Interview – Page 11 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with In Cauda Venenum

The self-titled debut album by In Cauda Venenum is now over a year old and about to get a vinyl re-release. If you haven’t yet heard it then I highly suggest you do. Containing only two tracks, yet running for 42 minutes, the music is epic, top-of-the-line atmospheric black metal, full of texture and darkness.

Ictus, (guitars, bass and vocals), brought me up to speed with all you need to know about this talented band…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We are two guys playing Black Metal songs. We like making it epic, progressive and atmospheric. If you enjoy long tracks, you should give a chance to IN CAUDA VENENUM.

Give us a bit of background to In Cauda Venenum

I wrote 4 first ICV songs during 2009 and 2010. When N.K.L.S. joined me as a drummer in 2011, we decided to bring them to another level and started a rewriting process. After several years working on these 4 tracks, we finally decided to focus on 2 tracks to prepare our first release. We made this choice because our tracks were quite long (more than 20 min each), and the job was to huge. Continue reading “Interview with In Cauda Venenum”

Interview with Allegaeon

Have you heard Allegaeon’s latest album Proponent for Sentience yet? If you haven’t, then you really, really should. It’s that good. It’s also one of those very pleasing records that just gets better the more you listen to it. With each spin you notice and appreciate different things about the songs, and you wonder how you didn’t notice them the first time around.

Hmm, there’s clearly some form of black magic going on here. Or, as we’ll see, maybe some high-tech shenanigans are afoot…

Introduce us to Allegaeon

Well we’re a 5 piece modern melodic death metal band, originally out of Fort Collins Colorado, but now out of Denver. Riley McShane on Vocals, Michael Stancel and myself (Greg Burgess) on guitar, Brandon Park on drums, and Corey Archuleta on bass.

What are your influences?

Continue reading “Interview with Allegaeon”

Interview with Forty Winters

Rotting Empire is the second album from US metal band Forty Winters. Chock-full of heavy riffs and meaty beatdowns, this is metallic hardcore in its original 90s/00s incarnation, all stomping riffs and attitude, but with modern delivery. And do you know what? It’s great to hear.

Jeff Stevenson (Guitar) & Xavier Vicuna (Vocals) filled me in a bit more on all things Forty Winters…

Introduce us to Forty Winters!

Xavier: We’re Forty Winters, metal band from South Florida. We play pissed off music for pissed off people. It’s actually a lot of fun. We love to tour, so make sure you come check out a show if we’re in your area. Continue reading “Interview with Forty Winters”

Interview with Mindscar

Mindscar’s second album is a different beast to their first one, but no less savage. What’s Beyond the Light is both catchy and memorable extreme metal, confident in its attack and nuanced enough to have more depth than you might be expecting from such an in-your-face band.

Guitarist/singer Richie Brown tells us more…

Introduce us to Mindscar!

We are a three piece metal band from Florida with two albums out: Kill The King and What’s Beyond The Light.

What are your influences?

Nature and life experiences. Continue reading “Interview with Mindscar”

Interview with Ancient

Ancient have returned! Back to the Land of the Dead is the band’s first outing in 12 years, and one that has amassed no small amount of expectation in certain quarters.

You’ll no doubt be pleased to know that it’s an album that lives up to these expectations, one that’s worth taking the time to listen to and to get to know as it lashes you with its frosted riffs and serrated vocals.

Thankfully, when speaking to the owner of said serrated vocals, he revealed himself to be much less scary than his recordings would suggest.

Step into the world of Ancient…

Introduce yourself!

My name is Zel, founder of the band Ancient, an extreme metal band, with roots in the Norwegian black metal scene, founded in Norway in 1992, but today is based in Italy, and Greece (where I live). Continue reading “Interview with Ancient”

Interview with Void Omnia

US black metallers Void Omnia have released quite a storming debut album. It’s called Dying Light and is definitely one that you should check out. With speed, melody and atmosphere, it’s a well-rounded release that latches onto the listener with its aggressive tempo, and stays there by virtue of dark moods and layered textures. The band’s vocalist Jamison Kester touched base with us to keep us informed about what they’re up to…

Introduce us to Void Omnia!

We are 5 piece atmospheric black metal band from Oakland, CA that began in 2011 but truly did not take shape until the latter half of 2013.

What are your influences?

