Thrash metal – Page 50 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Methedras

Methedras have recently finished their latest album System Subversion and are getting ready to unleash it on the world. This is a hard working band who clearly love and believe in what they do, so I decided to get a bit more information from them…

Give us a bit of background to Methedras

Quintessence of the most direct-in-your-face thrash-death style, Methedras sets among the leading underground Italian bands, a real war-machine which has been able to release a demo and three full-length albums during its 18-years old activity, as well as have performed hundreds of concerts throughout Europe, many of them in support of big names of the international metal scene (Testament, Dismember, Hatesphere, Destruction, The Haunted, Onslaught, Exodus, Overkill, Sepultura, Deicide, Hirax and many others), without ever losing an ounce of anger and energy. Quartet formed by Claudio (vocals), Eros (guitar), Andrea (bass) and Daniele (drums), originally near Milan in 1996 with a double-guitar line-up, the band has changed over the years various members preferring in the end a solid line-up with only one guitar, arriving to a proper own style with no compromise: a sort of derived thrash metal spiced with more typical death metal influences and a groove-hardcore approach concerning the vocals.

What are your influences?

I think our influences are everything rock and heavy, ‘cause our background is right that. We love thrash and death metal, of course, but we also do listen from hard rock to grind and brutal, we have no kind of musical prejudice, for example we’re actually attracted by the industrial side of some of the new stuff written…we are in “experimental mode on” right now, and cannot say at the moment where this will end up, for us it’s enough to be free to create, without mental chains. By the way let me say everything that comes from the american bay-area of the early ’80s, being inspired by such big bands like Metallica, Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, Slayer and many others, then we grew year by year opening our minds to a more specific North-European death metal attitude, trying to mix in our sound these two different and typical metal streams.

Methedras Band What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

I’m currently in love with the killing productions of the German thrash metal heroes Kreator and Destruction, especially “Enemy Of God” and “Violent Revolution” for Kreator, and “The Antichrist” for Destruction. These cds are a brutal assault to the ears of each metalhead, with brilliant productions, and great riffs and solos.

From USA I recently listened a lot of Exodus, Machine Head, Nevermore and Overkill. Especially Machine Head are one of my favourite bands of the last decade, they started their career with an incredible album like “Burn My Eyes”, recently repeated by two CDs like “Through The Ashes Of Empire” and, of course, “The Blackening”, in my opinion the best Thrash Metal album of the latest years, with an incredible production, tons of killer riffs and solos, and a supreme singer like Rob is. I think that “The Blackening” broke with the actual returning of the 80’s thrash metal, it is a modern way to see this kind of music, with some new ideas that brings a breath of fresh air. The same that Nevermore has done until few years ago, with their personal vision.

However, I usually listen to a lot of other genres, in death metal I loved so much the reunion’s album of Carcass, all the recent production of Cynic (but it’s hard to define “Death Metal” their last albums, I think it’s better to say “Prog Metal”) and many other bands.

What are your opinions on the current state of the Thrash Metal in 2014?

In the latest years, Thrash Metal is having a new life, with numerous band that resurrected the glories of the 80’s, with modern sound and most of all brighter productions, in some case also new ideas which carried the genre into new territories.

For example the Italian scene is healthy and continuously growing, despite the very few occasions where to show up and the total lack of a more professional approach by the music system. There are tons of very good bands worthy to be discovered and listened to, but interests from media, promoters, venues and labels pretty always focus on the usual four old big names.

They’ll never get the chance to arrive to a bigger audience if this kind of situation keeps on going, we’d need the help from everyone involved in the underground in order to let these bands grow and become more-exposed, we all should finally act as a whole family, not only when it’s time to fest and hang out!

What did you want to achieve with your new release?

