Mutank Interview

Answers written by Stephen Reynolds (bassist, vocalist)

http://mutankthrash.bandcamp.com/

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

We're a 4 piece metal clique based out of MTL, QC that plays unfuckwithable metal-speed-thrash. We started in the summer of 2013, released our first album 'M.E.C.H. Metal' in the beginning of 2014 and have big plans for the rest of this year, so keep your helmets on and your ears to the underground.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is present on both the album and demo?

It's kind of a mix of fun-loving party tracks with brooding frustrated rawness which is accentuated with the simple and timeless attitude of not giving a single fuck. It is at once boisterous and loathsome... and fast!

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

We talk about time-travel paradoxes, viking rituals, globalization, children on drugs, mall massacres, evil robots wizard horses, suicide, failed relationships, people who claim to have "grown out of metal", rape, the disenfranchised youth, bands that suck, moshing dinosaurs, the apocalypse and among other things, MUTANK! 

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

MUTANK is a portmanteau of the words "mutant" and "tank". There is no deeper meaning; it simply came out of a pile of names and just stuck. Perhaps the fact that I came up with it while taking a triumphant dump is some indication of inspiration. 

As an aside: MUTANK is always spelled in ALL-CAPS! If you spell it 'Mutank', or 'mutank' you're doing it wrong! 

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

Our first show is an easy one for obvious reasons, we got to play with American thrashers Lich King along with local thrash bands Chemical Way and Powered by Death who we became very good friends with. 

One place we always love playing is "Barfly" in MTL.  It's this little hole-in-the-wall dive bar that totally suits our vibe. At one of these shows we had a huge pit going, and in the middle of the song this girl parts the pit like Moses did the Red Sea and poured a full pint of beer over her noggin. She then commenced to smash the pint glass on the ground and the moshing recommenced. It was beautiful. 

In terms of our performance style, we work our asses off to make sure we play as tight as possible and play as a unit. We also make sure to keep it energetic and fun with a lot of movement and infinite headbanging (this part comes easily as we really love the music we play). There's also an element of of stand-up comedy between songs to keep the good vibes rollin'.

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

We have a lot of shows coming up in Montreal in the near future (we're competing in the Wacken Metal Battle for a chance to play Wacken, for example) and we have some plans to branch out to the surrounding areas (Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto etc.). A full-on tour is an inevitability but there are no solid plans as of yet. We really wanna make our way across Canada and down to the US at some point, and SOON!

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

It's definitely something we've discussed as a band. If the right thing comes along we'll do it but we aren't dead-set on selling our souls and the rights to our music just to have our name in lights. We've sent off a few demos to our ideal choices but have had no response as of right now. 

The ultimate goal here is to do MUTANK full time, if some phat-cat record execs wanna help us facilitate that, I say bring it on!

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

It's been overwhelmingly positive, albeit small. We're still working on building our fan-base. I won't feel like we've made it til we start getting gaggles of ugly dweebs telling us how much we suck.  

I had a 14 year old kid from India email me the other day to praise MUTANK and complain about how his friends listen to shitty metal. That definitely felt very cool. 

9.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

Our lead guitarist Lee is also in a brutal death metal band called Crosstitution. They've got a new album on the way sometime this year and are definitely worth checking out for any of you death metal fans out there.

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

I think it's safe to say we'll always be some variation of thrash metal. Other than that it's hard to say. We're in the process of writing new material right now and it's definitely a step up from our first album complexity wise. Every person in the band contributes to the writing process (our drummer even writes some of the riffs) and we all have differing styles so I'm genuinely excited to find out the answer to this question myself. Expect the unexpected. 

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

It would probably take way too much time and space to answer this question fully, especially for all members of the band. For me Megadeth is what got me playing music in the first place when I was 11 and I still listen to them constantly. My personal influences vary greatly across metal, hip-hop, jazz, punk which have all informed my writing in some way. 

