Interviews

Interview with David Davidson of Revocation

Interview with David Davidson of Revocation
The Fleece, Bristol
16/02/2023
Interviewed by Paul Hutchings.

Ahead of their headline set at The Fleece in Bristol on 16^th February, Paul and Rich were lucky to have a bit of time with Revocation’s David Davidson. The main man is a shredder extraordinaire and one of the nicest people in the world of extreme metal.

David is relaxed and looking in good condition considering the band are four weeks into their tour. How had the tour been so far?

“The tour has been great. I mean all the bands are getting along. They’re playing great every night. I think just the whole package all around is really slamming and yeah, it’s nice when we can all hang out and have a great time after the shows as well. So yeah, it’s just been a real pleasure to work with all these bands.”

The tour has travelled through a wide range of European countries before arriving in the UK for a few nights. Have any shows stood out?

“The reception’s been good in all places” David confirms, very much echoing what Sammy Duet (Goatwhore) told us. “We always have great shows in the UK. I don’t know what it is over here. The UK has been great. We played Dublin for the first time in like a decade. That was a highlight for me. But across the board they’ve been really great. I mean Italy was awesome, France shows went off, you know, a lot of the German dates were sick. I really have no complaints”.

Before Rich and I hooked up with Dave, we had a quick chat with bassist Brett Bamberger who deals with much of the tour managing. He was telling us about all the additional stuff that he has to deal with now across Europe and the UK. How much of a challenge has it been for Revocation to tour this time around?

“I don’t really handle any of that stuff, you know? I mean, Brett, feels the brunt of that shit. So luckily, he makes it so that we don’t have to feel the pain quite as much, but he’s, he’s definitely taking that one on the chin.”

Like many bands, Revocation was on tour when the pandemic broke. They were actually in Japan at the time and were lucky to get back to the US before a lot shut down. Having endured a two-year break, how was the muscle memory when they finally got back on stage?

“Um, I feel like, I mean we’ve done so much touring over the years, it was a little bit of dusting the cobwebs off, but at the same time, we all practice and stuff like that, when we’re home. I was writing music, teaching students online. So, I felt like I was able to stay sharp with my abilities. But there is no substitute for playing live and being on a stage and having that energy of the crowd. I feel like yeah, after like a couple shows that we just got right into it.”

Was there a genuine relief at those first shows?

“Yeah. I mean, those shows, were, like, slamming. I mean, it was one of the first metal tours that really came back since the pandemic and the line-up was just berserk. It was like, Cannibal Corpse Whitechapel, us, and Shadow of Intent opening and pretty much all of the shows were sold out. I think two didn’t sell out. Yeah. So, um, the fact that many people had the energy from being kind of pent up was also kind of cool. Probably a sizable amount of the audience, it was those kids first time ever going to a show. I thought about that a lot as a musician. Like, oh man, like I mean like my formative years were in that 15/16 age range, when I could go to shows and experience that. And you’re so impressionable, you know, in those younger years obviously, and that was why I wanted to start, you know. But when you’re a kid, you’re just like, oh my god, this is the sickest thing ever. And like, yeah, I want to start a band that I’m gonna like to dedicate my life to and that’s when that spark can really ignite. So, you know, I was kind of a little concerned for the youth. Like man, are they going to miss out on it all? You know, is that shit going to sail? Or you know, are kids going to even be interested in going to live shows? You know, twitch streams and YouTube and shit like that, but people came out. I saw a ton of fresh faces out there and I saw kids and people my age and older just losing their shit the whole time. So, it was cathartic for a lot of reasons.”

With the changing times, how has Revocation’s audience changed over the years? Are the hardcore fans that were there at the beginning still here, alongside the kids that are coming in, who’ve just discovered this new band that have been going since 1990 or whatever it is? Does David see that mix in the crowd, the people like Rich and me, standing a little bit further back, because our pitting days are behind us?

“Haha” David laughs, “you guys are in mosh pit retirement. Yeah, I mean, I think that’s the cool part about metal. It’s, you know, it’s a niche genre, but, you know, people that are really into it, I mean, they’re fucking diehards for life. Yeah. But it’s also a young man’s game at the same time, right? You do always have that mix. You’ll see people with white hair and white beards, you know, just kind of head banging at the back and then you’ll see someone that’s, you know, 18, a high school kid, hanging from the rafters!”

Revocation released their latest album Netherheaven in autumn last year. David had already completed much of the writing before the pandemic.Did the two two-year gaps give him time to refine it?

“Yeah, for sure,” he says. “I mean, we just had more time off, more time to write. I certainly learned a lot about recording in my downtime. So that was sort of one of the hobbies or skills I picked up along the way during the downtime. I think we certainly put that time to good use.”

The themes of the album were quite deep. It was quite dark, very much looking at exploring hell and that kind of thing. How much research did David do as part of the writing?

“Yeah, I went to hell. Whenever I’m trying to write lyrics on a particular subject, I certainly try to immerse myself in that way. It’s the same way when I’m writing songs, it starts with the riff for me; I kind of obsess over that. I’ll put the riffs together and start obsessing over the song structure until it all feels cohesive for me. I never want the lyrics to be an afterthought. When I’m in that process of writing it’s like the kind of the first thing I think of when I wake up and I’ll just sort of think about it throughout the course of the day. I was writing most of the songs, like bits and pieces of the lyrics, just kind of sketching things out and just writing things that came to my mind before we got into the studio. I think maybe because I was engineering this and taking on more of a producer role, being in the driver’s seat as far as the engineering and everything goes, I ended up writing a lot of the lyrics while I was in the studio. I would wake up, pace around Brett’s backyard like a madman for an hour and a half. I had my coffee and was just sort of thinking up ideas and putting the pieces together in my mind and then I would go track all day. And then I would probably write more lyrics like after the tracking was done or even midday to kind of give myself a break. It was pretty much full immersion on all fronts when it came to that. But yeah, I mean in terms of things I was reading, I drove back into Dante’s Inferno. I read that in high school or something like that, so I dusted that one off. And then had kind of general themes. One song, ‘Strange and Eternal’ isn’t sort of directly Hell related. It’s more inspired by the works of Robert W Chambers who wrote a book called ‘The King in Yellow’, which is sort of a collection of short stories, and I read that. There were different ideas, like even things from movies and stuff like that. The exercise obviously is very like, hellish, you know, demonic possession. I wanted to have something with the demonic possession seance-gone-wrong type of thing. So that’s what ‘Lessons in Occult Theft’ is about. Sometimes, the inspiration comes from literature. Sometimes it comes from movies. Sometimes it just comes from things like reading the book on the state of American politics.”

If you’ve heard the album or read the reviews, you’ll know that the result was overwhelmingly positive. In term of the writing, it’s a progression on the last album and people were picking up that it was a little bit more progressive in terms of the delivery. How does David respond to reviews?

“Oh, I like to read the positive ones for sure,” he laughs. “Overall, the response was really positive and it’s always great when someone really connects with you, especially if they connect with it enough that they want to sit down and you know, write several paragraphs on it and put it out there”.

