CAGE9 – Hypesthesia

Hypesthesia Cover

CAGE9 – Hypesthesia
Self-Released
Release Date: 22/01/2019
Running Time: 43:18
Review by Stephanie Stevens
9/10

In 2016 I was introduced to a mastermind. Evan Rodaniche has a craft for making creative alluring music with his band CAGE9. The band was introduced to me with their album “Illuminator”. An experimental, ambitious, gut driven rock induced album.
Now 2019 is upon us and all the quietness from the band had me worried but with one listen to the bands newest album “Hypesthesia” I know all the downtime the band had was put to good use.
With CAGE9 having 15 plus years in the business, 8 albums and over 100 songs released the guys never cease to amaze me. This album, start to finish, is even more defining and illuminating than in the past.
“Hypesthesia” hits you hard with a sonically diverse rundown of tracks. ‘3arthquake’, the opening track and platform single/video, has a lullaby introduction which smoothly takes you into the adventure of heavier driven ambience of rock. The allure of the transitions just makes you feel alive!
‘The Vertigo’ brings thought of being lost in an asylum and trying to find your way out. With driving rhythmic guitar work it will be appealing to anyone into a modern rock sound.
‘Dance The Macabre is moody, dark and electrifying! The chorus pops because the verses are more subdued and eerie yet it brilliantly meshes. It is probably one of my top songs on the album.
‘Monsters +Vultures’ just warms my heart because this is one of the bands heavier tracks. Add that uplifting energy in the chorus and you have a piece of beauty in my eyes.
‘Ice Aege’ and ‘Hypesthesia’ are unforgettable due to the vocal patterns which take both songs to new heights.
‘Parallel Universe’ lays out that modern alternative rock vibe. Truthful lyrics and easy progression from verse to chorus makes it bleed with beauty.
‘Wasteland’ has a more punk ‘n’ metal attitude. It is a nice change of pace and shows the versatility of the band as creators.
Their rendition of ‘Rooster’ by Alice in Chains is dark, captivating and has elegance to it.
They finish the album with the unbelievable ‘Expectations’, a six minute song full of monotony but one that is so hypnotic, beautifully laid out and seductively alluring that you just fall into the mood and vibe of it!
CAGE9, in my opinion, have an amazing, most talented and creative passion for making art and I am honoured to be able to be a part of it with this new listen to “Hypesthesia”!
TRACKLISTING:
01. 3arthquake
02. Monsters + Vultures
03. The Vertigo
04. Hypesthesia
05. Dance The Macabre
06. 1984
07. Ice Aege
08. Parallel Universe
09. Wasteland
10. Rooster
11. Expectations
LINKS:
https://cage9.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Cage9/

https://www.instagram.com/cage9official/
https://cage9.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/cage9
 
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Stephanie Stevens 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.

Power Theory – Something Old, Something New & Something F**king LIVE!!! from Europe (EP)

Something Old...Something New & Something F..king Live From Europe EP Cover

Power Theory – Something Old, Something New & Something F**king LIVE!!! from Europe (EP)
Self-Released
Release Date: 21/03/2017
Running Time: 22:45
Review by Vikkie Richmond
7/10

Founded in 2006 by guitarist Rob Ballinger, Power Theory previously released one EP and three studio albums between 2009 and 2015.  Having played several high profile festivals over the years, including Germany’s Hard Summer Festival and Chicago’s Ragnarokkr, Power Theory have been steadily building a solid following of fans with their classic, NWOBHM-influenced sound.

As you would expect from a band that cites influences such as Saxon, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, first song “Brace For Impact” begins in a brutal fashion, with some first class drumming and some classic vocals.  This is the ‘something new’ element of the EP and it’s a great opener, giving a proper flavour as to what Power Theory are all about.  It also features the obligatory solos and group vocals, which get the pulse racing and the foot tapping.

“Axe To Grind” is marginally slower, with a nice time signature and some fresh guitar accompanying Jeff Rose’s trademark grainy vocals, with some good, old fashioned ‘vengeance is mine’ type lyrics.