Ten years ago we imagined Methedras still on the road betting to gain a place on stage just a step behind heavy metal legends like Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Destruction, Entombed, Dismember, The Haunted, Onslaught and many others.. well, we won that bet ‘cause we really did it, and all of them teached us the real meaning of the music we love: blood, sweat and passion, ever! We learned that lesson (in violence ahahah) and we kept it as a way of life, everyday, on and off the stage…so, openly speaking, with the new release we’d love to imagine the same thing but at an even bigger level.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Oh yes definitely satisfied man. We believe to have reached a milestone in our career with System Subversion, achieving the long-time target to build up a delicious platter full of tastes and well-balanced. We have to infinitely thank our dudes at Domination Studio (RSM) for this, in the persons of Simone Mularoni and Simone Bertozzi, who followed all the sound tuning, recording, engineering, mixing, mastering and producing processes leading to a final great outcome such the album you’ve listened to.

Methedras Band 2 Talk to us about the lyrics

The lyrics are all written by Claudio, the singer, and are mainly about experiences he directly lives on his own skin everyday. So we can consider ’em a kind of belief-extensions directly coming from his mind, outlining how he’s used to analyse such political, cultural and lifetime subjects, viewed through his eyes and deformed by his apparent pessimism and nihilism, which instead lead to, if focused to a deeper level, an unwavering and immovable faith in the humankind and his capacity to always resurrect from his foundation, no matter how bad have been his actions, like a phoenix who recursively arises from its own ashes after being dead.

Tell us about the themes behind the album

The new songs are literally more aggressive, faster and well-balanced, rather than our past stuff, offering to the listeners a varied mix of modern heavy thrash-core, spiced with the usual band-trademark death influences, which gave to the music something darker and groovier. Let me say we believe to have been able to put together ten real killer songs which are gonna blow out your mind!

How do you go about writing your songs?

Usually the songwriting process starts with the guitar player breaking through with a killer riff, then the drummer and bass player follow building under a bone-saw drumming and some harsh bass-lines and finally the singer finishing spitting over all the shit of the world, simply telling the truth, the best thing to do the most of the times.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

Well at the moment is too much early to analyse any kind of further development, the new album is still in a pre-release step, and has been kickstarted literally few days ago, so the time spent has been really too short in order to reply to this question…what I can say is that a couple of reviews already arrived and they seem to be very optimistic and enthusiastic. The most part, pretty everyone, of media and music biz related people in Italy who have had the possibility to listen to it, tell this is our best album, with killing, fast and very exciting songs in the name and spirit of the best thrash-death metal around…so let’s see what kind of feedback we’ll first receive with this one before to start thinking about a new path for the band 😉

What can we expect from the future of Methedras?

Of course releasing System Subversion worldwide, hopefully under some good label, trying to catch the more attention possible as we believe this new album deserve a serious hype around, it’s really well-done, aggressive and brutally melodic, if you’re a fan of thrash-death-speed metal, then you should definitely diggin into it…moreover we’ll be soon engaged in a couple of imminent summer fests to officially present the new songs, at Metal Crowd in Belarus on the 16th of August, headlined by Hate, and at Malta Death Fest in Malta on the 6th of September with our bros Hour Of Penance headlining…and finally during the next fall, we should take also part to the “Sentencing Europe Tour”, supposed to happen end of November and beginning of December, and directly supporting the mighty US thrash-death maniacs Solstice from Florida, for the first time appearing in Europe. So the imminent future seems to be great for us and we’ll try to our best as usual!

Thanks so much for this interview and your time to read it, we hope to see you all at our next live events truly supporting what is the most important thing: the real metal attitude.. we exist because of you, thank to all of you out there!!

Thanks!

Website: http://www.methedras.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/methedrasthrash
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/methedrasthrash
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/methedrasthrash
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/methedras
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/methedrasthrash
LastFM: http://www.last.fm/music/methedras
Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/methedras
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/profile/32232261
Spotify: http://play.spotify.com/artist/7gRx2htny4NtVY3JIEWQRr

Band email: contact@methedras.com
Management: jon@theflamingarts.eu

The Hole – A Monument to the End of the World (Review)

This is the début album from The Hole, who are a Spanish Death Metal band with Thrash leanings.

