Interview with HAMMERCULT

by Vpower

The Band: Hammercult
Country: Israel / Germany
Answers by: Yakir Shochat (vocals)
https://www.facebook.com/hammercult

Today we chat with German located band, Hammercult. They have just prepared a few covers like a tribute to those legends that will never die because they live in our hearts forever and have made us enjoy so much with their music. Apart of that they will tour around Europe and...well you can read it by yourself....

Hello Yakir, before talking about your last release, we would like to review a little the history of the band. Hammercult was originally from Israel, but currently you are located in Germany, right?

Hi! Great to be here at Metal Brothers!
Yes, I’m originally from Israel, last year I’ve relocated to Germany and have restarted the band with German based musicians. I find the German based musicians more reliable than the Israeli guys, which have assured me that they will relocate as well – but did nothing, so talk is cheap.
Currently I’ve very happy to the new lineup!

You practice a thrash metal spiced with some death sound. From 2012 to 2015 you released 3 studio albums, which one you would recommend for a guy that has never listened to Hammercult?

Well Hammercult is a hard working band – and we always create new music! If someone would like to hear us for the first time I would recommend to check out our 3rd album ‘Built for War’ a listen – as it was by far the most diverse one and most successful so far!
The songs there moved from Thrash to Punk and Death Metal and even Heavy Metal!

In June 17th you are releasing a new EP, “Legends Never Dies”, 5 covers plus 3 songs of your own. How did you get the idea to do those covers?

Originally I had this idea after the passing of Jeff Hannaman from Slayer in 2013.
In late 2015 when Lemmy, Motorhead passed away – it was clear for me that I got to have this mini album as a tribute to Metal legends out there, living and dead – as indeed, Legends Never Die!

Yeah, the title says it all. We get covers from bands so different as Slayer or Accept... How did you choose the songs?

It’s important to cover a broad aspect of Heavy Music, but also all the classic stuff which I grow up listening to.
It’s not only multiple styles – but also from Regions: American, British, German – which I believe to be a good diverse combination!

I would say that in the Slayer and Motorhead covers you sound kind of similar to the original version

I would say that we tried to stay true to the original spirit of the songs – but created a much heavier version there. Last time I checked – Udo didn’t growled, hahaha.

However, in the Accept or the Running wild versions your proposal is much more aggressive than the original version, you give them your own touch

Well you know, sometimes It just feel right to change some of the songs to give it your own twist, but we were careful to make sure that people could always recognize the original track when they listened to the cover.
I’ve heard some other covers in my life from other bands where they butchered the original song. I would never do that. Each cover comes with first and foremost respectful attitude to the original composer.

And you got it right. Have you talked with any of the bands you cover in this “Legends Never Dies” in order to get their consent, advise or whatever?

Not directly, our label likely took care of it with their contacts and copyright approvals

Have you ever toured with any of them?

No, since the majority of the bands there are either inactive or dead. But there is a good story when we toured with Napalm Death 2 years ago we did Ace Of Spades live on stage with Napalm Death vocalist Barny Greenway. I think you can still find this cover on YouTube as alive video.

You have included three more songs from your own catalogue, from the three different albums, are they re-recorded or remixed in some way?

Slightly remastered. But the core of this added songs is to give more value to the listeners in a case that they don’t have our entire catalog, so they got a sample of 1 song from each album. So it brings the entire Hammercult progression overtime in one release with each album got a definitive track.

Are you going to tour around this year?

Yes, next tour starts 3 weeks from now over Europe as we tour with Municipal Waste.
There are other shows later on this year, either with other bands such as Naplam Death and Unearth or Hammercult as headliner in other shows.
We also are going to do some festival performances, including Germany’s own With Full Force Festival this year.

Much activity, that’s great. What are your plans after the release of this EP?

Now that the local lineup was stabilized I think Hammercult should focus on more touring and perhaps working on a new album for 2017!

If someone chose one of your songs to be covered which one you would advise them?

Probably ‘Rise Of The Hammer’ – as this song symbolized everything that are Hammercult!

How do you see the metal scene nowadays?

Metal is still alive and Metal is still kicking hard! There are always new bands coming up and new people getting exposed to this style.
The music business/industry might be declining – but the scene is still strong and will always be!

Thank you very much for your attention, Yakir, if you wish to add something...

I really appreciate this interview and I encourage everybody at Metal Brothers to check out Hammercult – as we bring TRUE METAL to the EXTREME!

Hypersonic - existentia (2016)

1.Principium                

2.The First Sound of Life                    

3.The Eyes of the Wolf                       

4.As an Angel             

5.Blind Sins                

6.Living in the Light                 

7.Embrace Me            

8.Love Is Pain (Heartbroken)             

9.God's Justice           

10.Life'n Death                       

11.Pilgrim's Path                     

12.Prayer in the Dark             

Salvo Grasso – Drums, Vocals

Emanuele Gangemi - Guitars

Francesco Caruso - Bass

Alessia Rapisarda - Vocals (female)

Dario Caruso – Keyboards

Hypersonic es una banda italiana, de la región de Catania, activa desde 2006. Este que traemos hoy aquí es su segundo disco completo. La banda opta por un power metal con ciertas ramificaciones hacia el heavy melódico y sinfónico. Sus letras tratan una diversidad de temas, pero se podría decir que básicamente son de temática social.

Arrancamos con Principium, que tiene una primera parte bastante extensa a modo de intro sinfónica y en la segunda parte se desarrolla el tema como tal cuando entran las voces de Alessia. Vamos a encontrar mucha orquestación, mucho arreglo y melodía, tema muy trabajado, con el duelo de teclados y guitarra como mandan los cánones.

The First Sound of Life tiene un inicio con un riff heavy y ritmos power, doble bombo y mucha orquestación. Cada tema que componen tiene multitud de detalles, en este caso se respira un aire más comercial a lo Nighhtwish, pero hay que reconocerles la labor compositiva y sobre todo destacaría en este corte el trabajo de Alessia en el micro, con un manejo muy amplio del registro, endureciendo la voz y dando más credibilidad y pegada al tema cuando lo necesita.

The Eyes of the Wolf se puede definir como power sinfónico y con un cierto aire hard rockero en la melodía y parada típica atmosférica, introduciendo un piano en clave aor que le da mucho ambiente al tema. As an Angel tiene un inicio con sintetizadores a los Stratovarius, un medio tiempo muy típico de los suecos. Estos italianos saben buscar la melodía, aunque de originalidad van bastante justitos.

Blind Sins va por los mismos derroteros pero es un tema más lanzado, mucho teclado y subidita de tono final. Living in the Light es la balada, muy tranquila, con doble juego de voces y rollo muy comercial. Después de eso Embrace Me nos cambia el panorama, empieza con mucha distorsión pero luego evoluciona hacia un hard melódico con bastante clase. Lo mejor es el cambio de ritmo para meter un buen solo de heavy melódico y luego desvarío de teclados a los Symphony X para rematar el tema a lo grande, de lo mejor del disco.

Love Is Pain es un medio tiempo con aceleraciones power, con mucho ajuste sinfónico y su parte teatral. Mientras que God's Justice es un tema bastante redundante con todo lo visto hasta ahora, no aporta gran cosa, una copia más del sonido sinfónico más comercial.

Life'n Death es un pieza corta que sirve de intro para Pilgrim's Path, un corte de excelente ejecución, a medio ritmo, con buenos solos, la pompa típica que se gastan estos italianos y demás, de nuevo, la originalidad y la frescura no son el arma básica de esta banda, pero hay que reconocerles la buena técnica compositiva y la afinada puesta en escena de todo el conglomerado de sonidos.

Y acabamos con el tema más largo del disco, casi diez minutos de acción en este Prayer in the Dark, que despega de manera muy parsimoniosa, con mucha instrumentación, incluso con desarrollos en clave progresiva. A medida que avanza el tema también nos vamos a encontrar con partes de hard heavy y de metal progresivo, rebajan de manera considerable la dosis comercial de otros temas y les queda un corte brillante, creo que el mejor del disco, sacan a relucir toda su destreza y su habilidad compositiva y creo que queda patente que son muy buenos músicos, pero que al mismo tiempo en este disco al decantarse sobre todo por la parte más comercial están desperdiciando parte de su talento. Quizás, de cara a su próximo lanzamiento, deberían tirar más hacia su vertiente creativa y menos hacia la melodía y la música fácil, al menos yo se lo agradecería, y se saldrían un poco de lo trillado.

