australian metal

Toxicon – Be The Fire And Wish For The Wind

Be the Fire and Wish for the Wind Album Cover Art

Toxicon – Be The Fire And Wish For The Wind
Self-Released
Release Date: 01/01/23
Running Time: 57:00
Review by Paul Hutchings
7/10

As part of our pledge to cover a few bands that may be referred to as part of the underground, we’re starting to seek out bands who are releasing their own music, playing at a level that sits below the waterline, out of sight and earshot of most Metal and Rock fans. First up for me is the quintet from Australia known as Toxicon, who follow the template for what is termed Modern Metal to a tee.

“Be the Fire and Wish for the Wind” is a relatively long album. At just under an hour, music needs to be good to maintain the interest. An intricate blend of riffing, harmonies, cleans and rough vocal delivery, and immeasurable numbers of time changes are brought to you with a huge dose of melody. But does it keep the interest intact for the whole album?

Well, I suppose that depends very much on how much you enjoy the Modern Metal style. For me, it’s a generic, sometimes schizophrenic mix of styles, incorporating a range that encompasses Alternative, Deathcore, Metalcore, Djent or Progressive as well as more traditional elements of the music we love. And I struggle with it.

The eleven tracks that Toxicon present certainly provide variety. There’s everything from Symphonic passages to crushing Deathcore, grinding Alternative and punishing Nu-Metal. The vocals of Wayne Clarris switch from raging throat howls to gentle, measured clean passages. He certainly possesses a decent voice, his manipulation impressive, and he’s supported by backing vocals from drummer Thomas Nunan and bassist Jacob Maloney whose harmonies certainly enhance the songs.

The songs are decent, well-constructed and benefit from a decent production level. They combine bruising breakdowns with melancholic elements and the huge breakdowns that are a feature of bands who wear this cap. They bring brutality, slamming segments that fire along at breakneck speed and contrast with some of the lighter work songs. Listen to the last two songs – the crushing ‘Be The Fire’ and the melancholic title track. Chalk and cheese, yet some common ground links the two. That’s probably the melody that is laced across this album and which makes it more accessible than it otherwise might present.

For me, it’s a little too generic, with the songs not lasting long in the memory. However, this isn’t the type of Metal that really excites me, so it’s not that surprising. If you are a fan of the Modern Metal style, “Be the Fire and Wish for the Wind” may well be an album worth investing time in.

‘(dis)Connect’ Official Video

TRACKLISTING:
01. (Dis)connect
02. Paralleysis
03. Fear Itself
04. Deletist
05. Husk
06. The Lost
07. Fear of a Dank Planet
08. Synthetic
09. Shot, Framed and Hung
10. Be the Fire
11. Wish for the Wind

LINE-UP:
Thomas Nunan – Drums
Adam Esposti – Guitar
Wayne Clarris – Vocals
Bart Walters – Guitar
Jacob Maloney – Bass

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Paul Hutchings 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.

Mortal Sin – Mayhemic Destruction / Face Of Despair (Re-issues)

Mayhemic Destruction (reissue) Album Cover Art

Face Of Despair (Re-issue) Album Cover Art

Mortal Sin – Mayhemic Destruction / Face Of Despair (Re-issues)
Cherry Red Records
Release Date: 24/06/22
Running Time: 35:24 (Mayhemic Destruction) / 43:34 (Face Of Despair)
Review by Chris Galea
7.5/10 (Mayhemic Destruction) / 8/10 (Face Of Despair)

Despite being flagbearers of Australian Metal, I get the feeling that Mortal Sin remain underacknowledged. That is partly why, despite the fact that I normally steer clear of re-issues, I accepted to write a few words about Mortal Sin’s first two albums… currently re-released by Cherry Red Records for a new generation of Metal fans.

“Mayhemic Destruction”

Back in 1986, a year after the band’s formation in Sydney, Mortal Sin released “Mayhemic Destruction”. Prior to that, the band members had already been honing their skills with local Metal acts Wizzard and Judge. Totally self-financed, “Mayhemic Destruction” was an album’s worth of demo tracks and reflected the band’s angst, naiveté and eagerness to push the boundaries of heaviness.

Reflecting on the band’s approach to this album, vocalist Matt Maurer said in a recent interview: “We had a lot of fun when we recorded the album. We basically went in there to have a party and just to see what our songs would sound like. It wasn’t very professional from our standpoint because we had no idea what we were doing.” (Stay Heavy webzine, 2022).

Although the album’s production was quite decent, it wasn’t as good as what other bands from U.S.A.’s west coast were coming up with at the time. This comparison is not accidental because Mortal Sin were directly influenced by the musical conjuring’s of peers such as Anthrax, Exodus, Slayer and Metallica. I mean “Mayhemic Destruction” even has a song called ‘Into The Fire’.

Songs such as ‘Lebanon’ and ‘Liar’ were, and still are, absolute Thrash gems. And the title-track was a calling to mosh-pits. Matt Maurer’s screams and range are impressive – his singing really raises the level of the songs a notch. “Mayhemic Destruction” revealed a band with lots of potential, and sure enough…

“Face Of Despair”

In the Spring of 1989, Mortal Sin released their second album “Face Of Despair”. Barely a few moments into the album, the intro and Andy Eftichiou’s bass-line of ‘I Am Immortal’ make it abundantly clear that Mortal Sin had upper their game. Guitarist Mick Burke replaced Keith Kristin in playing alongside Paul Caruana and this change seems to have resulted in sharper axework.

