Nuclear Detonation/Down To Hell/2013 Single Review

  Nuclear  Detonation  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  single  "Down  To  Hell"  which  was  reelased  by  Senseless  Life  Records.

   A  heavy  and  old  school  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  song  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  before  adding  in  aggressive  yet  melodic  style  vocals  and  the  band  seems  to  be  influenced  by  the  classic  Bay  Area  bands  and  th e gutiar  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic  and  have  a  hard  rock/metal  feeling  to t hem.

  On  this  track  Nuclear  Detonation  go  back  to  the  80's  with  their  thrash  metal  sound  and  I  am  interested  to  hear  where  this  progresses  into  once  the  full length  is  released,  the  production  on  the  track  is  very  old  school  sounding  while  the  lyrics  are  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is   a  very  great  sounding  song  from  Nuclear  Detonation  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  80's  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  single.  8  out  of  10.

    

Hero's Last Rite/The Mirror Face/2014 CD Review

  Hero's  Last  Rite  are  a  band  from  New  Brunswick,  Canada  that  plays  an modern   form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "The  Mirror  Face".

  Clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  a  minute  later  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  guitar  solos  and  leads which  leads  up  to  an  aggressive  and  old  school  thrash  sound  along  with  some  extreme  vocals  and  blast  beats  as  well  as  a  mixture  of  both  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  band  starts  adding  in  elements  of  groove  metal  as  well  as  having  a  more  modern  approach  with  their  music  as  well  as  adding  in  a  hardcore  feeling  at  times,  on  some  of  the  alter  tracks  the  band  starts  bringing  in  a  few  seconds  of  spoken  word  samples  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  Slayer  and  Pantera  influences  in t heir  music  at  times.

  In  certain  parts  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  aggressive  you  can  also  hear  a  melodic  thrash  or  groove  metal  tone  at  times  and  the  album  also  gets  more  heavier  and  technical  and  times  while  some  of  the  fast  parts  and  blast  beats  seeming  to  incorporate  a  death  metal  influence  and  the  band  also  manages  to  retain  a  very  diverse  yet  very  heavy  sound  on  every  one  of  the  tracks.

  Hero's  Last  Rite  take  both  the  modern  and  old  school  forms  of  thrash  and  mix  them  together  while  also  incorporating  hardcore,  groove  and  death  metal  elements  in t heir  sound  at  times  as  well  as  having  a  great  amount  of  melody,  the  production  is  very  professional  sounding  and  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  everyday  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hero's  Last  Rite  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  aggressive  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Mirror's  Face"  "Plague"  "The  Voice  Of  Guilt"  and  "Save  it  For  My  Ghost". 8   out  of  10.    

Kal-EL/Pakal/WormHoleDeath Records/2014 CD Review

  Kal-EL  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  plays  a  very  heavy  form  of  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Pakal"  which  was  released  by  WormHoleDeath  Records.

  The  album  has  a  sound  that  has  a  very  heavy  70's  rock  feeling  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  as  well  as  the  heavier  parts  mixing  doom  metal,  grunge  and  stoner  rock  together  along  with  some  melodic  vocals  and  when t hey  add  in  guitar  solos  and  leads  the  album  starts  evoking  a  more  retro  vibe  and  feeling  as  well  as  adding  in  some  spoken  word  samples.

  Most  of  the  songs  stick  to  mostly  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  as  well  as  adding  90  influences  with  70's  influences  while  having  more  of  a  metal  heaviness  to  them  and  at  time s the  bass  guitars  take  over  as  a  lead  instrument  on  some  of  the  tracks  as  well  as  the  band  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  into  their  music.

  On  some  of  the  tracks  the  band  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  sections  which  also  have  a  psychedelic  feeling  to  them a t  times  when  utilized  and  acoustic  playing  which  really  dominate  on  the  brief  instrumental  the  band  brings  onto  the  recording  along  with  elements  of  blues  rock  in  the  heavier  sections  of  their  music  as  well  as  the  singer  having  a  voice  that  reminds  me   of  early  Black Sabbath.

  Kal-EL  create  a  sound  that  is  very  heavy  and  retro  with  their  music  while  also  having  a  very  modern  day  feeling  to  their  songs,  the  production  is  very  professional  sounding  and  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  metaphysical  and  suicidal  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kal-EL  are  a  very  great  sounding  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you a re  a f an  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Hole"  "Fire  Machine"  and  "Upper  hand".  8  out  of  10.