Puntuación: 6,5/10

Crimson Sun - towards the light (2015)

1.The Storm

2.Eye of the Beholder

3.Awaken

4.Towards the Light

5.The Herald

6.Portrait of a Ghost

7.Enter the Silence

8.The Spark

9.Clockwork Heart

10.Memories Burning  

Jukka Jauhiainen - Bass

Joni Junnila - Guitars

Antti Rantavuo - Drums

Miikka Hujanen - Keyboards

Sini Seppälä - Vocals

No recuerdo muy bien cómo, pero este disco que se editó el año pasado cayó en mis manos de alguna manera y decidí darle una escucha. No tenía ninguna referencia de esta banda finlandesa, y con razón, pero antes vayamos con las presentaciones. La banda se formó en 2005, así que ya llevan unos cuantos años en esto, y antes de publicar este Towards the Light, que es su primer álbum completo, habían sacado tres demos y un ep. Se decantan por el heavy melódico.

Arrancamos con The Storm, un tema que nos deja ver bien a las claras que esta banda tiene un perfil altamente comercial, siempre buscan el estribillo fácil y lo repiten una y otra vez hasta la saciedad, me vienen a la memoria los temas que salen en esa patético concurso que es eurovisión. Mucho apoyo de teclados, un tema repetitivo com el ajo y que tira sobre todo hacia un power simplón como un cubo sin asas. Mal empezamos.

Eye of the Beholder no mejora el asunto. La presencia constante y masiva de los teclados me empieza a poner neura y la voz tan comercial e impostada de la vocalista femenina del grupo me da más la impresión de estar escuchando una cadena de radio pop que un disco de heavy melódico. Por lo demás, el tema tiene una estructura simple, dando vueltas una y otra vez sobre lo mismo, hay una ausencia total de imaginación y de ingeniería en los temas.

Awaken, espero que el título sea premonitorio y que estos finlandeses me hagan despertar de una vez del letargo en el que me veo inmerso. Pero no, ahora tiran del recurso Nightwish, pero sin fuerza, sin originalidad ninguna, un tema hueco, solo de plastilina, coros de dibujos animados...un esperpento. Towards the Light es un medio tiempo insustancial, como todo hasta ahora, con el teclado tocando las narices, la vocalista en sus mundos de Yupi, y por encima te meten con calzador sonidos discotequeros, parecía difícil pero lo han conseguido, el disco va a peor.

The Herald es posiblemente el mejor tema hasta ahora, aunque no aportada nada al oyente. Van en clave sinfónica, con más agresividad y más groove, pero sigue cayendo en los mismos errores de antes, excesiva presencia de teclados y una vocalista que no convence.

Portrait of a Ghost comparado con lo anterior sabe a jauja, es un tema en el que meten partes atmosféricas, al menos cambian un poco la tendencia, pero no convencen, es como si tocasen por tocar, lo que salga en cada momento y con nula inspiración.

Enter the Silence y The Spark son cortes orientados al power a lo Stratovarius, un clonado en toda regla pero sin pegada alguna. Clockwork Heart se podría definir como un mix entre Nightwish y los Sonata Arctica, el problema es que parece que les falta el alma, los temas no calan y los solos hay que pillarlos con cronómetro. Afortunadamente, pongo fin a la pesadilla con Memories Burning, nada que no haya dicho hasta ahora, acabaré soñando con los teclados de este grupo, una auténtica paranoya.

En fin, de lo más aburrido e insulso que he escuchado en mucho tiempo. De esos discos que a un grupo le deberían hacerse plantear unas cuantas cosas respecto a la dirección que han tomado, porque si en diez años sólo eres capaz de gestar esto...

Puntuación: 0,5/10

Soldiers of the night (by Vicious Rumors)

Interview with TEMTRIS

by Vpower

The Band: Temtris

Country: Australia

Answers by: Genevieve Rodda (vocals)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Temtris/78684275977

http://www.temtris.com/

Temtris is an Australian band with four albums in the streets, the last one just released in this 2016, the great “Enter the Asylum”. If you like heavy metal I strongly recommend you to listen to these guys if you haven’t done it before, they have the skills but, more important for me, they have the touch and the feeling, and they don’t care to cross any boundaries into other styles, what makes their approach really exciting and enjoyable. Nonetheless, their new CD have been chosen album of the month in Metalbrothers.es

Hello Genevieve! You started your project in 1999, how would you summarize all these years?

Our journey with Temtris has been a long and difficult one, but ultimately, when we look back at all the obstacles we have overcome and all that we have been able to achieve, it has been very rewarding and memorable.

From to 2007 to 2014 there was a gap in the recording activty of the band, what happened?

We had some frustrating years from around 2005 with line-up changes and general instability. We do not play the simplest form of heavy metal music (although we don’t pretend to be Symphony X or anything like that!), but we do set high standards for Temtris and it was difficult to find musicians to match what we were trying to achieve, or musicians that could cope with the demands of being a live musician in Australia during that time.

In all those years, you regret about what and you feel very proud about what?

There are no regrets. We have always done our best with whatever we have been given to work with. These were difficult years as the music industry in general in Australia slowly died and we are proud of how we were one of the few bands that endured.

On April this year you released your fantastic album “Enter the Asylum”. What differences are we gonna find between this new album and the first songs of the band many years ago?

A much better overall production than earlier releases and stronger musicianship overall. There is so much more of each member’s ‘personality’ evident in their performances on this latest album.

I think last year you got a new guitarist on board, Anthony Hoffman. How did it happen and how has he contributed to “Enter the Asylum”?

Wayne Campbell (drummer) had worked with ‘Hoff’ in a couple of bands before. He’s an amazing guitarist and prolific songwriter. So when Lew Smith departed at the end of the Shallow Grave tour “Hoff’ was top of the list. Within weeks of Hoff coming into Temtris he and Fox had put together the song ‘Enter the Asylum’ and the album had found its title track. It also had blown out to 12 tracks and over 50 mins. That was Hoff’s fault as well… haha…

Hoff and Fox both have quite distinctive guitar styles and they love to challenge and push each other, but when they lock in together on stage it’s amazing how well their styles compliment each other.

If I had to describe the music you show in this new album I would say pure heavy metal with powerful vocals, addictive riffs and astonishing solos. Do you agree or you would add anything else to the menu?

We would agree, Yes! We would also like people to appreciate the way each song connects musically with its ‘theme’. When we create music, it’s always with a story or an emotion in mind and we try very hard to make sure the musical elements we include support our ideas for the song.

Who is the composition brain inside Temtris?

In the early years Fox did the majority of the compositions and arrangements. He is still a big part of every Temtris song and the musical and artistic concepts, but with the strength of musicians in Temtris now Enter the Asylum was much more of a team effort and everybody had input into all of the compositions.

How long did you need to end up this “Enter the Asylum” and how was the recording process?

We had a bit of a headstart on the songwriting process due to the delays in the release of Shallow Grave, but it was still a very quick turn around once the current line-up was in place which is testament to everyone’s ability - even Pete Wuth (Engineer) survived a very tight timeframe. Songs were done in very few takes in isolated studios, compiled and arranged by Fox, and then Pete worked his magic. We may take a little more time on the next release, but then again, hearing what we have achieved with Enter the Asylum, maybe not.

Sincerely, I like all the songs in the album, no filler in it, you keep the high level from beginning to the end, and that is not easy

I don’t think Fox, or for that matter any member of Temtris, could write a ‘filler’ song if they tried. We certainly wouldn’t put it on a Temtris album. Does make it tough when we’re working out the live shows though...

Well, I think every band would love to have that kind of problems with the set list for the shows J Did you dismiss any song throughout the recording process?

Enter the Asylum was originally going to have 9 or 10 tracks on it. But out of the 13 tracks that were completed to full demo, only one got the chop. We liked all the other tracks so much we quickly gave up trying to decide which ones to put aside, took a deep breath, and went for a 12 track album.

Most of the songs are classic and powerful heavy metal, but you also deliver some faster tempos, in the speed metal vein, as Darkness Falling

Darkness Falling, Nightstalker, Mind Games. The faster tempos support the subject matter. Those songs are about heart racing fear, adrenalin and confusion. We don’t really pay attention to genres when we write music, it’s whatever the music needs to get the emotion across to the audience.

Even we get a emotive ballad with Lament and an instrumental song with Too Deep, and you do it right. One even can think that you could be playing thrash, progressive or death metal if you wish...

