oh… no… (makes sad face) Well hopefully you will before you have to go back… you’ve lived here before, you know it’s a fun country. Yes yes… I lived in Vegas for awhile… I loved it but…Well we did go to dinner last night, that was very nice. Here? Where did you go? Yes…um Chris…?? Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse?

we live in these bunks and, it was Johan’s birthday, it was a very fun day, because we had a huge party on the bus for him… That was right after the show in Toronto, but then later. I think it was 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning we jumped into a bunk… me, Johan, Olof and Henrik… it’s a very small space and we told ghost stories for like an hour. I appreciated that…it was very fun…

paratively…

You needed to start a campfire..

Or I will just go there on vacation! (laughs)

I know…yeah! If we could have that would have been awesome..

Yeah.. it’s absolutely beautiful there! . It’s like either way… I would love to go there!

You have to get a bus with a chimney next time… and then you could start a fire on the bus. Oh yeah that would be great… I would love that. And like blankets and we could put on like the AC so it would be very cold…(laughing) Toast Yeah

marshmallows….

(laughing) Oh my god!…yeah… So you’ve toured Europe, you’ve toured North America, you’ve been to Japan and you’re going back. What other lands is Amaranthe planning to conquer?

Yeah… very good steaks

We would love to go to Australia. We haven’t been there yet. And also there is Dubai and India and China. I don’t think I missed anything.

It was very good, but I don’t eat meat, so I had a salad.

I know you have fans in all those places!

That’s an odd restaurant to go to if you’re a vegetarian! (laughs)

New Zealand! Yeah! Someone told me… or us… they wrote “Please come to New Zealand”. Actually I always wanted to go there!

Yeah

Yeah I know… but they had other stuff… a salad actually… strawberry almond salad something…it was good.

Oh Yeah, I brought it with me on the tour..

Any funny moments on the tour you want to share with us?

and it’s ok to go out in the middle of the night in

Ok.. (laughs) Only one funny moment I can actually share…

Yeah it’s very beautiful… but it’s near nothing. A lot of people think it’s near Australia… but it’s not. Yeah. exactly, that’s why it’s hard for us to go there.. Yeah and it’s small… com-

It’s hard to know... It’s probably gonna cost more to travel that long and who knows how many people will show up… Well we’re gonna see how the record sales go and if there is an audience there, then of course we’ll go there! That would be great for your fans there…

So, Amaranthe has been together for about 6 or 7 years now, and as time goes on, the chemistry in some bands starts to fail. Egos get in the way, relationships crumble… You have 3 vocalists, so you essentially have 3 front people vying for the attention of the audience. How do you find that balance so that everyone feels they are an equal contributor without anyone feeling underutilized… Is it really possible to keep 3 vocalists happy in the long run? Yeah of course, it’s about not taking too much space, leaving the spot to the person who is actually singing at the moment. I mean, it’s like a puzzle. It’s much easier to be alone on stage, or if you are choreographed. I’m very used to working in big groups, where we used to be 12 people sharing one stage, doing the same moves, and you have to feel the other person… react on the move. We don’t have any specific choreography with this band, so for me it’s a little bit harder and its always been that way, and it’s just… I think that’s the hardest part. Then when it comes to the singing, we divide that very evenly and we do that during the songwriting process, so everybody gets the same amount of attention. And everybody’s happy?

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27 Yes (laughs) That’s a good thing, cause we want you guys to stay around for awhile! Thank you A long, long time… Yeah (laughs) So the big news is that your new album, “Massive Addictive” comes out next week, right? Yes! I’ve only heard a couple songs unfortunately, because I didn’t get to do the album review, but I’ve heard the new single, “Drop Dead Cynical” obviously, and “Massive Addictive” from some live recordings. The songs definitely have that Amaranthe feel, but does the album have any significant differences from the other two, is there an evolution of your musical direction at all? Yeah, …we wanted to update the sound a little bit, and I think it’s important to show that you are developing, so you don’t get stuck doing the same things all over again. I think most of all it’s, well.. (laughs), it’s like the music and the vocal melodies… I felt like we could freestyle much more with vocals and I felt that we could sing in a higher tune in the songs… instead of having all the songs in the same range. I thought we could change a little bit so its feels more fresh.. So… the songs have a wider vocal range? Yeah… and it feels much more fun to sing it live as well, when you get these… um… (asks Jake a question in Swedish)…. challenges. Also the music is updated because we updated the keyboards, and Olof was working very hard trying to find the best songs… we use “The Nexus” of course (laughs), and I think he did a great job there! It was very inspiring to get these newer, updated tracks to work with

as a basis. I think we also got more brave… our personalities have been growing... I can only speak for myself, but at least I feel that way. I want to push the limits even more and more and more with the music we are doing.

on a live DVD….

Now you do have a lot of keyboard sound, which is pre-recorded for the live show I assume? Have you ever thought of having a keyboardist in the band? Either as an official member or as a touring keyboardist?

( laughing) I’m kidding

I would personally love that, but then of course we already have 6 people in the band, so it’s very.. Jake’s behind us mouthing “No! No!” (laughs) (laughs) I know, but we are so many… Actually we talked about it and we decided, if there was a keyboard player, it would not be that fun to just play the chords you know because they are usually like (makes music sounds) or something… I don’t know, but I think… sometimes I imagine… maybe me or Jake doing it (laughs) I would love it! Jake (chimes in) – It would be really hard to find a keyboard player with five arms because there’s so many layers. Well I haven’t seen very many of those.. That’s true… Jake - Exactly. There’s so many layers of keyboards in the music, you know, you’re using that for both special effects or bombs in the background, or as melodies and stuff like that … and there’s layer over layer… Yeah but you could still have a back track and then the people who play the keyboard could still play the chords… that would be something, but I just think… Jake - With 7 guys in the band? Yeah, we are already too many people… I think that’s where it fails - but who knows? Maybe

Well you could always get rid of Olof… (laughs) Jake - Yeah (laughs) Yeah (laughs)

Jake - We could just tour with one singer and have the others on backing tracks, then we’d just switch the members…

It came out as the second single actually… last week Oh, I missed it! It’s good, you can listen to it tonight! I knew it was on the album, I just didn’t know it was released. Yeah now it’s released, so you can buy it on iTunes (laughs)… or listen to it for free…

I could watch you guys fight over who it gets to be… that would be fun! (laughs)

I can do that … are you playing it tonight? I assume…

Jake - (Laughs)

Yeah!