 
  

Tetrarchate Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?We are getting ready to perform live in June. We haven’ t had any gigs for one and a half year; moreover, it’ s the gig where we will show our new recording definitively (even if it’ s not a real “release party”): one more reason to do a very good performance! For this occasion we are revising some songs for a better impact.

2.Recently you have released a  new ep, how would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from your previous release?Compared to the Onward demo, these songs are a bit more technical and elaborate. But the main difference is in their darker mood: we think they’ re more “mature”. Generally we call them heavy-thrash metal, or US 80s power metal. But we can surely add they’ re definitely not standard heavy-thrash metal. Most of the reviews we have got so far agree: we have already drawn our personal style; or at least we have started drawing it. Obviously we’ re very proud about it, that’ s not something many bands can do with their only first official release. Unfortunately it’ s bit difficult to us to describe our style more accurately, so the readers would better listen to our songs and understand on their own. We give you a link when you can listen something: https://www.facebook.com/ tetrarchate/app_2405167945

3.The band has been around since 2006 but so far has only put out a couple of recordings, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap?You’ re right. We recorded Onward fall 2009 because we had to reach a higher technical level to make any recordings; in other words, we didn’ t feel ready enough before. It’ s different for the EP “Symposium Of The Tetrarchs”: we actually had planned a comeback much earlier, at least in 2012. But we had a lot of problems, like finding a good studio, recording problems and so on… you know, the same hoodoos a band like us has to face, ahah. We seize the day to thank our friends in Nightland (power folk metal) for helping us. Give them a chance, they’ re good as well! https://www.facebook.com/ Nightland

 4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?In the beginning we were writing about life, inner strength, stuff like this, in a very abstract point of view. Due to several things we occurred in we have changed our mind: now we prefer writing about more concrete things, like hypocrisy and deceitfulness in human relationships, all the ugly things life sets aside for us (indeed the crisis and generally the historical and social context we live in sharpens this). To sum it up, we would say the main concepts in our lyrics are cynicism and nihilism.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tetrarchate'?Steve has found the right name for our band. We had several other proposals, but we were perplexed about some of them. Or they had already been used. We wanted something nobody had already used; specifically, Steve was searching for something referring to the emanation of power. When “Tetrarchate” came in his mind, he was almost shouting for joy! It was perfect and absolutely original: it means “the leadership of four”, and fits us perfectly, since we are right four.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?We admit we’ ve never played live very much. We live in Pesaro, near cities like Riccione, Rimini… the domain of disco music! There aren’ t many places to perform live, and these few are often very bad, so it’ s very easy to get fed up with. We probably made no more then 15 gigs. We’ ll try to take advantage of the new EP to see if we can play in some better context in big cities, Milan as an example. Anyway the best performances we ever had were right in a pub near Rimini, the Dylan Dog. It is an appropriate pub for heavy metal in itself due to its “dark atmosphere” that has always influenced us positively.

Steve is really into live performance, He does love headbanging and rush around on stage; if there are good conditions the rest of the band supports him. That’ s the way we try to involve the audience: by showing them we are the first to enjoy the music. And, of course, by relying on the goodness and catchiness of our songs.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?We don’ t, apart from the gig in June. Just after the releasing of the EP, we had a proposal for touring Germany and some countries in East Europe. Due to the same fucking economic reasons, we had to renounce.

 8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?Not yet. But to get signed would be nice, of course. We’ d like to find some guys than can help us at least with printing and graphics. At the same time, anyway, we think it' s not so necessary: most times to get signed means you have to shell out, and we are talking about hundreds and hundreds (if not thousands) of euros (or dollars). So, if someone comes up with a good deal, it can work; otherwise, it doesn' t matter.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of thrash metal?We got some reviews, quite positive. We know we can’ t get more now: “Symposium Of The Tetrarchs” is our very first official release, so it’ s the first step to spread our name. To be realistic we think we’ ll take one or two years more to get a general feedback by listeners.

10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?We hope to release our first full-length next year. We are more optimist this time because our guitarist Nazo has set his own studio: obviously this is a huge comfort, regardless of the point of view you consider it, and it will let us shorten recording times.

Musically, we had a disapproval in reviews concerning the rhythm structure of the songs, which has been called “abstruse”. So our aim with our full-length is to write more linear songs without sacrificing our personality (the revising of the songs I touch on at the beginning of the interview).

