With such a title for their ninth studio album, the legendary Ukrainian pagan black metal quartet of Drudkh poses to the listener the question: Which side of the beauty argument are they on? Honestly, it is quite hard to tell.

While the album title of “Eternal Turn Of The Wheel” seems to suggest that they are on the side of the guy with the durable assassination puppets, the brief length of this latest studio effort from them seems to suggest that they are on the side of the guy with the exploding clay bombs. At a mere 36 minutes and 8 seconds, this five-track outing is the shortest, black-metal-styled full-length album from the Ukrainian band yet (with the notable exception of their 2006 36-minute folk metal instrumental album, Songs of Grief And Solitude)! And while it may be short, the brief length of the album does add an ironic sense of beauty to the listening experience as a whole, only because of how the music is as beautifully dark as one would expect of one of the best representatives of the exotic style of pagan black metal, while still leaving a strong and potentially everlasting impression in one’s mind with regard to the somewhat misleading album title that seems to hint at a lengthy album run time on the first look.

It brings old-time fans back to the early days of the quartet’s first foray into extreme metal press attention when their debut studio album of Forgotten Legends drew much acclaim, featuring the familiar “wet” sound of nature-themed black metal, only mastered to be slightly clearer this time round, but which still doesn’t come off as being overly-clean as heard in Songs Of Grief And Solitude. It strikes that middle ground between Darkthrone rawness and late-Emperor clarity (perhaps more towards the late-Emperor clarity side). The post-rock influence heard in the 2010 album, Handful Of Stars, is mostly done away with (which might not be a good thing to the people who dug such a new stylistic direction for the band on the previous album), with the most obvious evidence being that the crystal-clear acoustic guitar solo thingamajig makes its presence felt only in the opening instrumental track of “Eternal Circle”, and as a melancholic solo that lasts for approximately a minute and a half in the third track, “When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls”. Otherwise, the rest of the music is made up of pummeling but sorrowful black metal and the staple pagan black metal theatrical sound effect of the howling winds.

You know what? I think I am simultaneously on the sides of both the dude with the exploding clay bombs and the other dude with the durable assassination puppets; at least, when it comes to a unique pagan black metal record such as this.

I lied. Be’lakor is actually a five-piece melancholic, melodic death metal band from the isolated continent of Australia (with regards to the metal world map and not the one you see in geography textbooks), and they are really the secret disciples of Insomnium and have been tasked to carry on the Insomnium torch for the Finnish band should they meet with an early and unprecedented demise.

Again, I lied.  Basically, the idea is that this talented quintet sound like clones of Insomnium, and while this means their playing style isn’t original, it is still meant as a compliment because there isn’t quite any style of melodic death metal that seems to tug at the heartstrings as well as the kind being peddled by Insomnium. Sure, as one listens to this third studio effort from the Australian band, similarities to various other Scandinavian and European melodic death metal bands will surface, but that unmistakably Niilo Sevänen-ish sound of George Kosmas’ harsh vocals and romantic harmonization between the twin guitars just scream of Insomnium worship.

As one would expect from Insomnium clones, the guitars heard in every song are extremely melodic and stroll along at a moody pace almost befitting of doom metal. Every note and chord resounds effectively within the embittered soul of one’s vulnerable inner child, and one after another, they craft beautiful melodies which often soar to awe-inspiring climaxes that conjure a transcendental and fleeting snapshot of what lies beyond our observable universe. Examples of such moments can be heard in the form of a heart-racing guitar solo that lasts from 5:16 to 5:41 in opening track, “Abeyance”, and the intense harmonization between the syncopated motif being played by the lead guitar and the legato motif played by the second guitar as heard from 5:09 to 5:21 in penultimate track, “The Dream And Waking”.

The keyboard accompaniment provided by Steven Merry sounds sufficiently celestial, but a potential improvement could be having more solo moments for his instrument in order to set Be’lakor further apart from the rest of the run-of-the-mill melodic death metal bands, whom often have to resort to the “mandatory chick on keyboards” tactic to draw in potential new fans.”

What Be’lakor does better than Insomnium, though, is having the knack for composing lengthy songs that mostly clock in at 6 minutes or more. The track-count of this record is at a modest number of 8, but the total running time clocks in at an extensive 56 minutes and 15 seconds. The reasoning here is simple: more Insomnium-esque melodic death metal, more listening pleasure.

The music is perfect for everyone’s inner emotional selves, but what didn’t strike me as well is the cover art. Re-interpreted/designed versions of classic bedtime stories or myths seem to be all the rage in popular culture these days, with recent examples being the movies “Snow White And The Huntsman” and “Red Riding Hood”. Be’lakor joins in the fun by having artist Costin Chioreanu design the above cover, which is a Baroquely dark take on the classic French bedtime story of “Little Red Riding Hood”. Obviously, the artwork must be related to the theme of the song lyrics, but the Insomnium brand of melodic death metal has always been evocative of picturesque nighttime forest scenery (thanks to Insomnium’s similarly-themed album covers) rather than pop-culture-influenced imagery. An illustration of, say, a few bald trees juxtaposed against an ice-blue nighttime sky dotted with stars and a crescent moon might have worked out better.

The 12-song outing is pretty lengthy considering that it is a thrash metal record, for it clocks in at nearly 46 minutes. But while this lengthiness might please the Toxic Holocaust addicts, fans of thoughtful guitar solos and mid-paced riffs that give their ears plenty of time to fully enjoy every note will not like it as much. If anything, it will be like putting them in a university auditorium to listen to a lecture on classic Chinese literature if they are made to listen to the record at knifepoint.

Song after song, all that will register in the metal-craving portion of the brain is the heavy emphasis on speedy guitar riffs. The riffs are energetic because of their speed, but their rhythmic patterns are too predictable and result in grooves that don’t stick. The guitar solos are typical whammy bar exercises too, and they are too fast and short for them to really stick as well. The vocals are done in the traditional hoarse barking style (thrash metal vocalists need to stop keeping sore throats on purpose… pop some Strepsils!), the bass guitar is seemingly non-existent as usual, and the drums are as awe-inspiring as watching your household mechanical fan’s head sway from left to right, and then right to left, then left to right again and right to left again until an epiphany hits you that your IQ is lower than a common slime-excreting garden slug for even bothering to waste time on such a meaningless activity. For more intriguing and original thrash metal bands, check out Vektor and Revocation.

The band name may be creative and catchy, but it seems that that is all there is that is interesting about Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. Absolutely eye-catching album cover artwork aside, the album name is not fascinating and the album theme, worse. Track titles such as “A Lurking Thief” and “Run Through The Bastards” make references to bad humans, “Nightworms” and “Desert Goblins” make references to fictional creatures, “Ghostmaker”, “Cold Haunting Death” and “Get Out Of My Grave/Gigantic Graveyard” (why this song has two names escapes me) make references to the absolutely fascinating afterlife, and even the usual metal cliché of indicating some shred of rebelliousness is present in the form of “Fucking Wild”.

PR people from all extreme metal labels can have some easy biography writing practice on Rumpelstiltskin Grinder’s latest effort. After all, all they will need to say in one sentence to nail the crux of the biography is “An unrelenting thrash metal attack that will rip faces off”, or something else of that ilk.

David Haley: To be honest I really didn’t have anything in mind. It was a very densely populated area, but we haven’t seen too much thus far, so, we’re still eager to check things out y’know.

Have you heard about stuff like the ban on chewing gum?

David Haley: [Laughter in the background from Jason Peppiat] We knew we couldn’t bring chewing gum, we knew we couldn’t smoke cigarettes and throw the butts on the ground.

And especially our drug laws as well.

David Haley: Yeah, we knew that the laws are strict so we’re on our best behavior at the moment. [Group laughter]

Did you know that the smoking laws in Singapore are becoming stricter as well?

David Haley: Really?

It’s increasingly harder for smokers to find any place to smoke at.

David Haley: Wow.

Jason Peppiat: Sounds like Australia. [Laughs]

David Haley: Is that a good thing?

Jason Peppiat: Not to me. [Laughs]

Countries like China and Singapore have governments that like to control many aspects of their people’s lives, yet even they are opening their doors to extreme metal bands to perform for their fans. Do you find it funny or ironic that such tightly-controlled countries are becoming more accepting towards bands like you guys?