And also, like the keyboard… actually they keep the rhythm of the songs …I mean like it would be very weird… I think it would be cool to try it, but I think it would be a totally different thing if someone was actually… I don’t know how that would be. Anyway, thanks for the question. Who knows what happens in the future? You can never predict… what kind of ideas we will get so… (laughs)

I’ll hear tonight then!

I’ll keep an eye on that! Is there an overall concept behind “Massive Addictive”, like there was with the futuristic feel of “The Nexus”? Umm.. not in the same way, no. This is more personal and the songs are more individual and stand for themselves. And I assume the title just refers to how awesomely addictive your music is… which.. it is! Thanks! There’s not another meaning behind it, or is there? Hmmm, well …. I personally love that title, I wanted that title to be… to show the album side. We were thinking about “Trinity” first, because it’s our third album and we are 3 singers and … we have a song called “Trinity”. I don’t know if you’ve heard it.. I haven’t yet, no.

Yeah. We …I guess… Did I answer your question? Yes. You did (laughs). Do you have a favorite song on the new album? And if so, why? Right now I have two favorites, one of which is “Unreal”, because that is like, a song that works every day…for me personally… it’s about fighting, and it’s about winning, and about like, doing your best and survive. So that’s kind of what we need to do every day here on tour… so I like to listen to that track (laughs). It’s my favorite so far, but that always changes. In a couple of months maybe I’ll find another favorite. I also love the first track on the album, which is called “Dynamite”… that is also my favorite. Will we hear that tonight? No, not tonight. We’ll probably play it on the second leg of this tour, like when we do the headliner. It’s one of my favorites. It’s very, how you say?…attitude! (laughs) What all goes into the process of making an Amaranthe album? How many people… how many members are involved in the creative side? Its three of us. It’s me, Olof, and Jake.

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28 Do all of you write the music, do all of you write the vocals, how does that work? I mostly write the vocal melodies and…well… then we are all together, we discuss how we want the music to sound, but it’s mostly Olof who writes the music. Jake - Olof usually composes the music.. ER – Oh yeah and Jake usually focuses on the lyrics, so we have our bases where we work best and we combine those and that’s what…. And you sit around over beers and put it all together? Jake - Yeah, but for some songs I’ll come up with the guitar riff or something like that and Elize will hum a guitar riff… But you play the keyboards too right? Yeah I do, but not on the albums.. Yeah I know, but you write some of the…

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Demos? Yeah, I could do that.. Jake - Yeah, but for me and Elize, we usually work more on the vocal melodies and… Yes, since we are vocalists, that is easiest for us Jake - And Olof is more on the composing side with the guitar and keyboards What do you enjoy more, the live performances or the creative studio process? Oh my goodness… I like both, but… I like both actually. It’s like 50/50… It’s the same. Because when I’m in the studio it’s like “Oh my god I love this”, it’s so fun… you know… to create, it’s like painting a picture. It’s just amazing, I feel like I could just do this… l mean if I got too old for the stage, I would still love to be a songwriter, so I guess that’s something. I love it very much. I could also imagine myself writing for other artists. I mean, it’s so fun to create melodies and I get so many ideas… it’s great… But then also when you go on tour and you’re on stage you just

realize “Oh my god this all so amazing”(laughs), so I love both the same. Well, we certainly love you live… very much! Thank you! And we love the music too! You guys do sound incredible live, have you ever considered doing a live album or a live DVD? Yeah I think so…yeah we’ve talked about it, and hopefully we can make it happen soon. I think we have enough songs now at least, to do that. Earlier this year you guys announced the release of a documentary, “The Story So Far”. It seems like that’s on hold now? Is that still going happen? It sounds like a really cool idea… Sure, but I think it needs to be re-done because we weren’t satisfied with the results… I think some things didn’t come out right there… It didn’t come out the way we wanted it to. I think it is very important that, if we release something, we want to

be happy with it…the results. So we probably … hopefully… we can pick up and redo that again, it wasn’t that good actually.. OK (sighs)…I’ll wait… We wanted it to be more “Massive” than it was (laughs) Well I’m really looking forward to seeing you guys on stage tonight. I’d like to thank you again for talking to us this afternoon. Is there anything else you’d like to say to Amaranthe’s fans before we leave you? Yes of course. We love them very much and its thanks to them that we are able to be here, so we are very, very grateful. Tack så mycket! Oh! Tack själv! Tack själv! Thank you very much as well, for coming here.. Good luck finding coffee! (laughs)

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The House United By Jo Gogou

How does it feel to hold the first album, “Made of Matches”? How did you feel when the recordings were completed? It obviously feels amazing, especially having a physical copy of something that you have put that amount of time into. The recordings were bittersweet because Brandon, Austin and I are all audio guys and so the process of recording, production, and mixing is stuff that we enjoy most and it sucked to see that end. Tell us more about this one, who are the people that made it happen? Our manager Travis, the Buckingham Family, Marc Whitmore, and Paul Mayo were all BURST www.afternoiz.com

just the tip of the iceberg of people that helped get this album out of Carmel’s basement and onto a CD. Did you expect to get as far as you have today? To be honest, as a kid I always thought about being a musician, and putting out a record and even having the privilege of people listening to that music and asking me questions about it is surreal and awesome at the same time. Reading your resume I saw that you are all about the same age, under 20. That means you have to go to school too. How easy or hard was to combine all these? Well, I am the old one of the

bunch at a ripe age of 22, but mixing college, work, my internship and social life with the band has been really tough. And I haven’t figured it out and I don’t think I will ever figure it out, which is ok. But I am having fun and doing the best I can with it all. This one is for Carmel. How is it to work among boys? From Slovakia to Nashville. How was the decision taken? Honestly, I feel really comfortable working with the guys. We became very close and they’re incredibly talented and so much fun to hang out with. Because the rock scene in Slovakia is small and the punk rock scene almost nonexistent, it was great to come here to

