Burst Magazine | Issue 4, April 2013 by BURST Magazine

April 2013, Issue 4

dave lombardo “when drums met dave”

Oliver Palotai

“if I would die now, I would not have any regrets”

l a t e m k blac murders Special tribute on

Sakis Tolis This is why we love this “job”

Happy d n a 66 Birthday . . . g n i t Iggy! coun

PROUDLY PRESENTED BY

NEW ALBUM OUT NOW

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3 Burst Magazine Those days, I often see myself musing “I totally love this job”.

dave lombardo

A few years ago I couldn’t even imagine that one day I was going to say on the phone: “Hey Dave this is Spiros from Burst Magazine”. Dave who? Dave Lombardo. Does this name ring

pages 6-19 Tributes

pages 20-51

a bell? “Fuckin Slaaaaayeeeeeer!!” most of you would scream.

Interviews

Dave Lombardo is the co-founding member of Slayer and one

pages 52-59

of the best drummers in history of metal music. Apart from Slayer, the Cuban American drummer has joined the insane... Read the full story and interview on page 20.

Album/EP reviews

pages 60-61 Pop Corner

Karolina Pacan On Voices of The Soul

Christine Polis

“The white lady with the black glove”

black metal murders Special tribute on

n page

Read o

ge Page The Pa Tu rn Th Turn

rner o C p o P

Director’s Cut

Cover digital painting by ArtofSin Burst { music magazine }

publisher/editor in chief

Raphael Aretakis

managing editor

Spiros Smyrnis

art advisor

Aikate D.

editors

Andy Phelps Byron S. Orestis Cristina Alossi David Anthony G. Dimitris Tsantoulas Eleni Lampraki Eleni Leonida Hope Vnz Korina P. Pana Apostolidou Sobieski Sisters Stathia S. Pedioti

contributing editors

Emm Den Giorgos Kotrozinis Gogo Apostolaki Jo Gogou Kalliope Tsouroupidou Matina Katsarakou Sissy Dragonfly Sophie Tsekoura Sotiris Stilianos Vana Valma Zack Papadakis

editor/proofreading

Marianna Kofinaki Matina Katsarakou

photographers

Apostolis Kalliakmanis Byron S. Orestis Eileen Von D Jo Gogou Myrto Cat Raphael Aretakis

int. photographer

Kalliope Tsouroupidou

special guest

Karolina Pacan

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www.argophotography.com Burst { music magazine }

Written by Marianna Kofinaki / Photos by Gavin Bond

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7 In mythology, the Muses were nine goddesses who symbolized the arts and sciences. Today, a muse is a person who serves as an artist’s inspiration. Often filmmakers talk about a certain actor being a muse — meaning the actor inspired a movie. Writers, painters, musicians, and other artists have muses. Muse can also refer to thinking deeply. If you muse about something, you’re giving it serious thought. You can’t muse in five seconds. People muse on certain ideas for years. That’s the definitions you get when you look up the term in the dictionary. Why do all those come to mind when I think of the homonymous band? I think that’s because Muse is a band full of inspiration, with lyrics that challenge our minds, feelings and outlook on reality and life itself, and of course you can’t resist listening to their music again and again (five seconds? We’re talking about hours and hours.) I must say that writing a tribute for one of my fave bands of all time is intriguing, challenging and beautiful at the same time. Where to start, what to leave out, how much objective can I be? Oh well, as I was taught in college “comments are free but the facts are sacred”, so let’s stick to the facts and of course focus on the music.

If we need to stick to “labels” for characterizing their musical genre, Muse are considered as “alternative rock meets space rock” and “progressive rock”. I’ve never been fond of such characterizations anyway, which, in that case, doesn’t mean anything since the band has a diverse range of musical influences, such as electronic music, hard rock, experimental rock, classical music, rock opera just to mention a few. Confused? No. Music is universal and creativity and open-mindedness as well as the right perspective are what matters the most. In any case, the “signature” of the band is Matt Bellamy’s high-pitched, falsetto, vibrato voice, the arpeggiated guitar riffs and piano playing. Matt mentions many different main influences, including guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine & Audioslave), Jeff Buckley, romantic classical composers Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Franz List, Frederic Chopin and their contemporaries like Philip Glass . Generally speaking, electronic music, dubstep, opera, symphonic music, flamenco and lots of other musical genres are just to name a few. Does flamenco sound weird to you? Matt Bellamy cites: “I learnt some Spanish guitar music that opened up a world of different harmonies and making music and a different sort of

passion, very heavy music but it hasn’t got a distortion pedal.” As for the lyrics, the introspective themes including relationships, social alienation, and difficulties they had encountered while trying to establish themselves in their hometown are the main sources of inspiration during the first albums. However, with the band’s progress, their song concepts have become more ambitious, addressing issues such as the fear of the evolution of technology in their Origin of Symmetry (2001) album. They deal mainly with the apocalypse in Absolution (2003) and with catastrophic war in Black Holes and Revelations (2006). The Resistance (2009) album addresses themes related to the New World Order and a worldwide libertarian revolution. Books that have influenced Muse lyrical thematics include:1984 (George Orwell), Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control (Kathleen Taylor), Confessions of an Economic Hitman (John Perkins), Hyperspace (Michio Kaku), The 12th Planet (Zecharia Sitchin). The band has also been influenced by 19th century political theorist Henry George. The band was formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994, consisting of school friends Matthew Bellamy (lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, keyboards, keytar),

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8 Christopher Wolsternholme (Bass, vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar, harmonica) and Dominic Howard, (drums, percussion, synthesizers, sampling). Back then, each band member used to play for separate school bands during their stay in college. The actual birth of a band featuring the aforementioned members all together took place when Bellamy successfully auditioned for the part of guitarist in Dominic Howard’s band. They asked Chris Wolstenholme, who played the drums at the time, to learn to play the bass for the band; Chris agreed to take up lessons, while Bellamy had to become singer and songwriter for the band. The original band members left after Bellamy recommended that they should write their own songs instead of doing covers. The band name was changed many times: From Gothic Plague to Fixed Penalty and from Fixed Penalty to Rocket Baby Dolls. Given the names, you can imagine that back then the band maintained a goth/ glam image. This image didn’t prevent them from winning the local battle of the bands, let alone from smashing their equipment on stage on that same day. “It was supposed to be a protest, a statement”, Bellamy said, “so when we actually won, it was a real shock, a massive shock. After that, we started taking ourselves seriously”. They took their role as musicians so seriously indeed, that they quit their studies and jobs right after and decided to apply a (final) change in the band’s name to what we know today, Muse. Funny thing is, that despite all those definitions associated with the term and despite the fact that it usually takes a lot of thinking and brainstorming in order to decide on a name, the assumption that it was inspired by Matthew Bellamy’s art teacher Samuel Theoun is a myth. Truth is the band opted for that name because it was short and thought it would look good on a poster. Surprised? Ironically enough, who would have thought back then that this name would look great in countless posters and flyers posted in cities around the world? Music journalist Mark Beaumont, who published a biography of the band, comments that they wanted the name to reflect “the sense Matt had that he had somehow summoned up this band, the way mediums summon up inspirational spirits at times of emotional need”. During their early years (1998-2000) Muse played their first gigs in London and Manchester supporting Skunk Anansie on tour. Their first proper recording was arranged during a meeting with Dennis Smith, the owner of Sawmills Studio, situated near a converted water mill in Cornwall. This led to the release of their first EP (self-titled) on May 11 1998. At the same time, the band has been building a fan base, which has been Burst { music magazine }

continuously and rapidly increasing, and then fame started to come: Their second EP, Muscle Museum, released on January 11 1999, reached number 3 in the indie singles chart and got the attention of British radio broadcaster Steve Lamarq as well as of the famous British magazine NME. Dennis Smith introduced the band to Safta Jaffery, his co-establisher of the record label Taste Media. Full-length albums-masterpieces Showbiz (1999), Origin of Symmetry (2001) and Absolution (2003) have all been recorded and released by Taste Media, putting an end to the reluctance of other record British labels to sign Muse. It was after a trip to New York’s CMJ Festival, that an American record label flew them to Los Angeles to showcase. Nanci Walker, then Sr. Director of A&R at Columbia Records, flew Muse to the U.S. to showcase for Columbia Records’ then-Senior Vice President of A&R, Tim Devine, as well as for American Recording’s Rick Rubin. It was during this trip, on 24 December 1998, that Muse signed a deal with American record label Maverick Records. Upon their return from America, Taste Media arranged deals for Muse with various record labels in Europe and Australia, allowing them to maintain control over their career in individual countries. From the production of their second album, Origin of Symmetry (2001) on, the band, being open-minded to experiment with new sounds, started using mellotron, a church organ, as well as an expanded drum kit. Origin Of Symmetry even features a cover of the classic “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. Did you know that in 2002 the band threatened to take legal action against Canadian diva Celine Dion, when she planned to name her Las Vegas show as “Muse”, based on the fact that the band owned the worldwide performing rights to the name? Fortunately no more drama was involved since Celine was forced to back down. Origin of Symmetry (2001) received excellent feedback from reviewers and critics. Just an example: NME gave the album 9/10 with Roger Morton writing: “It’s amazing for such a young band to load up with a heritage that includes the darker visions of Cobain and Kafka, Mahler and The Tiger Lillies, Cronenberg and Schoenberg, and make a sexy, populist album. But Muse have carried it off.” Maverick had reservations about Bellamy’s vocal style on this album regardless (in their own words Matt’s vocal style was not considered “radiofriendly”), which resulted in requesting the band to change some of their songs prior to the album launch in the States. The band refused and left Maverick, so the album has not been released in the

U.S. before 2005, after Muse signing to Warner. Absolution (2003) launched to No1 in the UK charts right after its release. The album yielded their first top ten hit with “Time is Running Out” and later three top-twenty hits “Hysteria”, “Sing for Absolution” and “Butterflies and Hurricanes”. Undoubtedly, Absolution is still one of the best rock albums of the last decades and definitely one of the best rock albums of all time. Oh well, I’ll say it again: are labels in music necessary when it comes to a band with such a progressive point of view? An international tour in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and France led to further success; however, the US leg of the 2004 tour began ominously as Bellamy injured himself on stage during the opening show in Atlanta. The tour resumed after several stitches and a couple of days. One of the highlights of this tour was the performance in Glastonbury Festival of the same year, which was considered by the band as “the best concert of our lives”. Life is about the happiest events along with the saddest ones occurring at the same time: William Howard, Dominic’s father, who was among the audience that day, died from a heart attack shortly after the performance. “It was the biggest feeling of achievement we’ve ever had after coming offstage”, Bellamy said. “It was almost surreal that an hour later his dad died. It was almost not believable. We spent about a week sort of just with Howard trying to support him. I think he was happy that at least his dad got to see him at probably what was the finest moment so far of the band’s life”. In 2006, Muse released their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, co-produced by Muse and Rich Costey, inspired by science fiction and political outrage. The album charted at No. 1 in the UK, much of Europe, and Australia. It was also a success in the United States, reaching number nine on the Billboard 200 album chart. The homonymous tour started just before the album release and initially featured appearances in front of a huge crowd, mainly as headliners in festivals like Reading and Leeds. Black Holes and Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, but lost to Arctic Monkeys. However, the album received a Platinum Europe Award after selling one million copies in the world’s oldest continent. At the 2007 Brit Awards in February, Muse received their second award for Best British Live Act. True to the award received, after an extensive tour schedule, the band’s fifth studio album The Resistance was released in September 2009. It is the first Muse album to have been produced by the band itself, it was engineered by Adrian Bushby and mixed by Mark Stent. On its release,

9 it topped the album charts in 19 countries, became the band’s third number one album in the UK, and reached number three on the Billboard 200. Mostly positive reviews were received, with much of the praise directed towards its ambition, classical music influences and the thirteen-minute, three-part epic “Exogenesis: Symphony” It also beat its predecessor Black Holes and Revelations in relative album sales in its debut week in the UK with approximately 148,000 copies sold. The first single, “Uprising”, a hymn to a libertarian revolution against mind control, injustice and corruption, was released seven days earlier and another tour followed. On 7 May 2010, it was announced that Muse would provide a pre-written song to be the lead single for the third film of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. As expected, it was the soundtrack’s lead single “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”, released on 17 May 2010. Muse’s fearsome live reputation helped secure them the O2 Silver Clef Award in London on 2 July 2010.The award was presented by legends Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen. And the praise continues: Taylor described the trio as “probably the greatest live act in the world today,” while May said that “this is a magnificent, incredible group.” On 12 September 2010, Muse won an MTV Video Music Award in the category of Best Special Effects, for the promo for “Uprising”. On 21 November, Muse took home an American Music Award for

Favorite Artist in the Alternative Rock Music Category. On 2 December, Muse were nominated for three awards for the 53rd Grammy Awards on 13 February 2011, for which they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for The Resistance. Based on having the largest airplay and sales in the US, Muse were named the Billboard alternative and rock artist for 2010 with “Uprising”, “Resistance” and “Undisclosed Desires” achieving 1st, 6th and 49th on the year end Alternative Song chart respectively. In an interview with Kerrang! on 14 December 2011, Wolstenholme stated, that the next Muse album would be “something radically different” from their prior releases. He also said, that it felt as if the band were “drawing a line under a certain period” of their career with their sixth album. It was revealed via Muse’s publicist Tom Kirk on his Twitter account, that composer David Campbell who had worked with acts such as Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Beck and Adele was helping Matt Bellamy compose the album. In an interview in the April 2012 issue of NME, Bellamy stated that the band were set to include elements of electronic music, with influences coming from acts such as French group Justice and UK electronic group Does It Offend You, Yeah? as well as the inclusion of brass players. On 6 June 2012, Muse released a trailer for their album in question, “The 2nd Law”, with a countdown on the band’s

website suggesting a 17 September release date, although the actual release date was 1 October 2012 worldwide and 2 October 2012 in the U.S. .The trailer, which included dubstep elements, was at first met with mixed reactions from fans. However, right after its launch, the album subsequently reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, and number two on the US Billboard 200. The song “Madness” earned a nomination in the Best Rock Song category and the album itself was nominated for the Best Rock Album at the 55th Grammy Awards, 2013. I almost forgot: Muse’s first single from the album, “Survival”, was the official song of the London Olympics 2012, which was performed live at the Olympics’ closing ceremony. Progressive outlook on music, openmindedness, diverse compositions, lyrics perfectly made for the listener offering limitless food for thought, a signature voice, breathtaking live performances, countless awards and achievements… As I mentioned in my introduction, facts speak for themselves. One of the lyrics included in “Supremacy” states “Greatness dies, unsung and lost, invisible to history”. In that particular case, Mr. Bellamy, you’re wrong. You have achieved greatness in what you do best and we just can’t wait to give more than just a listen to your (existing and future) musical masterpieces. Freddie Mercury, your classic idols and, of course, we, the fans, are definitely proud of you.

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THE BLACK KEYS Written by Christina Alossi / Photo by Danny Clinch

“run right back to them”

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12 Black Keys is a band that a single-page tribute and trivial statements such as, grammy, billboard number 1, best group etc are not enough to describe their greatness. Uniqueness, tons of talent, awesome music, addictive, dirty sound, true vintage, madness, are just few of the many feelings that spring up to me when I listen to their albums. They may have taken their name from the black keys of a piano, but the true story is somehow different. The cause and the inspiration for a name that was meant to be known to the whole world was a common acquaintance, Alfred McMoore, who used to leave incoherent messages to the answering machine, swearing at the fathers of Dan and Patrick and accompanied it with notes form the black keys of the piano, like “D flat”. Now, let’s take it form the beginning. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney grew up together and hung out since they were eight years old, as they lived in the same neighborhood of Akron, Ohio. Although they belonged to different social groups in school, Dan was the leader of the football team and Pat was a pariah, quite often they went to Pat’s specially designed basement and jammed. They both dropped out of college and dedicated their lives to music, planning to make a living out of it. Whilst Dan was popular at school, at their first rehearsal it was meant to be just the two of them, since Dan’s friends preferred to hang out at another friend, smoking weed and playing pro evolution soccer. In 2001 they recorded music as Black Keys and since then it was all a crazy road towards success. They started as a duet, the same year as the White Stripes, so the comparison was inevitable, but soon they proved that their music was all together different and that, unlike other bands, they were there to stay. Dan’s mother was a French teacher and his dad had an antique shop. His dad also had a huge collection of Blues’ vinyls, which have been a great inspiration for him since an early age. Junior Kimbrough, the blue’s artist was a major impact for Dan and the reason he used to get bad grades at school, since he spent his time studying him and neglecting his classes. Patrick, on the other hand, had his parents divorcing when he was eight years old and lived between houses. His father had moved into Dan’s neighborhood and that’s how they met, playing tag football with Dan’s friends. Patrick’s musical influences came from Pavement, Captain Beefheart and Devo. The Big Come up So, Dan and Patrick, having dropped out of college, started jamming in Patrick’s basement, they rehearsed and in the end they had six demo songs. The label Alive from New York decided to release their album and in May 14 2002 the “The big come up” came out. Patrick Carney was the producer. Their garage sound was very characteristic and established them to their audience. Money was still far away and their success story needed more work, so they cut the lawn around the neighborhood to fund their tour. Thickfreakness Following the same recipe, Dan, Pat & basement, the second album was there pretty soon. It came out at April 8 2003 from the Fat Possum label, Mississippi. The album, famous in Japan as “Inazuma”, which means lightning, was exactly that. A lightning in the rain that Black Keys have started, a ray of light that came heavily through the musical scene, electrified everybody and made all the heads turn around to see and taste the “Black Keys” phenomenon. Three singles were from this album, “Set you free”, “Hard row” and a cover from Richard Berry’s “Have love will travel”. Rubber factory The owner of Dan’s house decided to sell it, so the band was left without the basement and a recording studio. In search for a new one to record their third album they saw an add about an Burst { music magazine }

abandoned tire factory, close to where they lived. At the second floor there were the offices and that seemed more appropriate than the storage it had, so they rented that for 500 bucks a month. The recordings demanded a great deal of their time, as it was a very warm place, with open windows and the console that Patrick had bought fro e-bay worked in mysterious ways. The result was that after finishing off their sessions for the album they threw it away in the factory. The factory’s lobby was used again, later, for the “Lonely boy” video clip. The album was released in September 7 2004 by Fat Possum with three singles, “10 A.M. Automatic”, “Till I get my way” and “Girl is on my mind”. Magic Potion Having fulfilled their two year contract with Fat Possum they got back to Dan’s basement to record their fourth album and signed with the big label Nonesuch records, whose distribute was done by Warner Bros. Records. The group keept on investing on the dry sound of the basement and allowed its music to bang on floors and ceilings that used to be inhabited by families and bachelors. The singles followed one another and include successes as “Your touch”, “You’re the one” and “Just got to be”. The album was released in September 12th 2006 and everybody wondered how these two guys could produce such music, both retro and fresh and alternative. Did they have the magic touch? Attack & Release When Danger mouse’s project in Ike Turner’s album with the Black Keys ended (Ike had passed away) they figured that the songs they had started to work on should be exploited somehow. So, for the first time, the producer of the album was the famous Danger mouse ad they used a professional recording studio. The Attack & Release was out in April 1st 2008 and was considered one of the best albums of the 00’ς. With a noticeably altered sound, the band was able to experiment without losing its identity. Patrick wanted to add a dead 70’s look, so he played with his drums covered with towels. Four singles were on the top, “Strange times”, “I got mine”, “Same old thing” and “All you ever wanted”. Brothers After a short break, while Patrick was in a dark road, splitting up with his wife, and unable to concentrate on Black Keys, Dan released a personal album, “Keep it hid”. Pat, feeling betrayed by his loved ones created a group named “Drummer” and released the album “Feel good together”, in which he played the bass. But since, “Brothers will be always brothers”, they made amends with each other and made real a common dream they had, the album “Blakroc”, working with huge names in the hip hop scene. In May 2010 the album Brothers was released and Black Keys won one award after the other and many concerts. Unfortunately due to the overwhelming success they had to cancel a lot of them. The single “Tighten up”, Danger Mouse production, was a big hit as well as “Howlin’ for you”. El Camino After the Brothers’ success all eyes were laid upon the duet from Akron, Ohio. Between concerts and world touring the Black Keys were trying to prepare their 7th album. They wanted the songs to be more upbeat, because the slower ones gave them a hard time during concerts. So, “El Camino”, which means on the road, was released in December 6 2011, again produced by Danger Mouse. The cover was a van, similar the one they used for their tours. Black keys are a band that has found the way to single out and create albums that leave their marks to the decade they are made in. Their new album is being born and it is meant to come out around March. Full of anxiety and with fingers nervously tapping around the piano’s black keys; counting minutes, hours and days to witness again a new album by the “wizards” Black keys!! By Cristina Alossi

The following artists already promised their appearance: <1979> (D) G A SPLIT SECOND (B) G ABNEY PARK (USA) – exclusive German show 2013 G ALEXANDER PAUL BLAKE‘S AETHERNAEUM (D) – world premiere (D) G ALTAR OF PLAGUES (IRL) G ASLAN FACTION (GB) G BANANE METALIK (F) G BLOODY, DEAD & SEXY (D) G BRIGADE WERTHER (D) G BRUDERSCHAFT (USA) G BURN (D) G C-LEKKTOR (D) G COPPELIUS (D) G CREMATORY (D) G DARKWOOD (D) G DAS ICH (D) G DESIRELESS & OPERATION OF THE SUN (F) G DEVILISH IMPRESSIONS (PL) G DIE SELEKTION (D) G DIGITALIS PURPUREA (I) G DUNKELSCHÖN (D) G ECHO WEST (D) G ENABLED DISASTER (D) G END OF GREEN (D) G ENSIFERUM (FIN) G FEJD (S) G FIRE+ICE (GB) G FORMALIN (D) G FRANK (JUST FRANK) (F) G GITANE DEMONE (USA) G GOD MODULE (USA) G GRAUSAME TÖCHTER (D) G HAGGARD (D) G HALO EFFECT (I) G HAUTVILLE (I) G HECATE ENTHRONED (GB) G HENRIC DE LA COUR (S) G HYPNOSKULL (B) G I LIKE TRAINS (GB) G IAMX (GB) G IN MITRA MEDUSA INRI (D) G IN STRICT CONFIDENCE (D) G INCITE/ (D) G INCUBITE (D) G IRM (S) G ISZOLOSCOPE (CDN) G K-BEREIT (F) G KARIN PARK (S) G KMFDM (USA) G KOFFIN KATS (USA) G LACRIMOSA (D) G LEAETHER STRIP (DK) G LETZTE INSTANZ (D) G LORD OF THE LOST (D) G LUX INTERNA (USA) G MARTIAL CANTEREL (USA) G METALLSPÜRHUNDE (D) G NACHTGESCHREI (D) G NAMNAMBULU (D) – reunion G NAUGHTY WHISPER (I) G NIN KUJI (D) G NOISUF-X (D) G NOMANS LAND (RUS) G OBJEKT/ URIAN (D) G ORANGE SECTOR (D) G OTHER DAY (D) G PASSION PLAY (GB) G PATENBRIGADE WOLFF (D) G PATRICK WOLF (GB) G PHOSGORE (D) G POKEMON REAKTOR (D) G PREDOMINANCE (D) G PROYECTO MIRAGE (E) G READJUST (D) G REFORMED FACTION (GB) G ROBOTIKO REJEKTO (D) G – exclusive world premiere G SALTATIO MORTIS (D) G SEX GANG C H I L D R E N (GB) G SHE PAST AWAY (TR) G SHIV-R (AUS) G SKELETAL FAMILY (GB) G SLEEPING DOGS WAKE perform “Understanding“ – worldwide exclusive show (NZ/D) G SOFT KILL (USA) G SORIAH (USA) G STILL PATIENT? (D) G SUICIDE COMMANDO (B) G SUTCLIFFE JÜGEND (GB) G TALVEKOIDIK (D) G TEARS OF OTHILA (I) G TERMINAL GODS (GB) G THE 69 EYES (FIN) G THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE (USA) – exclusive German show 2013 G THE BLUE ANGEL LOUNGE (D) G THE BREATH OF LIFE (B) G THE KVB (GB) G THE MESCALINE BABIES (I) G THE OTHER (D) G THE SPIRITUAL BAT (I) G THE SPOOK (D) G THE TWILIGHT GARDEN (USA) G THEATRES DES VAMPIRES (I) G THUNDRA (N) G UNITARY (S) G UNZUCHT (D) G VELVET ACID CHRIST (USA) – exclusive German show 2013 G VERMALEDEYT (D) G VNV NATION (GB) G WELLE:ERDBALL (D) G WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW (A) G WINTERKÄLTE (D) G WIPEOUT (A) G X-IMPROVISO (NZ) G X-IN JUNE (D) G XANDRIA (D) G XENO & OAKLANDER (USA)

Furthermore we recommend to you: three soirees at the Opera House G Richard Wagner soiree G baroque ballroom dancing G Victorian ball G Readings G videoshow G live adventure role playing G autograph-shows G exhibitions G motion pictures in the CINESTAR G concerts in sacred venues G organ concerts G theatre & variety G Aftershow parties with well known DJs G Gothic-scene-fair in the agra exhibition hall No.1 G medieval mile “Celebrant 2013” G pagan village G horse-drawn buggy rides G knight performances G medieval acrobats G fashion shows G fetish party “Obsession Bizarre” G fetish performances G fire and light performance G esotericism More details will be published soon!

