Furyon Interview

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

Well. Mainly organising the players in Furyon. Working out live sets and planning on shows.

2.You have a new album coming out in January, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It's a little more melodic than the first album really. That might possibly be vocally. There is more single type songs on this album were 'Gravitas' held more lengthy songs.

3.This is to be the first album to be released in 3 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?

We lost two guitars players basically. The original band members. Not all at the same time but it really hindered Furyon for a while. That is the main reason for the time lost. Or gained, however you want to look at it.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Again some of the lyrics are full of angst and reflect on troubled times. Some on the thoughts of people's behaviour in the music business. And some on people that have done simply wrong doing. Then some on beliefs, faiths and views on the World and life beyond.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Furyon'?

It's a warrior name.

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?

Bloodstock, Download acoustic was fun. Holland is good. And our home town has seen some great nights.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

Yeah we are planning on it, to tour UK and Europe.

8.The new album is coming out on Dream Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

The label has just re opened by our Manager. It was his label and, still is.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of hard rock and heavy metal?

We received so far. Just hoping the 2nd album hits the same place!

10.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?

Yes. 2015 should hold a few surprises on that front.

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

Well we hope to start on a 3rd album and keep on keeping on. We want to reach more fans and get out and tour more when possible and financially viable. This is the thing, a band really needs all the stars to line up sometimes to really make it all work properly. People seem to think a band can just  drop everything And go and tour. I only that was the way it could be.

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?

So many really .. From stoner bands like Redfang to old skool Ozzy and Sabbath. Alterbridge have always been a nice influence for Furyon but not for sound reference but the intricate style.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

 No doubt some things that are not meant to be mentioned here. Having fun as much as possible. Gym. We all like to watch movies ( who doesn't )

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

We hope you all enjoy the new album and hope to see you in 2015

Agatha 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 album?
“Gravis Atque Gravior” was recorded in may 2014 in Rome at Hombre Lobo studio. It’s the studio in Italy we love most, where our good friend  Valerio works, and where we recorded also our previous album Goatness. It’s always a crazy experience recording with him, first of all because the studio is in a squat, and then because it’s always very punk. Just to know: the first day we arrived at 18, we set everything, and then he said: ok, now play a little and we do the sounds. It was midnight. Well that night we recorded all the drum parts till the morning.
Why it took so long from the recording to the release? This time we wanted to find some really cool labels to release our record, labels we really enjoyed and that’s way it took so long. And when we finally found all of them, and they were eight, it was a big work making everything go together. But at the end we’re really satisfied, of the record, the labels, the artwork and everything. Ah, yes, and of course in the meantime we played live a lot, as usual
The record was released in May 31 2014 and then we toured a lot during the summer, played some cool festivals, we opened for the Fluff Fest in Chezch Republic, we’re soon playing in a Festival in Sweden and another one in France.
So, we don’t get bored, that’s sure.

2.In May you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
With agatha we exist since 2003: we started as a three piece band, guitar, bass and drums. We played like this until 2010 when we decided we wanted to continue in two, also because we wanted to change from what we were doing. Our musical references were evolving and we wanted to play heavier stuff. We released at that moment “Goatness” and it was really different from what we had been doing before: slow riffs, heavy atmosphere and growly voices. Now we’re still in this mood, and our new album it’s a sort of evolution in this way: we found our sound and our direction and I personally think that this album is more complete than the prevoious one.

3.This was the first album to be released in 3 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
Ahahah this is a really funny question because in the middle of these three years we… had a baby!hehehe. “Goatness” was released in 2010. Then we did a big tour that summer, we went to Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Danemark and other places, then we came back and in october Claudia discovered that she was pregnant. She played till her six month of pregnancy, then she had to stop. Leo was born in July, and of course we waited a while. She was back playing when he was 6 months old, and then we started composing the songs for the new album, in summer we did another big european tour (this time with the baby! The youngest punk touring ever), in December we did another winter tour with a really cool band from Belgium called Severe (this time without the baby because it was too cold for touring with him) and then 2013 arrived and in May we recorded “Gravis atque gravior”



4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
I think that the lyrics of “Gravis atque gravior” make a change from our previous albums. Before i really liked to write ironical lyrics, some tongue-to-cheek lyrics, also because the mood of our previous releases was like that. “Goatness” was a sort of transition a think. Heavy sound but still ironical lyrics. With this records i felt I wanted to write more serious and personal stuff. As the atmosphere were heavier, I thought that the lyrics too had to reflect this kind of mood. There’s a song about punk and diy, there’s one about death and the end of life we will all have to face, there are also some more militant songs, about feminism, feminicide and freedom from age/gender/sexual orientation stereotypes…

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Agatha'?
When we chose the name we liked it for different reasons, but mostly for the way it sounded

