Interviews – Page 18 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with André Aaslie (Images at Twilight/Abyssic)

You may not know who André Aaslie is, but hopefully that’s about to change. He’s the man behind both the atmospheric splendour of doom-titans Abyssic and the symphonic black metal of Images at Twilight. Both bands are doing something a bit different and a bit special with their respective styles, down in no small part to their classical/orchestral parts, courtesy of André . Abyssic’s A Winter’s Tale and Images at Twilight’s Kings are both a firm hit with me, so when I got the chance to quiz the man himself, I didn’t hesitate…

What are your influences?

My main influences for Images At Twilight is the black metal scene from the nineties, and especially bands like Dark Funeral, Marduk, Emperor, Limbonic Art, Tartaros, Bal-Sagoth, Satyricon, Nokturnal Mortum, Obsidian Gate, Dimmu Borgir, Anorexia Nervosa a.o. In Abyssic, I need to mention My Dying Bride as the main influence for both me and Memnock. Until now we have made all the music together for Abyssic. In both bands I could mention several film-score conductors. And also a lot of progressive rock from the seventies, as well as the one and only Devil Doll, who influences just about everything I do in music. Continue reading “Interview with André Aaslie (Images at Twilight/Abyssic)”

Interview with Arallu

Arallu are a band that have been releasing quality music for almost 20 years, and their fifth album, Geniewar, sees the band losing no momentum or creative power. It’s an engrossing listen, and by rights the band should be at least twice as popular as they actually are. With that in mind, let’s take the time to catch up with Arallu and find out a bit more about what makes this very individual black metal band tick…

Introduce us to Arallu!

Hello from Jerusalem.

Arallu was founded in Jerusalem, in the middle of the conflict between the religions around the old city of Jerusalem in the 90s. When you live as the terror is surrounding you. Want it or not, it inspires you whatever you do. Continue reading “Interview with Arallu”

Interview with Earth Rot

Australian death metal band Earth Rot have produced one of the most exciting and jaw-droppingly impressive EPs in recent memory. Chthonian Virtues is its name, and merry destruction is its game. Jared Bridgeman, he of the inhuman lungs, told me a bit more about this energetic band…

Introduce us to Earth Rot!

We’re a 4 piece black/death band from Perth, Australia. We have 3 releases to date: Chthonian Virtues, Follow The Black Smoke and Dirt. Listen here and figure out for yourself what we’re about: http://www.earthrot.com.au Continue reading “Interview with Earth Rot”

Interview with Gridfailure

For someone who’s not massively into noise/drone/experimental/whatever music, Gridfailure has been a bit of an eye-opener for me. It differentiates itself from a lot of its peers simply by being pretty damn good. That’s it, really. The soundscapes on Ensuring the Bloodline Ends Here are made up of just good music; here we have something that builds, turns, changes and emotes, exactly what you want out of an album, no matter what it’s composed of. David Brenner, the evil genius behind the band, was kind enough to give a bit of insight into the birth of Gridfailure…

Introduce us to Gridfailure!

Gridfailure is comprised of only myself, David Brenner; the act is as of now a solo project that happened “by accident”. I’ve been playing live and recording with Theologian since last year, Summer 2015, and within that time have heavily expanded upon the bass/vocal or vocal-only responsibilities I’ve had with any of my prior acts many moons ago. All of a sudden I was unloading a wealth of accumulated ideas, recording for Theologian, in the meantime creating a plethora of toxic runoff that would not be used on our records. One day this past February I was playing with unused recordings from random sessions basically just learning how to use music creation software. Suddenly these songs just kind of “happened” within layering this dark waste, and I started creating new material to merge them together in a very Frankenhooker fashion. Gridfailure was a random name I came up with while writing lyrics for a then non-existent band in the dark during our blackout of Hurricane Sandy, then just sat there in a folder… it just popped out while these tracks were aligning, and the project was brought into existence right then, randomly dicking-around with abandoned source material and old scribble. Continue reading “Interview with Gridfailure”

Interview with I Am Noah

The Verdict by I Am Noah; here is a heavy-as-Hell metalcore album that has melodic, almost post-metal flourishes to it, making for a very satisfying listen. It’s definitely one of the best recent releases of this sometimes-maligned sub-genre and is good enough to easily remind anyone of just how effective metalcore can be when played with passion, conviction and substance. I took the time to catch up with the band just as The Verdict is being unleashed on the world…

Explain the concept behind the band name

I Am Noah is our way to address things and share our emotions. “Noah” is a fictional character who questions and condemns the boundaries of our intellect and behaviour which are omnipresent. On our record we intended “Noah” to be thought-provoking. He should speak for us as a band and reflects all our feelings, opinions, positions. Continue reading “Interview with I Am Noah”

Interview with Tothem

Tothem’s latest release Gemini shows a band that are progressing their sound, making best use of all of their assets and stripping away those parts which are unnecessary. The end result is an album that takes the Gothic metal style and imprints its own personality on it. I got the chance to find out a bit more, so read on…

Introduce us to Tothem!