He continues, “As far as like, you know, people’s takeaways from the album or their critiques, that’s the cool thing about music because everyone can hear it because I’ve read opposite things. I’ve heard people say, oh, no, “Netherheaven” is the most progressive album we’ve done, and then I’ve heard people say, oh, it’s not as progressive as the other ones or whatever. I guess, you know, it’s all in the ear of the beholder. Uh, I mean to me, we’ve always written music for ourselves. Yeah, first and foremost, we don’t, not trying to sound rude or anything like that, but we don’t really take anyone else’s account into things when we’re running music because you know, it’s got to come from the heart. It’s got to come from your soul and, we poured our hearts and souls into every album that we make. But it is always nice that people like the music that you’re writing. Sure, it’s a great feeling honestly. Same thing with playing a live show, you know someone comes up and says, oh that blew me away. It’s yeah, it’s great when you can have an emotional response with people because that’s what we do it. I listen to music, because it just ignites something within my soul, and it makes me feel such a myriad of emotions. I could put my finger on certain things, so this is happiness or sadness, this gives me, like, an aggressive feeling that pumps me up, but a lot of shit, you know, is just ineffable or like unfathomable to me. I think that’s where the real magic lies in music. Hopefully, we can kind of capture that element, the intangible with the reason because that’s certainly, I think a big part of death metal, you know whether it’s, you know, cosmic or sort of esoteric themes, there is this sort of idea in the death metal world or in classical. Certainly with death metal, it’s a lot of grand themes, and a lot of things that are ineffable in certain ways, especially when I’m just thinking of the riffs.”

A lot of death metal in particular can be dismissed as a little bit one dimensional. If you are a fan, you’ll actually appreciate the music and if you actually listen to it in depth, and you’ve got an ear for it, it is actually some of the most amazing music that you’ll ever hear. The complexity, the structures, the compositions, that creativity.

“Yeah, yeah, for sure. I couldn’t agree more,” David says. “I mean, your average person’s going to hear the vocals and they’re going to be turned off by it. But, you know, whatever. Fuck them. People can like what they like, of course. Yeah. It’s very niche because of that fact it’s abrasive; it’s not for everybody. Yeah. And I guess in a way, like, it shows who the real kind of music lovers of that style are, because it is so difficult to get into. But once you cross that threshold… I mean, I remember listening to death metal for the first time and like, hearing the vocals and it didn’t compute to my young brain. And then, especially hearing melodic death metal for the first time. Because it’s one thing to hear Cannibal Corpse, that music is super brutal and I get that the vocals sound like a horror movie monster or something like that. I could make sense of that. But then hearing bands, like In Flames for the first time and I’m like, oh my god, this is so melodic. And there’s aggressive vocals. I remember listening to it, it was so wild to me and then of course you get used to it, and you can’t hear it any other way. Once you kind of get used to it, I think you just kind of crave that intensity? But yeah, it’s certainly not for the faint of heart.”

What about current listening? Are there any younger bands, which ignite the same fire in you today?

Yeah, there’s a lot of great up and coming bands now. There’s some incredible music there. I don’t know how old the Ad Nauseam guys are, but they’re also Italian. That’s like some crazy metal there. There’s a great resurgence in that sort of new breed of old-school death metal. Creeping Death, who we’re on tour with right now. Like a killer live band, super fun dudes. Gorephilia from Finland. I don’t know how old those dudes are, but that’s really killer stuff there. It just seems to be a constant stream. And the old school dudes are still putting out records; that newest release from Voivod, that kicks ass. That’s the cool thing about metal, there’s so many different genres, you know, death metal, thrash metal, black metal, and everyone’s kind of doing their own unique thing with that.”

Revocation live need that additional guitarist to help beef up those riffs. On this tour, the band have a relatively new guitarist in Noah Young. David is full of praise.

“Yeah, he’s a great guitar player. He’s been our touring guitar player for a few tours. Now, absolutely ripper. Great dude.”

Revocation are not strangers to the UK and have toured several times. Does it hold a special place for David?

“Yeah, for sure. I mentioned at the very beginning of the interview, we just always have great shows here. I remember our first tour over here; we were with Dying Fetus. We’ve toured here enough where people know us. There are some crowds in certain sections of Europe, it was very much like we had to prove our worth and we had to win them over and yeah, you get a lot of kind people just watching you the first time you’re over there. Like, who’s this new band? But the UK, I remember that London show. We played the Underworld, and it was just like just fucking sick.”

Revocation’s most recent UK appearances were with Killswitch Engage. An unlikely pairing, you might think, but David explains that it was incredibly good. Having been on tour for a couple of months in the US, they had prepared to return home when they got the call.

“Yeah, we had the message that Killswitch wants to take you out on a tour. And by the way, all the shows are sold out. So, they didn’t even need support. Yeah, they just wanted to take us out. So we were, like, fuck, how can we turn this down, this is a legendary band. And they treated us great. They were all super cool dudes. Just little things like the fucking catering on that tour. We ate like kings every day. And the shows were awesome. Even with our name on the bill, we couldn’t have brought out any fans, so we didn’t really have many of our fans in the crowd. It was pretty much just do what you do. Yeah, just do what we do and try to convert as many people as possible. I can say confidently that we definitely brought it every night.”

And what about the choice of playing a support slot to a bigger name in bigger arenas or headlining a smaller show. Is it comparing apples with oranges?

“It’s just different, you know. I love intimate venues. It should be a real packed house in there tonight, judging on what pre-sales already are. But you know, when we played like O2 Brixton that’s just five thousand people, like sold the fuck out. It’s a legendary venue too. Faith No More did their live album there, you know, Elton John etc. But the energy is just different when you’re in this more intimate environment, you can kind of get right up in people’s faces than with the bigger shows.”

A couple of hours later, Revocation did indeed get into our faces with a blistering show, the review of which can be found in these very pages. Articulate, and fiercely intelligent, David Davidson was the ideal interviewee. You can also find a review of “Netherheaven” here.

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Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Paul Hutchings and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Interview with Sammy Duet of Goatwhore

Interview with Sammy Duet of Goatwhore
The Fleece, Bristol
16/02/2023
Interviewed by Paul Hutchings

Three shows from the end of a gruelling tour across Europe, Paul and Rich caught up with Goatwhore guitarist and founder Sammy Duet before the band scorched The Fleece in Bristol. We start off by checking in on how the European tour has been for Sammy, the band, and the entire crew.

“It has been fantastic, way better than I expected,” says Sammy.

Four weeks into the tour, that sounds like a good place to be. Did any countries stand out?

“The UK has been surprisingly insane. Manchester was insane. One kid came up on the stage and went to stage dive and I was like, we support that! Then I went on the mic, and I said, “Our stage is all stage and that’s when all hell just broke loose! Like three or four kids up there at the same time just diving on the stage, it was great. There was no venue security, like there won’t be like tonight. You’re right up close.”

I wondered if Sammy had noticed any change in their return to Europe, the first time since the pandemic.

Financially Sammy is clear. “That’s the only real thing, you know. Yeah. And I mean, the turnouts have been fantastic, but I think there would be even better if people wouldn’t be so scared to come out, would you understand? You know, some people are just afraid of getting sick and all that stuff, but, you know, even some of the promoters were saying, the show would probably be twice as large if people still weren’t so afraid of it.”

I think there may be more to this, with the financial challenges now but also, I wonder how many people have simply lost the drive and willpower to come out on a wet Wednesday or Thursday to watch a band. It’s an interesting debate.

I’d interviewed Sammy for another site just before the release of their latest album, “Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven”. It’s a crushing album. How had the reaction been to the album afterwards?

“Yeah, we’d been sitting on it for so long, you know, that it was just kind of, we were extremely excited when it was finished, you know, but then the kind of honeymoon kind of ended by the time the album came out to the public. But I mean, I still love the record, you know? The reaction to the record has been fantastic. You know, everybody has been totally into it, which is awesome. You know, which I didn’t expect that reaction being that there’s not so much of a departure on this record, but we tried some new things. This is definitely the darkest record we put out so far as, like, a whole. There’s not so much of, like, the rock and roll vibe to this as our past records. This one is just pure darkness, you know.”