The following tickets, including the below listed range of services, you can acquire in advance sale. Ticket-Order at www.wave-gotik-treffen.com or call **49.341.2120862

Treffen-Event-Ticket:

Obsorge-Karte:

The Treffen-Event-Ticket includes free using of public transport (tram, city-busses, regional trains, suburban trains) within the zone 110 of MDV (”Mitteldeutscher Verkehrs Verbund”) from 17th of june, 8.00 am to the 21st of june, 12.00 am (except for special routes)

Limited up to 9999 Tickets for 25,- € each (including advance sale charge), contains the following service-package: • Camping at the Treffen-Campingground (agra-fairground) • “Pfingstbote” (“Whitsun-herald”) - the Treffen-programbook

Please note:

Entrance and usage of the campingsite is not possible without the ”Obsorgekarte“. The ”Obsorgekarte“ is only valid in connection with the Treffen-Event-Ticket.

4-Days-Ticket for all events within the 22nd Wave-Gotik-Treffen Whitsun 2013, 89,- € each in advance ticket sale (including advance sale charges).

Parking Vignette:

For car parking at the Treffen-area you have to purchase a Parking Vignette for 15,- € (including advance sale charges). Please note: Parking at the Treffen-area (agra-fairground) is definitely not possible without a Parking Vignette.

Treffen & Festspielgesellsaft für Mitteldeutsland mbH

Fernruf: 0341/2120862 G Weltnetz: www.wave-gotik-treffen.de G Elektronise Post: info@wave-gotik-treffen.de Burst { music magazine }

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d n a 6 6 . . . g n i t n u co

Happy Birthday Iggy! Written by Sobieski Sisters Photos by Jo Gogou

Burst { music magazine }

16 “I’m a real wild one” Iggy Pop sings, and it seems that’s exactly the case. This eccentric guy with the crazy attitude, especially in the late 60’s and 70’s, couldn’t be more connected to the Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll motto; that he made a way of life, in his own instinctive style. Substance abuser, wild performer, with many ups and downs in both his life and music career, it is a wonder that he is still alive! One of the greatest pioneers in history of rock, Iggy prepared the way for the punk movement and brought a new element in live shows. Pop has not always been the wild rocker who screams out lyrics about sex, drugs and rock n roll. Many of you who have connected Iggy with that punk image may be surprised to know that he’s also related to music styles like jazz and blues. His story starts like this: born on 21st April 1947 in Michigan, still a high school student, James Newell Osterberg Jr. took his first steps in music in the early 60’s as a drummer in various garage school bands in Ann Arbour, Michigan. One of them were The Iguannas, that later on would be his namegiven band that insprired his name Iggy. After graduating, he kept on experimenting musically with various local blues bands, like the Prime Movers and finally decided to drop out of University and move to Chicago, where he spent a year under the guidance of veteran drummers, like Howlin Wolf’s Sam Lay and performing with bluesmen in numerous clubs. In 1967 it’s about time for James to start transforming into the Iggy we know today. Leaving the drumset, he found a new post, this time behind the microphone. He returns to Michigan, changes his name and becomes the frontman of the Psychedelic Stooges, the band he formed with his old friend Ron Asheton (guitar), Scott Asheton (drums) and Dave Alexander (bass).The band, that today are known as the Stooges made aggressive, animalistic, primal, electric music with sexual energy... Sounds familiar? Yes, their music was meant to be the precursor of punk, as Stooges’ music genre has been characterized as protopunk and Iggy Pop as the godfather of punk. What was their influence? As Iggy himself mentioned in an interview: “The industrialism in Detroit... what I heard walking around... boom boom bah - 10 cars... boom boom bah - 20 cars... Burst { music magazine }

I get a lot of my influence from the electric shaver... “ The fact that triggered this alteration in music style was a gig of The Doors, where Iggy was present. It was a real catalyst! Inspired by Jim Morrison’s personality and extreme on-stage antics, Iggy began establishing his provocative-crazy stage persona since Stooges first live appearance in Ann Arbour in 1967. Shirtless, screaming and howling like an animal, spreading peanut butter and rubbing raw stakes over his body, cutting himself with broken glass (ouch), stage-diving for the very first time in music history, vomiting and exposing certain parts of his body in

front of the crowd were part of his performance routine. It was natural for negative reactions to follow, because of the intensity of his acts, leaving only a small part of followers supporting Stooges’ steps. A milestone for the band as only The Stooges now, was when they opened for an MC5 gig in Detroit and were spotted by a talent scout that led to signing a contract with Elektra Records. They released their first two albums The Stooges (1969) and Fun house (1970) that were not embraced by the audience and didn’t sell well. However, they were later recognized as seminal punk and became classics. Fun fact: it is rumored that three of the eight

songs of their first album were written the night before their first session! In the next year, more serious trouble was to come. Decreasing performance of the band (due to members’ addiction to hard drugs and alcohol), combined with Iggy’s dangerous stage acts and sales going down the toilet, resulted in their dismissal from Elektra Records and an end of their collaboration. Despite their efforts to find another label, they didn’t find any willing ones so they took separate ways. During what we could call a rough year for Pop, which finds him out of the music scene while trying to quit his deadly attraction to heroin, an acquaintance will change the game. A big fan of Stooges, David Bowie, who was a household name in the 70’s, met Pop in a nightclub in New York and encouraged him to continue his music career. Finally clean and sober, and with Bowie’s support, Iggy reunites with the Asheton brothers (Ron is changing from guitar to bass and the new guitarist is James Williamson) and under the name “Iggy and the Stooges” they reached an agreement with Columbia Records. In 1973 they released their 3rd album Raw Power, which included some of their most significant songs and, despite Iggy’s big expectations and Bowie’s involvement in production, the album had the same luck with their previous two works. Another failure, combined with Iggy’s and his friends’ return to drugs lead to the disbandment of the group. In the next years Pop and Williamson wrote a couple of songs; unfortunately their efforts found no resonance in any record label, so they gave up. Meanwhile Iggy’s addiction to heroin had reached its limit, so he decided to get himself into a mental hospital in Los Angeles for rehabilitation. And I bet you can guess who was the most frequent visitor: (Surprise, surprise) David Bowie, who kept supporting him during his stay in the hospital and in 1976 he takes his friend with him to his European tour Station to Station and directly after it they settled themselves in Berlin. Their close connection makes many people wonder if it’s something more than a friendly relationship, something that they both refused. The time has come for our “iguana” to try his luck in solo career. And it seemed that this time luck smiled at him indeed. With David Bowie always by his side (he

17 helped in song writing and production), Iggy released “The Idiot” and “Lust for Life” (both in 1977) under RCA records, experimenting with more pop-electronic sound. Both albums sold really well, and more notably in UK, where Pop was idolized by the punk movement). And somehow like this Iggy gets his first dose of commercial success , especially when Bowie takes part in his tour as a keyboardist. After one more work with RCA (the live album TV Eye) he signs with Arista Records and -without Bowie this time- he made “New Values”, which is more close to the Stooges’ sound. The album didn’t enjoy the same success as his previous solo albums, but it did have a great impact in Australia and New Zealand, a circumstance that lead to a tour there, where he made one of his historical appearances in pop show Countdown and won the Australian punk audience. Three commercially mediocre albums are following, Soldier (1980) and Party (1981) under Arista and Zombie Birdhouse (1982) under Animal label and things are starting getting bad again. In the meantime, Iggy is publishing his autobiography “I Need More”. As a deus ex machina, David Bowie comes to change things for his friend for one more time, when in 1983 he makes a cover of China Girl ( a song that was co-written with Pop and was first included in The Idiot album) and later two more covers (of Tonight and Neighborhood Threat). Iggy rests in the substantial royalties and finds time to take acting lessons and overcome his drug problem. In 1985, after a small break from music scene, Pop records some demos with Steve Jones, Sex Pistol’s ex guitarist, which impresses Bowie and undertakes the production of Iggy’s new album. Iggy and Steve write some of its songs together. Blah Blah Blah is obviously influenced by New Wave and it includes Real Wild Child (cover of Johnny O’ Keefe’s Real Wild One) which is one of his most successful commercial songs and his only UK Top 10 hit. After various collaborations and guest appearances, he records his last album for the 80s decade, with which he returns to the raw, wild, guitar-based Stooges’ sound and the commercial descent that comes with it. This fact seemed to displease his record label which decides to end their contract.

The dawn of the 90’s finds Iggy working on his new album “Brick by Brick”, which was meant to create sensation for many reasons. Firstly, it featured many guests, like members of Guns N Roses, B-52 and local groups of Hollywood in backing vocals, that accompanied him later on his tour. In Brick by Brick, the duet with Kate Pierson (B-52’s), “Candy”, contributed to the general success of the album, that exceeded in sales 500.000 copies in US alone! This time of the year, Iggy filmed his Kiss my Blood video at the Olympia in Paris, which raised controversy among his fans, due to certain clips of the video showing him singing with his genitals exposed. Surprising was his participation in the Manson Family opera by John Moran where he got the role of the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and later that year he sang in the Red Hot+Blue project, a benefit album for AIDS of the Red hot organization, performing a cover of “Well did you Evah”, with Blondie’s Debbie Harry. During the 90’s Iggy made a couple of interesting moves, like appearing in the Nickelodeons show “The Adventures of Pete and Pete”, participating in the soundtrack of the film Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare with the song “Why was I Born (Freddy’s dead) and co-operating with Goran Bregovic on the Arizona Dream movie soundtrack (sang the tracks In the Deathcar, TV Screen, Get the Money and This is a Film). In the same year he worked with White Zombie and appeared in the Black Sunshine video clip of the band, playing the character of a writer. 1993 brought a newly released record, named American Caesar, that included the quite successful songs Wild America and Beside you. A couple of co-operations were to follow, with Buckethead in his Giant Robot album and with the Les Rita Mitsouko on album System D, singing “My love is Bad” with Catherine Ringer. Then, in 1996 one of his 70’s era songs “Lust for Life” was used as a soundtrack in the film Trainspotting, gaining Iggy Pop mainstream success and putting him in the spotlight once again. A new video for the song was filmed with Iggy performing in a studio and the appearance of one of the movies actors, Ewen Bremner. It was the perfect timing for his new album

Burst { music magazine }

19 Naughty Little Doggie, that signified the return of the guitarist Whitey Kirst on the crew and the remix of one of the Stooges’ old album Raw power some months later. The sound was dirtier, heavier and rougher! It was no secret that for years his fan base complained that Bowie’s involvement in the original 1973-Stooges’ album affected its sound. On the other hand his next album, Avenue B, in with he was co-producer, had soft, mysterious sound with the use of a variety of instruments.

Iggy put the CD on sale online. As he mentioned himself about this incident “They didn’t want it. They didn’t think they would make any money, they didn’t think my fans would like it - very sensible attitudes for a sensible sort of person - but that’s a different sort of person than I am.” Besides his solo career he kept working with The Stooges participating in festivals and doing live appearances in Australia and New Zealand. He also collaborated with many artists like Slash, Death in Vegas, Madonna.

The new millennium found Iggy in the studio, producing this time on his own - his new project Beat em Up, which was greeted with a variety of views, both positive and negative. “I’m not saying this is another Raw Power, but if Raw Power is a true Iggy album, then this is another true Iggy album” mentioned his manager Art Collins. Beat em Up also was the reason of the creation of The Trolls band, consisted of Javier Franco, Iggy Pop, Whitey Kirst, Pete Marshall and Alex Kirst. They reappeared in Iggy’s next album SkullRing, collaborating with members of Sum 41, Green Day, Peaches and The Stooges’ founding members Ron and Scott Asheton! Iggy was so excited to have worked once again with his old band mates that decided to revive The Stooges. Except for the Asheton brothers, two more musicians came along, bassist Mike Watt and saxophonist Steve Mackay. After the new Stooges line up was complete, they hit the road and toured regularly. So the next years Pop was really active in the live area, both solo and with the Stooges. One important event was playing in the Glastonbury Festival in 2007, where they had the opportunity to play their greatest hits and their new material from the Weirdness album. A year later the Stooges were invited in Madonna’s induction, in the Rock n Roll hall of fame, where they had the chance to cover two of her songs (Burning Up and Ray of Light) in their own unique style. It was mentioned from guitarist Ron Asheton that the band was asked to perform in her place, in order to protest for the fact that, despite being considered for nomination six times, the Stooges haven’t been inducted in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame yet. By a twist of fate the death of Ron Asheton by a heart attack in 2009, would follow the band’s long awaited induction in the Hall of Fame, in 2010.

We have seen a lot of musicians over the years trying themselves the acting thing and Iggy was no exception. As we mentioned above he took acting classes and over the years he has appeared in sixteen movies in total, like The Crow, Sid and Nancy, and his friend’s, Jim Jarmusch, Coffee and Cigarettes (opposite Tom Waits) and The Brave. Intriguing is his participation in a Spanish science fiction western with the title Atolladero. He has also appeared in numerous TV-series, in the tenth season of American Idol to perform his all-time classic hit Real Wild Child and has borrowed his voice to a variety of characters in Comedy Central cartoon Lil’ Bush and American Dad.

During the recent years, Iggy has released a new solo album, Preliminaires, which was inspired by a novel, titled La Possibilit, by french author Michel Houellebecq. Could you ever imagine the godfather of punk singing French lyrics under jazz melodies? If not, then you should give this record a listen, which adopted jazz and blues sounds, strongly influenced by the legacy of legendary jazz musicians, like Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. His last work was released less than a year ago, with the tile Après, that in French means after, and is an anthem of French songs covers. His label didn’t support this effort, so

Nobody understands me, I’m really sensitive. Everyone thinks I should be so happy, fucking all these chicks and all the drugs and being a star. But I hurt. And I’m lonely. No-one would ever believe that this statement would come out of Iggy’s mouth. We may have Iggy’s on-stage persona in mind, where he wears fishnet stockings and tight leather pants, he acts like he’s possessed and doing all these “inappropriate” things, but there is a human side in real life - at least since he quitted drugs and his messedup period was over: a new dawn for Iggy, where he is leaving the reckless lifestyle behind and walking into the small pleasures of everyday life, like spending time with his girlfriend and his dog. “You know, I love Iggy Pop, and I respect him, but I don’t think I could live with him. But Jim, Jim is sweet and peaceful and romantic; when we’re having dinner or making love, that’s Jim, and sometimes I’ll catch him just looking at the trees and birds. It’s endearing and almost childlike, just the way he looks at the world with those big eyes. Nina Alu, his girlfriend, states, referring to him with his nickname Jim. This change can also be noticed in his last albums, where the enraged punk rock is replaced by calm, smooth jazz. Nevertheless, the misfit that is responsible for the early years’ angry punk songs will always be an important part of Iggy’s identity. Lust for life, Reckless life. It was a wild ride but it was worth it. This month Iggy is turning 66 and he is still offering us performances with infinite energy and makes us go crazy every time we hear The Passenger or Now I Wanna be your Dog! We wish him to keep rocking the world like this for many more years. Happy Birthday Iggy!

Burst { music magazine }

burst presents

dave lombardo Written by Eleni Leonida, interview by Spiros Smyrnis

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22 Dave Lombardo was born in Havana, Cuba, on February 16, 1965. Two years later, Lombardo immigrated to Los Angeles with his family. When he grew up, he became a very good drummer and co-founder of American thrash legends Slayer, with whom he has performed in seven albums; plus, Dave has also collaborated with bands such as Grip Inc., Fantômas, Philm, and Testament. Dave Lombardo is a very talented and creative man with a lot of insight and ideas. Why? Let’s have a closer look. In 1993, Dave Lombardo formed Grip Inc. with the guitarist Waldemar Sorychta. Then bassist Jason Viebrooks and vocalist Gus Chambers came to complete the line-up. The first album called “Power of Inner Strength” was released in 1995. The band had many problems with their sound, because it was similar to Slayer so Sorychta reassured people complaining that “Now Grip Inc. sound exactly like Slayer”. Then the album “Nemesis” was launched in 1997 with the withdrawal of bassist Viebrooks. Stuart Carruthers took his place in the same year; Along with the new bassist’s joining, came the album “Solidify” in 1999, which was very different from its predecessors, featuring many progressive elements and more exotic sound and rhythm. In 2004, the band released the album “Incorporated”. Grip Inc. had been facing many problems due to Dave Lombardo’s return to Slayer, as well as due to frontman’s Gus Chambers’ death. It seemed that their future as a band remained uncertain since the very beginning. In the time between the albums “Nemesis” and “Solidify”, Dave Lombardo said the big “yes” to join the band Fantomas. Fantomas started after the collapse of Faith No More, featuring the vocalist and bandleader Mike Patton, the guitarist Buzz Osborne of Melvins, bassist Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle and drummer Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, who declined and recommended Dave Lombardo. In 1999, releashed the album “Fantomas” and in 2001, the album “The Director’s Cut”. In 2004 came the album “Delirium Cordia” and in 2005 came the “Suspended Animation” and a European Tour, in which Dave Lombardo was replaced with Terry Bozzio, because Dave was on a tour with

Slayer and returned only for the final dates of the tour. The albums “Fantomas” and “Solidify” were released in 1999. In the same year, Dave Lombardo, collaborated with Italian classical musician Lorenzo Arruga to record “Vivaldi-The Meeting”, a seven-track album featuring drum improvisations on Vivaldi’s work including two pieces from “The Four Seasons”. In 1999, Lombardo performed drumwork on Testament’s album “The Gathering”, along with Steve DiGiorgio and James Murphy. Dave Lombardo is a person with many faces and he loves experimentation in music. In 2005, he recorded “Drums of Death” with DJ Spooky. DJ Spooky played his things with Lombardo playing along and interpreting his own rhythms. Earlier, in 2003, he recorded six tracks on the album “Reflections” of Apocalyptica. Apocalyptica met Dave in Netherlands in “Headbangers fest” and asked him to collaborate. Of course he said the second big “yes”. After this, Dave Lombardo became, if we can say it, a “member” of Apocalyptica. He played the drums for the track “Betrayal/Forgiveness” on the 2005 album “Apocalyptica”, for the track “Last Hope” on the 2007 album “Worlds Collide” and for the track “2010” on the 2010 album “7th Symphony”. In December 2009, Dave Lombardo announced that he had recorded a cover of “Stand by Me”, featuring Lemmy on vocals and bass, and produced by DJ and producer Baron. Then came, Dave Lombardo’s project named “Philm”, featuring members Dave Lombardo on Drums, Gerry Nestler on Guitars, Pancho Tomaselli on Bass; In May 2012 they released their debut album named “Harmonic”. Philmper formed as support act on West Coast tour dates for Rob Halford of Judas Priest solo band Halford. Plus, they played at Wiltern on December 17, 2010. By forming Philm, Lombardo experimented with postrock, proving once again that music has no boundaries if you are blessed with such talent. We truly can’t wait to see his two live shows on 20 and 21 of April in Second Skin, Athens... Until then, read the interview that Dave Lombardo gave to our very own, Spiros Smyrnis.

interview Those days, I often see myself musing “I totally love this job”. A few years ago I couldn’t even imagine that one day I was going to say on the phone: “Hey Dave this is Spiros from Burst Magazine”. Dave who? Dave Lombardo. Does this name ring a bell? “Fuckin Slaaaaayeeeeeer!!” most of you would scream. Dave Lombardo is the co-founding member of Slayer and one of the best drummers in history of metal music. Apart from Slayer, the Cuban American drummer has joined the insane masters Fantomas with Mike Patton behind the mic, while, at the same time, he was an active member in side projects like Grip Inc and the post rockers Philm. Philm are going to be on the stage of Second Skin club on the 20th and 21st of April for two gigs in front of the Athenian audience. We talked about Philm, Fantomas, Slayer, Plaka and many more. The mic is on Dave. Read that LOUD motherfuckers!

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23 Hey Dave it is a great honor man.

would you describe the music style of Philm.

Who is in charge of the music/lyrics of Philm, you or is it a team work?

Everybody is going to have an opinion. I don’t want to put a label on. I want people and fans do that. I think it’s heavy, very heavy and very powerful. Sometimes I play soft and slow but it shows my dynamic. It shows the drummer’s and band’s dynamic. It’s hard and heavy and powerful as I have already said. Then we switch very quickly and playing very soft. The musicians matter, but for fans either you like heavy music. “Is it heavy?” someone asked; my answer is

It’s a team work. We all write the music. We create music by improvising. We record this stuff and then we go back and listen to it. If you like that idea, we create a song out of it. It’s a collective effort. We both respect each other’s playing and we need each other’s influence and it’s all done. All of us are responsible for writing a song.

was left with free time and I called Jerry saying to him that I wanted to bring Philm back. So we started to think about it, we played together a couple of times and it sounded good, sounded right. We could find the original Philm bass player so we found Pancho Tomaselli.

yes. It’s not pop music you know. Definitely!

Inc. How difficult is it for you to maintain the balance between so diverse musical styles?

Philm’s debut album “Harmonic” was released last year. What was the feedback you received so far?

If I figured out correctly, Philm is a full time band, not a side project. Is that right?

The feedback was positive, because Dave Lombardo known from Slayer he went and did something different. People and journalists have listened to a lot of music, and they are tired of listening to the same shit so they wanted something different. They gave us good reviews. Of course there are also some journalists who are hardcore metalheads, very strict and they don’t accept this sound, but it doesn’t matter. If there are twenty journalists and only two of them don’t like it, I’m very happy.

It’s not difficult for the music style, what’s difficult is the schedule; you know if you book stuff with Slayer for example, you can’t do something with Philm. That’s the difficult part. Playing different styles, playing in different bands isn’t difficult for me.

Awesome! So how do Philm form into a band? Could you share with us the story behind band’s formation? Gerry and I have known each other from 1995 and I couldn’t continue back then with the band because I was working with Grip Inc, I was working with Fantomas, then I got called by Slayer and started working with them. In 2009 I was in hospital for some surgery and I

Yes now it’s a full time band. I practiced with them every day we have shows here. We have shows here in California. We have another one tomorrow, then we have another show in the States and then we go to Europe, coming to you guys. I know that most musicians don’t wanna “label” their music, but how

You have played in Slayer, Testament, Philm, Fantomas and Grip

Any tour experiences so far with Philm on the road you would like to share with us? So far they are amazing. We’ve only gave a few shows. One in Vegas, California, we gonna be in some festivals later. However people are very surprised by the energy and power of Philm and it’s only a trio, a power trio. Burst { music magazine }

24 I personally fuckin’ love power trios. Yeah, me too. I don’t have another guitar player on the stage. I think it’s the purest form of a rock band: The bass player, the guitar player and the drummer. This band obviously has a guitarist that sings. So we are like Jimi Hendrix Experience band.