Third track, “Colussus” is slower still, with a menacing feel and some great harmonies; this is followed by the live version of “Dark Eagle”.  Introduced with a soaring vocal and a chuggy signature, the track shows that Power Theory can kick some metal arse on a live stage.

This neat but heavy little package ends with a live rendition of “The Truth Shall Set You Free”, dedicated to those who were lucky enough to be at the gig;  suffice to say it’s another belter.

This is American heavy metal at its finest and nobody could fail to want to get up and jump around whilst it’s playing.  It’s not ground breaking (hey, it’s 2018, not much is, these days) but it will probably stand the test of time.  This EP certainly evoked very fond memories of happy, fuzzy and sweaty metal clubbing times gone by.

Stand out tracks:  Brace For Impact, Axe To Grind

TRACKLISTING:
01. Brace For Impact
02. Axe To Grind (2016)
03. Colussus (2016)
04. Dark Eagle (Live)
05. The Truth Shall Set You Free (Live)

LINKS:

Promo Pic1

Disclaimer:  This review is the sole property of Vikkie Richmond and Ever Metal.  It is strictly forbidden to reproduce any part of this review, unless you have the explicit permission of both parties; failure to comply will be treated as plagiarism and reported to the relevant authorities.

Dirty Thrills – Heavy Living

Heavy Living Cover

Dirty Thrills – Heavy Living
Frontiers Music srl
Release Date: 15/09/2017
Running time 45:00
Review by Vikkie “Queen of Rock” Richmond
8/10

It’s no secret that blues rockers Dirty Thrills have long since been a favourite of mine; I found them through twitter some time back and have followed their journey with interest.  Most noted for front man Louis James’ trademark soaring vocals and bassist Aaron Plows’ gurning, bendy performances on stage, the Thrills’ could be described as a modern-day Led Zeppelin.  However, they have a style all of their own so I was interested to hear this, their second full length offering.

Opening track “I’ll Be With You” kicks off with a heavy bass line and a dirty riff, with James’ vocals slinking in.  This is instant gratification if you’re a fan of bands such as Rival Sons, Deep Purple et al, but don’t think for a minute that Dirty Thrills don’t have a unique sound – this track gave me goosebumps when I first heard it.

“Go Slow” has a similar, almost seedy feel to it but features some epic vocals and sweet riffs, not to mention some pretty cool harmonica work.

From the slow and sexy tempo of “Hanging Around” to the thoughtful and rather lovely “Lonely Soul” and the semi instrumental interlude of, well, “Interlude”, this album exudes a smutty charm that is rarely seen these days. If I had a physical LP, it would be smouldering in my hands. From the big, big sounds of “The Brave” and back to picking up the pace with the very vocal “Rabbit Hole”, this does have something for everyone, although I can’t help but make comparisons with bands such as Rival Sons.  It’s inevitable, the style is comparable and these days, it is hard to be completely individual or ground breaking.

So, basically what we have here is a triumphant third release for the London quartet.  There is certainly evidence of a maturing sound, although I am surprised that “No Resolve” is featured again, having made its debut on the eponymously titled first album; perhaps it’s because it’s probably one of their most recognisable tracks as well as being a great song.

Dirty Thrills are clearly in their ascendancy; with a plethora of live shows under their collective belts, including very successful slots at this year’s Ramblin’ Man and Camden Rocks Festivals, the slow burn is starting to flare into something altogether more hot and out of control.  I say best of luck to them – they’re perky, hard-working chaps who deserve their break.

Stand out tracks:  Go Slow, Drunk Words, Get Loose

TRACKLISTING:
01. I’ll Be With You
02. Go Slow
03. Law Man
04. Hanging Around
05. Lonely Soul
06. No Resolve
07. Interlude
08. The Brave
09. Rabbit Hole
10. Drunk Words
11. Get Loose

LINKS:

Dirty Thrills band pic

Disclaimer:  This review is the sole property of Vikkie Richmond and Ever Metal.  It is strictly forbidden to reproduce any part of this review, unless you have the explicit permission of both parties; failure to comply will be treated as plagiarism and reported to the relevant authorities.