Nashville and see so many different rock venues, and people who really loved that kind of music. If we had to know something about each one of you, what would that be? Joe: Lots of video games (preferably any of the Halo series), surround yourself with good people, comfort food, and time. Carmel: it is always the right time for potato salad, my favorite color is black, and I spend a solid three hours a day on Tumblr Is there a crazy story you could share with us? Something that took place in a concert or among you

31 that still makes you laugh?

ideas together.

Well, during post-production time, we thought that death scream vocals would sound pretty awesome on Stay Alive and Phoenix. Now, I have a tomahawk that my Granddad handmade and was passed down to me, and so while we were tracking background vocals at Brandon’s and my house, I took the tomahawk out and wielded it like a raiding Viking of Scandinavia in the year 900, whilst my beard flew in the wind; as I surprised and freaked everyone out with my ability to showcase my primal instincts. Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

Who writes the lyrics?

So, the album is here, what’s next? What are you looking to accomplish? Joe: I would love to play more shows, anywhere we can. I love just rocking out with everyone on stage and just being in that environment and the adrenaline of being on stage. Carmel: I definitely agree that playing shows is one of the most fun things we do. I also love writing together with the guys. There’s always a better result when we work together to create something and it’s a lot of fun to get everyone’s

Carmel. That girl has a gift that doesn’t come around that often at all, and conveniently blew right over my head. I cannot lie, I really liked the song “Bullet”. What track fits to any one of you guys? Joe: I like Phoenix because I like headbanging. Carmel: Hard to top Joe’s heartfelt answer, but I really connect to New Hampshire. As the boys constantly like to remind me, it has this fun, yet bitter angst that I love. I bet love can be lost at all ages. Has anyone of you discovered a quick and immediate way of getting through that? Carmel: There is no quick way. It takes what it takes, whether that’s a couple weeks or several months. I mean, everyone has their way of handling it, and one of mine is writing, which is actually productive, compared to my other method of healing heartache, which is stress eating in mass quan-

tities and strange combinations like Doritos with Nutella. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. If you were a superhero, who would you be?

mass media, some forms of entertainment, and the desperation that some people face that make them resort to violent acts in order to lessen their pain or solve their problems, which it obviously doesn’t.

Joe: Magneto. So I can easily get out of traffic if I so pleased. Or bypass it altogether.

How long do you think that the strength and the passion of a band can last?

Carmel: Spiderman. Watch the guys tease me about this forever, but Spiderman has always been my favorite superhero.

I think it can last a very long time, just because all us guys were great friends before the band and we know how to stay friends while working with each other. It is all about the attitude that we go into everything with, and the ability to drop band topics when it gets too much and talk about video games or movies or recording gear.

Many acts of violence appear in America, what do you identify as the cause of all that? Yeah, there is a lot of that here, which is unfortunate and makes me extremely upset. But that is not what defines America and being American. Being a true American is standing up for those you love and for what you believe in, while still respecting the opinions of others even if they differ from yours. Violence is something the media thrive on and it therefore disguises all the good that is going on in everyday life here. In my opinion, the cause of this is a combination of aspects in

Dedicate one of your favorite lyrics to your audience. Joe: “when you’re in his Maserati” because I really want a Maserati. Carmel: I would definitely dedicate “you make me wanna try; you make me wanna stay alive”, because it’s how I feel about music, and I would love for people to be able to connect to our music.

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OT It’sNall G reek to m e by Spiros Smyrnis

Yellow Devil Sauce

Right Under Your Nose

Do you dare?

It’s Not Greek to Me started as a way to express my admiration to Greek musicians and bands that covered the rock/metal community! I have already written 35 articles and I am happy that I have material for hundreds more. This is the exact same introduction I used for “It’s Not Greek to Me” published on March 2014 trying to write about the new masterpiece of Need titled “Orvam, A song for home”. So I decided to keep this as an introduction to the upcoming “It’s Not Greek to Me” tributes. First time I heard of Yellow Devil Sauce I thought that I had to do with a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band! Don’t know why, but I couldn’t be more wrong! These guys are bastard sons of Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, blessed by the music air of Seattle. The story so far: “Thousands of miles away from the US west coast and a certain rainy city that spawned a handful of bands in the 90’s, lives a trio, hotter that the spicy sauce it’s named after. Don’t let their youngish looks fool you, Yellow Devil Sauce have been at it for more than a decade and are still going strong. It all started in 1999, when Alex (guitars, vocals), George (drums) and Costas (bass) got together and started rehearsing. The talent was apparent and a 1st place in a Battle of the Bands type of contest was granted very soon. “DeskJob” demo was released in 2001, giving a taste of the band’s main ingredients, a massif rhythm section, adventurous guitar lines, amazing vocal delivery. The influence from Tool, Nirvana and the Seattle scene in general was obvious - but well received as the band was too good at it. In 2004, Costas -a great bassist- left due to artistic differences. In came Theodoris (ex Crimson Sunsets), equally great at his bass but with a frame of mind closer to the band’s perspective. The new line up soon entered the studio for the band’s eponymous debut. Covered in mustardishcolours, Yellow Devil Sauce was released in 2006 through the indie label X-art.ici Music, going down the same lane as the demo, musicwise. In 2010, a cooperation between the band, Spinalonga Records, Catch The Soap Productions and TFK Productions brings “Early Dinner At Dr.Chakravartis” to light. For their sophomore release, the Sauce changed producer and studio and added a sip of the Melvinian poison in their sound, resulting in a stellar album carried on the backbone that George and Theo built, letting Alex’ composing potential shine throughout. Besides the aforementioned work, the band has participated in 3 Spinalonga comps and played alongside many great acts like the Bellrays and Dub Trio and Truckfighters. “ Their brand new album “Right Under Your Nose” is right under our nose so we have no excuses! No excuses at all! Dinosaur riffs, raw basslines, cool drumming and a voice that keeps turning in your head for the rest of your life! “Greed” and “Loose E nds” are already among my favorite songs of the year! The table is served. Put some Yellow Devil Sauce on it and fuckin taste it!!! BURST www.afternoiz.com

