As a sentimental twist, the singer is joined by his sons Cody (bass) and Nick (drums), forming an unlikely thrash father/son(s) tandem. The two carry their weight, especially Nick, who proves to be a rather suitable and dependable thrash drummer. All the kid has to do is lay down some polka-beats anyway, but he’s got some cool grooves going on during “Blood Stained Wings” and “And Your Children to be Damned.” The rest of the album reads like a sub-Exodus album, just without the bone-crushing riffs and agile arrangements Gary Holt has made a living out of.

Zetro has always been a take-it or leave-it vocalist, and he’s no different in Hatriot. Given that he was the obvious weak link during the Fabulous Disaster and Impact is Imminent days, Zetro’s recognizable vocal style has aged remarkably well. However, that doesn’t stop him from going overboard on opener “Suicide Run” as well as the anti-American “Weapons of Class Destruction” and “Murder American Style.” His cackle has never been a one-size-fits-all proposition, that’s all. Once you hear a few lines from the man, that’s all you need, and on Heroes of Origin, the thrash is thrust to the back, leaving the vocals the point of emphasis.

With the sizable advantage of having a bona fide name in their ranks, Hatriot should have no problem making the Euro festival rounds, or even engaging in some light touring across the pond. There’s no way they’ll make up ground to Exodus though, something that was readily apparent from the word go.

Before we get to the rather pitiful wail of singer Jim the White Knight (no joke; that’s his moniker of choice), it should be noted RBN’s brand of European-flavored power metal at least has some agility to it. Apart from natural, bravado-laced numbers such as “Fire in Your Eyes” and “If You Choose the Dark,” the band manages to construct a halfway decent epic number by way of the title track, something Manowar would probably sniff at…if only RBN had their chests greased in similar fashion.

Jim the White Knight kills the whole thing, and it’s not reach to say he’s one of the worst singers to come out of the power metal realm in a long time. Granted, reeling off singers of equal or lesser value is an arduous task, but Sir Jim has enough blunders to last a lifetime. Whether it’s his high-pitched babbling on “Morbid Gladiator” (where he’s definitely out of key, by the way), his whiny pleas in the chorus of “Mystery Woman,” or wacky pitch on “Nocturnal Birth,” Jim the White Knight is a bad Geoff Tate/Eric Adams composite to the max, and this doesn’t even take into account the solo spot he gets on “Warriors Call.” What is this, Highlander? Better yet, why did someone not hit the auto-tune button in the studio?

A bit unsure as to what prompted Metal Blade to take a flyer on these lads. It’s not like they’re in need of a strong power metal band to fill out their roster. Instead, Barbarian Winter should be reduced to what it really is: A total stinker, every bit as ghastly as described and perhaps more so, depending on your tolerance for really bad power metal.

The October Falls albums that preceded The Plague of a Coming Age had a similar tone and formula to them. Lehto has basically, two or three melodic guitar lines he likes to cull from and for a good stretch, was able to contort them in a way that didn’t reek of repetitiveness. It worked on 2008’s magnificent The Womb of Primordial Nature, as well as 2010’s not-as-good-but-still-worthy A Collapse of Faith, but he’s run out of steam with Plague. Clearly, we should have detected a theme (or a darkness coming, to reference Katatonia) on A Collapse of Faith…

Nevertheless, Plague differs from its predecessors by way of shorter song constructs. Not that it matters, however, for the listener is sucked into the vortex of one never-ending song. Joutsen comes to the rescue on “Boiling Heart of the North” and the title track, which not by coincidence, are the album’s strongest jams. His ethereal, gentle, yet manly roar (must be the dreads) serve as hummable detours from the morose and chilling atmospheric/epic black metal Lehto has on display.

Brazenly Finnish, yet nowhere near as climatic as recent efforts from Moonsorrow, The Plague of a Coming Age is the first stumble in the October Falls pantheon. It could be these ears have warmed a little too much to Lehto’s melodies, although it’s very possible the same could happen to the unsuspecting listener who were drawn in by the “atmospheric,” “epic,” and “Finnish” tags. That’s usually a formula for success. Not here, not this time.

Considering there is a high probability a progressive/power metal album in 1996 lacked in production, the album is helped in the sonic department thanks to the team of Yannick St-Amand (Despised Icon) and Jens Borgen (Amon Amarth, Symphony X). This re-imaging of the album gives it a modern day feel, which makes perfect sense – Food for Thought Substitute probably stood out like a sore thumb in the Euro-dominated power metal scene in 1996. You can easily hear Borgen’s sonic stamp, although for once, the snare isn’t overpowering the mix.