11.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Steve: Personally, the band that has changed my life forever is Metal Church. “Metal Church”, “The Dark” and “Live” really shocked me, and it was a unique emotion when I could see those guys live in 2006. Many songs I have composed for Tetrarchate depend on this. But I must absolutely mention Slayer, Hades (the US thrashers), “Tales Of Terror” by Hallows Eve, “Deliver Us” by Warlord, Morbid Saint as well. Well, I don’ t know if you can find all these influences in our songs; anyway I feel I owe them. These days I’ m listening a bit more black and viking metal and I’ m fond of funeral doom metal. Now I’ m listening to Gernotshagen, Bitch, Burzum, Infernal Majesty. There’ s not very much I listen to outside heavy metal, apart from opera and some classical music.

Nazo: My way of writing a song is not based on someone else' s stuff. I come out with an idea and simply work on it. Naturally my songs are connected to my musical experience, to the stuff I used to listen when I was younger (The Crown, Godsmack and so on).

Max: When we started playing together I got inspired by Metallica, Iron Maiden; then I got into an evolution by playing and listening to something different. So my current way of playing drums is different now. I am oriented to a more Lamb Of God and Devildriver style now.

Ara: The same stands for me: I got from pure thrash metal to thrash-black and death-brutal: Ketzer and Aura Noir recently.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Steve: I practice athletics, especially endurance running, including half marathons. I take part in competitive races with good results. I don’ t practice it (even if I would very pleased to do), but I am always watching professional cycling races, even if it’ s definitely not a good time for Italian riders.

Nazo: I haven' t specific extra musical interests. But I could say home recording and videogames anyway.

Max: I have more nerdy interests, ranging from video games to table top war games, TV series and comics.

Ara: Cinema, movies and videogames.

 

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

It’ s our first international interview. For this we thank you all very much. We encourage you to listen carefully to our music, to judge it adequately. And if by this you want to buy it, honour to you.

Guerra de Cerdos Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

zala: the band formed in june 2013, after the break up of the former band ratticidio were tapita( vocals and guitar) and  osky( bass and vocals) played.I was at my job and receive a call from tapita, who told to me " hey lets form a band together,  and mix thrash metal with post punk".The idea seems pretty cool to me, but i hesitate at first. Two weeks later we started to rehearse. 

Tapita: personally we are a very young band, my personal idea was to form a hardcore group with crossover thrash and mix all  that with post punk so i recluted friends after the crisis i had with ratticidio.

Osky:i been in ratticidio for a while ,and when tapita told me to form a new one i was breaking up with my own post punk  project ( called pulsion de muerte) which i was the singer. in some way the two projects connected (ratticidio and pulsion de muerte) in guerra de cerdos. Some of the songs of pulsion de muerte finished in the guerra de cerdos repertoire.

2.Recently you have released your first album, can you tell us a little bit more about your musical sound?

Osky: i think we dont have yet our own sound because we recently started , but yes we have very clear the things we want to do in a musical level. We are working hard on that.

zala: our sound is fresh. we gotta still working on it, but its fuckin fresh to me. i dont if it is original or what, but for  me it has something different.

3.Your lyrics cover  some existensial  and philosophical themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?

tapita: the lyrics covered not only philosofical and existensial topics but also politics because we see the music as a form of socialist statement . a lot of my songs has a strong ideologic perspective . The song "TUCUMAN" : the name came from anargentinian province , who has been full of blood through our history . it talks about a fascist militar command in 1975 , financed by the big landlords and blessing by institutions with big power like the church not only to destroy the popular manifestations and the guerrilla of prt erp , the ones who settle down a resistance corp in that province, so punished by social injustice and also split the unions and his fights. 

the song angeles rawson talks about the crime of a little girl who run out of luck and became a media frenesi and bring paranoia to the masses . the society became domesticated. CAMPO DE  MAYO talks about a military base who worked in a concentration camp in the military dictatorship era. through the military service used young draftee as a first line of fire of his war interest and reactionary interest like the falklands war o the independence operative , and how with the rise of the democracy and the derogation of the military service in the county they camuflated this forms of reclutement creating childhood police in the north of the country.