One key element that defines Temtris is the fact that we will always create music for the emotion and the story. We have no desire to copy ‘trends’ or genres. Heavy metal is such a diverse artform, why would you limit yourself? We are quite comfortable moving from ‘thrash’ to ‘progressive’, or anywhere else, even during one song, if we think it will get the stories in our music across.

Moreover, to have Wayne Campbell is a plus for any band, he did a fantastic work

Temtris started with Wayne originally and his skills were a great match for what the band was trying to achieve. It was great to have him back on board for Enter the Asylum.

Genevieve, what is your favorite song in the album and which one was harder to finish?

Break the Skin was a very challenging song, but it’s a favourite and is great to perform live. Empty Room is also becoming a bit of a crowd favourite.

What are those bands that have influenced your sound?

Genevieve enjoys Bruce Dickinson, Geoff Tate and Erik A.K., Fox is also a Flotsam and Jetsam fan. Hoff likes his Slayer. Wayne refers to early Metal Church. Spoon loves Dio and Ace Frehley. Listen closely and you might hear the influence of some of those bands and musicians in the music of Temtris.

As an Australian band, how do you see the metal scene in your country?

The Australian metal scene is a small but dedicated underground scene driven by bands such as ourselves that are prepared to do the hard work to promote, record and perform themselves. It’s either that or play ‘hardcore’.

Is it more difficult to be a metal band in Australia than in Europe, US or South America?

South America? Maybe not. Europe or U.S. definitely. Music in general in Australian society is not widely supported. Australian metal ‘fans’ will quite happily turn out in droves for the occasional visit from Iron Maiden or Metallica, but are relatively unaware of quality bands in their own neighbourhood because their is no network to support them. Festival promoters will pay thousands of dollars to fill a bill with overseas acts to give them ‘promotion’ in Australia whilst ignoring Australian artists completely, leaving the small group of quality bands that remain to fight over touring support slots, or head overseas.

A pity, and unfair. What are your plans for the future?

Yes! Our next goal for Temtris is to get out of Australia and play some international shows. We have reached a very pronounced limit in terms of what is possible to achieve with our music in this country. We are in a very good place in that regard compared to many other bands, but we are always looking for the next challenge.

Thank you very much for your time and congratulations for the killer album you have created, we wish you the best!

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to connect with you and your audience. We hope that we will be performing close to you someday soon and we can share our live shows with you. If you like the album or you would like to purchase our cds you can head over www.temtris.com  our filmclips and other news is updated on a regular basis (or join the mailing list) to keep up with everything Temtris. Cheers. \m/

Stargazer (by Joe Lynn Turner)

Interview with VULTURE

by Vpower

The Band: Vulture

Country: Germany

Answers by:  S. Genözider (guitars, drums)

https://www.facebook.com/vulturekills

http://www.vulturekills.com/

Vulture is a German thrash / speed metal band of very recent creation. They have an EP out already and when you listen to it you just beg for more. And more is coming at the end of this year or beginning of 2017. And we will be there to tell it. For now, just let’s know a little more about Vulture.

Hello Genözider, although Vulture is almost a baby giving his first steps, I think you are going to create great expectations with the issue of your first songs in this EP...

S. Genözider: Hey there! Thanks for your nice words. We got a lot of positive feedback so far and are really enjoying the result of our EP. It was a lot of hard work that paid out in the end.

What’s the origin of the band?

S. Genözider: We live in different cities all across Germany's Northrhine-Westfalia. The travelling distance between each one of us varies from 100 km up to 300 km, which makes it really hard for us to meet up in order to rehearse.

I would say that you practice a Speed Metal that seems to come out directly from some 80’s hell

S. Genözider: Call it Speed or Thrash Metal, we don't really mind. But you're right, we definitely draw our inspirations from the very first days of Speed Metal. Although we're located in Germany and therefore might be destined to play a rather teutonic style of Metal we're more interested in the first American bands, such as Slayer, Exodus or even early Metallica.

By the way, the story behind this EP is cool, because you had no intention to publish it as an EP at all until Hell Roller Records stayed in your way, right?

S. Genözider. Yes, that's right. The initial plan was to record those tracks in order to look for a suitable lable. The first one we contacted liked the songs so much, that they insisted on having them released on vinyl and CD. So here we are.

You have no one full-length still in the streets but you do have a contract with High Roller Records, one of the most prestigious labels when it comes to Metal with attitude and quality, it really means something, doesn’t it?

S. Genözider: We're definitely proud to be part of such a great roster. High Roller Records is by far the best label I worked with so far. Everything's running on a very professional, yet unconversant level. Hope to be releasing music with these guys over and over again.

One of the things I most like of your sound is the dirty production in the guitars, I think it gives you credibility

S. Genözider: We tried to create the guitar sound as authentic as possible and therefore used the clean channel of a Marshall-Amp and plugged in distortion and overdrive pedals at once, just like Metallica did in the very early days. The result's amazing.

Steeler is another strong point, his low voice and demoniacal high-pitch notes are really fantastic

S. Genözider: He's a very talented vocalist who's got high potential in the variety of his voice. He's one of the main reasons VULTURE sounds the way it does, by not doing this standard black metal permanent-screaming vocals, but by attempting rather fierce and cruel almost spoken vocals.

You have included a version of Judas Priest’s Rapid Fire, but you applied your speed coat to it, Why that song and no any other?

S. Genözider: We love the fact, that most of the all late 70s early 80s Proto-Metal bands already had all the needed ingredients for fast and thrashing music. We wanted to celebrate this, by reworking that Judas Priest classic a little. Turned out to be a really decent Thrash Metal song, haha.

How long did you work in the four songs of this EP?

S. Genözider: Creating the songs was not too easy since we're all really pedantic when it comes to songwriting. We wrote the four tracks during a four or five month period in 2015.

And the big question I suppose every one that has listened to your Ep would be claiming me to ask: When are we going to get a full length from Vulture?

S. Genözider: We're on our way to finish the songwriting and hope to enter the studio for our first full length this winter.

Are we gonna find any surprise in the new album?

S. Genözider: We'll definitely have some more influences on the new record and already prepared a really great and unusual cover track. Don't want to spoil already. Have an eye on our page in order to get all needed information during the year.

Cool. It seems you do everything right, I love the band’s name, Vulture, it fits perfectly with the band’s style, how did you come to choose it?

S. Genözider: No special story behind that. We wanted to have a catchy name, no pseudo-satanic bullshit. After arguing for several weeks we ended up with Vulture.

What are your main influences?

S. Genözider: As stated before, we really dig those early american Speed Metal bands. Other influences are, probably Razor, obscure NWOBHM acts, definitely Mercyful Fate and even Voivod.

Do you have any goals in the long term as a band? Or just get fun as the pics I have seen from the band seem to tell

S. Genözider: Right now, we're happy to play a lot of great shows during this year. Spreading the EP across Europe as our current goal. New goals will definitely come soon.

Thank you very much for your time and we await your forthcoming release to comment and enjoy it

S. Genözider: You're welcome. Thanks for having us.

Kinnefret - the coming of age (2016)

1.The Awakening

2.Victim Eyes              

3.Losing Grips to Gain Grips

4.The Warrior

5.Salvation

6.A Far Cry for Freedom       

7.Bleed Out the Sickness

8.Eternal Damnation    

9.Death

10.The Prophets

11.Coming of Age

Artak Ozan - Vocals, Guitars

Aryan Pakhoo - Drums

Arses Ariamanesh - Bass

Chelsea Rocha - Vocals

Kinnefret es una banda californiana que se estrena este año con su primer álbum. Practican un death thrash muy entretenido. Se crearon en 2011 y este es un muy buen debut que han editado de manera independiente, de esos discos que en condiciones normales te deberían garantizar un contrato con un sello discográfico, pero tal y como está el panorama eso ya no es harina de otro costal.

Arrancamos con una intro y enseguida Victim Eyes, un death cañero pero con melodía al estilo sueco, voces guturales y marca thrash también. Un buen solo al que le sigue un cambio de ritmo con un riff rompedor y blast beats. No es un derroche de originalidad pero si es un tema con pegada que hace que sigas enganchado al disco.

Losing Grips to Gain Grips se inicia con acústicas y melodías de corte oriental, el cambio no puede ser más drástico pues nos meten en modo brutal death, con un cambio en la parte final hacia un death más ortodoxo con alicientes de thrash a lo Testament en las guitarras, es sin duda un tema más contundente que el anterior.