David Haley: Yeah it is pretty ironic, but I guess we’re not a hugely popular band, and we’re not out there making political statements and inciting any kind of anti-government sentiments; so they probably don’t really care about what we do, ‘cos we’re not really making an impact as far as they are concerned.

When we are in someone else’s country, we respect their laws and even if we don’t agree with them, we are not going to go out there and talk shit about them, because it’s not our place [to do so]. It’s like if someone came to our country or our homes and started criticizing things about our homes, we wouldn’t be too happy about it, so we’re not going to do the same, y’know?

We’ve all got our own opinions, and our own opinions might be different even within the band, so we don’t really have the right to pass judgment or talk shit about other people and other places.

Psycroptic mainly dealt with themes related to death and fantasy on the earlier albums. On the latest album however, the lyrical theme seems to be heavily influenced by political ideas—even the usually sci-fi/fantasy inspired album artwork is gone! What influenced or inspired such a focus on political ideas?

David Haley: I guess we just write about what we—

Jason Peppiat: What impacts us really.

David Haley: I cannot speak for all of the lyrics because I write half the lyrics and Jason writes the other half, so yeah, I mean some of the songs are inspired by certain [real] events, but they’re by no means preaching, and they are by no means saying this is what you should believe in. The lyrics I write are always about a certain subject.

So for example, when I look at the title of The Inherited Repression, it kind of gives me a political feel right away. What is it supposed to mean?

David Haley: Well, I mean if you take that interpretation then that’s correct for you.

But basically, I came up with the idea of the human race always having repression kinda build up from generation to generation, whether it’s political, social or just individual mental repression. It’s not just the government. It’s not just a big bad entity that is repressing, you know, but it just gets handed down throughout history, through certain customs, beliefs, and anything! Anything that gets handed down and people don’t actually think about it. People don’t stop and think, “Why are we doing this? This doesn’t make any sense.” So it’s more about people not taking control of their own lives and their own thoughts, and it’s not about blaming someone or something for being repressive; it’s more like “Okay, stop and think. There’s lots of things that are actually repressing you and your life, but you haven’t thought about it.”

So no governments are involved?

David Haley: It’s not a specific thing, that’s what I’m trying to say. But if people interpreted it saying, “Oh, it’s about the government,” then for them, it is. All the lyrics are entirely up to the interpretation of the reader, or the listener. We’re not saying particular things, we’re not writing as if I’ve got something in mind—when Jason writes lyrics, he’s got something in mind—and most of the time we don’t even tell each other. So others might read our lyrics and think they’re about something, but they’re [actually] about something completely different.

Jason Peppiat: I always try to write lyrics not to be so direct. You know what you’re trying to say but—

David Haley: You’re trying to be cryptic.

Jason Peppiat: YEAH! That’s the word I’m looking for. [Laughs]

David Haley: Open to interpretation.

Why is the person featured on the album cover wearing a gas mask?

Jason Peppiat: That was sort of [inspired] from the song “Carriers Of The Plague”. That was originally what we were thinking of calling the album, and I suppose we based the artwork around that song.

So the album cover is supposed to be a graphic representation of “Carriers Of the Plague”?

David Haley: What we do with every album is that we always give a few sets of lyrics to the others, and we say, “Read through this and—

Jason Peppiat: Interpret.

David Haley: —just come up with something that you think is appropriate.” When we work with an artist, we work within his/her skills and it’s not us telling him/her what to do. It’s like when Joe writes for his guitar [part] I’m not going to sit there and tell him what to do, or when Jason does a certain vocal phrasing, I’m not going to tell him what to do. So it’s the same when we work with an artist.

Jason Peppiat: Makes it fun though.

Joseph Haley: When we do let them do their own thing, I guess they are more into it. They know what they are doing, and it all ends up better.

The album cover actually kind of reminds me of an album called Riders Of The Plague by a band called The Absence. The names are very similar—“Carriers Of The Plague”, “Riders Of The Plague”…

Jason Peppiat: Yeah. [Group laughter]

…and the album cover for that particular album actually featured a guy wearing a gas mask as well.

Jason Peppiat: Oh, okay. [Group laughter]

You guys can check them out! They’re on Metal Blade Records.

Jason Peppiat: Oh, okay.

Joseph Haley: What band is it?

The Absence.

So, this year has been a really good one for technical death metal so far. Both Gorod and Spawn Of Possession have released excellent albums of their own as well. Do you think Psycroptic can get on more year-end lists than them?

David Haley: I’m not sure, I don’t know, it’s not up to me. [Laughs]

What do you think of them actually?

David Haley: I’m a fan of both bands. I like Spawn Of Possession, I just got the new album and it’s a lot to take in. It’s very, very exceptionally technical.

What about Gorod?

David Haley: I haven’t heard the new album thus far, but I heard, I think, two tracks of it and I was blown away; so I’m keen to check that one out as soon as I can. I heard one of their songs on the radio last week, so I’ve got to track it down.

This year also happens to be one in which two highly anticipated sci-fi movies will be released, namely the Alien 1 prequel “Prometheus” and the remake of the classic Arnie sci-fi flick, “Total Recall”. As you guys seem to be fans of sci-fi, will you be watching them?

Joseph Haley: I’ll be watching “Prometheus”.

Jason Peppiat: I didn’t even know they had a remake of “Total Recall”. [Laughs]

David Haley: I mean “Total Recall” was an awesome movie, so I’m not sure why they’re remaking it.

Jason Peppiat: Yeeeah. [Laughs]

It isn’t exactly a remake. It is more of a re-interpretation of the original short story by the author Philip K. Dick.

David Haley: Okay, I don’t know too much about that.

It’s kind of like both movies have the same names, but it’s different interpretations of the original short story.

Jason Peppiat: Ah, okay.

David Haley: Right, okay. Well, I’m keen to check it out. [Laughs] If it is a complete remake, then I wouldn’t really be interested.

Oh, there’s no Mars involved.

David Haley: Ah, okay.

It’s basically a very political movie. The story goes something like Euromerica and New Shanghai are fighting to be superpowers in the world, and the main guy is actually an agent for Euromerica who has had his memory wiped. No Mars involved.

David Haley: Right. [Laughs]I’ll have to check it out, I don’t know too much about it.

Why do you think technical death metal bands are usually obsessed with sci-fi themes in their music?

Jason Peppiat: ‘Cos we’re all nerds. [Group laughter]

I mean I’ve never actually heard a technical death metal band singing about slaying dragons or something.

Jason Peppiat: Yeah. [Group laughter] It’s kind of carved its own niche a little bit, hasn’t it?

David Haley: I’ll let you go into that one. [Laughs]

Jason Peppiat: C’mon Joe, you’re the nerd in the band. [Laughs]

Joseph Haley: I don’t know, I guess it’s just the sound of the music. Y’know, with the technicality and stuff; and all the—

Jason Peppiat & Joseph Haley: Dissonance.

Jason Peppiat: All the sounds of [outer] space and stuff. [Laughs]

Joseph Haley: Yeah, yeah. [Laughs] That’s all I can think of.

What sci-fi movies do you think Psycroptic’s music would be most appropriate for?

David Haley: That’s a good question.

Jason Peppiat: You’re the man for this one, Joe.

Joseph Haley: Ah, Jesus. What movie in particular…

Jason Peppiat: You’ve got a lot of stuff back there. [Group laughter, and this is obviously an inside joke that we will never understand]

David Haley: Yeah, that’s probably not very appropriate. [Laughs]Maybe something like, say, “Dark City” or something like that?

Joseph Haley: Yeah maybe, something like that.

Dark City? Is that a very old movie?

Jason Peppiat: Yeah.

David Haley: It’s [from the] ‘90s.

I don’t think I’ve even heard of it until now.

Jason Peppiat: It’s good.

Joseph Haley: It’s really good, although it wasn’t actually a very big movie.

Jason Peppiat: It’s the one with the wiping of memories?

Joseph Haley: Yeah.

Jason Peppiat: Yeah, that’s awesome.