Goatwhore have been adding new songs into the setlist. How have they been received?

Sammy is enthusiastic. “Yeah, they’ve been going great. I mean, we played five new songs in the set so it’s basically doing a 45-minute set and splitting it in half. The reactions have been great, you know, we’ll play a new song. Then we’ll play other more familiar songs and people will get familiar with that and be excited. Then that’s when the chaos just starts.”

With a catalogue stretching back over three decades, how does a band like Goatwhore find the right mix for the setlist? How do you integrate new songs without disappointing the old guard?

“We try to pick out, for lack of a better term, the fan favourites from the oldest songs, you know. These are staples that must stay in the set. And then try to whittle that down so we could fit new stuff in there.”

This run is Goathwhore’s first since the album was released, although they had been out for a couple of US tours, including a run with Incantation last summer. How had Goatwhore coped with getting back together?

“It’s been fantastic. You know, we’ve been waiting to do this since the fucking pandemic. So, I mean it’s great. You know, everybody’s super stoked to be out here playing live again. Yeah, everybody in the band is, this is what we do.”

Like most of us, there must have been times in the darkest days when there were questions about the future of live music. Was this the same for Sammy?

“Yeah, nobody knew if we were ever gonna be able to play live again. Yeah, it was a scary time, you know.”

The tour is pretty stacked with Revocation but also Creeping Death and Alluvial. How are the bands going down with the fans?

“They’re cool. You know, this is my first-time meeting the guys from Creeping Death, and we all get along fine. And I’ve known a couple of guys from Alluvial from the past, we’re friends from just like years and years ago. And Revocation, of course, I believe we took them out in the United States on one of their first tours, so we’ve known them for forever as well, so it’s basically just a bunch of friends hanging out.”

Being on the road has never sounded glamorous to me, but this is life for many bands. It isn’t too challenging, Sammy explains.

“Sometimes when people need a rest, and the party is going on up here. I’ll be like, go downstairs. Take this shit down there! There’s only an old man up here!” Sammy tells us that having been on the road for 30 years means he’s adapted. “I try to sleep as much as possible, even if, like during the day, you get a half hour nap in here or there, that helps immensely. I usually just get something to eat and sleep the whole time. Basically, that’s my pattern unless there’s something really cool that I want to see or do. Yeah, I just get some food and just sleep the whole fucking day.”

Given that the last album was written a good while ago, is Sammy writing new music now?

He explains that they had so many extra songs written for the last album that they already have plenty of material. “We had so many extra songs for this last record that there’s still, like, five songs that are there that can be used. We can revamp them, and revisit them, and fix them a little bit. But then, I’m constantly writing when I’m at home, you know? So, I probably have the next album written. Really, if it came down to it and we needed to put out a new album right now, I could do it!”

As the tour is almost over (two more dates after the Bristol show), what’s next for Goatwhore after they get home?

“We’re going home for about a month,” Sammy explains. “And we go out with Eyehategod for, I believe, three weeks in the US. Then after that, there’s a festival in Maryland called Hell in The Harbour. And they brought back to Milwaukee Metal Fest. And we’re doing that as well. Those two fests are very close to each other so I’m sure we’re going to do another tour just around that you know.” Goatwhore are also talking about possibly coming back to Europe in October.

As a UK festival goer, how do the US festivals compare to European ones?

“Um, American festivals are usually very disorganised, you know, compared to, like, the European festivals. Like everything runs like clockwork. You know what I’m saying?”

Goatwhore last played Bloodstock in 2016 when they headlined the Sophie tent on the final day (after Slayer). Sammy agrees that being inside works better for them.

“Oh yeah, I remember being in there for that. It was one of those gigs you gotta be inside. I hate playing in daylight,” Sammy laughs.

A couple of hours later, Goatwhore stoked the fires with a set of such intensity that we’re still smoking from it. They really are a band who you need to experience at least once in your life.

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Interview with SONS OF LIBERTY

Interview with SONS OF LIBERTY
Interviewed by Paul Hutchings
10/02/2023

Sons of Liberty is a Southern rock band from the West Country. They’ve been around as Sons of Liberty for nearly a decade and have a high pedigree, with appearances across Europe as well as several high-profile festivals in the UK. A couple of warm up shows for their forthcoming UK tour (more of that later) saw them return to the excellent Patriot – Home of Rock in Crumlin just outside Newport, Wales. Paul headed down to catch the show, with support from Blackwater Redemption, and took the opportunity for a quick chat with four of the band, Fred Hale (guitar), Rob Walker (vocals), Mark Thomas (bass) and Steve Byrne (drums).

We began by exploring the band’s history. Sons of Liberty formed in 2014. “Yeah, nine years” confirms Fred.

How did the band get together?

Fred: We started out as a kind of southern rock covers band apart from Rob. The rest of us, have been in bands, around Bristol and the South Wales area so we knew each other anyway.

Rob: Yeah, we’re very old. But I’ve never dirtied myself with the Bristol thing! (He’s a Brummie).

Fred: We had the idea of setting the band up. We knew who we wanted to ask to be in the band, but unfortunately none of them wanted to be in it, so we ended up this motley crew! (cue laughter from around the room) And then Rob joined last year. Back in 2016/17 we decided to have a go out right in our own stuff and it was it was really timely. Bands like Blackstone Cherry, Whiskey Myers, Blackberry Smoke, The Cadillac Three were starting that whole thing, so we just sort of decided it was a good thing to do. We went into basically demo for the first EP. It went down as well as the other stuff we were doing so we just got the bug again. We’d all been in original bands. When we were young, you know, in the scene. Then the music scene moved away from guitar & bass music. It completely died and then it’s massively picked up with the new wave of classic rock stuff.

It’s worth interjecting here because whilst the NWOCR is certainly a movement that seems to continue to gain momentum, does a Southern Rock band necessarily fit?

Fred: I think the thing is, you know, we were around the first time. Yeah, Back then Reading wasn’t a metal festival. You had Blackfoot, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Susie Quattro all on the same bill as Black Sabbath, it was just music back then. I think the press of created the distinctions but it’s just rock music, guitar-based rock music… and that’s back.

It’s certainly a valid point. When you are writing about music, the range and breadth of genres that are described in the EPKs can be overwhelming.

Rob: As the boys say, at the end of the day, music is music. And if you like it, you like it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s, southern, whether it’s metal, or whether it’s rock, it’s music at the end of the day, it makes us all get up in the morning and it makes my heart burst every single day. Playing with these guys, it’s been so much fun, because it’s so far away from all the other styles, you know, the death metal and the black metal that everybody’s captioning these days. It’s just fun and that’s the way that music that moves you should be.
And you should be able to listen to southern rock and then put on the Darkthrone album and then put on a Bolt Thrower album, then put on Iron Maiden. God, if you shoot my playlist on Spotify you’d be absolutely mortified. Everything from, you know, Tamela Motown through to Lamb of God. How could you pocket that into one thing?20 labels.

The change in the way music happens and is created is obviously very different to when Sons (and I!) were first listening to rock. I suggest that bands like Mason Hill and Those Damn Crows would have been hitting the top of the UK album charts in the 80s.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. It seems different, you know, it’s a lot more on independence now. And bands, you can self-release your music. We’re not tied to a label. We do it ourselves because unless you’re really on a massive major label, it’s not much point. But the scene is really healthy because it’s very easy to get music out. You can do it yourself.

Yeah, and we’ve got so much good music. Great platforms as well that you’re able to get that music out on, you know, and obviously the social medias and the, the Internet sort of things now, has made it so much easier for you to get that music out there and the fans will then appreciate that and then that’s down to them, you know?