The Warrior arranca a golpe de death poderoso y sucio, aunque insertando alguna melodía de por medio, eso sí, la batería no afloja en ningún momento, el solo con melodía y extenso. Salvation tiene un inicio de thrash death con cambios de tiempo para introducir pasajes melódicos y diferentes riffs, un tema en continua evolución, muy rico en matices.

A Far Cry for Freedom de nuevo empieza con acústias y luego se lanza hacia un death a lo Vader, veloz y con solo ultraspeedico, es una de las características de esta banda americana, la velocidad y unos solos bien elaborados, sin perder nunca la dosis justa de pegada.

Bleed Out the Sickness tiene un riffeo muy en clave thrash técnico, a lo Annihilator de los viejos tiempos, pero metiendo una segunda guitarra ambiental, mezclando ese sonido thrasher con el brutal death, voces agresivas, ritmos endiablados, una gran labor de la base rítmica, otro tema potente. Eternal Damnation lleva una onda heavy thrash, es un medio tiempo con aceleraciones, groove y algunos toques death.

Death es un breve interludio instrumental que sirve de intro para The Prophets, donde destaca la labor de lsa guitarras, con mucha mordiente y con una cierta ambientación black. En definitiva, tenemos una banda que no juega sobre seguro, pero que consiguen dar fueza a todos sus temas, un disco compacto, con un labor de equipo que destaca por encima de las individualidades.

Puntuación: 7/10

REGICIDE - Fall of Empire (2015)

1.Injustice

2.Fallen

3.Brainwashed

4.Fester          

5.John the Baptist

6.Spill

7.Life or Death

8.Again

Andrew "The Android" Silluron - Bass

Brandon "Brack" Gallegos - Drums

Dominic "Dimemond" Flores - Guitars

Issac Trujillo - Vocals, Guitars

Chris Bellantoni - Bass, Vocals

Regicide es una banda creada en 2006, de Nuevo México (USA), en 2009 publicaron una demo y el año pasado su primer larga duración. Ocho temas de heavy thrash que pasamos a analizar.

Injustice es un tema de heavy thrash, a media velocidad, con un solo heavy sucio, un tema bastante lineal en su estructura, pero al menos suena con fuerza y el solo está bien logrado. Fallen se inicia con acústicas en clave misteriosa, luego rompen la atmósfera creada a base de desarrollar un death bastante austero, a la europea, sin pomposidades, , culminado por un solo veloz.

Brainwashed tiene también un comienzo pausado, ambiental, el tema tarda en arrancar pero luego se mete en un ritmos thrash con bastantes nubarrones en el horizonte y el solo se desarrolla sin que el vocalista se calle ni un solo momento. La verdad es que no estamos ante un grupo de ejecución brillante, pero al menos sí son temas con actitud.

Fester demuestra que la banda gusta de empezar los temas de manera lenta, este ya es el tercero en que hacen lo mismo, siendo este un tema instrumental que da paso a John the Baptist, otro inicio con acústicas y luego riffeo a lo Metallica. No nos ofrecen unos riffs matadores ni mucho menos, pero los solos están más inspirados, diría que es el punto mas destacado de esta banda americana.

Spill se caracteriza por un groove guitarrero, voces guturales, media velocidad y otro tema de estructura bastante sobria, lo más destacado la parada con cierta carga doom death y el punteo con un poco de reverb y sabor death melódico. Son temas directos, no se complican en las composiciones. Life or Death nos deja otra arrancada con acústicas, ya perdemos la cuenta de cuantas veces recurren a ello, es un tema a media velocidad pero con arrancadas de furia que me recuerdan a los grandes Harm. Se cierra el disco con un tema de inicio típico del thrash, old school, con una subida en la velocidad final del tema.

En definitiva, no es una banda que deslumbre, tampoco es uno de esos discos que te inviten de manera clara a pincharlo una y otra vez, pero no se les puede negar que tienen actitud, quizás les falte desarrollar más un estilo propio e introducir más variedad en los temas.

Puntuación: 5/10

Skurk - Final Gift (EP, 2016)

1.Ruler

2.Final Gift

3.Darkness

4.Dead Again  

5.Chaindead

6.My Friend, the End  

Hörður "Hudson" Halldórsson - Guitars (lead), Vocals (backing)

Guðni Konráðsson - Vocals, Guitars (rhythm)

Jón Heiðar Rúnarsson  - Bass

Kristján B. Heiðarsson - Drums

Directamente desde Islandia nos llega esta banda, que lleva activa un montón de años pero que hasta ahora no había publicado material a nivel oficial o público, aunque supongo que como tantas otras bandas que viven en las cavernas del underground pues sí habrán sacado sus demos que distribuirían por su zona. Practican thrash metal y el ep saldrá publicado el 20 de junio a través del sello Inconsistency Records.

Se inicia el trabajo con Ruler a base de un riff infeccioso y endemoniado, como ai alguien te estuviese royendo las entrañas, mientras la batería contiene el ritmo, hasta que finalmente se produce el cambio con otro riff potente y un ritmo rompecuellos. Parece que va a ser un tema instrumental pero al final aparecen las voces, o los lamentos desgarrados si se prefiere, un tema muy efectivo y con altas dosis de suspense y tensión.

Final Gift se inicia con acústicas, lo bueno es que estos islandeses hacen un thrash que se caracteriza por tener mucha carga atmosférica, sin centrarse excesivamente en la velocidad y sí más en las sensaciones y en la potencia de las guitarras. En algunos momentos me recuerdan a los Trouble por su ambientación y a veces tiran casi más hacia el speed que el thrash. La voz no es matadora, pero no desentona para nada.

Darkness se orienta más hacia el thrash americano, con uso del groove, es más estándar y menos interesante que lo visto hasta ahora, aunque los arreglos de guitarra son buenos, la base rítmica mantiene la tensión y nos obsequian con buenos y extensos solos.

Dead Again empieza con lo que se podría calificar como stoner, pero es solo un amago porque luego se lanzan a un thrash a lo Destruction, luego parada con acústicas, cambio a medio tiempo y aceleración final para un solo speedico, todo el esquema de un tema de la vieja escuela. Después de esta gran descarga es inevitable que con Chaindead nos dé un pequeño bajón, ya que es un tema a lo Metallica, un medio tiempo muy comercial y de riffs sencillos, con un solo heavy.

Se cierra el ep con My Friend, the End que es un corte que tan poco brilla por su originalidad, se enfoca hacia el sonido bay area, tema a cañón de veloces guitarras y poco más. En definitiva, que estos Skurk apuntan buenas maneras, en ciertos momentos consiguen emocionar, mientras que otras veces se van por el camino fácil y trillado y te suena como cien mil bandas más, pero se les ve potencial sin duda, sobre todo en el trabajo de las guitarras. 

Forewarning (by One Machine)

Interview with LORD VICAR

by Vpower

The Band: Lord Vicar

Country: Finland

Answers by: Kimi Kärki (guitars)

https://www.facebook.com/lordvicar

We tend to think about past as a better time, maybe because feature scares us, maybe because we know what is in the long-term, maybe because we don’t like changes. Whatever, in music it happens the same, but there are some acts that give you another vision, that widen the picture and fill you with confindence on what is about to come. When you think about Doom, Lord Vicar is one of those bands, you feel your feet on solid ground with these guys, Doom with all the ingredients you can ask for.

Hello Kimi and thank you for the talk!

My pleasure! The answers were done by Kimi Kärki (guitars). Our other members are Chritus Linderson (vocals), and Gareth Millsted (drums). Live bass duties are right now being handled by Sami Hynninen.

The first question would go about guitar player Kimi Kärki (aka Peter Vicar) and “his Reverend Bizarre”. The band was finished and packaged in 2007. What are the musical connections between Lord Vicar and Reverend Bizarre apart of your obvious presence in the band?

I buried the name Peter Vicar a long time ago, and nowadays use my own name. It was always a theatrical mask, and I have no need to continue playing that kind of game. It was never actually "my" Reverend Bizarre, it was rather the love and hate child of Sami "Albert Witchfinder" Hynninen; he came up with the idea for the band, sang, played bass, and wrote most of the material. I usually had about 1-2 songs per album. The musical connection comes obviously from my songs, 'Sodoma Sunrise', 'The Festival', 'Cromwell', 'Council of Ten', 'The Tree of Suffering', and 'Caesar Forever'. If you listen to the dark and retarded world expressed in those songs, there is an obvious bridge to my much more extensive compositional arch with Lord Vicar. As a matter of fact, the songs 'The Last of the Templars', 'A Man Called Horse', 'Born of a Jackal', and 'The Spartan' were originally meant for future Reverend Bizarre albums that were not to be, in the end.