Tothem is a band of five musicians sharing the same passion for music and art in general. We’ve been together for many years and this is definitely a positive thing for the cohesion of the band.

What are your influences? Continue reading “Interview with Tothem”

Interview with Circle of Reason

Faith or Theory by Circle of Reason has reignited my passion for modern melodic rock, by pure virtue of how damn enjoyable it is. Top songs, top work all around. It’s time to get to know this new face of rock, (at least in my mind), so without further ado, let’s have at it…

Introduce us to Circle of Reason!

Simon – Vocals/Guitar
Gary – Guitar
Andy – Drums
Rob – Bass/Backing vocals

What are your influences?

Deftones, Mastodon, Biffy Clyro, Muse, FFAF, Coheed and Cambria etc . We like riffs, we like melody.

Name five things you’ve listened to recently that you’d recommend Continue reading “Interview with Circle of Reason”

Interview with Artillery

Danish thrash metal band Artillery need little introduction, being decades-long veterans of the thrash metal wars. Their latest album Penalty by Perception has really upped the ante in terms of quality thrash, and it’s an album I already love. Guitarist Michael Stützer was kind enough to take some time out from reloading to answer a few questions…

Give us a bit of background to Artillery

Artillery was formed in 1982 by Morten Stützer, Per Onink, Jørgen Sandau, Carsten Nielsen and Michael Stützer and did the first demo ”We are the dead” in Dec 1982. After recording 2 new demos ”Shellschock” and ”Deeds of Darkness” in 1984 with new singer Carsten Lohmann Artillery signed with Neat Records which released the 2 albums Fear Of Tomorrow(1985) and Terror Squad(1987) now with singer Flemming Rönsdorf. In 1989 Artillery signed with Roadrunner and put out By inheritance. In 1991 Artillery took a break before releasing BACK in 1999 on Die Hard Records! After another break Artillery reunited in 2007 with singer Søren Adamsen and released 3 albums ”One foot in the grave… (2008) ”When Death comes” 2009 and ”My blood” and a DVD One foot in the grave… (2008) all on Metalmind Productions. In 2012 Artillery signed with Metal Blade and released ”Legions” (2012) and ”Penalty by perception” (2016) both with the current line up Peter Thorslund (Bass), Josua Madsen (Drums), Michael Bastholm Dahl (Vocals), Morten Stützer (Guitar), Michael Stützer (Guitar). Continue reading “Interview with Artillery”

Interview with Ad Patres and UK Tour Dates

French death metallers Ad Patres are a perennial favourite of my playlists, so when I saw they were touring the UK soon I got really quite excited. Their very sexy label Kaotoxin Records had the following to say –

Kaotoxin is proud to announce the first ever UK tour by French Death Metal machine AD PATRES, supporting brutal Brits of ABHORRENT DECIMATION.

After having played HellFest and many other French festivals, Netherlands with Krisiun, a weekend tour with Morbid Angel in France and Belgium, played Germany’s DeathFeast and whatnot, it’s time for AD PATRES to bring their savage beatings to UK stages and who other to team with than ABHORRENT DECIMATION for a brutal package of high-class Death Metal the way it was meant to be! Continue reading “Interview with Ad Patres and UK Tour Dates”

Interview with Boss Keloid

I’m not sure how many times I’ve listened to Herb Your Enthusiasm at this point, but all I know is that it’s as infectious as it is crushing, and if it doesn’t end up in my end of year list for 2016 I’ll be hugely shocked. So when I got the opportunity to dig a bit deeper into the band, I took it. Here’s Alex Hurst, vocalist of Boss Keloid…

Introduce us to Boss Keloid!

Boss Keloid are
Alex Hurst – Vocals
Paul Swarbrick – Guitar
Adam Swarbrick – Bass
Ste Arands – Drums

What are your influences?The

Influences in this band are a tad crazy as we all love different types of music but there is a common ground when it comes to anything with a good groove and beat. Influences I could list would have to be Bob Marley / Sleep / OM / Neurosis / Steely Dan / Anything Mike Patton is involved in / Will Haven / King Crimson / Secret Chiefs 3 / Kyuss. Continue reading “Interview with Boss Keloid”