The Hole thunder nicely out of the speakers with a heavy sound and crushing presence. It’s riff-heavy music intent on causing as much destruction and devastation as possible.

I’m not sure why but based on the album cover I was expecting this to be more commercial than it is, and I’m pleased to be mistaken as this is pleasantly brutal and harsh.

I think I was maybe expecting the Thrash element of their sound to be the dominant partner, but no; although their Thrash influence has its place and keeps the album from sounding stale, it’s the harsher Death Metal sound that is the driving force here.

The Thrash edge lends the songs a more considered side than if it was pure Brutal Death Metal, but nonetheless this is raging and storming music for the most part. Some of the riffs and ideas are actually quite inventive and the band strive to keep the album as varied and interesting as possible, which is to be commended.

The heaviness is offset with occasional melodic moments and the band know their business. A good amount of solos are played too, which is always nice.

Blast beats and mid-paced double bass sections force the guitars to keep up, and the bass actually has a presence in the songs which is good to hear.

The vocals alternate between deep, evil sounding growls and higher rasps. Both sound good; both do the job. Good vocal rhythms and structures are used.

An enjoyable and solid release. Have a listen to this.

Methedras – System Subversion (Review)

Methedras are from Italy and play Modern Thrash Metal. This is their fourth album.

A state-of-the-art heavy and crisp sound blares out of the speakers accompanied by a maniacal laugh and enough modern Thrash sensibilities to crush an elephant, (poor elephant). Methedras waste no time in preparing their mission statement and declaring it boldly.

This is Modern Thrash Metal and it’s ready to riot. Essentially the band mix elements of modern bands such as Lamb of God, Soilwork and Byzantine, Thrash bands like Annihilator and Testament and a touch of Death Metal to create an aggressively heavy album that pulls no punches. Think Testament’s Low updated for 2014.

The vocals are suitably extreme, combining screams and shouts with some deeper growling, as well as the odd melodic semi-cleaner chorus. The singer manages to achieve this with no small amount of charisma as well. Well done that man!

The songs are mature, well written and overall the album as a whole feels very comprehensive. The combination of aggressively Metal riffs and harsh vocals make for a good listening experience. With memorable choruses and hooks aplenty this is a fine collection of songs that I can imagine going down a storm live.

System Subversion is modern Metal without any of the commercial pandering or posturing that is so prevalent in today’s music. It’s modern with a heavier angle and a proper appreciation for Metal – it doesn’t let the side down.

Check out Methedras and give them your support.

Interview with Algebra

Feed the Ego is Algebra’s second album and a veritable delight for all fans of the harsher, darker side of Thrash Metal. Tony and Phil from the band filled me in with some insights into what makes them tick…

What are your influences?

Tony: So many things ! Regarding the effort put in Algebra I listen to a lot of not-so-easy-listening thrash, for example Forbidden’s “Distortion” record, “Time Does Not Heal” by Dark Angel or some Forced Entry. Personally, regarding my style of drumming, it’s quite easy to name: Lombardo, Hoglan, Benante and as a bonus I always put a Lars Ulrich drum fill in every record… it’s up to you to find it.

Phil: I think that every band that I intensely listen to inspires me, whether it’s conscious or not. I started listening to thrash and then thrash and then some more thrash. I think my first influences are Megadeth, Forbidden, Testament, etc. As time went along, I started listening to more and more extreme metal. And slowly some death metal parts started to appear in my songwriting.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Tony: Right now while I’m answering your interview, I’m updating my Accept compilation, which is a band I really love. Besides that, I really recommend Misery Index’s latest album “The Killing Gods” to any listener of extreme metal.

Phil: Not really new bands. I listen to a lot of bands like Dawn and God Dethroned right now

What were/are your aims with Feed the Ego?