Lord Vicar is a great band with experienced musicians and it seems all your works till now have been recognized by fans and critics

We have certainly received a lot of love and and appreciation throughout the years. No complaints! We have all done this for a long time, and knowing that people wait for our new music means great deal for us all!!!

Many people compare Lord Vicar to such big names as Saint Vitus, Trouble, Witchfinder General or Pentagram. Is this postive when you are creating a new album or you just don’t think about it?

It is positive in general, we love those bands to death, and consider them the cornerstones of this kind of music, after allfathers Black Sabbath. But when it comes to the creative process, we work in our own strange world. Of course we think of ourselves as part of this tradition, doom is like blues, if you like, but we also look further to classic rock, progressive rock, and even film music, art music, and the odd undefinable things I hear in my dreams.

A outstanding world, no doubt. In my opinion you can be pointed out as one of the bands to carry the flag of Doom in the present and the years to come, you take the style to a new level of intensity

Thank you, that is a lovely thing to say! We aim to be the best Lord Vicar in the world, and so far we have achieved that fierce standard, haha. Seriously speaking, intensity is our game, and we always aim for maximum energy!

"Gates Of Flesh"  is the third album of the band, is it your favorite? Is it different to your previous efforts?

I think that as an album it definitely is my favourite — punchy, punishing effort with a lot of dynamics and a variety of emotions. It is more compact than the first two (Fear No Pain from 2008, and Signs of Osiris from 2011), and it has the most relaxed and confident feel. I of course have older songs I hold dear as well, 'The Funeral Pyre' being a primary example.

"Gates Of Flesh" was recorded in Finland, of course, but you used a huge live room in the process, has it influenced in any way your sound?

That made the difference in the sound. The drum reverb you hear on the album is pretty much the natural room sound. The space breathes in a very organic way that makes me excited... It truly enhances the sound, John Bonham style!

\m/ How long did you work on this third album?

I started doing my songs pretty much right away after the second one, back in 2011. I have had the rough demos of most of the songs for a long time, and was planning to record this album about two or three years ago. Instead we got notable delays, as Gareth was working in Kuwait for some years, and our former bass player Jussi got some personal issues that in the end forced him out of the band. But the intense rehearsing started about a year ago, and all recording was done last Autumn already. It's been a long wait to get this album out, so I am happy it's finally available, starting May 27.

I think Kimi you not only plays guitars but also the bass in some songs of the album, right?

I shared the bass duties with Gareth, he especially was great, and it was a good and pressureless recording process in general. I think one can also hear that confident feeling from the album!

By the way, it takes my attention that this "Gates Of Flesh" is much shorter than the other two albums. Mere coincidence, too much tired hahaha, or some intention on it?

We wanted it to fit to one vinyl without losing sound quality, to be a very intense and punchy statement! What do you do when it ends? Listen again, just add even more volume!!!

Yes, that’s the reason for the “play” key in every music player  What are the lyrcis about?

Corporeality, sexuality, lust, disease... Feeling potential, and then losing that feeling.

Enough to think about for a time. “Breaking the Circle” is one of my favorites, a mid tempo with evil riffs, with some 70s air, I would say a mix between Pentagram and Saint Vitus, really awesome...

I love it!!! That song, just like the instrumental before it, was written by Gareth. I wrote the lyrics to reflect the emotional disappointment to human relations. You know, you trust someone, and then get stabbed in the back. Particularly aimed at one psychic scene vampire out there!

Yes, who has not experienced it? “Accidents” is also a great one, with a Black Sabbath kind of guitars, it’s like a travel in time...

In a way it indeed is about traveling in time! I was thinking further about the issue of trust, especially between couples, and thought about the concepts of faith and destiny, but also about alternative futures that would depend on the tiniest of chances or coincidences.

I don’t want to forget the last song of the album, “Leper, Leper,” , nothing less than ten minutes of epic doom, old school doom, it reminds me about Reverend Bizarre, a great end for a fantastic album

It is the perfect ending for this particular album, based on the most horrid nightmare I ever saw. Or actually a nightmare withing a nightmare. I pierced through my eyes to touch the brain, curious and excited, yet I understood that I was doing terrible and permanent harm to myself. Then I awake to notice that I had horrible wounds around my swollen eyes..... And then I woke up for real.

Which song was more difficult to finish up?

Perhaps the longest rehearsing and arranging went into 'A Woman Out of Snow', which needed a very delicate balance between different parts, and is, on top of simple core, a rather complex affair.

 I suppose you have dismissed some songs, songs that probably many bands would kill to get in their albums, right?

No. We finish what we start. We don't jam our songs in the beginning, but rather bring in quite complete demos to work with. As we live in different countries, all of our rehearsal time is very precious indeed!

What touring plans do you have for this 2016?

Unfortunately our June tour in Germany fell apart, and might happen in November instead. We have our record release gig in Tuska Festival in early July. Then some yet unannounced stuff in the Autumn. As I will be a Fulbright  in Cleveland in the first half of 2017, I'd love to do shows there.

How do you see the Doom scene nowadays?

It has been more hip lately, not hipster anymore, haha, and a lot of new promising bands seem to appear all the time. Sometimes they just need to find their own voice... I hope people will keep on listening to soulful heavy music, buy albums instead just streaming or downloading them, coming to shows, buying the merch. That keeps the old horse running!

True as your music. It was a pleasure to talk to you and congratulations for one of the big albums of the year

Cheers and hails, thanks for your compliments!!! Hasta Luego!!!

Gracias, hasta pronto Kimi!

Arkadia – Aspirations and Reality (2016)

1.Aspirations & Reality

2.The Luring Madness

3.Small Town Syndrome

4.Foundation

5.Thorns

6.Kaatiala

7.Spitting Image

8.Forgiving Is Weakness         

9.To Those It May Concern

Vesa Ala-Louvesniemi - Bass

Kimmo Keipinen - Guitars

Mikko Järvenpää - Guitars (lead)

Antti-Jussi Valkama     Vocals

Petri Ala-Louvesniemi - Drums

Arkadia es una banda finlandesa formada en 2003, que inicialmente surgió bajo el nombre de My Cathedral, sacaron una demo y cambiaron el nombre del grupo por el actual. Desde su creación sacaron varias demos y eps, evolucionando desde un heavy melódico a un sonido un poco más extremo, death metal, pero sin perder del todo la melodía. En 2014 publicaron su primer álbum y ahora le toca el turno al segundo, que paso a comentaros.

Aspirations & Reality es un tema de death melódico, con un riffeo atractivo y cautivador, para mi lo mejor que ofrece esta banda. Tenemos también el doble juego de voces limpias y otras más corrosivas. Insertan en este tema una parada muy lograda y rematan con un final con mucho feeling, buen comienzo de disco.

The Luring Madness se inicia con un riff muy heavy, seguramente reminiscencias de su sonido primigenio que nunca perdieron del todo, con acompañamiento de groove. También nos ofrece un buen solo de tintes epic, aunque el tema en su conjunto resulta bastante típico del género. Small Town Syndrome es un tema más fuera de lo trillado, incluso se podría decir que con ciertos aires progresivos en lo que es la composición y estructura del mismo, de nuevo con su parada ambiental, algo que desarrollan de manera muy efectiva, con acústicas y épica a partes iguales.

Foundation es un tema de groove death, buscando el riff pegadizo, aunque lo enriquecen con variaciones y cambios de ritmo, dando siempre cabida a la melodía en los temas, melodías que se pegan como un chicle, todo hay que decirlo. Thorns es un corte de psycho heavy, es decir, con su punto de locura, un poco de aquí y de allí, hasta llegan a meter blast beats, parece un poco caótico.

Kaatiala es una instrumental,  tiene un inicio con acústicas y resulta ser un medio tiempo repleto de melodía y también con mucho apoyo de teclados, no está mal. Con Spitting Image vuelven a tomar la senda del death melódico, con voces limpias y guturales y como os decía al principio donde más destacan es en la pegada de los riffs, los solos no están mal pero tampoco son matadores.