Do you find the word “technical” in “technical death metal” redundant? I mean, technically speaking, all music is technical to a certain extent.

David Haley: Yeah, I never use that term.

So you guys just call yourselves “death metal”?

David Haley: We just call ourselves “metal”.

Jason Peppiat: Yeah, we try not to really keep ourselves to a genre so much because then you know you sort of put yourself in a set of guidelines to so many people, see? They say that you’re a technical death metal band, but then, our latest album we branched out a lot and—

David Haley: Well, it’s not technical death metal anymore you know? It’s gone on to something else.

Jason Peppiat: We never said we were. [Laughs] We are just doing what we want to do.

David Haley: It’s simpler-sounding music, but it’s way harder for us to play the new stuff than the old stuff. So, we don’t view ourselves as a technical [death metal] band.

Jason Peppiat: I’d say we’re probably more of an “extreme metal” band. I mean it’s got your death metally bits, but then it’s got a lot of thrash as well. I mean on the last few albums, there’s been a lot of thrash-inspired guitar work.

Joseph Haley: Yeah pretty much all the guitars, to me, it’s a lot more thrash than anything else. I think once everything is put together—like all the drumming and stuff—it obviously leans a lot further away from just thrash y’know.

What food, drink or product from Australia do you miss whenever you are touring overseas?

David Haley: Meat pies.

Joseph Haley: Meat pies.

Jason Peppiat: Yeah. [Laughs]

Anything else?

David Haley: Don’t really miss the beers.

Have you tried Tiger Beer?

David Haley: Yeah.

Jason Peppiat: Yeah.

So how do you find it?

David Haley: Yeah, I like it. I was just drinking it yesterday.

Do you find it bitter?

Jason Peppiat: Most Australian beers are bitter anyway, so I suppose it’s kind of what we’re used to, really.

David Haley: We like going to different countries and trying different beers, so we don’t miss the beers back home. It’s good beer, but we don’t miss it. But I definitely miss my pies. [Laughs]

If your life journey were a diary, what do you think will be on the second last page?

David Haley: [Epic 7-second pause] Gosh. [Group laughter]

So, if my life were…

A diary.

David Haley: A diary.

What do you think will be on the second-last page.

David Haley: Second-last page?

Yeah, I mean asking you what will be on the last page is too easy, right?

David Haley: Yeah, last page is gonna be nothing there, ‘cos you’d be dead. [Laughs] Um… second-last page? [Slightly epic 5-second pause] I don’t know… maybe a picture. [Group laughter]

A picture?

David Haley: Yeeah! Photograph.

Showing you doing… ?

David Haley: Doing whatever I’m doing… just before the last page. [Group laughter]Which could be anything. It could be one of these pictures. [Gestures at my photographer’s camera and everyone in the hotel room]

Oh, okay.

David Haley: It could be anything! [Group laughter]I’d turn that question around.

Was that the most befuddling question anyone has ever posed to you?

David Haley: Pretty good question.

Jason Peppiat: Yeeeah. [Laughs]

David Haley: It’s a good question if you can’t answer it.

Jason Peppiat: You don’t know when that last page is coming I guess. [Laughs]

David Haley: About that picture, my second-last page would be a picture, ‘cos mine would be a picturebook [Jason laughs] as it wouldn’t have too many words.

So your diary will basically be a photo album?

David Haley: Yeah, the best kind. And then you can interpret it however you like, rather than me telling you what it’s gonna be.

For once, the band’s biography that comes with the promo actually describes the music pretty flakkin’ accurately. As stated, “It’s aggressive rock, borderline metal and dangerously catchy! The Black Metal references are there, but first and foremost this is a modern Rock Album!” Word, and let’s go into detail why this PR description is actually so accurate. By the way, three songs on this album are re-recordings of their earlier incarnations on Djerv’s 2010 Headstone EP, namely “Headstone”, “Ladder To The Moon” and “Immortal” (they are some of the catchier songs on this record too, no coincidence I think).

When it comes to the issue of having female vocalists in the male-dominated realm of hard rock and heavy metal, the general bias towards them is that their vocals cannot possibly match their male counterparts’ in terms of aggressiveness and power. Bullshit, I’ve heard male power metal vocalists who sound weaker than Agnete Kjølsrud, (one of whom is Dark Empire’s Brian Larkinand). Being Djerv’s frontwoman and ex-member of Animal Alpha, it is amazing how both bands don’t receive the attention they should be getting when Agnete has such a one-of-a-kind voice. Her voice sounds scratchy, not cat claws scraping across the chalk board kind of ear-piercing scratchiness, but the kind that sounds as though she had a drop too much of Jack Daniels: nasal, rough, warm, and powerful. The skill with which she wields her instrument is impressive too, because she can maintain a consistent strength to her trademark deep voice despite frequent and quick changes in pitch. Listen to the chorus of the straightforward hard rock anthem, “Headstone” and you will hear what I mean; she switches from semi-monotonous, shouted vocals in the tenor range to singing a few notes in the higher range of alto all within the space of a second.

Furthermore, the brash confidence she exudes simply makes her singing style so irresistible. As she lets us know right off the bat at the start of the opening track, “Madman”, we are all in for some: “MMMAAAAAADNEEEEEEEEEESS!”

And then it’s time to talk about the black metal influence, which is without a doubt my favorite part of this album. The nefarious energy of metal’s grimmest sub-genre can be felt in every track to some extent actually, often through the tremolo picking done by the secondary guitars in the background; and less frequently through ambient introductions that reminds one of blackened folk metal bands (such as Agalloch and Drudkh) on tracks like “Ladder To The Moon” and “Immortal”. The tremolo picking comes through most clearly on a few tracks though. In particular, keep an ear out for the seventh track, “Abmuse”. Not only does it open with a foreboding barrage of double bass kicks coupled with an ascending note sequence played with tremolo picking; right after the climax, it evolves into a Deathspell Omega tribute of sorts, sending the familiar Silent Hill-esque chills down your spine. Another noticeable moment would be past the halfway mark of closing track “Immortal”, where the tremolo picking is as obvious as the irony in Foo Fighters winning the title of “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” during the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Welp, if you’ve got friends who can’t seem to get into black metal, try and coax them with Djerv first. They might just warm up to black metal soon enough.

Nope, this is my real name.

“Forté” is an Italian musical term that means “loud” in English. Did you choose the word “Forté” to be part of your stage name so as to make a reference to your Classical music background while simultaneously showing off your love for metal because of its loudness?

[Laughs] No. Once again, even though I’m glad my name has some strong classical-sounding connotations, it is my name — and my parents’ too actually.

The title of your debut solo album is called “The Shadows Compendium”, which roughly means a concise but detailed collection of (in the context of a music album) songs dealing with the subject of “Shadows”. Since there are no lyrics to your songs on this record, and I see no obvious links between track titles like “Spiritual Bliss”, “Sorrowful Centruroide (ft. Derek Taylor)” and “Prophecies Of Loki XXI”—in which “Centruroide” is a genus of scorpions with translucent skin that glows under UV radiation and Loki is the Norse god of mischief, deceit and lies—can you explain what the album theme is about?

Well, that’s true for “Spiritual Bliss”; since that track is about inner peace and positive introspection, but the rest of the album has a very dark orientation. Yes, “Centruroïde” is a scorpion, but a very lethal species. It kills, it hurts, and in the case of this song title, after some time, it regrets and transforms its hatred into sorrow — I’m a Scorpio by the way. About Loki, he is as you described: “deceit and lies”. Well, I guess that’s not a very fun matter. For “De Praestigiis Daemonum”, it is referring to demonology. “Duat” is about the realm of death and hell’s representation in Egyptian mythology.

Many musicians who founded successful bands often go on to form a solo project years down the road because they wanted to explore a musical direction different from their original band’s. Your musical direction for this solo project does not seem to differ much from Adagio though, what is it that you are trying to accomplish with your solo project?

I just wanted to do my own stuff without any compromise and being able to really express myself with my guitar as much as I wanted, which is not possible with Adagio since its main focus is on vocals and musical structure.

The biggest noticeable difference between Adagio and your solo project is the lack of vocals in the latter. Are you trying to “speak” through your instrument on your solo project (and hence see no need for vocals), or simply just not confident of your singing abilities?