Tony: To give the listener a real album, not just one or two songs that stand out, but a progression. Of course, it’s not a concept album, but you can listen to it in its entirety without being too disorientated. The lyrics, for us, are globally as important as the music, they also need a certain degree of coherence.

Phil: To make the best Swiss thrash record since Polymorph hahaha. I set multiple goals for this album. The first is a musical one. I think that after Polymorph, everything had to be redone regarding songwriting and searching for new ideas etc. I find it to be a difficult moment because you easily say to yourself: “damn, how will I find new ideas”. But slowly it all comes naturally and the songs started to spawn and then all your fears disappear. The second goal was to give the new album more exposure than Polymorph. When you do things DIY-style, your exposure tends to be quickly limited. We were lucky enough to have contact with Eric from UnspeakableAxe who offered us to release our next album.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Tony: I’m the happiest guy on this damn earth. I’ve been fighting ever since the first time I sat down behind the drumkit and played songs from Kill Em All to make an album of this quality, even if it’s not related to Kill Em All. Right now, when listening to my own album, I can objectively say: Damn, this is not bad!

Phil: Oooohh yeeeeeesss. First off, I’m very happy with how the CD turned out, at all levels. Whether it’s the playing, the lyrics or the production. Furthermore, our expectations were fulfilled, like I said, by the fact that UnspeakableAxe released our record. The communication and exposure is already y so much bigger than it was for Polymorph, thanks to their job.

How do you feel about the recording/production of the album?

Tony: We are more than satisfied with the job Andy Classen did in only 4 days on our first record “Polymorph”. Because of that, we worked with him again and are very happy about it. The sound remains very natural compared to a lot of modern productions, and that was our main goal. Furthermore, having played with Holy Moses, he very easily understands our examples and comments.

Phil: I’m really happy with the way the album sounds. We all worked really hard for it to be as clean as tight and right as possible. Some songs needed more hours of work than others and at many times we were on the verge of kicking us in the nutsack but globally speaking, everything sounds like we wanted it to sound. Because we like our sound to be as natural as possible, we once again recruited Andy Classen, who already worked on Polymorph. His job is even better this time.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Tony: The lyrics are strong and in accordance with my opinions and thoughts. I will never talk about something I don’t believe in or that has no interest. I like to study human relationships, the current state of the world, and many other subjects. It seems like it’s too well thought of for thrash, but I’m not so sure of that!

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

Tony: Two words: Guitar Pro (version 3.0. haha). It’s actually very easy for us to write songs. Phil and myself are the biggest input of raw ideas. After that, I sit down and think about not putting 52 riffs per song, but to develop a single idea in many different ways. And that’s what’s funny in Algebra’s music, many people here think that we spend a thousand hours to arrange our songs, but in general, the same idea will be used for the main riff, the arpeggios, the clean bits, etc… It’s a question of arranging and that makes all the difference when you listen to it, believe me.

Overall you work in the heavier/darker side of Thrash Metal I’d say – was this a conscious decision or something that developed naturally?

Tony: Both. Like everybody, we started by playing Slayer and Sepultura covers among many others, but it didn’t totally complete all of our wishes and ambitions, albeit the genius of these bands and the undeniable contribution to metal music, they lack of musical elements that we keep close to our hearts. Slayer, for example, did it really well on a record like “Divine Intervention”, with a wide range of riffs, vocals, great arrangements, without losing the aggressive and fast side that defines Slayer. I listen to a lot of things with great care, Voivod, Coroner, Pestilence, Atheist, thus when I write songs, I want to add as much variation in the music as possible.

Phil: I’d say that’s something that developed itself through time. Regarding myself, I don’t write songs saying to myself “ah shit, this needs to sound more evil”. I roll with sensations in music and it’s that part that I like the most. When I write songs, I will not propose something that doesn’t touch me, even if the riff is cool.

Your song My Shelf is a little different to the rest of the album – it works really well and adds a bit of variety. Tell us about this song.