Forgiving Is Weakness es un corte que se mueve entre heavy true y el death melódico, con aceleraciones y ritmo adictivos. Se cierra el disco con To Those It May Concern, un tema de death metal pero con un final atípico, en clave doom, en comparación con todo lo que han hecho con anterioridad.

En definitiva, es un disco que se deja oir sin dificultades y se disfruta, pero quizás les falte una dosis de agresividad, de personalidad y de desarrollar un poco más su estilo, aunque mimbres tienen. Una combinación de temas normalitos con otros bastante interesantes, que hacen pensar que en el futuro puedan dar mucho más de sí.

Puntuación: 6,5/10

Silverbones – Wild Waves (2016)

1.Cry of Freedom

2.Wild Waves

3.Royal Tyrants          

4.Queen Anne's Revenge

5.The Undead

6.Riders of the New World

7.Wicked Kings

8.Hellblazer     

9.Black Bart

Andrea Franceschi - Bass, Vocals (backing)

Marco Salvador - Guitars, Vocals

Ricardo Galante - Guitars, Vocals (backing)

Enrico Santin - Drums

Aquí tenemos a un combo italiano cuya apuesta musical se podría calificar de conservadora, no arriesgan nada, pero vayamos por partes. El grupo se formó en 2013 y al año siguiente editaron una demo. Así que esta es su puesta de largo con un álbum completo. Su apuesta es el power metal fundamentalmente, de corte muy clásico, aunque a veces le meten otra sustancia, básicamente heavy metal. De hecho, los tiempos no son tan alocados y no usan tanto del doble bombo como suele ser tan habitual en bandas de este estilo.

Después de una intro muy típica del subgénero, arrancamos con Wild Waves, ritmos power a tope. Eso sí, la voz no es tan característica, tira más hacia el heavy que hacia el power, no vive en los agudos e incluso se podría decir que a veces suena un poco plana, eso sí, al menos yo creo que le da cierta personalidad al grupo. Vamos a encontrar abundancia de solos, riffeo power de toda la vida y un tema bastante lineal en general, sin estridencias ni dosis comerciales abusivas, aunque con uso profuso de coros, algoque repiten a lo largo de todo el disco, y que en este corte me recuerdan mucho a los germanos Scanner.

Royal Tyrants tiene un inicio que nos lleva al terreno del power epic. La base rítmica es para mi una de las debilidades de la banda, con escasas variaciones, muy blandita y contribuye a que todos los temas tengan un perfil muy similar. Un tema donde lo más destacado es el solo y el riffeo melódico final a lo Maiden.

Queen Anne's Revenge se inicia lenta para luego pasar a los ritmos power de siempre. Este es uno de los temas donde más te recordarán a los Running Wild, posiblemente su gran influencia y su gran desventaja al mismo tiempo. The Undead es un medio tiempo melódico, no está mal pero te quedas con la sensación de que ya lo has escuchado antes.

Riders of the New World es uno de los temas más comerciales del disco y donde el vocalista tira más de los agudos, muy a lo Gamma Ray o Iron Savior. Wicked Kings te hace enarcar una ceja, pues el inicio es muy bueno, con una buena carga de epic, pero en cuanto meten velocidad se vuelven a quedar en el mismo esquema repititivo, con un tiempo a piñón fijo. Hellblazer sigue en la misma dirección, caemos un poco en la modorra de los ritmos que impone el batería.

Se cierra el disco con Black Bart, la canción más larga de todo el disco, pero no por eso la más interesante, aunque al menos el final de la misma se sale un poco de todo lo comentado anteriormente, con una buena parada y una salida con una melodía muy lograda.

En definitiva, tenemos a un grupo que no presenta nada nuevo, no lo hacen mal, pero es de esos que parecen un clon de los grandes grupos. Los que gusten del power lo disfrutarán, pero seguramente con el tiempo lo acaben olvidando en favor de los clásicos de toda la vida.

Puntuación: 4,5/10

Metal Tyrant & Heaven and Hell (by Seven Witches)

Interview with CREATURE

by Vpower

The Band: Creature
Country: Germany
Answers by: Carsten Runge (bass)

I have made many reviews and in the end the questions is very simple, you talk to people, so easy as that. Some of them are grateful, others talk too few and take it like an obligation. So, when I meet a classic band, with a long existence, as Creature is, and the guys gives everything to explain what his band is and represents for him, saving no efforts, I just can say: chapeau! Perfect, that’s the feeling! And if, moreover, they deliver good heavy metal songs, well..., you just can rise you glass of beer and hail to them. We offer theeir interview in English and German at the same time, for all you, from Germany or any other country, to read about what a heavy metal band is all about and should always be. A lesson for young and old people alike.

Hi Carsten, let’s start talking a little about the history of Creature. The band was created long time ago, in 1982, what do you remember of those old times?

Das war eine sehr schöne Zeit, wir waren noch jung und haben so oft wir konnten gespielt. Es war damals echt schwer einen Proberaum zu bekommen, wir haben in der Schule, in irgendwelchen Kellern oder sonst wo geprobt. Ja auch bei mir oder meiner Schwester zu Hause, wenn die im Urlaub waren. Wir hatten kein Geld und Übungsräume waren teuer und in dieser Gegend auch eher seltener.
Und unser erster Auftritt, das war auf einem Abschlussfest einer Schule. Die Musik passte da eigentlich überhaupt nicht hin, aber das war uns so egal.
Im Laufe der Zeit hatten wir sehr viele Wandlungen durchlebt, mal war ich Gitarrist mal Schlagzeuger mal Bassist. Ich hab immer das gespielt was gerade nicht besetzt war.
Torsten war Zeitweise am Keyboard hängen geblieben und zur LP hatte er dann beides gespielt.
Chaotisch, unsortiert und wild, wir hatten eine super Zeit gehabt.

Those were good times. We were young and played as often as possible. It was very hard to find a rehearsal room, so we played at school or in basements that we could find. We even played at my house or my sisters when she took a vacation. We had no money and rehearsal rooms where expensive and a rarity in our area. Our first gig was at a school event. The music was not really at the right place, but we didn´t care. Over the years we had quite a view changes in our constellation. Once I was the guitarist then the drummer and the bassist. I played whatever wasn´t manned. Torsten was temporarily playing the Keyboard and for the LP he played both. It was a chaotic, unsorted and wild time but it was a great one.

In 1989 you released what until now was your only album “Creature”, classic melodic heavy metal. How do you see it so many years after?

Ich bin immer noch sehr stolz auf unser erstes Werk. Damals hatten wir überlegt ob wir mehr Geld ausgeben können um lieber eine CD zu machen, aber das war einfach zu teuer. Heute bin ich sehr froh das es nicht geklappt hatte. Eine LP ist schon ein Kult und es hätte dann vermutlich auch keine Wiederauflage durch Khartago gegeben. Heute machen ja kaum noch Metalbands eine LP, so können wir immer voller Stolz sagen das WIR eine LP haben. Wir sind alt, haben aber eine LP gemacht. Wir sind nicht weltberühmt, aber wir haben eine LP gemacht. Wir sind nicht sexy, aber wir haben eine LP gemacht....... :-)

I am still proud of our first work. At that time we thought about, if we could spend more money to make a CD, but that was just too expensive. No I am very glad that it didn´t work out. An LP is cult and with a CD the record label Khartago probably would not have made a re-edition. Nowadays only a few metal bands have a LP, and so we can proudly say that WE do. We are old but we made a LP. We are not world famous but we have a LP. We are not sexy but we have a LP… J

In recent years the great label Khartago Records re-released that album. How did it happen?

Das war ein großer Zufall, Glück und exakt der richtige Zeitpunkt.
Stefan (Khartago Records) hatte durch Zufall bei einem Freund im Auto L.O.V.E von Kassette gehört, aber keiner wusste wie die (wir) Band hieß oder her kam. Stefan ist dann doch noch irgendwie an die LP gekommen, aber die auf der LP angegebene Adresse gab es dann schon nicht mehr und eigentlich waren wir damit nicht auffindbar. Stefan hatte aber nicht aufgegeben und alle unsere Namen im Telefonbuch nachgeschlagen und vermutlich ziemlich viele Ahnungslose Menschen angerufen, die nicht wir waren.
Aber ein Anruf war dann Erfolgreich und das ist sehr sehr gut.
Das war für die Bandgeschichte der exakt richtige Zeitpunkt, denn wir hatten zu dieser Zeit nichts mehr gemacht. Wir waren sozusagen verstreut, ich hatte mir eine andere Band gesucht, Martin hatte aufgehört, Alex war irgendwie weg und Torsten, Marco hatten mit Thomas zusammen nur noch als Coverband fungiert.
Torsten kam dann auf mich zu, Stefan hatte Torsten per Telefon erwischt und berichtete mir Stefans Vorhaben. Wir hatten uns dann vorgenommen die Band wieder aufleben zu lassen, Alex war nicht so begeistert und Martin hatten wir irgendwie nicht zu fassen bekommen. So ergab sich dann die neue derzeitige Besetzung.
Wir legten dann auch gleich wieder los und es war einfach nur großartig.