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In the next pages... Bitchin’ with Barbara By Barbara Pavone

Confessions of a Blockbuster Addict By Angie Rouska

TV Series Beginner’s Guide by P. Tsoutsis

Worst Movies Ever By Kostas Krasonis

Also... Articles Movie reviews Director’s Cut Interviews

Photo by Christian Wagner

For the BIG screen... and for smaller ones! BURST www.afternoiz.com

itchin’ arbara with

We all knew that Daniel Craig would be reprising his role as 007 for the fourth time in a row come 2015, but that’s pretty much all the information we had about James Bond 24. Until late last month, that is.

by Barbara Pavone

During a highly anticipated press conference, which was very fittingly held right on the Bond stage inside London, England’s Pinewood Studios, Eon Productions, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures revealed the film’s title, lead actors and, just as importantly, Bond’s new car of choice.

James Bond 24

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Photo by Katherine Dydyk

First things first: The title. James Bond 24 will be called – wait for it - SPECTRE. ‘What the hell does that mean?’ you ask. Well, it’s believed to be the abbreviation of Special Executor for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, a terrorist organization that first made its on-screen appearance in 1962’s Dr. No and was led by evil genius Ernst Blofeld. However, it must be said that movie director Sam Mendes was rather elusive about the acronym during the big announcement, teasing, “So there you have it, the title of the movie is SPECTRE. Some of you who have knowledge of the films will have an idea of what that refers to, but I couldn’t possibly comment.” Ohhhh, the suspense! Hopefully, there’s some big plot twist and it has nothing to do with the organization mentioned above. *fingers crossed* As for the cast, well, we now know that Christoph Waltz, Lea

Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott and Monica Bellucci will be joining the 007 family. Seydoux will embody Madeleine Swann, Belluci will be Lucia Sciarra and Bautista will play Mr. Hinx, with Scott taking on the role of a British secret service agent named Denbigh. As great as all of these actors are, however, the character everyone can’t stop talking about is Waltz’s Oberhauser. Pretty much the entire world is rooting for the Oscar winner to do what he does best and play a villain and maybe that will happen, if we’re lucky. Or maybe it won’t. Sources believe Oberhauser will be Hannes Oberhauser who is officially described as “an Austrian climbing and skiing instructor who taught Bond while he was on term breaks while attending Fettes College. He formed a very strong paternal relationship with James, to such an extent that he referred to him as his second father. One day he mysteriously disappeared”. Interesting… Meanwhile, Naomi Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ben Whishaw (Q) and Ralph Fiennes (M) will once again slip into their James Bond 23 AKA Skyfall personas. What more do we know so far? The fact that SPECTRE will shoot in London, Rome, Morocco, Mexico City and the Alps is pretty darn exciting, as it the idea that we get to see a brand new go-to Bond car on the big screen, the Aston Martin DB10.

Even so, it’s hard not to be realistic and it must be pointed out that Skyfall will be a tough act to follow. Just think: It became the seventh highest-grossing film of all time, earning $1.1 billion. Not to mention that Judi Dench won’t be returning this time around – her role as M will forever be unbeatable – and that, for the first time ever, Bond will have a love interest his own age in 50-yearold Monica Bellucci. Shooting has also gotten off to a rocky start, as five Range Rover Sports were recently stolen from a garage in Dusseldorf, Germany and no one knows where they are. This means filming will likely be delayed, as new cars are altered and prepped for their roles. That said, fans haven’t stopped freaking out over the tiniest of details since news of SPECTRE was first unveiled. Bond’s official Twitter account - @007 – has already managed to put fans into a frenzy with a simple photo taken during the first day back on set, which shows M’s ceramic bulldog (gifted to Bond before she died in Skyfall) glued back together and sitting on a desk after being blown up by Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem. Perhaps Director Mendes said it best: “The pressure is to not let down the audience. The mark of success is if the audience loves it, they’ll go and see it and then tell their friends.” SPECTRE hits theatres November 6, 2015.

To Venus and Back Fall - Winter 2014

#nikolaostsironis

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38 The Battle of the Five Armies is the last part in the Hobbit trilogy. The Middle-Earth saga is heading for a closure this December without any further development on a possible movie about Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales. However, even if this was to happen, it would be too early to foresee the level that technology will have reached and what new ways of screening a “film” will have been implemented to.

Confessions Of a blockbuster t c i d d A

by angie rouska

“6th Blood” BURST www.afternoiz.com

Hobbit was a whole new viewing experience. Peter Jackson borrowed James Cameron’s 3D and transcended it to a higher level. 48fps is a fact - but is it here to stay? Many have complained about the “too much reality” that it provides, the so-called “soap opera effect”; but this did not affect the success of the trilogy. (I wonder what people will say when Cameron attempts to shoot Avatar in 60fps?). With the official arrival of the 3D and 48fps in the big screen, the usual 24fps films are now being diminished in quantity. I consider that both methods are art, different kind though, but art nonetheless. One new, digital, that puts the viewer in the middle of the action and the other an old-fashioned, “analog” one, that travels the viewer to another world. Many will prefer the second option because this is the cinema we have learnt and have grown up with. But cinema is also evolving and on this evolution new projects can now

be based and materialized, as in the past this was not feasible, neither did the appropriate means exist. You know, there is a big moral conflict here. By accepting this new technology it feels like betraying the films I love and on the other hand, if I turn my back on this technology, it feels like I do not let cinema follow its path, thrive and conclude its cycle. However, this is a moral conflict that I am having. The new generations will take 3D and its siblings as a granted status and may not have the need to watch films in their original version. Surely, 3D and 48fps are not made to be used in every film. As in all things, it applies here too that all should be in good measure. If this gets out of hand, then not only our viewing experience will change constantly but many departments of the crew will perish even the actors, taking always into consideration the studios’ greedy need for profit with the lowest cost. The remarkable thing with this frenzy of fps is that it made me appreciate many “old fashioned” films and discover filmmakers that have not been devoured by the green room. At the same time I don’t deny that I am mad about the 48fps and I can hardly wait for Peter Jackson’s awesomeness.