Our musical influences range from black, death, grind and classical. All of us are multi-instrumentalists who listen to a broad scope of music at varying degrees. Continue reading “Interview with Void Omnia”

Interview with Slomatics

Future Echo Returns is, basically, a great album. Mixing sheer heaviness, colourful vocals, infectious melodies, atmospheric synths and a real emotional connection to the listener, I simply can’t say enough good things about this record. So I won’t bother trying – just make sure you get your claws on it and let the band sweep you away. David, the band’s guitarist, took the time to tell us all about the album, his band, and life in general…

Introduce us to Slomatics!

Hi. We’re a three piece based in Belfast, Ireland. The line up is Marty on drums/vocals/synths, Chris on guitar and I’m on guitar too. We formed in 2004, toured and put out a couple of albums and some splits. Marty joined us in 2011 and that’s really when things kicked off. Continue reading “Interview with Slomatics”

Interview with Cerberus Unchained – An introduction

Have you heard of Cerberus Unchained? I’m guessing you probably haven’t. They’re a melodic death metal band from the UK. They might only have released one song so far, but it’s a corker, and more than enough reason for you to start keeping an eye on them.

The passion the band have for the music they play is evident not just in their words below, but also in their debut song, Warm Blooded Beast, which you can listen to at the bottom of this interview. Do make sure you take the time to give it a spin, as it’s melodic death metal of the highest quality – with none of the dross or overly commercialised stuff we’ve, (Sadly), come to expect from the melodic death metal sub-genre tag these days. No, Cerberus Unchained have shown that they’re potentially on to something special with this song, so it’s with much eagerness that I now await their future output.

As I frequently say – good music should always be supported – so with that in mind I caught up with the band to find out more about them, why you should be paying them attention, and why they could very much be ones to watch…

Introduce us to Cerberus Unchained!

Cerberus Unchained, readers, readers, Cerberus Unchained.

What are your influences?

We’ve got a pretty wide range of influences to be honest, but we all like it loud. Anything goes really from, Heck (sorry about the swearing), to Corrosion of Conformity, Children of Bodom to Dream Theater and then back to Iron Maiden for good measure. Sam recently professed enthusiasm for Babymetal as well so we’re keeping an eye on him just in case he does something silly.

Name five things you’ve listened to recently that you’d recommend

I think the best band I’ve discovered recently has to be Allegaeon, their work is just mindblowing; technical, smart lyrics and badass delivery. Beyond that I’d have to recommend the new Countless Skies album, the new Children of Bodom album, and absolutely anything by Ghost B.C. and Clutch. Oh, and the Dorylus ‘Rapture’ EP! – Simon Continue reading “Interview with Cerberus Unchained – An introduction”

Interview with Seventh Station

Seventh Station are a band that like their intricate playing and involved compositions. This is perfectly exemplified on their debut album Between Life and Dreams. With a varied and nuanced approach to songwriting, the band take the listener on a roller coaster ride though multiple feelings, moods and experiences, as they traverse the musical landscape with veteran ease. Dmitri Alperovich, lead guitarist extraordinaire, gave me a bit more information about his band…

Give us a bit of background to Seventh Station

Seventh Station is an international progressive metal band, founded by me and the bass player Alexey Polyansky in 2008 at Jerusalem, Israel. The band is based in Slovenia today and its members are from Israel, Slovenia and USA. We are using lots of different types of music to form our ideas and the main aim is not to be limited to any kind of expression we want to play. Continue reading “Interview with Seventh Station”

Interview with Jinjer

Jinjer’s third album King of Everything is an intelligently aggressive take on modern metal. It has a lot of selling points going in its favour, and successfully combines so many good things about modern heavy music. Plus, it just plain rocks. Good music deserves support, so find out a bit more about the band below, listen to their music and turn the volume up loud…

Introduce us to Jinjer!

Hi, it’s Eugene of JINJER, on bass, there are 4 of us – Tatiana on vocals, Roman on guitars, a new drummer Vlad and me. We come from Ukraine, Donbass, and we make a unique sort of true and intelligent metal.

What are your influences?

There are many, starting from Guano Apes, Slayer, Pantera, Otep, Death, Cynic in the early years to more modern influences like Opeth, Gojira, Lamb of God, Textures, Meshuggah, Karnivool, The Faceless and Periphery, etc. Moreover we listen to a lot of non-metal music, Tati loves Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse. We really like listening to Cypress Hill and House of Pain in our van on the road. Continue reading “Interview with Jinjer”