Heavy Music Magazine Issue #17

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LEMMY 19452015

ANTHRAX

HEAVY MAG AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED D R E A M T H E AT E R / / / E P I C A SEVENDUST /// RATT /// DEVIN TOWNSEND BL ACK SABBATH /// WITCHCRAF T THE SWORD /// BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

OZ UNDERGROUND

S U R R E N D E R T N P F ♦ I E X A LT

P L U S

M A N T I S S A

T H E S U N ♦ S H E LT E R E D

R E V I S I T E D

1 KINGS OF METAL

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END...

THE FINAL TOUR BY THE GREATEST METAL BAND OF ALL TIME

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CONTENTSISSUE17

14 HEAVY LEGENDS: LEMMY

47 HEAVY CINEMA

22 SEVENDUST

50 INDUSTRY INSIGHT

36 EPICA

58 DREAM THEATER

We celebrate the life of Lemmy as a true legend of HEAVY music.

Lajon Witherspoon talks of humble beginnings, overcoming adversities and his band that is now family.

Simone Simons talks about her “weird job” and why she’ll keep doing it as long as she can.

We speak to film director brothers, Colin and Cameron Cairnes about their new movie Scare Campaign.

Andy Farrow discusses the key ingredients to get your band noticed.

Jordan Rudess explains what it takes to create an Astonishing album and what people can expect from their live show.

56 Photo: Mark Weiss

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CONTENTS

6 Heavy Places 8 Top HEAVY: Free Music Download 10 Hi-Rotation 18 Heavy Mag Award Winners 2015 20 Witchcraft 21 Fleshgod Apocalypse 24 Senses Fail 27 Hacktivist 29 Between the Buried and Me 30 Buckcherry 32 Anthrax 34 HEAVY Photos 37 The Poor 38 The Sword 40 For All Eternity 41 Wednesday 13 42 Amon Amarth 43 Textures 44 Devin Townsend 46 Taberah 52 Past Blasters: Mantissa 56 Heavy Hitters: Black Sabbath 60 Oz Underground 65 MYOFB! 66 Now Hear This

WELCOME

C U L P R I T S EXECUTIVE EDITOR Shane Morrison

ASSISTANT EDITOR Robyn Morrison

ART DIRECTOR Peter Falkous

COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Warner Music Australia

HEAVY CULPRITS Callum Doig Cameron Cooper Carl Neumann Damo Musclecar David Griffiths Jana Angeles Jason Fuller Jeremy Vane-Tempest Jess Miller Joel Anderson John Raptis Joshua Bulleid Kris Peters Nathan Eden Peter Coates Rod Whitfield Rodney Holder Samantha Sweeney Shaun Watson Sofie Marsden Steven Jenkins Thomas Riley Lanyon

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES sales@heavymag.com.au +61 (0)402 400 779

HEAVY MUSIC MAGAZINE is published by SF Media Pty. Ltd. ACN 603511502 PO Box 2206 Fitzroy, VIC 3065 The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of publisher SF Media or Editor. All statements made, although based on information believed to be reliable and accurate, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for any error or omission. All material published in this magazine are subject to copyright provisions and cannot be reproduced, in part or whole, without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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MORE CHANGES AT HEAVY MAG

s you may have noticed, you are not reading this issue in print form! We have gone completely digital. Why? Well, we want to further our reach to our readers all across the globe. With a printed format it’s very difficult to attract interest from overseas with postage costs being astronomical and even rising by nearly 40% locally in the past few months in Australia.

With our reach widening by the day on the website (which has now been upgraded. Check it out at heavymag.com.au) and Facebook (240,000+ subscribers) it was apparent that our printed product wasn’t reaching as many people as we would have liked, or even as many people as we felt it deserved. The new digital format allows you, our readers, to simply download and enjoy what we offer without dipping into your hard earned.

We think that making the magazine a free download can only be a positive move. Firstly, it allows our advertisers to get their product out to a hell of a lot more people. In turn, building their confidence in us and growing the HEAVY brand. Secondly, our contributors have a great opportunity to get their hard work out into the world and be read by 10,000’s of people every quarter. Last but not least of course are our readers, you guys get the same great quality magazine and it’s only a click away and FREE! HEAVY would lastly like to thank our magnificent contributors who continue to go above and beyond in their quest to support the HEAVY music scene and HEAVY Music Magazine. Without these people we would have to close the doors on this place tomorrow. None of this is possible without them and I appreciate their tireless efforts to create something we can all be proud of.

Here’s to a bigger and better HEAVY in 2016!

Shane Morrison Executive Editor

Stay in the know.

Subscribe to HEAVY for FREE and never miss an issue! HEAVY will be available to download via ISSUU four times a year.

Photo: Nelli Scarlet

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The Evelyn Hotel

The Evelyn Hotel is one of Fitzroy’s brightest shining lights. There’s nothing better than sitting out the front of the ‘Ev’ on a warm afternoon, smashing down some well-priced beers and watching the world go by on the legendary Brunswick Street.

The Evelyn Hotel (formerly the Gershwin) has been a family owned business for over forty years. What we love most about The Evelyn is their never ending support of live music. For the last twenty-five years they have supported local and international HEAVY bands seven days a week. It’s unheard of in today’s landscape of pub tabs and poker machines.

To this day, The Evelyn band room plays an integral part of the vibrant Melbourne music scene, nurturing up and coming artists via their early week residencies. Whilst still attracting a wide array of bigger Australian and International acts.

The Evelyn is best known for its cheap booze (not in quality, in price!), live music, sausage sizzles and chilled atmosphere.

Seventy-four-year-old Nonna is at the pub seven days a week, rain hail or shine and according to General Manager and band booker Nick Murnane she’s seen more sound checks than anyone in the industry!

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People go to The Evelyn for the bands, the beers and the sausages, but they keep coming back because of the atmosphere. Nick says, “It’s very relaxed here. People are free to be who they want to be. Our motto is: Evelyn Don’t Judge.”

Nick also gives us his thoughts on HEAVY music at the venue: “We love all kinds of music here but the heavier the better in my opinion. The HEAVY music scene has the most dedicated bands and even more dedicated fans. Every staff member loves the music and the crowd it brings.”

If you’re in the Fitzroy area, go and have a jug or three and sit out in the sun with a few mates and soak in all that Fitzroy culture. In fact, I might go up there now!

Where? 351 Brunswick Street Fitzroy 3065 Why? Cheap drinks, bands and the atmosphere.

Web? evelynhotel.com.au

Cherry Bar

Cherry Bar in Melbourne is the self-proclaimed “Best rock ‘n’ roll bar in the world.” The bar was founded in 1999 and has been a hub of live music for the masses ever since.

Its location, in the iconic AC/DC Lane, is right in the heart of the Melbourne business district. They claim to be “a boil on the corporate world’s arse cheek.” A title which they proudly own.

Despite its modest capacity of 200 it’s still an internationally renowned late night street rock ‘n’ roll bar. You just never know who you will run into! Cherry Bar is another of Melbourne’s treasures, flying the flag for local bands to play live every day of the week. A noble feat in today’s market.

Part-owner James Young commented that the most unique thing about Cherry Bar is the “Handicapped Dunnies.” He says,

“if only those walls could talk.” If they did I’m sure they would be slurring! He goes on to say, “We support live HEAVY music.

We play HEAVY music. Our Punters are into HEAVY music. Our staff and owners are into HEAVY music. How good is HEAVY music!?”

“We are real, we are rock ‘n’ roll.”

Where? AC/DC Lane, Melbourne, VIC Why? Live music, Handicapped Dunnies! We are rock ‘n’ roll Web? cherrybar.com.au

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Download these 10 hot tracks just by pointing your smart device at our QR Code!

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Synaescope – Crumble & Fall Metal, Sydney, Australia The Neptune Power Federation – Begone Sorcerer Occult Rock & Roll, Sydney, Australia Stand Still – Stones (Over your Head) Alt Rock, Haifa, Israel Blacksmith – Smoke Wizard Power Metal/Doom, Sydney, Australia Red Serpi – Visions to Reality (Live at Temple X) Esoteric Rock, Triora, Italy

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The Levitation Hex – Disrate Prog/Extreme Metal, Canberra, Australia Reaper’s Riddle – War on Indulgence Hard Rock, Perth, Australia Brutai – Deep Metal, Reading, London Black Rheno – 40 Years Sludge/Stoner Metal, Sydney, Australia Infernal Outcry – Eclipsed Prog/Death Metal, Hobart, Australia

Words: Damo Musclecar Photo: Vash

Unveiling the Wicked RATT Dancing Undercover (Atlantic Records, 1986) Before they split into 27 different versions of the same band, RATT were riding high on the wave of hair metal, delivering a whole slab of solid records. I’ll be honest, I was a latecomer to RATT, only discovering their ass kickin’ sound in the 1986 Eddie Murphy movie, The Golden Child. As Chandler Jarrell [played by Murphy] along with his newfound partner, Kee Nang [played by the stunning Charlotte Lewis] break into a house full of bikers, RATT’s video for Body Talk is playing on the television. A barely teenage Damo heard these rockin’ hooks of RATT, took his eyes off Lewis and focused on RATT doing their thing and it was awesome.

These cats knew how to rock! I needed to know more. I ended up getting a copy on tape from somewhere and played that thing until it broke. So there I was, in Japan, and my buddy Miki says to me “I have some records for you. They were my dad’s and I want them to go to someone who will appreciate them.” Being the vinyl junkie that I am I wholeheartedly accepted these records not knowing what to expect. To my surprise there was Ozzy Osbourne, Deep Purple, Rainbow and this RATT classic, Dancing Undercover.

Being a vinyl nerd, Japanese pressings are believed to be superior in sound quality and I can tell you now, this album sounds sweet! We open with the song Dance and it’s perfect. Melodic guitar riffs and a groovin’ feel, while vocalist Stephen Pearcy chants away the song’s title amidst cries of feeling the heat and the rhythm. A great opener and it definitely ticks all the boxes, no matter how plain and simple Bobby Blotzer’s drumming is. One Good Lover follows and I am assuming in true ‘80s hair metal style, they’re referring to their sexual exploits and conquests about a girl who’s the style that drives them wild. This song isn’t anything special and Blotzer’s attempt at some quick double kicks is quite laughable.

Drive Me Crazy is up next and picks up the pace a little with its hard rockin’ repetitiveness. When Slip of the Lip rolls around it’s kind of an anticlimax cos it’s a bit weak. Thankfully, Body Talk comes next and it may be its reference to The Golden Child but this is easily the best track on the album and worth buying it for that alone. It’s a real rocker and the chorus is highly infectious. What an ending to side A. It wouldn’t matter if you didn’t listen to Side B because Body Talk is all you really need. But for the adventurous, Side B dishes up Looking for Love, which seriously, if it had porno lyrics would easily be mistaken for a Steel Panther tune. It’s a sweet bitchin’ jam that comes complete with a big chorus you’d expect to hear on a Cheap Trick album. That wins huge points with me. I have no idea where 7th Avenue is but I know it’s on this record and is a toe tapping slow jam that rhymes dancin’ with romancin’ while reminding us all that diamond girls fancy a string of pearls. Of course they do!

Keeping with the slow jams, Take a Chance is possibly the weakest song on the record. Not only is it boring as bat shit but there’s nothing memorable and it’s too long. Now, before you throw the record at the wall in a huff of anger, don’t forget that you’ve got Body Talk and Looking for Love to enjoy so that’s not a bad deal!

If this album isn’t in your collection in some format, you may need to ask yourself ‘why not?’ While I agree that it’s no Look What The Cat Dragged In or Too Fast For Love, it has to be said that those shining moments found on Dancing Undercover are enough for you to splurge the $5 or less on this slab of vinyl. Most people today would know RATT’s hit song Round and Round because of its inclusion in the fantastic movie The Wrestler [starring Mickey Rourke] but I will always know RATT from their moment in The Golden Child. Thanks Eddie.

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EARTHBOUND

CHAOS SOUND

ORIGINS (EP)

NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS

SEASON OF MIST

INDEPENDENT

BY

FOR ALL KINGS BY

Anthrax

NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS

Thrash Metal New York, USA 26 February 2016 Review: Steve Jenkins

One quarter of the ‘Big Four’ that were responsible for the emergence of speed and thrash metal in the ‘80s, has come forth with a heavy metal master class.

Whilst they might not be the most famous group when it comes to the likes of fellow thrashers Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, there’s no question that Anthrax have always been at the forefront of metal. They never worshipped Satan, they never sold out to the mainstream and they never ventured into uncharted waters musically. Straight up, in your face, balls to the wall heavy metal is what Anthrax have always been about. After many years of incorporating metal, punk and hardcore into their sound, now in 2016 Anthrax have given us their heaviest effort to date.

For All Kings, much like their previous effort Worship Music, keeps the old school flavour alive with rip you to shreds solos and chugging stop start rhythms. Joey Belladonna is most definitely

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the standout on this album, with his signature vocalisation and powerful range dominating every single track. He certainly hasn’t lost a single note for someone in his mid 50’s that’s for sure. Scott Ian on rhythm guitar moves along at a dynamic pace, switching and shredding between various tempos.

Each member has their own compelling role on For All Kings with top tier musicianship from beginning to end.

The production on here is a significant improvement compared to Worship Music.

From the opening track You Gotta Believe, with its headbanging intro and classic Anthrax thrash style, to the ever so heavy Zero Tolerance, with its circle pit ferocity. It wouldn’t be an Anthrax album without plenty of uplifting and sing along style choruses either, just like the track, Breathing Lightning. There’s nothing to flaw on For All Kings and you probably shouldn’t even bother to try and find it, because it’s music like this that makes metalheads proud. Another solid effort from one of the most consistent bands in heavy music, ever.

Bury Tomorrow

BY

The Casualties

BY

Whitefall

Melodic Metalcore England, U.K. 29 January 2016

Street Punk New York, U.S. 22 January 2016

Prog/Metalcore Canberra, Australia 4 March 2016

Review: Joshua Bulleid

Review: Kris Peters

Review: Rod Whitfield

Bury Tomorrow have seen their profile skyrocket over the last few years. Their previous two releases, 2012’s The Union of Crowns and 2014’s Runes in particular, saw the band’s core sound and song writing skill develop in leaps and bounds. This maturation did not go unheeded, with Runes debuting at number one on the UK rock charts.

Bury Tomorrow seemed set to establish themselves as the new kings of metalcore.

It’s a shame then, especially given the quality of the two preceding releases, that Earthbound, while definitely not a bad record by any stretch, seems to have slammed the breaks on Bury Tomorrow’s development.

Earthbound’s major flaw is not any jarring, pervasive offence, but rather that it’s simply unmemorable.

Earthbound just sounds like the same out of the box metalcore that’s been saturating the scene for almost two decades now, and while it’s pulled off both with undeniable passion and professionalism, it also doesn’t make for the most stimulating experience.

Perhaps Earthbound is more a poorly structured album than it is an inherently weak one, as on the last four tracks there’s a noticeable increase in quality and they end up being the best four songs on the album. Getting there’s a tall order.

For 25 years now, New York punk rockers The Casualties have been peddling their brand of hardcore street punk. Their 10th studio album Chaos Sound, is perhaps their most definitive release yet.

Oddly enough the album opens with an operatic sort of female piece, possibly the only semblance of tranquility for the next half hour or so.

Tracks such as Countdown to Tomorrow, with surprise synthesizer leading into a full on assault, coupled with lyrics, “I will stand my ground, stand by your side, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide” hint at the need for society to stand together in the face of adversity, with album closer United Streets reiterating that point.

The band even finds time for a brief nod to the Ramones with the Motörhead classic R.A.M.O.N.E.S. You either love them or hate ‘em but you get the feeling The Casualties really don’t care either way.

There are a million cookie cutter metalcore bands out there. Most of them are good at what they do and there’s certainly a massive market out there for it, but much of it starts to sound quite similar after a while. It’s only when a band puts some progressive touches into its sound that it starts to set itself apart from the heaving mass.

And like Northlane, that’s exactly what this Canberran five-piece do. They have taken a leaf out of the more progressive book written by bands like Periphery and Tesseract, and injected some more interesting elements into their sound, some slightly more abstract grooves and touches of complexity and some more left of centre ideas, and their music is all the more interesting for it.

And speaking of Tesseract, they managed to get the Brit masters’ vocalist Daniel Tompkins in for a brief but compelling cameo on the excellent, Casualty. Closer, The Flare, is an absolute monster too.

While the straight-up metalcore scene is bulging at the seams with sound-a-like bands, there is always more room for more progressive tinged acts ploughing that musical field. And these guys do it rather well.

JOMSVIKING BY

Amon Amarth

SONY MUSIC

Melodic Death Metal Tumba, Sweden 25 March 2016

HELLELUJAH BY

Drowning Pool

EONE MUSIC

Hard Rock/Metal Dallas, U.S 5 February 2016

Review: Matthew Clewley

Review: Kris Peters

There are notable nods to bands that influence the sound of Amon Amarth, in particular the scent of Iron Maiden on Wanderer and On a Sea of Blood. I suppose their radio friendly song is Raise Your Horns, a delightful drinking song that can settle your liver as well as your ears!

The Way of Vikings is, dare I say, beautiful? Yeah, it’s a beautiful Viking anthem that can mix your emotions more than an episode of Game of Thrones. The album has a fast tempo that creates an excitement and intensity that previous Amon Amarth albums have championed.

At Dawns First Light continues that, until it’s time for that relaxing part of most albums where a ballad comes into play. One Thousand Burning Arrows is indeed a ballad, but the lyrics let you see into this song in a tragic way, as the musical comforts the words in its storytelling.

The beautiful and talented Doro Pesch is the special guest on the song A Dream That Cannot Be, just to top this album. Jomsviking is a viciously intriguing concept album that maintains their Viking pride and their monstrous instrumental backing to Johan’s crucifying growls. I’ll raise my horns to this album, because it’s f*cking incredible!

Drowning Pool have had more than their fair share of troubles over the years.

Since the untimely death of vocalist Dave Williams after their promising debut Sinner, Drowning Pool have had a steady procession of vocalists, and although never delivering on their early promise the signs have always been there.

Latest front man, Jasen Moreno (formerly of The Suicide Hook), has the chance to nail the position down and after impressing on 2013’s Resilience, he furthers his cause here on the bands sixth album Hellelujah with a vocal performance that blurs the lines between hard rock and metal.

He has obviously connected with founding members C.J Pierce, Stevie Benton and Mike Luce and the proof is here with tracks like Drop, We Are The Devil, My Own Way and Stomping Ground rocking out as much as anything from their debut.

Currently the band are best (and mostly only) known for Sinner and Step Up but hopefully Hellelujah is the album that crosses that divide and propels Drowning Pool into the next level.