39 Ladies and Gentlemen Illusory are: (bio and members) all we need to know!!! Dee Theodorou – Vocals George Papantonis – Guitars Jon Moodrix – Guitars George Konstantakelos – Keys & Guitars Niki Danos – Bass Costas Koulis - Drums Biography ILLUSORY come from Athens, Greece. The band was originally founded in 1992 by two friends who used to jam on top of their building. Dee Theodorou and Costas Charalambidis decided to pursue what every teenager was dreaming of at the time, so they formed a band to play their beloved Heavy Metal sounds. First name that popped in was “Blessed Death”, which was dropped a bit later. “Ivory Tower”… that was more like it. Maybe way more like it! They started recruiting members and then the band began rehearsing and then found “shelter” in various studios in the area. The band’s hometown, Moschato Greece, is utterly well-known for the fine wine, basically produced ages ago but still haunting the name of the city. Thus, like good wine “in the process”, “Ivory Tower” was maturing nicely, obtaining a better taste by the day, the month, the year. Numerous line-up changes happened through the years. The band was rehearsing, composing and playing at various Rock clubs and bars in the Athenian area. Mostly covers and a couple of their own songs. Things were getting tougher and tougher as those believing in the band had to leave to serve their country (obligatory in Greece) and hiatus become a fact. However, since “What does not kill me makes me stronger”, when those people came back, it was back on the table with the band. Constant rehearsing, composing and live gigs again. Enthusiasm, tension, a lot of sweat in the middle and the first song bouquet is ready to be served. The band handled the whole issue as a collective, creating the album cover, arranging the sleeve, printing and packaging the promo-album. It was the year 2006 and “The Ivory Tower” saga was about to begin! They started selling their newborn in gigs, via mail and thru their website to those who had listened and wanted to listen some

more. Soon the band became an underground attraction and a fan-base shadow had appeared in the background. Line-up was an issue until then but luckily, with the addition of a few people believing in the band, the “Ivories” (members’ beloved nickname) became stronger and dared challenged their own fate. Comes June 2008, the sextet is opening for the legendary Blue Oyster Cult, at a fantastic open air venue in Athens. Gig was an absolute bliss, headliners did actually pay attention to the Greek youngsters and history began writing itself in a whole new chapter. A few months later the band was finding a place of their own… Their own studio, the “iCave”, their lil’ creation and implementation place/ refuge. The idea was to have a place to go to, be free of schedules and other peeps interfering and things not relative to them. The basic concept was to recreate a truly phenomenal story. To re-record their promo-album, to turn it into a fresh sounding, ultra-complete professional feature. They began recording, adding new ideas, painting a totally different landscape. Then, when the songs were recorded, the best possible way and their concept was ready for some serious mixing and mastering, the boys decided to send it to one of the most experienced teams in doing so. The valuable package was shipped to Germany, Mystic Studios and R.D. Liapakis & Christian Schmid. These two gents forged the songs and boosted them up, creating an album sound that was ready for the big market, attracting the labels and mostly the fans. The only problem was the name of the band. Some years ago the “Ivories” discovered there was a German band called “Ivory Tower”, thus it was going to be extra hard to continue with their name, should they wanted to pursue a professional edge to their musical way. Brainstorming led to the name “Illusory” which sounded the best solution at the time and still does. The band decided to name their debut “The Ivory Tower”, completely logical and consequential to their lives and works so far. Which is the biggest obstacle in the way of a newcomer band in order to release an album?

Truly, the biggest obstacle for a newcomer’s release is the cost of recording, mixing engineering etc. Especially in Greece, where the economic situation lately is far more difficult than it used to be. The feedback of “ The Ivory Tower” release so far… A year back, when we released the debut album, we wouldn’t expect that kind of feedback, especially for a concept album. Every review is far better than expected and that is what gives us the urge to create more music and hopefully better music…

amazing groups that it would take us days, even months, to decide. We have been listening to all these fantastic bands for years, seen almost all of them live, even travelled abroad to watch some of them perform. As you can easily imagine, we are simple Metal dudes, living their dream via lyrics and melodies, via albums and live gigs…

Tell us about the new album …What are we going to listen to? The men behind your new album! Mixing, mastering, production, artwork... The new album is currently being recorded at iCave Studios and the production will be done by the band and Yiannis Petrogiannis at Matrix Studios – where mixing and mastering will take place. You will have to wait a bit in order to listen to our new material… we believe that the sophomore album is more matured musically and it seems to lead us to a slightly different “path” than the previous album. A small hint is that in the forthcoming album we will have a small continuation of the UTOPIAN STORY… There is a song that follows up the story of Steven Towers, described by the band in the debut album. The moment of Glory ….so far! There are many moments that we like to remember as “Moments of Glory”… the biggest two of them are the gig with the legendary BLUE OYSTER CULT back in June 2008 and of course the release of our debut album on May 14, 2013! On the road to hell! (Upcoming gigs and tour plans?) At the moment, we do not have any plans for gigs due to recording sessions. On the other hand there are some discussions about appearances in the not so distant future! Which band would you like to play at your funeral? We do not intend to die! (laughs) Seriously, we love so many bands, we are actually fans of so many BURST www.afternoiz.com

Director’s Cut

Rob Zombie BY SPIROS SMYRNIS & ANGIE ROUSKA | PHOTO SOURCE: FACEBOOK BURST www.afternoiz.com

41 Dead I am the one, Exterminating son Slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze Dead I am the sky, watching angels cry While they slowly turn, conquering the worm

to the crazy family of the area, the Fireflys. And when I say crazy, I mean really CRAZY!