Nowadays I listen to everything from Suicidal Tendencies to Busta Rhymes, Mr. Bungle to Darkthrone, Body Count to Brand X etc. 

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I like to draw. Me and my girlfriend do all the artwork for the band. I'm also an avid gamer whether it be tabletop or console. 

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

Our album 'M.E.C.H. Metal' is now free to download on Bandcamp, or you can order it on tape if you're really cool, check us out on Youtube, we're always posting new stuff and be sure to validate our existence by liking us on Facebook so we can spam your feed with self-praise. MUTANK OUT!

Arising Hear Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Hi , first of all, thanks for the interview!
I’m Kev, lead guitar player and the second vocalist in Arising Fear.
Arising Fear is a young four-headed metal band from southern germany. The Band was formed back in 2008 when Alex (Leadvocals/Guitar), Tom(Bass) and Tobi (Drums) quit their old skate-punk band which has been around since 2005 and were looking for a new guitar player in Augsburg, Bavaria. With me joining the guys it soon was pretty clear that the musical direction of Arising Fear would become a lot faster and heavier than the stuff they have been doing before.  Since then we practiced and played lots of live shows until we recorded our first debut EP in 2009. We just finished the recordings for our debut album “Beyond Betrayal” which will be released on march 29, 2014.

2. Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from the ep you released 5 years ago?
The music on our new record can be described as a mixture of classical heavy metal, thrash and even elements of the metalcore genre. Besides that, we set great value upon melodic songwriting and aggressive lyrics combined with an occasional acoustic attitude. It’s very important to us that every song has got a different vibe and feeling. Everybody can sit around and shred something but it’s more meaningful to us to just write a good song.
The writing process of our new record has definitely evolved a lot compared to the ep we released back in 2009. We arranged the songs more compactly and slip in all the experiences we gained over the years to make them work perfectly in our live shows.

3.The band has been around since 2005 and so far there has only been one album and ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?
As I already said, Arising Fear as a whole has been around since late 2008 after my fellow band
mates made the decision to dedicate their lifes to metal music and letting me join the band. After we released our selftitled EP we just wanted to gain as much live experience we could and set all our focus on writing the best debut record possible. Of course there also were different projects each of us joined in to develop our musical background.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lyrical topics on “Beyond Betrayal” range from approaching bad personal experiences each band member went through in the past few years and how to get over it to topics about standing your ground, doing your own thing and just not taking certain things too seriously. This is what metal as a lifestyle is all about for us. We always want to express a certain kind of message in our songs to give our fans something they can relate to and identify themselves with.




5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Arising Fear'?
At first we were just looking for a catchy metal band name which immediately settles in your memory, but everybody experienced different kinds of fear during their lifes and I’m sure that people can relate to a band name which describes that particular feeling. There’s always a huge heap of adrenaline rushing through your body when you are scared and this is exactly what we want to achieve when you are playing our debut record on your home stereo or attending an Arising Fear live show.

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 played  a lot of intense shows including very well known german bands like Emil Bulls or Tenside . It’s an indescribable experience to play your music in front of a big crowd that sings along with you and goes off completely. We emphasize a strong and powerful show with energetic movement all the time!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are going to play as much live shows as possible and heading out for shows in germany within the next months. At the moment we are proceeding with several booking agencies to promote our new record.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Of course we are looking for a record deal! We hope that our debut record attracts enough notice to gain a record company’s  attention and  we’ll give it all to accomplish that goal.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of thrash metal?
Considered that we are not a thrash band in the classical way like Exodus, Overkill  etc. the feedback was just awesome! It’s always an honor to get positive feedback from people who are listening to your music  and dig it.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are already working on new songs for our next record. And the material definitely gets a bit more catchy due to the reason that we are going to emphasize the vocals a lot more than we did on beyond betrayal . The guitar parts will become more diversified and there will be more melody within the songs! We will try to hit the studio again in early 2015!