Rob: I think that’s one of the things that I really liked about joining these guys was because people just like what they do. And then I became encapsulated in that. Oh my god. People like what we do. And it’s infectious and I think that’s the thing with the music that we do, and you know the new album that’s coming out is infectious. Yeah. And it will continue to be there.

At this point we backtrack a little to the band’s debut release in 2019. It was released just in time for the pandemic to strike.

Steve: Yeah, we were going to tour it and then Covid hit, Yeah, 2019. We started to tour it and we had loads lined up in 2020.

Fred: It started well, the album came out in September, or October. And so, we had the tail end of the year which was great and then 2020 was, well, we had 50 or 60 gigs booked … we were going to be here, there, and everywhere. And we got to March, and we think this is, you know just starting to kick off, everything’s looking good. Then we had well, not just us but the world.

(During the time off the road, the band were creative in that they wrote the next album “Aces & Eight”, utilising the bizarre difference in regional tiers to get together to work on the music). When our area was in tier four, Plymouth was in tier two, so we were able to go down and record it.

Was the band able to do anything differently because of the time available?

Fred: Yeah. When we were able to get into a rehearsal studio, you know, we did use the time really well. I think we did a few online performances; we did a lot during that period, and that meant that we really hit the ground running when we came out of it.

Rob: I’d not joined you boys before that point, but I watched so many bands fold over the whole period because they couldn’t get together or they couldn’t find what they were supposed to do, and they’d got no direction. To see you guys come out on the ball was amazing.

Returning to the return to live shows, we share some experiences about seated shows.

We did a couple of of the seated ones which was weird but people were so like pleased to get out again and do it. Yeah, 80 capacity and a 500-person venue. We played 200 cap venue in Chesterfield, and we got there, and there was just all these tables laid out and there here wasn’t a lot of tables. We were saying, What’s going on here? And then when people turned up and nobody was allowed to stand up or do anything and it was table service. Yeah, it was like playing to a room full of corpses. It was really weird, it was really good when you were on stage, and these people sat there head banging in their seats. For a lot of people we were one of the first bands that people saw after lockdown and it hasn’t stopped. Last year was just crazy.

One of the things that many bands have commented on is the changes in the audience post lockdown, some fans being cautious, others just glad to get back to what they loved. Have the band noticed any definitive changes in their crowd?

Some people were going back and saying we really got to go for it because we’ve got to embrace what we might have lost. But there was a lot of the audience I feel that were still scared to come out. It took a while before people decided. We decided we’d go out and play but there was the fact of going out and mixing again. I think everyone still wants to go out. I think it’s coming back now though. And I think this year people have started to say, well, you know we’re going out now. We can’t stay in for the rest of our lives. We’ve got the cost of living rises as well. A lot of people are more selective about what gigs they’re going to because the money’s not there as it used to be. There’s a show of confidence that’s come back within the scene and, you know, the crowds that we’ve seen at the gigs that we’ve played, they’ve been really good.

This naturally progresses to a conversation about ticket prices, arena shows etc. You’ll be unsurprised to know that Sons have an opinion about their preferences.

I think there are a lot of people who are having a look at the ticket prices and the booking fees and thinking, hang on a minute. I’m going to 20 local gigs, or I can go and see so and so. You know, 50, maybe even 60 bands with those gigs. The grassroots are where it’s at, you know?

It’s good to hear that Sons are getting good experiences and it seems that their view is reciprocated by the fans.

The scene as far as we’re concerned is as good as it ever been you. We played the O2 in Leicester a couple of weeks back and the response from the guys in there was just absolutely phenomenal. To be able to then make us accessible to go out to the merch stand, to then go and meet these guys, and you know it was in a day, with people coming up and buying merch and photos. And this you just don’t get that with the bigger bands. I went to Download to see Lamb of God and wanted nothing more than to go and just have a little chat with these guys, but they’re untouchable and unreachable. This is the benefit of grassroots.

It’s a point well made, and as Rob says, the people they meet aren’t fans, they are friends. The band then tell the story of being in France and having people come up to them, and saying “you, tomorrow” because they couldn’t believe that the band were out in the crowd the day before they played. It’s this kind of down to earth relationship that makes both Sons of Liberty and The Patriot so vital to the rock world. You want to be able to have a pint with people who’ve just entertained you and this can happen here.

Being accessible. That’s the key that these days. The fans want to feel involved. There’s a community. In the crowd, seeing you on the stage, they want that extra connection. And if you’re willing to give them the time that they deserve, because they’ve given us the time, to come and see us.

As support band Blackwater Redemption fire up their intro music in the main room above us, we move on to the final topic – the forthcoming tour with the legendary Preacher Stone that starts toward the end of March.

Yeah, we’re starting in the Thekla in Bristol [for those that don’t know, Thekla is a boat]. Yeah, come and help us load in if you want. It’s not the best load in!

The band test themselves with a list of dates, which include Bannerman’s in Edinburgh, Trillians in Newcastle, and Nightrain in Bradford. It’s a good looking tour with some great venues.

Yeah, we are really pleased and it’s a pinch yourself moment that we’re supporting a band we used to cover.

As the talk turns to what day they have on the tour to do their washing, and the fact that they are taking Preacher Stone to Liverpool for some sightseeing, it’s time to wrap it up and get upstairs. As you’ll have seen from my review, Sons of Liberty were on fire later on in the evening. If you can get to one of the shows with Preacher Stone [who featured on the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack] then I recommend you do. They take no prisoners and do it with more smiles than a Cheshire cat convention.

Sons of Liberty Credit Will Carter of Two Finger Media — Photo Credit: Will Carter of Two Finger Media

LINKS:

Interview with IMPERIAL AGE

Interview with IMPERIAL AGE
Interviewed and Produced by Chris Galea

There is only one way
To get a good thing done:
You carry on falling
Until you start to run

(from ‘Battle Heart’ by Imperial Age)

The UK tour of Imperial Age faced all sorts of setbacks, not least their forced exodus from Russia (their country of origin) after the Russian dictator’s invasion of Ukraine. But eventually that tour did happen. Just before the last date, in London, I briefly chatted with two of the band’s founding members, Alexander Osipov and Jane Odintsova. There were a few unforeseen technical mishaps with the recording but we thought we’d share it with you anyway.

Video interview with Alexander Osipov and Jane Odintsova of Imperial Age:

LINE-UP:

Alexander “Aor” Osipov – Tenor vocals
Jane “Corn” Odintsova – Mezzo-Soprano vocals
Anna “Kiara” Moiseeva – Soprano vocals
Dmitry “Belf” Safronov – Bass, Unclean vocals
Manuele Di Ascenzo – Drums

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Chris Galea and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Interview with Bob Catley from Magnum

Interview with Bob Catley from Magnum
Cardiff, 7^th December, 2022
Interviewed by Simon Black

It’s a bitterly cold December night here in Cardiff and Bob Catley, Magnum frontman for fifty years has a nasty toothache which the weather is not helping with. I offer him some paracetamol but he’s not biting “I hate paracetamol! I’m going to start having my warmup drink soon. I don’t mind having that…!” he says with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. His warmup drink of choice for all these decades has long been a JD and coke and although I do try and tempt him with a miniature of locally distilled Penderyn Welsh whisky, he’s sticking to his guns. For five decades he knows what works and if it isn’t broken don’t fix it id the best strategy – which pretty well sums up what Magnum manages to still deliver so well after all this time. Their most recent album “The Monster Roars” landed at the start of the year and for me at least feels like it’s in their top three of all time, although touring both it and its predecessor has been somewhat of a challenge… So Bob, welcome to Cardiff! Finally!