Dig through the ditches, And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula

Sheri Moon Zombie, Sid Haig and Bill Moseley are reprising their roles as the members of the lunatic family, who are on the run from the police. Their predator is Sheriff Wydell, portrayed by William Forsythe, who is as ruthless as the Fireflys. Although the element of surprise here is absent, as we already know what kind of madness we are going to expect, Zombie retains his distinctive touch in his filmmaking.

I was 14 years old I think when I sang like a maniac the Goddamn Dragula! I was trying to find a proper introduction for this Director’s Cut issue, since Angie has made an amazing kickass presentation of Rob Zombie’s film career. That’s when I realized that Dragula spoke the truth about him long long ago. So serve yourselves a nice cold beer and read that loud Motherfuckazzzzzzz! There was a time back then, in the early 00s I think, when horror movies had a specific pattern; brainless, college kids or you know those carefree characters ready to embark to an epic adventure of gore, blood bath and weird serial killers. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (yeap, that failure), Wrong Turn, Jeepers Creepers, Cabin Fever, the hilarious House of the Dead by Uwe Boll (couldn’t resist not to mention it) and of course, among others, Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses. While most of these movies had a series of horrific events, in Rob Zombie’s the situation was a little bit different. Actually, a lot! It was sick, disgusting, annoying and awkward, really awkward (remember the Fishboy?). No wonder though, as it was inspired by the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. Attributes, like the above, instantly made it a significant addition to the horror genre despite the negative reviews it had received back then. Now it is even considered one of the best horror films. The story follows four young people who are on a road trip in order to write a book on various roadside attractions. And of course they stop at a remote gas station. There they meet the owner Captain Spaulding, who informs them about the local legend of Dr. Satan and of course our young explorers are convinced to investigate on this legend, only to soon discover that they fall prey

The House of 1000 Corpses is the foundation to what now is the best movie in Zombie’s filmography. The Devil’s Rejects!

And then there were the Halloween movies. The thing with these two is that they were based on the original series. As Zombie has said you just can’t please everyone. “You just can’t win. If it’s too similar to the original, everybody wonders what the point was, but if it’s too different, everybody complains that it’s... too different! I found especially with Halloween II (2009) that everyone talked about what it wasn’t and not what it was: ‘you can’t do that with Michael Myers; you can’t do that with Loomis...’ It’s like people have a set of rules in their minds about how these things should function, and you can’t work like that.” (IMDB) So, these two films fell into the trap of comparison. Although the first one was a reimagining, with a few new elements, Halloween II followed a completely different pace from what the fans had expected. This is Rob Zombie’s Halloween and it doesn’t have anything to do with Carpenter’s work. As soon as you comprehend this you might as well enjoy this weird, irrational movie. Apart from the above, Zombie has done an animated horror film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto based on his comic book series, which follows the adventures of El Super Beasto and his sexy sultry sidekick and sister, Suzi-X. It doesn’t apply to everyone; if you like Zombie’s films you are going to have a good time. If you take it too seriously, then I guess you will not stand it a minute. Rodriguez and Tarantino’s may-

hem Grindhouse in its original version included those epic trailers and Rob Zombie’s installment couldn’t be missed. Werewolf Women of the SS was the epic contribution featuring Nicolas Cage and Udo Kier among others. “Basically, I had two ideas. It was either going to be a Nazi movie or a women-in-prison film, and I went with the Nazis. There’re all those movies like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS; Fräulein Devil; and Love Camp 7—I’ve always found that to be the most bizarre genre.” Zombie had said at the time.

Let’s go again: Dead I am the one, Exterminating son Slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze Dead I am the sky, watching angels cry While they slowly turn, conquering the worm Dig through the ditches, And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula

We arrive to 2012 and to Toronto International Film Festival with his recent work The Lords of Salem. I have to admit that I was waiting for it with great anticipation. The trailer was awesome and the film was based on an original work of Zombie. No remakes, no sequels, just something he had created from scratch. As you can easily understand the theme here are witches and who is better to make a film on them than Rob Zombie? Again his wife, Sheri Moon, is the main character, Heidi Hawthorne, who is the host of a popular Salem radio show. One day, after interviewing the author Francis Matthias, she receives a package containing a record from a band named the Lords. The following day, when Heidi plays the record on the airwaves, a strange spell falls over the women of Salem. The film has some scary and unsettling moments. Visually is stunning; it’s like watching the perfect video clip with homage to some of the old horror school films, but it tends to have an indifferent atmosphere. I enjoyed it very much, but I expected more. Rob Zombie is a filmmaker who either you gonna love or hate, there is no middle ground there. He combines exploitation cinema, trash cinema and at the same time he embraces the outcome with a strong soundtrack and aesthetic brilliance (I’m not exaggerating people). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But, you know, he has done only 6 films and now he is preparing the next one entitled 31 and I’m waiting for it. That’s what Rob Zombie does… He is putting you on hold till the next project. BURST www.afternoiz.com