[Laughs] Indeed. I definitely express myself better with my guitar rather than my voice.

Which do you find more effective in conveying emotions: an instrumental or a singing voice? Why do you feel so?

The instrument; whether it is organic or a piece of wood with some strings, it is just the relay between emotion and vibration — it’s just a vehicle. So whatever the means, if the message is sent ‘pure’, then the goal is achieved.

Ever since Adagio’s 2005 album, Dominate, the band have refined its sound to make it heavier, particularly through the incorporation of death grunts. Since its inception, Adagio has always been known to have a darker sound than most neo-classical metal bands out there, most notably through the heavy usage of chromaticism in the guitars, foreboding brass parts, eerie string and keyboard accompaniment, and Romantic-inspired piano solos. Did you decide to make Adagio’s already dark sound heavier than before in order to further differentiate it from the rest of the neo-classical metal crowd? Or was it a move to signify a more angsty and negative outlook the band had with regards to mundane matters since then?

That’s how I hear and see things, Adagio is simply a mix of all of my influences.

How’s the progress on the 2013 live album Adagio will be recording with the Lille National Orchestra?

That’s a very difficult piece of work. I’m writing a lot of music all the time now, so it’s like first comes Adagio, then the orchestral one next, and then very soon it will be the next solo album… Let’s just say it’s moving forward.

What difficulties do you foresee in working with such a large ensemble of real-life humans?

Tons of difficulties… I had such an experience when composing for a real, full choir ensemble of fifty people for Underworld, and the most difficult thing to achieve was balance and nuance; everything has to flow, which means you need to find the right conductor who really understands what it is you want to express.

Tell us how you started on Classical music?

My parents were listening to a lot of Classical music when I was a kid, then I heard Malmsteen’s Rising Force and his mix of hard rock and Baroque elements immediately caught my ears. Then, I absorbed as much music as I could, trying to discover first the origins of Yngwie’s style, Vivaldi’s, Bach’s, etc. One thing led to another, and then I soon discovered Rachmaninov, Chopin, and finally fell in love with some more modern composers such as Messiaen, Boulez, Shoenberg etc.

Tell us how you started on heavy metal music?

As much as my parents were listening to Classical music, my elder brother was into AC/DC and Black Sabbath. On a normal day, you could hear a Vivaldi concerto downstairs, and the next minute, I was upstairs in my brother’s room listening to Angus Young and impersonating him on “Who Made Who”. I was only 5 then [laughs]

What was that one defining moment that made you want to merge the two broad styles together in the music you compose and perform?

Definitely Yngwie. When I was 14 and first heard his stuff, it was the defining moment. I immediately knew I wanted to do that kind of stuff.

As a metal musician who came from a Classical music background, I’m sure you are very well aware of the fact that many Classical musicians view metal music as obscene and, in some publicized cases, nothing but noise. Can you tell us briefly some of the many similarities heavy metal music has in common with Classical music?

Well, it depends. Some people in the Classical music environment are more open-minded than others, and actually, I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of Classical players and conductors who like the sound texture of the way I mix my music. But yeah, of course, purists are purists, whatever the style.I can’t think of any particular similarity, but I’d just say that the two sounds are compatible if you’re taking care of how you’re mixing them together. One needs to support the other, and with Adagio for example, I really consider the orchestra as a full instrument and not just as an arrangement. So yeah, it really depends…

In Classical music terminology, “Neo-Classical” refers to a sub-genre of 20^th Century-era music in which music is composed using Classical music forms (like the sonata form) but with modern techniques applied (such as atonalism and an abundance of ornaments). In heavy metal music terminology, “Neo-Classical” is used to refer to any metal music with guitar work that is heavily inspired by Classical and Romantic-era music. Do you find it wrong that the term is used very loosely in the context of heavy metal music?

Well, I can’t say it’s “wrong”. I’d rather use the word “reducing” instead, by this, I mean that most people thinking about the term “Neo-Classical” in metal music associate it with some Baroque music clichés, such as using the same old ostinatos etc. But if we really consider all the possibilities available, those clichés only represent a single drop in the entire ocean of Classical music techniques.

Let’s say you could revive a composer from any one of the four eras of Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20^th Century music to play in Adagio (or help you out with your solo project). Who would it be and why?

If I could revive any composer, damn, I wouldn’t even dare tell them that I’m a musician myself!!! I’d just watch them work and drown them in thousands of questions! Those whom I would like to ask questions are Bach, Mozart, Chopin and Bartok.

Suppose you were Beethoven in his early 20’s, living in Vienna in the 1790’s, and studying under Joseph Haydn. What knowledge would you want to glean from the “Father of the Symphony/String Quartet”?

[long pause] Everything [laughs]

The French metal scene seems to have a proliferating avant-garde black metal community at the moment. Bands like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord have garnered a lot of interest and hype over the last few years. Do you enjoy such music? What do you think is the appeal of such music?

I just know the name of those bands but never had a chance to listen to them. But about the appeal of such music, if the music is a vehicle for any forms of emotion, I don’t really care about what style it is so long as the emotion comes through; be it Bossa or Electro music or anything else.

Ever considered the possibility of a new cross-genre comprising of avant-garde black metal and neo-classical metal?

Indeed! I’ve started working on something like this a couple of years ago, I can actually send you a snippet of that demo if you want.

Will you consider recording a solo album with just the piano alone in future?

I’d love to. I’ve been talking about the idea of a piano concerto with Kevin, but I am not ready yet. I do not have enough knowledge to do it the way it should be done, so I will keep on practicing and learning first before thinking about it again in my 60’s if I’m still around. [Laughs]

Your hairstyle and preference for eye liner reminds me of Alexi Laiho, the frontman and lead guitarist of Children Of Bodom. Also, both of you are great shredders on the electric guitar. Are you his long-lost twin brother?

Actually, we’re not brothers. But we’ve had the same nurse when we were kids, and back then, she would teach us occultic stuff and things in life, she was nice… But then we grew up and realized we had no use for her anymore; so we killed, impaled and fed her to our dog Belzebuth. From that moment onwards, we had to go separate ways, and now, we’re just pretending that we do not know each other in interviews…

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To be frank, I think Cannibal Corpse is a strong brand name that has always cemented the band’s “indisputable” place as one of death metal’s most important bands. Look, Cannibal Corpse are one of those staple American death metal bands who have always done and probably will always do a brutally good job at pleasing their old fans with each new album, receive heaps of accolades from “metal authorities” such as gigantic metal websites/blogs and various printed magazines, and give killer live performances on tours. But at what cost?

Innovation, that’s what.

Metal that is composed, performed and recorded well enough can still sound good even if the musicians are not being creative by coming up with the gazillionth metal sub-genre… that is if we’re talking about new bands. Quality, new bands generally have fresher riff and solo ideas due to the benefit of not having to worry about the pressure of matching up to an as-of-yet non-existent hit debut album, or a string of old classics already under their belts. Hence, they can still sound interesting even if they are repeating the formula.

However, Cannibal Corpse have been around for a really long time. Amidst the recent gore/death metal revival (with pals like Exhumed and Aborted), Cannibal Corpse is the biggest name, yet its members have also been the most uncreative so far. Exhumed’s latest offering saw an increase in melodic guitar solos, and while Aborted also sounded like how they did on past albums, at least they made up for it with catchy, rapid stop-start rhythmic patterns rather than submit the listener to a continuous stream of unpunctuated sound. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher still mostly growls monotonously with nary a variation in pitch, the riffs also chug along repetitively with the occasional groove thrown in, the blast beats are as typical as blast beats can get (meh), that messy wall of sound overpowering your ears; all of these are thrown together into the formulaic brutal death metal blender to present to the listener music that still sounds as gnarly and repulsively intense as it did 20 or so years ago, but really, nothing is new here. For example, the opening riffs to opening track “Demented Aggression” sounds like those that kick off “As Deep As The Knife Will Go”. Same old, same old.

Everything you like about a traditional Cannibal Corpse album can be found here—right down to the label releasing this record (they are STILL on Metal Blade). The traditional cartoonish and morbid death metal artwork, the cliché album title, the gore-themed track titles et cetera… for hardcore fans of Cannibal Corpse only.