Gaskin – Edge of Madness

Gaskin - Edge of MAdness

Gaskin – Edge Of Madness
High Roller Records
Release Date: 24/08/2012
Running Time: 41:27
Review By Rick Tilley
8/10

THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2014

If you read my recent review of Gaskin’s gig at The Rock Den last month, then you’ll know how impressed I was with them and how much of a pleasure it was to finally see them live after so many years. Meeting with Paul Gaskin after the gig, he was kind enough to give me a copy of Gaskin’s most recently released studio album ‘Edge Of Madness’ (2012) and here is my review!

Gaskin arrived on the UK Metal scene in 1980 and were squarely lumped in with the NWOBHM movement at that time. They released two very good albums ‘End Of The World’ (1981) and ‘No Way Out’ (1982) and then, as so many bands did, faded away! I didn’t get into Rock & Metal until very late in 1982 so, even then, I was already a little late for the Gaskin party but I got hold of both albums in 1983 and still cherish them. I always felt, as many people did, that there was more to Gaskin then pure NWOBHM. They could certainly thump out the metal when they wanted to but Paul’s influences in Blues & Heavy Rock meant they were always a more melodic prospect than many of their peers and I personally thought they were very underrated! They returned in 2000 with third album ‘Stand Or Fall’ and after many ups and downs have thankfully been a more regular band on the circuit again since 2010!

And now we come almost up to date with fourth album ‘Edge Of Madness’ which is the best sounding Gaskin release to date, thanks to a fine production from drummer David John Norman, and an album that sees the band do what they do best which is give us eight full and two short instrumental tracks full of the trademark Gaskin sound! They know exactly what works for them and write the songs they love playing so there is no point expecting anything modern or original. This is a good hard rock album and if you have an ear for melody, some great guitar playing and fairly dark lyrics then you’ll really enjoy this. I certainly do!

What I am going to say is that one track doesn’t work so well for me and that’s ‘Wake Up Dead’ Now lyrically it’s a very personal, emotional and dark song, dealing with Paul’s descent into depression and drugs at a low point in his life and they are an engaging listen, but musically I find the track pedestrian and plodding, especially at over six minutes. However, Gaskin more than make up for it with opener ‘Damnation’, which has a very mid-paced sounding Saxon riff and is a good way to start the album, ‘Heart Like Thunder’, ‘Bedlam’, The title track and the barn storming and brilliant ‘The Contract’.

Apart from Saxon, there are elements of Diamond Head, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow and even a couple of instances that reminded me of classic UK Melodic Rock greats FM! Paul’s voice has stayed intact over the years, although he comes across more powerfully live and his guitar work is lovely, with a certain Ritchie Blackmore feel in places. Fellow guitarist Andrew Solomon is an excellent soloist and the aforementioned Norman on drums and bassist Mick Cross make a very solid rhythmic team. We also get a couple of guest appearances from Emma Hudson on backing vocals and Hawkwind’s Nik Turner who turns in a nice saxophone solo on the track ‘Mans’ World’

I’m not going to suggest that Gaskin have released an album of the year contender, but you also know what else I’m going to say if you are a regular reader. If it’s played with passion and emotion and nearly all the songs rock your boat then it doesn’t matter. Edge Of Madness is a good album and it’s by Gaskin. That I’m still saying that band name in the year 2014 means a lot because they, along with Saxon, Motorhead, Priest, Rush, Magnum, Demon and UFO were one of the bands that set me off on my long rock journey over thirty years ago and they deserve their moment in the spotlight! Come on Paul, I want album number five!!

Gaskin band pic

TRACKLISTING:
01. Just Before Dawn
02. Damnation 04:36
03. Heart Like Thunder
04. Man’s World
05. Wake Up Dead
06. Lost & Lonely
07. The Contract
08. Bedlam
09. Te Amavi
10. Edge of Madness

LINKS:

Reproduced with the kind permission of Brutiful Metal Radio

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Richard Tilley and Ever Metal.  It is strictly forbidden to reproduce and part of this review, unless you have the explicit permission of both parties; failure to comply will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Hammerforce – Access Denied

Hammerforce Access Denied

Hammerforce – ‘Access Denied’ (2013)
Metalism Records
Release Date: 27/03/2013
Running Time: 51:00
Review By Rick Tilley
9/10

THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2014 ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOW GIVEN THE ALBUM A SCORE OUT OF TEN.

