Interview with CONDOR

by Vpower

The Band: Condor

Country: Norway

Answers by : Maggressor (guitars)

https://www.facebook.com/condornorway

https://condornorway.bandcamp.com/

CONDOR is moving with their second release, “Unstoppable Power”, to a thrash metal sound, evil and wild, old school and dark, leaving a little behind their black metal approach. Probably this is like Thrash Metal should ever sound, though that is up to you to decide.

Hello Maggressor  and welcome to talk about your new album “Unstoppable Power” and whatever you wish. Your story starts back in 2009 and a first demo in 2010. You had all clear at the moment or it was more a try and go effort?

We had sort of an outline of what we wanted to play back then, but as you can hear on the demo, we did experiment with a few different styles. We were listening to a lot of Aura Noir and bands like that back then, so it felt natural to end up playing (black) thrash.

This year you are releasing “Unstoppable Power”, your second album. How do you feel regarding your previous effort “Condor”?

I think we have different opinions regarding this record within the band. Personally, I don't really like it too much. Its so static and uninspired. The songs are okay, but they lack that little extra that I feel like we've captured on Unstoppable Power. Chris likes it,and I think Øyvind likes it too, but we all agree that the new album will tear it to pieces.

A cool opinion, sincerity first. How long have you worked on “Unstoppable Power” and how was the process?

We started writing material for the record around early 2016 and we kept doing it until early 2016, so it took us about two years to write the whole thing. The first song we made was Chained Victims, which was while we were listening to A LOT of Destruction, as you can probably hear, hehe. We usually write riffs at home and put them together at rehearsal, which we did on this record as well.

To me you right now you sound more like a thrash band than a black metal act

I agree. We gradually left the black metal part behind after the first record. There are so many black thrash bands around these days, and surprisingly enough, not that many good pure thrash metal bands. Our influences also changed slightly, and we started drawing more inspiration from the old german bands in the likes of Deathrow and Sodom etc.

The great cover artwork also looks more like a thrash attack

I agree, it looks like evil thrash, which is what the record sounds like (to me at least). I was very excited when ROK said that he would do the art work for us, as I haven't seen many bands using his art made by him lately. Very fair and easy guy to work with too (even though we're Norwegian hehe).

Haha, the effort was good . You are releasing “Unstoppable Power” through High Roller Records, a change for better?

Absolutely. High Roller is very easy to work with. They take our opinions into consideration, and does not trying to influence our sound or anything like that at all. Its also nice to be on a label that does promo work for the record.

You are a three-piece from Kolbotn (Norway), a village with a name in the black metal history and where Gylve Fenris Nagell serves as a Councilman. Any help or support from that part?

Well, two of us, Christoffer and me, are from Kolbotn, while the drummer, Øyvind, is from Hønefoss. Yeah, we got a lot of help when we first started up, with Gylve spreading the word and posting our demo on the darkthrone blog that they had back then. It also really helped when he shared out new song, Riders of Violence, on the Darkthrone FB page when it was released too. I don't think we've ever gotten so much attention as we did after that, haha!

A good point, indeed.  I suppose your album is not a tribute to big speed metallians Agent Steel’s “Unstoppable Force”

It's not, its just a coincidence that the titles sound so similar. It is more of a tribute to Destructions "Invincible Force" really and Whiplash's Power and Pain.

I buy it. What are the lyrics about?

The usual stuff I guess. Hell, blasphemy, death and violence.

Horns up. I really love the energy you put in every song, a great display of thrash rhythms and powerful guitars with a dark touch

Thank you! I too like the speed and energy on this record way more than on previous releases. I guess we wanted to take everything a step further, and when you have a drummer that can actually play that fast, there is no reason not to hehe.

I also can appreciate a great 80s orientation in your sound that transport us to the Thrash’s greatest era

The 80's sound is the only way to play thrash metal, any other way would not be right. Pizza thrash like Municipal Waste and so on can fuck off in hell.

Your more oriented thrash sound is a proof the black metal in Norway is not anymore what it used to be?

Well maybe not in Oslo, but if you go a bit further north, to Trondheim, there is a pretty big black metal scene. There are emerging a few good black metal band from Oslo now too, but I think there are more thrash and heavy metal going on down there.