But the most important change was actually the employment of Randy Burns to produce the album. Back then, Burns was starting to earn a reputation as the go-to guy for producing successful Metal albums – only a few months before doing “Face Of Despair” for Mortal Sin he had just engineered Possessed’s “Seven Churches” and Megadeth’s “Peace Sells…”. Indeed, “Face Of Despair” was, sonically-speaking, strides ahead of “Mayhemic Destruction”.

However, the shattering screams of Matt Maurer were gone and this was a rather disappointing factor. This is not to say that Maurer’s singing had regressed because, as songs such as ‘The Infantry Corps’ show, the album has very solid vocals. Another interesting note was that Maurer’s lyrics seem to be more politically-charged in this album.

With “Face Of Despair”, the comparisons with Anthrax (whether intentional or not) became even more pronounced and I’m not sure that that was a good thing. Nevertheless, the album contained no shortage of bona fide Thrash classics, such as ‘I Am Immortal’ and ‘Voyage Of The Disturbed’.

Just as “Face Of Despair” was being released, drummer Wayne Campbell was replaced by Steve Hughes, who today is known more for his stand-up comic routines than for his drumming. The band finally started to perform outside Australia but soon also Matt Maurer left. Line-up volatility, lack of adequate label support and the fact that it had taken Mortal Sin too long to export their brand of Thrash meant that the band’s future was uncertain. In reality the band’s longevity would prove greater, if somewhat irregular, than what omens were suggesting. But that’s another story.

“Mayhemic Destruction” is being re-released as digipak CD and red vinyl while “Face Of Despair” is being brought back to life in digipak and golden brown vinyl.

Current single YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKVc-Q0dQPA

TRACKLISTING:
Mayhemic Destruction
01. The Curse (instrumental)
02. Women In Leather
03. Lebanon
04. Liar
05. Blood, Death, Hatred
06. Mortal Slaughter
07. Into the Fire
08. Mayhemic Destruction

Face Of Despair
01. I Am Immortal
02. Voyage of the Disturbed
03. The Infantry Corps
04. For Richer For Poorer
05. Martyrs of Eternity
06. Innocent Torture
07. Suspended Animation
08. H
09. Terminal Reward
10. Robbie Soles

LINE-UP:
Mat Maurer – Vocals
Paul Caruana – Guitars
Keith Kristin – Guitars (“Mayhemic Destruction” only)
Mick Burke – Guitars (“Face Of Despair” only)
Andy Eftichiou – Bass
Wayne Campbell – Drums

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This review 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.

Innasanatorium – Odyssey Of The Mind

Innasanatorium – Odyssey Of The Mind
Self-Released
Release Date: 10/07/2021
Running Time: 54:02
Review by Simon Black
9/10

Hailing from Perth, Innasanatorium (great name by the way) are a Progressive Thrash influenced Modern Metal outfit unleashing their debut on the world. Thematically conceptual rather than a story-driven concept album in itself, the record deals heavily with issues of mental health both positive and negative, as well as the usual political ire beloved of all things Thrash.

For a self-produced record the sound and production are rich, deep and lavish. So many debuts have great tracks that are lost in unprofessional recording techniques and penny-pinching, but not so this one. It’s beautifully captured, and brings those well-crafted and technically proficient tracks to the fore. The modern metal flavour brought by having a fairly broad range of singers (three no less, one of who is the band’s manager) gives their sound the kind of luxuriance that bands normally take a few albums to get into their stride with, by which time they are normally starting to scrape the bottom of the song catalogue. In this case you have the cream of their repertoire, but with the kind of production normally only found when a major label is throwing everything at a new signing.

And let’s not leave the song-writing and arrangements out of this. Again this has the feel of an album that has been properly pre-produced professionally, with the arrangements tightened and honed to precision. The technical proficiency in the Prog side of things is fairly formidable too, and does not stop the flow of the songs to the ear, which is why I think this has been pre-produced so well. It’s a different feel from what you get when that tightness has had its birth in songs which have had a few years of live playing to hone down the unnecessary elements. Each and every song on here is well-crafted and flows, and before you know it fifty-five minutes has passed in a blur of beautifully melodic yet brutal riffage interlaced with effortlessly fluid solos in a sauce of heaviness and moodiness that is quite distinctive and fresh.

This record manages to pull the trick off of being both melodically enticing in the instrumental department, whilst brutal and dark in the rhythmic structures and tones. Add to this a really well-balanced use of a scale of vocals from extreme (but intelligible) to the clean and high with many stops in between and you have one of the strongest unsigned debut’s I’ve heard in a while, and a band that has found their clear and distinctive sound early.

‘Show Me Your Scars’ (Official Video)

TRACKLISTING:
01. Intro
02. Show Me Your Scars
03. The Decline (Odyssey Of The Mind Part 1)
04. Night Terrors
05. Shifting Shadows
06. The Despair (Odyssey Of The Mind Part 2)
07. Innasanatorium
08. Science In The House Of God
09. The Desire (Odyssey Of The Mind Part 3)
10. Accelerated Oblivion
11. Outro

LINE-UP:
Adam Bomb McDonald – Vocals
Ryan Pearce – Guitars & Backing Vocals
Rapid Man – Guitars
Metal C (Tim) – Bass
Justin Sanity (Kelvin) – Backing Vocals

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This review 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.