IEWS FILM REVIEWS FILM REVIEWS FILM REVIEWS FILM REVIEWS FILM

Gone Girl (2014) By Eleni Lampraki Probably one of the most promising and one of the best films of the 2014, was the “Gone Girl”, by David Fincher. Based on the same name novel by Gillian Flynn, the film gained much media attention, not only for the talented protagonist duo of Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, but also for the interesting plot and the exceptional direction. It seems like Fincher is flirting with the Oscar for the third time, and who knows, maybe this is the lucky one. The day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne realizes that his wife Amy – Elliot Dunne, has gone missing. Although they seem to be the perfect couple, through flashbacks and narratives from Amy’s diary, we see that the truth was not exactly like that. They both lost their jobs during the recession, they had to move from New York to Missouri, they became indifferent to each other, and it’s revealed that Nick had a relationship with one of his students. The story had gained much public attention, because Amy was the inspirations of her parents’ famous series of children books “Amazing Amy”. As the case moves, it seems that Nick is not as innocent as he claimed to be and his BURST www.afternoiz.com

whole attitude, is interpreted as a sociopathic one. But what happens when we find out that none of them is a reliable narrator? Much to my surprise, Ben Affleck can act, and he can act well. He gives probably his best performance so far in the film, playing an once charming journalist– who then got bored with his life teacher and bar owner – now accused for his wife murder, stereotypical American boy. On the other hand, Rosamund Pike, is a perfect neo-noire film heroine, just like Patricia Arquette in Lost Highway and Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive. The once fragile Jane Bennet, now plays a much more complex role, with several psychological dimensions. My only objection is the finale. I would like to have a “catharsis” , a punishment for the “bad guy”, it just pisses me off when justice is not given. But otherwise, it’ a very strong movie, I recommend it no matter what. Interstellar (2014) By Angie Rouska It is not that he is my favorite director, but, the fact is that I have never missed a film by Christopher Nolan. So, it was no surprise that Interstellar was the film I anticipated most this year. I will not reveal much about the plot; just

a main idea to bear in mind (for those who haven’t seen it yet) as the story develops and escalates till the very last minute. Οur planet is on the edge of starvation. Humanity won’t last for long and our salvation is to emigrate to other planets… Habitable planets. Our hero, Cooper, portrayed by Matthew McConaughey who keeps this film solid, is on the expedition team that is sent to outer space to explore these planets. Although this plot looks very shallow, Nolan has put so much depth in every detail that these 169 minutes are being transformed into a pure epic. As it is impossible to try to give any answers, he sets the questions and leaves the audience alone to do all the thinking. Love, family, religion, science, survival are the subjects that the acclaimed director controversially focuses on, so that we can elaborate and find out where we are standing on these. I do not know whether this approach is good or bad, but the freedom of interpretation Nolan gives is much preferable than a compromised answer. But Interstellar is not only that. Apart from the inspirations and influences deriving from various films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Al-

iens, Blade Runner, it provides rich imagery of an unexplored, unpictured world. If there is any recent film that provides as accurate as possible scientific laws, then you can be sure that Nolan’s latest work is one of them. The true beauty though, is the human factor. The connection between a family, a father’s relationship with his daughter and the unlimited faith and loyalty to each other that overcame the sacrifices and the unbearable isolation and loneliness in the vast dark space. McConaughey here is more human than ever and shines by bringing a stunning performance while Anne Hathaway finally provides reality and seriousness to her character. As for the rest of the cast; although they have the minimum screening time, they are balancing a well-structured result. One thing is for sure; Interstellar is a brilliant film. It cannot be a bad film and it will never be. But this totally depends on you and whether you are ready to accept what is out there.

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Arrow A Beginner’s Guide By P. Tsoutsis

Arrow is a TV show first aired in 2012, consists of three seasons and it’s based on DC’s comic book hero, the Green Arrow. The show focuses around the life of a young billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who was presumed dead for five years, he returns to his family as a changed man. Highly skilled with a bow, he becomes a vigilante under the name Arrow and hunts down all the people responsible for falling Starling City. Unlike other Comic Book heroes he doesn’t have any superpower, apart from extensive training in martial arts and the use of the bow. Although the show takes place at the present day, after his return to his home, there are flashbacks on each episode, showing his life on that island, and how the character was BURST www.afternoiz.com

forged. Oliver Queen (portrayed by Stephen Amell) was a very irresponsible young man who used to enjoy the trust fund of his wealthy family. His life took an unexpected turn on a cruise on the family’s yacht along with his father and his girlfriend. A sudden explosion sunk the yacht leaving him the only survivor on a remote island. Life on the island was difficult as he had to find the means to survive, but it became even more difficult when he came across a group of mercenaries, who were searching for a World War II Japanese submarine. In his search for help he came across a small group of people, hiding from these mercenaries. The flashbacks in each episode reveal many details of his training on

the island. Upon returning to his family he’s nothing like five years before and he’s ready to take responsibilities, including honoring his father’s dying wish to undo the wrongs his family has done to Starling City, beginning by chasing corrupted people. Eventually, Oliver understands that he can’t fight crime on his own, and starts trusting other people with his secret identity. In the end his team is comprised by: John Diggle (David Ramsey), an ex-military who’s assigned by his mother to watch over him after his return from the island. Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) an IT specialist, who uses her expertise to gather information about criminals. She also becomes his

love interest for a brief period of time. Finally the last member of his team is Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) a young criminal who gains Oliver’s trust and helps him by gathering on site information about criminals. The show also introduces many other characters from the comic book like the Canary, Deathstroke, the Suicide Squad, the League of Shadows and Ra’s al Ghul, and most recently on the third season, the Black Canary. It’s worth noticing that the character of Green Arrow, in one of the oldest in DC’s history, and he first appeared in 1941. Arrow’s big success, led to the production of a spin-off TV show based on another DC character, The Flash, which aired earlier this season.