Album closer All Saints Day, and in particular the line “We’re all sinners or so they say” alludes to this fact and points a promising finger to the future.

Let’s hope they follow it.

POST SOCIETY BY

Voivod

CENTURY MEDIA

Progressive Metal Quebec, Canada

26 February 2016 Review: Matthew Bolton Crazy Canadians Voivod are still going strong after forming in 1983. The loss of band mate Denis ‘Piggy’ D’Amour and various line-up changes now release an EP of massive proportions. More of a mini LP clocking in at just under 31 minutes, we get 5 fresh tracks, something borrowed, something new, but pure Voivod, leaning toward the classic Dimension Hatröss era.

Title track Post Society, starts with the chugging bass of new comer Dominic “Rocky” Laroche, who replaces Jean-Yves “Blacky” Theriault and Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain who proves he is the perfect fit laying down riffs.

‘Piggy’ would be proud of with a commendable solo at the 4:30 mark. The constant thrashing of Michel “Away” Langevin, who has been behind the kit since the scifi beginnings of the mighty Voivod is in fine form as always.

Forever Mountain is a highlight track for me and also another newbie. Denis “Snake” Belanger’s distinct voice stands out and is catchy here with a brilliant chorus, which will have you singing along in no time…

“So here we are on the roof of the world…”

The next two tracks, familiar to some, are Fall, which was a split with Napalm Death, who they played alongside Carcass on the Deathcrusher Tour and We Are Connected, which was a split with label mates At the Gates.

The EP ends nicely with a cover of Hawkwind’s Silver Machine, paying tribute to the first space rock group while keeping it true to the Voviod sound.

Highly recommended for your Voivod fix, a nice way to breach the gap between 2013’s Target Earth and what is to come from The Outer Limits. The Truth Is Out There for Voivod fans and this band aint’ goin’ away any time soon!

ABBATH BY

ABBATH

SEASON OF MIST

Black Metal Bergen, Norway .

22 January 2016 Review: Cameron Cooper

There’s a reason why so many head bangers, whether they dug black metal or not, loved Immortal. Across the band’s career, they were consistent in their slabs of empowering, epic and at times sweeping black metal. Triumphant to the end, the band called it quits on a high note. Throw in the inclusion of black metal veteran King on bass, as well as the fact this is Abbath’s first outing without his co-conspirator Demonaz since 1990, and there is a lot riding on the ex-Immortal front man’s self-titled, solo debut.

From the start, Abbath bellows with the same sword swinging, frostbitten enthusiasm as the main man’s other projects. Dark, majestic guitars thunder furiously across a cavernous soundscape, with Abbath’s signature croak peeking out from the musical blizzard.

What separates Abbath from his work with Immortal and I, however, is the decidedly modern touches on the album. Some of the record’s riffs groove and reverberate with flourishes one might

expect from Mastodon or Black Label Society.

While the differences between Abbath and his past work are of note, what is probably most striking are the similarities.

Ultimately, this is still the same old beast, made clear on Count the Dead and the evil, dirge-rocking, Root of The Mountain. Although Abbath is in charge of lyrics this time around, the themes don’t deviate greatly from Immortal’s battles in Blashrykh. War hymns focusing on old gods, frostbitten landscapes and the demons that walk among them fill the album.

For many, Immortal were a very special band that managed to avoid the controversies and bloodshed of their peers, resulting in a grandiose and almost flawless discography. While Abbath wasn’t the only one responsible, this solo debut shows he certainly knows how to carry the torch, even if it is under a different banner. Fans will not be disappointed.

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NUCLEUS

KING

HIDDEN CITY

NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS

NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS

COOKING VINYL

BY

Witchcraft

Hard Rock Orebro, Sweden 15 January 2016

WHEN WE ARE DEATH BY

Hexvessel

CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

Psychedelic Folk Rock Helsinki, Finland 29 January 2016 Review: Thomas Riley Lanyon

When does a record become more than a collection of sounds thrown together to create one cohesive whole? Well, let me tell you. A record becomes more than just a record when it teleports the listener to another time and place, where the humdrum of daily routine is quickly forgotten.

When We Are Death is one such record, a gateway to the haze and wonder of the 1960’s, played brilliantly by a band of Finnish mystics known as Hexvessel.

Hexvessel play psychedelic forest folk, and if you find yourself unsure as to what that might entail, you’ll soon be enlightened not long after pressing play. Transparent Eyeball pounds with rhythm, as handclaps dance between electrifying organ keys, shifting effortlessly from gritty swagger, to passages of dreamy introspection.

Earth Over Us oozes cool, with its groove laden surf rock instrumentation and creeping, catchy chorus.

There is also beauty amongst the psychedelia,

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as is evident on songs like Cosmic Truth and Mirror Boy. Both of which are slow and haunting, characterised by the stellar croon of frontman Mat McNerney, who uses Hexvessel as a vessel through which to explore and probe into the mysticism that surrounds life, love and death.

One of When We Are Death’s greatest strengths is its versatility. Whether that be through a variety of instruments including brass and strings, or the contrast between moments within a single song. Take Mushroom Spirit Doors for instance, where tight, jiving verses collapse into a swaying, spaced out chorus.

Or Teeth of the Mountain, where languid shimmering guitars share space with chimes, bells, and a marching snare. The albums finale, Hunter’s Prayer, is astounding. Strings swell to wondrous atmospheric and emotional effect, before all instrumentation washes away and nothing remains but the ritualistic pounding of drums.

It may only be February but Hexvessel have crafted an album that will remain with you into the year’s final months. A transcendent experience into the past, bursting with moments of pure magic.

BY

Fleshgod Apocalypse Tech/Death Metal Perugia, Italy 5 February 2016

BY

The Cult

Hard Rock Bradford, U.K. 5 February 2016

Review: Matthew Bolton

Review: Steve Jenkins

Review: Kris Peters

You would be mistaken to think you were listening to great rock music from the ‘70s, either that or the love child of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, after listening to the epic opener Malstroem with its acoustic guitar and progressive riffs, and the way Magnus uses his distinct voice to his advantage. The same could be said with title track Nucleus, an album highlight.

From the stomping riff of Theory of Consequence, to the infectious chord progression three minutes into first single The Outcast, be ready for some well inspired psychedelic Swedish rock.

The use of flutes in the intro brings Jethro Tull to mind, with a very vintage ‘70s feel.

An Exorcism of Doubts shows a doomy side to the band with some bluesy solos spicing things up. Another highlight is the progressive, The Obsessed, showing the band gel with the new lineup.

With Tobias joining on bass and Rage belting away behind the kit.

I would highly recommend checking this flawless record out as well as the back catalogue. 2007’s The Alchemist being a classic in my book. Witchcraft brings exciting music to the table, and they’re one band that keeps releasing classic rock of a very high calibre.

The Italian symphonic death metal masters known as Fleshgod Apocalypse have created a classically influenced concept album, which is a career boosting effort that represents the culmination of their career.

King is much a more polished, refined and in a sense normal release, but that’s only compared to previous efforts which captured the imagination of metal fans everywhere. It was their chaotic approach to symphonic metal that got them noticed, but now it’s time to get serious.

On here you’ll find clean male and female opera style vocals, accompanied by brooding and savagery that makes Fleshgod one of the rarities in the metal genre.

There’s plenty of brutality on here that will please the everyday death metal listener. Tommaso Riccardi (lead vocals/ rhythm guitar) can turn a beautiful moment into a chilling onslaught of aggression.

The album begins dramatically and finishes the same way, but there’s no denying that if Morbid Angel and Mozart had a love child King would be it. With standout tracks such as In Aeternum, The Fool, Gravity and the epic Syphilis, it’s a beast of an album and grandeur journey of which is fit for a king.

Hidden City is the concluding chapter of the Cult’s trilogy of recordings, dating back to 2007’s Born into This and 2012’s Choice of Weapon. It’s a typically dark and brooding affair, with a sense of despair and hopelessness prevailing throughout.

A quick read through the song titles gives an accurate reflection of the albums content, with Dark Energy, No Love Lost, In Blood and Deeply Orchestrated Chaos giving a glimpse into the soul behind the music through name alone.

As usual, the album lives and dies on the vocal prowess of front man Ian Astbury and he is in fine form here, with his signature baritone and blood soaked lyrics dripping with angst and emotion.

Starting with Dark Energy, the album launches with a catchy, dirty, blues rock sound but from there slips into a parallel world, defined by a slow burning sense of dread that sometimes labors in its own intensity.

It is more of a musical odyssey than an album. It feels and sounds more like a soundtrack to a Western than its own entity, and as such lacks that knockout punch heard in previous offerings.

THE GUILT & THE GRIEF

INCARNATE

BY

BY

Polaris

INDEPENDENT

Metalcore Sydney, Australia 29 January 2016

Killswitch Engage

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

Metalcore Massachusetts, U.S.A 11 March 2016

RITUALS BY

Rotting Christ

SEASON OF MIST

Extreme Metal Athens, Greece

12 February 2016

Review: Rod Whitfield

Review: Alex Sievers

Review: Matthew Bolton

Approximately five or six years ago, someone must have turned the ‘World Class Aussie metalcore bands’ tap on full, as we are overflowing with them, and they just keep coming out of the woodwork.

Polaris is a relatively new band from Sydney, and this is their second EP. They’re not really adding anything new to the subgenre, which is damn nigh impossible now anyway, but they do the melodic metalcore thing to an absolute tee. The songs are very powerful, and they’ve come up with some excellent riffs upon which they are based. In true metalcore style, the music is brutal when it needs to be, and the choruses invariably soar to the very heavens when they come. Further dynamics are provided by the excellent, partially ballad-esque, No Rest. This kind of stuff will get any venue jumping.

And not just in Australia either. These guys have a sound, style and production that could very well appeal to audiences in the U.S as well.

These boys could be soon to join the ranks of the higher profile Aussie metalcore acts plying their trade across the planet. Keep an eye on them.

The secret to Killswitch’s success has always been their mixing of heavy metalcore with more contemporary melodic metal and rock (and some emotional, cathartic lyrics thrown in for good measure.) It’s why songs like My Curse, This Fire Burns, Rose of Sharyn, and My Last Serenade still make old and new fans lose their utter shit this many years on.

So, to absolutely no one’s surprise, the ingredients of the formulae remain the exact same for Incarnate, except the band have added in a lot more meat. What I mean by this weird food analogy is that this is the by far the heaviest Killswitch have ever sounded, as well as being at their most melodic too. That’s really all that’s changed with their sound, everything’s just been amplified.

Furthermore, the band’s seventh record proves only that KSE are one of the most reliable and safe metal bands around. At the end of the day this is an album filled with cool riffs, harmonies and melodies backing up good lyrics, coming from five good dudes who still make some pretty solid tunes.

Greek extreme metallers Rotting Christ don’t take long to show they’re a force to be reckoned with. Sakis leads the chant on opener In Nomine Dei Nostri, along with George shredding on guitars. The solos are fresh and are found throughout the album and on this track and Tou Thanatou, which features my personal favourite guitar solo. Brother Themis, is a behemoth when it comes to driving the insane drums that stand out both on record and on stage.

The female screams on Elthe Kyrie at first annoyed me a bit, though the more I listen to them, I feel it adds to the intensity of the song.

Something I think the band wanted to achieve. The music behind this tune is Rotting Christ at perfection and the guitar solo again is killer.

Samael’s Vorph lends his talents on Les Litanies De Satan and none other than Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes provides spoken word to For Voice like Thunder, providing just that.

A crisp sound is present thanks to the mastering of Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, responsible for the likes of heavy hitters such as Amorphis, Borknager, Moonspell and Devin Townsend amongst others.

Ten solid tracks make up for a promising release. Hail Rotting Christ!

DYSTOPIA BY

Megadeth

UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Thrash Metal Los Angeles, U.S 22 January 2016 Review: Steve Jenkins This is the best Megadeth has sounded in a long time. Ever since the easily forgettable 2013 release Super Collider, fans of Megadeth have been waiting for a resurrection, and now we have it. Expectations for a new Megadeth album were at an all time low, but a much needed change took place. New band members Chris Adler and Kiko Loureiro have given new life to the machine that is Megadeth.

Being fifteen albums into your career, you’re bound to have a hit and miss here and there. Most of the longtime fans will forgive you if you can make something great to make up for the not so good albums. Dystopia goes above and beyond, as Dave Mustaine continues to thrive and achieve, in this case he most definitely achieves.

Dystopia sees Megadeth go back to their thrash metal criterion that made them world renowned, bringing back the metal in a not so friendly way.

Of course, there is an assault of riffs and shredding solos on here, but there’s also some very eerie yet well executed acoustic riffs that fit right in. The thing most people will notice is Mustaine’s voice. Sure he’s 54 years old and can’t quite hit those notes he once could, but Dave doesn’t really stray far away from a comfortable range. The lyrics are quite bland at times, but perhaps that could be due to a plethora

of metal bands writing about the same thing. The world is falling apart, humans are destroying the earth, and so on.

One tiny mistake that could have been avoided was the three songs that were released early.

The Threat Is Real, Dystopia, and Fatal Illusion, are actually the three best songs on the album.

So while the opening of Dystopia is very strong, it doesn’t really continue due to those songs being so damn good.

Whilst Dave is the clear leader of Megadeth and rightfully so, the other members shine bright on Dystopia with absolute raw talent. Chris and Kiko are known for making music that is different from each other, but on here they comply with a standard that Megadeth fans will appreciate. Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson sound better than ever with their chemistry, creating a groove and complexity that blazes in glory.

There’s nothing wrong with the production here, with Dave Mustaine taking the reigns, which seems to work quite well.

Every instrument and element is clear, sharp, and clean, which delivers a satisfying sound.

Dystopia sees a band that doesn’t really have much to prove anymore, somehow prove everyone who doubted them wrong. Creating an album that makes up for some average releases, and amends the strengths that make Megadeth a mighty force. It’s an album that will keep Megadeth relevant for years to come, with captivating riffs that should make any metal enthusiast happy. It’s a new beginning for Megadeth, and they’re here to stay.

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1945ďšş2015

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Words: Kris Peters Photo: Courtesy of Warner

“Death is an inevitability, isn’t it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don’t worry about it. I’m ready for it.

When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow I couldn’t complain, it’s been good.”

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hese words spoken by Ian Fraser Kilmister, Lemmy to most of the world, rang true when on December 28 last year, it was proven unequivocally that no man is immortal.

Not even God. Lemmy’s contribution to the world of music (not just metal) is undeniable. He was a pioneer and a survivor, with over 50 years of service to the industry. He was brash, outspoken and unafraid to speak his mind; character traits that few, especially celebrities, possess.

“Apparently people don’t like the truth,” he was quoted as saying, “but I do. I like it because it upsets a lot of people.”

Lemmy’s musical career started in the ‘60s with The Rainmakers and Motown Sect, before he found his first taste of success with The Rockin’ Vickers. This brush with fame left him wanting more, but when he left that band in 1967 and moved to London, his vision of the promised land was soon tarnished by the harsh face of reality. “I left The Rockin’ Vickers thinking I was going to be a star,” he said in his autobiography White Line Fever.

“I was going to be a star in my own right immediately. Everything was going to be wonderful and huge; women would get a hold of me and do things to me with raw carrots you know, shit like that. Of course, it didn’t happen quite that way.” The move did however propel him closer to that goal, with Lemmy sharing a flat with Noel Redding, the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and before long Lemmy had scored himself a job as a roadie.

Again, this proved a stepping stone to greater things, and in 1971 after short stints

in Sam Gopal and Opal Butterfly Lemmy found himself as bass player and vocalist for Hawkwind, despite having never previously played the instrument. “That was a great time, the summer of ’71,” Lemmy once said. “I can’t remember it, but I’ll never forget it!”

During his time with Hawkwind Lemmy refined the very definition of playing bass, developing his own distinctive style, which was shaped from his previous experience as a rhythm guitarist. He pioneered a new wave of playing, often using double stops and chords rather than the single note lines like most bass players. This period came to an abrupt end in 1975 after Lemmy was arrested at the U.S./ Canada border on suspicion of possessing cocaine. When the powder turned out to be speed no charges were laid, but this was the final straw and Lemmy was unceremoniously booted out of the band. This led to the final and most successful chapter of his musical life, Motörhead.

Initially intended to be called Bastard, Lemmy changed the name of the band to Motörhead, which was the name of the last song he wrote for Hawkwind. His manager told him it was highly unlikely the band would get a run on the popular Top of the Pops television show, and on a BBC interview early on in the bands history Lemmy described their music as such.

“It’s very basic music, loud, fast, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speed freak rock and roll.

It will be so loud that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die.”

And so a legend and legacy was born.

Every show started with Lemmy proclaiming 1515

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“That was a great time, the summer of ’71,” Lemmy once said. “I can’t remember it, but I’ll never forget it!”

“We are Motörhead, and we play rock and roll,” and that was their greatest strength. The band refused to be typecast or pigeon holed, with Lemmy’s unashamed love of the music and the lifestyle winning him a loyal legion of fans.

“We are a blues band really,” he explained once.

“Although we play it at a thousand miles an hour it is recognisable as blues, at least to us it is, probably not to anyone else.”

Motörhead went on to release thirty-two studio and live albums, with their signifying trait that if you bought a Motörhead album you knew what you were going to get. There was no experimentation, or evolving. Motörhead knew their music and weren’t afraid to keep recycling it.

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“Sex, death and war…and justice,” Lemmy said “There’s no shortage of lyrics there.

“A kid once said to me ‘do you get hangovers?’”

Lemmy quipped in his autobiography. “I said, to get hangovers, you have to stop drinking.”

Lemmy was known for his love of a Jack Daniels as much as he was for his love of music.

It was not uncommon for him to be seen on stage or in interviews with a bottle of Jack, and this, coupled with his cigarette habit was seen to influence his gravelly vocals. It was a passion that he refused to give up, although in his later years of declining health he cut down to a pack a week and even changed his drink of choice to vodka and orange, mainly to assist in his diabetes.

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Despite obviously ailing health and discomfort, Lemmy refused to give in, playing shows almost until the end. Motörhead’s last performance was in November last year, and although throughout the year the band had to cancel a number of shows due to Lemmy’s health, the sad end came as a surprise to even those closest to him.

On Boxing Day 2015 Lemmy was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive cancer in his brain and neck and given between two to six months to live. He died two days later, leaving not only a gaping hole in the world of music, but also a heavy heart to the millions of people worldwide who loved the man and loved his music.

Lemmy will be remembered as a pioneer, an enigma, a musical hero, but most of all he will be remembered as a man. A man who lived life according to his own rules and who wore his heart on his sleeve. He was no Saint, but he never professed to be.