Temtris – Ritual Warfare

Temtris – Ritual Warfare
WormHoleDeath
Release Date: 30/04/2021
Running Time: 48:45
Review by Simon Black
7/10

The sixth album from the Australian Metallers opens with a thundering drum line that really whets the appetite for what follows, which is eight tracks of traditional styled Heavy Metal, with just a teensy-weensy hint of Thrash. Temtris have been at this a while so have that heavy guitar delivery down pat, with the solid alternating sparring rhythm and lead split that NWOBHM made so widely popular, although the rest of the time you wouldn’t necessarily spot that there were two guitars in the mix. When this distinction comes clear, my word these boys can fly and I wonder why they’ve chosen to indistinguishably synch their playing everywhere else, as the technical ferocity on display when these instruments open up is little short of formidable.

Song-writing wise there is some great structure and incredibly catchy but punchy delivery, although I struggle somewhat with the vocal phrasing through some of this. I wonder if Genevieve Rodda plays drums, because she follows the rhythm riff melody so meticulously throughout – rather than extending and varying it (much like early thrash singers tended to do as so much of their attention was focussed on the guitar round their necks). This is a bit of a shame, as it feels like she is playing catch up with the instruments rather than leading from the front with more complimentary melody lines even though she clearly has a very good range and a really powerful vocal delivery. That said, in places that gutsy delivery works really well, creating a relentlessly heavy rhythmic and hypnotic effect that pulls you in. What’s missing is variety, although we get snatches of it in moments when the pace mellows out – such as the halfway point in ‘Seven Sins Of Man’. This is one of the longer tracks on the album, so gets to play about with the format more than most and is much the stronger for it by a country mile. Again, when Rodda does lead from the front, such as in the relentless ‘Forever’ or the introduction to the title track, her sustained and soaring vocal delivery is little short of spectacular, gives Rob Halford a run for his money and leaves me wishing that she had opened up a bit more elsewhere.

If I was going to pick a word to summarise this album I would perhaps choose ‘restrained’. They lift the lid on their technical skill at moments, but this doesn’t feels like a band that’s hungry consistently throughout. That said, what it misses in consistency of performance, more than makes up with song-writing and the anger lyrically is palpable and picked up and carried by the rest of the band. Solid stuff, which maybe just needed a touch more pre-production before hitting the studio – although like so many bands at the moment, this is probably just a consequence of the lockdown writing process. Nevertheless, absolutely worth some of your valuable time to listen to.

‘Ritual Warfare’ (Lyric Video)

TRACKLISTING:
01. Race To The End
02. One For All
03. Seven Sins Of Man
04. Forever
05. Ritual Warfare
06. Tempus Aeturnum
07. Erased
08. Always United

LINE-UP:
Genevieve Rodda – Vocals
Anthony Fox – Guitar
Nik Wilks – Bass
Nicholas Bolan – Drums
Nadi Norouzian – Guitar

LINKS:

The Impaler – AFWTD (A Fate Worse Than Death)

The Impaler – AFWTD (A Fate Worse Than Death)
Self-Released
Release Date: 19/02/2021
Running Time: 29:31
Review by Steven Hooke
7/10

I’m starting to think the raging sun and the multitude of insects and animals that want to kill them is starting to really get to Australians.

A hive of various iterations of hardcore over the years, the light and frilly post-hardcore of The Amity Affliction and Hands Like Houses slowly evolved into the stomp and aggression of Parkway Drive and I Killed the Prom Queen, which then in turn crept into the realms of deathcore with Thy Art is Murder and Make Them Suffer, before a quick foray into the emergence of djent with Polaris and Northlane, lead to New Zealand’s bigger brother becoming the international hotspot for the new age of nu-metalcore with the likes of Ocean Grove and Alpha Wolf. It’s almost like they were bored of being known as ‘that country with the band that’s played the same song for 50 years and whose guitarist dresses like he’s still in secondary school’.

In that bracket of ‘it’s like deathcore, except it actually sounds like someone wants to kill me’ is The Impaler, a five-piece banquet from Melbourne. Following up from their debut “Death Cult” from last year, “A Fate Worse Than Death” actually opens with a similar idea to the debut, with the intro track – in this case ‘Voices’ – keen to set the mood and the atmosphere for the album. Whereas ‘The Leper’ from “Death Cult” goes from ‘spooky spooks’ to ‘murder’ in about 30 seconds, ‘Voices’ lets the aura build, creating a darker, encroaching presence before getting to the aforementioned ‘murder’ parts. Straight away from the two openers, The Impaler’s ‘AFWTD’ has whiffs that the band has been hard at work to create a bigger feeling to their music, with the switch into ‘Failure’ showing off the wall of noise they now have in their repertoire.

A large part of it comes from an improved production job, adding in the rumbling bass tone that’s all the rage at the moment, which affects the bass drum kicks and general low-end notes. That, in turn, gives you a satisfying little rattle in your head whilst not sounding like a blown speaker. It’s particularly prominent on ‘Mourn’, which features a guest appearance from Thy Art is Murder’s CJ McMahon who trades vocal lines with The Impaler frontman Jordan Scott, ending up sounding like the pair are gargling cement.