11.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I think it’s always important to listen to a lot of different styles of music, whether it’s Jazz, Hardrock or Black Metal. We have a lot of influences and everyone likes different bands.
We don’t want to copy somebody’s music and we always want to create a unique sound with our band. But as our favourite’s I definitely gotta go with bands like Pantera, Machine Head and Metallica but also “newer” Bands like As I lay Dying or Trivium.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
First of all, we all like to just hang out with our friends and have a good time. I am very interested in reading books about the history of germany and the rest of Europe, Alex and Tobi are into football and like to work out while Tom is into sports and snowboarding.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Big THANK YOU for the great review and interview! And to the readers: If you are into metal, support your local bands, attend their live shows and buy their records! There are so many great bands out there which deserve to get more attention.
Check out our debut Album “Beyond Betrayal”! It would mean the world to us!

Best,

Kev/Arising Fear

Gunpowder Gray/Self Titled/Boris Records/2014 EP Review

  Gunpowder  Gray  are  a  band  from Georgia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  metal,  NWOBHM  and  heavy  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2014  ep  which  will  be  released  by  Boris  Records.

  The  ep  starts  out  with  a  heavy  sound  that  combines  70's  hard  rock  and  doom  metal  together  and  a  few  seconds  later  blues  rock  style  vocals  and  melody  are  added  into  the  recording  and  after  awhile  solos  and  leads  become  a  part  of  the  music.

  When  the  ep  goes  into  other  songs  NWOBHM  elements  are  added  into  the  music  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  with  the  ep  going  for  more  of  a  70's  hard  rock/metal  sound  and  at  times  you  can  also  hear  traces  of  hair  metal  in  the  music.  

  With  this  ep  Gunpowder  take  doom,  NWOBHM,  hair  metal  and  classic/blues  rock  to  create  a  sound  that  is  very  retro  and  old  school  in  sound  while  also  having  a  more  modern  day  production  to  it.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Gunpowder  Gray  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  doom,  heavy  metal  and  hard  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gunpowder  Gray"  "Under  the  Gun"  and  "Saints".  8  out  of  10.  

Lenore S Fingers Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Patrizio: We are a melancholy metal band from Italy, formed in 2010, by the ideas of Federica Lenore.

2.You have a new album coming out this month, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction you have taken with the new recording?
Patrizio: Our music is not inspired by any current or band of the past, of course we have been influenced by our favourite music, but the project is the result of Lenore's ideas transported in music and interpreted by us all, according to our feelings. The songs are governed by arpeggios with a background of distortions. In this all the melancholic voice is always the protagonist.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Federica: My lyrics are about various topics, they deal with the events I have experienced in my life, such as the disappearance of my beloved ones, or, more generally, the disappointment in finding out the reality of how the world works. I try to express what I feel and what I have felt as much as possible through my lyrics, through my vocal style and through my arpeggios.

4.One of your songs was based on Greek Mythology, do you have a huge interest in this topics?
Federica: I am into Greek mythology thanks to my classical studies but I have always admired the Greek culture ... I have always imagined these people having a very special relationship with the world and with nature around them and, also, they have been able to capture the true essence of life. Plus, my passion is fueled by the fact that the land where I was born, at the time of the Greeks, were a greek territory so I feel like I am their child.

5.I know that the band name came from the comics of Roman Dirge and the fantasy novels of Dave Firth, what was the decision behind using it as a ban name?
Federica: The name was chosen by Patrick, who used to call me "Lenore" because he was use to tell me I was similar to the cute girl regarding my character and attitude. Lenore And Salad Fingers both describe ''visually'' our music in a antic way.

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?
Patrizio: At the moment we have had few opportunities to play live, because even before the release of the CD we wanted to perform. But among the few live we have done, we remember with great pleasure the two lives of openness to the Dawn of Morrigan, who are wonderful people. On stage we try to recreate the atmosphere of the album and to involve the largest audience as much as possible.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of gothic metal?
Federica: We really had a lot of positive reviews from various magazines, but what made ​​us the most pleasure were the messages of appreciation we received from individuals unknown.