Given the band’s Montreal locale, it’s a safe bet that there will be lots of limb-venturings here…and there is. Heaven’s Cry don’t have a set template in place, rather, exuding brash musical interludes that overpower one with technicality, while vocalist/guitarist Pierre St-Jean utilizes a textured, palatable vocal push that works well in concert with “Out of Me” (dig the Voivod riffs) and “The Alchemist.” He’s at his best on “March,” where he doles out mounds of “oohs” and “aahs,” which are ripe for the dramatic field they are playing in.

Instead of placing Food for Thought Substitute in a modern context, the album is best viewed by pondering what the progressive/power metal climate was for a Canadian band in 1996. No doubt Heaven’s Cry felt like a bunch of loners, for it was them and just them trying hit paydirt with this style in Canada. Therefore, Food for Thought Substitute is a time capsule album, thus warranting a tip of the cap to a band who had the guts to swim upstream in an awfully tough current.

Lots of freewheeling, good-times jams to get down with, specifically the title track which flaunts a feel-good, anthemic chorus. Singer Toschie has quite a few worthy moments in addition to the title track, including “There Goes A Lady,” perhaps this era’s “Strut,” the Bob Seager classic that rocks harder than more people realize, as well as “Show and Tell,” where the man utilizes some of the throatier regions of his voice. The clapping/tambourine action on “Straight to Your Grave” is also pretty slick, perhaps a left jab at the above-mentioned trio Audrey Horne is vying for attention with.

The “real” classic rock/FM radio moments come raining down on “Cards with the Devil,” a KISS song, done Scandinavian-style. While it’s far from the album’s standout moment, it’s the kind of track none of Audrey Horne’s contemporaries wouldn’t dare to try…we think. Elsewhere, the boogie-down of “Pretty Little Sunshine” is as carefree as the title suggests, while “This Ends Here” displays some nifty twin guitar action courtesy of Enslaved lead axe-man Arve Isdal and Sahg’s Thomas Tofthagen.

Taking into account the priorities of Isdal (Enslaved is on one heck of a run, aren’t they?), one has to wonder if Audrey Horne has the capacity to become the next “it” retro rock band. Youngblood certainly has the wares to show for it, though, and it has probably a bit more depth than what we’re used to hearing from bands of this ilk. That’s not saying much, but that’s what you get when taking a flyer on bands who live in the 70’s.

Based out of Portland, OR, with two its members (guitarist/vocalist Melynda Jackson and drummer Chris Van Huffel) having done time in the experimental SubArachnoid Space, Eight Bells easily falls into the experimental territory, although the occasional melody drip heard across The Captain Daughter’s four tracks suggests some framework for something more concrete. Two instrumentals sandwich the running order, the first being “Tributaries,” which sees Jackson pepper the track with some nifty effects and chord movements. “Fate and Technology” is where the band’s spacey ideas take flight (like NASA, of course), with Jackson lending some ghostly vocals to an otherwise restrained and masterfully blissful number.

The title track ends up trudging along without much purpose; the kind of noise-based, needlessly prolonged number that usually prompt people to leave the already-empty bar. “Yellowed Wallpaper” fares much better, with echoed guitars, restrained drums, and driving riffs. So clearly, Eight Bells hit on three out of four tracks, which isn’t a bad batting average to start. To top it off, they have more potential than a lot of what Seventh Rule has been parading these days. Bonus points for that.

One of the few retro-minded death metal bands worth giving a fuss about is California’s Skeletal Remains, who obviously, are doing a fantastic Obituary impersonation on their Beyond the Flesh debut. Loaded with instantly jarring numbers (“Desolate Isolation” knows how to get down) and the John Tardy-like vocals of Chris Monroy, Beyond the Flesh offers up something fresh in a rehashed world…in a roundabout way, of course. There’s plenty of poaching from the vaunted Cause of Death and The End Complete albums, only done with a tad more zip, showcasing what Obituary might sound like if they’d up the tempo. Plus, Monroy would be choice #1A should Tardy ever have to miss a tour. Dude is spot-on!

Since Obituary is in no hurry to alter their sound, and Beyond the Flesh is still knocking our block off, we snagged guitarist Adrius Marquez for the lo-down…

The band was formed just a few years ago, so care to shed light on your formation?