Hammerforce have returned with their sophomore album ‘Access Denied’ and for anyone unfamiliar with their sound and who has to have a genre tag, I have taken it upon myself to give them the title ‘Twisted Power Metal’. Hailing from St. Petersburg in Russia, Hammerforce are one of a handful of bands, I can think of, who are breathing fresh life into the power metal genre and if you crave something a little bit different then these guys come highly recommended!

Why do I call them twisted? Well, they are essentially an extremely good power metal band at heart, and possess all the good elements of that genre in spades. Soaring vocals, powerhouse drumming and bass runs with fantastic guitar work, but…where they stand out from legions of other bands is in the keyboard department. ‘Nikita Merzlyakov’ delivers some quite stunning work. If you can imagine synth work in an almost dance/trance style mixed with classic power metal you’ll find something that really shouldn’t work, or so I keep telling myself, but in actual fact adds an outstanding clash of styles, especially for a huge fan of the genre, like myself.

The album kicks off with ‘I Am I’ and leaves you in no doubt that this is going to be a pretty special listen. Picking out individual tracks is pointless though, because most of them follow a similar pattern, although that doesn’t mean they all sound alike, far from it. There are some great melodies and choruses contained here that will have fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Pagan’s Mind and Dragonforce jumping and headbanging for all that they are worth. There are also elements of classic metal bands such as Judas Priest, so anyone who thinks I’ve lost my mind will very definitely know what side of the fence Hammerforce sit on. Fantastically produced, mixed and mastered by Nikita at his own studio, and with artwork and booklet to put much bigger bands to shame, ‘Access Denied’ is nine tracks (plus two bonus cuts sung in Russian) of awesome catchy metal that should really see the ‘Hammerforce’ name spoken by many more people in the coming months. Check out their website, which gives you access to lots of free songs and see what you’ve been missing!

Hammerforce

NOTE:

It looks like it has been very quiet on Hammerforce Social Media for quite a while now, which is unfortunate, but I wanted to share the review again because “Access Denied” is such a good album and deserves to be heard.

Rick – November 2017

TRACKLISTING:
01. I Am I
02. Templates For All
03. Wasted
04. Mass Media
05. Fugitive
06. Earth Is On Trial
07. No Place For The Old Men
08. Reflections
09. Access Denied

LINKS:

Reproduced with the kind permission of Brutiful Metal Radio

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Richard Tilley and Ever Metal.  It is strictly forbidden to reproduce any part of this review, unless you have the explicit permission of both parties; failure to comply will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Baleful Creed interview

Baleful Creed band pic

John Allen / Fin Finlay – Baleful Creed Interview
October 2017
by Beth Jones

About a month ago (I’m slow, I know – hey I’ve been busy!) I had the great pleasure of interviewing John and Fin, the guitarist and front man and founding members of Northern Ireland heavy rockers Baleful Creed. We had a very jolly 40 minutes on Skype, covering everything from Buckfast to Jaffa Cakes. So here it is:

Ever Metal: For those who haven’t heard of you, can you give us a brief history of the band. Where you came from, what you do and where you are now?

John Allen: Well it started back in 2009. Previously Fin and me had just been dabbling about with a covers band, nothing too serious, it was just a way to get out of the house, crank up the volume on the amps and the guitars and just sort of have a night out! We only did a few gigs as the cover band – probably because we weren’t very good!!

Fin Finlay: No, I think it was probably because we picked songs that we enjoyed playing, not what the public wanted!

John: Yeah, we didn’t do songs like ‘Summer Of 69’ or anything like that!

Fin: We didn’t do the stuff that people wanted to hear – so the covers band was like playing an original set – people going ‘we’ve never heard of any of this!’