osky: in my case, i come from the literature area, my interest in music arrived later than my interest in poetry ,a place were i developed since my childhood, influenced by the french simbolic poetry, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarme, Valery and later by poeticians with a social statement like maiacovsky , Paco Urondo and Robert Santoro and its for me a political tool , same as tapita i am socialist and to a global and cultural reestructuration . In the lyric of "Anden N 2" i talked about a boy who died from starvation in my e yes while i was walking in the subway. People just overlooked the situation with out much care . His brothers were cryin by his side.  the cleaning employee just cleaned the floor were the kid was, just like he was a bag of trash. in the "horror sucesivo del vacio" i talk about the loneliness and despair and how this shitty system affects personal relationships. and feel an outsider to the marketing culture. in the song "el tiempo" i wrote about how relationships fade away through time, like the one's we loved yesterday and how our love is gone , doesnt exist anymore and left us wishing in the past, a past who make us feel ALIVE.  the time destroys everything, even our bodies are the pendulum who comes and goes in the watch.

zala : i write more instrospective and emotional lyrics( this can be seen on puertas de fuego a lyric about  not to be afraid  of taking risks in life) but i agree a lot with  the political statements of my bandmates. the first song, el cuervo i wrote that watching tv, its a social critic to the  ridicolous reaction of the argentinian people when the pope arrived. i mean, fuckers, you still believe in this fuckin rapist bastards??????

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Guerra  de  Cerdos'?

zala :it is the perfect representation of the power struggle between the officialism and the opposition with his media trusts  and his will of have a piece of the cake. it means in your language "PIGS WAR"

Osky : the name explains the social context this days in argentina. in one side, you got the little bourgeoisie fighting with corporations in war when the victim its the people!. a pigs war is that, a war of politic and capitalist interest.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band  has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

zala : the band have been playing for less than a year , we only have a few dates, but all were good and positive,and helps  to feed the grown of the band. in the stage we are caos , an angry ,real expression  of all the things happening to us. 

Tapita: we try to put some energy to the shows and we concentrate ,in our limitations, to make the show the best we can 

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

zala: the band is playing in all the buenos aires circuit , in the north, south and west of the metropoli. we live in differentes locations and we are far away to each other and we took advantage of that to take the band anywhere. We have dates in entre rios( another argentinian province) and we're planing an internation tour in chile by the end of the year.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

tapita: actually we are on a small label called "discos expiatorios". They help us with the record and the fisic copies of it. the label is located in mar del plata, outside buenos aires. Anyone who want to sign us feel free to do so any 

dissemination always help!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of both punk and metal?

zala : the record liked to a lot of people because of the variety. a lot of people  did not liked the record because of the  variety hahaha

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

tapita: we see the band getting better step by step, sounding better and adding songs to our repertoire.

zala : building a strong identity.

osky : ..... ( doesnt say a word, his favorite football team lost his game)

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

zala: as you can hear it on the record, hardcore, thrash and post punk are the genres present. in my case , when it comes the time to make the record i took influences from the cult, the mission, killing joke,new model army, sepultura, slayer and old hardcore punk like minor threat . oh how can i forgot discharge and motorhead!

tapita : i listen to a lot  of hardcore bandas like minoria activa,bod,ndi,os mocos,arrebato( all from argentina), accion 

directa, ratos de porao, black flag, dead kennedys, cro mags, and started to listen a lot to joy division , 

slayer,sepultura,gang of four, the fall, oingo boingo , the influences are many , toxic holocaust, siouxsie and the banshees, the adverts, discharge, poison idea, and pc death squad.

osky : in my case one fundamental band in my life is pink floyd, and joy division, besides bands of basque punk bands like kortatu, la polla, gatillazo, cicatriz, eskorbuto. at the moment i'm listening to a lot of  latin american folklore singers like victor jara, atahualpa yupanqui and jose de molina.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

osky: actually i believe than every way goes to the band. in my case the literature occupies a central place just like the politics. in my place i try to add a sand grain in the construction of communism and the death of imperialism.

zala: a lot of things. grow up as a person, stop walking the death roads of ignorance, and have clarity and culture in my life. that's my interest

tapita: i agree 100 percent with osky

zala: and with me no? bastard!!

 

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

zala: art and love are the only real weapons to me. wanna thank you a lot for the support and the interview! cheers from the third world!!!

osky : i will quote the commander fidel castro : " a better world is posible only with socialism"

tapita : in this age of international crisis we wont let the flunkys of fascism and capitalism progress!

the antifascist fight is international because if they took one they took all of us!

 a lovely hug to every fair and free towns in the world.

Reclvse/Self Titled/2014 Demo Review

  Reclvse  are  a  band  from  Wales  that  plays  a  very  traditional  form of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  and  self  titled  2014  demo.