These songs should strike as a hammer in a live show, are you preparing to deliver the goods on stage?

We did a few concerts in February where we played a lot of new songs, which was pretty cool. However, we will not play any more live shows for now. Most likely not ever, but who knows, maybe we'll change out mind at some point!

Hopefully you will do so. Thank you very much Maggressor, if you wish to add something…

Baby, disco is fukk.

ON TOP – Top Dollar (2017)

1.Lovin' The Devil

2.Walk The Walk

3.Everything

4.This Way

  

Ric Haas - guitar

Jaron Gulino - vocals/bass

Danny Piselli - drums.

Os presento este nuevo ep de la banda americana On Top que con estos cuatro temas vuelven a la actualidad poniendo encima de la mesa unas composiciones con mucha actitud y bastante destreza. Se trata de un trío con el guitarrista como nuevo miembro incorporado a la banda y con un papel principal dentro del grupo, como no puede ser de otra forma en cualquier grupo de rock que se precie, a la par que el vocalista, cuando menos.

La apuesta de la banda se basa en el hard rock y tienen un sonido bastante cañero que en algunos momentos roza el heavy, como es el caso del primer tema Lovin' The Devil, un tema de hard heavy que se inicia de forma estupenda con un solo a lo Ozzy. El vocalista le da mucha vibración a cada tema y tiene un estilo bastante peculiar, que se nota más en los siguientes temas, y que quizás no sea del agrado de todo el mundo, pero a mí me parece que le da un punto de originalidad y de sicoledia/punk que le queda muy bien a los virogorosos temas de estos americanos. Este primer corte también hace gala de un estribillo estupendo, de esos de obligado tarareo.

Con Walk The Walk se meten de lleno en territorio hard rock, de hecho tiene un cierto deje a rock alternativo debido a algunos riffs y líneas vocales, en ese sentido no me convence tanto, pero el cambio de ritmo para pasar a modo hard sin paliativos, a lo Guns o Ratt, es realmente fantástico, con un solo realmente logrado. Everything es otro tema de hard rock en la misma línea con partes de rock moderno y otras como el punteo que ponen las cosas en su sitio y nos reconcilian con el sonido más clásico.

La última canción es This Way, el vocalista le imprime su sello con su personalidad, realmente interesante su forma de cantar, de esas que marcan el sonido de un grupo. Junto con el primer corte este es lo mejor del ep, sobre todo porque introducen una parada en las que las guitarras melódicas le cambian la cara al tema, culminando con un solo brillante para lucimiento del nuevo guitarrista. Banda interesante, suenan bien en estudio y me da que en directo sus temas pueden ser todavía más devastadores, porque muestran actitud y tienen un showman de esos que la puede liar parda.

The fallen (by Arduini/Balich)

Interview with ACHIOTE

by Vpower

The Band: Achiote

Country: Finland

Answers by: Tuomas (organs & synthesizers); Janne (vocals & guitar)

 https://m.facebook.com/achioteband/

ACHIOTE is a Finnish band that have released their second album “Loneliness of Endless Days”, a good load of rock and heavy tunes that takes their music to a new level comparing to their former album, with many hours behind it the quality and elegance just flows.

Hello guys and welcome to our site to talk about Achiote and your new album “Loneliness of Endless Days”

Tuomas: Thank you! We're delighted to have this opportunity.

Janne: Thank you! And hello!

First, we would like to know more details about your story as a band…

Tuomas: Achiote was officially founded around 2012 when we released our first single. It was a long-term project that waited for the right time. Timo and Janne put it together and after that Jussi and Anu joined in. So back then the band was still a quartet. In 2014 our first album 'Deimos' was released and also I joined the band which added more keyboards to the mixture. Unfortunately some time after that Anu had to leave the band due to her health issues. Teemu replaced her as our new bass player somewhat like a year ago.

Janne: It was 2002 or 2003, when Timo and I met. We were working few months at the same place and we found out that we were listening to same kind of music. So we started to play songs from Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, a Perfect Circle etc. with acoustic guitars just for fun and sometimes played our own song ideas too. After few years we jammed first time with Jussi, our drummer. Timo knew Jussi from high school times and at some point Timo asked him to check our demo tapes and jam with us. But yes, it took almost ten years to make this project a real band.