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?
As you might have noticed reading my other answers, we do love playing live. We adore touring, it’s part of our essence as a band. We’re a punk diy band and we exist for playing diy shows, for travelling with our music, for getting in touch with different people and different countries. We truly believe that punk music is more than music and this is because it’s made of connections between people. We met the radest people from all over the world in these ten years and I think we will continue doing this as long as we can. Of course now we can’t tour as we would like, we both have regular jobs and there’s Claudia’s baby, but we still do a lot of shows. I’m still part of a collective organizing shows in squat of Milano, so our normal life is also connected to all this. So I personally can’t name one. Of course opening the Fluff Fest this year was rad, but also doing our release party in a tiny squat with all our friends moshing with tropical flowers and a sun umbrella, or playing in Bologna at the Antimtvday Festival, which was one of the biggest italian diy Festivals, or playing at the Puntala in Finland in 2009, or opening for some band we really like as Kylesa and Dark Castle in 2010.
I would describe our performance in one word: loud!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
As always we do have touring plans, the problem is that life is shitty and we can’t tour all the time because of our jobs. But we already have so really cool shows already booked till summer 2015: we’re playing again in a festival in Sweden, then in a festival in the South of France and then some other cool stuff in Italy.
Our big big plan for this summer is to come to the States and Canada tat the end of August. We’re focusing on it, and we really would like to.

8.The last album was released on Chaos Rural Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Meeting Chaos rural was one of those incredible meeting diy permits you. When we were looking for labels Mathieu contacted us saying that he really enjoyed “Goatness” and he regretted that he didn’t helped us at that time and that he wanted abolutely release our new record. So everything started. And it was really cool working together on this project from one side to the other of the ocean. And it was really funny after month of mails in english to discover that we were both more comfortable with french!  I really hope to meet them soon in the real life after all these month of virtual conversations.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge, doom metal and punk?
Well the record is having good feedback and we’re really happy. We hope also that in the future i will have more!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We’re actually not thinking a lot about the future. We’re enjoying playing this record live so we’re not composing new stuff. So I have no idea now what we will have in our crazy heads when we will have to start thinking at the new album!! Surprise!

11.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?
We both, Claudia and me, have really wide listening's and because of this we both have two another bands where we do totally different stuff. Claudia plays drums in Peublo People, an indie-new folk band and I play bass and sing in The Smudjas, an emo-punk rock. This is because, as I was saying before, we listen really to a lot of stuff. We both have listened to a lot of nineties noise (Unsane. Shellac, Uzeda)l, then to a lot of metal (Slayer, Iron Maiden, Metallica), then Claudia likes a lot of new wave-dark-grunge stuff (Nirvana, Siouxie and the banshee, Alice in Chains) and I am more from the hardcore-punk scene. I think that the bands that influence and have influenced more Agatha are Kylesa, Eye Hate God, Tragedy, His Hero is Gone, Sleep, Om, Catharsis.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Our life is mostly into music, and when we’re no into music unfortunately we have to work (I’m a teacher and Claudia is a web designer) so we don’t have a lot of time left. As I told before I’m part of a feminist collective organizing shows and other stuff (vegan dinners, art projects, workshops) and Claudia is a full time

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

Winterage/The Harmonic Passage/Nadir Music/2015 CD Review

  Winterage  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  form  of  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The  Harmonic  Passage"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Nadir  Records.

  Dark  and  melancholic  sounding  violins  start  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  classical  music  feeling  and  after  awhile  flutes  find  their way  onto  the  recording  giving  the  songs  more  of  a  medieval  feeling  when  they  are  utilized  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  for  more  of  a  power  metal  direction  while  also  mixing  in  the  symphonic  elements  of  the  intro  and  some  of  the  faster  parts  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Vocals  when  they  are  added  into  the  music  all  power  metal  style  singing  and  the  music  also  has  a  folk  metal  feeling  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  that  are  utilized  remain  true  to  an  old  school  style  of  power/speed  metal  while  the  synths  also  bring  in  progressive  rock  elements  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  part  and  as  the  album  progresses  operatic  female  vocals  can  be  heard  on  a  few  of  the  tracks  along  with  a  couple  of  power  ballads  and  instrumentals while  one  of  the  tracks  also brings  in  more  of  an  aggressive  vocal  approach.    

  Winterage  plays  a  style  of  power  metal  that  is  very  heavy,  melodic  and  modern  sounding  which  they  also  mix  in  with  symphonic  and  folk  music  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  fantasy  themes  as  well  as  being  written  in  both  English  and  Latin.

  In  my  opinion  Winterage  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  power  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Harmonic  Passage"  "Son  Of  Winter"  "Victory  March"  and  "Awakening".  8/5  out  of  10.

   

  

In Other Climes Interview

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

We did a European tour last november. All the shows were great especially in France where we didn't play for a while.
We played new songs and the answer was really positive. We also already started to write new songs for, we hope, an upcoming split cd.



