Dead Register Interview

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

We’ve been focusing all of our energies on a DIY release for Fiber, I mean, helping AVR Records release this beast, working our day jobs, and looking to see what the future holds for Dead Register and the road.

Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Drums by Chad, proper crushing basslines and soaring textures by Avril, “lead” bass by me (Chvasta). It’s low, slow, extremely heavy, and atmospheric. I do the lead vocal and Avril does some smeared reverby feminine flourishes. Dan Dixon nailed our live sound on this recording. We pretty much crushed it: 2 takes for everything with some obligatory punch-ins, and what was there, was “there—that’s our sound.” Done!

3. The band has been around for 3 years but waited until recently to have released an album, can you tell us a little bit about the early years?

Out of the gate, we had a great deal of material already written and rehearsed. We just took our time to polish them up, then pick which ones we collectively liked the most for our first proper release.

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

Mostly that of love and loss. Dealing with life. Confusion. Delusion. Unrealistic expectations. Self-loathing. Crippling depression. Etc. Humanistic stuff, I wear my heart on my sleeve.

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

Before Chad joined the fold, Avril and I would jam, and when I’d play some super low bass notes and she’d go an octave below me, it was in this horrific gut-rattling low register. It sounded and felt like a battle between two dump trucks. A fulfilling deep “I feel like I’m being dismantled by tone” register, which we jokingly referred to as the Dead Register. It stuck, and like countless other bands, we like the word “Dead.”

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’ve been able to support a great deal of awesome national acts, but there’s none better than Author and Punisher. It might not have been our best show, but being able to support somebody as amazing as Tristan really hit home. I also really enjoyed a private party that I threw for myself for my 40th birthday. I only booked Dead Register, got to play for all my friends in a cool art gallery (RIP DOOGALLERY), and got to eat cake.
Our stage performance has evolved nicely. Avril worked with our friend Emily Harris, a prominent metal photographer here in Atlanta, to create an extremely dark visual presentation that’s projected behind us or over us, depending on the venue. Sometimes it plays like a video, sometimes it’s just moving shapes that makes some more magic happen than “3 folks sullenly standing on stage that happen to be making (extremely slow) music.” We need to get some new live footage online to reflect the direction we’ve been going in.

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

Nothing is on the books yet. This summer we intend to hit the road and tour the Southeast US to support the record. We need to get over the hump of this release first, then comes the booking. I’ve tuned up my tour van, and we’re ready to roll (after I replace the old tires).

8 .The new album was released on AVR Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

We set a timeline and shopped the record as hard as we could. We hit the “It’s time for a self-release” deadline, and decided to move forward. Avril’s done all of the design work, packaging, photography, merchandising, production, our music video, it only seems fitting that it would be released under her studio name. She’s a busy bee. Bzzz. 

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

I’ve been eyeballing our demographics, and we are happy to see folks from all over the world “liking” our band. Not a whole helluva lot yet, but it’s a great start! So far we’ve gotten a great deal of positive praise from all sorts of music lovers. Thank you for helping us spread the word to get some more exposure!

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

Taking our heaviness and sonics to new levels. We have another full-length record of material written already, and we’re still writing more. Tonight even. We’re working on slow and gloomy Dead-Reg’d-out covers of Pegboy and Bolt Thrower.

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?

Avril and I have been best friends for about 19-20 years now, and we’ve seen so many awesome and diverse acts over the span of our friendship. Indie rock, math rock, metal, hardcore, electronic, punk, industrial, non-radio-pop, etc. We enjoy all types of underground/dark music. And some music that isn’t dark, but not much. Chad’s into all sorts of stuff, but he’s been crushing on contemporary art-school black metal a good bit.
Random stuff we’ve been spinning lately: Author and Punisher, Oranssi Pazuzu, Angelic Process, Godflesh, Self-Evident, Fields of the Nephilim, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Killing Joke, Ben Frost, & Bolt Thrower.


12. What are some of your non musical interests?

I drink coffee. All three of us ride bicycles. Avril and I are urban cyclists (douchey old hipsters), and Chad takes vacations just to ride. He’s committed. Mountain biking, road biking, fixed gear snobbery, etc. Chad and Avril like beer. Avril and I play couch co-op videogames. We also bitch and whine. A LOT.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Dark Roast coffee was just pushed through a steam machine into a small cup with steamed half and half. Tonight ends on a great, delicious, dark note. Thank you for your interest and support in Dead Register.