Well cooked, that is the most important. “Loneliness of Endless Days” is your second album, right?

Tuomas: That's right.

 

Something especially different in this album regarding your debut?

Tuomas: Well, it has been built in a different manner. And of course when members change, it changes the way to do things. When I came along with 'Deimos', the album was pretty much done. I just did few things there and it actually went to mix the week after I was in the studio recording. With this album I've been working with the material since scratch. Still the main composing has been done by Timo and Janne, but we've worked the arrangements and stuff quite a lot.

Janne: I think the biggest difference is the keyboards. Tuomas has a big role in every song and made a great job with this second album from the very beginning.

When we made our first album 'Deimos', we made it with time without hurry.

But now we had some kind of schedule. We knew deadlines and the day when the  record was going to be released. So in the end of last year we were in a hurry, recording in three studios at the same time. Blood, sweat and tears, but we made it and released the album right on time.

 How long have your worked on it?

Tuomas: I think the whole process took a little less than two years. That covers the time from when we started working with the material up until it was recorded, mixed and mastered. So it is a long process. We've also had quite a lot difficulties which also made the whole process last even a bit longer.

Janne: Yes, We had twelve songs written and ready to record in may 2016 and the drum recordings started in July at V.R. Studio. All the other instruments we recorded during the fall and last notes were sung in january 2017, just before mixing. We finished eleven songs. Ten songs came to this album and we left one song to be released later.

I think the composing and elaboration of “Loneliness of Endless Days” has been surrounded by kind of personal problems, right? How has it all affected your sound?

Tuomas: Yeah, it's been a quite tough period for few of our members. You can hear it in the material as well. The whole album is quite dark. There is yet a dash of hope in it but I think the main message is sadness and grief. But working with the music has been therapeutic and it is a good channel to get the anger and frustrations out of your system.

So we love music so much! Was there any stage in the process where you almost gave up the recording?

Tuomas: Haha, kinda almost but not really! We're not the guys who quit. The recording was also hectic since we ended up with really tight schedule. But doing this line of work, you have to get used to it. The days can be really long and you still have to outcome yourself and be creative. It is always a learning process as well. No matter how albums you make, every time you learn something new. And every time you notice some things that should be done differently next time.

Janne: No...We all love doing this thing. I'm sure we all had bad days, but this record session was also like a good therapy, just like Tuomas said. There was a good way get rid of negative energy and create art and music with these not so good feelings.

What are the lyrics about in “Loneliness of Endless Days”?

Janne: Main themes with the lyrics are loneliness, sorrow, frustration. And what kind of side effects these feelings cause. There's lyrics about disappointments in life and relationships, curiosity for afterlife, fear of death, losing hope... The scenery with the lyrics is very dark, but I think there's beam of light hiding behind the corner.

 

What idea or message does the cover artwork try to transmit?

Janne: I made few paintings and drawings inspired by lyrics of this album. And this painting was the one which felt right immediately.  Actually the name of that painting is 'Ocean Blue', like one of the songs in this album. Listen to the lyrics and you find out what's it about.

The lyrical atmosphere and theme is very similar in songs 'Ocean Blue' and 'Loneliness of Endless Days'. So that's another reason why it was very good choice for cover of this album.

You sound very natural both in the rock songs as in the heavy ones, you consider yourself more a rock or a heavy band?

Tuomas: That's a good question! We label ourself as a metal band. But I think that we get mostly influenced by rock music. We're something in between. I think if you dig deeper you can come up with a million categories.

Janne: Heavy, rock, metal, prog and something more!

The work on guitars is really stylish, how do you get it? It’s more like an industrial process or more kind of a jam session?

Tuomas: Thank you. I recorded all the guitar sessions so I'd say that our work depended on what we were doing. With this album we worked every song individually. So whenever we changed the song, we changed the settings of the amps etc to fit the mood of that particular song. It's actually quite a lot of work but I think it pays off. The riffs and rhytms were pretty much done beforehand so we just played them to be as accurate and tight as possible. With leads and solos we jammed really much. Timo had preliminary ides for almost each of his solos but I think we re-made almost all of them. We turned everything really loud, added some fuzz and delay and played it through a few times. We tried to keep it fresh and aggressive. Not to overdo it too much.