His memory will live on through his music and his legacy through the many touched by him during his time on Earth. The music world will be much the better for having him a part of it. “Integrity is everything to me,” he said in White Line Fever. “I will not die ashamed. I will live on my deathbed knowing that I gave it my best shot, and everything else is meaningless to me.” H 1717

2015 MUSIC M AGAZIN E AWARD S

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2015 Heavy Music Magazine Awards

Best Metal Band: King Parrot Best Metal Album: King Parrot – Dead Set Best Metal Song: Iron Maiden – If Eternity Should Fall Best Rock Band: AC/DC Best Rock Album: Faith No More – Sol Invictus Best Rock Song: Faith No More – Rise of the Fall Best Punk Band: Clowns Best Punk Album: Clowns – Bad Blood Best Punk Song: Clowns – Human Error Best Australian Heavy Band: King Parrot Best International Heavy Band: Slipknot and Slayer (tie) Best Oz Underground Band: Synaescope Best Film Clip: King Parrot – Home Is Where the Gutter Is Best Heavy Music Festival: Hellfest (France) Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road Best Heavy Music Record Label: Nuclear Blast Entertainment Best Heavy Music Venue: The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne Best Heavy Music Touring Company: Metropolis Touring

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Words: Kris Peters Photo: Philip Saxon

“Every song is personal to me,” stressed Magnus Pelander, vocalist/guitarist for Sweden’s Witchcraft. “The whole idea of Witchcraft is to have the receiver make their own interpretations because I choose to do this and it’s very personal stuff that I put out in faith and I am super happy that people want to listen to it and perhaps draw their own conclusions about, which is the most important thing with music. Try to stay free and think freely.”

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agnus is talking about the songs on Witchcraft’s new offering, Nucleus, which was released in January. If you thought the band had reached their peak with previous album Legend, then think again. With Nucleus, Magnus says the new look band has delivered the next layer in their musical journey. “I’m very happy with the album,” he enthused, “it’s the first album where I play ALL the guitars myself so I’m actually a bit surprised that it happened that way, but I am also extremely happy.

Yes, I’m proud. I’ve got my head up high!”

Fans of the band will remember that on Legend, Magnus drastically reduced his guitar workload in favour of concentrating on vocals, but he says that on the upcoming release he just felt that he could contribute more by handling both duties.“ I played a little bit of guitar on every track on Legend but with Nucleus it was more like I was staying open to life in general,” he mused.

“Things are going to change, that’s the best answer I can give. I just stayed open and then all of a sudden I picked up the guitar kind of by chance. I mean, I was planning to play the guitar but I didn’t think that I was going to do everything. It was pretty cool, I was just having fun in the studio and going crazy!”

As with previous albums, Nucleus doesn’t adhere to the notion that album tracks should be shorter and catchier in an attempt to appeal to today’s generation that tend to lose interest quickly. Magnus says he prefers to let the songs and their length breathe their own destiny, with eight minute plus album opener Malstroem starting with a three-minute instrumental before kicking in with vocals.

Things like this identify the band as having their 20

own agenda and refusing to conform, with Magnus agreeing the only limitation on a song is the limitations it places upon itself. “I don’t think too much about the length of our songs,” he admitted. “I just try to stay true to the creative process and if the song is going to turn out three minutes or six minutes or twenty-five minutes long it pretty much happens by staying true to the song. It’s going to start living its own life anyway if you are open about it.”

Nucleus also sees somewhat of a rebirth for Witchcraft with Rage Widerberg and Tobias Anger joining the band on drums and bass respectively. And while Magnus admits the duo have given the band a fresh lease on life and contributed to the quality of the upcoming album, he finds it difficult to separate the past from the future.

“I can’t put it that black and white,” he said, “because I’m not so formal in analysing those things, but the first thing that comes to mind is Tobias is really a force of nature. He is like a beast on the bass and we kind of have the same playing style like a ‘f*ck this, let’s just f*ckin’ go’ kind of aggression. Now I actually think about it, he is a big part of why I played the guitar on the album and when we started rehearsing after five minutes there was no doubt in my mind that Tobias was going to be on the record.

“With Rage, he’s pretty much like us as well.

He’s very much a go with the flow person and he fits in perfect. It’s kind of interesting because he is a full on instrumentalist and drums are not his first instrument. He is more of a guitar or bass player. He’s a very relaxed, very inspiring guy.”

Nucleus is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. H

Words: Steve Jenkins Photo: Courtesy of Nuclear Blast

Fleshgod Apocalypse reign supreme with their own sound of intensity and alluring approach on their new album, King.

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ith their unique blend of technical death metal and symphonic elements, Fleshgod Apocalypse have quickly become a band to look out for.

Innovative, unique and an extreme sound that sends chills down your spine. They are deservedly entrenched within the metal world. We spoke to lead vocalist Tommaso Riccardi about their epic new opus King, and where they draw their classical influences.

“Fleshgod albums are always super challenging because it’s a very long and detailed process. For this album especially, because we’ve been learning from our past works and trying to understand every good element we have. We had to develop the things that we could also modify and try to change it a little bit to find the perfect balance. We were really looking for the perfect balance of different elements, especially, of course, between the most classical and orchestral part and the most, let’s say, metal, extreme part of the music. Of course, in this process also, the production is extremely important.

“I really feel like this is a very mature album and we really felt that we found many, many different approaches to actually reach that balance and I really feel that there is actually a lot of dynamics and the good thing is that every time that metal riffing kicks in, it’s there, it’s in the face. In the meantime when the orchestra takes over you can really feel that everything is becoming bigger in the main themes. So, in the end it’s been a very long process but we are very satisfied about the final result.”

Fleshgod are known for creating concept albums with detailed stories ranging from myths, to the old times and philology. Their music creates a mesmerising soundtrack to a story of what can be at times chaotic and other times beautiful. Tommaso explains the concept behind King.

“We pulled out this story that’s actually about a court and it’s set in the Romantic period between the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century period. It’s the story of a king and all the characters of this court that obviously interact with each other. There’s not a chronological story like for example, in Labyrinth. Every song actually concentrates on a different character. This King actually represents someone who is still able to choose for what is right. He is someone who believes in justice and integrity and believes in these old values and he wants to take the responsibility to do the right thing at the right moment. There are jealous people, there are greedy people and they want, in some way, to take over

and try to deconstruct this integrity of the King. The message is positive, in the end we always try to send a positive message and the message is we all have this King inside and we can choose. We have this part of ourselves that is responsible and is really able to choose the right thing and it’s just a matter of choosing this part and trying to develop this part and trying to actually, as we said already, to hail the King we have inside.”

Beginning their career as rather chaotic yet still haunting and orchestral, the band has found their niche with the release of King. With a wide array of influences ranging from Beethoven to Behemoth, the masterful frontman tells of their background and how they came to mix such a beautiful blend of classical music with ferocious and fast paced death metal.

“We have a long story in classical music also in Italy if you think about Panini, Rossini, we had a lot inspiration.

Also, when we were kids, we would be all visiting places like Rome with parents and it’s something you do because you live here and you have so many things to see on the artistic side. For which regards the music, of course the main inspirations are from the great names of classical music, starting from Bach and essentially the Baroque period is much older than many other artists who we get inspiration from like Beethoven, like Mozart, like Chopin, like Liszt, like Schuman. In regards to this album, there are some elements in The Fool; for example, the main theme is really Baroque with the way it sounds, so even much older than other kinds of progression that we have.

“But then when you hear In Aeternum, or other songs that have some main themes that are really inspired from the actual Romantic period. And then, I think that there’s also a lot of more modern stuff, especially in the orchestral arrangements because we are also big fans of some modern composers for soundtracks, like I always name Hans Zimmer, that has been working with Christopher Nolan lately, and throughout the Dark Knight trilogy, and his style is very interesting because there’s a lot of percussions and he’s very dark and there’s always these melodies with very long notes and a lot of percussions and it’s very dramatic.”

One thing is for certain, you will be seeing the devilmay-care Italians here soon, and it’s only a matter of time. Then you can find out for yourself what makes Fleshgod Apocalypse the future of metal.

King is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. H

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Words: Rod Whitfield Photo: Courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records

Never let first appearances fool you. Lajon Witherspoon looks like he may be quite mean and scary. He’s a very strongly built man with long arse dreads who bellows his lungs up with a blistering hard rock/heavy metal band called Sevendust.

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irst impressions are quite intimidating. The reality is the opposite. He’s actually a sweet, good natured, good humoured bloke who loves a chat and laughs readily.

He’s also very down to earth. From extremely humble beginnings way back in 1994 [“Back when we started, our guitarist John Connolly didn’t even 22

have a damn guitar strap!” He jokes] the band have slowly but surely built what can only be described as an illustrious career, releasing no less than eleven albums, touring the world many times over, and this year they are even nominated for a Grammy award for ‘Best Metal Performance’. He has very much kept his feet on the ground through it all.

TOUR DATES 11 March – The Studio (Auckland) 13 March – Capitol (Perth) 14 March – The Gov (Adelaide) 16 March – Coolangatta Hotel (Gold Coast) 17 March – Eatons Hill (Brisbane) 18 March – 170 Russell (Melbourne) 19 March – Metro (Sydney)

Stay true to your art of course, but also be business minded. It took us a while to get to that point.

Much of that can be attributed to his naturally unpretentious personality, but some also comes from the many difficulties that he and his band have faced and overcome over the last twenty plus years. In fact, you could say their story has been one of overcoming adversity.

“We had a dream as those young men, to be a band,” he says, “and we were able to go across and go through these obscure obstacles that life and the music industry put in our way, and somehow get around them and come back, and still be here!

“We definitely took on water, but we were able to get most of it out!” He laughs.

And what’s more, not only have they lasted and prospered for more than two decades, unlike many other bands with such longevity, they have been able to maintain close to the same line-up for the entirety of their career. Witherspoon thanks the strong bonds of kinship between the band members for this.

“I just think that we’re family,” he surmises, “we get mad at each other sometimes, if there’s gotta be a douchebag at some point there’s gotta be a douchebag. But at the end of the day, I think we looked at each other and we realised that this is our family, this is a part of us.

“When we looked at each other as those young men when we sat in that band room and didn’t have a dollar to our name, and we said ‘one day, wouldn’t it be cool if we had kids, and we had wives, and we were still jamming and they would be on the side of the stage?’, and man, that’s happening now. And not only is that happening with our own families, it’s happening with those kids that were the same age when we started! They’re doing it, they’re bringing their kids to the show.”

One of the many obstacles they faced as a band as their career progressed was some rather dodgy management companies they dealt with, but Witherspoon is even thankful for that, in a way.

“It’s definitely been a beautiful thing, man,” he states, regarding the longevity of their career, “I wouldn’t change a thing. The only thing I would change would be a lot of those douchebags we

had, that had their hands in our pockets and did things the wrong way. But I think even that helped make us the band we are today. I think it made us work even harder.”

The band have always had a very strong following in Australia, but they have had their issues getting down here to tour, and that’s been partly due to the aforementioned less than ethical management people they have dealt with. They are with the right people now, and are coming for a full blown, extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand in March however, and he cannot wait to get here.

“It’s been much too long,” he says, “it’s a place I’ve been waiting to get back to ever since the last time we played there. I just wanted to say, from myself personally, I hate the fact that we weren’t able to get back over there sooner, due to situations that were completely out of our hands and out of our control. But now we have the right team, the proper team, in our organisation now, and things are looking good and we can’t wait to get there.

“And not only that, we want to make sure that from now on, we come back sooner and sooner.”

He has some very sage advice for young bands, as someone who’s been there and seen the seedier side of music management and come out the other end stronger and smarter for it.

“These days we don’t have some guy putting us out on the road, and coming back home with a tee-shirt of another band and a Chick-O-Stick and wondering where all the money went! It’s not like that anymore, we know what’s going on with our business within the music business.

“I think that’s something that every young artist out there should do, keep your eye on what’s going on within that. Stay true to your art of course, but also be business minded. It took us a while to get to that point. Because of course, when we got a record deal, that was all that mattered.

We couldn’t care that we couldn’t eat, we had a record deal, we’d made it! But we’ve learned so much over the years, and it’s still been a magical ride for me.” H 23

Words: Jana Angeles Photo: Matt Vincent

2015 was a huge year for post-hardcore band, Senses Fail. With the release of their sixth studio record, Pull the Thorns from Your Heart, it explored entities of front man Buddy Nielsen, on his struggles with his sexuality and addiction.

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ack in 2014, he did a podcast in Ray Harkins’ segment of ‘100 Words or Less’, revealing his story in an in-depth interview of issues he had kept from everyone for such a long time.

Nielsen claimed that what he did took some weight off his shoulders and found that it was an outlet in which he can fully express his story. He admitted that what he did wasn’t something he struggled with sharing and emphasised that he was completely honest depending on the circumstances.

“It really depends. I’m not 100% open to everyone.

Yeah, I can tell my story but that doesn’t mean I consider what I did really that groundbreaking and/ or difficult to share,” He continues. “I look at it as something that I wanted to do for myself and it’s made it easier to be with myself, and that’s the whole point. I did it for selfish reasons, honestly. And that’s how this is supposed to work when you wanna be honest about yourself. It’s not really meant for other people but my 24

whole point was to really help myself.”

Halfway through the year, Nielsen posted some heated tweets on the band’s Twitter page about the unfortunate sexual misconduct by some band members in the alternative rock scene. The front man was asked how we could improve the safety of fans in a concert space, but Nielsen put the perspective that horrible things can happen in any minute for anyone, using the unfortunate attacks made during the Eagles of Death Metal show in Paris as an example.

“I don’t honestly think that there’s one thing you can do to make it safe. It takes a lot of bands to care and a lot of bands to talk about it and also fans and everyone else to impress upon that it [safety] is important to them. But if you don’t have bands talking about it or caring about it, you’re not really gonna change anything.”

“There’s no actual way to make anything safe. In any minute, as we have all seen in the last few weeks,

someone can walk into a show and kill everyone.

There’s not an actual way to make anything safe and there never was and there never will be,” he says. “As a human being, you’re at risk of dying every single minute of your life. It’s one of the unfortunate things of being alive is that you’re super vulnerable, but it comes from a community, a building of a community in which people do care about making safe spaces because the people who don’t have those kind of viewpoints won’t come.”

With Nielsen narrowing down some real insights on the segregation of people, he mentioned that religion wasn’t a problem as to why horrible things happened in the world. It was more towards the political motivations that came with religion that unleashed the power of how a single disagreement against another person’s beliefs can be downright ugly and terrifying.

“I think religion at its essence is supposed to answer the unanswerable questions, it’s supposed to give someone a community of guidelines to which people live their life. But when it’s held with like a rigid sort of grasp, it can be very dangerous because nothing in this life is rigid except for death. There’s nothing certain other than you’re gonna die and that what happens after your death is highly debatable, if not completely uncertain,” he continues. “Religion gives us a guideline

in which to deal with the existential questions and attempts to answer those questions, and when it changes from a mythological representation to a human interpretation of our own psyche, then that’s where there is an issue.”

“I think the motivation behind ISIS and Militant Islam are all politically based versions of religion. I don’t think religion is to blame. I think political sort of motivations under the use of rigidity of religion and the clinging on to the belief that if a specific belief isn’t true, then that would be the end of that person’s understanding of their own life. It’s super delicate because if you smash someone’s psyche on which they’ve based all their beliefs, you’re opening doors, which are highly volatile if you don’t step through them in the correct way.

“Everybody says that religion is the start of all wars but we all know that’s not exactly true. Religion is the cause of politics and motivation for greed of land and resources. It’s so obvious that it’s hard for people to see. It’s just so planned and sociable but people are so blinded by it and it makes it super difficult and everybody sort of blames religion when the issue is much more motivated by other things.”

Senses Fail have cancelled their Australian tour in March. New dates are hoped to be announced soon. H 2525

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Words: Rod Whitfield Photo: Courtesy of UNFD

The fusion of rock and metal with rap or hip hop is nothing new. In fact, bands have been putting the two seemingly disparate styles together for at least thirty years.

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owever, few bands are combining the modern day tech and progressive metal sound with urban stylings and rhymes, and this makes UK outfit Hacktivist quite a unique proposition. The trade-off can be heard to full effect on their 2012 self-titled EP, and even more so on their superb, soon to be released debut album, the aptly titled Outside the Box. Guitarist and founding member Timfy James, with all humility, believes that the sound his band are shaping is quite fresh and unique.

“I think the only other band that is doing it well is Devastator,” he opines. “They’re an Australian band that came out maybe a year after we hit the scene. I’ve listened to a lot of their stuff and obviously they’ve clearly taken it, it’s clearly heavily influenced by us, but they’ve taken the more techy road where it’s very rapid, very djent (I hate that word!)

“We’ve tended to take a route to explore even more, we’ve not played it safe in the genre. Not saying they have, they’re more like the EP and we’re now breaking away from that. I definitely think we’re trying new sounds, and we’ll continue to do that into the future.”

And this fusion of styles ensures that a broad range of punters come to their shows, from tech metal heads to hip hop fans. James feels that the band has an important obligation to bring fans together who wouldn’t normally attend shows together.

“It’s even stronger now than ever,” he states. “We’re seeing people that would never come to a metal show at a metal show, and metal people that would never come to watch rap bands, come and watch us. That’s what we’re about, we’re about uniting people that shouldn’t be ununited in the first place. We should all be ‘unified’, excuse the little pun there!” He laughs.

What he is referring to is that Hacktivist is the first ever non-Australian band to be signed to the burgeoning Aussie heavy music label Unified. The relationship originated two

years ago when the band made their first trip to Australia for Soundwave, and blossomed from there.

“They invited us to their shop and their office, and we met everyone,” he recalls, “I got to know Luke quite well, and the other people that work there. They put on a little party for us and we got a bit drunk, and did a signing and there were loads of people there, which we didn’t expect.

We were on the other side of the world and there’s people queuing up to talk to us! It was crazy, in our first two years of being a band.”

He feels that the fresh, new vibe that the label put across actually suits their band perfectly, as opposed to being with a large, well established company. “Unified are up and coming,” he states. “We want to work with people we can grow with, so we can grow with each other, instead of being a small band joining a massive label and just getting thrown into the fire.

“Unified can learn from us, and we can learn from Unified, and we can grow together. And we got the vibe from the guys that they just want to put out good music, they’re not out to get anyone. So we felt really comfortable with them.”

It also means that another Aussie jaunt is definitely on the cards in the not too distant future, although James doesn’t know what form that tour will take just yet.

“It’s a definite,” he states. “It’s not planned yet, but it’s definitely happening, we’re just waiting for the right time.

“Unified are trying to figure out whether it’s the right time for us to do a headline tour or whether we should still be introduced. Obviously Soundwave was good, and it was a good two weeks of touring around Australia, but not everyone goes to Soundwave and not everyone got to see us, so we’ve got to assume that we’ve still got a lot of territory to break down. We’ve just to figure out the best way to do it.”