As always, the Japanese are a race of people who never fail to continuously innovate and be at the forefronts of something new. Widely considered to be Japan’s first successful raw black metal act, Sigh has had its fair share of Venom and Mayhem days back in the era of black metal proliferation circa early 1990s. Since 1997’s Ghastly Funeral Theatre EP however, the band started crafting their now-iconic brand of experimental black metal that just seems to get more and more un-metal over the years, and the result? I don’t know… eclectic metal? Symphonic blackened folk metal? Post-avant-jazz with black metal shrieks?

Call it what you will, set forums ablaze with heated genre debates, and perhaps kill a couple of ‘poseurs’ along the way if you feel vehemently elitist enough. Whatever you do, Sigh probably doesn’t care so long as they’re having fun with their sonic experiments. From a snake-charming motif in the track “Far Beneath The In-Between” to the alluring Dr. Mikannibal’s sexy saxophone solos, the jazz instruments—the piano and saxophone—and standard rock instruments—synthesizers, drums and electric guitars—are put to memorable use by Sigh.

It is also good to know that the band haven’t abandoned their symphonic past. Epic strings and cleanly-sung passages by a choir can be heard accompanying the standard rock instruments throughout. For example, check out that Batman-esque orchestral moment at the 1/6 mark of the track “Amongst The Phantoms Of Abandoned Tumbrils”, and the ‘oooh-oooh-ooooooh’ motif sung by the choir throughout in the track “The Transfiguration Fear Lucid Nightmares” (this song even has whistling towards its end, the extent to which Mirai would go to juice every instrument of its various techniques…).

As entertaining and fresh as I found this record to be, though, there is a little shortfall—Mirai’s shrieks sound jarring against the backdrop of predominantly folk-flavored melodies. Somehow, black metal shrieks cut through layers of cleanly-produced folk tunes like a grim and frosty battleaxe through melted mozzarella cheese-topped goblin steak. While I’m not sure if he intends for Sigh to move towards the folk metal direction, most traditional folk metal utilize gruff, shouted vocals that just seem to go really well with folk-flavored melodies. Mirai might want to take this point into consideration.

It’s both gawdammit! Even though we live in an era of ever-increasing instances of tiresome genre-crossovers and peculiar-sounding ‘electronization’ of traditional metal sub-genres (ahem, The Browning), the sound of an enduring sub-genre such as neo-classical power metal can be very invigorating and nostalgic, possibly giving rise to more listening pleasure than the newer and innovative forms of modern metal (if done skillfully).

Even with that said, who is to say that bands playing in this style can’t be experimenting a little? Take that mean-sounding introduction with medium-speed blast beats and harsh vocals from the track “Nosferatu” for example; it is a passage that wouldn’t sound out of place in an ‘80s death/thrash record! When was the last time you heard such a thing from a traditional neo-classical power metal band in our current day and age? It’s always either be too faithful and come off as too boring, or be too “creative” and come off as a sonic disaster. To go slightly off topic, long-time Iron Mask fans should recognize the opening riffs of this track. They are recycled from the track “Holy War” off of 2005’s Hordes Of The Brave.

While this is ultimately an excellent record, Iron Mask’s experimentation did have a slight hiccup. Their very brief flirt with the Asian oriental sound on the track “Genghis Khan”, achieved through usage of the Chinese violin (called an erhu) and the Chinese pentatonic scale on a plucked Asian string instrument, sounds a little too cautious. It’s almost as if the band was expecting a backlash from fans if they overdid this musical idea. While the oriental sound fits the theme of this particular song (which is about the 13th Century ruler of the Mongol Empire), it sounds oddly out-of-place within the larger context of the album, which mostly sounds like traditional neo-classical power metal. This idea could have been better planned and executed.

Other than that, another interesting musical idea to keep an ear out for would be the Gregorian chanting heard in the introduction of the track, “God Punishes, I Kill”. Its creeping build-up to the explosion of power metal goodness at the 1:09 mark is simply ravishing.

Thanks to my classical piano background, the catchiest track has got to be “The Absence”. The Romantic-inspired motif sung out by the lead guitar at the start, and its eventual doubling of the melodically similar vocal hook in the song’s choruses is nothing short of infectious. The guitar wailing just makes you want to bounce happily on the spot.

Whether you’re in need of traditional metal therapy after having slogged through dozens of too-modern-for-your-own-old-fashioned-good metal, or you’re a long-time fan of this metal sub-genre, Iron Mask will certainly entertain you well on this record. Cue the upper register group vocals and high-pitched guitar shredding!

Seriously, how did this album escape the radar of countless popular metal websites and blogs last year? The guitarist of French progressive neo-classical band, Adagio, Stéphan Forté has finally and officially gone solo with this full-length studio album, and it’s brimming with talent, unmatchable virtuosity, talent, and more talent. Of course, not just his talent. This solo effort sees an all-star ensemble of Jeff Loomis, Matthias IA Eklundh, Glen Drover, Derek Taylor and Daniele Gottardo contributing their talents as well. Ah, the privileges of being a virtuosic guitar player.

Whenever albums like this are released, it always renews the faith I have in my personal conjecture that if talented Classical composers like Beethoven or Mozart were still alive today, they’d probably be neo-classical metal guitarists. I don’t know which one of them reincarnated as Stéphan Forté, but whichever one is residing within, he is doing a darned good job at spurring his host to make the old sound new again.

Ironically, this is achieved by Stéphan Forté sticking to his Classical (an umbrella term for the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century genres) influences like Spiderman to a glue trap. The sheer number of arpeggios and Romantic-inspired guitar solos present exude a classy aura that only a gentleman from early modern Europe could possess. It’s as though every track off this album were neo-classical piano pieces that were played and recorded with the electric guitar. Granted, one can definitely hear some “djent” influence, since the promotional materials stated Meshuggah as one of the guy’s influences, and the backing riffs in songs like “I Think There’s Someone In The Kitchen (ft. Daniele Gottardo)” (listen carefully to the first 1/3 of the song) certainly sound like it. However, it is obviously not the main focus here, since Stéphan Forté’s technical yet expressive solos often take center stage.

If the array of guitar techniques available to Stéphan Forté can be likened to an economy, his shredding is a controlled commodity. He executes the typically wankery art of shredding with panache and aplomb, never making a single note sound pointless and out-of-place. Such magnificently intricate but well thought-out song structures are a rare sight in today’s modern metal scene, but lookie here! It can be done!

The piano makes its presence felt as well. From the agile, running notes on “Prophecies Of Loki XXI” to its faithful rendition of a classic Beethoven song on “Improvisation On Sonata No.14, C# minor – Op. 27 No.2 (Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”)”, its excellent duality with Stéphan Forté’s impressive guitar work truly brings the meaning of “neo-classical metal” to a whole new level.

In retrospect, I now regret having not discovered this album before I compiled my “Best of” list last year.

I love the Finnish. Metal is Finland’s best export, and although modern metal seems to make up the bulk of it, there is some really excellent underground black metal brewing in that country as well. Azaghal is one such act from Finland, and they are turning 17 this year. Although they may share the same age as rebellious adolescents on their way to adulthood, Azaghal are anything but juvenile. They mean serious business.

Razor-sharp riffs, Dissection-like guitar motifs, disgusted shrieks, creepily auto-tuned shrieks (as most clearly heard in “The Pit Of Shoggoths” and “Satanic Devotion”), accurate drumming that doesn’t go overboard with blast beating, and a defiantly traditional ‘Hail Satan’ attitude are all found on this record. It’s a mix of conventional and unconventional aspects of black metal, but the overall direction still points towards the ugly aesthetics of conventional black metal; a combination that works very well for black metal in my books.

If a comparison has to be drawn, Azaghal reminds me a little of fellow black metallers Sargeist, another excellent Finnish black metal band on Moribund’s current roster (last year’s Let The Devil In was really good!). Both of them are outstanding examples of black metal bands that can actually create infectious songs through mid-paced guitar melodies and non-200 BPM drumming; a feat constantly achieved by the legendary Immortal, but seldom heard from the vast majority of the black metal-making crowd in today’s blackened death/thrash climate.