Yes I did. I did listen to them. They are good man! Great opening bands. I was given some options and I chose them. I am very happy to have them on the gig. You have collaborated with many groups and musicians through your career. Which is your personal favourite, the one you would opt for?

Definitely you should expect from us a fuckin’ good and powerful show. I think they will be two great appearances. Powerful heavy entertainment

The collaboration part. Hmm... that’s difficult. I have told you that already. Let’s see. I loved the collaboration with John Zorn and his avant-garde improvisation group. That was fantastic. I also loved the Fantomas project with Mike Patton. Last but not least I love Philm, they are my friends man. We’ve been together every day, we drink a cup of coffee, practice a lot, going for lunch. We are a band.

The first one is almost sold out. Athens, shows her love to you guys.

Have you ever thought of playing in a jazz band as a full time member?

Whoah! It is almost sold out?

Nooo. It’s too soft. I don’t like all the solos you know. First the guirastist has a solo. Then the bass player has a solo. In the next song drummer has a solo. Then a piano solo. That goes again and again. The same thing. Solo, solo, solo. Enough man. Some of it are good, but some not. Especially in modern jazz where solos are redundant. It’s too much. So I think Im gonna stay with playing heavy music. Maybe, later on. I am still young. I am only 48.

You are going to be on the stage of Second Skin club on April 20th, 21st in front of the Athenian audience. What should we expect from these shows?

The first day yes. Wooooowwww. awesome. I don’t have to say anything else. Have you by any chance listened to the Greek opening acts of your shows Maplerun and Tardive Dyskinesia?

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On the 1st of July Slayer are going to play in Athens again. We, the Slayer fans wanna see you behind the drum kit. I want it too. But if we don’t have some clarity and some transparency with the financial part of the band... Well I can’t say something more. We just need to talk. We have to work it out. I hope, I really do, to be in Greece with Slayer, but now I am very happy that Philm will appear in Greece cause I really enjoy being there, the culture and of course Plaka. I like going to Plaka. Some of the restaurants are fantastic. I’m looking forward to it. We are too. Thank you so very much. It was a great honor for me. You’re very welcome. We’re looking forward to being in Greece. Bye.

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Oliver Palotai Interview by Korina p. / Photos by Stefan Heilemann

Oliver Palotai is definitely the “man behind the curtain” for many important music acts of our time! Of course he is widely known as the keyboardist of the power/progressive/symphonic metal band named KAMELOT. But Oliver has shared the stage with many well-known and respectable metal musicians! Just to name few: Doro, BLAZE, Uli Jon Roth, Circle II Circle and Epica. If I had only two words to describe him I would definitely call him a disciplined and hard working musician. Oliver took classical piano and jazz guitar lessons at a very early age and if you keep reading this interview you will certainly understand that this man lives and breathes for music and nothing else apart from that. He made his dream come true and he feels totally happy about this. KAMELOT are back on the road with a brand new album in their hands. To be honest, I was very disappointed and skeptical about Roy Khan’s departure since KAMELOT is one of my all time favourite metal bands. Tommy Karevik, their new front man, proved me wrong: he is a great performer and he helped the band to enter a new era. Apart from the fact that the new KAMELOT album features their new singer there is another special fact about Silverthorn: for the first time, Oliver Palotai is one of the main composers along with Thomas Youngblood and Tommy Karevik! It seems that the band managed very well to pick up their pieces and move forward. So, if you want to know more about KAMELOT’s new era, some special facts about their keyboardist and their future plans, then keep on reading!

Burst { music magazine }

28 So, it seems that Tommy Karevik brought some “fresh air” in KAMELOT. I consider myself as a quite huge Roy Khan groupie and I still remember the expression on my face when I listened to Silverthorn for the first time. Tommy was a great choice! He also, participated in the writing process of the album. In my opinion this fact shows how much faith you had in him. I guess you did not regret it at all, did you? It is obvious that he fitted very well with the band. To be honest, I noticed that in some interviews during summertime he (Tommy) was quite shy. It seems that he was very aware of his position in the band. How did it finally go? It was the smoothest transition pos-

But I have to admit: you and Tommy wrote the best KAMELOT song ever! And of course I am talking about the beautiful ballad “Song for Jolee”! How do you feel now, that you got involved in a higher level in KAMELOT’s composing process? In my opinion this (you as a main composer of the music along with Thomas) along with the fact that you got a new singer are the two main factors of the band’s new era. By the way, do you think that this is a new era for KAMELOT? In many ways it is. And congratulations to you for being able to look behind the curtain! I am always surprised by the fact that many journalists’ perspective does not differ from the fans’ perspective, due to the lack of research. Roy and

there are no insurances, and you can not just get a new job in such a short period of time. For about half a year Roy did not want to decide and then he finally quit. There was almost zero communication between us. So you can imagine how we felt. At least after all this was over, we could finally get things started again, look for a new singer, write new songs and all this stuff. When I held Silverthorn in my hands at last, it was the end of a long and dark period. During this time, did you have any news from Roy Khan? Did he contact any of you? No, almost nothing. He basically retreated into privacy. There is a story and a concept behind this album. The fans can

“There are definitely much more things I want to achieve as a musician and I will stay a student until my last breath.” sible. It surpassed all our expectations. Changing the singer often means the end of a band or a step away downwards. Tommy proved to be the right guy, in every sense. Regarding the recording process, he is the best singer I ever worked with, regarding private life, he is a super- nice and humble guy. Further, he is a hard worker without any trace of the usual attitude many singers have, maybe because he comes from a tough and disciplined job (he used to be a fireman in Sweden). Many fans ask this question and I was wondering if you could make it a little bit more clear: in previous interviews you have stated that Tommy was a guest vocalist in some KAMELOT gigs. Is this true? And did this happen when Fabio Leone was touring with you? And maybe this was kind of a tryout/test in order to see if he fits with you onstage? It was actually a test indeed! Tommy was on stage for only one or two songs. I remember that we were not so convinced back then, because he was quite shy on stage. We were totally taken by surprise when he proved to be the perfect front man after we officially confirmed him as the new KAMELOT singer. Probably the official confirmation was essential for him in order to find his self- confidence. Silverthorn is the album that you contributed the most during the writing process. Also, Tommy wrote most of the lyrics. I guess one of the reasons for this is Roy’s departure. Burst { music magazine }

Thomas already invited me to contribute before the release of Ghost Opera, but I was too busy with other projects back then. Also, I felt that they had a complete songwriter’s team anyway. After Roy’s departure, there was a vacant position, so I jumped in. I am very happy that the album is so incredibly well received! You are planning to release a new live DVD and a second video clip. Can you tell us anything about these? Or it is too early to talk about that? I would tell you, if I could, ha ha. We are at an early stage of the planning phase. It is quite soon to say anything exciting. Me and many other editors have said that “Silverthorn” did not have even a single weak or filler song. Well done guys! I guess that you wanted to make it very clear that the new era for the band has begun and nothing will stop you. Roy left the band but this was not the end. I guess that Roy’s departure was one of the main reasons that you all gave your best and created a killer album in order to prove that the band is still alive and kicking am I right? Can you describe us your feelings back then (after Roy’s departure)? To be honest, things were quite bad for a while. Roy canceled the US tour two weeks before its beginning. This left so many people out in the cold. It was devastating, especially for the crew and support band. In the music business

read every small detail about this in the booklet of the album’s special edition. Whose idea was this whole story? How did you conceive it? It was an idea conceived by the whole band, with the main parts coming from Tommy, Thomas and Sascha Paeth, our producer. The name, Silverthorn, was actually my idea. It is based on a classical tragedy, with all its elements. You have stated that Silverthorn is closer to your Black Halo days. Do you consider The Black Halo the most representative KAMELOT album? Do you consider it as the “roots” of the band? I just wanted to have a bit of The Black Halo’s feeling back. Maybe this happened because I joined the band back then οr because Poetry For The Poisoned is not my favourite KAMELOT album. I consider the production of The Black Halo as a fantastic one! I use the album as a pattern/model many times when I produce and mix for other artists/projects. But I would not say that The Black Halo represents the “roots” of the band. KAMELOT’s identity and specific sound was founded earlier than this album. KAMELOT have some female vocals in every album. Mari Youngblood, Simone Simons, Amanda Somerville, Elize Ryd, Alissa White-Gluz. Is it some kind of a tradition to have some female vocals in every album? It is an essential part of KAMELOT and an aspect I would not want to miss as a

29 songwriter. Let’s say that it adds “color” to the whole concept. How was the tour with Nightwish? You have stated in a previous interview that you were hoping this tour will help KAMELOT to become a bigger name in the States. Did you have any feedback regarding this? Did you guys achieve this goal? Yes, it totally helped us to achieve a big deal. I was surprised by the fact that many Nightwish fans encountered KAMELOT’s music as a new experience. And we got tons of feedback from them, mostly positive, as they seemed to be glad to discover us. So, sometimes it is really worth it going back to the status of a support band. OK, enough with KAMELOT!. Let’s talk about your other band: Sons of Seasons. You stated that you are hoping to release a new album with Sons of Seasons in late 2013. Do you feel that this band has met your expectations? Also, do you consider this band as a side project or as a main act of yours? Hm, I don´t really distinguish it in that way. When I work on a project I really focus in it. Sons Of Seasons was supposed to be my “playground” as a composer, without being limited by anybody’s expectations. Unfortunately, the band was founded in the worst period of time for the music industry. So many people consider music as a free product,

they download illegally and they destroy companies and careers. In general, we experienced the biggest problem we could ever face: Labels were not willing to build up a band any more, over the course of 3- 4 albums, but expecting a big success with the debut. This cannot work with non- mainstream music like Sons Of Seasons. Another thing is that I discovered (with Sons Of Seasons) that I am much more of a studio guy than

a live musician. I love to work, mix, produce and compose 15 hours per day in my studio, getting up early, having some daily routine, sleeping in the same bed every night and stuff like that. KAMELOT are not touring too much, so I am always looking forward to play with them. But with Sons Of Seasons we had to go down to the bottom again, into tiny, dirty clubs and lose so much money. Nevertheless, the band is growing slowly, considering the complexity of the music and we are definitely going to record our third album. Was there a main idea behind Sons of Seasons? You created this band right after you left BLAZE. Daniel Schild and Luca Princiotta followed you. I noticed that the lyrics in both studio albums are rather aggressive and let’s say that they are not talking about birds and butterflies! You are the main composer of the band, you wrote most of this stuff and my question is: do you want to pass any specific message through these songs? Let´s say that I don´t like that much lyrics which are either about personal life or philosophy. I don’t really like doing the “guru thing” and by saying this I mean putting the band into an elevated position of spreading wise words. I am interested into history, politics, science, literature. That is reflected in Sons Of Seasons lyrics. What made you choose Henning

Basse as the singer of your band? I saw him in Japan, where he was playing with Firewind. He was such a great front man, so I asked him afterwards if he had any free time for another band. Well, he had and here we are! I have to admit that I noticed some very nice compositions in Sons of Seasons albums (like Melancho-

rium, Wintersmith, Sanctuary, Yesteyears). Do you have any certain thoughts about how you want the next Sons of Seasons album to be? Or is too early to say anything? I usually have a kind of musical vision in my head before I start the writing process. This is what is going to happen for Sons Of Seasons third album as well, but it is quite hard to describe it. It would be like using words to describe a color. It would lose its magic. I want to focus more on the distinctive and unique parts of the band. All the editors confirmed that we achieved creating our own sound and I really want to emphasize that even more. Now, that commercial success of Sons Of Seasons became practically unimportant to me, I can assure you that the next album will be far off from any mainstream and it certainly will not be suitable for people who like mainstream songs which are easy to consume. In Silverthorn there was another keyboardist who wrote two songs: Bob Katsionis from Firewind (he wrote “Falling like the Fahrenheit” and “Leaving too soon” which is included in the special Japan edition). How did this happen? How do you feel about the fact that another keyboardist contributed in KAMELOT’s album? Oh, I don´t really mind. I don´t classify myself specifically as a “keyboardist” anyway. Those songs are based on some of his ideas, other parts are from us. Bob

is a cool guy and a good musician, so it is always an honor to have him on board. You are a classically trained musician. Have you ever thought of writing music for movies and scores? Are you interested in this? Well, this has been one of my main occupations, for years now. Right now I am Burst { music magazine }

30 notating and re-arranging the orchestra scores for Epica’s upcoming Retrospect show. Also, I am orchestrating two audio books at the moment. Doro, Circle II Circle, BLAZE, KAMELOT, Epica, Sons of Seasons: you have done quite a lot! Do you feel kind of fulfilled? Or there are still many things to do in the future? Do you feel satisfied when you look back? Have you regretted for any of your steps? I am a rather happy person! I always say, “if I would die now, I would not have any regrets”. I took some risks in my life in order to become a musician: There were times when I had no money to pay my bills because I kept on studying instead of making money, but all I have to say is that it was totally worth it. Also, I consider that I quit bands at the “right” time, when I felt I was standing still as a musician. But there are definitely much more things I want to achieve as a musician and I will stay a student until my last breath. Apart from a full time musician, you are interested in teaching and music production. You play the guitar, the bass and the piano, you do orchestrations, you even played the piano in Liv Kristine’s solo album (in the

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song entitled “The Rarest Flower”)! Do you consider yourself as a multi-instrumentalist (I can not find a better word to describe you actually!)? Do you always want to keep yourself busy? You seem to be kind of a restless spirit! I am just horrible when I can´t use my brain. You know these postcards or commercial pictures that displays the typical white beach and palm trees? This is the perfect picture of hell for me! On the other hand, paradise for me is a huge library and some instruments. The choice of a particular instrument does not matter that much to me. They are anyway only a medium to channel the music in my head. One last question, guys are you going to visit Greece? I can assure you that Greek Kamelotians are killing (literally speaking!) to see you live! I don´t really know when it will happen, I will just say that it will happen in the future. I would doubtlessly like to come again to your country! The problem is that many people think that the band books the concerts. Well, if I would book a tour, we would probably end up in Siberia! I am a horrible organizer!

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Sakis Tolis

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Interview by Spiros Smyrnis Burst { music magazine }

Sometimes words are not enough. Spoken, or written, they really don’t matter. Sometimes talk is cheep and a deep breath or a silent gesture speaks for itself, especially when it comes to stuff we love and respect. Rotting Christ 25 years now, doing the devil’s work. The Greek Black/Dark Metal pioneers are still here motherfuckers. A month ago Rotting Christ released their twelfth album, ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ. We are happy to have a short chat with Sakis Tolis (guitars, vocals), the man behind Rotting Christ, regarding their new album and everything else we need to know about this legendary band. Non Serviam!

Hey Sakis it is a great honor man. Hey Spiros. Thank you very much. So ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ: To me is a multi-cultural sound amalgam, where you managed to perfectly combine metal with traditional music, spoken in many languages. Do we have to learn Romanian for Cine Iubeste Si Lasa to sing along? Yeah, just like I do. You know every record I released is a process of meditation. I talk to myself and express something new without denying my black metal roots. You could listen to the classic Rotting Christ riffs in the new album, like in any other album we have ever released. Releasing twelve albums, which are going to sound exactly the same, is not a challenge to me. I want to be honest to the audience and Rotting Christ fans out there. I don’t care grabbing a guitar to write some songs, release an album one year and tour for one more time. I write an album when I’m feeling like it and that took three years this time. In my opinion, the biggest challenge Rotting Christ had to face is that they have a “sound following” from the early days of Passage to Arcturo and Thy Mighty Contract to ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ. This is much harder than it sounds. You know, when trying to evolve your music, it is easy to cross some lines. We are lucky enough because we are underground in terms of way of thinking, so we are down to earth. We have our brains still in our heads, that’s why we keep releasing albums like ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ. So let’s stick to ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ album. Great title because everybody is fighting his personal demons. That’s true. Burst { music magazine }

Which is the feedback you received so far on the album in question? The feedback received is great. I am really impressed because there are people who tell me, that this album is probably our best after having released twelve official albums. We have already done two front covers for magazines, in many of which ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ is voted as the album of the month. It is common sense that there are people who won’t like it. Some people may say that I prefer the early Rotting Christ releases. I’m with them, but these albums have already been written. I cannot write the same staff. The band evolves its sound, without missing the dark feeling in the music and I can be nothing but satisfied when the feedback and first vibes are so great. How would you describe the sound of ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ to a Rotting Christ fan and how to someone who has never listened to Rotting Christ stuff before? To a Rotting Christ fan I would describe the new album as the Rotting Christ in 2013; a band faithful to its roots, which takes the listener on a journey through dark places. As for the one who has never listened to Rotting Christ stuff before, I would tell them to search for Rotting Christ discography in order to understand the feelings of our music and then we can welcome him to Rotting Christ family. The production of ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ was done in Athens (Devasoundz Studios), while mixing and mastering was done in Sweden. Does the result satisfy you? I am completely satisfied with the result. I had plenty of time recording the album. As for the mixing and mastering process this time I chose the hotter producer, Jens Borgen (Paradise Lost, Opeth, Amon Amarth), who gave a new “sound image” to Rotting Christ, which

refreshed the band. There were some changes in Rotting Christ lineup. 2 members Andreas and George left the band, while George and Vaggelis replaced them. Would you like to share the reasons for this decision? There were personal reasons and I don’t want to say something more. I wish Andreas and George the best of luck in their upcoming plans but Rotting Christ keep playing their music. One way or another I was the one writing the songs, producing, recording. My brother and I are responsible to maintain the true underground Rotting Christ feeling. The guys who joined the band have already made a European tour and they give their best. Time will tell if they stay in the band for many years, but everything’s fine so far. It is refreshing you know to change your line up sometimes. Someone is going to tap your back and say: Come on Sakis, let’s go, because we are not kids anymore. We’ve reached our forties. We still raise the metal flag in the sky and fight for what we believe. We get used to Ancient Greek and Latin in your last albums; in ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ we could listen to Romanian, Slav, Incas languages. Interesting indeed. The new record is a multicultural journey. We don’t have any title in English this time. I feel badly when we are trying to sound American because we are not. I believe in the sense of being multicultural. I wanna dive into ancient and unknown civilizations, into unspoken languages and the depths of dark places. How does the audience react to the use of Greek, Latin etc.? As you may understand the use of nonEnglish languages is anti-commercial but we don’t care. We have already released 12 albums and we don’t make our decisions based on commercial demands. I don’t have the insecurity to sell more

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36 albums and make front covers in magazines. Satanas Tedeum in 1989 was a grindcore/black metal demo. ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ in 2013 is multicultural dark metal. The sound story of Rotting Christ so far! This is the reason why I feel so happy, because I manage to compose dark music. And you do that using the “five-tone climax” from Epirus; a difficult task indeed. The most difficult thing is not to sound comical, ‘cause the line is so thin. To me the fact that you are the mastermind of Rotting Christ helps the band to combine and mix these different sounds effectively. It’s easier for one person to give the right music direction than two or three guys.

age video of “In Domine Satanas” DVD, where a guy from Venezuela is pounding his chest, screaming: Rotting Christ My Heart. This is why we love this “job”. This is our reward because as you know the band’s finances are not the best. I am familiar with your underground beliefs, which you support by releasing from underground labels like Nuclear War Now, even you become more popular through the years. Your last release was an awesome triple vinyl edition of Apocathylosis, Dawn of the Iconoclast and Ade’s Wind. I fuckin’ love it, releasing 7” inch EPs, no matter how strange it sounds. I also like the non-conformity of Rotting Christ. I personally like this attitude Sakis. You have never denied the underground roots of Rotting Christ.

“When I formed the band I had a dream to play on stage for just one time. Few months ago I celebrated 1000 gigs. I haven’t imagined that”. I agree 100% with you. This is the third album released by Season Of Mist. I suppose that you are satisfied by the label in question. You cannot be 100% satisfied by a label because there are contradictory interests. Season of Mist isn’t as big as Century Media but they treated us as a top-priority band by promoting our work and pushing the new release, so we are happy about this collaboration. 25 years since the band was formed; did you imagine back then that Rotting Christ would be in the front line of metal in 2013? When I formed the band I had a dream to play on stage for just one time. Few months ago I celebrated 1000 gigs. I haven’t imagined that. If I were thinking that I will do this and that, then I wouldn’t do anything. When I started playing my music I wouldn’t dream of success and stuff like that, because underground never forgives. Ten years ago I couldn’t imagine that I would keep playing and releasing albums. I like fighting for my ideas, for my music, which can keep company to someone in Brazil. I remember a scene on the footBurst { music magazine }

we do in the next album? You have earned many achievements. One of the greatest to me is that you have been in the front line of the Greek Metal Scene. You were the Pioneers of Hellenic Black Metal Wave in the early 1990s and 25 years later you are still kicking some serious ass. I appreciate the fact you are helping new bands with guest appearances like my friends “Nekkar”. How do you see the Greek Metal scene nowadays? As you said we have been in the front line of Greek metal scene for many years. In the early 1990s there were a lot of bands who created the Hellenic Metal sound, but we are the ones who stayed. Through difficult times we have toured every place in the world, guided by our love for music. We’ve never given up. Now we are very happy to see that more and more Greek bands realize how the things should be done. They played in world tours and festivals and they prove that there is another Greece, apart from the Greece of economic crisis. It is a country with a cultural presence. Which is your favorite track in ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ album?

Because we are underground man! We have never denied it and we never will. This is our perception on metal.

Don’t ask me that. As a composer I treat each and every song I’ve written as a child of mine. Which is your favorite?

Gods and Demons: They attract you and repel you at the same time. In the case of Rotting Christ, gods and demons inspire your music. What do you find appealing in such stories?

It’s ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ but I also liked very much the one written in Romanian.

I like these stories. I like tripping when I write my music. I’m interested in Ancient Gods and everything with a dark concept. Some people may say: Which is the meaning of all these? Sometimes there is no specific meaning. I want the listener tripping with me and my music. I don’t write cheap lyrics like Fuck Society and Hail Satan. I just write a story and the meaning is up to you. ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ is the third album of a trilogy started with Theogonia and then Aealo. There are many people who highlight this and I don’t have a reason to disagree. The nuggets of ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ were first listenable to Theogonia and your new album finishes off them. You’re right. So the question is what do

Many people shared this thought. I also love your Diamanda Galas cover on Orders from the Dead. Me too. What about your Tour plans? We just booked a tour in Latin America and there are yet more to come: Europe, Greece, everywhere. Rotting Christ is an active live band and our official pages can help our fans in finding out what’s next. Any other projects you are involved? Thou Art Lord for example. We are writing the new Thou Art Lord album now. Then I am committed to Rotting Christ 24/7 and I really like it. Thanks a lot Sakis. I’m honored! Thank you too Spiros. I wish we share some words in a Rotting Christ concert. Till the next time… NON SERVIAM!