We all met in middle school/going into high school, so we’ve know each other for quite a while now and played in previous bands together.  Our former guitarist Mike de la O came to Chris Monroy with this idea; they started writing and recruited Christian Reyes on the drums. The band was going by the name Anthropology at the time. During the recording of the Desolate Isolation demo, Monroy would send me the rough copies of the songs, and as I listened to them I would think to myself “Like damn, this is actually really good!”  One day Monroy tells me that Mike decided to part ways with the band, that he was going to need help. He asked me if I wanted in and without hesitation I said yes. I think the very next day I received a message from Obrego that read “Anthropology!” Once I knew he was joining I was even more excited.  I would say about a month later I moved back to California, and that’s how Skeletal Remains came to be.

Several of your members are a part of thrash bands, but with Skeletal Remains, you’re playing old-school death metal. What’s the allure to this style?

Well we all like different styles of music, but we all think that death metal is the best there is. We don’t think there is anything better out there yet, and that is the reason why we chose to play this style.

Retro, old-school death metal has been all the rage in 2012. Where do you see yourselves fitting in?

When we started, we weren’t really aware of the death metal scene, and what bands were a part of it.  All we really did was just practice and practice, and write and write. Everything else kinda just fell into place from releasing the demo to the signing with FDA Rekotz. As for us fitting in, we aren’t really worried about all of that stuff. We trying to find a rank amongst the death metal bands of today’s scene isn’t something we were shooting for, though it would be nice to cement ourselves into the death metal genre. As for fitting in, that’s really up to the fans of death metal; we can’t really say and it’s something we don’t put much thought into. 

Do you think the scene will eventually run itself into the ground?

Nah, no way, no how. Death metal has been around for a long while now; it’s had its ups and downs, but we don’t see it going away anytime soon. As long as people keep supporting it and bands keep performing, the scene will be very much alive. 2012 alone was full of great death metal releases, Asphyx’s Deathhammer being one of them; that is a great fuckin’ album! Releases like those just show how well and very much alive the scene is and will be for years to come, and it’s up to us to keep it going.

Obituary is the first band that comes to mind when listening to you. Is there a particular album of theirs that you are most fond of?

It would definitely have to be Cause of Death. I mean what an album!  Everything about that album is great, especially the lead guitar work on it. We are also big fans of James Murphy’s work, so yeah, that’s the album we would say is one of our favorites.

The most telling aspect of your sound is Chris’s ability to sound like John Tardy. It’s uncanny. When did you realize how excellent his vocals sounded?

Ha-ha, yeah, there are a lot of death metal vocalists that come to mind when you hear Chris’ vocals in the music, and it is something he was shooting for. It was actually during the recording of Beyond the Flesh. Everything was pretty much done; all that was left were the vocal tracks. As soon as we heard his vocals through that booth, we were able to tell the great improvement he had made from the Desolate Isolation demo to now. It’s the voice of a thousand demons; it’s raw, thick and it’s exactly what death metal vocals should sound like. He’s a lot more comfortable, a lot more confident about his vocals, and you can definitely hear that on this album.

The songs on Beyond the Flesh are instantly catchy (i.e. “Desolate Isolation” and “Traumatic Existence”). For you, what makes a good death metal song?

What we all think makes a good death metal song is good, catchy riffs, vocal patterns that flow with those riffs, and well-structured solos with a mix of melody and technicality.  It is a mixture of all those things; you know, just songs people can bang their heads to, and not just four minutes of a blast-beats with random growls here and there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool from time to time, but it can get a little boring after a while.

Oftentimes, death metal has been a struggle between technicality and simplicity. Judging by your sound, your sound, you prefer the latter. Do you think death metal complicates itself too much?

Yeah, but only to a certain extent.  We try and put as much of both of those elements into our music, keeping it balanced, yet sticking to that old-school sound. A lot people try and find their own sound you know? It is like away from what everyone else is doing, thus creating all these different types of death metal in the process, which isn’t a bad thing; that’s what keeps the scene alive. So like I said, to a certain extent, it might complicate itself, but not much as you’d think it would. 

Any plans for live activity?

We plan on trying to play as much as we can and at as many places as we can. Hopefully Europe will happen this year and there is some stuff in the works for July-August and a really cool festival out there. We are all hoping it happens!

Finally, what’s on deck for 2013?

Hopefully to do a small tour of Europe this year and to keep playing where ever we are allowed to play. Maybe we’ll even have a new album this year!  So keep an eye out for that and thanks to the fans for all the support! Keep supporting! Cheers!

www.fda-rekotz.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

Destruction are definitely old and they’re certainly classic, yet their recent albums are the furthest thing from mandatory. Yeah, there’s plenty of vitriol and zippy riffs to be found on 2011’s Day of Reckoning, but it’s not like anyone is beating down the doors to hear those jams over cuts like “Release from Agony” or “Mad Butcher.” The same applies for Spiritual Genocide, which was released in late 2012, and is seeing domestic release this February by way of Nuclear Blast.