Iron Jawed Guru/Mata Hari/2016 Full Length Review

  Iron  Jawed  Guru  are  a  band  from  West  Virginia  that  plays  an  instruments  form  of  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Mata Hari".

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  stoner  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with some 70's  style  guitar  leads  while the  rhythms  have  more  of  a  90's  style  to  them  and  you  can  also h ear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  a  touch  of  grunge  and  all  of  the  songs  are  in  an  instrumental  musical  direction.

  While t here  is  a  great  amount  of  retro  and  old  school  musical  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style  the songs  still  sound  very  modern  along  with  the  heaviness  of doom  metal  and  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  very  heard  and  heavy  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  while  also  mixing  in  a  touch  of  blues  rock.

  Iron  Jawed  Guru  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  groove  and  stoner  rock  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  to  create a  musical  style  of  their  own  and  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording.  

  In  my  opinion  Iron  Jawed  Guru  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Quake"  "Gemini"  and  "Vesuvius".  8  out  of  10.

    

 

Unhoped Interview

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

Well hello! We just did 4 weekend in a row-shows in Finland and Estonia, couple of them with great dudes from Thrashless, Aratic and Nuclear Omnicide! Time to start planning the rest of the years gigs, new merch, check out new riffs and all that stuff! Our singer Luostarinen just moved back here in our hometown so I think sauna is in heavy use again when summer comes!..Good times.

2.In March 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?

We were after a most aggressive, violent and pushing sound we could and it came up just as we wanted! We turned off the click this time and it was good decision. The idea of tempo changes from human instead of metronome was tempting and Huisko pulled it off great. Thats a big part of the feel on this one.. Sounds you hear on a record is what you hear live 100%. Gear-wise and music-wise. Theres no dramatic-huge layers we would not able to bring you live.  We have done all our releases in our own bunker, recording, mixing and mastering. Sonic Violence is mastered by Dyne Engine Studios and they did great job. If Nuclear Death was bit more deathy, i quess this is bit more thrashy!


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

Our lyrics are quite typical for a thrash band, but that doesn´t bother us in any way. Lyrics on "Sonic Violence" go on about war, greed and stupidity of humankind. The biggest difference in lyrics on the album are in ”Assimilation” and on the title track itself, the first as a bow down towards the movie ”The Thing” (1982) and ”Sonic Violence” being a full blown, tongue-in-cheeck thrash anthem. We want to write as great songs and lyrics as possible, but we won´t get too stressed if lyrics are not that original, although it´s always cool when you get some juicy lines for the song and think to yourself ”Yeah, now I nailed it!””.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Unhoped'?

To be honest, theres no bigger meaning in the name, drummer Huisko came up with the name that is simple and looks cool so we went with that!

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?

Steelfest 2013 was killer.. Main acts were Sodom and Destruction! Our hometown obviously cos all the friends and in Pori theres good thrash-scene.. Our stage performance is similar to that other performance too: fast, chaotic and musky haha! The feeling when you really need a breath-brake but the beating just goes on is big part of our live-show.. You have to feel like broken when you come out from thrash-show. Sweet melodies ain't Unhoped's thing haha!

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

We started the year with bunch of shows and plan is to play as much we can, spreding the Sonic Violence and have fun! Good plan right? No bigger tour yet to come.

7.The new album came out on 'EBM Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Its a thrash/death/grind based label from Mexico, very old-school stuff! They liked our stuff and we went with them!

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

Feedback have been just great! Since we released our first full-length Die Harder, metalheads have noticed well! Feels good to talk to guys allover, send merchandise and have that kind of support.


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

We have played almost ten years music we love and people seems to like it so we have no needs to change the recipe. Of course we want to get better and tighter as an individuals and as a band and that way improve our stuff. We have our own sound and stuff that gets through our shit-filter is going to be in next album! We are simple guys haha!

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?

We are old school thrash and deat hmetal fans.. Exodus, Slayer, Death, Demolition Hammer, Sepultura, The Crown, Malevolent Creation and all that good stuff gets blasted constantly. Members music taste goes from dirty old blues to black metal!

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Action- and old western movies haha!! Ice hockey is a big thing to finnish people.. One fixes instruments and other throes frisbee in the woods! Having a beer and sauna and listening to Iron Maiden?! I dont know, theres not too much somehow music-related things in our lives!