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Federica: We hope we could keep on composing our own music and if there will be occasions to play live around thethe world or even just collaborate with other artists.. that would be great.

10.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Federica: My favorite bands are Dead Can Dance, Katatonia, Anathema, type o negative and Paradise Lost ... Patrick listens to modern hardcore bands even if he appreciates the music i listen to. Gianfranco and Domenico prefer more extreme genres while Joseph loves progressive metal.

11.DO you have any non musical interests?
Patrizio: I think for all of us, the main interest is music .... then i guess video games (included Federica).

Mutank/M.E.C.H Metal/2014 CD Review

  Mutank  are  a  band  from  Canada  that  plats  a  mixture  of  crossover,  thrash  and  speed  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "M.E.C.H  Metal".

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  and  old  school  punk.thrash  metal  sound  along  with  vocals  that  utilize  both  aggressive  and  melodic  elements  while  also  bringing  in  traces  of  hardcore  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music.

  When  the  album  goes into  other  songs  the  music  brings  in  a  mixture  of  both  modern  day  and  old  school  thrash  metal  elements  as  well  as  adding  blast  beats  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  putting  a  good  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing  as  well  as  a  good  amount  of  speed  metal.

  With  this  recording  Mutank  take  the  aggressive  elements  of  both  modern  and  old  school  thrash  metal  and  mix  it  in  with  the  speed  of  crossover  and  speed  metal  to  create  a  sound  that  is  very  retro  yet  modern  all  at  the  same  time.

  Song  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  album.

  In  my  opinion  Mutank  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  thrash,  speed  metal  and  crossover  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "M.E.C.H  Metal"  "W.A.R"  "Heavy  hand  Of  the  Doomsday  Clock"  and  "Thrashback  To  The  future".  8  out  of  10.

Kerretta Interview

Interview answered by

H.Walker, Kerretta.

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

We began the process in late 2012 and we have the first single out in April just before we play some dates in Spring. We're looking to perform some of the new material live on this tour that we're excited about that. We've been based in different cities as well, so that has made the approach to the new record different as well.

  

2.You have a new album coming out this year, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from your previous releases.

I guess the musical direction is the same as we have always done, which is look to the future rather than reference the past. The approach to each recording though is different. For Vilayer and Saansilo, a lot of the ideas were sourced from being together in a studio and recording large amounts of material, referencing it, and then going back through any working through parts which we liked and then over time many of these ideas were sculpted into songs. The approach for this record was different to the previous two in that a lot of the ideas were brought in the studio prior and worked from there.  This was partially situational as we were in different cities/countries during some of the early writing process. We also we able to add some other instrumentation we hadn't in the past and I think the record sounds very different to the others as a result.

3.What are some of the themes and images the band brings out with the newer music?

This one was definitely more of a concept in a linear start to finish form than the prior albums. Some of these are alluded to in the song titles, but I don't wish to give anything more away than that. Without wanting to be too obscure, I like the idea of music still having the how/why/where mystery run through it. 

4.Are there any plans to use vocals in the future?

I can state that we work on more of a never say never policy.…so it's possible you may hear some soon!

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

I can answer this question without appearing too evasive!

We wanted to evolve in whatever way it wanted without pre-conceptions so we were intentionally vague, similar to the bands beginnings really, but it's an amended spelling on a place called Kereta based on the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. 

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?

I guess the three of us would have different ideas here. If I had to choose a few based solely on very memorable shows but for different reasons: Our last show in Auckland was great because we were all living there at the time, The Smell (Los Angeles, USA) because I had to use a borrowed drum kit which was almost almost’s a child’s practice kit and we played with The Narrows to a hardcore crowd on the floor, playing in Poland at a Polish air force dance hall when it was-28 outside, opening for The Breeders to a seated crowd at a hall and choosing to play our most metal set, or any show where we have a gear failure and are forced to work around it and come up with a different set on the spot to suit.