Listen to “Vihasta ja Veritöistä” for example, the opening guitar motif isn’t played at a blazing fast speed; its moderate tempo gives you ample time to take in all the melancholy and makes you want to weep. The dirty, mean-sounding grooves of “Black Legions Of Satan” just hits the G-spot in your ears so well too, painting an apocalyptic landscape of marching demon hordes in your mind throughout the entire length of the song. Sure, such imagery may be cliché, but it complements the album theme and sound, so why not?

Surprisingly and impressively, clean singing is actually also present and utilized to great effect. It is doled out sparingly, a cautious move on Azaghal’s part to avoid sounding too “clean” probably, and short instances of it can be heard in the tracks “Ex Nihilo” and “Nemesis”. It’s a nice little respite from all the black metal fury whenever the clean singing comes on, and the temporary sense of calm that tingles your heart before all the black metal fury begins again is just so sadistically thrilling!

We try to soak up as much time as we can with friends and family back home because we’re gone on tour so often. After the New Year we’ll actually stay home for a couple months to start writing new songs. Our 10th anniversary tour, called “Decade of Destruction” will only be in the US, so the Australians won’t see us again until we get a new record together.

You mentioned the recent Decas release is meant to be a gift to As I Lay Dying fans for their support over the years. How so?

We didn’t really plan on having a record out this year, but we were really excited about celebrating our history. It was impossible for us to celebrate that mark in time around the globe without something to release, so we put together everything we can think of. Instead of just a single or “thrown together” live tracks for an EP, we ended up pulling together some pretty unique material, in my opinion.

As Decas is supposed to commemorate As I Lay Dying’s 10th year anniversary, why didn’t you decide to record more than three new original songs and release a full-length instead of recording covers and doing remixes of old tracks instead?

That all came down to the timing of everything. Since The Powerless Rise came out just over a year ago, we hadn’t started writing any new material yet. The cover songs were a good way to fill in as some quality newly recorded music from us. I’m not really a fan of B-sides or live tracks.

You also got the Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage fame to help produce this compilation album. Why bring him to the production table if this album is supposed to be a very personal affair for As I Lay Dying?

We gave Adam credit for the first track because much of that came from ideas worked on during The Powerless Rise. As a whole, Adam didn’t really work on Decas, but we would never want to leave out credit where credit is due.

Does the three new original tracks, “Paralyzed”, “From Shapeless To Breakable” and “Moving Forward” hint at how the next full-length studio album is going to sound like?

It’s hard to say what the next full-length will be like because we sort of categorized the three songs for Decas when writing them. We wanted to capture the diversity of our sound over time all in three songs. The first track is what people might expect from us, the second is our heavier side, and the third, “Moving Forward”, is far off on our melodic side.

If not, have you already thought up what you are going to write for the next album, and will it have any links to The Powerless Rise (in the sense of a sequel)?

We always try to progress in some way without sounding like a totally different band. That’s a tough challenge but also what keeps us excited about new music. Naturally, there will be some similarities to The Powerless Rise though.

Austrian Death Machine seems to be dead at the moment. Are you working on any new material for it?

I have a few new songs already and am planning on recording the next album when I get some time off of touring with AILD. [Ed: Due to time lag, the ADM Christmas record is already out on Metal Blade] That’s always the hardest part. When a new album is ready, I’m sure that new life will come to the project.

Your upcoming “Decade Of Destruction” tour kicks off next month! Will it be different from all past tours in any way since it is commemorating As I Lay Dying’s 10th anniversary?

We’d like to let the fans pick a couple songs from each album they want to hear. The production in a lot of the venues will be a little bigger than other tours we’ve done as well.

You definitely get this a lot, but who are your greatest sources of inspiration and influence for your music and lyrical writings?

I hate to sound vague, but my life experiences as a whole are my greatest inspiration. Sometimes the trials of life bring out either a feeling musically or a lyrical idea. Since it’s metal, I would have to say that the perfect moments of life are less inspirational, but even they make their way into our music subtly. I also really enjoy philosophical conversations and thought-provoking writing, so I sometimes write lyrics about concepts that challenge me.

What do you love to do in your free time when you are not busy with any of your music projects these days?

I’m planning a quality snowboarding trip this year, and I ride my motorcycle when I’m home. Besides that, music is my hobby and my job.

Thanks for your time Tim! Do you have any favourite (and meaningful) quote or phrase stuck in your head recently that you would like to share with others?

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the human desire for connection and how that influences our development. Even for people who disagree with each other’s religious beliefs, there seems to be something with human beings that gives them a desire for a greater comfort than what humanity offers.

That, though, is inspired by this quote: “That God does not exist, I cannot deny, That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.” – Sartre

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 I really hope it symbolizes a new stability in the band when it comes to member changes! We do seem stronger than ever and the future seems very bright for us, so I’m not too worried at the moment. The past member changes have been due to financial struggles within the band and personally as well. It’s very hard to earn a living playing music, and members were forced to leave unwillingly due to struggles with finances. I’ve been able to hold on myself because I have other means to make money; I do not rely on Threat Signal to pay me anything at all… Fortunately, with the new record things will change and we’ll be able to focus more on just making music together rather than working day jobs. That’s the dream isn’t it?!

You played a very big role in the writing and production of the previous album, Vigilance. Is the new self-titled record still done mostly by you, or do the new members of the band contribute significantly as well? 

I took a step back this time around and basically watched my band create the music for this record. I wrote and sang all of the vocals obviously; however the only other contribution to the music I made was song arrangement and keyboards. I really feel that the members of this band have something major to offer musically. They are just such amazing players, I honestly didn’t feel the need to step in and write anything, but just oversee the writing process and offer arrangement ideas.  I’m VERY happy with the way the writing turned out this time round. 

What subject matter does the lyrical themes of Under Reprisal and Vigilance deal with? Does the lyrical theme of Threat Signal continue a “story” of some sort from the earlier two albums, or is it just a standalone by itself? 

Our first two records jumped around a lot lyrically, I would write about anything I was thinking or feeling. It could have been personal, political or just the way I see life in general; the subject matter varied a fair bit while writing lyrics for those records. With the new album, I was more focused when writing the subject matter. Basically I’m concerned for the world and where we are headed [for]. There is a lot of greed, corruption, lies, war, famine, disease, murder, rape, suicide, homeless, etc… and it really makes me sick.  I think people need to wake up, look in the mirror, and realize what they are doing to themselves and the world around them. I want people to question life and ask questions about what’s going on in the world, and not just jump onto the band wagon because they are told to. A lot of us are getting tricked into thinking or believing certain things; wake up people. Don’t walk around occupying cities with a sign around your neck whining about how broke you are and how unfair everyone in the wealthy 1% of the world is, that’s really not the solution. Look at how we got there and blame the people who are really at fault. Dig deeper, get educated, and think more before spreading propaganda. This applies to many, many other situations as well! 

You managed to work with the almighty producer, Zeuss, on the new self-titled record! How did it feel to be in the presence of such an experienced and talented guy? Do you think Zeuss’s production and mixing lends a heavier touch to this new record (due to his largely metalcore and hardcore background) as compared to Christian Olde Wolbers’s (of ex-Fear Factory) work on Under Reprisal? 

Zeuss did an amazing job as a producer, engineer as well as mixing and mastering, this dude is not a one trick pony!  We learned a lot from him while tracking this record, and yes he was responsible for making this album sound as powerful as it does. We love working with different people and gaining different knowledge, creating different albums and different sounds. We really want each album to have its own vibe and sound, so we seek out different producers each time. Christian did a great job on our first record and I have no regrets!! However, this record needed a different flavour. 

Did the experimentation with 7-string guitars on the self-titled record give it a more technical and murky sound than the previous two albums?

Dropping the tuning down to A# and playing with 7’s changed our tone a lot. It seemed to give us a much darker vibe and made the music sound even heavier than ever before. The first two records were tracked with 6 strings in drop C tuning, so we decided our third record needed to be different. Changing the tuning really set this album apart from the others. It also pushed my vocals into a different range and made them sound a lot more aggressive. 