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I have already expressed my admiration to Serenity Broken in It’s Not Greek To Me # 12, where I have published an article dedicated to their debut album, “Commercial Suicide”. The fact that the album in question has been nominated for Best Alternative Metal Album in Metal Storm Awards 2012 speaks for itself. This time, we have a little chat with the band’s two guitarists: Andreas and Marios at Absente Cafe, Thiseion near Monastiraki about everything you need to know on the group. Read that loud! Interview by Spiros Smyrnis

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39 So guys I am very happy to speak to you. Would you give us a brief bio on Serenity Broken? Andreas & Marios: Us too man! Andreas: Such a small bio. The band was formed in 2010. At first, we were three guys but we wanted more. Aris had to focus on vocals, we need another guitarist so we put an advert! Marios and Lucas found us. Advert? Wow old-school! Marios: Guaranteed stuff! Andreas: The story goes like this: I’m a close friend of Victor’s (drummer), Aris joined us and we start jamming. The first two songs came out easily so we gave the thing more thought. Maybe this band goes somewhere, we said to ourselves. When you are at the age of 27-28 you cannot consider yourself as a young man. You are not old either, however you find that this group is probably your last chance to make something great. We played in some other bands before, so we wanted Serenity Broken to be something different, something more professional. So as I said before we need 2 more members and we put an advert, from where Marios and Lucas found us. Before them, some “strange” cases contacted us. Tell me more! Sounds very interesting. Andreas: Till Marios came we interviewed whoever you could imagine. 45 year old guys smoking weed, classic rockers… So ultimately we had to choose between Marios, a loudmouth from Koropi and a guy from Halandri.

guitarist. As for the bassist, another long story… We put another advert and only one person answered back: Lucas, who, thank God, is a great player. So we had to plan our next move. We would release an EP a demo, a full album. Marios: So we just say fuck it all and no regrets. We will release a full length album in the most professional way. We “bleed financially”. Andreas: We chose Ahti who offered us a great deal. Marios: He gave us a low price and he did excellent work. Andreas: He did overtime and he was a great pro. We said to him that the mixing would take 5-7 days but we ended up in the tenth day (each day has a huge cost for us). I asked Ahti where do we stand financially and he answered to me: “The price we had agreed on”. Ahti had to deal with a lot of difficulties. He received a raw version of the tracks raw and we had to communicate via email because the cost of recording and mixing in Finland was restraining. We overcame the difficulties caused by the distance and “Commercial Suicide” was finally ready. What about your influences? Which are your favorite bands? Marios: We have a singer who’s into grunge and classic rock. He used to hate metal. As for the drummer, he is a radio pop fan. Michael Jackson, Pink, Aguilera. So how does he play drums on a metal band?

Marios: It’s not my fault. He asked me about the equipment I use. So I send an ultra-informative email to let him know.

Andreas: We inject him “metalline”. He is a great drummer and gets the feeling easily so when we tell him you have to work your breakdown and sound like this, he just does it! The bassist is into funk and Australian rock and we are metalheads. Deathcore, metalcore…

Andreas: When Marios came, we said we found our

Marios: Everything that goes with core. I loaded my

You were the loudmouth from Koropi, right?

card with I-tunes. You can call me an I-tune freak. This is my walk at Exarcheia. I buy tons of music, around metal of course. Andreas: The metal “core” of Serenity Broken is Marios and me. The rock side is Aris, which is obvious in the songs he has written. We give everything that is rock a dope of “metallity”. If you could listen to the first version of Slip Up you would probably say that this was a different track from the one released, in Commercial Suicide. Commercial Suicide: Nice title! Ironic, right? Andreas: Yeah. Ironic, but also real since we would make a sharp comment if we managed to succeed. “Commercial Suicide” is something that I was told when I sent a demo of God Like Demon( a majestic black metal band I played in 2002) to Nuclear Blast. Andy told me that signing newcomers is a Commercial Suicide. Marios: The title has various meanings. Somebody can tell that is a reference to the nature of music industry nowadays. Andreas: So you have to work professionally, making a proper release which should satisfy you. You pay a lot of money for this one, hoping that something bigger will come out. You send it to the press, you play it on stage, at first for you and then for people who like your stuff and your sound. So it is a commercial suicide. Marios: You take for granted the fact that you invest some money in your album, that you will never get back. Andreas: If you ever get some it will be an extra reward; an important one though. Marios: Very Important. Lat summer I saw you on stage, playing for Music Waves at Nea Makri. I was really impressed. Andreas: I was shocked

when you first told me ‘cause I remembered each and very one who saw us that day. Manthos, who was responsible for arranging that gig, also did the artwork of Commercial Suicide which is ass-kickin’. Marios: Yes, we used to hassle him about the final result but it was worth it. The thing that I love the most about Serenity Broken is that their sound is much more different than other Greek bands. I cannot label your sound ‘cause it is based on classic Metallica riffs, influenced by Godsmack and southern metal bands like Corrosion of Conformity, while the vocals are “grungy” sometimes. A Greek band that plays modern 2010s metal. Marios: I think that we just fit with each other musically. Andreas: The basic key is that our material is hard and heavy. The feedback received so far is great. Am I right? Andreas: Indeed. Leaving aside a review by someone who thought that our intention was Grunge resurrection, the other reviews for Commercial Suicide were brilliant. Especially abroad, we took’ em by surprise. Is this a Greek metal band, do they say! They were mostly used to Black/ Death Metal bands from our country... We had some proposals about signing a contract but we reject ‘em all! This leads to my next question. “Commercial Suicide”: Self Financed, self released. Pros and cons? To me this is the only road for a newcomer band. Andreas: Exactly. A label could undertake the distribution of an official release, nothing less, nothing more. Marios: Exactly. And nowadays the point is not to get your album distributed Burst { music magazine }

Photo by Ioanna Papouli

in Mozambique or Honolulu. The point of view is very important here. There are some bands looking for any deal or contract for that matter, so they sign it immediately. They have read the fine print, no matter what it is mentioned there and every contract is loud and clear. I got one few days ago and it was straightforward. So I sent it back with marked spots. One NO, Two: NO, Three: NO, Four: NO. I had other bands waiting, the representative said. We had other proposals too, we answered back. The biggest pro of self-release is that you rule yourself. You sell the album, you take all the income, you set the price on everything. For example “Commercial Suicide” is available on bandcamp for 5 Euros. To me this is the right price for a compact disk, today. I was impressed when I got my copy because the usual price on bandcamp is 10 euros even for a Greek release. Marios: We discussed the matter of pricing and we reached the decision of selling for 5 euros because we think this is a good price for everyone. Andreas: George (Kollias) recommended us to give it for free, but I didn’t want that. We bleed to make this record so we couldn’t give it for free. We set a low price and so far we have sold many copies. We have the ability to release it with our own terms. If we were in a label we Burst { music magazine }

couldn’t do that. It is good to know that every label asked for money, in order to make a promotional campaign. Some labels have promotion packages for that matter. For 1000$ you get this, for 5000$ you get that etc. We will probably follow the same tactic for the next one or two. There are only 4 or 5 labels that you would sign, without looking at the contract terms. Nuclear Blast, Roadrunner, Century Media. By adding you in their list you would gain a lot. Working with George Kollias: How did this collaboration come up? Andreas: George has been a close friend of mine for 10 years. I approached him as a fan and bought him a beer because I loved his style. Then we became friends. We sent him our material and he chose the track he liked the most, which fit his style. He just did it! Def with George was ass-kickin’.I truly respect George Kollias the man. He is a great friend of mine, plus he is the one who gave us the most useful advice about Serenity Broken. He was to the point and I’d like to thank him for that. Respect. I found the lyrics of Commercial Suicide very interesting. A part of them is included in the booklet of your debut album. Andreas: Aris, who is the man behind the mic and lyrics, is not with us right now, but I can speak on his behalf. I’d

like the lyrics to be some kind of mystery, that’s why we took some lines from each track of Commercial Suicide and we put’ em translucent in the booklet. As for the lyrics, Aris is the one who writes them. They deal with loss, love, hate. All these intense feelings mark and affect our lives. The lyrics are just like Aris, a bit odd. You can see your story through Aris’ lyrics, because that’s the way he writes. Metal Storm Awards! A great achievement for Serenity Broken. You are nominated for Best Alternative Metal Album with some “unknown” bands like Therapy? Serj Tankian, Gojira and Deftones. One morning I received an email. I opened it and I read carefully that we are nominated for that. I just said oooookkkkkk. The funny thing is that the other three members don’t know the “value” of Metal Storm so they asked us what Metal Storm is. Metal Storm had already given you an excellent review on Commercial Suicide. Marios: Yeah! I liked this review because it was spot-on like yours. Andreas: They point of the review in question is: This might be your next guilty pleasure. So you hardcore metalhead just give a shot with these guys. You will probably enjoy it. It was a great honor. We are very happy for this

41 nomination.

you have any tour plans?

So this achievement of yours is added to the overall achievements of the Greek metal scene. Despite being in the middle of a financial crisis, our scene gets bigger day by day.

Andreas: Tour plans hmm…Things are simple. You have the money, you buy a tour. If you are not a band like Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh or Nightfall you have to hire a manager, who will book you some gigs. For example I found this tour: twenty days 15 shows, 8000 Euros and I can get you in. To speak with numbers so everyone could understand the difficulty of being on a tour. Apart from money I’d like to be on tour with a band that we fit musically. This is what happens in Europe; it is much more difficult than in the U.S.A, where we fit better.

Andreas: It is a coincidental phenomenon to me. It just happens that many Greek metal bands released great albums, took part in world tours, etc. The Greek metal scene kicks some serious ass. Great releases, professional works… Andreas: At last. I truly respect that the bands work very hard, finance their albums and get what they deserve, without any label’s help. Marios: You have to be a step ahead today so that somebody will give your music a listen. Leaving the songs aside, production and videos have to be professional in order to attract the listener’s attention. This is how it goes. Serenity Broken on the road. Do

What about a Greek tour? Andreas: We don’t have a manager. I’m doing this work. It is very difficult to organize this. We have to be on tour with a bigger Greek band. Most of them prefer to have local acts as support bands. I don’t want to sound cheesy but there are some Greek bands, who have a bad attitude. They don’t even answer to our emails when we ask them if they wanna

tour with us. I think that all the bands should be more co-operative. We have to avoid the cliques. We got nothing to lose, trust me. The next question is not all cliché. Which are your next plans? Andreas: Someone asked me in a radio show if I have booked any shows for 2013. Who Am I, man? Gonidis to close Posidonion just for me? (Unfortunately only Greeks could understand this hilarious joke). We will try playing on stage anywhere we can. We gathered our material for the next one but it is too early to say something more. Marios: We have made the shooting of our first official video for the Alone? track and we discussed the perspective of shooting another video too. Thank you very much guys. Rock on! Andreas, Marios: Thank you too man

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6strings from the land down under

Joe Matera on burst! by Eleni Leonida

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43 Hey Joe.. Make us a proper introduction about yourself so that people can get to know you. I am an Australian based instrumental melodic rock artist and a singer/songwriter. I am signed to European label W.A.R Productions, and have released two CDs to date, ‘Slave To The Fingers’ in 2011 and ‘Creature Of Habit’ in 2012. I have also played guitar for legendary British music artist Steve Harley on his first ever Australian promo tour in 2012 and my guitar playing has also appeared on several other artist’s recordings. Where has everything begun for Joe Matera, the guitarist? What was the first spark to get you going with the six strings? It began for me when I was a 15 year old teenager. I loved the classic rock bands of the day especially from the 1970s and when I saw guys like Kiss and AC/DC on television, it blew me away. Seeing guys like Ace Frehley and Angus Young performing, and the way they played guitar and the effect it had on their live audiences, was very impressionable upon a teenager like myself. It made me want to do the same thing. It lit the fires of my passion for the guitar. Do you have a favorite guitar in your collection? All my guitars are favourite, I can’t pick one really, it is like asking who is your favourite child? They are all favourites! I primarily use these days Fender Strats that are all fitted with DiMarzio pickups. Previously, I was a Gibson Les Paul user. I still have my Les Paul Standard but have retired it from the road and the studio. I have it tattooed on my forearm as well. My Strats now give me everything I need when it comes to my sound and playing, they are gutsy, textured and have a unique tone which I love and they are very versatile guitars. Which was your best on stage collaboration? It was working with Steve Harley. It was a pleasure and an honour to play guitar for him. It was truly one of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences of my playing career. How does it feel like working with the legendary US producer Tom Werman? It was great working with Tom when he produced two tracks for my former band. I learned a lot from him and many of the production ideas and approaches that I now use, I learned from Tom. He also had so many stories to share with me about his years working with Motley Crue, Cheap Trick, Poison and so many other rock and metal bands. The experience was like both business and pleasure

all rolled in one. Double Vision was you first band. How you feel about having a double vision in your life? Yes, Double Vision was my pride and joy and a serious cover band with over 200 gigs under our belt. I started the band in 2003 and the band went through a number of different line ups during its lifespan before I disbanded the band in 2008 to concentrate fully on my own original material. During the band’s existence we played some very interesting shows, travelled to some very interesting places and also recorded a couple of well received demos. Another fine collaboration was with Atomcraft . How did that come up? I was introduced to Atomkraft main man Tony Dolan through a mutual English friend around 2004 and since then, Tony and I have become very good friends. At the time, Tony was looking to record a cover version of Thin Lizzy’s Cold Sweat and so I sent him some of my demos of my guitar playing that I had and he loved them and so asked me if I wanted to guest on the track. I was honoured to have been asked, so I went into the studio and recorded a guest guitar solo on the track. Your new album is named “Creature of Habit”. Tell us a bit about it. Why this title? A hidden message perhaps? The title is somewhat a reflection of my character; I am a creature of habit. I like a certain routine with some things in my daily life and so it is like a habit for me. Plus playing the guitar is part of who I am and can be considered a habit too as I need to do it every day. Thus the title was very suitable on many levels. My wife came up with the title actually. It is mainly an instrumental album, driven by guitar and lots of melodies but is in no way a guitar shredding album per se. It is music that would be considered a rock song album if it had vocals instead of the guitar, but in this case, the guitar is the “vocalist”. The album also includes my first venture into vocal territory with the song “Fallen Angel”. This song is the first time a recording has featured my lead vocals. The response to the song so far has proven to be very positive so much so that, in future I will be including more vocal tracks alongside my instrumental material. ‘Creature Of Habit’ also features a number of guest players on several tracks;, Mick McConnell from SMOKIE plays a guitar solo on the track, “Outland”, Rick Brewster from Australian rock legends The Angels plays a guitar solo on ‘No Way!” and Fred Mascherino formerly of Taking Back Sunday guests on ‘Endless

Summer’ The bassist for the majority of the tracks on my new album and my previous album [Slave To The Fingers] is my friend Tony Dolan (Atomkraft, Venom, M-Pire Of Evil). Tony also plays on “Fallen Angel” too. Why “Creature Of Habit” is your first full length album after all these years? I was mainly in bands for many years and with my last band we recorded an album that was released, but once I took the solo route and got signed to W.A.R Productions, I was finally able to focus on my own material fully in order to record an album’s worth of my own material and see it released via the label. Any comments about the song “Fallen Angel”? I think the respected music journalist and radio broadcaster Malcolm Dome summed it up the best recently when he said that it was “…Refreshingly mature, classy melodic rock; very much of the modern era, but also with hints of the classic days of the genre”. How did journalism come into your life and how it is to interview the myths of Rock and Metal? It is something I fell into and started doing it in the late 1990s. Eventually it became a full time job, and I managed to interview many of my music heroes and write for some of the biggest magazines in the world. This allowed me to see many sides, both the good and bad sides of the industry. These days, my total commitment and focus is on my playing career. Many of the classic metal and rock bands were fantastic to speak to, and to get a glimpse into their inner world was a truly wonderful opportunity. I learned so much and it was a wonderful way to build great long lasting relationships. What do you think of “newborn” singers in our era? Are we gonna listen to another DIO, or all the classic icons will eventually fade? I think the bands of our era will never fade; many young bands of today look to these bands of our youth as a source of inspiration. Every band today no matter how young or new, there is something from those bands from our time that they will take or learn from or be influenced by. It was a period that was timeless and inspiring and will continue to be so for generations to come. What else do you have in stock for us? What else is to be expected from you? I am working on new material for my second full length album and I shall be returning to the road on my next European tour in the early part of 2014. Hope to see you all then. Burst { music magazine }

nobody takes vegas Nobody Takes Vegas is a 5-person band from Long Island, New York that instills a sense of musicality in hardhitting and emotionally honest rock songs. Their self-titled debut EP is available for download on iTunes and at www.nobodytakesvegas.com. We are talking to Harrison Feuer, the guitarist of Nobody Takes Vegas. Enjoy!! by Hope Vnz

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45 How did you guys get together? I have probably known Jack (our other guitarist) for over 10 years from going to summer camp together. We had been talking about playing music together for a long time, and when we finally got around to jamming, we started writing songs that clicked immediately. We played with several different lineups of other musicians until Jack thought to reach out to Nick (our singer), who he knew through a friend of a friend. Once Nick came over, he clicked immediately. Then it was a matter of bringing in Nick’s friend Jimmy (our drummer) and my friend Rob (our bassist) and before we knew it, we had our current lineup.

we felt 100% ready, but the excitement and pressure from that led to us getting to know the songs much better and to creating what we feel is a more honest and emotional record. We couldn’t be prouder of how it came out.

Are there any artists or bands you look up to and have influenced you when composing your own music? We all bring a wide variety of influences into the writing process. We have a very strong local music scene out of Long Island and a lot of very successful bands like Taking Back Sunday and Glassjaw have sort of paved the way for what bands can do when they start within a real grassroots community of people who love music. All of us have taken different pieces from that perspective to our writing. Jack, Rob and I assemble most of the instrumental and structures of every song, and for the most part, none of us listen to the same music. Our singer Nick and our drummer Jimmy’s taste are equally diverse, and they bring those influences as well when crafting their own parts. The clash of ideas and the eclectic taste in music that we all have makes working together such a fun and challenging experience.

How was your experience of shooting your first video ‘Riding in Cars with Bears’? We have had the great fortune to work with a real professional in our friend Matthew Greenberg, a very talented film student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. We also happened to schedule the shoot for that video on the two hottest days of the summer. Between the bear costumes, which I think 6 or 7 people rotated wearing because of the heat, and the long hours of filming, it was a very intense process. But in the end, it was very fun and rewarding. Definitely something we’d do again.

Tell us more about your first digital album ‘Nobody Takes Vegas that has been out a few months. The album really served as a catalyst for the beginning of Nobody Takes Vegas’s growth as a band. Jack and I had written and played the songs for well over a year, which is before anybody else was even in the band. When Nick, Jimmy, and Rob joined up, it allowed the songs to evolve into something much stronger. We went into the studio to record before

How can people reach your music? Do you have a website or anything on YouTube? Our EP is available from our website at www.nobodytakesvegas.com and on iTunes and Spotify (among other websites). We also have a YouTube channel that features live videos and our music video for ‘Riding in Cars with Bears,’ at youtube.com/NOBODYTAKESVEGA5 (that’s a 5 at the end, not an S)

Have you started touring in order to promote your music? If not, would you like to? No tours just yet, but we’re pretty new to this business. We have found Twitter and Facebook to be great ways to spread the word about what we’ve been doing and reaching new fans for the time being. If we find that touring is something that would both push us forward as a band and be feasible for each of us personally, it is definitely something that we would be interested in doing. We just have to see what shapes up for us. They say that the best part of being a musician is sharing your music with the audience. What does this mean to you? The benefit of being a new band is that

anybody who listens to you for the first time has no expectation for how you’ll sound. Everybody in the band believes fully in our songs and in our ability to play them. So when people get what we’re doing, and are even blown away by it, there is a real appreciation that we all feel. We’re still just as humbled each time that we receive a compliment as we were the first time we had ever gotten one. If we’re enjoying ourselves and the listener is enjoying his or herself, then we’re doing it right. Any bands you’ve played with live and you admire? Any bands you would like to join the stage with in the future? We played a show in late December with my and Jack’s favorite band of all time: He Is Legend. It was a real milestone for both Jack and myself as musicians, and really just another show for everybody else in the band. There are still a ton of other bands out there that we all really look up to. We’d really be happy to join any band for a show. You are quite a new band that consists of talented young members who are making their dream come true. What advice would you give to all of the new bands who aspire to be noticed by the audience? I would tell any musician to focus on being absolutely honest in their writing. Focus on writing music that YOU want to hear. The more you get out of it, the more everybody else will get out of it. The whole point of doing this is to have fun. And the good thing about having fun is that in this case, it’s usually contagious. Thank you for your time! One last question: What are your hopes and expectations for the future? Going forward, we always hope to learn, to grow, and to write better songs. That’s what we think every band should want. The best part about meeting those goals is that success will come as a result of effort and experience. And that’s an idea that we’re very comfortable with.

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Scott Fernandez 4 strings are not enough by Evi Tasakou

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47 Did you choose to play the bass or you were chosen by the bass? I had the good fortune of ending up on bass by mistake. I was accepted into an Arts High School (Secondary School) for music. I played a lot of instruments at the time and when they asked what I wanted to play I asked if I could be in the Orchestra. The director informed me that the only spot available was on the Upright Bass so I said “well, it looks like I will be playing Upright Bass now”. I was very fortunate to happen up it. I haven’t seriously played another instrument since the moment I touched the bass. It really is the only instrument for me. What makes a bassist a virtuoso? I think that other people make a bassist a virtuoso. I have no idea whether or not it’s based on talent or if it’s how many fans or what. All in all, I don’t think a any bass artists just started calling themselves a virtuoso out of no where. Some say that less is more.. do you think that a musician has continuously to struggle for proving their ability? Is this some kind of a trap and may misguide the real feeling of playing and make it extinct? The “less is more” argument tends to be a justification. I hear it mostly out of people who no longer practice their instrument or who no longer have any interest in improving at what they do. It is true that the space between notes is equally important as every not played but to say that playing less is better is stating something entirely subject as fact. No one way is better since art and artistry is relative. It’s all based on the listener pursuing what they want to hear and the what the artist wants to make. I find that I make music that I want to hear. That is my primary goal when writing a song. Some songs have more notes than others. Some songs are faster and others are slower and when it all comes down to it it just so happens to be EXACTLY what I wanted to play. How difficult is it to play a multiple string bass? How far can this go?!? HA! It’s very easy to play. It’s still just a bass. No matter how many strings it has it is tuned like a bass so it all just kind repeats, over and over. I think that it will go as far as people are willing to work out the technology. So long as amazing luthiers and technicians and players are willing to keep progressing than there will be and more amazing things to come. Nowadays we may say that we live in the fusion-of-thegenres-era. Some call it World Music and others don’twant-to-name-it music.. Do you want your music to be categorized? I would LOVE for a simple genre or title for what I do. It would make explaining it to people SO much easier. Instead, I have to use all of these sub genres in place of a clear and concise title or label for it. As it stands, I tell people that I just play music. Whatever I feel like playing or what I end up doing falls under that umbrella pretty simply so I just go with that. Is it hard for a solo artist to get attention? Have you ever been interested in forming a band? It’s not exactly easy but I don’t mind the work. Because of the nature of what I do, I will play anywhere where a band would play or anywhere that will have me. I never turn down a show

and I never stop working on bookings. That means a number of things. It means that I have to do all of the promotion, booking, socializing with fans, loading, playing, and explaining of the project and that is a whole lot of work at times. I wouldn’t have it any other way. As far as being in a band is concerned, I’ve been MANY bands. I actually made the choice to do this solo project because I was tired of the egos, arrogance, complacency, laziness, and general disposition of most of the bands I had been in. It gets VERY old when you are the only one working towards growing a project and working towards a goal of making the best music you can. Do you think it is important to have a bass teacher and/ or even become one? I never had a teacher and I have never taken a lesson. I have had the good fortune of assimilating a lot of knowledge as I played and learned all that I can from all the musicians that I have ever gotten to play with. When I was in school, I got by on the fact that I have a relatively good ear for music. I only have to hear a bass line once to memorize it and be able to play it. (Not so easily with the more complex ones). My first band after that was a Bluegrass trio on the Upright Bass and my first band on the electric bass was a funk band. Those two things shaped my knowledge of the instrument. ... and then I found rock/metal and I’ve been playing rock music and jazz music, ever since. We live in a difficult era (not meaning that problems have not always existed -it’s just that they are differently the same in different moments of the human history) and I constantly remind my students that now, we need art & music even more. It is not a luxury, it is a necessity. What do you think? I believe that with music/art there is a trans-formative quality within it. How often does one say that a song cheered them up or that a painting made them feel sad or that a sculpture helped them visualize beauty? These things are of great benefit at all times but become that much more evident when things are bad. I would say that music is a requirement for me, for sure. It exists with or without me but I am very grateful for it. What are you near future plans? Any chance to perform in Europe? I absolutely plan on coming to Europe. I feel as if that would be a new and wonderful adventure. A place to share my music with an artistic community that would appreciate it. I’ve had the good fortune of getting to go to Italy and Spain before in my younger days and both were wonderful experiences. Where can we find your music? You can pick up my music anywhere that music is sold digitally. Amazon, iTunes, Rhapsody, lastFM, soundcloud, bandcamp, etc. You can also check me out on my facebook and youtube. www.facebook.com/scottfernandezbass www.youtube.com/shinigamikusajika All available to be listened to for free but it is all up there for purchase and such. I am truly grateful to any and everyone that has taken the time to check it out.