Tuomas Riihimäki deserves also a mention on the keys, it really furnishes your sound and creates great atmospheres

Janne: Yeah, I agree. Tuomas really took our sound to the next level with his keys.

Tuomas: Well thank you. Atmosphering is one of the things I pursueded in doing the whole thing. I think the keys got a quite visible role with this which I'm of course pleased with. That's also one of the key differences compared to 'Deimos'. And it is good to keep the band developing. You don't want to make the same album twice but get some different aspects and stuff on the next one.

Well that is something I really appreciate, although some people prefer the same broth everyday hahaha. The voices give your album a especial touch. Is Janne Salminiemi responsible for all that work?

Janne: We have many good singers in our band. Jussi is singing lots of harmonies, backing vocals and some great leads too. Also our former bass player Anu is singing beautiful harmonies in this record. It was very nice that Anu could sing in our second album and bring more depth and colours to our vocal sound. And now, when we play these songs live, our bassist Teemu is singing backing vocals too. He is very good singer and has a great vocal range and I'm sure he'll be singing a lot more on our future recordings.

How can the fan get your album?

Janne: You can download our albums from iTunes, Amazon.

Albums are also available on Spotify and other streaming services.

And if you want cd, you find it from recordshopx.com (worldwide shipping).

Go check 'em out!

What bands have influenced your music?

Janne: I guess we all have our own favourite bands... But if I had to name few, I'd say Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Anathema, Ghost, Mastodon, Riverside.

Tuomas: Yeah, there's plenty. My keyboards get lot of influences from bands like Pink Floyd, The Doors, Muse etc. I also have some melodic death metal background so that might also pop out from time to time.

Big names, high quality. How do you see the music business nowadays?

Tuomas: I think contemporary people always see the business in a bad way. Right now we're in a situation that bands are not that hot and solo artists, EDM, dj's and stuff like that are the mainstream. But that's how it's always been that the waves change from time to time. I think bands will rise again. Regardless of the music business we do what we do and try not think about it too much.

Have you presented your album in any gig already?

Janne: Yes we have made couple of gigs here in Finland. We had record releasing gig in our band's home town Turku. We also played a show in Helsinki and one show abroad in Tallinn, Estonia. And some more gigs are coming during the spring and summer. It was really great to get on the stage with these new songs and play them live.

If you were able to choose a band to share stage what it would be?

Janne: Right now I'd say Ghost.

Being a band from Finland, what space is there for an approach as yours?

Janne: It's true that in our country there's hundreds of good rock and metal bands, but I think there's not too many bands like Achiote.

Good answer! Are you more oriented to the Finnish market or the international arena?

Janne: With this kind of music, definitely international area.

Tuomas: I agree with Janne. The Finnish market at moment favors bands and artists who sing in Finnish. Fortunately there's always the underground scene. And as I said above, I believe that the situation will change again in the near future.

Thank you guys for your time and hopefully we will see you some day on a gig, if you wish to add something…

Janne: Yeah, we hope we'll see someday. Chears and Big Thanks to You MetalBrothers.

Tuomas: Thank you Metal Brothers! Stay true and check out our new album!

THE ROCK ALCHEMIST - Elements (2017)

1.Panic Room

2.A-Matrix

3.Cars

4.Phoenix

5.Thrilling Countdown

6.27

7.Eclipse

8.The Temple

Aldo Garrone – Voice

Beppe Geracitano – Guitars

Dave “Key” Grandieri – Keyboards

Raoul Ronco – Bass

Max Gordiani – Drums

Hoy os hablo de esta banda italiana, turinesa, formada en 2009, este es su nuevo disco, debutaron en 2012, así que ya estamos hablando de gente con cierta experiencia, dicho lo cual vamos con el bisturí sin más preámbulos.

Panic Room marca el inicio del disco con un rock melódico con bastante efecto en las guitarras y un cierto aire retro a nivel vocal, me gusta la parada con acordes y solo melódico, tiene suficiente clase como para que le pongamos atención.

A-Matrix es una balada de aires country, relajada aunque de nuevo con estilo, el solo vuelve a ser de calidad, largo y bien estructurado, saben lo que se hacen, especialmente destacada la labor del guitarrista. Cars es otra balada pero en este caso bajan el listón de manera considerable y entregan un tema tan blando como popero, lo más destacable el vocalista, lo demás apenas me dice nada.