Around two years back, you mentioned that “… On Under Reprisal I was really pushing and forcing my voice trying to find myself. I’ve found my voice and range with this album [Vigilance] and I feel very comfortable”. No offense meant, but I honestly didn’t seem to hear the difference… Do you think you can describe this improvement in vocal quality in technical terms?

I was learning a lot while recording Under Reprisal and I felt very strained, and kind of lost trying to feel comfortable with my screaming and singing. I really couldn’t even sing the music correctly live until about a year after tracking that record. On Vigilance, I felt much more relaxed and confident with my voice. If you noticed, I scream and sing in a much higher range on the album Vigilance; that was the range I felt comfortable with at the time. I didn’t feel like I had to force myself to scream lower just because it’s metal music. Over the years of singing on stage my voice has grown and developed, I find singing much easier and natural now. On the new record, I focused on bringing back the lower screaming from Under Reprisal which I had neglected on Vigilance. At this time in my career I feel I can sing comfortably in any range, so heading back to the original vocal range with a lot more confidence was totally the answer this time round. 

So do you think there has been any further improvement in your vocal delivery on the new self-titled record? 

Yes, for sure. I’m always learning new things and gaining more confidence as a vocalist. I believe each record sounds a little different vocally as I am growing and changing. My range has expanded over the years and I don’t really feel the need to prove that anymore.  I tried to showcase more of my higher singing range on Vigilance while screaming in a normal comfortable range. With the new record, I basically wanted to sound as angry as possible… I really focused on screaming low and making my singing raspier and pissed off. Basically the heavy music told me to write heavy vocals. I find myself writing what the music tells me to write these days. 

Which hard rock and metal vocalists have been your main sources of influence and inspiration?

Phil Anselmo really influenced me to scream, highs and lows. He showed me that screaming could sound heavy and insane while keep melody at the same time. A lot of screamers lose that and begin to sound monotone. James Hetfield was another one who did that. Layne Staley influences me to sing catchy melodies and still have balls. He really pushed his vocals, they were very believable.

Threat Signal’s sound seems to constantly shift between melodic metalcore and melodic death metal (or at least, the international metal press thinks so). How would you describe the band’s sound?

It’s Threat Signal man… It’s metal. I never understood where this death reference came from, and I hate the term “core”. Just so many sub-genres attempt to define a metal band these days. Might as well call us “djent”!  We were playin’ that shit before they made a name for it. If I had to define it, I could see something like “melodic metal” or something along those lines. It’s tough to say because our style varies so much.

Let’s go back in time a little. Canada is not a country renowned for housing many metal acts, so when Threat Signal was signed onto a world-renowned extreme metal label like Nuclear Blast back in 2005, you must have been elated! Did it feel unreal back then? Looking back now, can you tell us about the joys and sorrows you experienced as a band signed onto a major metal label?

It was honestly insane for us!!! To get a deal from a record label we looked up to so highly, that was just the best thing that could have happened at the time! Everything felt so rushed to us though… It was I and my two guitarists who started the band. We would just get together after school and record songs on the computer. Since we didn’t have a drummer or bass player we just programmed those instruments. I ended up putting a demo song on the Internet called “Rational Eyes” under the name Threat Signal. We had not decided that would be our name yet or that we would put the song up… But me being myself, I had to throw it up as soon as possible to hear what people thought. The whole idea behind creating Threat Signal was to make music we liked to listen to, because a lot of the metal music that was coming out basically sucked. So getting the positive feedback we did was just amazing to me, the fact that we could create music people enjoyed so much just fueled my fire to write even more. We threw up a couple more songs online then Blast shot us a message; they pretty much offered us a deal right off the bat from hearing a handful of demos. Before I knew it we were off to LA to track a record and I was dropping out of school! I guess the joys would be having this amazing experience and living my dream, but the sorrows wound up to be my best friends leaving the band right after we tracked the record… The industry is a crazy place, and some people just can’t handle it, especially when things get so crazy so fast.

The other notable founding member of Threat Signal apart from you is your cousin, Rich Howard. I understand that he had left early in the band’s career to pursue other dreams, but he did help out with guitar duties on tour dates in 2007. Will he ever revisit the possibility of contributing to future Threat Signal releases?

I really hope we can come together again one day and record something. Maybe the original 3 members who started this band could come together and track an EP or something, that will be really fun.  But as of now, nothing is in the works… I do have that idea floating around in my head though!

Thank you for your time, Jon. Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers and your fans out there?

Just a huge THANK YOU for the interview and spreading the word about Threat Signal. Also, many big thanks to all the fans who stuck by us over the years and to the new ones as well.  Spread the word about us, because we hope to continue doing this as long as we can! We’ll see you very soon.

Cheers!

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This new record sees Threat Signal maturing in a few aspects.

The first and most obvious one is the increased presence of expressive, significantly lengthier, and neo-classical guitar solos throughout the album (check out the tracks “Uncensored”, “Trust In None”, “Disposition” and “Buried Alive”). The dominance of chugging riffs has been toned down, and the music harks back to the demo days of Threat Signal, especially reminding one of the song “Counterbalance”, which features an expressive solo reminiscent of the ones you just heard if you checked out the above-mentioned tracks. While the solos on Under Reprisal and Vigilance are melodic and catchy, they are mostly made up of motifs that are repeated in succession with some syncopation thrown in (e.g. like in the songs “A New Beginning” and “Through My Eyes” respectively). Being a sucker for intricate guitar solos that don’t just seduce me only to dump me in 10 seconds, this is a plus point for me.

The next most striking trait would be how much darker the guitars sound on this record as compared to Vigilance. The newly incorporated 7-stringed guitar is the blessed culprit behind this gratifyingly heavy sound, and the end results reminds me most strongly of an earlier song called “Rational Eyes” off of Threat Signal’s first album, Under Reprisal. It’s funny how they then got lighter in tone on Vigilance, and then decided to go back to that earlier dark sound on a new, self-titled record. Maybe it’s supposed to fit the dystopian theme of the album artwork this time round, or maybe it’s supposed to fit in with the purpose of self-titling a new record: representing a new (and often, more mature) stage in a band’s career. Whichever the case is, it certainly is working well with the expressive solo-ing to keep Threat Signal’s sound ever so modern, yet in comfortable territory (read: post- , avant-garde).

Jon’s vocals have gone back to focusing more on guttural growls and anguished screams, and cut down on the high-pitched, nasal clean singing he did so much of on Vigilance. I guess this is also supposed to go in line with that pessimistic album theme of the majority of humanity being fed propaganda and lies everyday. They have definitely grown more powerful over the course of the last two albums, and the weight of the frustration and anger behind them is very convincing now.

This is not a groundbreaking record in many ways, but it is another one of those decent keepsakes every self-respecting appreciator of modern metal should have in their rack.

Many remember this band as another one of those unstable acts with a volatile line-up, or as that band that is not “tr00” because of changing its style to go with the times, ie. Playing metalcore-influenced black metal in their early days during the mid-2000’s when –core genres were hugely popular, and then subsequently switching to a purer black metal sound on their 2010 record, In The Absence Of Light; which happened to be released during a period filled with new releases from veterans of the so-called “tr00” black metal scene, such as Immortal’s 2009 album, All Shall Fall, Marduk’s 2009 album, Wormwood, and Watain’s 2010 album, Lawless Darkness. Regardless, good music is good music, and hipsters or not, Abigail Williams have released a really solid record this time round.

With only the brevity of 6 tracks, the band have managed to cram in 55 whole minutes of emotionally-charged black metal that sinfully borders on feeling romantic—something that no “tr00” black metal veteran will tolerate I’m sure. In fact, I’d dare say that the current incarnation of Abigail Williams could be likened to a variation of 40 Watt Sun that have gone all grim and black metally—plus a little bit of a speed boost of course.

The beautiful numbers breeze by with unpredictable dynamics, but the end result is always the same. At times, they are capable of evoking an atmosphere of despair and isolation simply with quiet solo strumming from the lead guitar; yet at other times, loud and abrasive bursts of anguished shrieks and blast beats achieve the same effect. It is a truly alluring and masterful way of conveying pessimism if I ever heard one.