2.In February you have a new album, coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

This album is once again different from the others and got more hardcore and punk influenced stuff.
Catchy chorus and rock'n'roll solos are still there, but it was done in a different way, with songs done
for live acts. The main thing on this record is that everything was done by ourselves. We did everything
on it : recording, mixing and mastering. It was important to us that the record sounds exactly the way
we wanted, and we are really happy of the result.



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

The album talks about everything from love to hate, from good memories to bad ones.
We are really proud of it because there’s a lot of cool punch lines, simple and easy to remember.



4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'In Other Climes'?

There no specific meaning but If i had to give you a meaning, it will be "it's how we see the things".
We always try to renew ourselves on each album, still keeping the essence of In Other Climes and
we do what WE love and what WE want to do, not what others want.



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?

Stage is the most important thing to us from the beginning. It's our battlefield, where we all love
to be and why we all make music. On stage there's no cheating, you only have 30 minutes
to kick ass people and it's what we like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but whatever
it happens, we always want to make better, even if the show was a pure mayhem.
Concerning the best shows we ever had, i will tell you Wolfsburg and Braunschweig (Germany),
Krakow, Zlotow, Poznan (Poland), Rouen, Limoges, Paris (France) and all the shows we did during
our Brazilian tour. It was a really good experience, very different from USA.



6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

We have 2 European tours planed for february and may, few weekend shows and festivals.



7.In September you where a part off a split with 'Confronto', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?

We are really big fans of Confronto from the beginning. We met them back to 2008 while touring with our friends Paura (BR).
We did an insane show all together in a small and packed venue in Poland. A really good moment. Since, we did few shows
together and became friends. Last year, Felipe sent me an email asking me if we were interested to make a split cd with them,
I said "yes of course, lets do it !"

 

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

Feedback is being bigger everyday from everywhere in the world and we are really stocked.
Most of the shows and tours we make are really good and the audience is more and more
reactive to our shows, intense pit with everybody's screaming for our right to party.
That's the only rule ah!



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

Fuck the future !



10.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?

We are all listening different kind of music. It goes from Electro or Alternative rock, to Black Metal and Grindcore.
But we all love Metal and Hardcore, fast and groovy rythms, catchy chorus, and heavy breakdowns.
While we were writing to the new album, we were listening to the same bands than ever, Metallica,
early Gallows stuff, Madball, Kickback, Cancer Bats, and many other good bands out there.



11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Music is our life. Its all about writing, touring, playing, traveling and meeting people.



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

Thanks for the interview. Stay tuned for the upcoming album, music videos and tours.
See you in the pit! 

Halshug/Blodets Band/Southern Lord/2015 CD Review

  Halshug  are  a  band  from  Denmark  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Blodets  Band"  which  will  be  released  in  February  by  Southern  Lord.

  A  very  distorted  reverb  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  aggressive  crust  direction  along  with  some  hardcore  style  shouts  and  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  old  school  d  beats  and  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  all  of  the  riffs  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  raw  aggression.

  Solos  and  leads  when  they  are  utilized  remain  true  to  a  crustcore  direction  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  are  also  very  short  in  length  with  the  longest  one  being  a  little  over  3  minutes  along  with  the  faster  sections  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Halshug  plays  a  style  of  crust,  d  beat,  and  hardcore  that  is  very  raw  and  heavy  as  well  as  being  very  old  school  and  there  is  never  a  soft  or  weak  moment  to  be  heard  anywhere  on  the  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  themes  along  with  the  song s being  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Danish.

  In  my  opinion  Halshug  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Inferno"  "Blodets  Band"  and  "Total  Destruktion".  8  out  of  10.  

Snow Burial Interview

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


We are a three-piece band from Chicago that plays heavy and loud music.  There are elements of post-metal, sludge and math-rock throughout the songs, but, really, we just play what we collectively like.  We're all veterans of the midwest music scene and since forming in 2012 we've been working hard to kick ass live and record some cool songs.


2.So far you have released 2 demo's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

The first release, Oxblood Siren, was intended to be a demo but while we were in the studio we realized that the quality was far above what we expected and decided on the spot to make it 'officially' an EP.  Big time thank you to Shane Hochstetler of Howl Street Recordings for that - we love that place.  The record is made up of the first round of songs we got to jam and write together.

The second EP, Oxblood Tides, is only different in that we had been writing and playing out together for longer. The more you play and write with each other, the more you pick up on what ideas suit each other's style.  You also get better at being in the studio together, so the end product can often end up feeling a lot better even though it's the same guys in the same studio with the same equipment and the same budget.

In a lot of ways they combine to be one album.  Well, one literal way in that we printed up CD's containing both.  It seemed silly to print two different packages when both fit on one disc.