Phoenix es una canción que se mueve entre el rock melódico y el aor, poca fuerza, apenas distorsión y sí teclados, algo de efecto wah en las guitarras y otro tema sencillo y poco destacable. Thrilling Countdown es un interludio a base de teclados que da paso a 27, un tema que después de estar planchando la oreja con los últimas cortes nos vuelve  a poner las pilas, un rock de estilo progresivo a veces, teclados, algo de groove guitarrero, suena más rockero y potente, otras veces clásico a lo Sotto, TNT o Journey, limpieza en los sonidos y otro buen solo a sus alforjas, esta es la forma chachos.

Eclipse tiene un inicio lento a base de piano y voz muy emotiva, rock melódico de toda la vida hecho con mucho criterio, la estructura más simple que un tamagochi, pero el solo me vuelve a entonar. Se acaba este breve viaje que nos proponen los italianos con The Temple, otro de los temas destacados del disco, un inicio de guitarras atmosféricas que da paso inesperadamente a un tema de rock a lo Sprinsten, es decir, puro himno rockero, de voz rota y ritmo con mucho pegada en la batería. El final a base de piano es elegante y es un colofón con la clase que estos italianos muestran en momentos puntuales del disco.

Creo que es una banda con calidad, pero les exigiría más trabajo, más temas, que se currasen un poco más las composiciones a lo largo de todo el disco y que no vayan a lo fácil, a lo radiofónico, porque demuestran buen nivel técnico y si trabajan podrían dejarnos uno de esos discos que suenan y suenan sin parar en tus oídos.

Puntuación: 6,5/10

GORKY PARK

En los 80 los Gorky Park se convirtieron en una de las bandas más mediáticas venidas más allá del telón de acero, se dieron a conocer por primera vez para la mayoría de la gente en el mítico festival de Moscú, el peace festival, que reunió a tantas grandes bandas del momento y que los rusos contemplaban atónitos como si se tratase de extraterrestres venidos de lajanas galaxias. En Metalbrothers.es os hablamos de esta banda rusa http://metalbrothers.es/bios/biografias/gorky-park/

Where the wind blows (by Ark)

SAVAGE MASTER – Creature Of The Flames (2017)

1.Child of the Witch     03:26    

2.Burning Leather  03:22          

3.Dark Enchantress  03:13        

4.Creature of the Flames  05:48            

5.Death or Glory (Holocaust cover)     03:14  

Brandon Brown - Bass

Larry Myers - Guitars

Adam Neal - Guitars

Stacey Peak - Vocals

John W. Littlejohn - Drums (2016-present)

Desde sus comienzos en el año 2013 está banda americana de Kentucky no ha dejado de producir ni de estar ahí sacando nuevas canciones o girando, y poco a poco se van labrando un nombre y un lugar en la escena del heavy metal actual. No solo por hacer temas con garra y suficiente calidad compositiva sino sobre todo por la actitud de sus canciones y su puesta en escena. Si os fijais en la foto que acompaña a este nuevo ep os llamará la atención a la similitud que existe con las portadas de los míticos Witchfinder General, ellos no esconden sus raíces musicales ni sus influencias, se notan en su música, en sus vestimentas ochenteras y en las versiones que incluyen como la de los Holocaust en este nuevo lanzamiento, el abc del heavy metal que marcó una época.

Con este nuevo Ep empatan a dos entre eps y largas duraciones, ya el año pasado os comentamos su buen segundo disco With Whips and Chains e incluso entrevistamos a Stacey Peak. La buena noticia es que nada ha cambiado desde entonces, los temas siguen sonando con igual garra, unos más elaborados que otros, pero todos con mucha actitud, heavy metal sin aditivos, sonido ochentero sin paliativos.

Abren el ep con Child of the Witch, un corte de riffs y ritmos a lo Iron Maiden del number of the beast, es decir, su época dorada. La voz característica de Stacey entre rasgada y aguda, con un estilo retro y un estribillo logrado y muy coreable que hacen que sea un tema que enganche a la primera, con eso sonido new wave tan típico.