    A  very  slow,  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  minute  melodic  doom  metal  vocals  make  their  way  into  the  music  and  the  music  really  starts  getting  heavy  and  goes  for  the  more  traditional  and  old  school  form  of  doom  metal  and  after  awhile  guitar  solos  and  leads  start  becoming  a  huge  part  of  the  demo.

  As  the  ep  progresses  you  can  hear  more  70's  proto  metal  elements  being  added into  the  music  as  well  as  2  of  the  3  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic   in  length  and  the  guitar  leads  start  utilizing  more  melody  along  with  the  vocals  changing  their  style  around  a  bit  and  they  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  the  guitar riffs  add in  a  melodic  edge  on  the  final  track  as  well  as  incorporating  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars.

  Reclvse  stick  to  a  very  traditional  and  old  school  form  of  doom  metal  on  this  demo  having  a  very  retro  yet  dark  and  heavy  sound  all  at  the  same  time,  the  production  has  a  very  professional  and  old  school  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Reclvse  are  a  very  great  sounding  traditional  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Bewitch  the  Sky".  8/5  out  of  10.  

Giza Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new ep?

Steve: We've been writing material for a third release later this year. It's a heavier monster that we're going to release on the world....ha. 

Justin: We've pretty much started writing our next record, and have been gearing up to start playing live.  This is exciting for me, personally, because I haven't played live with these guys since I became a part of the band back in August.

Rich: Beyond writing for the record we just released and the next one, a lot of swapping guitar amps and pedals to get the right level of dirt, saturation, and clarity.   

2. Recently you have released a new ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from the full length you had released in 2012?

Justin: When I joined the band, Rich and Steve had a handful of ideas that they had been working on.  So, we basically sifted through them and figured out what we enjoyed the most.  For the first few months that I was in the band, I tried to let those previous ideas shine through as much as possible.  I'm not the type of person to jump into a situation and tell people how to do things.  I wanted to provide as much creative input as possible without sacrificing the original intent of those ideas.  I feel that the new record is, well... just way more doomy.  One thing I love about playing this kind of music is the fact that leaving more space can make it obscenely powerful.  It's fun to play around with that during different parts.  I also think that the new record is, for a lack of a better way to put it, much more metal.

Steve: Well, other than Justin being in the band, it’s just different material....more seasoned and with better flow throughout.  It was sort of our goal to make a really good album instead of just a bunch of songs thrown together.  We wanted this album to be a bit more sweeping in scope and yet still retain what it is we do.

Rich:  “I am the Ocean, I am the Sea” has a mix of older and newer songs. We actually started writing “Drawing Tar” and “Interplanetary Cyclone” almost immediately after we finished “Future Ruins” – so some of these musical ideas go back to the middle of 2012. It was great to finish those concepts and move on musically to some new territory, which we think shines through in our newer material with Justin.  I think we are all more excited to keep writing as we’ve really only been working with Justin since August 2013.  And having him in the band is fucking rad.

3. The band has only been around for 2 years and so far has put out 2 releases; do you feel that you put a lot of effort into your music?

Rich: There are times when we’ve practiced 4 days a week and it seems like it’s all we think about, and there’s times where we haven’t practiced for a month straight.  I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do but at the same time feel like we didn’t get a lot of our original goals accomplished because we either lost focus or our personal lives took over.   

Steve: We put in an immense amount of effort over time. We practice a few days a week and for a decent amount of time but it's a bit more than what it seems because we work on stuff on our own.

Justin: Indeed.  Although, at the same time, we don't seem to force things to happen. Momentum comes and goes.  But when it's around, we definitely make the most of it.  The ideas that come from this process seem more genuine to me.

4. What are some of the concepts and images the band brings out with the music?

Justin: As far as imagery goes, we rely heavily on the talents of other artists to aid us in getting our point across.  We play what we like, and luckily, Shepard has been incredibly on point in terms of creating imagery that coincides with our goal.  Which is to be absolutely crushing.

Rich: A specific concept or image is tough; we’re instrumental. It’s not like our songs are about a “thing” like heart break or war for example.   

Steve: None of us are really artists as in drawing/painting/sculpting/photography sort of way, so we rely on others like Shepard Hall to help us with art concepts.  We really have some basic idea at times and we allow him the freedom to flesh out ideas to fit what we do best.

5. Currently the music is all instrumental, are you planning on using vocals in the future or do you chose to remain instrumental?