Outside The Box is out 4 March via UNFD. H

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Words: Jeremy Vane-Tempest Photo: Justin Reich

TOUR DATES 25 February - Rosemount Hotel, Perth 26 February - Fowlers Live, Adelaide 27 February - Max Watt’s, Brisbane 28 February 28 - Metro Theatre, Sydney 29 February 29 - 170 Russell, Melbourne

Paul Waggoner is the nicest man on the face of the planet. He’s a polite, well-spoken and honest guy who became a vegan because, “I liked animals and just couldn’t reconcile the fact that I considered these creatures to be sentient, feeling beings and then have bacon and eggs for breakfast.”

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e reach him at home, where he’s been for the better part of a month, recuperating before the next leg of Between the Buried and Me’s tour in support of their 2015 record, Coma Ecliptic.

The break was not unexpected, unwelcome, or even uncommon. “We tend to have at least a few weeks off in between tours,” Paul explained. “We used to tour pretty much non-stop when we were younger, but now, well, we’re a bit older and our bodies need a little recuperation time before we can go back out on the road.”

“It’s also good because touring non-stop is pretty overrated,” he continued. “I mean, you might get more cash in the short term, but you run the risk of oversaturating yourself and then having no one come to your shows because, well, you’ve already been through their hometown three times this year. That can do more harm than good to your career. It’s about finding a balance that ensures longevity. We wanna do this for a long time and spending too much time on the road can remove demand for what you offer.”

The last time BTBAM came out to Australia, they played their Parallax record in its entirety, followed by an encore of White Walls. While it’s cool to see a band like BTBAM explore their new material in-depth, Paul confirmed that this tour will be a good blend of old and new.

“We’re not gonna do it this time. We made a conscious decision to mix up a little new stuff with a little old stuff. Even though the album has been out for a while, I don’t think that it’s been out long enough

for the crowd to both be super-duper excited for it and know it like the back of their hand, and all that music at once is pretty overwhelming. We did the whole album tour for the last few albums pretty soon after they came out, and while we definitely don’t regret doing that, we just wanted to mix things up a little and try something a little different this time.”

BTBAM have been around since 2001, and in that time, they’ve written a lot of songs that have really gone the distance in terms of fan favouritism. White Walls is one, but it would be remiss to not include the ironically titled Selkies: The Endless Obsession in that list too. We had to know just how sick is Paul of playing that damn song?

“That’s a loaded question,” he laughed. “I’m definitely tired of the song, but at the same time, it’s also probably our most requested song, so, y’know, we do have to play it. I hate practicing the song, but playing it live in front of people really isn’t that bad.

The crowd likes the song, they react well to it and their response makes me, for that brief window, almost enjoy the song and forget how much I’m sick of it.

It gets a little old, of course, as do a lot of the older songs. Pretty much anything off Colors or earlier is a bit of a chore. Having said all that, though, it’s really gratifying that people actually have songs that they wanna hear that much. I guess that there are a lot of bands out there that would love to have that problem.

But yeah, Selkies doesn’t represent what we are as a band right now in any way, shape or form, but it is a lot of fun to play.” H 2929

Words: Robyn Morrison Photo: Courtesy of Buckcherry

Back in the earlier part of last decade, Buckcherry toured Australia for the very first time. It was after their first album release and on the back of their evermemorable single, Lit Up.

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he scene was the Metro Theatre in Sydney. The crowd was littered with enthusiastic rockers, waiting to witness this band that had the attitude of Mötley Crüe laced with the rock swagger of Aerosmith.

Buckcherry have toured Australia since that first tour and they’re touring again this March with a stack of back catalogue songs to choose from. The band recently asked fans via social media to help choose their Australian and New Zealand set list and they received a huge response. Josh Todd shares some insight into how the band will select the songs.

“Yeah, well it’s difficult you know,” Todd explains.

“We have seven records and EPs, so over 190 songs out there. You know, we always play the usual suspects like Lit Up and Crazy Bitch and songs off 15, because everyone likes that record. So, we’ll play that and for five or six songs a night it’s totally up to me and what I’m feeling that day, or what I feel like I can do really well. I try and make a set list on how I’m feeling and where we’re at and what’s going on in the band and 30

make it interesting for us and the audience.

“We are gonna be doing some Rock n’ Roll songs ‘cos that’s our newest record so we are always gonna be playing a lot of that, and right now we’ve been doing Bring It On Back and Tight Pants. The songs are so much fun live it’s hard not to do them. So that, coupled with all the hits, makes for a big set. We are going to do what we can do and try to make everyone happy…which is almost impossible now.”

With seven albums in their musical arsenal, Todd explains how the band has evolved since their selftitled release in 1999.

“We’ve grown so much as song writers and as people, and seen the world a few times. That all makes for better song writing, more interesting lyrics and songs. I’m so proud of the record Confessions because really, that was the first record that we really had a theme going and something that was very different for us. Black Butterfly is one of my favourite records.

We’ve grown up a lot and that’s what’s different. We’ve gotten a lot better at being Buckcherry.

“Now we are just having so much fun,” Todd continues, “because we have our own record label now (F-Bomb Records) and we get to do whatever we want to do. We like to write songs, we like to tour and we like to work.”

TOUR DATES 13 March - Powerstation, Auckland 14 March - 170 Russell, Melbourne 15 March - Max Watts, Brisbane 18 March - Metro, Sydney 19 March – Metropolis, Perth

“Now we are just having so much fun,” Todd continues, “because we have our own record label now (F-Bomb Records) and we get to do whatever we want to do. We like to write songs, we like to tour and we like to work. Right now, we are working on a new EP. We put an EP out called F*ck not too long ago and now we’ve got another one coming out. We also recorded a new song called Get Started for the re-release of Rock ‘n’ Roll because we are releasing our new song.”

Rock ‘n’ Roll was released six months ago and was received with open arms by their fans. Todd explains this is exactly the album they expected to write after Confessions. “Confessions was a very emotional rollercoaster and we took a long time to write it. I had to dig deep and there were some really personal demons that were inside of me. That record was crazy and now I’m glad we have it. We toured a long time on that record so we were just ready to make a fun heart pumpin’ rock ‘n’ roll record. Call it what it is. Rock ‘n’ Roll is a title that’s been thrown around for a few years now. Since we put out our first record in 1999 people have been telling us that rock ‘n’ roll is dead so it’s fun to just call it what it is and make a ten song record that was fun.”

Stepping back to the album prior to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Confessions borders on being a concept album; something that Buckcherry followers may not have expected from the band. But unlike some concept albums, each song stands in its own right. One case in point is the track, Gluttony. Todd takes us through the process of writing an album that was different to anything the band had released.

“We had to capture the seven sins, and we had to capture the seven sins in song. I felt a huge responsibility as a lyric writer to do them justice because they are timeless and there have been movies and books about them. Other bands have also written songs about them so I really wanted to make it the best we could and not over think it. It was really challenging. There were some of those sins that I wrote two-three times because I couldn’t get the right chorus together. Gluttony for instance; by the time I was done with that I was exhausted.”

This writer has seen Buckcherry on every tour of Australia. The live show energy is still there after all these years. What’s the band’s secret?

“Passion. We’re all very passionate about being great live and give everything we’ve got for that moment on stage. It’s all about the show. After the show is complete then we can do whatever we want to wind down. I’m really committed when I step on that stage. I have a whole routine to get into my state of mind and it’s really just about…I want people to remember us. I want to be unforgettable, that’s what I really focus on.” H 31

Words: Carl Neumann Photo: Courtesy of Nuclear Blast

No one likes a thief, not even the thief himself; have you ever seen a truly happy thief? Anthrax’s lead guitarist, Scott Ian, expressed his opinion on thieves and people who steal music in a fiery conversation with Carl Neumann.

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think you’re a f*cking c*nt if you steal music,” Ian erupted in furious anger. “If someone wants to steal an Anthrax record, let them come to my house and take it. Let’s see if they have the balls to do that!” he challenged, not letting up on the deeply embedded hatred and disgust for such despicable fiends.

A little shaken and taken aback by his instant attack, I felt my own past sins press upon me and sheepishly admitted to him of having copied State of Euphoria from my mate’s vinyl to a cassette, back in ‘89. But then, I bought a vinyl copy shortly after - because I f*ckin’ loved it! To my admission, Ian responded with no holding back of tender emotion “Well you’re a c*nt too,” after which I was haunted by the silence on both ends of our phone line, bar the static crackle of the 32

long-distance connection, and then a brief chuckle to let me know I’m not so bad after all for having released my confession.

One of their Big 4 brothers, Metallica, sued the first online peer-to-peer organisation, Napster, for a rate of $100,000 per song that was illegally downloaded and ended up with millions in damages. Love or hate what Lars Ulrich pursued, it was necessary for someone to stand up and to take a bullet for all musicians across the globe. Having not done so could have seen record sales completely diminish, and thankfully today the industry is clawing its heavy body back up the shoot, and hardworking artists are beginning to be paid again for their albums and not just for their long, endless tours.

“I think you’re a f*cking c*nt if you steal music,” Ian erupted in furious anger. “If someone wants to steal an Anthrax record, let them come to my house and take it.”

Ian, a little calmer in poise continued, “People f*ckin’ work their lives off for [music],” then ballistically descended by, “You’re a thief. You’re a thief.

You’re a f*ckin’ thief!” to reassure there’s no question whatsoever the message had gotten through to me.

The savageness in tone and the zero tolerance attitude is a fitting scene for the next Anthrax album.

It’s equally as brutal, trashy and in your face as this conversation was. For All Kings will be the eleventh studio album by Anthrax since they began in 1981 and is set to be released on February 26, 2016. It will be the band’s first studio album to feature Jon Donais (ex-Shadows Fall) on lead guitar, replacing Rob Caggiano.

Vocalist Joey Belladonna has his hands around the mic again and since 2011 is very much welcomed back with the band, but how was For All Kings different to the 2011 release of Worship Music? Ian - now relaxed and interested in the interview explained. “It

was different because we were a band going into the making of this record. With Worship Music we pretty much had finished that record, and then put it on the shelf until Joey re-joined, and then re-did a lot of it with him. Then we spent the next 3-4 years on tour becoming Anthrax again, the band that was able to write and record, For All Kings.”

With the heavily anticipated release of the new album in the wake, the first piece of it is unleashed as a lyric video, Evil Twin, an accelerated thrash-metal song with a raging in-your-face guitar riff a chunky as Caught in the Mosh (Among The Living) or Make Me Laugh (State of Euphoria). The next public release, a promotional video, could be considered the best Anthrax song ever recorded. Yep, I said it. Breathing Lightning is a complete collection of all Anthrax songs rolled into one.

But what is Breathing Lightning? Is it a metaphor for angry gods? Or shooting lightning bolts out of your arse? Scott delineates the meaning behind the great song, “What’s the right thing, isn’t always the right thing.” Pausing for a second for a sip of Westin New York Hotel’s finest coffee, Scott continued “Sometimes the easy road isn’t the right road and being able to make the right decision, even if taking the harder path, and committing to that. Committing to taking the hard way, and basically, breathing lightning at anything in your way. It means stopping at nothing to get what you want.”

Seems like breathing lightning is the modusoperandi for Anthrax, based on the quality of all thirteen songs on For All Kings; they have indeed produced their best album since Spreading The Disease. It’s honest, political, ballsy, riffy, melodic, evil, insightful pure metal. It’s a compound of Armed and Dangerous, Persistence of Time and Worship Music combined.

While the next six months of live shows are already booked in, including South American supports with Iron Maiden and mainstage appearances at Sweden Rock and Hellfest already lined up, is there going to be time for Anthrax to make it to Australia? “We’d love to come down and do headline shows. That’s something we haven’t done in a long time. In a weird way, the fact that a festival that I won’t mention the name of no longer exists, it’s a relief because we’re not just stuck doing that. We can hopefully come and do headline shows, which we prefer to do. I’m assuming that our fans would prefer to see a full Anthrax show, as well. We couldn’t be more excited about the new record and getting in front of your crazy f*cking faces again, Australia!”

For All Kings is released on 26 February via Nuclear Blast. H 3333

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Words: Rod Whitfield Photo: Tim Tronckoe

TOUR DATES 16 March - The Studio, Auckland 18+ 18 March - Max Watts, Brisbane 18+ 19 March - Max Watts, Sydney 18+ 20 March - 170 Russell, Melbourne 18+

The woes of the music industry have been excruciatingly well documented over the last ten years, and those woes are further exaggerated when your band plays a style of music that is a long way from what is considered ‘acceptable’ to the mainstream.

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utch band Epica certainly fall into that category.

They create lengthy, bombastic symphonic metal masterpieces that often stray into death metal territory and are about as far away from being commercial radio playlist material as can be imagined, and their luminous frontwoman Simone Simons is ever humble and thankful that she is able to play in a metal band and actually make a living from it.

“This such a weird job!” She states plainly, laughing, “having a job, and being able to pay the bills by doing this, in a music scene that is not a multi-million-dollar business.

Playing in a metal band kind of limits having a durable career, but we manage by being a productive band, having a really awesome loyal fan base and touring a lot.”

She attributes much of that fan base that they’ve built to touring their proverbial arses off, especially in their early days as a band, and they are reaping the benefits of that now. “In the beginning of Epica we were all young puppies,” she recalls, “we had no big bills to pay, so we had the opportunity to tour a lot to gain the fan base that we have now that is so solid, the ‘Epica Family’ I call them.”

“We have the luxury now that we don’t have to do a second job, we live from the touring and merch sales and CD sales. We are very privileged and we’re going to keep on doing this as long as we can, always keeping in mind that this is a dream job and it can one day be over.”

Being on the road so much, and especially singing long and hard every night for months on end, Simons must work hard and undertake quite a strict regime to keep her incredible voice in good shape. She has some good advice for up and coming vocalists who are striving to make their living singing in a recording and touring band.

“I am a strong believer in a healthy diet and sleeping well,” she explains, “I work out, that has been a new year

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resolution for me. I’ve been ill a couple of times and almost at the point of exhaustion from all the touring and taking care of a little kid. So I finally had to prioritise my time, so I work out, I drink very little alcohol, I don’t smoke, and I rarely indulge in the bus parties!” She laughs.

“I eat my fruit and vegies, and not too much meat.”

Australian and New Zealand fans have the pleasure of Simons and her band’s company in mid-March when they come out to tour for only the second time in their fourteenyear career. They are doing the eastern seaboard with Perth legends Voyager, and she cannot wait to get here.

“I’m very stoked because I love Australia, I love the people, I love the country, and I have very fond memories of our first visit there,” she enthuses, “it took us a while to finally get to Australia, we always dreamt about it, so I’m happy that we managed to re-schedule a second tour quite fast.”

The tour also includes their first ever date in New Zealand. “No, we’ve never been, I’m hoping to see some Hobbits there!” She laughs.

The band have been together for almost a decade and a half now, and Simons is confident that they will be together for at least that length of time to come, although she does envision a shelf life for the band at the same time.

“I think so,” she concurs, “I don’t really see myself being on stage in a metal band in my 50s. I’m 31 now, so I still have some time. I’m really enjoying this at the moment and I want us to continue doing it as long as we can, while we have the energy and the creativity. Plus, we have a really great team now, we already have a heap of songs for the next record, so it’s all ahead for us now.”

Any parting words for your many Aussie fans leading up to the tour? “Yeah, Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!” H

Words: Kris Peters Photo: Courtesy of The Poor

Music, as in life, is made up of two major components; attitude and confidence. Both of which are entrenched in the DNA of Aussie rock icons The Poor. This year marks thirty years of rock as The Poor defy time, age, and musical trends to remain at the forefront of Australia’s rock ‘n’ roll tree.

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hat keeps you going is the pure fact of getting on stage and f*ckin’ rocking out, because there’s nothing like it in the world. You play your shit and people love it, and if you f*ckin’ mean it there’s nothing that will stop it,” vocalist Skenie enthused.

The Poor took the music world by storm with their debut album Who Cares in 1994, which featured the hit single More Wine Waiter Please and led to a support tour with AC/DC and a recording contract with Sony. Alongside The Screaming Jets, Rose Tattoo and The Angels, The Poor were touted as Australia’s next biggest musical export.

Their live shows were chaotic and their attitude to music was infectious, but then, seemingly overnight the band disappeared, leaving behind a legacy that carries to this day. “My daughter got sick with meningococcal disease,” Skenie explained.

“We didn’t actually break up but I was sort of taken up with that for a little while and then we just sort of drifted apart. I moved to the Gold Coast and joined Lump and did that for eight years. Then just as Lump was finishing we got the offer to do the W.A.S.P tour in 2008, and that was exactly ten years later. We decided to do it for the fun of it and as soon as we started jamming it was like, what the f*ck have we been doing? Why didn’t we do this ten years ago?”

Skenie says that although the basics of rock music haven’t changed a great deal over the years, the logistics behind it has. “It’s so easy now to get music out there on the scene,” he said.

“It’s all about how many hits you get on the Internet now, which is a good thing because if people like something they like it. It’s not dictated by record companies and

corporations, so bands are being recognised by the people and for the people. But at the same time it’s so much harder because there’s so many more bands that are doing it. The thing about that is none of these bands have played live before. As soon as they play live people go ‘oh shit’ and the best thing about going to see a band is saying ‘they’re shit’ or ‘they’re awesome, I love that band’ and that’s what The Poor is about.

“We play live and always have and if anyone wants to go see a great rock and roll show they know. I remember saying to the promoters of Van Halen when they came out ‘Chuggy, what other f*ckin’ band is gonna back up Van Halen?’ and he said there were bands lining up but I said to him ‘who’s gonna f*ckin’ make a difference?’ and we got the gig. That was after we left Sony and our management dropped us and we were looking after everything. It just goes on merit.”

In a musical age where a bands popularity is dictated by ever changing trends it is easy to be the next big thing one day and then a forgotten dream the next, and the fact that The Poor are still relevant after three decades is not lost on Skenie. Rather than try and keep up with musical trends, he says The Poor still follow their own basic, proven method of success. “You just have to stay fair dinkum and keep rocking out and giving it everything live,” he offered.

“That’s timeless, when someone sees you and goes ‘holy f*ck’. They don’t go to just listen to a band, they go to listen and see the performance. When you go to see a band and they blow you away you’ll never forget it, I know I don’t.

That’s what’s timeless.”

The Poor support Buckcherry on 15 March 2016 at Max Watts in Brisbane. H

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TOUR DATES 19 February - The Rosemount Hotel, Perth 20 February - Fowlers Live, Adelaide 21 February - Rolling Thunder Festival, Coburg VIC 22 February - Max Watts, Melbourne 24 February - Max Watts, Sydney 25 February - Max Watts, Brisbane 26 February - Bodega Bar, Wellington, NZ 27 February - The Studio, Auckland, NZ

Words: Kris Peters Photo: Courtesy of The Sword

The Sword are not your typical modern day music success story. They didn’t burst onto the scene with a smash hit album and take the world by storm at their first attempt. Rather, they are a band who has steadily built up a dedicated and loyal fan base with each of their five albums, and according to vocalist/guitarist John D Cronise this is exactly the way the band wants it.