John: Yeah, then just at some point, Fin came to me with this disc of four or five demo songs that he had put together. I was fairly reticent of actually listening to it because I didn’t want to! When did he write a song? You know! But he totally surprised me and that ‘first material’ morphed into what became the debut EP. That hooked straight away on his style of writing. I think I had the guitar tone he wanted so we put that together. Plus, I had the band name as well!

Fin: Yeah you had that from a long time ago!

John: He had to get me on board I think! From that, that pushed me into starting to write stuff so it then developed into what we are and who we are now.

Who were your biggest musical influences growing up?

Fin: I can answer his – Black Sabbath!! I have a really wide range of music I like – from heavy metal to… When I was about 8 or 9 my cousin gave me some LPs – Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Judas Priest – stuff like that, and ever since then I’ve just always liked rock. It wasn’t like ‘Oh I was in to rock last summer and I’m into hip hop this summer’, once you go into rock, it’s in your blood. It’s not a phase. It’s a love.

John: Queen was the first band that got me in to listening to rock. I was watching Top Of The Pops going ‘this is absolute rubbish this stuff’, I had no interest in music at all, but I always sort of knew about Queen, and then when I got my first pay packet, I was thinking about buying an album and it was Queen and it started me down that road.

Fin: Yeah, it was the 80s – people always go on about the 80s and 80s music, and it was horrible! And the style was terrible as well!! I was just jeans, leather jacket and cut offs. I didn’t mind that look, but I didn’t like that whole new romantic thing.

John: Yeah that style of music is probably best just left in the past!!

You have recently released your second album “Seismic Shifter” how is that being received so far?

John: Yeah it went down really well – it’s been a real pleasant surprise for us! We were so shocked to get a first album out! Then to carry on and move in to a second album – at the end of the day this was all started as just a hobby and a bit of fun – but it’s just escalated – like a small snowball rolling down a hill and growing in size and volume as the years go on. So, it was great to get another album out – it was something we probably both thought we would never do again. It was great that we weren’t the one album only and that was it done. It’s great that we have achieved another batch of songs that we could go out and record. And the reception for it has been phenomenal. It’s been out since June and the reviews have all been pretty incredible so we’re exceedingly chuffed with that. It’s been good putting it all together for the last three years or so.

Fin: We had to do that with the new guys coming on board – the two Daves – we had to give them time – they wanted to get out and gig, so they had to learn the first album, then they wanted to gig it, so it took a while before we could actually get writing again. John had a lot of riffs from ages ago anyway, so when we did decide to write another album it was good because the Daves’ influences helped as well.

John: Absolutely, and a lot of people have said there is a definite change – it’s still the Baleful Creed core sound to it, but definitely the grooves have changed and that’s got to be down to the new engine room that’s in place! People are noticing that live and certainly on the record that there’s a wee different set of influences in there, that have just changed the way the final product is and luckily, it’s all been really positive and favourable, so we’re exceedingly chuffed with that.

We have actually commented on that – it definitely does sound different – your live sound appears heavier to your album sound – do you prefer the measured experience of studio recording for an album, or do you prefer the rough and ready of live performance – the heavier, the chunkier, the ‘we can whack it up as much as we want here’?

Fin: Yeah, playing live is really good. That’s what we want to do all the time, but you do have to do new material for the fans and the people listening. You go into the studio and it’s all excitement you know, but it does get a bit tedious after a while! You’re just sitting there waiting and either John or Dave’s laying down bass lines or riffs or something, and its only more fun when you’re doing it yourself!

John: Ey, the studio’s a strange place to be in! For me it’s exceedingly nerve wracking – when you’re playing and everybody’s looking at you and you’re on ‘take 55 of this wee bit’!! Like OCD to get that solo right. Whereas live, you’ve got to get out there, you play it, there’s no room for error. You make wee blips here and there and whatnot, but its raw – you’re feeding off what’s happening in the audience, you’re feeding off the other players in the band, you’re basically feeding off the volume cos you can get out there and get that amp cranked up.