The black metal elements are far more pronounced on this album too. Echoing tremolos dominate ‘Release’ before they melt into veering bends that feels like you’re taking a peak outside after the first bomb has been dropped, but no song adds blackened kvlt-ness as prominent – or as good – as ‘Immortal’. An almost beautiful song that feels inspired by the blackened folk qualities of ‘The Wild Hunt’ by Watain and one that is bathed in melodies, with everyone playing their part so well throughout the song. The heaven breaching swells of guitars that seamlessly transition into black metal chord progressions, drummer Jammie Hubbard leading the charge from one key change to another, before working with bassist Ben Van Looy in imploding the world on the breakdown, all the while Jordan is performing with an incredible range that almost poetically feels like a cross between Alpha Wolf’s Lochie Keogh and former Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker.

I feel almost cruel giving this a 7/10, mostly because it doesn’t feel like it tells the full story – although for what it’s worth, it is a high 7. Like a 7.999*/10.

It feels like the best parts of ‘A Fate Worse Than Death’ almost hinder the album, the heights of ‘Immortal’, ‘Mourn’ and ‘Release’ are so high that they leave the rest of the album feeling quite normal (although the “…destroy the fucking world!” breakdown in ‘Hatred’ is pure filth). The world building and sadistic opera-like swells brought in from black metal work wonders for the band’s sound and should, along with this production style, be things The Impaler lean into heavily for album number three, which given their turnaround so far should be here March next year, so chop chop lads.

‘Mourn’ (Official Video)

TRACKLISTING:
01. Voices
02. Failure
03. Immortal
04. Mourn (ft. CJ McMahon of Thy Art is Murder)
05. Fear
06. Hatred (ft. Josh Hill of Cerement)
07. Release

LINE-UP:
Jordan Scott – Vocals
Shaun Van Looy – Lead Guitar
Lewis Ranford – Rhythm Guitar
Ben Van Looy – Bass
Jammie Hubbard – Drums

LINKS:

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Steven Hooke 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.

Butterfly – Doorways Of Time

Butterfly – Doorways Of Time
Petrichor
Release Date: 05/03/2021
Running Time: 37:01
Review by Simon Black
9/10

Sometimes bands don’t make it easy for you. It was genuinely the kind of hard work, us journalists in the third decade of the 21^st Century intensely dislike, to find out who actually is in this Australian band, as their press release says nothing. That’s about three minutes digging on Google, for those of you who have not had our decades of intensely specialised training and experience – I mean I had to start going to the second page of the search results! And here lies part of the charm, as not only is the music from another decade, so too is their internet presence. Try it – their Facebook page is updated regularly, but is a bit Spartan and apart from a Bandcamp link (which you know you want to follow) there is really nothing else out there. That’s rather wonderful, as it forces us lazy journalists to focus entirely on what we have at our disposal, to whit the nine songs sent for review.

The MP3 version of this has actually been out there since last June and this release is mainly for the benefit of the physical versions, which include a retro 180g audiophile vinyl version, as well as a CD and yes, even a cassette tape version. They weren’t even on Spotify when I first reviewed this (they are now), so I was even starting to think they might have a phobia for any technology post 1980’s, but then considering how most bands usually end up paying more to services like that in listing fees than they ever recoup, I can hardly blame them. The music has its feet very firmly in the very early 1970’s, and to be honest I would say even further back than that with a generous helping of US psychedelic in the guitar sound and the trippy vocal harmonies. The sound is very much of that early Hard Rock ethos, despite the twin guitars and a bit of mild distortion, it all feels very pre-Metal to me, making this a refreshing change and in many ways I’m reminded of the mood and tone of Steppenwolf.

The vocals are an incredibly powerful factor in this band, as each of the four instrumentalists shares the vocal duties, so you get the kind of variety and range across the tracks that evokes early KISS. Clearly having a group of people able bring their own distinct songs to the table whilst still retaining a distinct house sound feels like a lost skill for the generations that grew up obsessing over who was fronting the band. That variety extends to the song-writing – all clearly the same band but each track is clearly and distinctly its own beast, with a production quality and sound that genuinely feels like it was cut on fifty-year-old recording technology and remastered recently and nails the retro feel more accurately than many bands riding that wave currently. Cats In Space, check your rear-view mirror, you aren’t alone…

So, our esteemed editor asked me a key question, which was do I actually like this record? And the answer is a resounding “Yes”. I mean there aren’t many albums that feel like they belong from before I was born, given that I came into this world 11 days before the first Black Sabbath album and that alone needs a celebratory drink raising.

TRACKLISTING:
01. Desert Chase
02. Climbing A Mountain
03. Doorways Of Time
04. The Night Is On Its Way
05. No Body
06. The Sin
07. Heavy Metal Highway
08. Crawling
09. The Scorpion

LINE-UP:
Phil Gresig – Vocals, Bass
Rob Wog – Vocals, Drums
Luke Robertson – Vocals, Guitars
Philip T. King – Vocals, Guitars

LINKS:
Official website – Nah!
Instagram – Do we look like millennials?
Twitter – What the mother-in-law does
Youtube – Do you mind? This is a family web site!

EMQ’s with LORD

EMQ’s with LORD

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Sydney/Wollongong, Australia based Metal/Rock band, LORD. Huge thanks to bassist Andy Dowling for taking part.

What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

My name is Andy Dowling and I play bass for the Australian Metal band LORD. We formed originally under the name Dungeon in 1989 and changed our name to LORD at the end of 2005. Across the two eras of the band we’ve released 9 albums, a couple of live albums and a stack of EP’s. We’ve toured internationally and across Australia for the past several decades.

How did you come up with your band name?