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think it’s a little more sustainable, which is why we have been around for as long as we have,” he argued. “I think if we’d had a steady decline since our first record we’d probably be thinking of calling it a day if we hadn’t already, so I think it’s worked out pretty well.”

“We always try to make each album at least a little bit different. We don’t try to repeat ourselves. I think bands that have great success with their first album have a tendency to want to repeat that over and over again, and you kind of get diminishing returns on that because you are never gonna capture that same moment. So if you’re afraid to move on from that I think that’s when you start to slip downhill.”

Although working hard to define their own sound and trajectory, The Sword are unfairly commonly compared to Black Sabbath, and although that is by no means an insult, it can sometimes become monotonous, particularly when you are trying to establish your own identity.

“At first it was fine,” John laughed. “It never seemed like a bad thing being compared to Black Sabbath but after a while we kind of felt like people were just picking up on what was said before rather than finding out for themselves. They were running with the fact they had read it somewhere else and it just became a repeating theme.”

“I’ve said this before, but there’s an entire genre of bands out there that are based on sounding exactly like Sabbath and we are really not one of those bands. I don’t wanna throw anyone under the bus that doesn’t wanna be thrown under the Black Sabbath bus, so I don’t wanna name any names but there are bands whose entire point of existence is to sound exactly like that. We have a lot more influences, but starting out we did come [from] that school of heavy rock certainly, but we have incorporated a lot more influences and sounds and ideas into our music as well.”

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In the modern music world of gaming and blockbuster movies, John says that is important to be proactive and try to spread your music through channels outside the expected, and as such, the band has had considerable success in the past with tracks on the Guitar Hero gaming series. He says that it’s becoming a fact of life that music is enjoying a resurgence outside of normal avenues and that to stay competitive in the market you have to be willing to adapt. “More commercial avenues, like commercials or movie soundtracks or video games are, in this day and age, the equivalent of having a song on the radio fifteen or twenty years ago,” he mused.

With their latest album, High Country, John says The Sword have again made an attempt to keep things fresh and exciting, and says that the key to projecting this through your music is as simple as listening to yourself. “I think for me- I can’t speak for the others – but for me with the last record and the one before, it I felt like I had gone as far as I could go writing that particular style of music. The kind of super heavy, doomy sort of sound, and I felt to go further with that I would just be repeating myself and as a songwriter I had to write with some other influences and approach things a little differently.

“We basically just stayed true to ourselves and where we were at as musicians and not try to think what do the fans want to hear? What are we expected to do based on our last record and previous record? Because when you start doing that it might keep you successful for a little while longer, or keep some fans for a bit longer, but ultimately it’s not gonna pay off and it’s gonna seem like you’re forcing it.

It was just a matter of finding what we wanted to do right now based on where we were at in our lives as musicians and also songs that we wanted to play live for the next couple of years.” H

Pre-order from www.getmusic.com.au and received a free Nuclear Blast Compilation CD

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Words: Jeremy Vane-Tempest Photo: Courtesy of For All Eternity

From 2011 to 2013, it felt like you couldn’t go to a gig without seeing For All Eternity. Landing support slots with Oh, Sleeper, iwrestledabearonce, Demon Hunter and even opening the heavy stage at the Sydney leg of Warped 2013, they were all over the place.

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hen they basically disappeared without a peep. It’s now been over two years since their last show. Don’t think for a second that they’ve disbanded though, because in that time they’ve signed to US label Facedown Records, released their sophomore album, Metanoia and two music videos.

Frontman Shane Carroll explains what’s gone down.

“When we started, a bunch of industry people told us that we’d have to tour relentlessly to get anywhere,” Carroll explained. “We did exactly that and we burnt ourselves out.

We were on so many tours that we oversaturated ourselves, so we decided to take a different approach. Funnily enough though, our band has experienced more growth since we stopped touring than we did while we basically lived on the road.”

“Take Metanoia, for example,”he continued. “We recorded it in September 2013 and only ended up releasing it July 2015 because we didn’t want to make the same mistakes that we made with our first album, Beyond The Gates. We found the first label available to us and rushed the record out to start touring again. The launch of that record was sloppy and very poorly managed from all parties precisely because it was rushed. The expectation to tour constantly backfired across the board.”

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Given the above, the fact that For All Eternity have signed to Facedown, a US label with a proven track record of developing young bands, is a massive relief. “When you make that decision to hold out and sit on a record for some time, waiting for that moment, it’s risky,” Carroll agrees.

“Fortunately for us, it worked out and we landed a label we all love. Facedown have launched so many genre defining albums, and some of our favourite bands have called the label home. We’re pumped to be part of the Facedown family and Metanoia is a continuing success over in the States. We couldn’t be happier.”

Even though it’s been two years since their last show, the sleeping giant is stirring. “We just recently locked in our first shows in the US which is super exciting,” Carroll revealed. “We also have a few other offers to tour places like Japan and South East Asia. Australia is also on the cards in the not too distant future. We’ve also begun writing new music, which I am super pumped for. Now that we have a label we don’t have to worry about what happens when we finish the record. We can just focus on making the best music we can, which is what I’m most excited about.

There’s too much emphasis on doing things a specific way in the music industry and that expectation nearly killed us, but we’re still here.” H

TOUR DATES 14 April - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC 15 April - The Brightside, Brisbane QLD 16 April - The Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW

Words: Sofie Marsden Photo: Courtesy of Wednesday 13

Nobody does horror rock quite like Wednesday 13. Plenty have tried, but Wednesday’s appeal goes far beyond his music, and extends to his entire personality, making him one of the most interesting figures in alternative music today.

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ith an impressive career going back more than twenty years, spanning multiple bands, and averaging one release per year, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The announcement of Wednesday 13’s return to Australia this April, his first visit in two and a half years, was met with great enthusiasm from fans and band alike.

“Two weeks ago I put up meet and greets for the tour and they sold out straight away,” Wednesday explains. “It’s been over two years since we toured there, we kept a bit quiet and now everyone is really excited. When we announced this tour, it was just the three dates, the three places we always play, without Adelaide or Perth, and everyone’s like ‘you son of a bitch, why are you doing this?’ and what I want to explain is that I would love to spend an entire month in Australia. I love it there, it’s one of my favourite places to tour, but we take what’s offered to us.”

Wednesday is by no means a stranger to Australia, having played multiple Soundwave Festival circuits as Wednesday 13, and with the now defunct Murderdolls, as well as his own headline tours over the years. His last visit to our shores was appropriately for Halloween 2013 in honour of his fifth solo album, The Dixie Dead.

Wednesday’s most recent release, 2015’s concept album Monsters of the Universe: Come Out and Plague took him into uncharted territory. While each of his releases have been filled with creepy musical tales inspired by legend, film, fiction, and his horror idols, for the first time Wednesday leapt headfirst into the challenge of creating an album, which told a story. “I try to do something different with every record. I was writing about conspiracy theories and aliens, all that kinda stuff and I just turned it into a story. The music was there before the lyrics, I made the story after.

“This record definitely had a heavier vibe to it and a different kinda subject matter. The music was just a natural

thing, it’s just where I’ve been in the last couple of years. I still listen to classic rock, Alice Cooper and Sex Pistols, but I also listen a lot of heavy music. The past five or six years I’ve really gotten into Killing Joke and been introduced to all these conspiracy theories and other things I sing about on the record.” Wednesday explains, on the recent evolution of his musical style. Not only was the idea of a concept album something new, but so was the collaborative nature of the record. Monsters of the Universe is the first time Wednesday has shared writing credits with someone on one of his albums, in this case with guitarist Roman Surman.

“I’ve really only had a solid band for the past four to five years. Before that I pretty much wrote everything, did a demo, and then sent it to the guys so we could learn it.

This was the first record we sat down and exchanged ideas.

Roman and I definitely work as a writing team now. It’s cool to have different songs on the album, a different style. It’s definitely going to happen with the next album. Plus, our new drummer Kyle plays guitar, he sings, he writes a bunch of songs too, so it’s gonna be more of a group effort on the next one.”

With the release of Monsters of the Universe now twelve months behind him, Wednesday is looking forward to the rest of 2016, including a huge US tour but not before visiting one of his favourite destinations. “My first time in Australia as Wednesday 13 was in 2005, over ten years ago, then I came back in 2010 and did three shows and was blown away. I had no idea that anyone cared, so that was awesome. When we tour Australia we’re usually coming from really bad Winter weather over to the amazing Summer. It’s nice to go then. The fans are rabid for what we do, and it’s such a different vibe from the UK or US. Australia is such a special thing for us. I’m super excited to be coming back.” H

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Words: Callum Doig Photo: Ester Segarra

Amon Amarth aren’t like any other metal band you constantly see from the far Scandinavian regions.

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heir mythological tales of Vikings since their debut, Once Sent from the Golden Hall, have earned them the reputation of being one of the most recognised and original metal bands from Sweden. With the success of their ninth studio record Deceiver of the Gods, Johan Hegg and his crew have assembled once again to bring forth a completely new tale titled Jomsviking, where the band have decided to focus on a full-length concept for their tenth album.

“This is a complete concept. It’s a story that I wrote with the saga of the Jomsvikings, which is the backdrop to the album. I wrote a basic story about a young man who accidentally or ‘intentionally’ kills a man and has to run away, and then teams up with the elite force of Vikings called the Jomsvikings. So we follow his progression to grow up and become a fierce warrior.”

So, with their concept in place for Jomsviking, there was something that grasped Johan’s attention to use them for the main part of the record. But, what exactly were the Jomsvikings, and what was so fascinating about them?

“They were an elite force of Viking soldiers. I guess they were like the French Foreign Legion of its time, back then.

They were mercenaries and really skilled warriors around the tenth and eleventh centuries. They may or may not have existed, but they do have their own book and they’re mentioned through a lot of sources across the globe, so there’s a chance that they may have existed.”

Ever since they began, Amon Amarth have always stuck themselves with the idea of using Viking folklore in their lyrics, and help inspire them into making more original music. Considering how much Johan loves to talk about Scandinavian mythology, it seems that they’ll never grow tired of it, and keep moving forward with that particular concept.

“I think those myth legends and philosophies were something I learnt really well towards our style of music.

It wasn’t really planned to be that way, I guess it just kind of happened, really. When we started out it was just traditional death metal vocals and lyrics with all kinds of crap. I have been interested in Vikings since I was a kid, and I read a lot about Vikings as I was so into it, so I wrote

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some lyrics that are the shittiest lyrics you’ll ever read, but we thought ‘This is pretty cool, it makes us stand out!’”

With Jomsviking taking place as their follow-up to Deceiver of the Gods, this hasn’t been like every other release for Amon Amarth. From Johan’s point of view, he’s been feeling more confident on this record than any other in his band’s past discography. “I genuinely think that this album is gonna be a milestone in our career, not only is it the tenth album, but when I listened to it I am actually surprised because I was blown away about how everything works together.”

Unfortunately, in 2015, Amon Amarth’s long -time drummer Fredrik Andersson left the band. Luckily for them, not all was lost as Tobias Gustafsson of God Macabre came in to help record the drums for Jomsviking. According to Johan, it wasn’t a completely upsetting moment to occur for the band, as they were pleased with the results that came from their sessions with Gustafsson.

“It’s like at the end of a relationship when it eventually it runs its course. It’s not as dramatic as it sounds. We had a great guy that really brought a lot of positive and creative energy to the writing process of Jomsviking that Fredrik could not have done. Fredrik is a great drummer, however Tobias is also a great drummer, but Tobias has more of a groove to his drumming which this album really benefits from.”

Of course, due to their interest with Viking folklore, this has led to the band to be labelled as a Viking Metal outfit in the scene. Being known as a melodic death metal band, the Viking Metal term is what most people have referred to Amon Amarth since their inception. Though they’re not one to bother much about the idea of being called a certain label, has this moniker been much of a bother to them?

“I don’t think too much about it. People label you the way they label you. I personally think it’s weird to label a band based on lyrics. If we were a Viking metal band, then so is Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin. It’s weird to label a band based on lyrics, but that’s just me.”

Jomsviking is released on 25 March 2016 via Sony Music Australia. H

Words: Rod Whitfield Photo: Courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records

Dutch progressive metal band Textures have just released their stunning fifth album Phenotype via Nuclear Blast Records. It has been a long four and a half years since Dualism, their last album.

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here have been several reasons for the lengthy wait in between drinks for these guys, with one being a change of guitarist, which set them back a ways. Frontman Daniel De Jongh is happy to chat about the effect that this had on their progress.

“A lot of things happened in the last five years,” he recalls, “Jochem left, the former guitar player. We had another guitar player come in, who had to adjust to the band. It didn’t take that much effort, but still, it’s a new band member, trying to meld into our band, and eventually create new music. He had to get used to our style, and everything.”

However, ultimately the addition of new guitarist Joe Tal was a very welcome one. “It worked out pretty well actually,” he explains, “we had a lot of fun writing and recording this thing, and Joe brought a lot of new things into the band as well. He’s a phenomenal guitarist, we found that out when we did the auditions.

“We already had a preference for him at the start, because his ideas are so fantastic. He’s a jazz player, actually, and he’s steeped in progressive music. So, he’s perfect!”

Another reason behind the delay was the fact that the band are perfectionists, and much prefer to emphasise quality over quantity in their releases. They would much prefer to release one amazing album every three to four years than push out an album every year or two for commerciality’s sake.

“Definitely, that’s the whole thing,” he agrees emphatically, “a Textures record has to be all of that, and more. It can’t just be one thing. We have so many ideas, and technical aspects, it all has to be in there and it has to match. It has to be an experience from the beginning to the end, not just a simple album.”

It has to be all killer, no filler? “Yes, definitely!

I actually hate filler.” He laughs.

While the wait for the band’s fifth album has been a long one, the wait for their sixth will be much,

much shorter, as Phenotype is actually the first in a two-part conceptual album release. Part two, entitled Genotype, will be released only a year from now.

“It’s Phenotype and Genotype, a lot of people have asked ‘why don’t you release Genotype first?’ In biological terms genotype is the thing that creates the phenotype, but that’s why the record Genotype will be more eclectic and will have more environmental messages in it. It’s kind of a ‘prequel’ thing.” De Jongh explains.

“So, Phenotype is now, and eventually you will hear the prequel to that album, and in that album you’ll hear all the dynamics which, in your mind, could create phenotype. Because Phenotype is a record to itself, song based, nine songs in total, all from start to finish. And the funny thing is that on Genotype there’s a lot of details that refer to Phenotype. That could mean a vocal line, a guitar line, a drum fill, all those tiny essences, where you can go ‘hey, that’s on that song from Phenotype!’”

The band will head off on tour very shortly, with a lengthy run of dates across Europe first on their list of priorities. De Jongh tells us that Australia is definitely on that list as well, and it may not be too long before we get the Textures experience Down Under.

“Yep, we’re working on that one, we really really want to come to Australia,” he enthuses, “we were trying to get on the Soundwave thing, but that’s not going to happen anymore! Too bad!

“But we get a lot of requests from down there, we just need to have the right match on bands to have the opportunity to come down. It takes a lot of time, and it’s a long way away, but on the other hand we’ve been to India four times, so it’s not too much further! But I’ve never been to Australia myself before, and that sucks!”

Phenotype is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. H 43

Words: Rod Whitfield Photo: Courtesy of Inside Out Music/Sony Music Australia

When you think of the name Devin Townsend these days, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what type of music comes to mind.

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ossibly the style that has been the ‘main stream’ of his career over the past ten years or so, the anthemic, bombastic prog rock and metal that he does with his main outfit, the Devin Townsend Project. Of course, there was also his former extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad, who put out five mind melting studio albums between the late ‘90s and mid-2000s, and that many still covet as his finest moment.

Then there’s the quirky rock ‘space opera’ concept albums, the Ziltoid series, of which he has done two and has more planned. The strange, quiet, jazzy Ki album he released in 2009, the ambient country rock of the Casualties of Cool project of 2014 and the earthy, hypnotic ambience of 2011’s Ghost album all turned heads and made fans believe the man can do just about anything he turns his highly skilled hands 44

and mind to.

In early 2016, Townsend has at least two projects he is working on. A typically over the top prog rock album for the Devin Townsend Project, set to be released later this year, and a record that will add yet another string to his already ridiculously broad bow, an all-orchestral piece.

Speaking from his home in Vancouver, a little tired and strung after having just returned from the endurance test that is the NAMM conference, he tells us that he feels that creating with an orchestra is more about expanding his musical palette yet further, than merely doing orchestral music for orchestral music’s sake.

“Yeah that’s going to happen after (the DTP album),” he announces. “It’s an interesting one. I think that typically when people think about what I

do these days, it’s that wall of sound thing that comes up. I think that, in my defence, a lot of the reason why it’s ended up sounding that way is the limitations of the technology. Like, if I’m making a recording, you’ve got a stereo field, guitars, bass drums, and a ton of stuff with vocals, and it ends up being this compressed thing.

“So with the orchestra, more than anything else I’m wanting to experiment with doing what I do, with orchestras, choirs, surround sound, maybe the oculus rift type of thing, and see if I can, rather than trying to prove that I can make orchestral music, I want to try and get further into my trip in a way that represents it more accurately than I have with the traditional methods.”

He is also very excited about the next DTP record, having given himself a little more time to slave over it in typical Devin style. “I’m writing it now, and I have been for a while,” he reveals. “I’ve managed to take more time with this one, than the ones prior. It’s

funny, when you’re in it, it’s the most important thing, and there’s been moments when I’ve been writing this DTP record when I’ve thought ‘Oh my God, this is the most powerful thing that I’ve done.”

Townsend says that what he does musically grows and expands all the time, and as he grows older and more cynical about the world, his search for inspiration for what he does actually becomes more difficult.

“What I’m finding recently is that I’m looking for inspiration,” he states, “I’m looking at things that really get me fired up. Because, when I was younger, the things that would get me fired up to write a song, it didn’t take much. It would be anything, a break-up, or being angry, it was a lot more simple.

“Now, as I get older, it takes a lot more to get me inspired. It’s like a junkie or something, when you’re younger you take one hit and you’re good to go. But after you’ve been doing it for a while it takes that much more. The thing with inspiration nowadays, it takes massive things for me to get my engines rolling.”

His ‘country’ album Casualties of Cool has recently been re-released, with a DVD of a full live performance of the album filmed at London’s Union Chapel, and featuring his co-creator of the project, fellow Vancouverite Che Aimee Dorval. The trade-off between the two artists is quite stunning to behold, both on the record and in the live setting, and he feels that doing unexpected things like this project always helps keep him fresh and inspired.