Burning Leather arranca con un riff marca new wave que lanza el tema a toda mecha, con un gran acompañamiento en las voces con ese punto de locura que hacen que el tema suene valiente y maravillosamente disparatado, llegando a rozar por momentos el speed metal de corte centroeuropeo con un riff excepcional que sabiamente repiten en varias ocasiones a lo largo del tema. El solo es bastante normalito pero el tema rebosa actitud.

Dark Enchantress levanta el pie del acelerador y es un medio tiempo de heavy metal ochentero que practicaban bandas como Lizzy Borden, Armored Saint, Wasp, de guitarras emotivas, con mucho efecto y que siempre encienden el tema con riffs muy acertados, como el que meten para acabar el tema después del solo que lleva todo el sello de autenticidad de unos Holocaust.

Y llega el temazo del ep, excluyendo la versión, Creature of the Flames es un tema que desde el inicio con esa guitarra tan true metal te deja adivinar lo que se viene encima. Un medio tiempo a lo Omen, concinado a fuego lento, de melodías épicas y donde Stacey se deja la voz y con una similitud en la interpretación típica de todo un Tim Baker, estridente y desgarrada, sonido oscuro, under, un tema de esos de alzar el puño sin descanso, que esconde una sorpresa con el arreón final para de nuevo acabar el tema con sonido épico. Después de tremendo trallazo que mejor que cerrar esta nueva entrega con todo un clásico de los eternos Holocaust? Lo clavan y rinden honor al tema original que nunca pasará de moda. Los Savage Master siguen a lo suyo, trabajando y sonando siempre clásicos y muy heavys, una baza segura.

You and me (by Living Death)

Interview with MYTHRA

by Vpower

The Band: Mythra

Country: United Kingdom

Answers by: Vince High (vocals)

Photos by: Marta Gabriel

https://www.facebook.com/mythranwobhm

http://www.mythra.co.uk/

MYTHRA, a big name born in the NWOBHM, are still around and with a great new album under the arm. They are mainly the same band that built their name in the early 80s and we talk to their frontman Vince High to learn they are so excited at present as they used to be when they were giving their first steps 40 years ago.

Hi Vince, for those who love heavy metal is great to see that a mythical band as

Mythra are still active and with the power you display in "Still Burning"

Yeah!  It's great to be back playing live gigs and recording/releasing new

music \m/

Let’s review your story a little. Mythra was formed in 1976, more than

forty years ago. Do you remember the beginnings?

Definitely, we were just kids who wanted to play music and be like our

heroes.  Played a lot of Black Sabbath, UFO, Thin Lizzy songs when we were

starting out.  Then progressed and started writing and playing our own

music.  Great days, great memories

As many bands of the NWOBHM you were not able to release a full-length

during the 80s, although you made a name around and we can consider Mythra

as one classic band

Our Death & Destiny EP was recorded in 1979 at the time the NWOBHM was

emerging.  It sold well and stayed in the Indie Charts in the U.K. for 12

weeks.  We recorded a full album but the label we were signed to at that

time did not put it out.  Nothing to do with the band.  That full album plus

five new bonus tracks was eventually released as our Anthology album

'Warriors Of Time' in 2015 by Skol Records.  The company's CEO Bart Gabriel

has been awesome for MYTHRA and has also produced our brand new album 'Still

Burning' for High Roller Records.

What was the best and the worst of those crazy early years? Any funny or

especial story to tell?

Haha yeah lots of crazy things.  One of the best was when we played the

Heavy Metal Barn Dance with Motörhead, Saxon, Girlschool etc in 1980.  We

were very young and the security guys wouldn't let us in as they didn't

believe we were a band playing the festival. We knew Saxon from playing

previous gigs together and they had to tell security we were MYTHRA hahaha

Saved by Saxon! What can you tell us about your current line-up? I think the band’s core is still intact…

It's almost the original band really.  Four of us were involved back in the

day and we have been joined by our drummer Phil Davies who is an awesome

musician, a real powerhouse \m/

Mythra has gone through several halts along time, but I guess you never

lost contact with the heavy metal thing, right?

We love Metal...it's in our DNA for sure.  I think that will come across

when people hear the new album 'Still Burning'.  Metal is a lifelong passion

for Mythra \m/

In 2003 arrived “The Darkener”. But it is not until present that you

entered the studio for recording an album. How did you decide to resume the

tasks and record a new album?