Cheers! The good old Tramshed! Yes, we’ve been here a few times before…

This show seems to be have been rescheduled forever. Is it nice to finally close the tour?

Yes, we were supposed to do it in April this year and it was rescheduled because of Covid. But then that whole tour was rescheduled from 2020! So, it’s taken us two years to get here. The whole thing was put back three times, so it was actually re-re-re-scheduled! Then, when we were due to play Cardiff, Covid put it back again! It was crap for everybody…

How was the Pandemic for you guys, because that was a terrifying time for everybody?

Me and Tony were lucky, because Tony could bring forward the recording of the new album by a year, so we had twice as long as we normally have to finish the album. We did it in two halves, with half in 2020 and half in 2021 and it was released in 2022. At least we weren’t just doing nothing, so we had more time with less pressure to do it in, which was good in a way but rubbish because we couldn’t do the tours. Everybody had bought a ticket and was asking “What’s happening…?”

It was originally going to be “The Serpent Rings” Tour when I first put it into my diary…

Yes, it was going to be “The Serpent Rings” Tour in 2020 when that album came out – like you do: album, tour, festivals, Christmas – and then Covid got in the way, and just wouldn’t go away, which was crap for everybody. It just ruined everything for all the bands everywhere in this country.

There’s a lot of good venues that have gone too…

Yeah, venues have gone, promoters have gone, a lot of stuff’s gone too, even pubs! It was like a disaster movie, but for real. But we’re here now, and we were in Southampton last night which was another good show rescheduled because of Covid. I think the Bristol one, which we did on Monday was rescheduled out of respect for the Queen’s funeral though. We didn’t think it was the right thing to do to go and play loud music on the Queen’s funeral day! But we’ve done them all now, and we’re here tonight – great! Then we have one more show on Saturday in Wolverhampton at KK’s Steel Mill, and that’s the end of our year.

Congratulations on “The Monster Roars” – it looks like it did quite well around Europe.

Yes, it’s done marvellously in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Top 5 in Germany, Number 2 in Sweden and about Number 8 in Switzerland. That’s the normal album chart, not one of these “other” things where you’re number one there but it doesn’t mean anything! Proper album charts!

This feels like a much darker record – starting with that wonderful cover, which is not the usual Rodney Matthews painting style.

The artwork was by an artist who made up a model and that’s the image you got. Now Rodney Matthews wasn’t available, and so Tony went with this idea of the model. We’d got the song title “The Monster Roars” and we thought “We’ve got to call the album that – that’s a great title track” and we needed an image to go with it. We mentioned to Rodney what we would like, and he said “Well, I’m not very good at drawing people and I’m a bit busy at the moment doing other things…” So OK, fine, hopefully we can use you next time, but it was a great idea and it’s all make-up. There was a young lady who made up Martin, who is Tony’s son in law, he was the model and that’s what we ended up with photographing. It’s brilliant! It was really shocking when I first saw it, it was like “Wow!” and it took me some time to get used to it. I thought “Oh, well this is different; OK and Rodney’s not available so this is a great alternative to what we normally have anyway.”

We have done different things without Rodney over the years, as he hasn’t always been available and it hasn’t always been right to use him, if the record label got involved and dictated that we must do it a certain way, but given the choice we would use Rodney all the time… When he’s available…! I think it’s a great album cover and it’s perfect for the lyrics to the song, which is basically about a child’s nightmare. It’s fantasy; it’s not real – but it’s pretty real in your dreams. And it’s all in the lyrics – we haven’t turned into demon worshippers!

It kicks off a moodier and darker feeling album though – did Covid play a part in that in terms of the song-writing?

I don’t think so. You would have to ask Tony about that. I think that those would have been the songs on that album with or without Covid – there’s nothing about Covid in there, which is the obvious things to write about, I suppose, but I don’t think that that was in his head at all. I think he knew what he wanted, and then we get started and get going and the songs are the songs, you know?

The subject matter can be anything. He’s a great songwriter, Tony, and I’ve worked with him for fifty years now, which is amazing! I ask him what the song’s about, so I know what I am singing about, then through the recording process he will change the words when I’m singing, as what he’s got in his head doesn’t always come out as good when you actually sing it. He can tell that it doesn’t scan well, will go off and come back having changed it. One song wasn’t working that great this time, compared to all the others this time and he completely changed the whole song, so we ended up with a completely different tune. That can happen as well – you think you’ve got it all and then it’s “No, it’s not working” and they’re all brilliant apart from one. I mean it was still pretty good but compared to the rest of them it wasn’t coming up to the mark this time. You do have to do that sometimes – you have to pull it apart and start again, and he had the time to do it.

[I tell Bob how much I love that the sound on those last two records now feels like a true fusion of everything the band have done since reforming this century.] The album drips that classic early 70’s Hard Rock vibe but with a truly modern feel, especially the way that the keyboards sounds are working, the interplay between Tony and Rick Benton. Was that deliberate or did it just evolve naturally?

Rick Benton is a great keyboard player. We’ve had him for a few years now and he works with Tony just great, as he comes up with these great sounds that fit the songs and the mood of the music, or what I’m singing. So yeah, some older sounds that were around – he’s brought them in and we’re like “Oh yeah!”. You know like Oberheim stuff that people used to use – 80’s sounds that we would have used on “Chase The Dragon” or “On A Storyteller’s Night”. Tony’s all “Yeah, try that sound! Use that sound!” and Rick will go and come up with it. He’ll go away and programme it all and then come in and play it, so it’s all demoed before; then we’ll go into the studio and here’s the real thing… and everything changes!

The song key has to change half the time because of writing it on a guitar, as Tony will do the melody line on the guitar for me to familiar with, but then you find it’s in an ‘in-between’ key of up here or down there, so you have to change the key to get the best out of the vocals. That happens quite often. Changing the key on the keyboards is just a button, but poor Tony has to do all the guitars again! “Right let’s do all the guitars again” so, it’s my fault, because it’s different when you’re singing, as the voice is the most important thing at the time…

I love that your voice is like a lovely, aged whiskey and seems to get better every year…

Well, I know how to do it now… I’ve been doing it all my life. Singers get better with age, they really do. You have more control and emotion, and subtlety, and things that when you first start don’t exist really.

*At this point Bob mimics a more shouty performance of yesteryear which is a far cry from the measured and bluesy timbre of his voice today.*

I was just like that really, because I was young and excitable and I’ve calmed down a lot over the years, but I do think I’ve got better with maturity. I hope so, I think so, I know so! And that reflects in the songs, in the way I sing them and what Tony gives me. We’re both ‘maturing’, and that’s gonna happen, you know? Although he’s Rockier now than he ever was and he’s a way better Producer now than he ever was…

I have to agree. The Production on “The Monster Roars” is an absolute pinnacle of the band’s achievements of the years.

He’s great, and he just takes the time to get all these sounds right in the mix – I don’t know how he does it! He’s just a very clever man, and I’m very glad to be working with him for all this time. And he’s done wonders for me and my career. He’s made me better than I ever was, so it’s a growing relationship and it’s great! We just carry on – it is what we do. We’re not looking for anything else really. I mean I do Avantasia on occasion, and Rick will do stuff with people, and Lee will do some stuff with other people in between albums and tours. Meanwhile Tone is back in his studio writing while I’m off going round the world with Avantasia! But it’s good to come back, and he’s always ready to start working again having had a break.

[I ask Bob how working with Avantasia maestro Tobi Sammet compares to Tony Clarkin, given the man’s unique ability to distil the five greatest songs a singer has contributed to into one new track that completely encapsulates that sound perfectly.] It’s a trick he pulls live too, seemingly always able to push the utmost in a performance from everybody involved. What’s that like as a process in comparison?