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Haunted by Heroes enroll in the School of Rock By. David Anthony G.

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50 What if Angus Young started playing in shows at the age of 12? Then, I suppose the school uniform would make more sense. OK, how about a little Jimi Hendrix? OK, a mini Neil Peart? Without making your head think too hard; if you think about a group like that, without any help from Jack Black, you are describing Haunted By Heroes. The 12-year old California quartet that has just about the same resume as a music veteran. The band first met each other at a day-care center when they were babies. By the age of seven, after that toddler alliance, and a big help of the highly appreciated music game Guitar Hero, Haunted By Heroes starting playing together constantly. Now at the ripe old age of 12, with their guitarist Max, age 14, being the oldest, Haunted By Heroes just released the debut single, “Devil’s Slide” on ITunes, as well as the official music video on YouTube. But, before their first single, they played on various shows like the legendary Whisky-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, and even bigger than that, appeared on America’s Got Talent, singing “We’re Not Gonne Take It” with hair metal master Dee Snider himself! Nick, the band’s singer and bassist, belts out vocals like a front man three times his age, alongside his twin brother Chris, who pounds his drum set just as fierce. And do not forget the riffs and shreds of guitar players, Max and Charley. You may think of them as a novelty band. If someone asked you “Hey, do you want to see a metal band made of kids?”, the curiosity would be unbearable. But, the curiosity would turn into a impressive surprise, with the sound of vintage metal for timeless listeners by these musical tikes. Just to make the record straight, novelty isn’t a bad thing, meaning original or unusual, Haunted by Heroes has the young edge for success. So, 10 years from now when they hit their adulthood, they won’t be the youngest band in the worldanymore, but more of a serious musical force to be reckon with. How long have you been playing together? Nick: We have been together as a pro band for four years.... We started gigging at eight years old.. and getting paid.. We played The Whisky in Hollywood when we were nine. How did you guys form? Charley : Nick and Chris, the twin brothers in the band - came to my mom’s day care center when they were three years old.. We started banging on pots and pans.. Then we got Guitar Hero when we were around five years old.... After that we got real instruments and started jamming when we were around seven years old. What came of the name Haunted By Heroes? Chris: Our manager Mr.Turner came up with that.. He said it just popped into his head while he was driving.. We had another name before.. but some business guys said we had to change it. So we did. Everybody likes the name and that’s cool. For as young as you guys are, Nick Hero has a very mature voice, When did you notice you had a voice for rock music? Nick: My voice was always deep even when I was really little. It’s funny for me to listen to our recordings from when I was nine years old.. because my voice was higher then.. but it got even lower when I was about eleven years old. It’s the only voice I’ve ever had so I don’t really think about it.

you guys fans of right now? Charley: Bullet for My Valentine - Exodus Max: Toy called God- Death Angel Chris: Tool- Maxx 12 Nick: Kraterface- Octane Mob Burst: Who is the oldest out of the four? They’re all twelve- I just turned fourteen I am a teenager- they are not ha ha! What was your biggest achievement in music? Nick: Maybe recording with Sylvia Massy .. also recording with Jack.Douglas..Maybe being on The Today Show or America’s got Talent as a guest with Dee Snider. Chris: Playing Candlestick Park Max: Playing America’s Got talentMeeting Howard Stern and Sharon Osbourne Charley: Meeting Sharon Osbourne was really cool. Who are your musical idols? Nick: Bon Scott (Favorite singer) Paul McCartney (Favorite bassist) Max: Jimi Hendrix (Favorite guitarist) Chris: Neil Peart (Favorite drummer) Charley: Gary Holt (Favorite guitarist) What is the meaning behind your new single, “Devil’s Slide”? Nick: That’s the highway in between our house and where our manager lives.. It’s a part of Highway One in California.

Haunted By Heroes has two singles out now, when will your first album come out? Max: We are releasing singles and a few videos for now.. But soon we will make the entire CD available. . Maybe in a few months. People keep asking for the whole thing .. but our record company says it’s a good idea to send out singles first.

This question is for Max and Charley, when was the first that you knew you wanted to play guitar? Charley: When I was three I started playing air guitar.. and when I was five I played Guitar Hero.. Then I got a real guitar and started up. Max: When I was a little kid.. maybe four or five.. I listened to Muddy Waters and other blues guys.. and knew that was for me.

Individually, what newer bands are

This question is for Nick and Chris,

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you guys are obviously twin brothers, If you had a chance to switch instruments with each other, do you think you would be able to play your brother’s instrument of choice? Nick: I play a little drums.. I can hold a beat... That makes Chris mad.. he tells me to get off his kit. Chris: I like to play bass.. Sometimes we switch and people get confused because we are twins. Is there any other genre’s of music that you can listen to besides metal? Max: I like the blues - and bluegrass, all types of music, really.. Classical too, I play piano. Nick: I like some rap.. we can all rap.. I listen to all kinds of rock.. even some country. Charley: Rhythm and Blues ..Motown.. regular 70’s rock Chris: Jazz This question is for all of you, Name one musician you want to meet one day in your life. Chris: Buddy Rich Charley: Malcolm Young Nick: Bon Scott Max: Angus Young How does it feel to be the youngest rockers ever? Nick: It’s cool to play shows and do recording sessions. We don’t really think about the age thing that much. It’s just fun to do music.. and see the fans enjoying it. Where do you see yourselves in the next 20 years? Charley: Hanging out with Malcolm Young!! Nick: Touring Europe Chris: Yeah, on tour - somewhere -hopefully Max: In a recording session

Beyond Perception I’ve heard about them. I knew they had the Potergeist drummer behind their drums. I also knew they had a cool debut album, under the cool name “Blood and Whiskey” and an even cooler front Cover. I saw them on stage at Christmas Eve, before 1000Mods and Nightstalker and I really liked their heavy sludgecore style. Here’s what they said: What are your influences and favorite bands? Well, I would say that our influences come mostly from the American Metal underground scene, but also from Blues to Jazz and other music styles . The bands that have influenced us are so many, but if I have to mention a few, these are Pantera, RATM, Clutch and Motorhead. What was the feedback you got from “Blood and Whiskey” album? We are fully satisfied from the feedback we got from our second album. We gained more fans and got some great reviews from various magazines and websites. Because of this album we got to book a tour outside our country and to play with bands, such as Annihilator and Spiritual Beggars. Two years have passed since the release of “Blood and Whiskey” album. Has this period been active for you? The thing is that we were focused on the recording of our third album, so I have to say we weren’t so much active and this also had an impact on our live performances. We had some gigs, but they were just to keep us in shape. Are there any plans for a new release? As I mentioned above, we have already finished recording our third album and we are now in the process of mixing. I believe the album will be ready within a few months. I don’t know whether you hate labels or not, but how would you define the musical style of Beyond Perception? Groovy, definitely! On February 16th you shared the stage with Drunk Motherfuckers, Phase Reverse and Swedish Hard Rockers, Horisont. How was that? Lots of energy and alcohol! It was the first time that Horisont visited Greece, and we are enjoyed that gig the most. As for the other two bands, they are both good friends of ours, so as you can imagine, it was a great party that night!

By Spiros Smyrnis As a band, you are constantly evolving your sound. I’m sure this is intriguing for musicians, but how about the fans? Well, evolving your sound is always a risk. For example, our third album is quite different from “Blood and Whiskey”, so we are curious to see the feedback we’ll get. The only thing I can assure you of, is that we always do our best to have an excellent result and keep our fans satisfied, cause without them we wouldn’t exist. You had some gigs outside Greece. How was it? A fantastic experience. We can’t wait to hit the road again. Is the recession affecting your band? Does it give an extra motive to show your potentials? Of course it affects us. In situations like these, you have to change your priorities in order to survive because having motives but no money, equals nothing. Inspiration always exists, but you have to find the means in order to turn your idea into music and then share it with your fans.

The Greek Metal scene has broken the underground circle where it had been moving some years ago. Do you agree with this overall observation? I’m happy to hear that and strongly believe that we have many new and talented bands that are ready to prove themselves. Of course, our scene has changed a lot within the last few years and if things go better from now on and we find ourselves again, I’m sure we are going to make some great music. My brother asked the next one: Chuck Norris or Bud Spencer? Bud Norris! Hahahaha... Bud Spencer was our inspiration for the second album. We keep Chuck Norris for the future. The last words are yours. Never give up. P.S: Respect to Tolis’ Rocco Siffredi T-Shirt in Hydra video.

Burst { music magazine }

ALBUM REVIEWS

52 about this album: the lyrics were written once again by Pekka Kainulainen but this time they were not based on Kalevala (the national epic of Finland).

Amorphis - Circle Amorphis disappointed me during 2012. I saw them live and I left the venue with a heart and mind full of doubts. Let’s say that it was the first time I saw the band live, the anticipation was too high and finally I was not very satisfied by their performance. As a result, when I received their brand new album entitled “Circle” I was much more curious and impatient to check it out. I will be honest with you: I did not expect them to release a new studio album that soon. However, I think it is kind of a tradition for this band to release a new album in every two years period of time! So, what do we have here? “Circle” was recorded in two different studios: the drums were recorded at Petrax Studios (Finland) and the rest of the album was recorded at 5K Studios (Finland). The first special detail about this album is that this time the band chose to work with a different producer: the one and only Peter Tägtgren (Pain, Childern of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir, Celtic Frost)! During the recordings of their previous album (“The Beginning of Times”) the bandmates felt that and I quote, “the making process didn’t offered any surprises and appeared to be quite secured. So, they simply decided that this has to be changed in their new album. The mixing and the mastering of the album were done by Peter Tägtgren in Abyss Studios (Sweden). The cover artwork of the album was created by Tom Bates (Bleed from Within, Devil Sold His Soul). Also, there is a second special and important detail Burst { music magazine }

“Circle” is a concept album. But why “Circle”? Is there any special meaning on the album’s title? And where did this title come from? Good questions! The word circle represents integrity. According to Tommy Joutsen (vocals): “Back in the days, when there was something special to talk about, wise men used to sit in circle. Not everyone was invited to join them. But in this story, the protagonist was invited among the wise men’s circle.” “Circle” is their eleventh studio album and it includes 9 tracks (plus a bonus track entitled “Dead Man’s Dream”). The album starts of with a real bomb: “Shades of Gray”! Aggressive vocals and melodic clean vocals performed by Tomi Joutsen, who sings a powerful chorus with a totally full heart! “Mission” features a beautiful and dreamy feeling. I guess this happens due to the alternation between the guitars and the keys which is more obvious after the bridge of the song. “The Wanderer” is a track more similar to the band’s style during their “The Beginning of Times” days with one big advantage: the hearty guitar solo! “Narrowpath” follows: here is another certain reason to call this album a special one! Wind instruments appear for the first time ever in an Amorphis album! “Hopeless Days” was chosen to be the first single of the album and it has already been released (on March 1st, 2013). There is also, a lyric video for this track, online. I would call it a typical Amorphis’ song: it starts off in a rather aggressive way but the song itself includes many alternations. Lyrically, this particular song tells the story of the whole album: It’s the story

of a man who lives on the fringe of the society. He feels like an outsider from the time he was born. And then, an accident happens and he connects himself with his inner powers by using the help of a guide who was sent to him from a different time and place. The protagonist grabs the opportunity to change his whole life and future. As the band declared this is a story of a survival. I would say that “Nightbird’s Song” is the second bomb of this album: Tomi Joutsen is literally roaring! A very small but interesting detail about this track is the wind instrument that appears once again. “Into the Abyss” follows and I can assure you that it actually has nothing to do with a real abyss! In this track you can easily notice the “usual Amorphis’ keyboard playing style”, a small detail which is although one of the band’s most remarkable features. “Enchanted by the Moon” follows and it features harsh and clean vocals by Tomi who carries us away with his magnificent and vivid performance. “A New Day” is the track in which the power elements in the guitars dominate. And once again the wind instrument brings that feeling of Celtic/Indian music elements to our minds. Actually, the whole album has a feeling of power metal elements and features taken from Celtic/Indian music. These two facts surprised me in a very nice way. “Circle” is a much more melodic album than their previous ones. Actually, all the melodies are much simpler and this is a big advantage for the band because the songs are being able to stay in someone’s mind. Also, there are some specific parts in the album which manage to transfer the listener towards dark paths and into different places. Esa Holopainen stated that he consider “Circle” as their best album ever. I think it is too early to agree or disagree with him (it is quite early to talk about that generally speaking!). I can only say that “Circle” is a very good step for this band. They managed to get in the studio and record a killer album. I think that with this album the band will gain some new fans! As for me, this album managed to make me want to see them again live! Korina P.

53 which definitely gives us the right impression on what is about to follow. A rather “in your face” track, I would say. Jake E and Elize Ryd sing “so set me free and this time you will be electrified future is nothing behind, it’s my afterlife”.

Amaranthe - The Nexus Amaranthe are back on track! Oh, wait a second: Have they ever stopped being in the spotlight? The answer to this question is no. Touring with Kamelot and Stratovarius (as co-headliners), getting millions of views on youtube, signing a contract with Spinefarm Records and becoming “the next best thing” in female fronted metal scene (and not only that) are not things that happen every day. Elize Ryd met Jake E in a bar in Gothenburg, Sweden and this is more or less how everything began back then. To be honest, I cannot recall any other bands similar to Amaranthe. They are one of a kind, since they play a unique type of music: melodic death/power metal blended with pop and metalcore elements. Their music includes almost everything: pop choruses, harsh vocals, melodic clean male and female vocals, electro elements, blast beats, harsh riffs. Their self-titled debut was extremely well-received by the fans and the press. So, the time for Amaranthe’s second studio album had finally come! “The Nexus”, which will be released via Spinefarm Records, was recorded, mixed and mastered in late 2012 at Hansen Studios in Denmark (Volbeat, Avantasia, Pretty Maids, Doro, Diabulus In Musica, Dragonland) with Jacob Hansen as their producer. The band worked with Hansen studios for their debut album, too. The artwork of the album was done by Gustavo Sazes. The album starts off with “Afterlife”

“Invincible” continues in the same style. As for “The Nexus”, it is already released as the album’s first single and it is indeed one of the catchiest songs I have ever heard in my life. The official video released by the band for the same song was directed by the one and only Patric Ullaeus and it is more or less a small action movie. “Theory of Everything” is full of metalcore elements (Andreas Solveström carries us away with his performance at the bridge). “Stardust” is a beautiful track with Elize Ryd mainly behind the mic, which also features a small but nice and sharp guitar solo. “Burn with Me” was a small surprise for me: a down-tempo track with acoustic guitar parts in the beginning, some rather rap male vocals here and there, an epic chorus and overall is a nice duet between two great vocalists (Elize Ryd and Jake E). “Mechanical Illusion” is in my opinion another one of the catchiest tracks included in this album. It is actually a “radio friendly” track and I have a strange feeling that it will be a single in the future.

solo. Is this enough? I think so! “Electroheart” has definitely a dance beat and a chorus that will stick in your head for a quite long time! In “Transhuman” the keys play the main role. Another strong track which features intense drumming and an impressive guitar solo. In the last song of the album, “Infninity”, Elize Ryd sings “infnity keeps me alive” and makes us feel rather nostalgic. As I mentioned before, Amaranthe is a unique band for sure: It features 3 different vocalists (Elize Ryd clean female vocals, Jake E clean male vocals and Andreas Solveström harsh vocals), all of whom participate in almost every track. What makes this album so special? Well, I don’t know if Amaranthe are excellent musicians, I have never seen them live so I don’t have a certain opinion on their abilities on stage. In any case, “The Nexus” is an album full of creative elements (this electro/industrial feeling all over, the small but accurate guitar solos here and there, the fast alternation between the vocalists, the intense drumming), strong choruses and catchy melodies. Even if you do not dig their style (e.g. they mix many and different music styles and elements) be sure that some of the choruses will stick on your head! Also, I was thrilled that for once I listened to an album which features some sci-fi and futuristic lyrics (“Stardust” and “Future on Hold”). Don’t forget that Elize Ryd stated that the band wants to bring new energy in people’s lives and they want to make their fans think positive and become fighters. I think that this is what the album managed to accomplish. In my opinion “The Nexus” is actually a sequel of their debut album: they continue what they started back in 2011. Maybe this band looks too extravagant to some people. I can only say this: If you feel too old do not listen to this album! Korina P.

Let’s see if I will be right or wrong! Oh, I totally forgot to mention that this song features an epic guitar solo! “Razorblade” is what we call a pop anthem which also features intense riffing. You can even dance while listening to it! And then, “Future on Hold” follows. What do we have here: Solid rythm section and guitars, double bass drumming, blast beats and of course another small but pleasant guitar Burst { music magazine }

ALBUM REVIEWS

54 I could have never listened to before. Bands like Forgotten, the music project of Tolga Otabatmaz from Turkey, who characterize their music as medieval epic metal. I don’t consider myself the biggest fan of epic metal, but I have been a devoted fan of Manilla Road and Warlord since my childhood. The band of William Tsamis has influenced Forgotten, especially on the guitarplay of Otabatmaz.

Forgotten - 13 Martyrs When I joined the Burst team and they asked me if I wanna be in charge of the album reviews I didn’t say a thing but this put a huge smile on my face, exactly showing how I feel. The reason for my smile was because I could get in touch with bands around the world, bands

Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell and Angels Jimi Hendrix has undoubtedly won a place in the guitar heroes’ pantheon. To be more precise, he became a god when he left the world of the living. No surprise there: Hendrix revolutionized the art of guitar playing by transforming it into a total breakthrough. Continuous experimentation with guitar sound in each and every album and live show, scales, chords progression, it’s all there. What seemed to intrigue Hendrix was doing new things with a guitar, things that no other musician has tried before; playing it through wah-wah pedals and massive gain, picking the strings with his teeth, or even setting the guitar on fire are just some examples leading to this assumption. This signature guitar style, imitated by many, reached by none, resulted in Jimi Hendrix’s becoming an idol larger than life by musicians around the world. After his passing, Jimi ascended to the rock ‘n’ roll heavens, where his divine Burst { music magazine }

13 Martyrs is the debut album of Forgotten, which was recorded in 2008 and released by the Austrian Noisehead Records (the one that has signed the Greeks Acid Death and The Fallen Within) few months ago. Judging by the cover it’s easily to understand that “13 Martyrs” is a true epic metal album. Born and raised by epic metal masters Forgotten is among the most respectful epic metal bands in Turkey. Listening to “13 Martyrs” I can amplifier feedback can be heard for all of eternity. Fortunately, we are thankful he left a treasure for posterity: demos, outtakes, unfinished recordings, archived live audio, and stray handwritten lyrics. Naturally, the music industry has always been taking advantage of the death of an icon, hence, in that case, the posthumous LP’s released: The Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge, and War Heroes, First Rays of the New Rising Sun , Crash Landing, just to name a few. Plus, the collaboration between Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix resulted in the release of some box sets and LPs, People, Hell and Angels being the latest. Except for the Guitar God himself, the album features Billy Cox (bass) and Buddy Miles (drums) (the Band of Gypsys). Stephen Stills shows up. The recordings sound raw– and real. As for the lengthy and diverse guitar solos, they’re on every song, as expected. The feeling I got when I first gave the album a listen was travelling back in time; it was like somebody pressed the record button while Hendrix and his crew jammed in the studio (which is quite possible). Opening “Earth Blues” is a rock-meets-soul amalgam and easily the catchiest tune on People, Hell and Angels. Hendrix sings his conversational jive-talk as Miles and Cox follow with a vintageMotown like harmonized chorus. Originally featured on 1971’s Rainbow Bridge, the song is presented here in a different, looser form. The same applies to “Somewhere”, which sees Stills on bass. Highlights of the album: “Earth Blues” and “Crash Landing”; I must say that the latter is so good that it’s hard to believe

understand why. The album is dedicated to 13 men who fought and died defending their land. Music-wise, the album is based on classic heavy metal riffs and emotional solos, plus there are some melodic ballads among the songs like “Agony Cries”. “Conquer” and “Shadows” are my favorite tracks of the album. Both of them have an excellent lyrical construction and really inspired riffs. Adding elements of their oriental tradition, Forgotten give the listener something he would appreciate. I definitely respect the attitude of Forgotten and Tolga, who is making the music he loves without caring about success, recognition and chart-numbers. I recommend them, especially to the epic metal audience. Spiros Smyrnis it went unreleased for so long. Hendrix sings to then-girlfriend Devon Wilson, begging her to quit on drugs: “And look at you, all lovey-dovey when you mess around with that needle / Well, I wonder, how would your loving be otherwise?” His lyrics are so personal and transparent that they touch the listener’s heart. Overall, the album both offers moments of brilliance and insight and moments when the saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” comes to mind. I mean, I don’t think a different version of certain existing songs is necessary after all, since the originals were already brilliant. For example, “Hear My Train A Comin’” and “Bleeding Heart” were already featured in Blues album, released in 1994, in a better form than the one included in People, Hell and Angels. The main negative aspect of the album is that some songs are so rough soundwise that they were probably better off unreleased (e.g the solo in the middle of “Easy Blues”). In conclusion, People, Hell and Angels features some killer tracks which are definitely worth our while, especially given the fact that it’s some kind of a balanced, consistent posthumous anthology with never a dull moment to the listener. It’s a classic, authentic release, which definitely deserves your attention after so many years since Jimi joined “The Great Gig In The Sky”. Marianna Kofinaki

55 the band itself. That’s why it seems that their next album Blood Oath unfortunately couldn’t exactly keep up with those standards. Four years have passed and the band has finally made their comeback by releasing the album “Pinnacle Of Bedlam”. No surprise there: Suffocation have never been a “release machine”, rapidly and consequently launching albums year after year. First things first: Let’s stick to the title: Pinnacle Of Bedlam (writer’s note: The Bedlam was a mental institution in London established in 1357) implies that not only fans are going to get crazy, but reach an absolutely insane state of mind. Million-dollar question: is the album true to its name, the perfect example of saying “good things take time” materialized? The answer is yes, pure and simple: The album signifies a glorious comeback, true to their signature sound, and (guess what?) their trademark blast beats.

Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam Suffocation is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable death metal bands of the last decades. As if the band’s name and album cover aren’t major clues enough, Suffocation are a brutal death metal band emerging from the raging pits of New York back in 1988. Thanks to their “signature” blast beats, the band played an integral part in shaping the extreme metal we all know today. We would say that Suffocation have already reached the “pinnacle of death metal” after a long history in the genre, demonstrated by a “we don’t follow, we lead” attitude; tempos faster than the speed of light, boasting crunching distortion soaked guitars, racing riffs, and bellowing molten vocals all typical of the best in the genre: Or, in plain English, masterpieces as “Effigy Of The Forgotten” and “Despise The Sun” are definitely valuable death metal “diamonds”, totally priceless. After the band’s reformation a decade ago in order to deal with their temporary split, Suffocation ended up releasing their self-titled death metal masterpiece in 2006, by raising the expectations and standards very much for both fans and

It is evident that the band has clearly put some serious effort into this album. It seems that there’s a certain flow in the songs’ direction….a flow towards both headbanging and feeling amazed with their slightly more technical side. The overall outcome is an amalgam of more traditional death metal sounds, brutal elements and techno-death riff-ology and (surprise, surprise) drumming. Production-wise, we would say that the sound is less “raw” in comparison to their previous album. This doesn’t deter you from definitely having a blast (did I mention the blast beats?) regardless. Lead vocalist Frank Mullen has somehow managed to maintain his raging voice throughout the past two decades. Frank has managed to do so regardless the effect of the passing on time on a singer’s voice, especially

David Bowie-The Next Day After a period of silence in terms of album releases and live performances, David Bowie finally launched his brand new album ‘The Next Day’, coinciding with the

celebration of his 66th birthday. The record was produced by his longterm collaborator Tony Visconti who said about Bowie that ‘He writes and performs what he wants and when he wants’. Bowie had been working on his new album for a long time, although no one really had any idea about it. Preferring that it would remain a secret, he released the cover of the album and the song and video ‘The stars are out tonight’ just a few days before the album was released. Most fans thought that the cover portrays David Bowie himself, but the truth is that it is sculptor Al Farrow’s 1990 rendering of the painter Egon Schiele. ‘The Next Day’ consists of 14 songs and the deluxe edition features 3 bonus tracks. The background behind his songs is more like

when it comes to brutal vocals. And here goes some kind of warning: Maybe some “pure” death metal fans will find the album “too diverse” for their taste, regardless of the fact that Suffocation’s sound is highly recognizable. For me, that diversity means progress. The first song, Cycles of Suffering hits you so hard and gives you a first clue on what’s next. Suffocation are definitely true to their statement of the album’s title: To drive us completely insane and to want us to give the album a listen again and again. There’s a raw power in the songs that makes the album so enjoyable, that you want to listen to it again and again from start to finish. The first four songs (Cycles Of Suffering, Purgatorial Punishment, Eminent Wrath and As Grace Descends) are pure Suffocation masterpieces and definitely highlight the band’s progress. Overall, Suffocation gladly invite us to reach the “Pinnacle Of Bedlam”. Each track is hard hitting, balls-to-the-wall heavy metal, and has yet to show any weak points. The mixing quality is noteworthily great, which helps each song perfectly transition to the next and adds up to an even more enjoyable listening experience. Any death metal fan, especially established fans of the astounded group, should definitely look picking this album up, and take great pride while listening to it at full volume. To cut a long story short, Pinnacle Of Bedlam is Suffocation back at their best and another glorious gift to the death metal world. Get your Frank Mullen arm ready and keep your head banging till you go absolutely insane!! Marianna Kofinaki

social commentary and less like based on Bowie’s life except for one song- ‘Where are we now’, where the singer looks back at his life. The most exciting part about his album is David’s ability to change (or should we say evolve) through his music while maintaining his style and keeping up with the music scene of our age. It is impressive how an artist can still be so highly inspired and full of life after all those years. Known for his constant desire to reinvent himself and experiment with different music styles, Bowie came out with another music masterpiece. There is no doubt that he was, he is and he will be one of the most influential musicians and personalities of pop and rock universe. Hope VNZ Burst { music magazine }

56 ence and manifests why they are a band striving for constant evolution.

other songs the band has written, ‘My Number’ is probably one of the catchiest pop songs you will get to hear this year.

Foals - Holy Fire In 2008, Foals introduced themselves with their debut album ‘Antidotes’. Artsy, cryptic and difficult were some of the characterizations the Oxford quintet’s music received. In 2010’s ‘Total Life Forever’ they made a shift to comprehensive and emotive rock, establishing their position as one of the most innovative and intriguing British rock bands of the last decade. Their latest and third album ‘Holy Fire’ reflects their mainstream pres-

Inhaler, Holy Fire’s lead track, which received a considerable amount of airplay before the album’s release in February sounds enormous. It’s a slow-build track with a neat Yannis’ Phillipakis falsetto that suddenly bursts with guitars in the mould of a heavy hard rock band and Yannis’ howling: ‘’Don’t throw your fortune away/and I can’t get enough space’’. ‘Inhaler’ is preceded by ‘Prelude’, a fourminute instrumental which was probably written for warming up the crowd in arenas. The other leading track from ‘Holy Fire’ is ‘My Number’ and it’s no wonder it’s placed straight after ‘Inhaler’ in the album’s sequence, as together they get the album off to an amazing start. “You don’t have my number, we don’t need each other now/You can’t steal my thunder cos you don’t have my lover’s touch”, sings the frontman, whose lyrics refer to not getting texts from his ex because he changed his number. Unlike any of the

However, Foals’ major strength is making ambient music which makes you think and ‘’Late Night’ is a stand-out track that falls into that category. Dark and brooding, it slowly builds with a rare guitar solo from Yannis. Plus, if you are on the lookout for standout moments for the band’s live set, then ‘Milk and Spiders’ and ‘Providence’ will certainly do the trick. ‘Providence’ is the heaviest and fastest track of the album and brings out the best in Jack Bevan, the bands’ drummer. Foals decide to slow things down near the end of the record with the last two songs, ‘Stepson’ and ‘Moon’, both being more delicate affairs. Critics have been calling the Oxford band more emotionally substantial than most of their peers and ‘Moon’ proves exactly that; a fragile track that evokes emotion and perfectly completes the Foals’ journey. Alex Iokeimidis

Sacred Steel - The Bloodshed Summoning

After the release of a powerful debut album, Sacred Steel was the first German band to enter a “giant” record label, Metal Blade Records, where they stayed for two albums. Since then, Sacred Steel fell from high to low and one can say that they currently are part of the cult metal scene. Despite the fact that Sacred Steel doesn’t sound “fresh”, I really enjoyed listening to “The Bloodshed Summoning” over and over again because it’s pure Heavy and Metal! The band’s new album is as “traditional” as old-school heavy metal; simple, plain and uncluttered forms of Teutonic metal sound. Gerrit Mutz’s vocals are hard and raw; however, I found his

clean vocals rather “poor” in some more melodic parts, mostly in “When the Siren Calls” and “The Darkness of Angels”. Music-wise, “The Bloodshed Summoning” has got awesome guitar riffs by Jens Sonnenberg and Jonas Khalil, excellent bass by Kai Schindelar, plus Mathias Straub is truly a drumming machine!!! In my opinion, “Under the Banner of Blasphemy” and “The Night they Came to Kill” are the main two album highlights. Although I don’t like (I never did and I still don’t...) The Misfits, I do like “Dig Up Her Bones” cover as performed by Sacred Steel. Sissy Fanouraki

Six Feet Under – Unborn New album from Six... or should I say Twenty Feet Under? After the band having released album “Undead” less than a year ago, the 10th studio album “Unborn” must be a commemorative album for the

band’s 20-year presence in the death/ grind metal scene. “Unborn” is so “groovy” and “catchy” that I really enjoyed it; I have been listening to it over and over again without getting bored... This definitely is an album I would gladly listen to in my car or at home, which I would strongly recommend to friends who are familiar to death-ish sound... Some may think it’s another Six Feet Under mediocre album. It’s not rocket science: It’s death metal and it’s Six Feet Under!!! If you expected riffs extraordinaire, extremely complicated melodies and “social” lyrics then, yes, it’s a bad album. Personally, I loved the deathcore elements, the aggressive riffs and the growling vocals of Chris Barnes and the overall dark-evil-ish mood. All in all, “Unborn”

is a pleasant surprise! It’s a mature and maybe one of Six Feet Under best albums since 1997’s “Warpath”. Featuring many guest appearances – guitarists Ben Savage (Whitechapel), Jari Laine (Torture Killer), Rob Arnold (ex-Chimaira) – and an excellent production, this effort will ultimately gain the respect of fans. Lyrics-wise, Six Feet Under haven’t changed much and that might be its only negative point. I guess the recruitment of incredible drummer Kevin Talley (Daath, The Black Dahlia Murder, Hate Eternal, DevilDriver) was undeniably a “smart choice” while guitarist Ola Englund along with Steve Swanson brought a complete different and new dimension to the songs. I strongly insist on giving this album some of your time, it’s definitely worth it! Sissy Fanouraki

Burst { music magazine }

Valor - The Yonder Answer Valor started in 2002 as a project of Spyros, Chris, and Vaggelis. They had already started working on some songs later in the summer of 2003 when drummer Thodoris joined in. In June of 2004 they released their first mini LP called ‘The nameless one’. After 4 years and several live performances, Valor released their first full-length CD

‘Destiny’s Path’ in April 2008. 2 new members joined the band later. Thanasis, who has already played in July 2007 concert in Kallithea, on keyboards, and Vasilis on Guitars. Valor are currently recording their third full CD “The Yonder Answer”, which will feature 10 songs based on a common concept. The album is recorded at Hideout Studios, with the collaboration of producer – sound engineer Kostas Rigopoulos. This is a brief bio of Valor, another Greek metal band that plays epic heavy metal. Although I’m not a big fan of epic metal myself, I truly respect the Greek epic metal bands, which, year after year, have created an underground scene that raises the flag of our country high above the metal skies: Sarissa, Marauder, Battleroar, Airged L’Amh, Validor, Wrathblade just to name a few. Valor signed at the Cyprian cult label Pitch Black Records, (please keep in mind that the guys of Pitch Black have done an excel-

lent work with the albums launched) and they released their third full length album a few days ago. Well, things are pretty simple. If you are a fan of traditional heavy metal with an epic atmosphere and classic Iron Maiden riffing then you should check out Valor and “The Yonder Answer” ASAP. The album begins with a two-minute intro and then the metallic assault we all are waiting for begins. Classic metal riffology, The Iron Maiden-like influences on solos and sharp keyboards reminded me of something the Great Warlord once said: “And the cannons of destruction have begun”. Realms of melodies bear down on the listener. Great work on production, interesting artwork yet the songs (my favourites are “Follow Me” and “Answer’s Yonder”) are those that are make you wanna bang your head night and day.

HTDA - Welcome Oblivion Undoubtedly, Trent Reznor is one of the most creative and open minded musicians of the last few decades. After 25 years of constant presence in the music industry, his work, as well as his statements, have always won the interest of fans of music, either talking about Nine Inch nails or for his most recent project, How to Destroy Angels, consisting of Atticus Ross, Rob Sheridan (with whom he collaborates in Nine Inch Nails) and his wife, the exotic Mariqueen Maandig. Till now, How To Destroy Angels have released two EPs, the self-titled How to Destroy Angels (2010) and An Omen (2012). How could we define their music: Relaxing electronic forms, soft female vocals and a uniquely dark ambient atmosphere in general. The release of Welcome oblivion signals the first full length album of their career and, as anticipated, the sole fact of Reznor’s active involvement results in extremely high expectations from the audience.

The question that should be answered here is the following: Is Welcome Oblivion one more LP in the minimalistic style of The Downward Spiral or closer to the style of Year Zero? The answer, in both cases, is no; as indicated by the title, the album is based on the oblivion caused by uncertainty or shallow conclusions. Unlike NIN, How to Destroy Angels show clear indications of group work with the participation of all members. In the case of HTDA, Reznor, otherwise a ‘lone wolf’ hasn’t assumed the role of a ‘one-man show’. First and foremost, he’s not found behind the mic, but his wife instead, while he prefers to stay in the ‘background’ as a composer and backup singer. Could probably Reznor, with the passing of time, interact more effectively in collaborating with other artists? For starters let’s see his self-criticism by Trent himself. After his collaboration with the movie director David Fincher and How to Destroy Angels for the soundtrack of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, he states: “working with David Fincher taught me many things on collaboration and HTDA allowed me to work in a group environment which I found quite constructive. Before that I don’t know if I felt convenient enough with myself up to now in my life, so as to open up and collaborate with others.” Clean production, dreamy vocals, dark ambience, combination of acoustic instruments and electronic elements are the basic characteristics of Welcome Oblivion. In the highlights of the album I include the opening track ‘The Wake-Up’ which

inclines the listener towards what follows and of course the ambient ‘Ice Age’. In my opinion it’s totally unfair to compare How to Destroy Angels to NIN. If Reznor didn’t want to experiment in a different style, he would only release one more NIN album. What he has succeeded up to now is to release ‘unpredictable’ works; this is why he is so famous after all. Hence, obviously, he cares to move towards new, more chilled out directions; however, one needs to listen to the album many times in order to grasp it. For some, this might be the record’s drawback or find it ‘tiresome’ if, on top of that, we consider that it lasts almost an hour. Plainly, if you are waiting something in the style of NIN, you’re listening to the wrong album and you might be disappointed. As a conclusion, Welcome Oblivion incorporates some new and interesting ideas, moving in different paths than the Nine Inch Nails ones. However, the overall impression is that this new project still ‘tries to find its identity in music’, as in some parts the compositions end up having sharp changes that do not fit well together. Only the composers of the album know if this happened deliberately or ultimately came up as a result. Probably they are still experimenting on their sound and have not ended up in one, more or less, specific direction. One thing is sure, though, the album was not released with profit in mind, since Reznor, just like in the case of ‘How to Destroy Angels’ EP, decided to distribute his music for free over the internet. Marianna Kofinaki

Spiros Smyrnis

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58 my fingers crossed. After the release of Eternal Kingdom in 2008, my expectations were very high because these Swedish post- metallers are the next best thing in their genre, releasing excellent albums in a row. My personal favorites are Somewhere Along the Highway (2006) and Eternal Kingdom (2008).

Cult of Luna - Vertikal Post Metal: Neurosis and Isis share the throne of this music genre. Isis split up and Neurosis is the most respectful band among the others claiming to play post metal. So who will be the successors to the crown of post metal? Baroness for sure, especially after 2012’s masterpiece Yellow and Green, which earned a place among the best 5 rock/metal releases of 2012. For that matter, when I’ve learned that Cult of Luna were about to release their sixth official album in 2013 I kept

So I finally press the start button when I get a copy of Vertikal. Holy Shiiiiitttt, I just screamed. “The One” followed by the epic music theme of “I, the Weapon” dived me into a misty dreamscape where notes, echoes and noises left me breathless. Post Metal is a difficult genre to listen. It demands commitment by the listener. So firstly put your earphones on. Turn off your TV, your personal computer or laptop and take a dive with me. Vertikal is a concept album inspired by Fritz Lang’s film, Metropolis. The band commented on this: “Before we started writing, we were keen on finding a theme that in a very direct way could be shown through the music, and we hope to have achieved this. We developed clear Ken Mode’s previous album “Vulnerable” produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge) won the inaugural Heavy Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year Juno Award in Canada and a nomination for Rock Album of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards. Just a few days ago the Canadian band released their fifth official album by Season Of Mist records, titled Entrench.

KEN mode - Entrench Formed by brothers Jesse (guitar/vocals) and Shane Matthewson (drums) in 1999, Ken Mode is considered as one of the most interesting noise rock bands. For those who may wonder on what exactly this musical genre is, noise rock is a fine mix of post-hardcore and sludge metal. Most bands hate labels, KEN mode too, however they are sometimes necessary for someone to know what to expect to give a listen.

This time KEN mode decided to work with the great Matt Bayles, probably the most influential producer in post metal nowadays, known for his works with Mastodon, Isis and Botch. So as you can guess the result of “Entrench” would be at least interesting. KEN mode are ready to make the next big step and “Entrench” is their way of gaining popularity and more fans. The album’s opening track Counter Culture Complex is a post hardcore dynamite while No; I’m In Control has a repetitive low-pitched riff that will blow your mind. We must admit that KEN mode’s music is somehow complex. Tribal drumming, punk-ish elements and hoarse vocals all

structures — very linear, refusing to over complicate the writing process.” The album’s concept was heavily influenced by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis and features themes of “machinery, repetition and clear, linear structures.” The biggest achievement of Cult of Luna is the sound continuity on Verikal, which guides the listener as the album plays. Repetitive down-tempo melodies create a frozen universe, strange to your ears, scaring and difficult for your mind to comprehend. You have to try harder to get into the feeling of Vertikal. A captivating result, an intelligent progressive music diamond that shines blinding for a moment the listeners are lost in Cult of Luna’s universe. Chasing shadows, looking for a way towards the light that helps the listener leaves the abandonment and ravage behind him, Vertical is on the top of my list of 2013 releases. Artistic, insane, a never-ending industrial nightmare; Welcome the new Post Metal leaders. Join us and hail Cult of Luna! Spiros Smyrnis result in an album not suitable for sensitive ears. Close to bands like Keelhaul, Botch and Coalesce, KEN mode’s biggest achievement is the balance between the post rock basics and the hardcore breakdowns. Romeo Must Never Know is a lost Isis track, while Why Don’t You Just Quit? insane solo brings up the Converge influences. Except for the songs mentioned before, the closing track of “Monomyth” is my favorite. “Entrench” is not -as you have already understood- a radio-friendly album. On the contrary, it is a noise rock anti-radio album you should listen more than once so you could get through it. Throat-cutting screams and hammering rhythm section, sludgy enough to remind you even Black Cobra KEN mode’s new album is worth our attention. Season of Mist introduction note about “Entrench” Get ready for a massive punch in your face from KEN mode. I am ready motherfuckers! Spiros Smyrnis

Greek, music portal www.in2music.gr Burst { music magazine }

in March. Nidimus means peaceful. A strange name to describe the heavy metal music that the band claims they play. Nidimus Sleep is a four track E.P recorded, mixed and produced at Fragile Studio by Vangelis Yalamas. The music style of Nidimus is close to the Finnish melodic metal. Bands like Sentenced (Frozen period) and the latest works of Amorphis are the first that came into my mind as I was listening the songs of this E.P

Nidimus - Nidimus Sleep E.P Nidimus is a Greek heavy metal band formed in Athens, Greece and the Nidimus Sleep E.P is their first official release. The band presented their first work at the Revenge of Rock Club, Athens, Greece

The professional work that Yalamas has done in the production has really enhanced the sound of the band. Nidimus Sleep is the opening track, a stream of melodies. Although this type of metal isn’t so much popular in our country, Nidimus decided to take the risk and release this E.P. I congratulate them for this! If what it is that makes a difference? What will make me remember its name, google it up, and to give it more time than the usual five minutes it takes to listen to the new hit? The difference lies within the feeling, the atmosphere each band can create around their work. And of course of how all this work and feeling will be able to reach people, even the most harsh disbelievers.

Skinner Box “Life is chemistry” EP Skinner Box are an alternative-indie-trip hop band, from Athens, that was formed in march 2011. Their first EP “Life is chemistry” was released only a few days ago (March 1st 2013) and many of its songs have managed to impress us. I have listened to many alternative groups, so

Test no1, me isolated from sounds and images play the EP. I am listening to a seductive voice, naked, unrefined, raw on the verge of being grunge, an agonized cry, a pissed of soul. An image springs up, red hair, black boots, black leather jacket and short finger gloves... coming through the smog of the city... wild, restless, not fooled by the city’s illusion. Deceiving but not deceived... everybody wants her. be featured in their upcoming full album, scheduled for 2013, plus two more bonus tracks. Their amazing guitar riffs combined with melodic keys and the singer’s absolutely unique voice give you the exact element of power metal.

Secret Illusion “Point of no Return” EP Recently signed a new worldwide contract with The Leaders, Secret Illusion released an EP, called “Point of no Return’’. The album consists of 3 songs: the single ‘’Point of no Return’’ which will

Being influenced by Stratovarius and Symphony-X, Secret Illusion came up with a completely divine outcome! Based more on personal experiences and social issues and concerns they came up with their very own music. ‘Point of no Return’ is a quite catchy new song with a fascinating melody alongside with the singer’s great vocal skills! Best impression of the album’s two bonus tracks made the piano version of ‘Silent Voices’ which is also quite promising. Unfortunately, it is a fact that power metal is based mostly

you work hard someday you will get what you deserve. That’s for sure! Any listener who is interested in fast guitars and solid rhythm section, will definitely enjoy this E.P. Warm up raises has an up-tempo riff, that is very cool, while Time is Wrong truly makes your day. The Crossword is the bonus track of Nidimus Sleep and it is based on keyboards. I don’t really know why but this song reminded me of Sonata Arctica. The vocalist of Nidimus has given a very good performance while the work on the guitars is important too. If you are a melodic metal fan, I can assure you that you will enjoy this E.P and I hope that we can check a full length album in the future. Give Nidimus a chance! Spiros Smyrnis This is how I would direct the clip to the songs I am listening to, in my mind the woman’s shape is dominating. It softly embraces the music that seems to be the only thing able to deceive her in this full of dirt and sadness city. Music has the power to undress her!! Test no2, the album plays loudly inside the house. My other half dances around, tells me that he thinks this is a famous band’s work. “Are they the …?”. No!! They are Greek (pause). “Very good!!” Amazing production, atmospheric and dynamic. The experiment has been successful!! Skinner Box have entered my personal play list with the songs Goldfish Memory, Paperdoll People και Slow motion. Do the test and you will not regret it!! Christina Alossi on great technology and sound-managing which is difficult for a self-dependent band to afford, so we might as well say that the album lacks better sound production. Generally, judging by the band’s past, it’s a fact that their work so far has been astonishing. Their new stuff however, is a great proof that the band took the chance to go further than before and evolve through their music! By giving us such a great impression with a little taste of what they are up to for their next album, they assured us that it will be much promising!! Hope VNZ

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EP REVIEW

er n r o C Pop

toulas

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itr By Dim

LANA DEL REY The ultimate sadcore pop star

New girl around in pop music scene. Her name has been occupying the music community lately due to her wide and vast success. Would she be another pop phenomenon? Only time will tell.

Since her very first attempts in discography were not proven successful, Lana was somehow diappointed and turned her focus in working, mainly in community services that had to do with drug and alcohol rehabilitation, homeless outreach etc. Few years later in 2008, when producer David Kahne of indie label “5 Point Records” handed her demo, he signed with her at once and released a 3-track EP titled “Kill Kill”, as well as the full length album Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant 2 years later. Both albums were only available via iTunes for a brief period of time before Del Rey’s decision to withdraw as she wanted to distribute her works under her current stage name: “I wanted a name I could shape the music towards,” she explains. Uploading some of her tracks and homemade videos in her YouTube channel resulted in her receiving fame through users’ views, so a while after she was discovered by bigger record companies and finally realized her dream for a true release. Signing in international record companies as Interscope and Polydor was a matter of time for Lana. She ultimately managed to reach the peak of her success in January 2012, when she released her 2nd album titled “Born To Die” selling over 4 milions copies. “Born to Die” ended up being the best-selling album of 2012 in the US. Her musical style is very distinctive, since it is defined by diverse sources of inspiration, from pop music and cinBurst { music magazine }

Photo by Nicole Nodland

Lana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant in New York in mid 80’s and grew up in a strict catholic environment. She began her involvement in music as a child singing in various church choirs. Her alcohol addiction and independence on her early puberty at the age of 14 forced her parents to send her to a boarding school. The time she spent there marked her life and partly became the source of her artistic restiveness. She left boarding school clean at the age of eighteen and enrolled to Fordham University to study metaphysics, where as she admits finding her interest in life and finally in music. After taking up guitar lessons by her uncle, she started writing her first songs; in her own words “then I realized I could probably write a million songs with those six chords”. This soon resulted in her taking a big step by starting performances in various clubs in N.Y., “I was always singing, but didn’t plan on pursuing it seriously.” Lana stated.

ematic sounds of the 1950’s and 1960’s to elements from country and American root music and folk and R&B. In fact, her cover on the famous Blue Velvet song and the video inspired by the homonymous 80’s film brought Lana to the attention of the great neo-noir film-maker David Lynch, who declared enthusiastically “Lana Del Rey, she’s got some fantastic charisma and – this is a very interesting thing – it’s like she’s born out of another time. She’s got something that’s very appealing to people. And I didn’t know she was influenced by me!” Lana Del Rey has made her own faithful audience. The dark and sad themes of her songs, her warm sensational voice and talent charmed the music industry and managed to win even the most hesitant and divided critics. We could say that she is undeniably one of the most promising and forthcoming new pop artists and songwriters of today.