'The Darkener' was simply a collection of demos that John and I wrote and

recorded in 2002/03.  It was never a full band project and wasn't officially

released.  I mentioned Bart Gabriel earlier and the coming of the new album

is really thanks to him.  He put out our Anthology album on his label and

then brokered the deal for our new album with High Roller Records after we

played at the legendary Keep It True Festival in Germany last year.  He is a

true Metal fan which is important to us!!!

"Still Burning" is your new album’s title, some kind of statement as “we

are still alive and kicking”?

Yes definitely, we feel really honoured that High Roller Records signed us

to record the new album as they are an awesome label.  They have done so

much to keep NWOBHM music like ours alive and accessible to the fans!!!  The

first verse in Still Burning sums it all up for us..."Flame still burning,

fever strong, temperature rising, can't be wrong, rhythm pounding, defining

the song, live the moment, sing along...the flame still burning"

Yeah it sounds as an anthem. In fact "Still Burning" is a fist of an album, you still sound fresh and with amazing power after so many years

Absolutely, We achieved what we set out to do...stay true to our NWOBHM

roots but have a contemporary sound and feel!!!  We are really very very

happy with the album and hope it will lead to future recording adventures as

we have a lot of passion and creativity still to unleash hahaha

How long have you been working on the composition? Was it harder than

expected to complete a full album?

We completed the whole album, from writing, rehearsals, pre production and

through to recording in around 4 months.  It wasn't difficult for us as the

whole band are writing and we loved what we were creating musically!

Awesome. When you were writing the songs you were thinking we should sound this way or another or you just let the music flow and there it is!?

We just let the music flow once the basic structures of the songs were

sorted...just doing what came naturally to us

I appreciate the quality of every track in the album but the variety is

also a point. We find a little of rock, heavy, speed metal, the New Wave

spirit…

There's always been variety in our music which is what our fans like...guess

it comes from letting the music flow and doing what comes naturally as I

said earlier

Vince you still keep your vocal stream all intact it seems, a great work

and a mark in your sound

Thank you.  I have always done what comes naturally when it comes to

singing.  I try to stay healthy and look after my voice which helps.  I've

never tried to sound like anyone else.  The guys in the band think I have an

identifiable, original sound and style which is one part of the overall

MYTHRA identity.

Sure it is. Ride the Storm is one of my favorite songs, with it mixing of some 70s

tunes and the current metal approach, past and present together?

Great thanks!  We love all the songs on the new album and think Ride The

Storm will be a favourite with the fans at live gigs for sure.  Like a lot

of our songs it has the powerful guitar riffs, driving bass and drums, and

the uplifting sing along choruses: METAL!!!

Comparing the old songs to the ones in your new album how do you feel?

We love the older songs and the new.  'Still Burning' has all the trademarks

of our older songs but with a more contemporary feel which we really love.

The reaction to the new songs we have played at recent gigs has been

amazing.  The fans love our new music and that makes us very very happy!

For the younger people maybe the name of Mythra has no meaning, listening

to your new album even they could think you are a new band, just formed,

which is also good, isn’t it?

That's awesome for sure if it happens, a real compliment thank you.

But for the veterans it will be a great satisfaction to see that Mythra is

still armed and ready and they will be willing to see you playing live. Any

tour programmed?

Yes definitely, after the album release we are playing several festivals in

Europe including 'Up The Hammers' in Athens, Greece and 'Heavy Metal

Maniacs' in Amsterdam, Netherlands before flying over to the United States

of America in October to play 'Frost & Fire' Festival in California.

Hopefully more dates to be added soon as we love playing live!

Mythra was one of the great bands out from the NWOBHM, do you think we will

ever see again something similar to that age in the Metal world?

The NWOBHM was unique for sure, born of a particular place and time!  There

are younger bands emerging constantly across the globe however which is

great for the future of Metal and for the fans.  On our travels at gigs we

have seen some great younger bands keeping the flame alive.  The likes of:

Night Demon, Crystal Viper, Savage Master, Terminus, Mean Machine,

Neverworld and Toledo Steel are amongst many many more worldwide that are

helping keep Metal alive and giving it a great future \m/

How do you see the Metal scene in the UK nowadays?