Well, he will send you an early mix of the song – just enough for you to know what your part is, and we will go and do it over in Wolverhampton and then send it back to Germany, so we don’t have to be in the same place anymore. That’s not possible… I’ve got the lyrics and I will go to the studio with Sheena, the engineer from Magnum and start putting something down, doing a few takes. Then she will put it together afterwards and send it off to him and he can do what he likes with that. He’s got what he wants off of the artist, which goes for all the singers. He will write a song for that singer, for what that singer’s known for, so it’s not alien – there’s no experimentation here. Give ‘em what they want, right? Bang, bang, bang! This is Bob, singing a Magnum-type song; this is Eric Martin singing a Mr Big type song – in that direction, Michael Kiske a bit like Helloween. It’s good that he does that, so it’s familiarity with the singer that you’re talking about, so you feel comfy with it already because it’s what you are used to…

It seems like Tobi has rebooted a few careers with that technique, but in comparison Magnum may never have really stopped> Is it an unbreakable partnership with Tony and you?

Well, we’ve had several line-up changes over the years – people come and go, but me and Tony are still there. I think it’s great. We work really well together and he’s fine and happy with me going off and doing Avantasia. He gets on well with Tobi too. We actually got Tobi over to the Birmingham Symphony Hall to sing the title track of “Lost On The Road To Eternity” on stage – which he had done on the album. I had been on several Avantasia albums by then so Tony said “Get your mate over to do a duo with you and do it the other way around”. Everything I do with Tobi is a duet, not like Magnum where the singer is just me as in Avantasia you are one of two or three singers on stage at the same time. It’s like a Heavy Metal Rock Opera and it’s brilliant. So, we got him up to the Symphony Hall to sing, and he went down fantasticly well. It seems Avantasia are massive everywhere except the UK…

I concur. The only show we ever seem to be able to get this spectacle for is the London Kentish Town forum for one night, with the exception of a support slot at Bloodstock one year…

Yeah, that Bloodstock festival show was some years ago now. It was just down the road from me at Catton Hall, as I live in Tamworth, just round the corner. It’s a pity that Avantasia only play one show in London once every three years, because everywhere else they’re just enormous and playing arenas, which is brilliant. They’re regulars at Wacken too…

Well, when your first ever live show as a band is headlining Wacken in 2008…

Wacken is always great – we did it again just recently. I love Wacken. The backstage area is really nice and posh for a rock and roll festival, the furniture is comfy, the careering is brilliant, and the dressing rooms are really clean and warm. Tony is happy for me to go off and do Avantasia when it’s suitable, but it can’t get in the way of what’s happening in the Magnum camp – that has to come first of course. Magnum is more of a priority, and Tobias knows that. It works great, and I’m looking forward to the next time – whenever that may be. We’ve just done loads of festivals to promote that last album (“A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society”). On the later festivals we had started to do two songs from the new album. Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) did a track from it, a very heavy track, and I did the (almost) title track ‘The Moonflower Society’ along with the one he wrote for me years ago ‘The Story Ain’t Over’.

That song came out originally on the “Lost In Space” EP and was very much a part of “The Scarecrow” album cycle – the point where Avantasia stopped being a studio project and evolved into a touring circus with regular album cycles from then on – something that Bob has contributed to since that point…

Yes well, Tobi is a big Magnum fan. He’s probably also a big Helloween fan, and a big Mr Big fan as well, so he tries to get all of his heroes onto the album then onto the stage and the tour with him – which is a great compliment, you know? He’s said to me personally, and on stage as well quite often when he’s introducing me and talking to the audience (which can be a bit embarrassing) saying “Without the next singer’s band and music there probably wouldn’t have been a Tobias Sammet or an Avantasia, so please welcome on stage Bob Catley from Magnum..”… and you can’t get better than that. It’s quite emotional!

We’re all a bunch of idiots backstage; there’s no egos. But there could be and there is quite a lot in Rock ‘n’ Roll as you know, but it doesn’t exist backstage with Avantasia – everyone’s all on the same level. Some artists sell more records than others, but we’re all in Avantasia and it’s a great camaraderie. As in Magnum! As in our line-up now – we have a great camaraderie and that’s really important for longevity. You’ve got to get on; you’ve got to like each other for goodness’ sake and respect each other. It’s a mutual respect thing, because you are in each other’s shoes for the whole six weeks tour, so you have just got to get on with each individual and be nice people – with each other and the fans, and everybody else. Be a good bloke and behave yourself! We haven’t got room for anything that isn’t that cool, which is how a band should be.

Is touring still fun after all this time?

Oh yeah! Sure, I love it! Fantastic! I even like the tour bus! There’s tour buses and there’s tour buses, but this one is nice!

It’s nearly 35 years since Wings of Heaven when I first saw you live, and 25 years since I first interviewed you. So how does it feel to be still going strong after 50 years?

I know! Ha ha! I don’t think about it that much – we just kept going! We had a short break when I did some solo records when Hard Rain wasn’t working out for me. That was a low point, but 50 years has gone like that, you know? The 80’s is like last year to me! I’m still in the 80’s! I hate change – I don’t move on very well, you know? The music may move on, but I don’t fundamentally, I am still an 80’s bloke! I’ve still got the hair, although I’m not wearing ripped jeans anymore – I’m a bit too old for that! They were more rips than jeans, but they would look ridiculous on me now! But I am quite juvenile in my approach to everything – I still think I’m about 35 or something instead of twice that age. But it’s done me good, it’s kept me young and it’s brilliant! So yes, I love touring and so does Tony. It’s what we’re there for – record an album, put it out, start rehearsing and off you go on tour, and you just keep that going.

As long as people still want to see that and hear the music and still find us relevant to what’s going on in the world. There’s a lot of subject matter out there – Tony’s a very great observer. He’s not a preacher or a political, but he’s a great observer and he will wrap it up in poetry and fantasy. Quite down to earth things, but he will make it sound ambiguous by adding a double meaning. It’s all in his head – he’s a great reader of books and he absorbs a lot of stuff. He’s very intelligent – more intelligent than I think many people realise. He’s great and it’s a treasure to savour, and look after, to behold and to keep in your pocket. That’s Magnum – it’s a little treasure! Our fans do tell us that…

Magnum were always the band boosting sales in the nearest pub to the venue after soundcheck, does that still happen?

No, we’re over that now – we haven’t done that for a long time! Tony stopped drinking some years ago, so it’s all his fault! We used to follow him to the pub “Come on, we’re going to the pub”, “Oh, alright then…” not that we needed much arm twisting believe me! That’s how it was in the 70’s and 80’s – everybody was like that: alcohol fuelled. Cigarettes and alcohol! We hadn’t got any money – we were broke, so we ended up poncing drinks the whole time “Cheers, thanks!”. Good days! When we started out you couldn’t get us out of the boozer, but that hasn’t happened for a very long time. We’re far more responsible now, thank God, otherwise we wouldn’t have reached this time in our lives. If we had carried on like that, that’s just going down the wrong way… I mean I like a drink – we all do, especially with Christmas coming up, but in moderation. I like getting a bit merry, but nothing more than that. You can’t mix work with pleasure – it’s one or the other.

Our time is almost over and with an insistent tour manager keen to get Bob ready for the show, I ask him looking back over all these decades, what moments in his career stand out the most after all this time?

Monsters of Rock, Castle Donnington 1985. That was great, even though we were on first.

I guess that going on first meant you were less likely to get pelted by bottles filled with unsavoury contents, given that the crowd had probably not finished drinking their original contents…?