RIHANNA The black “Madonna” of pop

Rihanna’s story could have inspired the greatest fairytale writers such as Charles Dickens. Why? Because she managed to become from zero to hero in pop music! Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988 in Barbados. Like a modern Cinderella, she grew up in extremely poor family; her house, for example, was a three-bedroom bungalow. Her childhood could not be worse for a child because it was full of hardships; Rihanna had to live under hard familial conditions: Her father was addicted to crack, cocaine and alcohol, soon her parents separated and she had to sell clothes with her father in the streets in order to make a living.

Evan Rogers, who coincidentally was spending his vacations in Barbados. After he invited Rihanna in his hotel room for some kind of audition, she sang some renditions such as Mariah Carey’s hit “Hero”; Rogers was impressed. Almost immediately, Rihanna, accompanied by her mother, was taken to New York in order to record some demos and then hopefully send to record labels. Finally she signed on Evan Rogers and co-owner Carl Sturken’s production label, Syndicated Rhythm Productions.

Her only comfort was music; she grew up by listening to Reggae and at the age of 7 she took up singing. After primary and high school, she formed a musical trio band with two of her loving classmates. At the same time, Rihanna joined a submilitary program as an army cadet and she was planning to graduate from high school. Eventually her love for music and singing made her decide to pursue for a musical career or that what she believed.

That was only temporary: In December 2005 the president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and superstar of hip-hop Jay Z asked to meet with Rihanna through her manager. On their meeting she auditioned for Jay Z and industry executive L.A. Reid a Whitney Houston’s version “For the love of you” as well new songs “Pon de Replay” and “The Last Time”, which later became hers. Consequently, on the very same day, Rihanna was asked to sign a six-album record deal with Def Jam and we already know the rest of the story.

Her wishes came true at the age of 15, when, through mutual friends, she met the famous producer and songwriter

Several albums followed, as well as going on huge world tours with unbelievably great response by the public. Mythical

success with millions of sales worldwide from her debut “Music of the sun” (2005) to “Unapologetic” (2012) with numerous top 10 positions in Billboard 200, as well honors and awards including 7 Grammy’s in her asset. Her amazing talent is her own singing style, by creating an amalgam of Caribbean and Reggae sounds due to her Caribbean heritage with pop/ dance/R&B. Not to mention her astounding live shows, which have made her unique in the music scene Rihanna has gained recognition and acceptance by both critics and other artists, such as superstars Eminem and Coldplay, with whom she has collaborated. Rihanna also appeared in 2012 London’s Olympics ceremony, a new fragrance was launched under her name and lately she even became a film actress; She became the absolute public icon she could ever dream of; what else an artist in the world could ever expect from their life and career? Once in an interview Rihanna stated that Madonna was her biggest influence ever and always wanted to be the “black Madonna”. Well, after her mythical achievements in music industry and showbiz who could really dare to deny her that title?

ONE DIRECTION Music talent shows are undoubtedly a reality or even a necessary evil in the showbiz and music industry of the 2000’s. We have ultimately learned to live with them and we cannot deny them as part of our lives either we like it or not. Although there’s no time to analyze the pros and cons of talent-hunting in this way, in the case of the English-Irish pop boy band One Direction, the method was spot-on, starting from their appearance in the British series of The X Factor singing competition. Despite the fact One Direction ended up in the third place, the judge of the show and famous producer Simon Cowell gave them the chance to follow their dream by offering them a £2 million contract and having them sign in his record label Syco Records. With the help of the great power

of social media, songs leaks in the internet etc., their unexpected success was tremendous with an incredible international breakthrough with hit singles topping the charts of UK and US Billboard 200 in just two years’ time. The band’s 2 releases resulted in millions of sales in both singles and albums, as well as in many tours. Recognition and approval made One Direction take home two BRIT Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards, while Billboard proclaimed them as Top Artist of 2012. In fact, their debut album “Up all night” (2011) was the very first debut album by a British band ever to get to number 1 of the US Billboard 200 Albums chart. Of course, no way the record in question would make them The Beatles or The

Rolling Stones. Their musical style is typical boy band as we know from the days of New Kids on the Block to Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync and doesn’t give any new elements to the future of pop music. Although their unbelievable impact in teen audiences is something that one cannot leave unnoticed, I believe there are always going to be ups and downs since hardly any boy/ girl bands (as also happens with talent show artists/bands) have made it to last in time. Who said that boy bands have become extinct? Let’s see if One Direction will become a pleasant exception in the music world of boy bands. Burst { music magazine }

e g a P e h T n Tur

by Hope Vnz

The Man Who Sold The World:

David Bowie and the 1970s by Petter Doggett “This is a mad planet and it’s doomed to madness”, David Bowie

The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie and the 1970s , a perfect title for a book about a musician who might be undoubtedly nominated as the ambassador of the 1970s and a strange book, a different one, even for a fan of Bowie’s, but with a figure like Bowie you can expect anything. The man who sold the world, the lonely Ziggy Stardust, the would-be Stax-Volt, the soul man of Young Americans, David Bowie is a musical genius, an eccentric personality, a shrewd showman, and an indelible print on the historical map of music. Petter Doggett chronicles the life and the work of the legend David Bowie focusing on the 1970s and exploring the rich heritage of songs from the period 1969-1980. The book is an invaluable insight into an age when all idealism collapsed and darker, more pessimistic landscape unfolded. An age which gave birth to an idol, always hungry to explore the unknown, reaching for the impossible, excessive, ambiguous, bewilderingly inventive, an extraterrestrial superstar. And as we take a glimpse of the seventies and the world at the time, its apocalyptic mood, we understand more the restless artist and his quest to find himself. “Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do”, sings Ziggy reflecting the thoughts and the anxiety of a whole generation. And so the book takes off on its cosmic journey of a meticulously documented discography, intersected with essays and discussions, bombarding us with so many details. The author goes through each and every of the nearly 250 songs, analyzing everything, from tonal structure, chords, lyrics, techniques, even production facts.

Bowie would rather not choose, but keep in mind it is a great opportunity to find out more about an artist of a great magnitude. Its song-to-song format makes it quite original and a reader may pick-up pieces of the puzzle every time he feels like. It is a book like no other, and your journey will be entirely different, not to mention how contagious Doggett’s enthusiasm is! So, take the risk and get started on a voyage into the cosmos of David Bowie.

Nevertheless, even if you are not a Bowie fan there is enough food for a curious mind. There is a plethora of facts and information on David Bowie’s family background, early years, his fears and insecurities, his obsession with “the family curse” (three relatives in a mental institution, one of them his big brother), his relationship and friendship with Andy Warhol, Iggy Pop, John Lennon. Actually it was him or Lennon the night the former Beatle was murdered, a fact that made Bowie reassess the price of fame. There are also references on his bisexuality, the paranoia of cocaine, his avocation with black magic, and his flirting with fascism, facts that complete the puzzle of the life of an outstanding performer, songwriter, vocalist, instrumentalist, actor, musician, visualizer, showman, producer, image idol, “a creature in a state of constant metamorphosis”. Maybe “The Man Who Sold The World” is a book a non-fan of Photo from David Bowies’s official Facebook Burst { music magazine }

Karolina Pacan

Love letter from the future

My dear Friends and Warriors, Today I wanted to write you about “Love and distance” and some subjects connected to that. We all fall in Love on day, even if we are afraid to admit it. But what to do when desired person is living far away? Should we fight for it? Or let it go? I’m sure a part of you already answered we should fight for it but the second part half still wonders or… starts to give up. I ask: why? It’s a fact that living a distant relationship is very hard and can be painful. Is that a reason to give up before trying and especially if you really desire it? I don’t think so! I have few friends who live like that (you know who you are ;)) and, believe me, they would never let the loved ones go because they really feel for each other. They hope and really believe that one day they will live together. I have also friends who let it go on the beginning because… “is too far», «it’s never gonna work”, “I have no money to travel”. To be honest nobody has lot of money those times but they are solutions… Now we have mobiles, computers, social networks, webcams that allow us to communicate quick and easily. It’s still not enough? What did change comparing to the past?! People are impatient now and are unable to appreciate the precious feeling of Love. They can’t see what they already have. So, they let it go and find someone next door just because it’s close (and quite often they feel miserable or full of regrets for the rest of their life because they’ve let the real love go). In the past, lovers had FAITH that one day it would work and indeed it worked because they didn’t give up. Here is a good example: My grandparents! Listen to this: My grandma was nurse and grandpa soldier. Times were hard and it was during the war… They didn’t have mobiles etc…

Like we now, they only had paper letters and words of love, faith and devotion. They lived in two opposite corners of Poland and as you can guess, in one moment all letters stopped arriving because of controllers . They lost contact for 6 months!! (And today, we cry if our beloved don’t reply to our sms after 5min… seriously ?!) But did they give up? Did they let it go? Did they try to go for someone else? NO! Why? Because they loved each other so much, that they believed that one day they will be united again and that happened!! Now, they celebrated their 50 years of marriage and believe me, when they tell me their stories, I am crying but with happy tears. And I am very grateful that they didn’t lose their faith, because if they did loose, I would probably never be born. I ask you to realize what a luck you have. Distance doesn’t matter if you have the faith and trust. Everything is possible when two people love each other FOR REAL and are very dedicated to their Love. So I ask you to give a try and don’t search for ‘’whatever ‘’ but go to the one you really feel for. Enjoy the feeling of unity and keep the faith. Now you have many possibilities to communicate in a way that my grandparents didn’t have. Try to appreciate that. For the ones who keep on the arrow of Amor in their heart firmly and keep on fighting, And for the ones who are scared to give a try, guys…. If you really Love each other, don’t give up… And I truly wish you all that one day you will be together. Keep the faith and be strong! Brain counts the distance, Love counts the Feelings.

Burst { music magazine }

Photo by Stephane Stepix Odent

Christine Polis The White Lady with the Black Glove Written by B.S Orestis / Photo by Alyz Tale

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I always had a thing for...death! At first, it started as a quest for the mysteries of the afterlife, and then it became something like “death is man’s most loyal friend”. After a few years in the practice (!) I realized that there are a lot of people out there especially in the world of art that have the same worries. Fables and round the wood-fire stories is another great love, and also a not so rare combination for the night breed! Well if you are into all this, then you cannot overlook Miss Christine Polis! Born in Liège region (Belgium) Christine Polis sculptor, puppeteer, began her artistic career by studying children’s illustration and film animation at La Cambre (Brussels). The darkest stories and mythologies gave her ground to paint and illustrate mostly women figures in tragic and dramatic turn points. The doll making is what seems to be her greatest love. My first experience was “The White Lady with the Black Glove” a series of doll-like skeletons resembling the ghosts we see from time to time (at least some of us). The detail is superb especially on the garments where you see a totally realistic depiction of Victorian women’s clothing with silk and lace... “The white ladies appear for centuries, in castles on the battlefield or at the roadside. Some are ambivalent, they announce a good presage if they wear white gloves but also death if they are black” Then it’s the “Lady Mantis” project available at the Strychnin Gallery Berlin where other works of her are displayed. Again amazing doll figure, resembling Tim Burton’s character in Corpse Bride or the marionettes of “Dirty Granny Tales” I say, though in this work Christine has stated that her inspiration was Virginie Ropars, who, as I can understand, is a major influence for her in general. Those two along with “Daphne” are amazing works of art you can also check out on her Facebook page from different perspectives! The materials used are various, from paper clay to silicon, PVC, silk ribbon embroidery, silver and crystal pearls, paper, tulle, old lace, etc. The detail in her art is amazing considering that all her works are 50 to 80 cm long and maintain a lifelike resemblance with the void of death in their eyes! Christine has participated in many exhibitions in Europe (France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Russia etc.), among those the famous NovaBelgica Art Gallery that has hosted many artist of the ‘beautiful grotesque’. Apart from her puppets, other works include paintings, illustrations, animations with stop motion frames, all in fairy-like worlds that are dark and grim, but with beautiful aesthetics that for brief moments magnetize you into fantastic stories of ghosts and phantoms! You can have a very good idea of all her art spectrum at her blogSpot: www.christinepolis.blogspot.com and her personal site: www.christinepolis.com And in case you visit Belgium, do not miss the chance to visit a gallery or an exposition with her works! Burst { music magazine }

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murders

Burst { music magazine }

69 Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another person, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter). As the loss of a human being inflicts enormous grief upon the individuals close to the victim, and the commission of a murder is highly detrimental to the good order within society, most societies both present and in antiquity have considered it a most serious crime worthy of the harshest of punishment. In most countries, a person convicted of murder is typically given a long prison sentence, possibly a life sentence where permitted, and in some countries, the death penalty may be imposed for such an act – though this practice is becoming less common. In most countries, there is no statute of limitations for murder (no time limit for prosecuting someone for murder). This is the Wikipedia term of murder. Burst tries to gather the most known cases of murders, involved members of the metal community, so read them carefully.

written by Sissy Fanouraki & Spiros Smyrnis It was 2010 I think when I saw “Until The Light Takes Us” at the Athens International Film Festival. Directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, the documentary shed some light to the notorious Norwegian Black Metal scene. Most metalheads were familiar with the first black metal wave back in the early 1990s and its activity. Burning churches, murders, assaults, just to name a few. Let’s refer to some of them in particular. The story of Dead is really interesting. Dead was the lead singer of Black Metal Pioneers Mayhem. Dead had a bit odd personality. Rumor has it that in a concert Dead found a dead crow, which he collected and put in a bag. Before every Mayhem show he used to take a sniff so he could sing “with the stench of death in his nostrils.” Dead committed suicide at the age of 22. He cut his wrists and shot himself in the head with a shotgun. “Euronymous”, the guitarist of Mayhem found Dead dead and took a photo of him, which was used as the cover of a bootleg live album entitled Dawn of the Black Hearts. Euronymous was another loving and cheerful kid. Him, Varg Vikernes (mastermind of Burzum), Samoth (guitarist of Emperor), Faust (drummer of Emperor) and Jørn Inge Tunsberg, (guitarist of Hades) were accused of setting churches on fire from 1992 to 1996. Bård G. “Faust” Eithun was as we mentioned before the drummer of Emperor and one of the accused for burning churches. Faust was convicted for the murder of homosexual Magne Andreassen, by fatally stabbing him in Lillehammer, Norway on 21 August 1992. Faust, as well as other black metal musicians stated that this killing has nothing to do with black metal ideology or Satanism but it was self-defence because he was assaulted by Andreassen. He was sentenced in fourteen years and did nine of them in prison. Faust is an active member of black metal community nowadays being he drummer of Scum, Blood Tsunami and Zyclon. The most well-known murder involving a member of black metal community is the murder of Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth (the guitarist of Mayhem) from Varg Vikernes (the man behind Burzum). If you are a metalhead, I’m sure that you

have already read somewhere about this one. It was the most infamous and discussed crime in black metal history, since two legendary and founding members of Black Metal Community were involved. According to his statement after his arrest, Vikernes stabbed Euronymous 23 times because the guitarist of Mayhem had planned to kill him, so it was an act of self defence. Vikernes’ side of the story uploaded in his website: “According to his “friends” the plan was to meet me, knock me out with a stungun, tie me up and put me in the trunk of a car. He would then drive into the countryside, tie me to a tree and torture me to death while videotaping everything. My reaction to this was naturally anger. What the Hell did he think he was? The same day I decided to drive to Oslo, hand him the signed contract and tell him to “f*** off”, basically, and by doing so take away all the excuses he had to contact me ever again. Euronymous was waiting for me in entrance, looking very nervous, and I handed him the contract… After a few seconds he jumped from the floor and dashed for the kitchen. I knew he had a knife lying on the kitchen table, and I figured that “if he’s going to have a knife, I’m going to have a knife too”. I jumped out in front of him and managed to stop him before he got his hands on the kitchen knife. At this point he had showed his intentions, so when he ran for the bedroom I figured he was going for another weapon. He had some weeks earlier told some people that he would soon get the shotgun back from the police (used by “Dead” when he shot himself), so I figured that was what he was going for, or he was going for his stun-gun. (Although he actually didn’t have a stun-gun or the shotgun in his apartment, I didn’t know that.) I gave chase, stabbed him and was a bit surprised when he ran out of the apartment instead. It made no sense to flee and it made me angry to know that he had started the fight, but the moment it didn’t go his way he decided to flee instead, instead of fighting like a man. Such is always something I have disliked strongly.

I finished him off by thrusting the knife through his skull, through his forehead, and he died instantaneously. The eyes turned around in his head and a moan could be heard as he emptied his lungs when he died. He fell down to a sitting position, but the knife was stuck in his head, so I held him up, as I held onto the knife. When I jerked the knife from his skull he fell forward, and rolled down a flight of stairs like a sack of potatoes – making enough noise to wake up the whole neighbourhood.” Black Metal keeps on offering “criminal cases” like the one involving the vocalist of Gorgoroth named Gaahl. Gaahl was fined 158,000 NOK ($26,963) and was sentenced in doing one year in prison without the possibility of parole because he attacked a 40 year old man and tortured him for several hours at a party. Nattramn on the other hand of the Swedish Black Metallers Silencer drove an axe into the skull of a 5-year-old girl in 2001, failing to kill her by merely a few millimeters. As police arrived on the scene, he attempted to commit suicideby-cop by shouting “Kill me! Kill me!” with the axe still in his hands, as it was published in metalinjection.net. Nattramn was committed to the Växjö Psychiatric Ward, where he stayed for the next 5 years. The most recent case of crime, involving a black metal musician was Jeff Whitehad (a.k.a known as Wrest, member of Lucker of Chalice, Leviathan and Twilight) who raped his girlfriend with tattoo tools. He was sentenced to two years probation. In the summer of 1995 in California, Elyse Marie Pahler (1980–1995) was brutally murdered by three teenagers-Slayer fanatics, who needed to offer a “sacrifice to the Devil” so that their band, Hatred, would “go professional”. The family of the girl sued the band and record label for “wrongful death”. Defence lawyers admitted then that some of Slayer songs may be “repugnant” and “revolting” but they did not directly lead to Elyse Marie Pahler’s death… In the ‘80s, everybody was convinced that heavy metal lyrics had secret messages or even devilish anagrams and heavy metal was inextricably associated with violence, Burst { music magazine }

70 Satanism and man-slaughtering. Even nowadays, police, lawyers and of course the press are still used to linking music with crimes… In any case, was heavy metal the reason for driving them to kill or their paranoia? According to Jeffrey Jensen Arnett - researcher and professor in psychology department of Clark University, also the author of Metalheads: Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Alienation – people believe that “heavy metal inspires violence, because it’s violent music but the surprising truth is that it doesn’t make its fans violent, it doesn’t even make them angry; it calms them down. They listen to it especially when they’re angry or sad, and it helps them empty out those feelings so that they feel better afterward.” So, is heavy metal music the true murder weapon? In a recent research conducted by Felicity Baker1 and William Bor2 on how music preferences indicate the mental status of young people, they noted that rap, country as well as heavy metal music “have been blamed for antisocial behaviours including violence, theft, promiscuity and drug use” and proved that only in a few cases there were actual correlations between music preferences and mental health status and recommend further investigation and research “to determine whether music preferences of those with diagnosed mental health issues differ substantially from the general adolescent population.” (Can Music Preference Indicate Mental Health Status in Young People?, Australasian Psychiatry, August 2008, vol. 16, no. 4, 284-288). However, there are many reports of crimes where heavy metal was fingered by the media. But were the killers (later proved heavy metal fans) aggressive by nature or became hostile and violent because of heavy metal music and lyrics? In other words were they “normal” and became paranoiacs because of their music preference or they were mentally unstable who happened to listen to heavy metal and just snapped? The truth is somewhere between... Kurt Struebing (1965-2005): In 1986, Kurt Struebing, leader of thrash metal band NME (pronounced “enemy”) was so high on drugs that he had the illusion he was a robot. This illusion drove Struebing to cut his mother open with a hatchet and scissors to see if she was a robot too!! Kurt Struebing was charged with second-degree murder and was convicted 12 years in prison. However, Struebing got out earlier, around 1994, he reformed the band and became a “leading figure in heavy-metal music, a good father and trusty friend” until 2005, when he died in a horrible accident. James Beck “Jim” Gordon (1945-toBurst { music magazine }

day): Probably his name doesn’t ring a bell… He was a session drummer who played in various recordings in the late 60s with the Beach Boys, the Byrds and George Harrison. In the ‘70s Jim Gordon had been playing and recording with Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Joe Cocker, Traffic and many more but left “showbiz” in the late 70s because he developed schizophrenia and began to hear voices, including those of his mother. In 1983 he snapped; he attacked his mother with a hammer and slaughtered her with a knife. On July 10th, 1984 he was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. During the trial the court accepted that Gordon had schizophrenia. Joshua Cooke (1984-today): In 2003 at the age of 19, Josh killed his parents with a shotgun while listening to “Bodies” of Drowning Pool (“let the bodies hit the floor”). As Josh told the police (after having dialed 911 himself) he was convinced he was inside The Matrix (the movie) “It felt almost therapeutic and it was a lot of fun”. According to Phil Chalmers, author of the book “Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer” Josh had been in a simulated reality and it was impossible for his mind to separate “true” from “virtual” reality! Kyle Smith (1994-today): On March 22, 2011 Kyle Smith killed his grandparents David and Rose Garrick; with the help of his two friends Dustin Martin and Jacob LeBlanc, they tried to cover up the crime by setting the house on fire!! A “Demonic drawing” in Slipknot album found inside the house was linked to the murder. Broadcasters of Oklahoma’s NewsChannel 4 reported “Inside the walls of the burned home, investigators seized a demonic drawing, a heavy metal CD with a pentagram, along with a hatchet, a samurai sword, a dagger, knives and two gas cans.” The police was told that he was always wearing black clothes and listened to heavy metal... Later he was diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. Adam Yahiye Gadahn (1978-???): He was born Adam Pearlman, son of musician Phil Pearlman. Phil Pearlman and his wife, Jennifer, later changed their name to Gadahn (after the Biblical warrior Gideon) and were very fond of Israel. As a teenager Adam formed a death metal band called Aphasia and was writing for a local metalzine called Xenocide, where he interviewed bands, wrote album reviews etc. In 1995 he was converted to Islam and ever since he was well-known as “Azzam the American”; He began supporting Jihad causes in the late 90s and was a senior operative, cultural interpreter, spokesman and media advisor for AlQaeda. It wasn’t death metal who drove him to terrorism, but the propagandist group of Al-Qaeda. After 9/11 do you still blame metal for terrorism acts?