“It’s nice to have the outlet to do things that are pretty different from what I’m known for,” he says, “It keeps the other stuff alive for me. I’ve been doing this for so many years, and it’s very easy to get bored of yourself more than anything else. To get the opportunity to do something interesting like that, for me, is just great.”

Don’t be too surprised if he does more of this type of music in the not too distant future either, it all depends upon his ‘child-like’ focus on what he is doing in the here and now.

“If I’m inspired to, for sure,” he concurs, “I think that’s the most important thing to remember for myself, whatever I’m doing I feel like that’s the only thing going on. Almost at the exclusion of everything else.

“But when I step away from it, then all of a sudden I forget about it. So with Casualties, when I was doing it, it was the most important thing in my world. But when I put it out, I moved on to Z2, and then Z2 was the most important thing. Then I put that out and I moved on to this new thing I’m working on, and it’s almost like I can’t remember doing anything else. It’s like I’m a kid, I’m always that age, no matter what age he is, he can’t remember being anything but that age.”

The self-titled Casualties of Cool album is out now via Inside Out Music/Sony Music Australia. H 45

Words: Cameron Cooper Photo: Mick Goddard

Having supported the likes of Motörhead, Blind Guardian and Ace Frehley, Tasmania’s Taberah and their distinct brand of harmony-laden heavy metal are fast becoming one of Oz’s greatest local legends. While they might be easy going, their work ethic is anything but.

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e’ve paid our dues and our live show is ready for these big stages. Three years ago we couldn’t have owned this opportunity like we have,” states frontman Jono Barwick, days after completing the band’s recent run of shows with Nightwish. “The planets are aligning for us and we can only do our best to make the most of it. If we succeed or fail beyond this point we’ll have no regrets, no apologies and no excuses.”

And paid their dues they have. Now rounding off a decade together, Taberah’s story is the kind of classic rock ‘n’ roll tale that you just don’t hear about anymore. Working on a shoe string budget, the band found themselves quickly becoming a crowd favourite in Sydney and Melbourne, but not without copping plenty of flak. They’ve been chewed out by reviewers and snubbed by punters, but always forged ahead.

“All the boys have been with me at my absolute worst and stuck by me,” Barwick states. “We’re a band in every sense of the word.” Shortly after their formal introduction to Aussies at large via their Motörhead support slot, the band released The Light of Which I Dream. Dual guitar harmonies, layers of vocals and crunchy riffs jettisoned the band into Australian acclaim, solidified with 2013’s Necromancer, which touched on influences from The Darkness to Running Wild.

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“Those albums really show our growth. ‘The Light…’ was our first big attempt at production. We went to Joe Haley with ideas and he accommodated.

Joe would ask ‘Ok, so how many parts is this harmony?’ and I’d say ‘Twelve’ without flinching.

He’d say ‘Holy shit!’ and crack up. By the time we did Necromancer, we’d finish a guitar harmony and he’d say ‘You should add another layer to this.’

Joe is a bigger part of our development than he’d take credit for.”

Always moving forward, the band are looking at taking their sound to new territories with the third album. “Myles and I have written a lot of the new stuff together and it’s the best Taberah you’ll hear. We run on the idea that if a riff feels good, do it. If it feels really good? Do it twice. We’re not one of those bands that records twenty-six songs then picks the best twelve to get released. Everything we make is released.”

Barwick attributes the band’s honesty and noholds attitude to their building success.

“We’re not faking a damn thing so it doesn’t matter to us if there’s twenty people or two thousand people. We’ve done both. We’ve rocked both. I’ve dreamt of bigger stages my whole life so I know what to do when I get on them. If we ever make it to Wembley, you’ll think I’d been doing it my whole life.” H

Words: David Griffiths Photos: Courtesy of Cyan Films

Australian horror fans are a supportive bunch once they get to gloat about the past glory days of the genre, as even the likes of Quentin Tarantino talked about the fact that the Ozploitation films of the ‘70s and ‘80s were huge influences on their careers. Then came the resurgence of Aussie horror with cult films like Wolf Creek suddenly becoming so popular they were considered mainstream.

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ne of the films to capitalise on that resurgence was 100 Bloody Acres, an Aussie horror that did so unbelievably well that it even had the most hardened film critics heaping love onto the film. The sheer amount of fans the film generated has now meant that the filmmakers behind the classic, brotherly duo Colin and Cameron Cairnes now have an unprecedented amount of ground swell ahead of the release of their brand new film Scare Campaign.

In the 24 hours prior to the films Australian premiere at Monster Fest 2015 I took time to sit down with the Cairnes Brothers and the interview starts with them in disbelief as I tell them Scare Campaign is trending on every form of social media they could imagine and they are being labelled ‘The Kings of Oz Horror.’

“Wait. What are they calling us?” asks Cam. “Do we get a crown for that? They are going to look really stupid if nobody turns up to our premiere,” laughs Colin.

He need not have worried, as it turned out Scare Campaign provided Monster Fest with its highest ticket sales for an Opening Night Film in its history. Monster Pictures sold so many tickets to the event that they ended up having to run the film in two cinemas simultaneously.

Then, just to add to the groundswell Scare Campaign scooped Monster Fest’s award’s night winning Best Feature Screenplay, Best Sound in A Feature, Best Feature Film Director and the coveted Crystal Monster for Best Film.

Part of what has people so excited about Scare Campaign are the names that feature on the cast list for the film. Names ranging from Aussie screen legend Sigrid Thornton through to Aussie on the rise Olivia DeJonge who just appeared in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit.

“They get so used to having to do auditions and screen tests that when we called them up they were surprised. Some we didn’t even know, we had just seen their work and knew that they were what we wanted. The hardest for us to cast

was the ‘baddie.’ We were three weeks out from the shoot and we still didn’t have someone, then this screen test arrived in our Inbox and it was Josh and we just knew. We felt that this was a guy that really understood the character that we were trying to make and he was a horror nut that was great as well. Olivia actually came to us recommended by our DOP, and it turned out she had just worked with M. Night Shyamalan, so yeah she was on her way up and we just managed to nab her at the right time.” Cameron quickly interjects. “With Sigrid though, we made her audition seven or eight times. We just weren’t convinced she was right,” he laughs.

What’s unique about Scare Campaign is that it was filmed in an actual disused asylum in country Victoria. But what many people don’t realise is that the cast and crew stayed in the asylum during the shoot which turned out to be a great bonding experience. “The thing with any shoot is that you tend to see the cast and crew become family,” says Cam. “Even more so on this one because we were all staying in Beechworth, which is about three or four hours out of Melbourne. So yeah we spent nights at the pub with each other, the Art Department had a particularly fun time stalking through the asylum after hours spooking themselves. It was a fun atmosphere but there was also work to be done of course. Funnily enough the guy doing security for us had actually previously worked at that asylum as a psych nurse so he would take the cast and crew through the asylum on these ghost tours after midnight.

Places you probably shouldn’t go.”

Finally, I asked Colin to describe what kind of horror Scare Campaign is? “Look it’s a lot of different things really, but really it’s a psychopathic Hitchcockian murder rampage... it’s a celebration of horror. It’s all things horror,” he says with a laugh.

Scare Campaign will be in cinemas next month. H

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HAUNT

ROAD GAMES

Director: Mac Carter

Director: Abner Pastoll

Stars: Harrison Gilbertson, Liana Liberato, Jacki Weaver

Stars: Andrew Simpson, Josephine de La Baume, Frederic Pierrot, Barbara Crampton

Summary: Introverted teenager Evan Asher finds himself in a whole new world when his family moves to a new town. He soon works out that there is something ‘wrong’ with the house that they have moved into and to his surprise the secrets of the house’s past seem to revolve around Sam, the girl-next-door who he quickly finds himself falling for.

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ometimes the synopsis of a film just didn’t give a film credit.

A quick read through of what Haunt was all about and I was seriously expecting to sit through a film that tried to be the horror version of Twilight, without the vampires and werewolves… you get what I mean. Teenage romance with a little bit of horror splashed in to make it fit the genre. Well I’m happy to say that I was very, very wrong.

What director Mac Carter has delivered here is something very, very different. Carter takes his first directional feature into some pretty dark places and leaves his audience with a twist, a brutal finale that nobody sees coming and certainly earns him the title of ‘a horror director to watch in the future.’

The teenage romance element of the film is always present but never actually gets in the way of the story, instead it enhances it. Sam plays a pivotal part in Evan wanting to know what has happened in the house in the past, but the screenplay allows her to become very much part of the mystery rather than becoming a distraction.

The strength of Haunt comes from its screenplay, something Hollywood sat up and took notice of as screenwriter Andrew Barrer was snapped up to write Transformers 5 and Ant-Man & The Wasp soon after Haunt was released. Not only does his screenplay allow for tension and suspense throughout, but also keeps away from the cheesiness that frustrated me with films like The Conjuring and Insidious, even though it touches on similar themes.

Barrer’s screenplay also allows for some great performances from the cast. Young Aussie Harrison Gilbertson shows Hollywood that he has all the goods to be a strong leading man while young Liana Liberato also steps up from the supporting roles she has done in the past. But the person who benefits from the screenplay the most is Oscar nominated actress Jacki Weaver, who makes Janet Morello a truly memorable horror villain.

Haunt delivers so much more than expected and ends with a finale that you are guaranteed to remember.

Review: David Griffiths

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Summary: A serial killer is on the loose in the French countryside. As the victims mount up the public realise that nobody is safe, not men, women or even children.

Jack (Andrew Simpson) is a young Brit with a lot of secrets whose journey causes him to run into the beautiful but mysterious Veronique (Josephine de La Baume). Their bid to find shelter takes a nasty turn though when they find themselves staying in the home of a rich but very creepy couple.

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on’t let the fact that you are going to have to read a few subtitles put you off from watching Road Games because this is one horror thriller that demands not just one viewing but multiple viewings. It’s that damn good.

You could be excused for thinking the hitchhiker serial killer flick has been done so many times that there is no possible way anything could be brought to the genre. Road Games shows that isn’t so. It breathes life back into a genre that had been done to death.

To be honest I’m still scratching my head a few days after watching Road Games for the first time. The film’s ending was so brilliant that there was no way I could possibly predict what was going to happen. While watching the film there were so many people that I thought could be the killer that I was completely blind to who it actually was. That is the way a thriller like this should be, and if you’re a young screenwriter looking to write in this genre, this is one movie that you have to sit down and study.

What makes Road Games even better is the fact that filmmaker Abner Pastoll doesn’t take this film into the supernatural realm, but instead makes it your old school serial killer film. That always adds something more to a film and makes the suspense even more real for its audience. He also raises the suspense by making the characters of Veronique and Jack so likable (they make a cute couple) you hope that no matter what danger they come across they can get out of it.

A pretty good screenplay allows for Simpson and de La Baume to use this film as a breakout for their careers while screen veterans Frederic Pierrot and Barbara Crampton relish their roles which see them constantly at each other’s throat.

Crampton also teaches the young cast a valuable acting lesson with some amazing scenes showing Mary as an emotional mess.

Road Games is one of the big surprises of 2015, just be prepared for an ending that you will never see coming.

Review: David Griffiths

INNER DEMON HOWL Director: Ursula Dabrowsky

Director: Paul Hyett

Stars: Sarah Jeavons, Kerry Ann Reid, Andreas Sobik

Stars: Ed Speleers, Holly Weston

Summary: A young teenage girl is kidnapped from her family home by a serial killer couple, shortly after promising her younger sister she will do anything to protect her. The situation soon has her asking; is this a promise that I can still keep?

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o you remember that absolute sheer terror you felt the first time that you watched Wolf Creek? Because of the fact that it was Australian and felt ever so natural, you suddenly found yourself having some nervous and fearful sweats when you started to think about the Australian outback. Maybe it wasn’t the nice place that Lara Bingle encouraged you to visit anymore? Well that fear is about to return when you sit down and watch Inner Demon, a film that reminds you in Australia you might not be safe anywhere.

Director/screenwriter Ursula Dabrowsky is an Australian talent to watch and this is easily 2015’s answer to The Babadook.

Inner Demon arrives with very little fanfare but becomes one of those horror films that you will be telling all of your horror buff friends to hunt down a copy of and watch.

Perhaps the scariest part of Inner Demon is its natural feel.

The opening scenes of the abduction are so real that you will be getting up in your home and making sure that all the doors and windows are locked, while Karl (Andreas Sobik) and Denise’s (Kelly Ann Reid) pursuit of Sam (Sarah Jeavons) through the bushland is some of the most tension filled scenes in Australian cinema from the last few years. Actually you could say that for a lot of scenes in this film because the scenes in the cupboard raise the same amount of tension with the added extra of a claustrophobic feel as well.

Dabrowsky’s end scenes may raise some eyebrows amongst people watching the film as it does take the film in a whole new direction (and even changes the style of horror the film depicts) but to me it was such a complete surprise that it caught me off guard and thinking back it was probably the best kind of vengeance that could have been served up under the circumstances.

The naturalistic feel of the film also allows for some impressive acting performances. Unknown actress Sarah Jeavons demands respect as she flourishes in a physically and mentally demanding role while Andreas Sobik and Kerry Ann Reid raise the intensity by playing hardcore but completely believable serial killers with no morals or fears.

Inner Demon is proof that Aussie horror is still very much alive and well.

Review: David Griffiths

Summary: Nothing is going right for British train guard Joe Griffin (Ed Speleers). He’s not getting the promotions at work that he deserves, his love life is non-existent and most passengers treat him with very little respect. Now he has just landed the worst shift possible; an overnight train full of tired and emotional passengers. The only plus is the very pretty Ellen (Holly Weston) is his trolley girl for the night, but the full moon means any romantic ideas have to be put on hold.

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lot of film critics like to use the term ‘that film is very Hitchcock.’ Normally you look at the film and think to yourself; well it uses a couple of things Hitchcock might have done, but apart from that you just don’t see it. Well now I’m going to say the same thing about the brand new werewolf horror Howl, but I will also explain what I mean.

Howl is exactly the kind of film that Hitchcock would have made if he were still alive. The downtrodden hero, the ability to make even the simplest thing like walking beside a train have the audience on the edge of their seat, while thoroughly exploring humans and their natural actions under pressure, are all tropes that Hitchcock loved to include in his films and they are all alive and well here in Howl.

The simple nature of director Paul Hyett’s Howl is actually ingenious. The idea of being trapped on train on a dark night in the middle of nowhere would put most people on edge, but then when you add in the fact that a werewolf is attacking the train and beginning to bump off the passengers one-by-one and suddenly the suspense goes through the roof. Even better is the fact that Hyett’s background in special effects and make-up means we have some pretty terrifying (almost Hammer horror) style of werewolves to look at, rather than the pretty boy Taylor Lautner breed we’ve had to endure the last couple of years.

The screenplay also tosses in human nature as the other form of horror here as well. From a complete asshole businessman who decides that he should take charge (and of course put people’s lives in danger) to the passengers suddenly having to ask themselves whether you should kill someone in front of their loved one because they might be able to turn. Howl does at times show humanity at its worst.

Howl is a thought-provoking yet old style horror film that was one of the popular films to come out of the 2015 Monster Fest. A must see for horror fans.

Review: David Griffiths

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Words: Robyn Morrison Photo: Courtesy of Andy Farrow

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hen I first met Mr. Farrow, we were at a small pub in Sydney after the 2014 edition of BigSound. Andy was very approachable and happy to have a chat. Twelve months later we meet again, but this time he was parting with invaluable knowledge to local bands at BigSound 2015. His advice is solid but sometimes brutal. And this is why I have so much respect for the man; not just for his knowledge but because he doesn’t sugar coat feedback and create unreasonable expectations.

In our chat, Andy shares his insight into how the music management landscape has changed since he first started he’s punk co-op label, Apathy Records in the early ‘80s.

“The first thing that’s changed is the way that the bands or managers can get the music to people,” says Farrow. “In previous years, I would receive demos to listen to in jiffy bags. The Internet has allowed easy instant access to music from across the globe and made the industry a whole lot smoother in general.

However, the Internet’s lack of a ‘gatekeeper’ allows people to release music with no monitoring for its quality. This global reach does though allow for bands to tour the world to new places where fans may have been able to gain access to your music beforehand through YouTube or Soundcloud.

“From a management point of view, the availability of music business degrees has provided a basic platform for people to launch a career in music management,” Farrow continues. “When I started out there was much more of a ‘gangster’ element to the business. This has now changed and the focus has shifted over to bands income and the inclusion of brand partnerships. Due to the increased importance of a manager and the way in which they have power along with the artist, the industry has become a lot

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Andy Farrow has been involved in the music business for more than thirty years.

During those three plus decades, he’s managed artists predominantly in the rock genre and as Managing Director of Northern Music Co. he currently has the Devin Townsend Project, Opeth, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Anathema and several more on his roster. more professional and this may be reflected in the availability of courses such as music management.

The emerging importance of brand partnerships and digital campaigns has also raised the significance of a manager due to the possibility of great revenue.

With album sales only accounting for 30% of a bands income it’s very important to focus on other areas such as merchandising, video, touring, VIP ticketing and publishing.”

Andy’s Northern Music Co. (NMC) website page explains the steps involved for bands to submit their music. The upside is it’s an important step for young bands to reach reputable managers. The downside is the mountain load of music sent in. How does Farrow sift through those demos to find an artist who just might have a chance of breaking through?

“When we are sent through demos we make every effort to make sure it is listened to. Our preferred method for listening is clicking on a simple link. It’s imperative that you make sure a link to your music works and is easy to follow. If a band is recommended within the industry or there is a buzz in the press or on social media, we will follow up and take the opportunity to see the band live. When dealing with rock and metal it is important to deliver songs live as this makes up a huge part of the market for the genre, whilst at the same time, maintaining a strong image for the band due to the lack of TV and radio opportunities.

“Another importance lies within the band name. A name that can be easily pronounced worldwide makes your band a lot more accessible for a lot more people,” Farrow explains. “For example, bands such Kvelertak and Rammstein lay just on the cusp of the line of band names that work around the world because they are just about pronounceable. This also applies for

logos, particularly those of black metal bands. The name must be able to translate as well as the logo; music is cultural therefore allowing it to work in most countries. It can also work in your favour if you have a band name that begins with an ‘A’ ‘B’ or ‘C’, as festivals can place bands lower down the bill in alphabetical order, giving you a more favourable position on the poster.

“Another importance, and one that I look for, lies with the front man. A confident leader that can become the driving force of the band is important, one with a great individual image combined with an outstanding command of a live stage is a real asset.”

Now that we have some insight into the music, the band name and logos, is that really enough to breakthrough the constant social media posts urging fans, friends and family to listen to a band’s latest track?