Oh yes, people would throw things at the stage if they don’t like you. I had mud slung at me, and a bottle of something smash and explode against the drum riser – I hate to think what it was! But that was a long time ago, though Monsters of Rock was a high.

Ozzy Osbourne’s USA tour in 1982 as well, just after Randy Rhoads had died in that awful plane crash. We came onto the tour then and Sharon and Ozzy looked after us very well nicely as we were on the same label – Jet Records (Run by Sharon’s father Don Arden). Yeah, we were on the same label, and we were all from Birmingham Ozzy’s hometown, so they took us under their wing. We had just had “Chase The Dragon” in the charts and went off on tour with Ozzy – that’s definitely another stand out moment. He and Sharon were lovely to us. They didn’t know us very well, but we went down really good over there, so we made a lot of converts and we started selling albums after we played in the States. We went back twice as well, because Ozzy had lost his voice and we all had to all come home and then go back again some weeks later to complete it all down the Eastern seaboard and the Southern States. It was great!

Stand out moments though – being at Hammersmith Odeon on the stage and Tommy Vance coming on the radio and saying “You are now joining 3 million people listening on the Tommy Vance Friday Rock Show”. That’s another moment…

But it’s all highlights for me, what we do. Just playing in front of the audience of Magnum fans on a nightly basis is a standout moment on its own, without all those other things. Just being on tour in front of your audience, and with the band – it can’t get better than that! It’s fantastic – there is nothing better than that. It’s what keeps you going. That’s your life blood…

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Simon Black and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Interview with Jesper Lindberg of Sarayasign

Interview with Jesper Lindberg of Sarayasign
Interviewed and Produced by Laura Barnes

After thoroughly enjoying Sarayasign’s debut album “Throne of Gold”, our reviewer Laura Barnes spoke to Sarayasign’s drummer and mastermind, Jesper Lindberg. They talked about concept albums, fantasy, and the long, agonizing process of songwriting. Check it out here:

Interview with Jesper Lindberg of Sarayasign

To read the original review, click here: https://www.ever-metal.com/2022/06/29/sarayasign-throne-of-gold/

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Laura Barnes and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Video Interview: Alex Camargo of Krisiun

Video Interview: Alex Camargo of Krisiun
Interviewed and produced by Victor Augusto

The Brazilian Death Metal band Krisiun became very respected among the legends that made this style so strong around the world, and they have just released a new album “Mortem Solis” after four years without new material.

Our friend from Brazil, Victor Augusto, had a chat with the vocalist/bassist Alex Camargo to find out more about the early days of the band, that is considered a legendary one, especially in their homeland. They also talked about the band’s offering.

I hope you enjoy it!

INTERVIEW WITH ALEX CAMARGO

LINE-UP:
Alex Camargo – Vocals and bass
Max Kolesne – Drums
Moyses Kolesne – Guitars

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Victor Augusto and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Interview with INFANTERIA

Interview with INFANTERIA
Interviewed by Beth Jones

Hi Everyone, welcome to a slightly tweaked EMQs interview with Progressive Thrash Metal band, Infanteria, whose new album, “Patriarch” is out today. Check out our review of it here:

Please introduce yourselves, tell us what you play, and tell us all about Infanteria.

Chris – I’m Chris, Guitarist and Vocalist for Progressive Thrash Metal band Infanteria. Tim plays bass guitar with Adrian rounding things off on drums. We formed back in 2005 with 3 albums under our belt thus far. Our new album, Patriarch, is out everywhere on 17 June 2022.

Please tell us about where you are from, and what the Metal Scene is like there?

Chris – We’re all originally from Cape Town, South Africa, however I moved over to the UK a few years back. Compared to the scene in places like the UK, South Africa’s metal scene is tiny, but it’s a really passionate crowd with an awesome sense of community. Living in South Africa is certainly turbulent and getting your angst and anxiety out at a metal show is the perfect release – I truly feel that’s a massive factor to the energy of the shows in SA compared to other countries.

Please tell us about your new single ‘Embrace The Trauma’ and album ‘Patriarch’

Chris – It’s the fastest and most straight-to-the-point song on the album with a great gang vocal chorus hook and it made sense to put it out as the first single. Our fans haven’t heard from us in ages, and we wanted to give them an energetic, no-frills introduction to the album before they hear the twist and turns on the rest of the tracks.

How did you come up with the album name ‘Patriarch’?

Chris – The theme of the album is control and what people can manifest when they feel they’ve lost control or in full control. This is put across through family traditions/expectations; cancel culture; broken relationships; tribal vs individual identity and other scenarios in the lyrics. At the end of the day, we are the rulers of our own destiny and our very own patriarch. It’s a strong, thought-provoking title and every metal album needs one of those.

Who have been your greatest influences?

Tim: From a bass perspective, Cliff Burton, Troy Sanders, Steve Harris and, on this album, I tried to channel a bit of Martín Méndez.

Adrian: Definitely all the power drummers of the 80’s & 90’s. Ulrich, Lombardo/Bostaph, Benante, Hoglan, Menza, Nicko McBrain & Vinnie Paul stand out among many. 2000’s and beyond favourites are Per Møller Jensen, Aquiles Priester, Eloy Casagrande, Mike Portnoy & Dirk Verveuren to name a few.

Chris: Hetfield, Mustaine & Chuck Billy will always be the forefathers of influencers for me. Add a little Sylosis, Mastodon, Opeth, Iron Maiden & Pantera for good measure.

What first got you into music?

Tim: My dad’s Led Zeppelin boxset, Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman score, and the Command & Conquer: Red Alert soundtrack.

Adrian: I’m from a musical family, so jamming with my parents since I was 6 years old on piano really developed my love for music in general. Discovering amazing rock n roll artists in my older brother’s music collection definitely helped too.

Chris: I come from quite a musical family – my great-grandmother was a professional opera singer, and my mom sang in the Cape Town Choir. My Uncle and older cousin used to play guitar and sing old Beatles and 70s classics at all the big family events, and I remember music always being a constant throughout my childhood.

My dad got me into Queen and Elvis when I was about 8 and I really dug the power, musicality, and speed of the music. When I was 12/13, my oldest friend, Giorgio, played Metallica and Guns N Roses for me and handed me his older brother’s new electric guitar to chug on and the rest is history.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?

Tim: Rammstein.

Adrian: Beast In Black

Chris: Josh Middleton (Sylosis, Architects)

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Tim: Hellfest. Can you imagine having an artist pass with the 2022 lineup?? Good lord.

Adrian: Hellfest (with the condition that I get to play and attend the entire fest). I’d be dead by day 4 just from the pure excitement. Close 2^nd would be 70,000 Tons of Metal. Who doesn’t like a nice Caribbean cruise ship holiday while getting to play to a great audience?

Chris: I’ve always been keen on Bloodstock Open Air in the UK. They always have amazing line-ups and I’ve been meaning to go there as a fan for ages – would be perfect to play there too!

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

Tim: Accidentally getting us banned from streaming platforms for a while. But we still love the guy.

Adrian: Nothing yet to my dismay. I hope to receive several strange offerings soon \m/

Chris: I honestly can’t think of anything in particular!

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

Tim: Eat your greens.

Adrian: Peoples’ time is such a precious commodity these days, so thank you for choosing to spend some of that valuable time listening to our music ^_^

Chris: Thank you so much for sticking by us and helping us fly the flag! Enjoy the new album and hope to see you soon! Keep supporting metal bands as best you can.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

Tim: It must be Cliff Burton for me. Or Chris Cornell.

Adrian: Dimebag. Or Lemmy.

