CardiaC Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
bastien: Well we just came back from a 8 day acoustic tour in New York in february, and now we're focusing on our new electric album Sangrar Hasta Logralo, released in may through Tenacity Records. We are also trying to expend geographically as we've got band members living in switzerland but also in spain and in the UK. So we're trying to gig everywhere possible basicaly!

2.Recently you have 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?
bastien: We definitely tried to keep the same spirit that CardiaC has always had, even if the line up changed a bit. I joined in 2014, Cedric (bass) just on time for the recording of Sangrar in 2015 and now we're also happy to have Mariano as a permanent guitarist. He has always been a member of the extend CardiaC familia but he's now 100% part of the line up! Mariano and Elric (from Promethee) recorded guitar solos for Sangrar too!
But to answer to your question, I think we're still playing the same kind of shit! A kinda groovy hardcore crossover, maybe more straight to the point than before though!
Soundwise, Drop (Downtone studio), Boulard and Didier (Ignition Prod) and finally Greg (studio du flon) did all a great job and we're really happy about the result, it sounds definitely actual, but you can style feel the guenine vibe of CardiaC.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Ricardo: I like to talk about perseverance in life, about stuff that makes you grow up as a person, it's important for me to talk about things that are meaningful to me. When I sing I put my heart into it, so it has to be real. The world is full of shit, we all know that, so when I write lyrics I like to think that there's hope left in us, and this hope has to stimulate all my fights in life. CardiaC is a positive project and we care about each other and the future of our kids, despite the fact that we like to party a lot and we don't take ourselves to seriously. Even if we dream to put in jail lots of politicians and bankers... Who doesn't?

4.The band is from Switzerland but writes their songs in Spanish, what was the decision behind using this language?
Ricardo: Well i'm spanish so I guess it's easier for me to speak in Spanish. Plus, I don't see why we should sing in English like anyone else, we felt that everyone is trying to fit in something mainstream and we simply don't. It brings something special and we are proud to be from Geneva, a city where all the different community's come together in the metal/rock/hardcore scene! Nobody cares if we sing in Chinese or Portuguese. We simple are used to it, and it define us, I hope, as an open minded band,  music is still music you know…


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'CardiaC'?
Ricardo: Our music comes from our hearts, and the heartbeat is the beginning of life, the beginning of music, rhythm is everything, is pure "Vida". The CardiaC sound is supposed to be organic and not artificial, no effects. This is an artistic project made with an old-school mentality, we don't care about fashion or the name of the band at the top of the billboard. CardiaC is a family affair and we like to be surrounded by people we care about and love. CardiaC is us but it could be you if you like to party and enjoying life as much as we do. Welcome on board!

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?
bastien: Wow… since I started playing with CardiaC I think we always put a huge emphasis on the live performance. Personnaly gigs are the best moments of my life, so I'm trying to give as much energy to the crowd as I can honestly! The best shows… hard to say, we had so many amazing moments! personally I would say the 15th anniversary last october as we had the whole crew with us and everybody went mental during the set. We also had lots of guest, that was great to gather all these friends on stage! But also I'd like to mention the first gig we played together in spain as I met the whole Spanish crew and forget to sleep for a couple of days hahaha!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
bastien: We've got a bunch of gigs planned in switzerland and in spain, we also are working on a few other shows in the UK and we're still waiting on confirmations for two main festivals this summer. We're also trying to tied up a nice tour in october…

8.The new album was released on 'Tenacitty Music', are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
bastien: Randy and Olivier are amazing! I think them and a few other promoters in Geneva are just the hardest worker I know! So yeah we're happy and proud to be officially part of their team!

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of metal, stoner, and hardcore?
bastien: I would say that it depends on the place really. We never experienced horrible feedbacks (because our bassist is a proper colossus maybe hahaha) but usually people are nice! In live situation, I think that the audience get pretty involved and they seems to have a good time! But yeah there's always "purists" who would not like the clean vocals, or the spanish language or the lack of blastbeats or whatever…

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
bastien: That's a good question… On one side we will continue to play and compose hardcore music until our death cuz that's what we do! But on the other side, we like experimenting! The unplugged album was a thing really important for us and we had a lot of fun doing it, so maybe we will continue to experiment as well in another direction on the side!

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?
bastien: There's so many of them! And we're really eclectic as well! Personally I tried to get in John Otto's shoes for the recording of Sangrar, this dude got the right sound! Our influences could go from Cypress Hill to the Buena Vista Social Club, with Poison and Mastodon somewhere in between hahahah.
Nowadays I'm really attracted by the whole UK hardcore scene, No Second Chances (Check their 7" Cursed), xRepentencex, and the last Knuckledust, it's a killer album! But also the new Madchild "Silver Tongue Devil", the beats on that record are siiiiick!

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
bastien: Mojitos, BBQ, hang out with our families and the NBA hahaha! Actually we're trying to arrange a basketball game between us and the Promethee crew, but I think they're to scared of the legendary free throws of Ricardo hahahahah

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
bastien: Yep just a quick thank you to our extended familia for the support… you know all those guys taking on their time to help us out every time, We love you guys! Also thank you for this interview and yeah have a listen on our music!

Doomain/20:10/Masked Dead Records/2016 Demo Review

  Doomain  are  a  solo  project  from  Italy  that  plays  an  epic form  of doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of his  2016  ep  "20:10"  which  was  released  by  Masked  Dead  Records.

   Drum  beats  and  a  heavy  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  soem  clean  singing  vocals  and  afte  awhile  melodic  guitar  leads  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use a  great  amount  of  melody  that  classic  traditional  metal  from  the  NWOBHM  era  with   doom  metal.

  Throughout t he  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow  and mid  paced  paced  and  the  music  is  more  rooted  in  the  80's  style  of  epic  doom metal  and  the  songs  also capture  the  sorrow  and  depression  of  that  era  while  the  riffs  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody and  all  of the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to t hem  and  the  whole  demo  also  sticks  to  a  heavy   musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Doomain  plays  a  style  of  epic  doom  metal  that  is  very  heavy  and  melodic  and  goes  back  to  the  80's  era  of  the  genre  and  ignores  all  of  the  modern  styles  of  the  past  30  years,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  war  and  death  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  Doomain  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic  doom  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Misery"  and  "Rings  of  War".  8  out  of  10.

Miss Lava/Sonic Debris/Small Stone Recordings/2016 CD Review

  Miss  Lava  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very  heavy  form  of  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Sonic  Debris"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Small  Stone  Recordings.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a few  seconds  drum  beats  are  added  onto  the  recording  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  once  the  melodic  vocals  kick in  it  starts  giving  the  music  a  stoner  vibe  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  A  lot  of  90's  influences  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  while  the  music  still  sounds  very  modern  and  psychedelic  sounds  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  on  some  tracks  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  the  energy  of  grunge  and  punk  rock  can  be  heard  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in length  and  as  the  album  progresses acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  remain  true  to  a  stoner  rock  style.

  Miss  Lava  plays  a  style  of  stoner  rock  that  can  be  psychedelic  at  times  while  also  being more  influenced  by  90's  rock  than  70's  rock  while  also  mixing  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  real  life  and  metaphysical  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  Miss  Lava  are  a  very  great  sounding  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Another  Beast  Is  Born"  "In  A  Sonic  We  Shall  Burn"  "Fangs  Of  Venom"  and  "Planet  Darkness".  8  out  of  10. 

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.