It was a great coincidence, luck and exactly the right moment. Stefan (Khartago Records) heard by coincidence the song L.O.V.E on cassette in a friend´s car, but neither he nor his friend knew what the band is called or where we came from. Stefan somehow got a hold of our LP, but the address on the LP was at that point an old one and so theoretically not findable. But Stefan didn´t give up and looked our names up in the phone book and probably called a view people who didn’t know what´s going on. One call was a success and that was very, very good! That was for our band history the right time, because we didn’t do anything at that moment. We were “scattered” and I had looked for a new band. Martin quit the band, Alex was somehow gone and Torsten and Marco had with Thomas together a cover band. Torsten came to me after the call from Stefan, and told me his plan. We decided to bring the band back to life. Alex was not very impressed and we couldn’t get a hold of Martin. That´s how the band formation how it is now got together. We started right away and it was just great!

I think they have made a very good work, a new cover, a great sound...

Ja, sie machen einen guten Job, aber Cover und Sound sind unser eigenes Werk.
Das Cover von Ride The Bulled haben wir selbst gestaltet und extern in Auftrag gegeben.
Alle Aufnahmen haben wir in unserem Übungsraum mit einem uralten Behringer 8000er Mischpult und einem 24 Spur HD Recorder aufgenommen. Das Ganze habe ich dann auf den PC übertragen. Den Mix habe ich am PC mit einer 100 Euro Software gemacht, selbst das Mastern ist aus unserer Hand gekommen. Nur eine ganz kleine Anpassung durch ein externes Studio für die Dynamik war von Khatargo gefordert, aber das hätten wir auch selber machen können, wenn zum Schluss nicht der Zeitdruck gewesen wäre.
Wenn der Sound Euch gefällt, so ist das ein sehr schönes Kompliment an uns und rechtfertigt die tausenden Stunden am PC.
Sound made bei Creature !!!
Herzlichen Dank :-)

Yes, they do a great job, but cover and sound is our work. The cover from “Ride The Bulled” was an extern contract and self-designed. All songs were recorded in our practice room with an old Behringer 8000 mixer and a 24 track HD recorder. I transferred the recordings to my PC. The mix I made on my Pc with a 100 Euro software. Even the mastering was us. There were only a view changes for the dynamic by an external studio that we probably could have done by us as well, if it wasn’t for the time pressure. When you like the sound it´s a compliment to us and justifies the thousands of hours at the PC. Sound made my Creature. Thank you J

I think Khartago Records is a small label. They have in their roster an old Spanish banda called Zarpa, playing classic heavy metal for many years. Do you have contact with other bands from the label, some kind of brotherhood or the like?

Nein, da haben wir leider keine Kontakte. Ich denke das meiste kommt auch nicht unbedingt aus dieser Gegend hier. Der Norde in Deutschland ist ja auch recht kühl ;-)

Sadly we don´t. But I don´t think that most of the bands are in this area. The north of Germany is a little but colder J

After so many years without composing how did you come to get into the rehearsal room and eventually release your new album “Ride The Bullet”?

Auch wenn es um “Creature“ eine Pause gab, wir haben ja alle trotzdem irgendetwas musikalisch gemacht. Ich hatte zum Beispiel mit einer anderen Band eine CD gemacht, die wir dann komplett selbst produziert und veröffentlicht hatten. Hierdurch hatte ich im Bereich „Musik mit billiger Software mischen“ auf dem PC meine Erfahrungen gesammelt. Ich spielte auch noch bis vor einem Jahr auch noch in dieser anderen Band. Die Übungsräume sind nebeneinander und ich hatte sogar schon einen Auftritt mit beiden Bands nacheinander. Ich stand da fast 4 Stunden auf der Bühne.
Da nun die Übungsräume nebeneinander lagen und mir das komplette Equipment für das Studio gehört, lag es irgendwie nahe mit Creature eine neue CD zu machen. Es hat nur sehr lange gedauert. Es stecken wirklich über 1000 Stunden in der CD und wir haben leider alle nicht so viel Zeit gehabt. Dann immer wieder mal Auftritte. Wir haben auch 2 komplette Produktionen wieder weg geschmissen. Unterm Strich hatten wir auch mit viel mehr Stücken angefangen, die dann ebend zum Teil einfach wieder raus geflogen sind Da sind dann auch schon mal 10 Jahre ins Land gezogen.
Wären wir damals gleich in ein Studio gegangen, so hätte es die CD schon viel früher gegeben. Aber dann wäre sie auch ganz anders geworden, so steckt da sehr viel Leidenschaft, Herzblut und gaaannnnz viel Mühe drin. Eben made by Creature.

Even if there was a break with Creature, we all continued to do something with music. I for example made a CD with the other band that we completely produced and released our self’s. That’s where I got first experience with mixing music with cheap software on my home computer. I continued playing with the new band till last year. Both practice rooms are next to each other and I even had a gig with both bands playing right after each other. I was almost 4 hours on stage. Since both practice rooms are next to each other and I own the whole equipment for the studio it was self-evident that Creature should make a new CD. It just took a looong time. We spend over 1000 hours on the CD and we all don´t have that much spare time on our hands. In between we had some gigs. We threw out 2 whole productions. We stared with a few more songs that over the course of time where thrown out. That’s how 10 years passed. If we would have gone in the studio right away, the CD could have been released earlier. But it woud have been a different one. Now it is full of passion, commitment and a lot of effort. So made by Creature.

Are all the songs in “Ride the bullet” brand new or there is some old material in there?

Grundlegend sind das „neue“ Stücke, da aber die Aufnahmen so lange gedauert haben, sind einige eigentlich schon wieder alt. Es sind auch Stücke erst kurz vor dem Ende der Grundtakes entstanden. Also eine sehr schwierige Frage. Wenn man so lange aufnimmt, kann man nur froh sein das Musik nicht schlecht werden kann. Gut also das wir kein Restaurant führen, das Essen wäre verdorben bis es beim Gast ankommt.
Sagen wir einfach „es sind alles Stücke zu 100% made by Creature“

They are all “new” songs. But since the recordings took so long some of the songs are already older again. Some songs where written just before the first takes were done. So this is a hard question. When you are recording for this long, you can be glad that music has no expiring date. So, good that we don’t own a restaurant. The food would be bad once it reaches the costumer. So let´s say all songs are to 100% made by Creature.

Talking about the current band members, some of the original members are still fighting for rock in Creature. Who is more active, the “captain” of the team?

Einen Kapitän haben wir nicht, wir entscheiden alles zusammen, stimmen ab oder diskutieren bis es allen passt. Marco, Torsten und ich machen nun schon seit 1982 (mit Pause) zusammen Musik, so lange bin ich nicht einmal verheiratet. Es gab sehr viel Höhen und Tiefen, aber die Rollen waren eigentlich immer gleich. Marco ist der musikalische Kopf der Band, Torsten ist der treibende und Gitarren- Kopf der Band und ich habe mich seit Beginn um die Technik, Organisation und den Sound gekümmert. Die Stücke machen wir aber im Endeffekt alle gemeinsam.

We don’t have a captain, we make all decision together, take votes or discus till all are satisfied with the result. Marco, Tosten and I make music together since 1982 with the break in between, im not even married that long. There were a lot of ups and downs but the rolls where always the same. Marco is the musical head of the band, Torsten is the guitar- force of the band and I am the technician, sound and organization for the band, since the beginning. The songs we make all together.

The new album is still classic heavy metal, but what differences are we going to find between the 1989 album and the 2016 album?