Chris: Dimebag. One more Pantera album with the guys at their mature prime would be perfection. RIP to an absolute legend.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

Tim: Playing live is the absolute best part, when everything is flowing and you’re locked-in with your bandmates and the audience, the experience is transcendental. I hate playing by myself at home.

Adrian: That special moment jamming (studio or live) where something just “clicks” and you look at each other and feel that electricity. Pet hate is 10-minute changeovers with no opportunity for a decent soundcheck >_<

Chris: Playing live to a full crowd who are fully into what they are hearing is hard to beat. The writing process is so rewarding though, there is no better high than writing a riff/beat/vocal line/piece that gives you butterflies and goosebumps when you listen to it back. Priceless.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

Tim: Streaming royalties.

Adrian: Having more support and relief avenues globally for artists and musicians which are smaller or mid-range to weather storms like the last 2 and a half years have been. I’ve seen the devastation of the pandemic on friends who are professional entertainers, and we can’t have that happen again.

Chris: It’s insatiable appetite for overly promoting bad “commercial” music rather than giving hard working talent the resources and exposure everyone deserves.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

Tim: Mastodon- “Blood Mountain”

Adrian: Megadeth – “Youthanasia”

Chris: Metallica – “… And Justice For All”

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?

Tim: It depends on the context, all of them have their place and things that they do better than the others (except maybe cassette ha ha ha!). As a physical object, vinyl for sure. For general listening, it’s hard to beat the convenience of streaming/downloads. But there’s nothing like trawling through an old box of records/CDs or perusing the shelves of music stores for hidden treasures.

Adrian: Suppose it depends on the situation. Downloads are most convenient, especially with the space saving it provides. I’d still have to say my preference is CD. My physical music collection exists pretty much 99% in CD format.

Chris: I’m all about the recent vinyl resurgence and have a turntable and an ever-expanding vinyl collection. They sound excellent and album artwork always looks 100 times better on an LP than a small CD or cassette. I still have all my CDs but wouldn’t choose to buy one nowadays with vinyl back on the shelves.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

Tim: Ramfest when we opened for Killswitch Engage and Trivium, and Corey Beaulieu scampered to the side of the stage to watch us jam Holy Wars. The Gandalfs Farewell gig holds a special place in my heart too, partially because of the strong emotions at that show (saying goodbye to a legendary Cape Town venue), and because it felt like we absolutely ripped that night.

Adrian: The one that sticks in my mind the most was the album release show for Where Serpents Conquer. Energy was off the charts and just felt unstoppable.

Chris: Ramfest 2014 is hard to beat. Opening for both Trivium and KSE on the same night in front of an amazing crowd was a dream come true. I’d choose that show over Wacken 2013 just because our performance was better. Playing in front of over 8000 people in Germany was life changing.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

Tim: Being a musician exclusively is a rare thing these days, but if I wasn’t thinking about music at all, I’d devote more time to filmmaking and naps.

Adrian: I’d love to sell musical instruments if I wasn’t actively making music. That or run a guesthouse or Airbnb business.

Chris: Life would be exceedingly boring without music in my life but becoming an expert pizza maker would be close second.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Tim: Adrian has spent a lot of time pondering this over the years, and probably has a super profound answer. I’ll keep my bad answer at living people: Bruce Campbell, David Lynch, Kirk Hammett, Donald Glover, and Carol Kaye.

Adrian: Only 5??? I have a massive list of living people (constantly updating) who I’d love to have over for dinner. Impossible to narrow it down, so taking a random sample. They include David Attenborough, Shigeru Miyamoto, Terry Crews, Roger Federer, Alice Cooper.

Dead list is probably a little shorter. They would be Neal Peart, Desmond Tutu, JRR Tolkien, Dr Christiaan Barnard, Stan Lee

Chris: James Hetfield, Ricky Gervais, Joe Rogan, Eric Cantona and Liam Gallagher. Biblical.

What’s next for Infanteria?

Chris – Our new album, Patriarch, comes out on 17 June and we’re buzzing for everyone to hear it. Things are still in-the-air with plans after we release as I live in the UK and the rest of the guys are in South Africa, so we’ll see what comes our way. We’ll definitely continue to write music though.

Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?

Chris: You don’t get Jaffa Cakes in South Africa! I’ve had them in the UK though and I’d say they’re more a cake than a biscuit … surely not crumbly enough!

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Chris: Thanks so much for having us and we hope you all enjoy our new single ‘Embrace the Trauma’, which comes out on 3 June and the new album ‘Patriarch’ on 17 June. Follow all our socials for more info https://linktr.ee/infanteria

Infanteria is a three-piece Progressive Thrash Metal Band from Cape Town, South Africa and Manchester, UK. Currently independent, the band released two studio albums with Burning Tone Records, with their third album, ‘Patriarch’, due for release Friday 17 June 2022. Formed in 2005 by Vocalist & Guitarist Chris Hall, and his brother Rob, Infanteria managed to thrash through the high school party years to release their 2013 debut ‘Isolated Existence’. The release saw Bassist Tim Leibbrandt join the fold, propelling the band to win the Wacken Metal Battle South Africa Competition that year, affording them the opportunity to play at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany alongside Rammstein, Motörhead, Meshuggah, and many more!

Upon their return to South Africa, the band was direct support for Killswitch Engage and Trivium at Ramfest SA 2014. The following year, their critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘Where Serpents Conquer’ was released with Adrian Langeveld taking over behind the Drums. The group subsequently enjoyed extensive touring of South Africa. With Chris emigrating to the UK in early 2020, and the arrival of the pandemic, sessions for the band’s next album were put on hold. Two years later, the Thrash Metal Trio is now set to return, revitalised and ready to unleash ‘Patriarch’, their long-awaited third album. A mature expansion on their previous releases, ‘Patriarch’ shows the full development of Infanteria’s progressive metal sound from hardcore crossover runaways like ‘Embrace the Trauma’ to rich sonic opuses such as ‘Swansong’.

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Video Interview with Marquis De Sade

For several decades Marquis De Sade were the epitome of the British cult Metal band…highly respected but quite elusive. Now, however, the band is about to make an unexpected comeback.

Formed in the south of London around 1979, Marquis De Sade remained active for about three years. The line-up back then consisted of Kriss Gordelier on vocals, Kriss’ brother Pete Gordelier on bass, San Remo on keyboards, Gary ‘Gazza’ Pope on drums and Gary’s brother Kevin on guitars. Together they crafted some amazing material.

Sadly Kevin passed away quite recently and his shoes have been filled by Pauly Gordelier (brother of Kriss and Pete) while keyboard maestro Giles ‘Doc’ Holland has replaced San Remo.

This is probably the first interview the band has given in over 40 years. As one might imagine, it’s quite a revealing one!

Video Interview With Marquis De Sade

DISCOGPRAHY:
Somewhere Up in the Mountains         [Compilation-2012-High Roller Records]
Somewhere Up in the Mountains / Black Angel        [Single-1981-X-Pose]
Demo 1981                                                                 [Demo-1981-self-release]

LINE-UP:
Kriss Gordelier – vocals
Paul ‘Pauly’ Gordelier – guitars
Giles ‘Doc’ Holland – keyboards
Pete Gordelier – bass
Gary ‘Gazza’ Pope – drums

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Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Chris Galea and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Video Interview with TYSONDOG

Video Interview with TYSONDOG
Interviewed and Edited by Chris Galea

Recently, Chris Galea got a chance to catch up with Kevin Wynn, bass player of NWOBHM band, Tysondog, to chat about the band, their new album, “Midnight” which came out on 29th April 2022, and what inspires them.

Check out the full video interview here:

Video Interview with TYSONDOG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AmpF9ODVEo

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Chris Galeaand Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.