Nevertheless, the worst case ever was the West Memphis Three (WM3) inflicted by heavy metal fans. In early 1994 three friends and heavy metal fans, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were accused, arrested and convicted to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of three 8-year-old boys in Arkansas. At that time all the evidence lead to those three teens… Some said that they were targeted because “they looked different, dressed in black, listened to heavy metal music and read Stephen King novels”. Were they actually guilty as charged or were they framed and misjudged? Local police had turned to them because of their music preferences... Jessie confessed the murders, after a severe interrogation, and during the trial, the prosecution stated that the children were killed as part of a satanic ritual (!). Despite the obvious inconsistencies in Jessie’s stories and lack of authentic evidence D. Echols was sentenced to death, J. Misskelley was sentenced to life imprisonment (plus 2x20-year sentences) and J. Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. Although there were other suspects, they were never thoroughly investigated. Throughout the years this case moved not only the metal community and its artists but many people in general who had been raising money for decades as they were convinced of the boys’ innocence… Further investigation by FBI profilers revealed that “many areas of physical evidence which were missed or misinterpreted”. After nearly two decades in prison the WM3 stood up in a courtroom in August 2011 and walked out as free men. Some may say that extreme music like black metal can lead to extreme actions (like murders, assaults, rapes and burning churches). A modest view is that music cannot be held responsible for the action of a sick mind. 1

Felicity Baker, Senior Lecturer and Music Therapy Program Director in School of Music, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2 William Bor, Director of Mater Centre for Service Research in Mental Health, Centre for Service Research in Mental Health, KidsinMind Research, Mater Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Burst { music magazine }

72 Written by Eleni Lampraki

“Oz the Great and Powerful” is a 2013 fantasy adventure film based on L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels, as well as on 1939 classic MGM film “The wizard of Oz”. The film stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs/ Wizard of Oz, Mila Kunis as Theodora, Rachel Weisz as Evanora and Michelle Williams as Glinda. The film is set in 1905, 20 years before the events of the first book of the series, while at 1939’s film and we watch the story of the famous Wizard of Oz, on how he found the land and became the Great and Powerful Wizard. Oscar “Oz” Diggs is a young, attractive womanizer who lives in Kansas and a trickster and kind of a magician in a travelling circus. He seems to be arrogant, impolite with his assistant Frank and faces the audience’s anger when he proves to be incapable of doing “real” magic. At the same time he is very ambitious, he wants to become a great man just like his idols Houdini and Thomas Edison. When circus’s strongman chases him, he escapes with his hot air balloon but gets stuck in the middle of a tornado which leads him to the Land of Oz. When he wakes up in a new land, he meets Theodora the witch, who speaks to him about the prophecy of the arrival of a Great Magician with the same name with their land, who will overthrow the Wicked

Written by Eleni Lampraki

A tribute to European silent cinema or a journey through time? A classic fairy tale or a Gothic melodrama? “Blancanieves”, Spain’s official submission to Best Foreign Language Academy Award, is a retelling of Grimm Brothers’ “Snow White”. At the same time it is a homage to the 1920s European silent films. The film was directed by Pablo Berger in black and white and it stars Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Angela Molina and Macarena García. The fairy tale takes place in Andalusia, 1910. The father, king Antonio Villalta, becomes a famous bullfighter and his wife Carmen de Triana is a famous flamenco bailaora. During a bullfight, Antonio gets severely injured and cannot walk again. At the same time Carmen gives birth to a baby girl, but she dies during the procedure. Antonio’s nurse Encarna, jealous of his fame and riches, takes advantage of his broken heart and incapability and becomes his second wife. Young Carmen grows up with her grandmother, alienated from her father but then is forced to live with him and her stepmother, since her grandmother dies. Encarna becomes her stepmother and tortures her and after she kills her husband, she tries to have Carmen killed as well. Almost drowned, she is saved by a bunch of bullfighter dwarfs who decide to call her Blancanieves, because she cannot Burst { music magazine }

Witch and become the new King of Oz. Oz flirts with her as usual and admits that he is the great wizard, only considering the gold and the power he will receive. On their way to the Emerald City he meets Finley, a kind of flying monkey, who becomes his new assistant and later on Theodora’s sister, Evanora who and manipulates Oz to go and kill witch Glinda, who is framed for her father’s murder. On his way along with Finley, he encounters a broken China Doll, who joins the company. All three are trying to attack Glinda, only to find the truth that Evanora is the real wicked witch. Glinda becomes Oz’s new friend and probably future lover, and heart-broken Theodora eats a magic apple that rots her heart and transforms her into a monstrous Wicked Witch. Who will win at the end and is Oz a great magician and a good person or not? The film focuses on human nature and what can a man achieve with trust and faith. Can a good person be hidden behind ambition and love for money? Can someone change and become the man the others expect him to be? At the same time the movie winks at the 1939 classic, using the same color techniques with sepia Kansas and Technicolor Oz, as well as all the familiar Oz characteristics from Munchkins and a yellow brick road to a cameo appearance of the Cowardly Lion. A nice prequel of a familiar fairy – tale, with an all star cast, a perfect movie choice for a cozy afternoon!

remember her name or identity. Carmen becomes a famous bullfighter herself, signs a contract to appear in the Seville stadium and Encarna finds her again. Will she bite the poisoned apple or not? In the bitter end “Blancanieves” becomes a circus attraction and the viewer doubts if she will ever wake up. Following the paths of “The Artist”, “Blancanieves” stands as an excellent homage to silent films of the 1920s and the 1930s. The cinematography, the photography, the music, everything creates a deep, emotive film that reminds of the movies of those past decades. The actors have adjusted their technique to the old silent style and they won the bet. Allegory plays its own game in the film. The heroes are bullfighters, the father teaches young Carmen to never lose eye contact with the bull. But the real bull is the stepmother, not the animal. The Gothic atmosphere of the film is probably one of its best features and contributes to the highly artistic result. But don’t get confused by the theme. This is by no means a movie suitable for children!

Written by Pana Apostolidou

73 In 2012, Cannes Film Festival included two movies about men wandering around cities in limos: David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis and Leo Carax’s Holy Motors. Carax, the French enfant terrible, only makes movies about people who want to live unconventionally. This time, he decided to make a dreamlike film which is an ode to acting, performance and cinema. The film begins with the director himself waking up and opening the door to his bedroom leading to a movie theater. Meanwhile, Mr. Oscar (Denis Lavant-his steady protagonist) is driven across Paris in a limousine, from dawn till midnight, playing a strange game of transformations. For starters, let’s say that he is an actor, shooting simultaneously more than one film in 24 hours, living different lives through each role. A criminal, a beggar, a father, a manager, a musician, a monster coexist in one person: One man, many faces; one man, many cinematic characters.

hide ourselves on a daily basis: at work, in family, in our relationships. At some point there a tiny glimpse of Oscar’s real life, a meeting with his ex-lover (Kylie Minogue). There is no happy ending. Realism is totally abolished. Mr. Oscar does not eat, does not rest. He sucks energy from his impersonations. Huge questions are rising. For whom is he working for? Where is his true family? What’s his true identity? In this journey he has a companion, a driver who arranges everything for him. Denis Scob will not hesitate to wear the very same mask she wore in “Eyes Without a Face” in 1960. Holy Motors is homage to cinema itself. It is cinema made for cinema, in a sense that Carax is showing off the expansive knowledge of his subject: Enigmatic, provoking, imaginative, puzzling, full of references (to everyone from Cocteau and Bunuel to Godard and Lynch), self-referential, twisted, surrealistic. Holy Motors has a strictly closed nature and maybe nothing is valid, maybe the director just wants to laugh at us… The usual for this kind of movies is love or hate. And if my tone sounds weird, I dare you to watch this movie and feel normal afterwards.

Written by Pana Apostolidou

It somehow represents the human nature, the stages of life we have to walk through, the masks we have to wear depending on the situation. Sometimes we enjoy our disguise, sometimes we even don’t like what we have to become. But it is vital to

After a long time I had the opportunity to watch a movie on paraplegics without finding it heavy or difficult to watch. Maybe the content of this particular one not only did it make the viewing easy but also highly interesting. The “Sessions” is a film featuring how a totally disabled man managed to have sexual intercourse. It is the weird, but true story of the journalist and poet Mark O’ Brien (John Hawkes) who had been suffering from polio since his childhood and spends most of his life into an artificial lung machine. Mark, being 38 years old, deeply religious and with the fear that his life is at daily stake, he considers the option of hiring a sex consultant to help him explore his sexuality. This decision is supported by a liberate priest, whose reactions and advises are more than funny.

deal with the fact that his love will forever remain single sided? What I enjoyed the most about this movie is that the disability is not used to create pity. On the contrary, the protagonist is an ingenious funny guy, mentally distant from his physical condition, he is romantic and an artist but he needs a rebirth, as his life stopped when he was 6 and the disease took over him. John Hawkes’ acting is breathtaking, his facial expressions (on which the movie mainly depends) are realistic and well worked and he manages to successfully perform the disabled lover. Equally beautiful is the performance of Helen Hunt, who is not embarrassed to use her nudeness as if she was 18 years old. William H. Macy’s character is the perfect example of a priest who cares to help more than preach. His comical appearances are aiming to relieve Mark’s religious hesitations and also to relieve our awkwardness regarding the delicate issue of disability, sex and rejection.

Finally he is resorting to a love therapist, who gives him life lessons. Not only will she give him the urge to believe that his life should not be considered as needful, but also she will break his walls, deal with his complexes and make him behave like he has been a lover for all his life. A special relationship will be developed between them, although it should be finished within 6 sessions. Is it possible for the two characters not to fall in love? And what if love is single sided? And how does someone Burst { music magazine }

Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cut

Jim Jarmusch Written by Pana Apostolidou & Spiros Smyrnis Original image from theplace2.ru

Burst { music magazine }

75 James R. “Jim” Jarmusch was born at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, U.S.A on January 22, 1953. He is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and α composer. Jarmusch has consistently been a major proponent of independent cinema, since the 1980s. Wait! This is not another boring presentation of Jim Jarmusch’s work. Not at all! This is just a tribute to the cinema of Jim Jarmusch. The movies Jarmusch made are like him more or less; that’s why they intrigued me. Underground, independent, bohemian and anti-commercial, yet wonderful and nostalgic like a photo shot in black and white. The son of an Irish and German mother and a Czech and German father, Jarmusch fell in love with cinema at his childhood. “Attack of the Grab Monsters”, “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and “Thunder Road” (starring Robert Mitchum) marked the 7-year old Jarmusch, as he admitted later. “Growing up in Ohio”, he would later remark, “was

worked with great directors like Nicholas Ray and Wim Wenders and started working on his first film project, under the name of Permanent Vacation. In the sideline of Hollywood industry, a group of smart and talented directors defined the well-known term of New Independent American Cinema. Joel and Ethan Coen, Spike-Lee (a fellow student of Jarmusch at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts), Gus Van Sant, Abel Ferrara and last but not least: Jim Jarmusch. The last one’s name became a synonym to independent film making, as his first movie had a budget of 12.000$.

just planning to get out”. Jarmusch was into counterculture.

ing all around in his room in a classic scene. He wants to immigrate in Europe and especially in Paris, where he dreams of finding his promised land. He leaves a note to his a fiancée. He just wanna communicate but in the end he cannot. Everyone is a stranger in the strange land of New York. Allie is a loner. Allie is Jim Jarmusch. He is a man trying to fit in his era, though he doesn’t like it. He is a nobody, who just wanna leave. Using the appropriate dose of humor, Jarmusch presented an interesting story about a character we all wanna meet someday. Bitter, painted in faded colors; this film is homage to freedom.

William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Mothers of Invention, and a local art house cinema (which among the pornographic films it showed, it occasionally featured movies like Putney Swope of Robert Downey, Sr and Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls) influenced the personality of Jarmusch. He transferred to Columbia University from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University as he intended to become a poet. He moved in Paris on an exchange program as a pre-graduate student and spent most of his time at the Cinémathèque Française, where he got in touch with the cinema of Imamura, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Dreyer, Fuller and Bresson. He was accepted at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he

Permanent Vacation: The opening of this movie is still in my head. Allie Parker’s voice over and over: Allie Parker is a fan of Jazz Musician Charlie Parker. He reads Maldoror of Lautreamont, steals cars, talks to crazy guys in the deserted streets of New York. He is a bohemian guy. He puts a Jazz record on and starts danc-

The next movie of Jarmusch is “Stranger Than Paradise”, probably the most characteristic movie of the American filmmaker. Willie (John Lurie) is a jazz player and a close friend to Jim Jarmusch. To me, he is the alter ego of Jarmusch. A

cynic version of Allie Paker. Indifferent, anti-social he is not an ideologist but a convenient egoist who avoids staying attached with its environment. The movie focuses on the interaction of Willie with Eva (Eszter Balint) and Eddie (Richard Edson). You can call’ em hipsters, the three of them, but back then the term had not been “invented”. Jarmusch staged a jazzy scenery among three people whose lives crossed together. One unmemorable scene is the one with Eva dancing while the radio plays “I put a spell on you” by Screamin Jay Hawkins! My favourite scene in this movie is the failed effort of Willie to tell a joke. The Jarmusch- ian humour at its best: “Here, let me tell you a joke, all right? There’s three guys, and they’re walking down the street. One guy says to the other one, “Hey, your shoe’s untied.” He says, “I know that.” And they walk... No... There’s two guys, they’re walking down the street, and one of them says to the other one, “Your shoe’s

untied.” And the other guy says, “I know that.” And they walk a couple blocks further, and they see a third friend, and he comes up and says, “Your shoe’s untied.” “Your shoe’s un - “ Aaah, I can’t remember this joke. But it’s good.” Down by law. Another movie for Jarmusch, another story about three guys seeking themselves, this time in a prison. “John Lurie” collaborated again with Jarmusch with the “famous association” of Tom Waits (if you don’t know who Tom Waits is, better stop reading) and Roberto Benigni. Jarmusch stated about this one: “In DOWN BY LAW an unemployed discjockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), and a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni) meet in the confined space of a prison cell. Avoiding a specific time period, the story is set, abstractly, in New Orleans and the dense, surrounding swamps of Louisiana Burst { music magazine }

76 (places I had never visited until after completing the screenplay). I would call the style of the film ‘neo-beat-noircomedy’, with a story-line that openly accepts conventions, and an atmosphere that is part nightmare and part fairytale (“it’s a sad and beautiful world”). Down by law is a term that means one is bonded to another, often by having done time with them. I love this title. Some people may misunderstand and believe it is referred to someone being in trouble with the law, but this one means you are a stand up guy. This phrase has a double meaning and that’s what I like in it”, Jarmusch said. Down by law is a very interesting and surreal film experience. The American film maker underlines the dark atmosphere of New Orleans, helped along by the magnificent photography by Robby Muller. New Orleans on the hands of Jarmusch is a cinematic place, not a geographic one. A melancholic portrait,

Lee gave us an unmemorable scene that should have been taught to each and every screenwriter out there. The Night Clerk impersonated by the one and only Screaming by Jay Hawkins:

about three outlaws who moved in the sidelines of society.

on the dead icons that marked our lives once. Strange people (outlaws, clowns, travellers) passing by, sharing stories, dreams and nightmares. An ode to a never-ending journey.

Mystery train is a trip to Memphis, Elvis’ Hometown. The film comprises a triptych of stories involving foreign protagonists unfolding over the course of the same night. “Far From Yokohama” features a Japanese couple (played by Youki Kudoh and Masatoshi Nagase) on a blues pilgrimage, “A Ghost” focuses on an Italian widow (Nicoletta Braschi) stranded in the city overnight, and “Lost in Space” follows the misadventure of a newly single and unemployed Englishman (Joe Strummer) and his companions (Rick Aviles and Steve Buscemi). They are linked by a run-down flophouse overseen by a night clerk (played by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins) and his dishevelled bellboy (Cinqué Lee), a scene featuring Elvis Presley’s “Blue Moon”, and a gunshot. The duo of screaming, Jay Hawkins and Cinque Burst { music magazine }

[both stare at a plum on the counter, neither saying a thing] I don’t think you should eat that thing. Bellboy: Yeah, you’re probably right. Night Clerk: You gonna eat it? Bellboy: No, I’m not gonna eat that thing. [at this, the night clerk casually reaches over and eats the plum in one bite] Bellboy: Hey...you ate my plum! The figure of Elvis haunts this film. The same Ghost that the Italian widow, Louisa saw in her room is the one that haunts Johnny Elvis (Joe Strummer) for his whole life because of his resemblance. The Japanese couple walking down on Memphis just to see, where King was born. Mystery Train is a nostalgic portrait

A Night on Earth. The fifth film of Jim Jarmusch is a taxi-road trip, staged at New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome and Helsinki. Five stories each from a different city. Five vignettes taking place during the same night, underlining the temporary bond between the cab drivers and their passengers. Personally I have two favourite stories. The one in Paris with Isaach de Bankole as the cab-driver and my beloved Beatrice –Betty BlueDalle playing a blind woman. Touching, emotional with amazing photography and sharp dialogues. The other story I love, is the one in Rome where Roberto Benigni gives a delirious performance. The Italian comedian plays the cabbie who picks up

a priest. When he realises that he has a man of church in his cab he starts to confess his sins. Probably the most hilarious moment in Jarmusch filmography, the time Benigni speaks about his sexual intercourse with a pumpkin and a sheep. A peculiar, “Jarmusch-ian” road trip, lonely yet funny, that established the American film maker in the frontline of Independent American Cinema. Dead Man is yet another journey Jarmusch decided to take. A journey deep into the roots of the Native American culture, totally free of stereotypes. This black and white film (which depicts the conflict between the Native American and the white European culture) is a twisted type of Western that follows the director’s obsessions: identity loss, isolation, meaningless trips, all combined under a weird story: William Blake, an accountant from Cleveland, finds his promised

job place in the smelter town called Machine, where he just arrived, occupied. He spends the night with a prostitute and her lover shoots him after a gunfight. A cadging Indian named Nobody, takes over his healing process and, more or less, his way to purification. Jarmusch deals with the perpetual fear of the human kind. Death, the ultimate taboo for the average human, is, for a Native American a heroic passage to the next level of existence. Blake did not manage to kill the white man who killed him and therefore Nobody has the responsibility to teach Blake how to behave as a dead person. The romantic poetry of the great William Blake is highly involved into the movie, especially in Depp’s quotes which are simple but politically and lyrically amplified. Ghost Dog is a homage to Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 film Le Samouraï (one

77 of my favourites), an exquisite noir film about a lonesome assassin. The similarities with Le Samurai can be found in the opening and ending scene, as well in the heroes’ special relationship with birds. Tons of references from many other directors and films are detected in this particular one, such as Kurosawa and Leone. After Dead Man, Jarmusch continues to find interest in warriors coming from different cultures. Ghost Dog is a mysterious hitman who ritualistically follows the ancient code of the samurai. The uniqueness of this film lays on the fact that it is a collection of disparate elements: a stoic and emotionless, but yet likable hitman and a blend of the samurai and the gangster culture. Ghost Dog is a phantom wandering in invisibility and trying to communicate with the most unconventional ways. He sends and receives messages using pigeons, because it is vital for his job. He has only one friend, because it is impossible to live without human touch, but even he does not speak English. The whole essence of the film is communication, or maybe the lack of it. Jarmusch was always persistent in the theme of languages and how different languages interact. Here, another notion is introduced: the identity and how it is represented by language. What is identity? Ghost Dog does not have one, he is a chameleon. Unlike most of the people who define who they are, by who they are not, he blends in, keeping his double identity, both ghost and a dog. Coffee and Cigarettes captures chitchat talks, while an elite of movie and music stars (such as Bill Murray, Alfred Molina, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and The White Stripes) are smoking and having coffee. I suggest you to watch

Absinthe Cafe

this movie on a Sunday morning while performing this ritual of addiction. And if you are not prone to nicotine and caffeine it still doesn’t matter because Jarmusch simply lets his protagonists having meaningless discussions in order to fill the cinematic time. There is no plot, just plain laziness (and sometimes awkwardness) on behalf of the actors, which makes this movie the compendium of his intellectual humour. One his lightest, funniest and easy flowing masterpieces. Broken Flowers is a film about a man who receives an anonymous letter from an ex-lover, informing him that he has a 19 year old son. Don Johnston (Bill Murray) a fanatic bachelor, with a unique way to deal with the situations, finally decides to visit five women of his past, searching for his lost son. He encounters four different types of women (the fifth one is dead) and each one of them represents the stages of life and the relationship between the two sexes, from the first heartbeat to death. Once again, we find the motif of the lonely character, beginning an existential quest, in this case collecting his broken flowers. The director points out: “Don wants something. I think the film is about yearning, and I don’t know where that came from. Yearning for something that you are missing, and not necessarily being able to define what it is you are missing.” This film is dedicated to Jean Eustache. Jarmusch admitted that he was an inspiration on a certain level but not a direct one. Eustache’s film “The Mother and the Whore is one of the most beautiful films about male/female miscommunication, and there’s an element of that in our film”. While writing the script, Jarmusch

was inspired by Bill Murray and the movie is basically an one-man-show. Using gestures and funny faces, Bill Murray adds a tragicomic tone to the character. And let’s move on to his most enigmatic piece of work... Limits of Control... Allow me to say that it strongly reminds me of David Lynch’s last films. Incomprehensible in a manner that the plot does not really matter. A man with no identity is asked to carry out an unspecified mission. The pieces of the riddle are unfolded (or not) by meeting the most random and strangest people around Spain. Matchboxes with eatable messages are changing hands, leading the protagonist from one weirdo to another. At some point the viewer stops caring about the mission and the secret messages. He is too busy being ecstatic with the photography and the frames; he is carried away from the directorial skills and the character. Nothing more to add here. Jim Jarmusch can create masterpieces using images only, which is, more or less, the essence of cinema. After watching his movies I cannot help thinking that something vital is missing. Many people share this point of view. His minimalistic style creates an absence or a sense that something is unfulfilled. Is it the hole in our daily, urban routine? Is it the perpetual human inability to establish connection and build bridges? I believe that the loss of any kind of meaningful communication made Jarmsch adopt an elliptic cinematography, an off-season and dark montage. He is not easy flowing. But you have to know what to expect from him...

location: Herakledon 19, Thiseio tel: +302103424224 www.apsenticafe.gr info@apsenticafe.gr

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Written by Spiros Smyrnis

I’ve said it before and I’m gonna say it again: The Greek Metal scene is KICKING SOME SERIOUS ASS; Period. Mahakala is an occult heavy metal band from Athens, Greece, featuring Jim Kotsis (bass, vocals), Nick Angelopoulos (guitars, backing vocals), Steve Lado (guitars) and Kostas Savidis (drums). There goes a small yet enlightening bio of Mahakala: This band released a self-titled killer EP in 2007., which was sludgy, dirty and heavy as shit. Some reviewers claimed that Mahakala played Heavy Rock back then, such a confusing term since some people think that Kuyss are heavy rock, but also put Down and Spiritual Beggars to the same category. In 2009 Mahakala released The Pact with The Devil, a self-financed three-track EP, in which listeners have to deal with an obvious turn in the band’s music. The Athenian Band diversified its sound by playing old-school, occult metal, yet heavy as shit. It was high time we expected the first full length album! The long wait finally ended on 1st March. Devils Music was released and set new standards on the trendy term of occult rock. First of all we should mention that Devils Music has nothing to do with the hundreds of bands out there, speaking the words of their Lord, Lucifer with radio friendly rock hits. This is metal man! This is the music that marked our life since we were young, when we stood up defending our right to listen to heavy metal. Many of our mates and colleagues referred to us as the Devil’s Children, worshipping the Devil’s music. Some of us may even like these statements. Mahakala liked it for sure. “Come Rise” opens the album with an arising heavy riff. There is a story that must be told about an “Evil Man” signing a “Pact with the Devil” and Mahakala, as preachers of their lord are due to tell it and spread the word. They are excellent players and probably that’s why the Devil chose them. Some might say that there are millions of excellent players and musicians out there; why did the Lord choose Mahakala? Probably because they have the guts and the heart for it. To me they are not humans. Half humans, half goats a friend of mine observed. Maybe! Maybe they are like those shape-shifters who could turn into your worst nightmares. The riffology of “By my hand” and “Murder in Neverland” should be taught in the metal University. The Sabbath-esque spirit gives its blessings to the album. “The King is Dead” with the killing introduction and the bombastic drumming is one of the best song in 2013 so far. The last track, a hymn called the “Devil’s Song” , dedicated to the ones who sold their soul for rock n roll, drives you straight to hell, which ain’t a bad place to be no matter what you might have heard of. Horns up motherfuckers!

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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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