Gesang ist sehr prägend in der Musik, dadurch das nun nur noch Marco singt (lead), also durch den Wegfall von Alex ergibt sich schon ein großer Unterschied zwischen den beiden Alben.
Wenn man nur die beiden Alben betrachtet ist dies mit Sicherheit ein großer Unterschied, da aber Alex nicht so lange bei Creature war und Marco vorher (vor der LP) auch gesungen hatet, kommt es mir nicht als große Veränderung vor. Der Unterschied wird also hauptsächlich durch den Gesang und dem Wegfall der Keyboards geprägt.
Wir haben damals mit dem 80'er Metal angefangen und sind da auch Heute noch. Unsere Musik, das sind wir und wir sind so. So manche Kritik hat bemängelt das die CD „Ride The Bullet“ keine Weiterentwicklung ist, aber damit wissen wir das wir alles richtig gemacht haben. Creature ist unser großes Hobby und wir machen das was uns Spaß macht, wo wir auch absolut hinter stehen.
Es gibt keinen Produzenten der die Musik verbogen hat, nur damit es moderner ist und das ist das was wir wollen.

Vocals are very important for the music, since Marco is our only lead singer, after Alex left, there is a big difference between the first and the second album. If you listen to both albums you will find quite some differences. But since Alex was not that long a member of Creature and Marco sang already on the LP, it doesn´t feel like a big diffe-rence to me. The mail difference you will notice with the vocals and the abolition of the Key-boards. We started with 80´s metal and continue with it. Our music is us and we are like that. There are some critical voices that say that there is no advancement on the CD “Ride the Bullet”, but with hearing the we know that we did everything right. Creature is our big hobby and we do what brings us joy, and that´s why we stand behind our CD 100%. There is no producer that mixed the songs so they would sound more modern, and we want to keep it that way.

We are going to get no less than 15 songs in your new album, it seems you were eager to record new songs...

Wir hatten noch viel mehr, ein paar hatten wir selbst rausgeschmissen und einige wollte Khatargo Records nicht drauf haben. Der Inhalt ist nun das Auserwählte.
Ich kann es nicht erklären, aber es muss schon ausreichend auf einer CD sein, sonst ist das eher geizig.

We had a lot more. Some we decided ourselves not to put on the CD and some songs were thrown out by Khatargo. So this is just a selection of songs. I can´t explain it, but the CD has to be filled with enough songs, otherwise it is cheap.

Well, I hope you will release more other songs with this quality very soon. By the way, Carsten, you started playing drums and now you play bass, why this change?

Man muss beim Auftritt einfach weniger auf die Bühne schleppen ;-)
Spaß beiseite, ich hatte immer schon genau das gespielt was für den Rhythmus fehlte. Ich war damals auch 4 Jahre lang der Rhythmus-Gitarrist, dann stieg unser damaliger Schlagzeuger aus und ich übernahm es wieder (wie 1982 am Anfang). Wir hatten dann auf einem Rock-Band-Battle den 1. Platz gemacht, dort hatte auch Alex mit seiner damaligen band mitgemacht und wir sind auf ihn aufmerksam geworden. Wir hatten ihn dann überredet bei uns den Gesang zu übernehmen und anschließend ist dann auch gleich die LP entstanden. Da nach der Pause das Schlagzeug durch Thomas sehr gut besetzt war und damit der Bass fehlte, übernahm ich ihn.
Unterm Strich fühle ich mich am Bass auch am wohlsten und muss weniger schleppen.

I just have to carry less things on stage J Just kidding! I always played the rhythm instrument that the band was leaking at different time. I was the rhythm guitarist for 4 years, when our drummer left the band I went back to playing drums (that was in the beginning of 1982). We won first place at a Rock-Band-Battle where we noticed Alex, who was there with his band at that time. We convinced him to be the voice of our band and right after he said yes our LP was in the making. After the break, drums were well-staffed by Thomas and so I filled in for the bass. After all I feel very comfortable with the bass and I do have to carry less.

This new album means that Creature is gonna hit the road?

Wir nehmen natürlich ein paar Konzerte mit, aber wir sind eigentlich dabei Album Nr. 3 aufzunehmen. Ich hoffe nur das dies nicht wieder 26 Jahre dauert.

Of course we will give some concerts. But actually we are working on album No.3 right now. Hopefully it will not take us 26 years again.

I suppose that with so many years in the music you will have many stories to tell, something funny or interesting or especial you can share with us?

Über eines muss ich heute noch immer sehr schmunzeln, wir hatten einen Auftritt Ende der 80ger bekommen der unter dem Titel „Lasst tausend Steine rollen“ lief, eine Reihe an Veranstaltungen die gegen Alkohol demonstrierten. Das hatte uns nur niemand vorher gesagt und so hatten wir unsere Biere auf den Verstärkern stehen und immer wieder zwischendurch mal was getrunken. Die Gesichter im Publikum waren einmalig …...

One thing I still have to grinn about. We had a gig in the late 80s under the title: “Lasst tausend Steine rollen” ( “let thousands of stones roll” ), a roll of concerts and events against alcohol. But no one told us and so we had beer on our amplifiers and drank in between. The faces in the audience were priceless…

Hahahaha I can imagine it! A pity we haven’t a youtube file to show it! What are your main influences? What bands did you follow?

Wir mögen alle eine menge Bands, unsere Platten- und CD Regale sind mit einer großen Vielfalt an Rock- und Metalbands in allen Variationen gefüllt, aber bewusst haben wir keine Band als Vorbild für unsere Musik genommen. Wir bekommen zwar oft gesagt das wir in die Richtung von Saxon, Judast Priest, Manowar, und und und … klingen, aber das war nie von uns angestrebt. Da sehr viele ganz unterschiedliche Vergleiche nennen und wir teilweise auch eher erstaunt über den einen oder anderen Vergleich zu einer Band sind zeigt, dass es nur der Metal an sich sein kann der uns treibt.
Wir haben mit 80er Metal angefangen und ich würde sagen da sind wir immer noch und da wollen wir auch vorerst bleiben.

We all like a lot of bands, our LP and CD shelves are full of a variety of Rock- and metal bands. We intentionally don´t have a role model band for our music. We get to hear quite often that we sound similar to Saxon, Judast Priest, Manowar, and and and.. but that was never our intention. Since there are all sorts of different comparisons, and we are surprised by some of them, there is only one way to explain that.. metal is our force. We started with 80´s metal and I would say that´s where we still are and where we want to stay.

Recently we have lost great musicians, showmen, as Dio, Lemmy some months ago... You think Metal has a expiration date?

Da möchte ich gerne auch auf „Heavy Metal Nerver Dies“ von Iron Savior verweisen.
Es wird sich verändern wie sich alles verändert, denn Lemmy und Dio (und viele andere) waren einmalig. Ihre Werke werden aber bleiben und werden weiter gehört.
Metal wird es immer geben, davon bin ich wirklich überzeugt.

With that I want to quote Iron Savior “Heavy Metal Never Dies“ . It will change, like everything has to change, since Lemmy and Dio and many others were unique. But there legacy will continue and people will keep on listening to it. There will always be metal. I´m sure of it!

In your opinion, what has changed between the scene in the 80s and the business now from a band’s point of view?

Heute hat man viel mehr Möglichkeiten, die Technik ist erschwinglicher geworden.
Wir haben unsere aktuelle CD komplett selbst aufgenommen, hierfür haben wir keine teure Technik benutzt. Alles komplett am PC mit einer 100 Euro teuren Software gemischt und gemastert.
Ein Vertrieb ist nun auch für eine kleine Band möglich. Selbst wenn wir nicht über Khartago gehen hätten können, eine CD Produktion und die Vermarktung ist für kleines Geld machbar.
Und nicht zu vergessen das Internet macht es auch viel einfacher. Facebook, youtube ect. Das gab es damals einfach nicht. Es gibt auch viel mehr Labels, die auch etwas mit Metalbands wie wir sie sind, überhaupt etwas zu tun haben wollen.
Unterm Strich sind die Chancen gehört zu werden enorm gestiegen.

Today people have more options, and equipment is getting cheaper. We recorded our CD completely by ourselves, we didn´t use expensive equipment. Everything was mixed and mastered with a 100€ software. A sale is now doable for a small band. Even if we coundn´t have gone with Khartago, marketing the CD ourselves would have been possible with a little money. And let´s not forget the Internet, which makes everything a lot easier. Facebook, YouTube ect. That is a new development that wasn´t there back then. There are more labels now, that want to produce and work with metal bands like us. To sum it up, the chance to be heard increased a lot.

Carsten, it was a pleasure to talk with you, thanks the time you have dedicated to us answering in two different languagues and for the good sense of humor, also so important as the good Metal, in my opinion. And congratulations for your return!

Vielen vielen Dank.
Thank you very much.