Fin: I would actually love to be out in the crowd to hear that sound because on the stage you don’t hear that sound – you get the monitors, and you hear a bit of volume from your amps, but you don’t hear the overall sound. Some people say, ‘WOW that was really, really loud, I loved it!!’ I’d love to be out there just to hear it!

John: Yeah you can still hear a bit of what is actually going on. Obviously, the studio captures that, but the studio is always going to be quite restrained in a way, where every note needs to be just caught and put down on tape. You’re working to click tracks or whatever, so it’s all quite precise and polished. Going out live, you get that……. You know we’re just a live band at the end of the day, so it does flip over a bit. Certainly nothing changes tuning wise, it’s maybe just the volume that we operate at!

Fin: Eleven!!!

John: Mr Jeffers is a loud drummer so yes, our amps go to eleven in good old Spinal Tap world!

What is the rock and metal scene like in Ireland?

Fin: It’s ok…….!! It’s very good actually. There’s so much talent over here. The only thing is, it’s a small country so everyone’s fighting for a place. We do want to break over and get on to the mainland more because, if you just want to stay in the one wee country, you just do nothing! You can’t get out to a wider audience.

John: It’s very easy to over saturate yourself here. You’re playing to a limited audience. There is a very good hardcore of folk who will come out and support the local music and the local scene here. When you go to a big gig – and our biggest would be the SSE Odyssey which holds 8-10,000, those mainstream rock bands, metal bands crowds don’t filter down into the local scene really, and there are a lot of really good bands and really good albums that are just floating about here in Northern Ireland, because people just don’t seem to want to go out and see what’s on their doorstep. I was like that in my early twenties – all I went to see was cover bands and the big bands that came through – my night out was going out to see what band was playing AC/DC and things like that. Then I discovered a couple of local bands I sort of went ‘Hang on – there is stuff happening on my doorstep that is really good’! I think you just need to be introduced to that, then you actually just start delving in. A lot of people – us included only ever went to big gigs, and then Darren heard Citizens. I think they were supporting Blaze Bayley or someone like that and they just totally blew him away and he was like ‘What the hell’s going on here – they’re from here!!’ And he then started delving in. He set up a local festival, because his son had been really ill in childhood and it was a way of saying thank you to the hospital that had treated him. He put on all the best local talent. It was probably the most successful festival round here and that was from him just seeing one local band and thinking ‘Bloody hell there’s something good going on here on my doorstep!’

Fin: Yeah, his festival would be one of the biggest gigs over here – everyone wants to be part of it – it’s always a really good, big crowd and it’s very successful.

John: Yeah – apart from that though, nothing like Rockwich, that you were both at, happens over here and for me it’s a big gap in the market. You get your evening gig where there’ll be three or four rock and metal bands on, but we really only have Sunflower Fest here.

Fin: But that’s more main stream isn’t it.

John: It’s a bit more eclectic – its indie, its world music and stuff like that – you only get a wee bit of rock and metal coming through. So, there’s a market here for a one dayer, maybe two – day Rock and Metal festival. There’s a wealth of bands here. And there a quite a few Northern Ireland bands punching through onto the mainland, so I think for a wee small country we’re doing alright!

Is it difficult attracting exposure in England, Scotland and Wales? How easy is it for you getting over here to the mainland to play?

John: Well we have been over about three or four times, but it was all Scotland based gigs before. Our first English gig was Rockwich a few months ago. This fella here (Fin) doesn’t fly, so it’s big money heading over with him cos we’ve got to take a ferry and a car!! But we’ve reached the point now where we know we need to get over now and we’ll invest that money just to get over and get reaching the audience. Online you can do so much as well now, you know, you can reach out to people and let them hear the band.

Fin: Yeah years ago it used to be flyers – you used to have to put flyers up or pass them around and just hope that they got to the people who wanted to come and see you! But there wasn’t a big original band scene here in the early nineties – there was a lot of cover bands and stuff.

John: Maybe then it was just we hadn’t discovered that there was all these original bands ourselves – we might have been off radar!! Whereas now we’re more clued in to what’s happening. Certainly, our focus is to listen to our contemporary bands round here.