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

Check our new music video for the song 'Human Disgrace' from Youtube, we thrashed our bunker on that, take contact if you want merch of something, if you are on the budjet crank it from Spotify it'll be there soon. It was recently Paul Baloff's birthday and friday is coming so have your Good Friendly Violent Fun, thank you sir.

Devil Gone Public/Smokehound/2016 Full length Review

  Devil  Gone  Public  are  a  band  from  Florida  that  plays  a  mixture  of  southern,  stoner,  sludge  and  groove  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Smokehound".

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  elements  of  groove  metal  while t he  lyrics  are  done  in  more  of  a  southern  metal  clean  singing  style  while  also  having  its  aggressive  moments  with  a  few  screams  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  more  of  a  melodic  style  of  metal  and  rock.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them along  with  a  brief  use  of  bass  leads  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  stoner  rock  are  utilized  on  a  great  amount  of  tracks  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  briefly  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  hard  and  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Devil  Gone  Public  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  southern,  stoner  and  groove  metal  and  mixes  it  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  Pot  Smoking  and  Real  Life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Devil  Gone  Public  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner,  southern  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Aether  Way"  "Satan  Hold  My  Hand"  "Poison  the  Well"  and  "Galatic  Amnesia".  8  out  of  10.

Clouds Taste Satanic/Your Doom Has Come/2015 Full Length Review

  Clouds  Taste  Satanic  are  a  band  from  New  York  that h as  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  stoner,  doom  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  rleeased  2015  album  "Your  Doom  Has  Come".

  A  very  dark and  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  doom  metal  direction  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of  the  tracks  avoid  using  any  vocals  or  song  writing  while  most  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  As  the  album  progresses  element s of  stone r and  post  metal  are  added  onto  the  recording  while  all of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to   them  and  mid  paced  sections  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  the  whole  album  also  always  remains  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Clouds  Taste  Satanic  creates  another  recording  that  mixes  stoner,  doom  and  post  metal  together  while  also  getting  a  lot  more  heavier   and  they  also  avoid  using  any  vocals  or  song  writing  and  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Clouds  Taste  Satanic  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  instrumental  stoner,  doom  and post  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "One  Third  Of  The  Sun"  and  "Dark  Army".  8  out  of  10.

  

   

Sonic Wolves/He Said/Taxi Driver Rrecords/2016 Single Review

  Sonic  Wolves  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  blues  and  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  single  "He  Said"  which  was  released  by  Taxi  Driver  Records.

  A  very  hard  and  melodic  blues rock  sound  starts  off  the  single  along  with  some  psychedelic  elements  and  after  a  few  seconds  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  they  bring  in  a  touch  of  70's  doom  metal  which  also  leads  to  the  music  going  into  a  heavier  stoner  rock  musical  direction.

  All  of t he  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while t he  solos  and  leads  remain  true  to  a  retro  rock  direction  and  while  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  70's  it  still  sounds  very  modern  and  on  the  second  track  the  music  starts  getting  more  upbeat  and  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  the  second  song  also  brings  in  male  vocals.

  Sonic  Wolves  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  blues  and  stoner  rock  together  along  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sonic  Wolves  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  blues  and  stoner  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out t his  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Song  For  the  Earthbound".  8  out  of  10.

   

Hollow Leg/Crown/Argonauta/2016 CD Review

  Hollow  Leg  are  a  band  from  Florida  that  plays  a  mixture  of  psych,  sludge,  doom  and  stoner  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Crown"  which  was  released  by  Argonauta.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  aggressive  screams  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  while  you  can  also  hear  elements  oh  hardcore  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  stoner  rock  vibe  and  there  is  also  a  touch  of  70's  doom  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  more  melodic  style  of  vocals  are  more  close  to  groove  metal  and  some  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  steel  guitars  which  also  adds  a  touch  of  American  blues  to  the  recording  while  some  of  the  melodies  also  come  from  traditional  metal  while  some  of  the  clean  guitars  bring  in  more  of  a  psychedelic  sound  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  slow  music  style  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Hollow  Leg  plays  a  musical style  that  takes  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  with  a  touch  of  blues  and  classic  metal  to  create  a very  heavy  yet  melodic  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hollow  Leg  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Coils"  "Electric  Veil"  and  "New  Cult".  8  out  of  10.