As with everywhere else there is an underground Metal scene in the UK, and

younger bands emerging all the time which is great to see.  Dedicated people

forming bands, putting on gigs and helping to get the music 'out there' to

the fans.  Long may it continue...

What are your plans for the future?

For MYTHRA we are really looking forward to the release of the new album.

The reviews to date have been excellent and reactions to the new songs at

gigs has been awesome.  We love live work, meeting up with fans at gigs.  We

love writing and recording too.  We want more!  Bring it on... \m/

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR AWESOME SUPPORT!!!

Regards,

Vince High (MYTHRA)

ALBERTO CEREIJO

En Metalbrothers.es tenemos una sección dedicada a los guitarristas, esos grandes de las seis cuerdas que marcan la diferencia entre el ser o no ser de una banda, con el permiso de algunos vocalistas. Y entre ellos tenemos a uno de nuestra tierra, Alberto Cereijo, conocido por ser el guitarra de los eternos Suaves http://metalbrothers.es/bios/guitarristas/alberto-cereijo/

DARK AVENGER – The Beloved Bones: Hell (2017)

1.The Beloved Bones  06:19     

2.Smile Back to Me     04:51    

3.King for a Moment   05:10    

4.This Loathsome Carcass  05:45         

5.Parasite 04:47            

6.Breaking Up, Again  05:12    

7.Empowerment  04:23            

8.Nihil Mind     05:48    

9.Purple Letter  06:05  

10.Sola Mors Liberat   03:34    

11.When Shadow Falls  04:45            

Gustavo Magalhães - Bass

Hugo Santiago  - Guitars

Mário Linhares - Vocals

Anderson Soares - Drums

Glauber Oliveira - Guitars

Los Dark Avenger son una banda brasileña con más de 20 años de historia y varias grabaciones en su mochila, este en concreto es el cuarto disco de su carrera, han pasado cuatro años de su último disco de estudio aunque hace un par de años sacaron un directo. Su propuesta gira en tono al power metal.

The Beloved Bones arranca el disco a base de violines, teclados y ritmo power metal, también con groove. Es un power con sustancia, muy teatralizado, en ello tiene bastante que ver la voz de Mário Linhares, realmente potente. Este primer tema resulta entretenido, con distintos ritmos e incluso cierto aire progresivo. Smile Back to Me es un power más tradicional se podría decir, al estilo Rhapsody, lo mismo se puede decir de King for a Moment, una canción de power muy estándar, quizás le falta su propio sello pero al menos la personalidad del vocalista y un poco de groove le dan más potencia.

This Loathsome Carcass me parece mucho más interesante con su mezcla de power melódico, folk y una dosis de progresivo, un medio tiempo muy correcto con un estilo tirando a unos Symphony X. Parasite es un power al estilo de bandas como Angra, Threshold, Evergrey, con muchos arreglos y distintas fases que le dan a este grupo esa capa de progresivo que los hace más frescos e interesantes.

Breaking Up, Again  es un paso más hacia el sonido progresivo, donde las guitarras suenan especialmente bien y se adueñan del tema. Empowerment sigue esa misma línea aunque tiene un estribillo más pegadizo, una combinación de elementos que recuerda al estilo de los Pagan’s Mind. En Nihil Mind sin abandonar los elementos anteriores, buscan más las melodías y unas líneas vocales muy pegadizas, parada de rigor para arrancar con el solo, un corte grandilocuente, con pompa y buenos arreglos, de lo mejor del disco.

Nos acercamos al final del disco con Purple Letter donde sobresale la actuación del frontman y el buen solo atmosférico. Sola Mors Liberate es una balada muy pausada, a base de piano y solo de guitarra al estilo Blackmore, le da un toque de frescura al disco. Y parece que le han pillado gusto al asunto porque finalizan el disco con una segunda balada, con acústicas y diversos instumentos de cuerda, una forma relajada y poco frecuente de acabar un disco.

Si te gusta el power metal con ciertos aires progresivos estos brasileños te harán pasar un buen rato, tienen calidad técnica y hacen composiciones fáciles de disfrutar, sin complicarse demasiado la vida pero que se salen un poco de lo de siempre.

Puntuación: 7/10