Who is the song writer, or do you all have a hand in it?

John: It’s a mixture of all of us really.

Fin: We like to write music that we want to listen too.

John: Mostly the second album came about because of somebody bringing riffs into the room – whether that was stuff that Fin had, or myself, you sort of jam it out in the room a bit, then the Daves bring in their influence – they sort of pull and push it whatever way it needs to go, then the vocals will come in on top. This time round everybody was putting their eggs into the mix, whereas before it would have mostly been Fin. We’re all quite open. He will get an idea and tweak it to his own sort of style cos he knows how many syllables he needs to sing in a particular line, so where we might have written a novel, he’ll tone it down to a singable level but keep the gist of what the song is about. So it just goes into a big mixing pot really and gets shoved around until we get an end product that we are all pretty happy with.

Baleful Creed Seismic Shifter Cover

What’s next for Baleful Creed? Are you writing still or are you just concentrating on the live stuff?

John: Well, we are heading into a quiet period gig wise, so this will open up the chance for us to get back in writing again. We do only get to meet once a week anyway on an evening because of work commitments and family commitments, so we do only get a couple of hours a week to get into the room and start mixing stuff up. But a goal has been set to try and get a third album out within a couple of years.

Fin: But hopefully make it a wee bit different again.

Thinking forward to that album, and the future; If you could work with one producer in the future, who would that be, or would you self-produce?

Fin: We like producing it ourselves!

John: We’re fairly fortunate that Neil up at Manor Park (Neil Calderwood – Manor Park Studios) knows our sound, and knows the sound that we like, and captures it really well for us. I think that comes through in the reviews that we have got off the album. For me it would be Martin Birch, if he’s still alive, because he is Rainbow, he is Heaven and Hell, he’s all those classic Iron Maiden albums. I’d like to work with Martin Birch.

Fin: I’ll go with what he says!!

John: You can’t do that – you’re more Bob Rock!(Laughing)

If you could do a world tour, what countries would you like to gig in?

John: Errrrr….. All the countries that are connected by land so he doesn’t have to fly!!! I don’t think there are any restrictions really. I would really love to play America – we’ve a lot of good friends and supporters over there – it would be great to just get over and do a gig for them at some point.

Fin: It’s just about financing ourselves, that’s all.

John: Yeah, we run this as an independent thing ourselves, so everything we make is just churned back into the band funds again.

Fin: Yeah nothing goes into our own pockets – it all goes back in for recording, merchandise, it’s like a big wheel that just goes round and round.

John: Yeah and it’s been good fun, and everything we do we can look back on and go, ‘that’s our own achievements’. We’ve never tried to be signed in any way shape or form.

Fin: In this day and age, I don’t think that’s even necessary – I’ve read articles where bands are actually encouraged to market themselves, to do those things themselves and cut out the middle man so to speak. We don’t want to be signed though.

John: Yeah, we have had a couple of approaches in the past and you look at it and think ‘What’s in it for us?’. There’s not a lot of money generated in this industry now, so what we are doing, we want to keep on doing. You invest back into the band and that maybe funds a trip over to the UK or hopefully further afield, hopefully from this new album and getting the merch items out there, but there’s nobody looking over our shoulders going ‘you need to get a record out by such and such a date’, so we can do everything at our own pace with no pressure. At the end of the day this started out as a hobby and it’s maybe not just a hobby any more, but there’s no pressure on us. We’re not going to get into financial difficulties, we’re not going to owe our label money or anything, so we can just do this under our own steam.

Fin: Unless we get a million pound record deal!! That would make us do a record quickly!!

What is your favourite song to play live, and why?

Fin: I Love ‘God’s Fear’, I just love that..

John: Yeah I was just about to say that. ‘Devil’s Side’ for me has a really good feel to it. That, ‘The Wolf’ and ‘Levy’ were the last three to get put together for that new album.

Fin: Yeah and that was nearly dropped!! It’s a wee bluesy feeling, ‘it’s just too simple, it’s maybe not our sort of thing, but we just put it out and it’s become one of people’s favourites…. But for me it would be ‘God’s Fear’.