Tony: Simple (as usual): Reviews. We listen carefully to positive and negative reviews that listeners make about our music, that’s what allows us to move forward. I can very well recall the day when I read the next comment, on Youtube I believe: “Never slow down and never play ballads, it’s for pussies.” That’s when I was forced to show that we also like that and that it can rightfully be put on a thrash record. For example, Testament’s ballads are musical pearls that shouldn’t be ignored.

How do you see your position in the wider Thrash Metal musical framework/genre?

Tony: I’m really happy we can spread albums on a worldwide scale like we did with “Polymorph” and now thanks to UnspeakableAxe Records, this is going beyond our expectations. We reach a lot of listeners that are very demanding and genuine connoisseurs, that are satisfied with our records. And I won’t hide to you that not reaching the 15-year-old thrash revival fans isn’t important to us, because that style doesn’t affect us, we think it’s empty, musically speaking, and redundant.

Phil: We’re not that bad at all hahaha. All jokes aside, I think it’s hard to find your place in a scene satiated with “revival” bands that nag all the people that like real thrash. I believe that thrash isn’t just about having Ed Repka artwork, tight pants and Converse Weapons.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

Tony: We are going to continue in the same direction by keeping ultra solid foundations of old school thrash while adding all the other musical elements that influence us.

Phil: Regarding myself, I never know which direction I’m taking whenever I write new riffs or new song ideas. But I think that over time, I’d like to have songs with more complicated structures. Having more technical songs will come naturally with time but I don’t want to leave the “in your face” side.

What’s next for Algebra?

Tony: Gigs! Gigs! Gigs! We really love to play live and to share our music with fans and listeners.

Phil: Since the departure of our vocalist/guitarist, the main priority is to find new members. A lot of work is ahead for us!

Thanks!

Achren – The White Death (Review)

Achren are from Scotland and play Black Metal. This is their latest EP.

This is Black Metal with a healthy melodic side and a hard, Thrash edge to some of the riffs.

The vocals are mainly high pitched screeches designed to strip paint and puncture ear drums. These are joined by the occasional deeper growl that sounds quite fearsome. The vocal rhythms used are in sync with the music and are much more catchy than a lot bands playing this style. This is especially noticeable in The Eschatologist.

The White Death has a good recording and everything sounds in-your-face, much like the band themselves.

The melodic Black Metal romps along at a fair pace with the Thrashier riffs adding some groove. The songs are well-written and the band clearly know what they’re doing. The melodies are memorable and there are some very good tunes here.

The more you listen to this the more you realise that these songs are very, very good indeed and this is a very, very talented band. There’s nothing especially new or original here, (the same can be said of almost every band), but their talent and skill shows in the songs themselves – these are just incredibly strong songs.

At only 3 tracks in 15 minutes this EP provides a decent intro to the band whilst also leaving you hungry for more.

Catchy, memorable and with a good degree of bite; this is a great EP.

Favourite Track: The Eschatologist. What a brilliant song. Can’t say better than that.

Pretty Little Flower – Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration (Review)

This is the fourth album from US band Pretty Little Flower who play Grindcore.

This is savage Grind mixed with a bit of Old-School Death Metal and Punk/Thrash influences to some of the riffs.

The vocals are deliciously deep and guttural. A real pleasure to listen to. Total cookie monster vocals but they’re deeply satisfying growls that hit the spot nonetheless. There are also occasional high rasps but these are of the average variety.

There’s plenty of blasting and band seem quite content with keeping things fast, nasty and angry. Fine with me.

The nature of the riffs and the deep growls remind me of certain aspects of early Brutal Truth, which is probably why I found myself warming to this album so quickly.

The songs, as one would expect, are short and to the point, with most hovering about the 1:30-2:00 mark. This means they have enough time to build up a good head of steam before the relentless blasting and Grinding comes to an end.

The sound is fine and the drums in particular have a pleasing analogue sound to them.

This is for fans of simple, stripped-back-to-the-bone Grindcore that takes no prisoners and doesn’t even vaguely understand the concept of mercy.