“It is certainly true that talent alone can’t get you success. I am a firm believer that if your music is good it can get you into a fan base. You can also increase your fan base by understanding their wants and needs.

In the past, it was all about supporting bigger bands and ‘stealing’ their fans. Whilst to a certain extent this process still works, it comes back to the importance of the Internet and the way it has created new avenues for gaining fans such as social media with analytical tools,” says Andy.

“Contacts are also an important element to making a band successful. Meeting people and making new contacts can make things happen a lot faster for you and your band. For example, a manager or agent can arrange tours or support slots, which can then get your music heard by labels and publishers. Once these contacts have been made and the band have hit a more professional level, they should look at brand partnerships. Companies such as Jägermeister and Converse are very instrumental in developing new and younger bands.

A successful brand partnership with a company such as these can lead to financial aid when it comes to things such as backdrops, adverts and merchandise.

Merchandise is a huge money maker for bands when they’re on the road. Andy agrees. “Merchandise is a massive area to capitalise on in the rock/metal genre. Knowing your market and any geographic factors involved (i.e. sizing in different territories) is important. Understanding your demographic is also key. For example, fans of a black metal band are not going to wear wife beaters but fans of hard-core bands would. Bands such as Slayer can make £6 per head on one shirt where as a band like Elbow would only make a £1 per head. This just goes to show the how much metal fans really buy into merchandise and use them as badges of honour.”

“Another tip to go beyond just creating music is creating experiences for your fans. With the sale of records in decline, it is important to find other ways to make money. Whilst they might be deemed

controversial because of issues involving price, VIP tickets are a good start at making fans feel important.

Though they do have to be performed properly, which involves the band spending enough time with the fans. Fans can also crave more than this, which gives you the opportunity to offer more unique experiences such as attending the sound check or writing the set list. These opportunities can also be interlaced with PledgeMusic campaigns to support you the artist.

There are also other avenues with crowdfunding, with companies such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo offering you the opportunity to utilise your fan base in order to achieve your musical ambition. However, when using crowdfunding it’s very important that the fans get value for money and an experience they will never forget, as misuse of your fans can potentially backfire.”

As alluded to previously, touring is usually a band’s big money maker but sometimes it’s a difficult gamble knowing whether you should be slogging it out in small pubs night after night or jumping on an opening support slot at a festival. “ “As they have become bigger, festivals have become less of an experience compared to when it started out in the ‘60s. It has come down to a large gig in a field with poor food and beer from the brewery that has paid the most to be a sponsor. It has gotten too big. I believe the future of festivals is boutique. These have a selection of real ales, good food and much more attraction than just the music. Older audiences demand things such as glamping and consider festivals as holidays so they must be treated that way.

I don’t think tours will affect festivals, as long as the festival gets the experience right for the fan. However, on the other hand you have tours going out that are more like mini one-day festivals. One problem I do feel they have is finding tomorrow’s headliners. You just have to look at how many times Metallica or Iron Maiden have headlined major festivals in the UK in the last 10 years. The development of tomorrow’s festival headliners has taken on a stronger importance during this period.”

Andy fired the same question to band’s participating in BigSound last year; he asked them which record label they wanted to be signed to. “Most didn’t have an answer and seemed to be focused on solely touring,” he explains. “Despite touring being important, the release of an album is a key spoke in the wheel that allows for movement into every avenue of the industry. The movement of this wheel into new areas allows you to move forward and build partnerships along the way.

“Having said that, it is great to see a country as vast and remote with such a small population possessing a vibrant music scene. It makes it a very important area for bands around the world to visit and makes the role of magazines such as HEAVY even more vital.”

Andy Farrow is Managing Director of Northern Music Co. in the UK. You can connect with him at northernmusic.co.uk H

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Words: Cameron Cooper Photo: Courtesy of Mantissa

Name: Killing Time/Mantissa Formed in: Melbourne, VIC. 1989 Classic line-up: Adam Pringle – vocals Chris Paine – guitar Chris Collins – guitar Nina Grant – bass Syd Green – drums Recommended: Mossy God (1992), Red Eye Records/Polydor Records

Be it the timing of their break-up or just how it happened, the chart-killing, funked out grunge outfit Mantissa never quite made the leap into the digital world. During their lifetime they partied with Dimebag and opened for everyone from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Jane’s Addiction. Calling it quits in ‘96, the band have remained relatively unknown to the new generation of head bangers. Until now.

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s quickly as they came, the ARIA charting Melbourne band Mantissa disappeared. The band was a firecracker, an explosion of Stooges and Pantera inspired grunge that landed them generous record deals and opening slots for the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers. After two full-lengths and a hell of a ride, the band fizzled out, leaving 52

scraps of media coverage and a confused fan-base in their wake.

Perhaps it was the timing of their break-up or just the lack of fanfare surrounding it, but the band’s legacy never made the leap to the digital world. The band that ruled the airwaves became a memory to those who were there and folklore to those who

“We lived there for as long as the money lasted, trying to establish the band in the US. We were doing gigs just like in Australia – small rooms, sometimes as the support band, but we’d rock up with quad boxes, a manager and a sound guy.” weren’t. With the passing of founding member and guitarist Chris Paine in late 2015, it’s time for the history of Mantissa to be chronicled.

Mantissa emerged in 1989 under the name Killing Time. They quickly gained the attention of the underground and mainstream alike with the funky and infectious single, Ruby’s Mind. In 1991, young and hungry Sydney drummer Syd Green joined the group on the recommendation of a mutual friend.

“I packed up my little station wagon and went to Melbourne. I jumped in the room and we hit it off,” Green explains. “Then the guys said ‘Could you hang around and we’ll play a bit tomorrow?’ It was something unspoken, I stayed, and so I got the gig.”

For the 21-year-old kid from the Western Suburbs, life was about to change in a big way. Killing Time had already gone through the record label bidding war and were signed to the Australasian branch of Polydor Records (Red Eye Records) and playing to crowds off the back of their ARIA and Triple J success. If that wasn’t enough, the band were supporting Jane’s Addiction just a few weeks after Green’s arrival. Taking on such a massive support slot fresh out of the gate was pretty daunting for the drummer, but he couldn’t have been in better hands, especially Paine’s.

“They just took me under their wings, especially Chris and Adam [Pringle, vocals]. They were just guys that got a lucky break,” Green says. “Chris had this fearlessness. He was a pro skater that could drop in on a 14-foot skate ramp without a care in the world or he could walk on stage supporting the Chilli Peppers at the entertainment centre and not even flinch. That was his greatest gift to me, fearlessness.”

‘91 and ‘92 went by in a flash: working with producer Terry Date (Pantera, Soundgarden) the band picked up a second record deal from Polydor’s US arm, bumping their advance up from $300k to $600k. Shortly thereafter, the band changed their name, using their first grant to finish off the Mossy God album and the rest to relocate to New York. Nina Grant (bass), Chris Collins (lead guitar), Pringle, Paine and Green were reborn as Mantissa with a new record and a new city to conquer.

“We lived there for as long as the money lasted, trying to establish the band in the US. We were doing gigs just like in Australia – small rooms, sometimes as the support band, but we’d rock up with quad boxes,

a manager and a sound guy. It was like being an indie band again, but with money!” Of course, even with financial backing, being thrust into a new world isn’t easy for any band. In the days before the internet, the US were a few years ahead of Australia music wise, meaning Mantissa were banging a drum that most of the scene had heard before. Luckily, they had the fearless Mr Paine on their side.

“We [Syd and Chris] were at the Rainbow, and we see Dimebag and Vinnie [From Pantera] in a booth.

We said ‘Hey Dimebag we’re from Australia, we know Terry,’ and straight away they said ‘you’re the guys who had mushrooms while you were recording your album!’ Terry had gone home and talked about this crazy band he’d recorded in Australia!” Green says, laughing. “They said ‘when are you guys playing Texas?”’ and sure enough, when we got to Texas, they rolled in! We ended up drinking beers and playing pool, just hanging out.”

Their kinship with the Pantera boys landed them the support slot on the band’s Australian tour, bringing the music of Mantissa to a new, heavier audience. Still, playing a show with one of the biggest names in metal is one thing, the next step is putting out a record equally as impressive. It wasn’t long before the band found themselves staring down 1995, having exhausted Mossy God of its singles and touring power. The band released the Inter Alia EP in 1994, but were ready to trump up another full length to solidify their new fans. They slogged it out in the studio, working as a cohesive and collaborative force to craft the beastly, mind-bending Thirst in ‘95.

“We owned it by then,” Green states. “When you are influenced by music, you end up sounding like your influences. In a weird way, we started to block that out. In hindsight, it wasn’t going to be commercial. You start making experimental, avantgarde music and it won’t be mainstream.” The record’s oddities divided Mantissa’s fan base and resulted in them being dropped from their label.

This put a tremendous strain on a band that was already drifting apart.

“The American label didn’t like Thirst for obvious reasons,” Green laments. “The Australian label didn’t know what to do with it. They didn’t know if it would sell, and then it goes in the ‘too hard’ basket. Those elements certainly added to why the band didn’t keep going.”

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Didn’t keep going is probably a lot more apt than broke-up, there was no big farewell concert, nor any major announcement. The band disappeared quietly in ‘96, never to emerge again. Sure, members kept in touch, but the prospects of a reunion never came up.

“There’s never been any discussion about a reunion.

Although we’ve all met up at some point over the years, I remember playing in iOTA’s band and Chris would come and say g’day...that was probably the last time I saw Chris, and we’re talking 2003,” Green says.

“It was just a band left in that moment. When you think of the bands that reunite, they’re obviously a lot more commercially successful than us. And you know, there were personal differences as well. I’m not going to kid anyone of that.”

Until now, the Mantissa legacy has been relegated to a fairly inactive Facebook page and a handful of YouTube and Bandcamp uploads. The band’s accolades from the likes of Rolling Stone have been lost in the leap the industry took to digital only a handful of years after the band’s demise.

“There is a Mantissa Facebook page that hasn’t had a lot of movement. When Chris passed, people reached out and paid their condolences. It’s been

great to read so many memories from people that have been touched by Chris or the band,” Green says.

“He was a sweet, funny guy. He was a big brother, he looked out for you. Those sorts of qualities in humans are a little hard to find nowadays.”

If released today, perhaps Thirst would have been a chart-topper, spoken of in the same breath as releases from acts such as Deafheaven and Tame Impala for both its proggy, art-house uniqueness and its firm grip on what makes a good song. Paine passed away on the 16th November 2016, and it is bitter sweet that his work would only be rediscovered posthumously.

For Green, he’s thankful for the good times, and glad people are taking notice of what they forged together.

“It has made it final. For a few of us, anyway. With Thirst, maybe we were ahead of our time. But now [with Chris’ passing] it becomes timeless.”

Green has continued to play music in an array of bands, most recently 19-Twenty. But no matter where his career takes him, he will never forget the time he spent in the band that, if only for a moment, ruled the heavy music scene in Australia. He will never forget Killing Time and Mantissa, and neither should we.

R.I.P. Chris Paine.

“It has made it final. For a few of us, anyway. With Thirst, maybe we were ahead of our time. But now [with Chris’ passing] it becomes timeless.”

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Words: Nathan Eden Photo: Mark Weiss

HEAVY HITTERS BLACK SABBATH PARANOID

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f you blast anything within the tech death spectrum, the correlation between the complexities of those bands, and Tony Iommi’s relative simplicity on Paranoid, might not become immediately apparent.

However, it is there. In fact, everything from traditional heavy metal through to unblackened porno-pirate drone metal owes something, if not most things, to Black Sabbath and their heralded game changer, Paranoid.

There will always be differing opinions when it comes to which is the absolute best of Sabbath’s early

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By now, we should all be perfectly aware that the jittering reality TV mess known as Ozzy Osborne used to be in a metal band. If you take any heavy band within a subgenre bearing the suffix “-core”, you might struggle to see the relationship between that band and Black Sabbath.

work. Some suggest the band’s self-titled debut is not a collection of slightly aimless jams but instead, a masterpiece which gave birth to a genre. Whilst their third effort, Masters of Reality, was without doubt the heaviest thing to have ever been caught on tape at the time and the birth of doom/sludge/stoner metal. It was Paranoid which made the most impact in creating its own imprint on the wider society. I mean, if nothing else, the main riff carrying Iron Man through six minutes of metal bliss is perhaps one of the most recognisable in heavy music history.

Eight-minute opener War Pigs is an epic storyteller, opening the album in the boldest of fashion. It is this track which might go some way to explaining why the cover art for the album appears to have absolutely nothing to do with the title. It was originally to be called Walpurgis, lending connotations involving witches and the like. But the label was having none of that as the band were already copping heat from those who had labelled them as Satanists. So they then went with War Pigs. Paranoid was written and recorded during a time of the Vietnam War. Again, it was claimed, the label feared negative press given the track War Pigs quite obviously calls out those who perpetuate war for their own greed, and many saw it as a politically motivated protest song. However, it appears that the powers that be probably just felt the album should bear the name of the first single in order to push along sales. Paranoid had basically been written on the spot after the other seven tracks had been completed.

So now the band and label had a complete album of eight tracks, a title…and artwork created for the title War Pigs and clearly not the slightest bit suited to the eventual title. But it was too late to change it. So one of history’s most influential metal albums bears the title Paranoid and cover art depicting a pig looking dude with a sword. Though it still makes more sense than Lars’ snare on St. Anger.

Of course, despite the fact that the stories told in the lyrics of the album were seemingly relevant ones to 1970’s social climate, claims of Satan-worship and all things evil were thrown around regarding the album upon its release. If one were to take the lyrics for face value, lines such as “just like witches at black masses” and “Satan laughing, spreads his wings” might come off as pretty self-explanatory. We all know that those who tend to oppose metal’s supposed sinister leanings are also those who seem to deliberately refuse to read between the lines. Lyricist and bassist, Geezer Butler, has explained since that the “Satan” to which Ozzy’s voice refers, represents the evil of war itself.

There is further social commentary to be found without being forced to look too deeply. The track Fairies Wear Boots, is said to have been penned in reference to an encounter with a bunch of skinheads.

War, mental issues, drug abuse, the subject matter of Paranoid might be dark but there’s very little actual Satan. On to the music.

The band’s debut offered rather long tracks, multi-sectioned parts pieced together creating a sometimes aimless, yet admittedly very enjoyable, full-length. Paranoid, however, presented a tighter,

more deliberate collection. Yes, the opening track does threaten to hit the eight-minute mark and could be considered quite a lengthy one, but never does it sway from its purpose. The title track then quickens the pace with a rolling tune of under three minutes which really began to raise parent’s eyebrows as it did kid’s heart rates. It was a new sound they were hearing. It simply hadn’t been done before. Metal was officially birthed in 1970 upon the release of Paranoid.

Paranoid could be described as a full-on steamroller of metal genesis if it weren’t for the few surprises on the album. The most obvious of these is Planet Caravan; the respite between the first two tracks and the crush of that massive riff of Iron Man. It’s a breezy psychedelic journey at odds with the weight of the rest of the album. Pretty much every song on this album has been covered and revered by the thousands of bands in Sabbath’s wake but perhaps Planet Caravan is the only which has truly seen justice done, by, of all bands, Pantera, stuck on the end of Far Beyond Driven.

Despite its simplicity in both Osborne’s vocal approach and Iommi’s playing, it was just so damn good and obviously heavier than anything to have ever come before it. For Osborne, Iommi, Butler and drummer Bill Ward, the time was right and their will a collective urge, in creating music that pushed their limitations to the point where Paranoid gave birth to a new breed. H

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Words: Steven Jenkins Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

Thirty years have passed since Dream Theater first formed and during that time we’ve been privileged with a plethora of incredible music. They attract all kinds of fans, from the hipster jazz enthusiast, to the nerdy gamer, to the beer swilling metal head. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.

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e spoke to Jordan Rudess about the new thirty-four track epic opus that is The Astonishing. “It’s going well, it’s a very busy time. We’re all busy musically, learning our parts and getting the new show together and all the various elements that are involved, which there are many. There’s a lot going on in general.”

Dream Theater fans will already know that their albums usually clock in at an hour or more, with anywhere from five to ten tracks of pure heaven.

But on this album, Dream Theater have given us thirty-four tracks and one hundred and twentynine minutes of new material.

“We just couldn’t stop writing music. We wanted to create a new concept album, we wanted it to be large to scale and we wanted something where we could go out and have an entire show around. So we knew it had to be longer than our usual one CD album, we decided earlier on that it would be larger in scope and now this is what it has become.”

Writing a new Dream Theater record sounds like a long and complicated process, but after hearing the detail and in depth story telling that is The Astonishing, one can’t help but grow even more respect for these men. It’s more than just music, as Jordan tells us.

“Well John Petrucci began to write the story about two and a half years ago, but then to the end of our last world tour he got to a point where we wanted to share what he was doing. He gave us a run down of the story and then we seriously began to get into it and create the music behind what he had written.

“We did this one in a different way than how we normally approach an album. We decided 58

early on that the best way would be for myself and John to be in a quiet space composing the music, so instead of having everyone in the band sitting around hashing it out. We sat in a room with just our keyboards and our guitars and our computers and we wrote all the music. This album was more, in many ways, more like composing a film score or a musical or something like that and I say that in the sense that we were really very conscious of the story all along.”

With being in a band for thirty years comes change, and that’s something Dream Theater have seen not only with their music but their line up as well. Most notably their founding member and drummer of twenty-five years Mike Portnoy leaving, which was a big deal but it also led to them attaining the magnificent Mike Mangini, who is also one of the finest percussionists in the world. Jordan tells of how change within the band has affected them on a more positive note.

“I think it’s great that we got to this point and I would say that that’s probably the best thing in that way, that we have that kind of support, from our record company, our management, where we can have an idea like this. To have an outside the box - very outside the box, and more demanding on every level and get the kind of support to even do it. So, you know, through the years, working and touring and being productive and able to be responsible and to pull through. I think the people around us trust us and know what we can do and that we’re going to deliver. So, kind of the march of time has led us to this point which is really rewarding and now we’re at the very beginning of the touring season and we’re going to go out there and play and that should be really cool and fun as well.”

The Astonishing is something Australian fans want to see to believe, we can only hope that they bring this big production Down Under, so we can be blown away by the visual and auditory experience that is Dream Theater.

“We’re making no secret of the fact that we’re going out there and we’re playing this album from beginning to end. That’s what this is going to be all about. We’re working with a company out of Montreal that is kind of in charge of creating all of these visuals for this tour and that’s their specialty.

We’ve never done anything like this before.

Usually we use various independent artists, but for this we thought it had to be something that was really cohesive so we hired this company to do it and they’re, you know, they specialise in working with projections and animations and 3D stuff so it should be a real treat. Anyway, if you’ve seen Dream Theater, you’ve never seen us like

this before. And there are you know, people who haven’t seen us, and it’s going to be really unique and special.”