LORD originally came from our frontman Lord Tim however over time the name has taken on a life of its own. There were a lot of reasons behind the name itself and its ultimate change from Dungeon. Tim spent considerable time putting together a fantastic blog post on our website called “What’s in a name?” which explains it far better than I ever could!

(Reference: https://www.lord.net.au/whats-in-a-name/)

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We’re based in Sydney and Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. Australia has a fantastic metal scene and over the years we have had a stack of bands that have gained international recognition as well as popularity here at home. I’m sure most metal bands the world over would be able to name at least a handful of Australian metal bands these days which is absolutely fantastic. We’re a proud bunch down here!

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

Our latest EP release is “Chaos Raining” which came out on June 12 via our label, Dominus Records. Available via Bandcamp (https://lordofficial.bandcamp.com) and all streaming platforms.

Who have been your greatest influences?

There have been a lot of bands that certainly inspired me to pick up a guitar and want to play in a band. Many of them are obvious picks like Megadeth, Metallica, Maiden, Priest etc however as I discovered more music I continued to develop a taste for wanting to do it myself and get on a stage. As far as influential people are concerned, there have been many people in my personal life who have inspired me to pursue my endeavours whether it be friends, family or even observing others from a distance. To this day I am constantly influenced and inspired to do more and continue to grow as a person.

What first got you into music?

The radio and old compilation cassettes as a kid got me into music generally, in particular rock music. With regard to metal, it wasn’t until I was in my early teens and was given a dubbed tape of “…And Justice For All” by Metallica that my life changed forever. I had never heard anything like it before and I was instantly hooked.

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

John Farnham would be the ultimate. I think we could put together an awesome song for one of the greatest singers of all time. We’ve covered some Farnham songs in the past (eg: Playing to Win and Break the Ice) so we’re primed and ready!

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

Bloodstock would be really special for us as we have never had the chance to play in the UK yet. To play a festival like that would be a fantastic way to say hello to our UK friends who have followed us for so many years. Putting that aside, we really love to play any festival as there’s a great opportunity to not only connect again with friends but make new ones as you often get to showcase your music in front of a large audience.

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

I’ve received pairs of socks on multiple occasions from Japanese fans on tour. I’ve also had photo albums given to me from the previous tour when I had photos with the same friends in Japan. Some of the most thoughtful and generous people we have met. I certainly wouldn’t be getting socks from fans/friends anywhere else in the world, that’s for sure!

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

Our fans are our friends. We are all cut from the same cloth. We love music and in particular metal. We’re huge fans ourselves. The only difference is that every once in a while we jump up on stage to play some music for everyone. With that being said, we are so incredibly humbled that we have had so many amazing people connect with us over the years and build friendships with the band and each of us individually. Our friends are our inner circle of LORD and we will continue to make sure they know/feel that.

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

I really miss Dio. I think he still had so much to give and a huge hole was left for me when he died. One of the greatest singers and writers in metal. I’m incredibly thankful that I got to see him a handful of times and more importantly will continue to be captivated by his music for many years to come. He left us with so much to enjoy.

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

The hard work, trial and error, experimentation and then feedback and reward you receive over the years. It’s incredibly satisfying and enriching on a personal level. I don’t necessarily hate anything in particular however I sometimes feel that individual personalities sometimes bring themselves and others down. There’s more than enough opportunity to go around these days and an inflated ego or poor behaviour in general is simply unnecessary. Luckily, those people are few and far between.

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

A little more regulation from a business perspective. There are too many inexperienced/unqualified people working in music industry related jobs or as businesses who create a lot of problems for the overall industry. I also think that more government support/funding for music in Australia on all levels would be incredibly beneficial not only for musicians and industry representatives but for the wider public. Music has a lot of benefits for people in general. The more opportunities people have to enjoy music in a variety of ways, the better it is for the community as a whole.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

“So Far, So Good… So What!” – My all-time favourite Megadeth album. Scrap the Sex Pistols cover and it is absolutely flawless. Original recording as well. Not the remaster!

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

None of them. I love them all and they all serve their purpose depending on where I am and my preference at the time. From a musician perspective, they all are beneficial and for the most part still a necessity for us in order to provide people with format choice to listen to our music.

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

Most memorable is definitely playing at ProgPower USA in Atlanta in 2016. A fantastic festival, great crowd and we recorded the audio/video for our last live album. A real time capsule of great memories.

Best gig performance wise? The 2nd of back to back shows in Tokyo back in 2013. It was the last show of a run of shows throughout SE Asia and Japan and we were a well-oiled machine. We don’t often get to do long runs of shows but that showed our real potential as a band. I like to think that we always put on a great show, but that really went next level musically for us.

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

Something involving me talking a lot of shit. In fact, I got into podcasting back in 2015 (hosting The Andy Social Podcast and Nod to the Old School) which has been a huge part of my life. I probably would have been doing something like that regardless! I’m really good at dribbling all sorts of nonsense into a mic.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

John Farnham, Adrian Smith, Iva Davies, Mark Furtner and Alain De Botton.

What’s next for the band?

We just released our latest EP “Chaos Raining” which is available on Bandcamp and all streaming services. We’ll ride that one for the short term but we are already starting to put together details of the next release which might come out later in 2020. Maybe a new studio album in 2021 as well if all of the creative elements and time falls into place. Either way, we’re going to be busy!