An enjoyable release.

Untimely Demise – Systematic Eradication (Review)

Untimely Demise are a Canadian Thrash Metal band and this is their second album.

Straight from the go we’re into high octane Thrash territory with solos shredding and drums clanging. Technical riffing and rasped vocals lead the way while the rest of the music rips things up.

Musically this is Thrash Metal with a Megadeth/Testament/Death/Arch Enemy flavour. Extremely competent and played with feeling, Untimely Demise show from the off that they have talent.

The singer mainly uses a harsh rasp, but also uses some rougher semi-cleans that shows he’s capable of depth. It adds texture to the impressive playing of the rest of the band. A cross between Death and Arch Enemy, it fits the music well.

The band avoid the issues of the over-saturated Retro-Thrash scene by just being themselves and adding some harsher/technical/more European elements to their sound. It’s honest, direct and more worthwhile than 100 Retro bands trying to recapture old glories without any real feeling. Untimely Demise have come to show them how it should be done; a nod to the past, a spotlight on the present and a battle-plan for the future.

Villainy – I (Review)

This is the début album of Thrash Metal band Villainy who are from the Netherlands.

Villainy have a raw and savage sound that’s rough around the edges but not lacking in ability. They can play, and there are plenty of solos streaking out of the sharpened Thrash like lightning.

The band have a slight Blackened twinge to their sound akin to bands like Audiopain, as well as a bit of a Crust influence as well. These attributes raise the band up above the general throng of Thrash bands that saturate the scene at the moment and make them a more enjoyable prospect.

They’re also not completely predictable, which is a welcome change. For example; after two tracks in the aforementioned style, both under 3 minutes in length, track 3 is 7 minutes long and is more of a Doom-laden Celtic Frost-esque song. It’s a good change of pace and a good song overall.

This is another reason why this album is better than the average – the band don’t rest on their laurels and they also inject variety into proceedings. It keeps things interesting and makes the whole album come together.

This is a quality Metal album that doesn’t suffer from boredom after repeated spins. Check out Villainy and join their underground world.

P.T.O.M.A. – Shit Into Existence (Review)

This is the début album from Greek Thrash Metallers P.T.O.M.A.

This is riff-based Thrash with sharp, spiky guitars and a proper Old-School feel.

The vocals are loose and authentic with gang vocals backing the singer up. The entire thing sounds like it could be some long lost recording by an obscure Thrash band that has just been unearthed.

The recording itself is good and the band have a satisfying sound. The drums are nice and heavy, the guitars sound solid and the bass is surprisingly audible and runs through all of the tracks like a centre line.

The majority of the subject matter is distinctly non-serious, but that doesn’t stop the music from being composed better than I was expecting. There are some good solos too.

If you’re in the mood for some non-serious Thrashing around then you can do a lot worse than this album. Give P.T.O.M.A. a listen and see what you think.

Shards of Humanity – Fractured Frequencies (Review)

Shards of Humanity are a US Death Metal band. This is their début album.

The band play their Death Metal with a nod to Death and a Thrash Metal edge.

The songs are capable of following a good riff to see where it goes and giving it the time to develop and breathe. This sometimes lends the band a pseudo-Progressive edge, (again, akin to Death), and makes their songs all the more enjoyable for it.

For the most part Shards of Humanity’s songs are fast, precise and technically proficient, although they have an ear for a slower riff when the song calls for it.

They give me the impression that these songs have undergone a lot of changes in their history; not due to poor songwriting but due to natural development as there is an exploratory feeling to them.

The tracks feel like they would have been lovingly followed through to their logical conclusions by the band who would have wanted to see where they went to and what would become of them.

Solos are played well and the performance levels all around are good.

The recording is raw and sharp, recalling the Old-School but with more bite.

The vocals are savage, rough barks that are more than capable of competing with the music.

Overall, an enjoyable release. You could do a lot worse than look up this band.