To answer the second part of your question; a mix of technical and explosive. I like the instruments being dynamic and hit as quietly as they would be hit hard.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album comes out?

Absolutely. I am hoping we'll never leave your listings page for quite some time after it's released. Possibly in the Autumn it’ll start though!

8.The band is signed to Golden Antenna Records, how did you get in contact with this label and also how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?

We were playing the SXSW festival in Austin, TX, USA in 2010 and were performing with another band called My Education. My Education's label was called Golden Antenna and they then contacted us through Myspace and after hearing the record, licensed it for Europe. At the time I remember there being a few years where indies were dropping off the radar and GA were pretty upfront from the start about how they do business, so that was refreshing. And since then, GA have been great, and have helped us out a lot. The owner Timo often tours with us, tolerates our average gutter-level sarcasm and is polite enough to correct us on our poor grammar. No small achievement for a label-boss with English as second language. 

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

Every time we play a show, we still have to pinch ourselves that people come to see us, buy our records etc in places we've never been and sometimes never heard of prior to us playing there. We're additionally lucky as well in that we're able to play as many metal shows as we are able to play punk shows, and experimental gigs. And we always get people come and tell us story's, tell us about their bands, give us their demo's or records, invite us out, so I'd say overall the feedback is pretty positive.  

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

I guess the next record will be a good indicator of the next step. Beyond that, we'll just take it as it comes at the time. No doubt we'll try some things that may or may not work!

 

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

I'm mostly focused on musical projects that I work on really and as a result, don't get an opportunity to listen to much music when we're not on the road. This is mostly because the majority of the recording/mixing/producing is all done internally within the band (so I hear our stuff ALL the time). In saying that, records that are current and I've enjoyed listening to that we've had an opportunity to check out while on the road are Planks "Funeral Mouth", The Knife "Shaking The Habitual", Warpaint "ST", the new QOTSA, the dub side-project of Cevin Key (from Skinny Puppy), and Mantar - "Death by Burning". 

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Not many unfortunately, as it's basically an obsession, the musical side as well as the "business" side. I can however ride a horse pretty well.

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

Thanks for taking the time to interview me. Hopefully we’ll be in Leipzig again soon for a show.

Angerman Interview

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

-The band has been regrouping and began practice for the release shows.

2.Recently you have put out a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how doe sit differ from your previous release?

-This is our first full album,so we have just tried to make a good modern sounding record with songs that make us and people happy and satisfied.In the end its just hard rock with melodic vocals.

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

-I guess you have to ask our vocalist,but i think its pretty everyday stuff that people can relate to.

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

-The meaning is its just a cool band name that we found,and it can mean whatever you want it to mean.

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?

-Their has been some good shows localy,but things can always get better.I dont know if we have any stage performance.But i do like to think we create a energy to the crowd with our style of music,were just 5 guys who love playing the music we make!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
- Were gonna play as much as possible,between our daily jobs.hoping to get some festival shows and a tour.And the first gig will be a good release gig in our home town.Then will take it from there.

7.The new album came out on WormHoleDath, how did you get in contact with this label and also how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?
-   They found us and contacted us on the net,the support has been great.We are looking forward to a good and creative relationship with the nice guys in wormholedeath.

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

-So far so good,but we hope we will get a lot of fans and good feedback off course.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
 -  Were gonna continue making heavy,melodic good old hardrock

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

-We are inspired by band like: Pantera,Alice in Chains,Black Sabbath,Soundgarden,Thin Lizzy,KingsX and many more.We all listening to pretty different music,some of us to classic oldschool metal and rock bands some to grunge and some to death metal.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

-I can only speak for myself,but i love soccer,movies and tv series.

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

-Angerman is gonna tear 2014 up with some good Norwegian metalgrunge! ;)