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

www.open.spotify.com/artist/6mLDXLOEh4fcvxm5ICKfhE
www.music.apple.com/us/artist/lord/18929843
www.lordofficial.bandcamp.com/
www.youtube.com/user/lordofficial
www.facebook.com/lordofficial
www.instagram.com/lordofficial
www.twitter.com/lordofficial

We’re in most places! Search for “lordofficial” and you can usually track us down.

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

I’m not sure if we have Jaffa Cakes here in Australia but going by the name it SHOULD be a cake. If it was a biscuit, then it would be a Jaffa Biscuit. That might be too logical haha. It sounds awfully sugary.

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

Thanks for the opportunity to answer these great questions and talk about our band. We love what we do and feel honoured to be able to keep putting new music out after so many years. We’ve made so many great friends through music and I’m looking forward to making many more.

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

EMQ’s with DEMONHEAD

EMQ’s with DEMONHEAD

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Melbourne, Australia based Metal/Hard Rock band, Demonhead. Huge thanks to them for taking part.

What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

We are Demonhead, a four piece from the most Metal of Aussie cities, Melbourne. Dave (Vox/Axe) Rüe (Axe/backing vox) Az (Bass/backing vox) & Dean (Drums). We play a combination of Thrash and Trad Heavy Metal. Demonhead was spawned in the mid to late 2000’s off the back of a punk band breaking up. We’ve released one EP “Demonology 101” (Released 2011) and two albums “Bring On The Doom” (2014) and “Black Devil Lies” (2019).

How did you come up with your band name?

Dave the lead singer was hanging out with his brother listening to Motörhead (the song Motorhead) when his bro started singing “Demonhead” over the chorus instead of Motorhead.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We are based in Melbourne Australia. The Metal scene here is awesome. We have some of, if not the best talent in the global metal scene. It’s quite a tight knit community and even spreads to the other cities of Australia. It’s rad.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

Our latest release is “Black Devil Lies”. We released it in September last year (2019). It’s got 10 tracks, with 2 bonus tracks on the physical CD.

Who have been your greatest influences?

Dude, that’s like asking a parent which child is their favourite…. Influences range from Turbonegro, Testament, Motörhead, Corrosion of Conformity, Guns n Roses, early Metallica, Death, Deicide, Morbid Angel, 3 Inches of Blood, Iron Maiden (most NWOBHM bands to be honest), 70’s/80’s Punk, Skid Row…..dude, I could go on and on.

What first got you into music?

We all come from musical families, so first and foremost, they would be the biggest initial influence. Dave and I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s so we got to benefit from a lot of awesome heavy music that was around then which formed our understanding of what music should be, how it should sound.

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

I can only speak for myself (Rue) when I answer this, because I don’t have the others with me…. I’d love to collaborate with the lads from 3 Inches of Blood, but they’ve broken up, so I’ll say the lads from Corrosion of Conformity. And maybe Satan… not the real Satan, the Satan from the Pick of Destiny… coz he’s rad.

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

Wacken! Without a doubt. The reason would be obvious, it’s one of the biggest Metal festivals with some of the world’s best heavy music talent.

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

A cupcake. But the one where they fart into their hand and throw it in your face. Yup. It was done with love and affection, though, so it was kind of lovely.

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

Just be rad to each other. That’s it. All our fans are Rad, anyway. I’d rather give a message to other artists… that would be to appreciate the people that buy your music and come to your shows, without them, you’re nothing.

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

I’d say Dimebag Darrel, but I can’t speak for the others. That dude could melt faces.

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

Playing live is THE best thing about being a muso. Especially when you’ve got a rad crowd, it’s the best. Packing up after playing live/rehearsing. It sucks balls.

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

I think it would be the perception of Heavy music, but that kinda sounds a bit general. I don’t like the state of the industry here in Australia. We have some of the most amazing independent artists of all genres, yet they struggle to make a living from their work. Musicians can’t make a decent living here and that is just shit. It’s not a recognised trade anywhere and it should be because our society uses Music day in and day out.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

One of? This goes back to my favourite kid reference earlier…but the first one that comes to mind would be “Wiseblood” by Corrosion of Conformity. That album is awesome from start to finish, and it was released at the height of the Nu Metal craze in the late 90’s and they stuck to their Stoner/Sludge roots and wrote some killer songs on that album. It’s one album that helped shaped my ears early on in my life and it’s got some awesome messages in there as well. You should give it a listen if you haven’t.

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

I think Vinyl. Although, I wasn’t fussed either way until I heard our latest album, Black Devil Lies being played on an awesome record player/sound system. So yeah, Vinyl. It’s warmer and brighter. It’s kind of like the difference between a solid state or transistor amplifier as opposed to a valve/tube amp. The tube amp will win, even to someone that doesn’t know much about timbre and tone quality.

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

We’ve played some rad shows with some amazing bands and it’s always hard to compare a great gig from a few years ago to one that happened just recently, just because the post-gig buzz only sticks in your mind for so long. We just toured Black Devil Lies late last year and some of those shows were amazing. The album launch itself sticks out in my mind because we organised the show specifically to release our album and all those amazing people came to see us, not to mention the support we got from other bands that played with us that night. It was awesome.

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

Probably barely existing in a horrible world!!! I can’t even think about that. That would be a nightmare. Why would you even ask that question??

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Ozzy Osborne coz he’s cooked and funny as fuck!!! Bill Murray coz I’ve heard he’s an absolute dude; Chris Farley coz he was a bit tapped in the head; Hunter S Thompson (I reckon that’s pretty obvious; and Tommy Lee Jones…that would be the raddest dinner party ever!!!