On an Australian tour; “I would hope so. I don’t know any particular plan at this very moment, but I’m not the agent. I really hope so but I can’t say for sure when, though it’s very likely because we love coming there.”

“Well, as you said, it’s an epic album with a lot of music. It’s probably Dream Theater’s most dynamic album. People who like our metal style, there’s elements of metal. There’s prog[ressive] in it, there’s very gentle things, there’s symphonic things in it. It’s just a really exciting album to put out there and took a lot of care and passion to put this all together and we’re looking forward to both putting it out there and hitting the road and playing it all around the world.”

The Astonishing is out now via Roadrunner. H

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The Neptune Power Federation Words: Shane Morrison Photo: Rod Hunt

The Neptune Power Federation [NPF] are a ‘Grandiose grime encrusted heavy rock machine, powered by hellfire and space hallucinogens.’ You could even call them an Aussie supergroup. The NPF include members past and present of Frenzal Rhomb, Nancy Vandal, Mortal Sin and Demolition High Style. Not a bad resume!

I asked Mike Foxall [Fox] how such diverse musical tastes joined together for the project? “We had all known each other and played in bands with each other over many years and whilst they were varied, there’s a significant chunk of the musical taste Venn diagram we all agree on. The band actually started just as a studio project, our original singer lived in the US and we recorded the first album just sending takes back and forth online. We all enjoyed the process so much we decided to convert it into a real band and get a local singer which moved things forward. As did the arrival of our Svengali / FOH engineer Clesmond who has convinced us our future lies in the European Rock Festival circuit.”

Fox is one hell of an artist and you can find his work plastered all over The NPF releases and all across the country for that matter. So does his art influence his music or does music influence his art?

“Probably the latter but they definitely go hand in hand. From my earliest days I was always drawn to bands with strong identities like KISS or The Ramones and spent much of my formative years flat out ripping off Iron Maiden art for album covers of my own imaginary bands. It basically instilled a love of the visual

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language music has, and it’s still the main motivator of my art to this day. The graphic novel I did in conjunction with our most recent album took that symbiosis to its logical conclusion (in my head at least) where each song and chapter of the book were reflecting each other.”

Fox went on to explain why he’s drawn into the world of the Occult “The occult influence on rock bands was at its peak in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Everyone from the Beatles to Led Zep to Sabbath to a swathe of killer underground obscurities were rocking overtly or covertly under Satan’s name. I think it’s no coincidence this was when most of the greatest heavy rock music of all time was conceived, so it seems to me the perfect place to dive in for influences and inspiration. I think religious imagery in general is such fertile ground for artistic pursuits, it’s all so grand and classical and way more interesting than politics or feelings.

“The thing with rock music is that it can be epic, dangerous, fun, ridiculous and tragic, Ideally simultaneously. We love and embrace all these components, have a blast doing it and don’t condescend.

I feel we’re paying homage to an art form we can’t do without by remixing some of its well-worn elements to try and create something new. It’s definitely not taking the piss, we are not the satanic Steel Panther.”

It seems we are only at the beginning of The NPF story with Fox proudly declaring, “In the spirit of ramping shit up with each successive release, we’re thinking of making a film to coincide with the next album. Enjoy your time at the top Star Wars!”

Lucifers Universe is out now. H

I Exalt Words: Steve Jenkins Photo: Ben Wrigley

A band that dares to be different is always welcomed in the metal community, and Adelaide’s I Exalt are a perfect image of being different, both artistically and musically.

After releasing the 2013 EP Vessel, the band did the usual tour run and made a name for themselves. Now in 2016, they’re unveiling a new direction with a fire burning inside that’s strong enough to fuel this machine to the next level.

Vocalist Daniel Konstantinou tells us how I Exalt are going to get to that next level and why they’re definitely a band to look out for. “We’re a blend of modern day death metal featuring a handful of progressive elements.

We’re all personally influenced by a handful of different artists, but as a band I think it’d be safe to say I Exalt is influenced by bands like the Contortionist, Wormed, Abiotic, and The Faceless. Although we’re just doing I Exalt and writing songs that we enjoy.

These brutal boys from Adelaide are made up of some good friends who fit well together, always working hard on being the best they can be with a great approach and strong work ethic. “Matthew and Mason were in an old band, and when they broke up they wanted to start something heavy and melodic. They wrote and recorded a track and held auditions. Today, the current I Exalt line up is the strongest it’s been, and musically we’re heading in the direction we want to.”

Eager to hit the road and show Australia how the new material holds up live, I Exalt will undoubtedly win over new fans this year that like something a little different than your average death metal band. “In 2016 we’re aiming to tour as much as we can, we’re hoping to branch out and expand our fan base with a lot of focus on fans overseas.

I’m sure that in our down time we will keep busy writing the follow up release to Servant, which has just been released.”

The bands second EP Servant, displays growth, maturity,

art and a whole lot of heaviness. “After Vessel we started writing again almost straight away. We wanted to create something a lot darker and heavier than Vessel, but also something that shows clear dynamics throughout the tracks. The writing process was relatively quick, but the recording and production process took a lot longer than expected, especially focusing on making the release the best we could.”

Hard work and patience is key when it comes to being in a band of this stature, and eventually when everything comes together, the reward is always a tremendous feeling.

“From day one we promised ourselves that we would push I Exalt as far as we could, and I can’t see us slowing down any time soon, we’re just getting started.”

For those who may not have experienced this young band live yet, there will be plenty of opportunities in 2016 to see this crushing band destroy a venue near you. With theatrics, props and devastating breakdowns that will crush your soul, you’ll be in for a feast of technical death metal delight. “An I Exalt show is energetic, theatrical, and filled with raw emotion. The best way to form an opinion of us is to see us live and then you might understand what we’re about. Much like our music, it’d be best to listen to our tracks and interpret them in your own way, but I guess our general message is about progression and being a better person than you were yesterday.”

Daniel had some final words to say for all those who continue to support I Exalt through good times and bad times. Love or hate their music, style or look, there’s no denying the talent that this up and coming band possess.

“Thank you for all the support over the years, we are extremely grateful. We’re just warming up and we have so much more to come, I’m sure we will have the opportunity to see you all soon!”

The Servant EP is out now. H

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Surrender The Sun

Words: Nathan Eden Photo: Courtesy of Surrender The Sun

In 2012, about fifty kilometres to the west of Sydney, Surrender The Sun formed in Penrith, on the banks of the Nepean River in the shadow of the Blue Mountains.

Half of the band now call the Blue Mountains home, whilst the other two have relocated closer to Sydney, albeit the city’s western suburbs.

The band say their moniker ties in neatly with the genesis, or rather evolution, of the band. The three guys had been playing together since childhood whilst the one gal, a long-time friend eager to step on stage, having helped the guys out by providing vocals in the past.

Luke, Shane, and Navs had been shaping the band’s sound for years when Gess joined to give the band a fresh start. Hence the name, there is nothing new under the sun, maybe not everything has been discovered yet but still, it has been here forever. Therefore, ‘surrendering the sun’ would be about starting over and wiping the proverbial slate clean. To start again, a second chance.

Surrender the Sun’s debut album, Tauri, was released in 2014, a well-received brooding beast of progressive rock in the vein of Aussie icons COG and Karnivool, only with the obvious point of difference being the astounding and emotional vocal delivery courtesy of Gess. Surrender the Sun’s delivery is convincing in a way that tingles the hairs on your neck, as you’re taken in a new direction by something hinting at familiarity yet you can’t quite put your finger on. This stems from both the quality musicianship and song writing shaped over years as a collective unit, as well as the thoughtful lyrics that speak as they are sung.

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The band reckon that the willingness to connect with an audience on an emotional level through the conviction in their craft is what keeps the wick burning.

But also, they just want to see people stomp their feet, bang their heads, hell, you can even pee in your pants if you want to. But you will enjoy it. As they continue to master their respective roles within the band, growing as musicians and people simultaneously, the members of the band reckon that the kinship of those within the band is of the utmost importance. All musical abilities aside for a moment, it is this mateship which truly sets them apart and makes their shows a good night out.

Having said all of this, four mates squashed in a car driving each weekend, eating up ten hours’ worth of highway, does make for some interesting times. Check out the band’s YouTube video, Leech Tour – Road Trip, as evidence of that.

That forementioned wick looks set to burn for some time yet as the band look forward to releasing two EPs in the near future. 2016 looks set to be the year that Surrender the Sun get serious! Tours will follow these releases with the guys looking forward to seeing familiar faces and greeting new ones as their band continues to gather momentum.

In the meantime, Surrender the Sun has some pretty cool stuff available on YouTube. Perhaps the best of this material is the clip for their track, I Am. The first official single from the album. Shot with the aid of camera wizard Ken Abbott, the video is great story-telling set to song, or a song born from a story…or maybe just watch it! H

Sheltered Words: Sam Sweeney Photo: Courtesy of Sheltered

As biased as this statement may be coming from a Melbournian of over a decade, we really do have the best local music scene. On the whole, Australia has churned out some pretty solid musical acts at the heavy end of the spectrum, but Melbourne locals Sheltered prove that Victoria has a definite edge over the rest of the country. I had a chat with vocalist/guitarist Pat Kearney to find out a little more about the band.

“Pat started writing music and lyrics that were completely different to any of the bands he was in at the time, and wanted to progress further with it. After that, there was about a six-month period before the band officially started, which consisted of writing songs and practicing with various changes in members.” Following several months of experimentation and multiple member changes, the band’s line-up was finalised with Jake Zammit, Ashley Bowers, Pat Kearney and Jack McMillan.

Writing commenced for the band’s debut EP, Treat Me Like a Ghost, released in early 2014.

Both musical and personal influences tend to play a substantial role in the formation of a band. For Sheltered, “bands like The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Brand New and The Beach Boys are all big influences on how Pat writes music.” A band of only two years, these guys also have a palpable maturity in their music that is definitely something of a tribute to these musical inspirations, with songs that are generally inspired by “day to day life and personal experiences.” Described as a “loud, emotional style of alternative rock.”

Sheltered’s debut EP Treat Me Like a Ghost combines elements of melodic rock with the heaviness of hardcore vocals to create an emotionally intense sound, something so refined and sharp it resembles the sound of a much older band. Sheltered is an ideal band for fans of more melodic inclined alternative rock, with a vibe “similar to bands like Brand New, The Smashing Pumpkins and Citizen” all the way through to the emotional heaviness of bands such as Title Fight and Touché Amore. Broken Bones, the second track of Sheltered’s EP has a raw depth that almost equals something from a Being as an Ocean record. The versatility of Sheltered is showcased from start to finish in their EP, and is very promising.

Looking towards the rest of 2016, the boys from Sheltered plan to release more music and tour the country again, with hopes of reaching a greater audience. The band are continuing to explore and experiment with their sound. According to Pat, the new music in the works “has a more pop-driven melodic sound to it, but still has the same energy as older songs. It’s much more diverse sounding and doesn’t really pocket us into one particular style or sound, as much as the EP may have.” Having toured with Counterparts in 2014 alongside numerous shows played last year, the band’s momentum shows no signs of slowing, something which will no doubt continue throughout the coming year. These guys really are amongst some of Melbourne’s finest local talent and absolutely worth checking out regardless of musical preference. H

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MUSIC PUBLISHINGA POTENTIALLY VITAL INCOME STREAM FOR SONGWRITERS. If you’d like your act to become a successful and commercially viable business, you must develop an ability to generate continuous flows of income.

You must learn to cultivate earnings that regularly flow into your organization. Although this concept is relatively simple to digest, the majority of songwriters often discover that it’s much easier said than done!

For most acts it’s a long, desperate, and futile struggle to ever make a profit.

However, on a positive note one potentially lucrative income stream worth serious consideration is Music Publishing. Publishing is one area of the music business that hasn’t been dramatically altered by any disruptive technologies. Some pundits even argue that due the voracious appetite of content hungry web productions, publishing income streams are set to flourish in the foreseeable future.

The history of publishing stems from the invention of the printing press and its ability to mass produce print materials. The original role of a music publisher was merely to print and distribute sheet music. Publishing today is a somewhat misleading term because it has now evolved into a complex field, primarily concerned with the ownership and exploitation of songs.

Thanks to the copyright act, music publishing allows song owners to exploit their intellectual property and profit from any music catalogue where there’s a commercial demand.

So let’s take a brief look at some of the avenues you could utilise to possibly generate coveted income purely from music publishing. (Remember in order to profit from publishing you must own and or control the copyright in the song.)

1) Sheet Music - Is still a genuine strategy to produce income for song

owners. Revenue is created by the sale or licensed reproduction of songs in the form of sheet music. Money is paid to the songwriter/composer/ copyright owner by the publisher, or directly from the purchasers. There are a variety of self-publishing book options on the web and a quick Google search will present numerous possibilities. A great local example is Joe Haley from Psycroptic, who self publishes his own tablature books for $29.95 through www.lulu.com 2) Live Performance Royalties Hopefully you’re already getting paid for playing live. However, some artists are unaware that usually your songs generate an additional performance royalty when a song is performed. This royalty is also created for the © owner whenever a song is broadcast on radio, TV, or played in any public shops, clubs or restaurants. In Australia, these royalties are administered by The Australasian Performing Right Association. So if you’re writing and performing original music and aren’t a member of APRA, you’re possibly missing out on income owed to you.

3) Mechanical Royalties - Take their name from the days when Pianola pianos used a mechanical process to reproduce a songwriter’s work. Today ‘mechanicals’ are generated when musical delivery technology (both physical and digital) is reproduced.

This income can be quite lucrative for the owner of the copyright in the songs.

4) Synchronisation Licensing - Is where the © owner licenses an existing work to other creators to be used in movies, commercials, video games and the like. Referred to as ‘synch’ income because

royalties are generated when music is ‘synchronized’ to a visual medium.

Synch placements can be extremely lucrative for © owners and should be seriously considered when researching income streams.

5) Composing for Others - Is another valid income source for songwriters. Try approaching an array of film makers, advertising agencies, pay TV programmers and so on and you could potentially score an elusive deal to write the tune for the next big thing. Most successful media projects require quality music accompaniment, so why not become the creator for these content producers?

6) Publishing Advances - Some argue that the days where music publishers offer songwriters enormous advances for their works are gone. However, publishing advances remain a legitimate way to inject serious cash into your business.

Often the publisher pays an upfront payment to the songwriter as a part of a deal to sign with their organisation.

Google some appropriate music publishers, send them your press kit and try to convince them that you are the next big thing worth investing in.

The full scope of publishing and its ability to bring significant income into a business is beyond the scope of this article. However, I hope I have inspired you to further research this powerful income strategy and think about ways to commercially exploit your own creative music endeavours.

For more information about this or any other music business strategy you can write to me at Rodney@ musicbusinessfacts.com

Rodney Holder has been a drummer, writer, promoter and manager in music for over 20 years so when he talks, you listen. He's best known as that guy from Alchemist, that guy from Metal For the Brain and that guy who runs musicbusinessfacts.com.

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NOW HEAR THIS RANTS FROM THE DESK OF JASON PC Words: Jason Fuller Photo: Courtesy of Jason Fuller

GET IT RIGHT OR LIVE WITH ALBUM REGRET

I (as a former member of Blood Duster) was talking to Trent Simpson (vocalist from Blunt Shovel and guitarist in Truth Corroded) at Goatsound recently about what constitutes a killer guitar sound and he casually mentioned that he was really put off by one of the records that Blood Duster had made because of the guitar sound.

This wasn’t news to me exactly but it was probably the first time someone had actually said to my face what we in the band had thought.

It was our dirty little guitar sound secret. We too thought the guitar sound on the C*nt record was shit.

I hated it while we were recording it and I still hate it to this day. It is one of those things I really wish I could go back and fix. I had the intention of doing this but the hard drive it was stored on has since failed, a disappointing fact of digital storage and something that really needs addressing in its own discussion.

To be fair to ourselves, we had written and recorded the C*nt album in something like six weeks so it’s not like we were messing around being totally lazy or unproductive. It was just something that we left too late to sort out properly, and now as a result we have a recording featuring a shitty guitar sound.

Hindsight is an amazing thing.

But it’s something that you and your band don’t have to suffer through like we did if you take a few precautionary steps before you get into the studio.

We knew that we didn’t have a guitar that sounded good, in fact, we knew that for ages. We were using a Gibson SG that just didn’t have enough gain and sounded weak no matter what we did to it. It was one of the things we were getting around to fixing. Sometimes you just have to admit that your guitar sucks and you have to do something to sort it, before you get in the studio.

We always intended to do something more but it just never

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happened in time. We knew we needed to do something. We definitely had intentions of finding a better guitar, but I guess in our naiveté we thought ‘it will be ok in the studio,’ and failed to do anything about it until the day of the recording after hearing it back in the studio.

By that point we really had no time left to do anything about it and all those good intentions had amounted to nothing. The best option we had was to simply leave the studio during recording and borrow a guitar from a Guitar World in Northcote.

Matt our guitarist actually just walked in to the store and got something off the wall and asked to borrow it for the day. They were real cool about it too. But it wasn’t set up and being tuned down to B there were tuning problems. Furthermore, he wasn’t used to playing it and we hadn’t had a chance to muck around with amp set ups with that particular guitar.

It was horrible, but it did teach us one thing. You need to have this stuff sorted before you get to the studio. You need to know and have the confidence that your instrument sounds good!

There is nothing that can happen in the studio that will instantly and magically fix your sound, this goes for drums, bass and whatever else.

Sure you can do things to lessen the effect but how much better would it be if it wasn’t sounding shit before you got there?

Get your guitar sound how you like it, then when someone like me

puts a mic in front of it, it will sound good. Not because someone like me worked any kind of magic, but because you had a good guitar sound to begin with. There are no secrets in recording, no matter what your engineer friends will tell you. A decent mic on a decent source will always win.

Get your guitar set up professionally if you don’t know how to do it yourself (I use and recommend Sammy’s set ups in Melbourne) and buy or borrow an amp of which you like the sound of.

Don’t borrow it on the day to try in the studio, you will only be wasting valuable studio time, get it a couple of weeks before recording.

Use it in the rehearsal studio and make sure it is exactly what you want, not what you think you will need, and don’t be suckered into thinking that just because it’s expensive it will be the best. Sometimes something cheaper does a great job, just make sure it’s something you like are comfortable with and you will be happy for years to come.

The worst part of all this for me is that I can’t change the guitar sound on that record and now Trent thinks he has something in his arsenal to taunt me about. But, no matter how bad that guitar sound is, no matter how much I want to change it by building a time machine made entirely from cheese, I know in my heart of hearts and deep in my soul that it is and always will be way better than anything he will ever do.

F*ck you Trent Simpson!

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