New TV Shows based on Comic Book heroes By P. Tsoutsis

There is an “invasion” in progress this new TV season, of new shows based on comic book heroes. Apart from Arrow and Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., three new TV shows have already premiered this season (The Flash, Gotham and Constantine), another one is scheduled to premiere in January (Agent Carter), and there are plans for more later in 2015 (Marvel’s Daredevil). One might wonder why this is happening. The first obvious reason is the huge success of the movies based on comic books (The Avengers (2012) grossed 1.5 billion dollars), so production companies try to cash in this success on TV. Another reason is that most of the characters have existed for decades, they are well developed, they have a background, and the writers don’t have to start from scratch. Same thing goes for the villains or the story lines. The following is a small review of these new shows, based on the few episodes aired so far.

young Selina Kyle (also known as Cat), a homeless girl; who also witnessed the murder of the Wayne couple and helps the police, and Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne family butler, who raises the young Bruce Wayne. The show also introduces many villains from the Batman universe, like the forensics analyst Edward Nygma (Enigma), who has a peculiar personality and presents many clues in riddles, and Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin), a rising gangster who secretly helps the police and works for two rival organised crime syndicates.

Barry teams up with a small group of scientists still working at the S.T.A.R. Labs in order to learn how to control his power, and track down other people like him. Barry Allen has already appeared in Arrow’s second season (before becoming Flash) last year, and upon airing, the show made another crossover with it. It’s worth noticing that Barry’s father is the same actor (John Wesley Shipp) who portrayed the original Flash in 1990’s TV show.

Gotham The Flash The Flash is a reboot of 1990’s TV show and a spin-off of Arrow as both are airing from The CW network. The show focuses on Barry Allen who becomes the fastest man alive, and uses this power to fight crime. Barry is a forensic analyst for the police and got his powers after a malfunction at the S.T.A.R. Labs’ particle accelerator. An unfortunate side effect of the accident is that many more people have gained extraordinary powers.

Gotham is also a TV show that aired this season and it’s based on DC’s Batman universe. It focuses around the young detective James Gordon who just came into Gotham City, and who tries to fight the corruption found in many levels of the city. The show takes place in a preBatman era and introduces many characters from that universe, like the young Bruce Wayne, who tries to overcome his fears after witnessing the murder of his parents, the

the gift of powerful visions, and Manny, an angel who’s assigned to watch over him. The character of Constantine has also appeared on the big screen, on 2005’s movie with Keanu Reeves. Agent Carter

Constantine Constantine, which also aired this season, focuses on John Constantine, a character first appeared in DC’s Hellblazer comic book. Constantine is an exorcist and master of the dark arts, and he is condemned to hell after a failed exorcism that caused a young girl to die. With only a handful of episodes aired so far, she show reminds a lot of the early Supernatural, as he’s also chasing after things from the paranormal in his own unique way. He is accompanied by Chas Chandler, a person with extreme survival abilities, Zed Martin a woman having

Although Agent Carter doesn’t air until January, the character is already well known, as she has appeared in both Captain America movies (2011, 2013), the short film Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (2013), and most recently in the premiere of the second season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She is a member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, she secretly works with Howard Stark (Tony Stark’s father), and she tries to fit in a male-dominated world, as the show takes place in the mid 40’s. Agent Carter is a spin-off of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., as it will also air from ABC, and it will show the early stages of development of the agency.

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Firefly:

A TV show that was cancelled too soon Firefly was a TV show that aired in 2002 for a short period of time, but managed to create a huge fan-base of people that talk about it even until today. The show belonged in the space-western genre, blending elements from both genres, and followed the adventures of a group of people in the fireflyclass spaceship under the name Serenity. Firefly was taking place five hundred years into the future, where the human kind was forced to leave earth and find a new solar system to settle. This solar system had dozens of planets and hundreds of moons, many of which were terraformed in order to become habitable. Captain of the Serenity was Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (portrayed by Nathan Fillion), an ex-military who was trying to make a decent living for himself and his crew by trading goods. Although his deals weren’t always legal, he was a man of honor. Second in command was Zoe Washburne (Gina BURST www.afternoiz.com

Torres), who along with Mal, had fought in the civil war for the independence of the outer colonies. The ship was piloted by Hoban “Wash” Washburne (Alan Tudyk), a highly skilled pilot and Zoe’s husband. Other people in the crew were Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the ship’s mechanic, and Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), a mercenary kind of person, always looking after for profit. Along the way, a few more joined Mal’s crew, like the Shepherd Derrial Book (Ron Glass), who was trying to spread the word of the Lord, and Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his sister River (Summer Glau), both of them on the run, hiding from the Alliance forces. Last member of the crew was Inara (Morena Baccarin), a high class escort, renting a small shuttle from the ship. Despite the show’s short life span, the characters had a very good chemistry between them, which in turn created a very warm environment. As for the stories in each episode, most of them were self-

enclosed, with the crew trying to find new deals. There was also a background storyline in which Dr. Tam was searching for answers about the experiments performed to his gifted sister by the government, and turned her into a psychotic person. The crew was in a constant hide-and-seek from Alliance forces, and was also the threat of the Reavers, a group of highly violent and cannibalistic people that reached the end of the solar system and for unknown reasons went mad. Creator of the show was Joss Whedon, best known for Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and The Avengers (2012), and his original plan was a storyline of at least seven seasons. Unfortunately the show ended after three months, with a total of fourteen episodes (eleven aired at the original run). As for the reason for the low ratings, and ultimately for it’s cancellation, FOX network never thought that a sci-fi show like Firefly, could possibly have such huge

By P. Tsoutsis

success. Firstly, the air date was Friday, also known as the death-slot, where the ratings of that day are low anyway. Secondly, the episodes aired out of the intended order, this way confusing the viewers. For example, the two hour pilot aired second because the network felt that it didn’t have too much action. The show gained attention only when it was released on DVD, which contained all fourteen episodes filmed, in the correct order. Many petitions were raised to bring back the show even on a different network. After the huge demand for more episodes, a movie was film and released in 2005 with the name Serenity, in order to give a proper closure to the show. The movie also helped to fill in some gaps in the storyline, like the experiment that went wrong and created the Reavers. Firefly still holds a 9.2 rating at IMDB, and it’s considered one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever.

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195 million children worldwide suffer from the effects of malnutrition. In 2011, MSF treated 408,000 children in more than 30 countries. Copyright: Francesco Zizola

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