3.On the fb page you refer  to your musical style as 'hipster doom', can you tell us a little bit more about that tag?

Ha! We adopted that after someone on reddit used that as an insult in reference to a video of ours.  Most people never notice.  Honestly we have no idea what "hipster" doom would sound like.  We've got some "doom-y" parts, but those could just as easily be described as sludge or whatever.  There are too many sub-categories in music...
 

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Most of the lyrics are pretty abstract.  Some are meant to evoke a specific image, some are intentionally creepy and others are just what we felt like shouting about.  For example, "Liars" has some political commentary about surveillance and corruption, but "Burned" is meant to create William Gibson-esque images.  There is no edict within the band about taking a stance or literary references.  We're just as likely to come up with an abstract concept-piece as we are to yell about injustice.


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Snow Burial'?

We liked the imagery and it's not taken.  That last bit is the hardest nut to crack.


6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Our two favorite shows are probably our last one in Chicago with As Hell, Nonagon (both from Chicago) and Tyranny is Tyranny (Madison) followed by our last show in Milwaukee with Vega, Zebras and Northless.  Great crowds, great bands.  For our shows we commit to leaving every ounce of energy we can onstage.  Never feels right if we walk off calm and collected.  It's a conscious effort, but it's honest. None of us have ever been the type to stand still and shoegaze (even when playing shoegaze).


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

Absolutely!  We're playing Bobby McGee's in late february with a ton of other bands as part of The Metal Experience podcast's event and we're going to hit the road in April for several out-of-town dates throughout the midwest.


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


Labels today are in a funny place.  It's so much easier to demo, record and distribute these days that bands often need exposure/marketing more than anything else.  A lot of that you can do yourself, but it seems like established labels can offer a lot help there.  We're happy doing our own recording, finding art, printing merch, all that. Booking bigger and better shows and getting more ears would be great.  Finding a label for us would really be one that could help out with that piece of it best.


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

Pretty great?  We haven't had the chance to play anywhere but the midwest yet, but we've been in touch with folks all over the world via the internet who have offered nothing but nice words so far.  Well, I guess there was that one redditor, but that's how the internet goes...

Overall everything has been pretty excellent.


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

This summer!  We're going back into record our first "full length" at Howl Street in March.  This time around we're planning on a Vinyl pressing which forces a certain amount of editing on song length and quantity.


11.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?

There are a TON of bands that we'd all list as influences, but the most obvious influences for me are probably Isis, Mastodon and the Melvins.  Going further down that rabbit hole you can probably include Mogwai, Deftones, Neurosis, Rush, etc, but that can get cumbersome.

In the world of "heavy" I've been enamored with Generation of Vipers latest record. I've also been listening to a lot of the Meters and Chris Smither, neither of which are metal... Andrew's been listening to some Tidal Arms and Brandon's been digging some M83.  Beyond that there are so many dope bands in Chicago that we get to see like Swan King, War Brides, and Electric Hawk.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?

We all love to eat, cook and drink.  There's been such an incredible amount of excellent food and great beer that's shown up over the last few years that it's amazing we haven't given ourselves cardiac disease.  Chicago's fortunate to have so many great restaurants and immigrant neighborhoods where you can get an amazing variety of food.  Add in the explosion of great breweries nearby and it's easy to get swept up in it all.

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


We're super excited to record and hit the road again.  Thanks so much for the interview!
-Ben

Discourse Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We have a record coming out in late January on Closed Casket Activities. We're playing some fests and most likely touring a good bit off of it in the Spring.

2.You have a new album, coming out this year, how would describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It's more focused and straight-forward than our previous stuff.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

It's maybe half personal stuff, half political. Losing friends & family to drugs & depression, animal rights issues, the police, religion, etc

4.All of the band members are straight edge, do you feel being sober makes you more motivated to write and play music than some of the bands that drink or do drugs?

No, I would never make that generalization.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Discourse'?

It doesn't have any special meaning.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band ha splayed over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

I don't know what you mean about stage performance. Some recent highlights have been FYA Fest 2013 & 14, Rain Fest 2014, and the tour we did with Code Orange and Twitching Tongues.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Nothing set in stone yet. We'll be touring around Rain Fest again, and playing New England Metal/Hardcore Fest.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of hardcore?

Seems like people in Germany and Japan dig our band. I send shirt orders to those countries fairly regularly.

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

Songwriting isn't my department. Hopefully it sounds more like Turmoil.

10.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?

We all dig the early Victory catalogue, plus Indecison, Turmoil, Botch, Coalesce, Cave In, etc.

New bands I fuck with - Criminal Instinct, Angel Du$t, Heavy Chains, Freedom, Modern Pain, Society Sucker

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Skateboarding.

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

Thanks to Justin at Closed Casket. Crush all fakes.