John: And for me it would be ‘Devil’s Side’ I think.

Fin: I still get a kick out of playing ‘Autumn Leaves’ though. It is the reaction that you get back from the audience – everyone loves it. It’s dark – and I like that.

Give us your best rock’n’roll story – what’s the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you on stage etc?

Fin: For me it would probably be getting completely wasted playing Dublin and making an absolute arse of myself!!

John: Yeah and then you went and re-enacted it again the next time we were in Dublin. You didn’t learn your lesson!!

Fin: Yeah you could get away with that sort of stuff back in the 70s, but not now. I didn’t really think it through.

John: Yeah, the first gig in Dublin wasn’t a good start. I brought my own amp head down, but one of the guys in the other band said, ‘to save yourself bother, just use my rig’, and I blew it in the second song! All the sound just went ffftt. They were playing on, blissfully unaware that I was there, sweat rolling down my face, going ‘WHAT’S GONE ON’!! Trying to find out what the hell had happened! So that was my sheer moment of panic and terror, which I hope to never experience again. Meanwhile, these guys are all stoned and pished out of their heads, because they had taken a road trip to Dublin and I think they had forgotten that they had to play at the end of it! It was a steep learning curve!!

(Note: The band did elaborate further on this, but it may have been incriminating to print it, so we have edited it a little!! Needless to say, after consuming much Buckfast and other concoctions, they were a little worse for wear!)

John: I think that is probably why we have only played Dublin three times and never been invited back!!

Fin: Yeah, I don’t do the whole drinking before a gig thing any more. It’s not enjoyable……. For everyone else there. Maybe for me it is – I thought we were brilliant!!!

John: But it’s a different mindset now. In those early days we were just doing it for fun, but now you know you have got to get up on stage and perform.

Fin: Yeah people want to hear you playing it like the album, they don’t want you to just make stuff up as you’re going along – like Aerosmith – Houston ‘77  – which was woeful!! But the fans didn’t care because they were probably all off their heads as well!!

What would your best advice be for young kids wanting to start a band?

John: Don’t drink before you go on stage!!!!!! Er.. Just enjoy it. Try and get a bit of good equipment because I think that is half the battle – having a good sound before you get up on stage.

Fin: And if you are writing stuff, write stuff that you want to write, not what you think the crowd wants.

John: And don’t mind taking a few hits along the way – you’re not going to please everybody. Some people are going to think you are crap. Don’t take it personally, just get up and try and write another song and see what happens. Just enjoy it for what it is – at the end of the day, you are getting up and you’re playing and if you’re enjoying it, it’s a fantastic hobby / profession to have.

Fin: I would love nothing more than to get up every morning and all I have to do is come up with riffs and lyrics, that would be great. Unfortunately, we have to work!

And finally…Jaffa cake – cake or biscuit?!

Fin: It’s a biscuit.

John: It’s a cake. It’s sponge with chocolate on the top!

Fin: Yeah, but if you go into the supermarket, they are in the biscuit isle!!

John: Yeah, but do you know what the really big clue is? It’s on the box – it says Jaffa CAKE – it doesn’t say Jaffa biscuit!

Fin: What do you guys think?

Beth: Well I’m on the biscuit side!!

Rick: I’m on the cake side!!

Beth: Yeah, we argue about it quite a lot, so we thought we would ask everyone we interview and then collate it!!

John: Cake.

Fin: Nah I’m with Beth, it’s a biscuit all the way. Definitely a biscuit.

And that was that. The band did also tell us that they are working on a website, as not everyone uses social media, and that they are looking to book some gigs here on the mainland very soon. Thank you once again chaps for taking time out of packing merch to talk to us here at Ever Metal! We had great fun. If anyone wants to book the guys, which I would highly recommend, or if you just want to check them out, here are all the links you will need!

BALEFUL CREED ARE:
Fin Finlay – Vocals & Guitar
John Allen – Guitar
Davy Greer – Bass & Vocals
Dave Jeffers – Drums

LINKS:

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