What’s next for the band?

Writing the next album, polishing the live show, just the normal stuff. We’re keeping the pedal to the metal (yeah…I said that!! METAL!!) and we want to keep the pressure on to write and keep performing great tunes.

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

You can visit us on all social platforms.
www.facebook.com/demonheadband/
www.instagram.com/demonheadofficial/
www.twitter.com/DemonheadBand
www.demonhead.com.au/

We are also on iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp and Google Play.

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

Biscuit and they’re friggen delicious.

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

Thanks for having us, we feel had!!! Also, check out our latest Album, “Black Devil Lies” on any of the music streaming platforms, we reckon you’ll dig it \m/

Thrash Bandicoot – Milwaukee Cannibal EP

Thrash Bandicoot – Milwaukee Cannibal EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 06-01-2020
Running Time: 22:39
Review by ‘Dark Juan’
5/10

Good evening once more, my dear chums, pals, friends and associates. It is I, Dark Juan, droogie, boozer, chaser of strumpets and loser. Although my strumpet chasing is temporarily suspended due to vile contagion being abroad in our fair isle and I am obliged to haunt the spare bedchamber in Dark Juan Terrace and hurl insults at any cleric that happens to wander past. As there is a lockdown happening the opportunities for cleric abuse have shamefully been minimal to nonexistent. I did try writing a story, but it was that dystopic. I managed to depress myself and subsequently turned to the bottle. This review is fuelled by a bottle of Pinot Noir and the fact that I don’t like being told what to do by any fucker. Ever-Metal Rick gets a pass because he’s actually my boss and I have to defer to his better judgement otherwise there would be copious lawsuits because I can’t control my gob especially when I’m pissed (ask the Ever-Metal team what the staff page is like) and I might end up in trouble.

Anyway, Thrash Bandicoot (howled when I heard that one!) are a bunch of Aussies from Wollongong and they play a strange amalgam of thrash and death metal and “Milwaukee Cannibal” is a kind of concept EP about everyone’s favourite quiet and polite cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer. When I say a strange amalgam of thrash and death, you might expect something like technical or melodic death but that isn’t what you’re going to get here. These Aussie mental cases play very Bay Area circa 1990 thrash metal and then mix in the vomit fuelled, bowel tremblingly furious roar of Daniel Lever. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure it works. I know thrash is not a genre that produced classic vocalists the first time round (literally seeming like a necessary but unpleasant evil to a lot of bands) but a full-bore death growl is not suitable for thrash metal instrumentation. Which is a demerit I don’t want to have to apply to Thrash Bandicoot because they are all spectacularly competent players and the music has a charm and fun factor all its own, but the growl kind of spoils it a bit. The music needs a kind of Phil Heal vocal to make it pop. Every song on here is very good though, if not exceptional, and shows a band with considerable promise growing in potential. I want to hear a fucking fantastic album off them so bad it hurts.

The music is speedy, precise thrash very much in the vein of their main influence, Testament and the vocal clearly is influenced by the Buffalo meatgrinders Cannibal Corpse. As is the utterly terrible artwork of the cover reminiscent of “Butchered At Birth” et al. I’m kind of at a loss for words because the influences, style and songwriting are all so clearly defined by the band’s influences and there’s no sort of individuality creeping through the music to make it their own or to make it interesting to take apart and discuss. Even the production of the record sounds like a Testament album. It has no soul. The music and the playing is almost mechanical. There is no je ne sais quoi, no indefinable something that makes Thrash Bandicoot stand out from their two influences and that makes Dark Juan sad. This record doesn’t have the infectious sense of fun that other releases I have reviewed recently have had. And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe the jocular band name gave me a false sense of what they are about.

So, on that rather downbeat note I recommend Thrash Bandicoot to your attention if you like classic thrash, or death metal. They will at best be an occasional listen for a quick 20 minute blast down the motorway, but they will never be your favourite band. Standout track on the record is four songs in, called ‘Class Warfare’ and it is satisfyingly heavy, but you’re not going to be losing any limbs and your face will be getting a light scorching instead of being burned off.

The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System gives Thrash Bandicoot 5/10. Average middle of the road score for an average record played by a band with the potential to be quite special. Must try harder, gentlemen.

TRACKLISTING:
01. Milwaukee Cannibal
02. Dissolve
03. Trapped Society
04. Class Warfare
05. Scaphism

LINE-UP:
Jack Insley-Flowers – Bass/Backing vocals
Matt Perkins – Lead Guitar/Backing vocals
Daniel Lever – Rhythm Guitar/Lead vocals
Tim Worley – Drums

LINKS:
www.facebook.com/pg/ThrashBandicootAus/
www.thrashbandicoot.bandcamp.com/
www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1RwuYXWacA6CRNqP6nSHw
www.instagram.com/thrashbanditcoot.au/

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan 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.