Steve: Yes, our unfinished third album we're writing now should have some vocals on it.  We might even do some vocal collaboration too, but nothing is set in stone and it won't happen unless it's amazing.  We're very democratic as a band.  We don't do shit without all agreeing that it's perfect.  There's no room for anything half-assed.

Justin: We've had several conversations about including vocals in one way or another.  The consensus is that there will more than likely be vocals incorporated into our next record.  The approach to that idea is still being refined.

Rich:   I am super down for more layers, whether vocally or even more psychedelic.  On our new record we have two songs where we set up some looping stuff which made things extra heady, a lot more doubled guitar stuff, extended drums passages, and strange feedback noises.  That was really fun.  Expect more layers of Giza on the next record.

6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Giza'?

Steve: It was the name we all liked as well as a name that seemed to call up some interesting images of ancient times and long ago civilizations.

Rich:  We felt the name matched the aesthetic of the earliest material Steve and I were working on.  What’s heavier than a levitating pyramid, or floating crumbling mountain?  

7. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Steve: Well, that's a tough one. Not sure how to define our best show.  We're massive sounding live.  Huge amps and walls of sonic debris.

Rich: We normally bring enough equipment that it takes longer to load in and load out than play the show.  Sound guys hate us.

8. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Steve: We're planning on playing a bunch of shows in the summer.  We'd really be into going overseas.

Justin: We've been booking shows for this summer.  Although, there are no plans to tour at the moment.

9. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Rich: Absolutely.  Contact us! We want to see our music on vinyl!

Steve: We had some interest but that seems to have fallen through, but we're certainly looking for someone to assist.

10. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and sludge metal?

Steve: Surprisingly, it's been overwhelmingly positive.  We've rec'd nothing but positive response minus our local paper's write-up about us last year.  Ha, fuck em.

Justin: From what I've heard, it's been incredibly positive.

Rich:  Fans of doom and sludge seem to like, which is all that matters to us.  We are not trying to be the next U2 or convince anyone they should be listening to this sort of thing, and at the same time we’ve seen a ton of traffic on our Facebook page and bandcamp site from people who’ve heard about it through blogs or general internet stuff.  And it’s considerably more than when we released “Future Ruins”.  Most of our mail-order merch goes overseas.  It’s cool that more people are checking out Giza and downloading our stuff and hopefully we get to take this band on the road someday and play live for the people who like us in Europe, Australia, and Asia.        

11. When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Steve: You can expect another release by the end of 2014.  We plan on going back into the studio in the summer for a release later in the year.  It'll be heavier yet more psychedelic and more emotive in spots.

Justin: Musically, I see us adding more color and depth to our music.  We'll obviously stay pretty damn heavy, but I see some more psychedelic stuff finding its way in.  Now that I've been in the band for more than half a year, making the ideas that the three of us talk about come to life is much easier.  I'm very, very exciting to start introducing these new and different concepts.

Rich: We’re really excited to get weird with it.  More mathy drone, slow death metal, stoner rock, psychedelic freak bummer jams with more layers and both longer and shorter songs.

12. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on  your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Steve: That's a seriously long list for me:  Sabbath of course, Sleep, The Mermen, Shiner, The Archers of Loaf, YOB, John Coltrane, Merle Haggard.....my list could go on for fucking days.  I've been listening to all sorts of stuff, mostly metal, but some ambient style as well.

Justin: Some specific bands/artists that have had an immense influence on my contribution to Giza would have to be, Bongripper, Conan, Yob, Isis, Suma, Dave Weckl, Chick Corea... it's hard to list them all.  I'm currently listening to a lot of Bongripper, Shitstorm, 90's era Hip Hop, and old material by Astrud Gilberto and other Latin Jazz stuff.

Rich: Dead Meadow, Mars Volta, Junius, Failure, Black Mountain, Sabbath, Shiner, Hum, DJ Frane, Black Angels, Neil Young (always), Electric Wizard, Nirvana, Old Mastodon, Converge, Sleep/OM, etc.  And stuff like Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, or Arlo Guthrie.

13. What are some of your non musical interests?

Steve: I'm a huge dog person.  I have two mastiffs that take up quite a bit of my time.  I'm also a huge basketball and history geek. 

Justin: I love watching Football and Hockey.  I'm a huge Seattle Seahawks and LA Kings fan. Other than that, I spend a large amount of my time cooking and spending time outside.

Rich: Hiking, camping, cooking, food, classical guitar, travel, reading, riding bike, running, history, art.

14. Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

Rich: Thanks to everyone who’s checked out a Giza track so far – and thanks for reading!