There are also some grooves thrown here and there to catch the unsuspecting listener off-guard, as heard at the ¾ mark of “Infinite Fields Of Mind” for example, but one has to be mindful that they are not to be seen as the main attraction of Abigail Williams’s work this time round. If you are the kind who fancies grooves and only grooves though, your impatience will rob you of the opportunity to experience the lengthy but rewarding entertainment provided by the band. Patience is key here, as the urge for instant gratification will only make it harder for you to “get it”.

Personal favorites of mine are the tracks “Ascension Sickness” and “Radiance”, but do listen to this album in its entirety to enjoy the calm ride into your heart’s darkest depths. Keep an ear out for the beautiful violin soloing at the ¾ mark of “Beyond The Veil” too, it will probably make you think it’s drizzling in your well-sheltered room.

Alas, one might speculate that the more ambient direction taken in the music this time round could be another hipster attempt at following the recent trend of ambient metal (Remember the Southern Lord and Profound Lore craze from last year?). Honestly though, what’s wrong with doing this if you are talented enough to pull it off?

Between a band that stick to their old tricks and come up with an uninspiring new record, and a band that change with the times to produce a refreshing take on an old metal sub-genre, I will settle for the latter any day.

Hey there! I’ve been listening to the latest Hate Eternal album a lot, as well as the new Nader Sadek (Steve Tucker, Flo Mounier, Blasphemer…) which I think are both fuckin’ excellent death metal records. Really makes you just wanna lock yourself in a rehearsal room for about 10 years ’til you sound as good, hehe. In the car on the way to gigs and such, we’ve been blasting a lot of Dissection, Down, Vader and various stoner rock bands.

Does the name “As You Drown” make a reference to a famous murder of some sort from some country (e.g.: Like “The Black Dahlia Murder”) or was it just a name you guys thought would be cool to have?

The idea originally came from a song by one of my favourite bands, Gothenburg sludge lords Abandon. Their vocalist Johan, who was a good friend of mine, tragically passed away a couple of years ago, so I see it as a kind of homage to him. In the context of our music, I think the name conjures up the image of watching from a hill as the world drowns in its own filth and misery, as described in our song “Driven by Hatred”.

Coming from a country famous for melodic death metal and groovy old school death metal (à la Entombed), it is pretty rare to find a death metal band such as yourselves who doesn’t play in the aforementioned styles. I am curious to know, what shaped you guys into As You Drown when y’all were surrounded by so many bands that didn’t play in your preferred style now?

 I think there’s definitely some influence on our sound from those kind of bands as well, as you say it’s part of what we grew up with. However, I think all of us listened to a lot of American and Polish death metal during our formative years as well, which is probably what has been most instrumental in shaping our sound.

How did it feel to be able to support the legendary Polish death metal titans Vader on a tour last year? Who do you all hope to be able to tour with next?

 Fuckin’ amazing! I’ve been a huge fan of Vader since I was 15 years old and stumbled upon the “Litany” album for the first time, so it was kind of a childhood dream come true for me. We had some really great gigs on that tour, and both the Vader guys and their crew were truly awesome and down to earth people, so it was a truly fantastic experience all around.

Do correct me if I am wrong, but your music actually sounds like Behemoth with deathcore influences. Was this a direction you guys were aiming for right from the start or did it just happen naturally? 

Behemoth is definitely a big influence on us, as well as other Polish greats like Decapitated and the aforementioned Vader. I don’t think we’ve been all that influenced by deathcore, since the band was started back in 2003, before ‘deathcore’ was even a thing. However, we probably share a lot of influences with that kind of bands – stuff like Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah, Suffocation and so on.

Which brings me to a few other details I noticed: 2009’s Reflection had an artwork reminiscent of Whitechapel’s own dark and gritty, almost-as-if-photographed album covers, while 2011’s Rat King features a cartoonish and morbid piece of artwork reminiscent of many designs found on deathcore shirts. Oh, throw in the spiky band logo as well. Were these elements consciously incorporated into the overall visual appeal of the band as, perhaps, displaying deathcore influences?

 I actually think the artwork for the new album looks a lot more old school than the last one. The cover was made by Mark Riddick who’s made gruesome and horrific art for tons of death metal bands, both in the underground and for more high-profile bands like The Black Dahlia Murder. I think it looks a bit older, more refined and a helluva lot more evil than our first album. Additional artwork was made by Sven de Caluwé of the mighty Aborted, and he did a great job of conveying the dark and intense feeling of the album in his images as well.

Many members of the metal press have reported that Rat King has a lyrical theme that deals with “the medieval German folk phenomena of rat kings, which were associated with plagues that devastated the European continent.” Is it just an interesting topic for you all to sing about or is there a greater socio-political message behind it?

It’s not really a concept album with a coherent story running through it, or anything resembling that. Rat kings were supposedly these huge groups of rats that had become knotted together by their tails, and were said to warn of oncoming disease, death and destruction. The title is meant as a metaphor for the overarching theme of the lyrics, which deal with the concept of impending doom in a number of different shapes and forms. There’s definitely a socio-political element to many of these lyrics, I think the feeling of things falling apart and turning to shit is stronger in both Europe and the US than it has been for a long time. For instance, the words for the song “Rabid Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing” can be seen as the rage of the 99% [of the world], bellowing out their disgust against the unscrupulous elite that control almost all of our planet’s resources. “You Should Be Paranoid” is about the ways that the puppet masters are trying to control us through various forms of surveillance, caging us in what Michel Focault called the “trap of visibility”. There are also lyrics that deal with the ‘impending doom’-theme on a more personal level, through topics like drug abuse and the inevitability of death.

Have you all grown in any (musical or lyrical) way from Reflection to Rat King?

Most definitely. Musically, I think it sounds a lot darker and has more of that majestically epic feeling that bands like Morbid Angel, Behemoth, Nile, Hate Eternal and Immolation do so well. It’s also a bit more varied and dynamic both in rhythm and melody and the performances from every member are stronger and more nuanced as well. As for the lyrics, I’m about a hundred times more satisfied with them this time around than I was with the ones for ‘Reflection‘. I was kind of new in the band when I wrote the stuff for our debut and a lot of the lyrics are old ones that I just edited a bit. This time I got to write everything from scratch and theirs is more of a unifying theme that ties the lyrics of the album together. Also, they are just a lot darker, vicious and more brutally honest on this one.

What can we expect from the next record?

I think we are gonna go for an even darker, more twisted and evil sound on the next one, without losing any of our intensity and aggression. There may be a bit more of a black metal influence to it. The main thing we are discussing right now is making everything a lot more dynamic though, and trying to really find our own sound which is uniquely ours. In a way ‘Reflection‘ was kind of a test run, a collection of the best songs we had written thus far. ‘Rat King‘ feels like our first real album in a lot of ways, since it’s the first one that this line-up got to create from scratch, a statement of where we are today. Now that we have finished that one, it feels like the time has come to really seek out our own identity and forge a sound that is our very own.

Here’s the ubiquitous question! Who are your greatest sources of inspiration and influences?

Anyone that (in the words of Bill Hicks) plays from their fucking heart, really. I’d say the main influences on the music are American and Polish death metal bands though. Names like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Decapitated, Behemoth, Vader and such come to mind. A lot of other types of metal seep in as well though – Meshuggah, Pantera, Gojira, At The Gates and Slayer are some examples. For me, vocal-wise, I’m inspired by anyone that sounds genuinely aggressive and has a unique voice. David Vincent, Brett Hoffman, George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fischer, Johan Carlzon, Scott Kelly, Piotr Wiwczarek, Frank Mullen and Tom Waits are some of my faves.

Any non-musical activities you guys spend a lot of time on as well?

Well, working shitty jobs mostly. You don’t exactly get rich from playing death metal. Other than that I guess it’s the usual: Reading, watching movies, playing video games, kissing goats, attending ritual sacrifices and so on.

Here’s a random question. Do you guys bring along Ikea meatballs together with its inseparable brown sauce on visits to countries which serve up food that doesn’t look very edible?

 Eh, nope. Sometimes we bring goat’s blood. Most countries we visit have pretty decent food though, and we’re not too picky. Thanks for the interview!

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