I Built The Sky – The Zenith Rise

I Built The Sky – The Zenith Rise
Self-Released
Release Date: 01/11/2019
Running Time: 43:29
Review by “Dark Juan”
10/10

Good afternoon, dear friends and acolytes of the slightly left field version of whatever bastardised sort of religion that’s entertaining me in my thoughts these days. I am Dark Juan and today is a momentous occasion for I am writing this in a) the early afternoon, b) sober and c) with Igor the Evil One “assisting” me by crawling under my left arm and refusing to move, rendering the blood supply to my left hand absolutely useless and causing numbness and discomfort. Like what I appear to do to nubile young ladies when I’m on the pull. Apparently telling them it is the will of God is not the way to go. Neither is Satanic chanting and brandishing your sacrificial dagger and telling them you are going to cut out their beautiful, still beating heart and drink the lifeblood from its last laboured pulsations as the life fades from their dark kohled eyes. Also, being a follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and wearing your sacred colander when you go out does not a successful encounter make. Wearing an Ever-Metal.com t-shirt does in fact turn you into a pussy (or cock) magnet though, so I suggest you all render yourselves irresistible to the opposite sex and purchase one immediately, and you too could be drowning in clunge…

Where was I?

Politicians are all cun… no. I did that last review and I do like to try to keep things fresh and novel for you, my good people. Ah yes… I Built The Sky. A solo project of an obviously possessed Australian musician who appears to have about 47 fingers on his fretboard hand, judging by the speed and complexity of his soloing and general playing! I’m quite scared for him because the price he must have had to pay the devil for this level of talent means that he’s going to be suffering extraordinary levels of punishment in Hell for quite some time. I Built The Sky is an instrumental project, and my first task is to assess whether the music suffers from a lack of vocals. It doesn’t. Not having the distraction of a vocal allows the guitar to breathe and to allow other instrumentation to come through and not have to compete with some wailing cretin trying to be the centre of attention. I also enjoy the style of playing on this record – its progressive, not in the naming songs after Cirith Ungol and dwarves sense, but in the experimental and satisfyingly complex sense. There are unusual time signatures and dissonance and all manner of good things here. Remember Yngwie Malmsteen and the fact that his musical prowess appeared to be built entirely from how fast he could play arpeggios and scales and he only had a singer to bridge the gap between guitar solos? I Built The Sky are nothing like that. They are built more on the Joe Satriani and Steve Vai principle of exploring the outer reaches of what the guitar is capable of as an instrument. Also, he quite clearly has mutant hands with elongated, prehensile fingers because some of the solos he plays appear to be physically impossible to us non mutants with normal hands. Bet Ro Han wouldn’t have any problems playing “Arpeggios From Hell”.

There’s a pleasing sub-djent quality to some of the songs on here too – opening track “Up Into The Ether” reminding me greatly of Infinitee in particular and having an excellent djenty central riff. On the middle solo, there’s some fearsomely fast picking going on as well, but I like the outward looking, expansive feel of the music, where on the slower bits it’s allowed to grow and spread in front of you. Here’s a musician with that rare ability to know just when to shut the fuck up playing and allow the music to breathe and become a living thing. Second track “Journey To Aurora” is probably the nearest we get to actual djent on the album – it straddles the fine point between full on djent and the pinnacle of heavy metal guitar playing and switches seamlessly from one to the other and back again before going into Floydian explorations of inner space before coming back out spitting venom because it clearly didn’t like what it saw in there. And from the point of view of a (admittedly very poor) musician I am blown away by the complexity of the arrangements of the music as well as the high quality of the actual songwriting. There is not an extraneous piece of music on the whole record. It all fits perfectly together and is surprisingly legible and easy to listen to. I find myself preferring instrumental albums more and more these days.

My favourite tune on here is the staggeringly massive “Wormhole Traveller”. Holy fuck. Jesus Holy High Christ in a chariot driven sidecar from the stars. It goes from black metal warp speed to introspective slow grind industrial to glorious goth metal solo, out – Tool’s Tool for musical creativity and complexity and still remains groovy and listenable. It is very very good and has left this hellpriest a metalgasmed out dirty, sticky, drained and sated mess on the lounge floor. Which I’m sure you’ll agree is a fine outcome, if a slightly disturbing image that will be sticking with you for your evening meal. Thank me later. Mrs. Dark Juan won’t. It’s such a persistent stain. So, we have extreme talent, musical promiscuity, staggering technique and an ear for a good tune and no need for squealing attention seekers. Dark Juan is pleased. And spent. If you like dense, complicated music that will give you something new on every listen, then I Built The Sky come highly recommended – however if you wish to listen to something boneheaded and simple, this ain’t for you. Cerebral music for cerebral people. Or guitar enthusiasts who will spend their lives picking the record apart note by note. Good luck learning it, chaps and chapesses. You need fingers that can do the Kessel Run in less than nine parsecs to keep up with some of it.

Marvellous.

The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Mate – for Ro is Australian and has so far avoided my notably dodgy sense of humour about where people come from) has tossed another shrimp on the Barbie and cracked open a tinnie in the back of its ute (ah, that’s more like it) and awards I Built The Sky 10/10 for a whooping skyrocket of a record. Well done, sir, well done. Bonzer.

I Built The Sky are:

Rohan “Ro Han” Stephenson – Antipodean guitar wizard.

TRACKLISTING:

01. Up Into The Ether
02. Journey To Aurora
03. Wormhole Traveller
04. Stellar Evolution
05. Light Pillars
06. Stars And Darkness
07. The Zenith Rise
08. The Only Way Out Is Up
09. Diamond Dust
10. Moonbow

LINKS:

https://www.ibuiltthesky.com
https://www.patreon.com/ibuiltthesky
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ibuiltthesky
https://www.instagram.com/ibuiltthesky https://open.spotify.com/artist/4URPAJlk8ay7npvNVVLpKN
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJZ2ZyMR9pgwXeV7uT_akDg