For a band on its 13^th album, Destruction doesn’t seem to be clawing for ideas. In fact, some of these numbers rumble like it was 1988, most notably the title track, which unfurls one of guitarist Mike Sifringer’s patented labyrinthine riff patterns. The mid-tempo lurch of “City of Doom” should get some nods in the neck-snapping area; same for “No Signs of Repentence,” a song that pushes the band’s technical threshold to the max. And naturally, vocalist/bassist Schimer is all over this thing, pushing his hate-on-hate agenda, while sounding as Schimer-like as ever. (Those who have waded through the band’s previous output can surely understand the meaning of that last comment.)

Circa 2013, Destruction doesn’t have much of a shot of matching Kreator’s firepower and momentum. Spiritual Genocide won’t change that, even if the band has hopped aboard the same label as Mille and crew. They should take solace in being second in the Tuetonic thrash race…and being at the forefront of old, but cool thrash.

From what I understand, the new album, Deathlike, has been done for a while.

Nathan: All wrapped up; had to wait for mastering, get the artwork. Working with Travis Smith, who did all the detail work. He deserves a lot of credit for what he did. He’s real nice and really understood what I wanted. It’s a simple cover.

Like the first album.

Nathan: Right, but that was like the “spark” that started the whole thing. There’s a different cover for the LP that’s the all-seeing eye.

Do you always have songs in the can?

Nathan: Oh yeah. We always have a lot of material ready to go. Some of these songs I’ve had for a long time, and me and Ribs and Mike have started working on new material. We’re always in the writing process. I write when I’m inspired to write something…I get a thought in my head, then I’m like, “This would be interesting to write about.” These guys will pull a riff out of their assholes and it will sound amazing.

Ribs: It’s pretty cool. It’s a process that works out well for us.

What made the title track the choice to be the first “single” off the album? I think it’s the best song on the album.

Mike: Ah, thanks. [pats himself on the back]

Nathan: It’s the title track and very powerful song.

Ribs: It’s the first song written for the record. I

Mike: I wrote it two years ago, right?

Nathan: You go back into the filing cabinet of the mind and go, “Let’s use this one. Let’s use that one!”

Mike: We played on the Ghost run, too.

The new album, at least the way I see it, is a continuation of Godlike Inferno. Was that intentional?

Nathan: Definitely. Especially conceptually, you can play the records back-to-back. Each one has a connection. We want to experiment and evolve with each record…that gets boring for everybody, especially us [laughs]. If I’m not interested, then I probably wouldn’t do it. It’s a definitely a continuation, and visually, it all maps together.

I think this one isn’t as overt as the last one. There’s more of mystical feel to what you’re saying.

Nathan: Yeah, the first one is right on the surface and in your face. I really started to understand what I wanted to write, how I wanted to say things, and the words I wanted to choose to accent my parts. I never use curse words either.

That almost diminishes things, sometimes.

Nathan: I have a foul mouth as it is, so there’s no need for it.

Ribs: That’s like a cheap shot. There’s no reason to say things like that.

Nathan: I almost said “bullshit” in one of our songs, but I found a better way to say it.

You mentioned doing some in-store performances. What do you have lined up?

Nathan: We’re going to have cardboard cut-outs of ourselves, and have the eyeballs cut out so we can stand behind ourselves [laughs]

Ribs: I think that’s awesome. Even if we Spinal Tap it and no one shows up, it’s a cool thing to do. When’s the last time you heard anyone doing this type of thing? It’s a cool thing. Even just to hang out with the people at the record store will be cool.

Your music lends itself to that environment anyway.

Nathan: Yeah!

You hear Pallbearer playing right now…it would be hard for them.

Nathan: It would be hard for them to do an in-store [laughs]. That might be cool, actually.

Mike: Like 40 Watt Sun…they could just half-time that shit.

TA: I love to see bands like that do acoustic versions of their stuff.

Mike: Their acoustic stuff is amazing.

Ribs: Our maybe it was Warning you are thinking of.

That was his [Patrick Walker] band before 40 Watt Sun, so that could be it.

Ribs: Warning is the shit.

Mike: They’re playing in like G, acoustic. Their strings are like [makes rubber band noise].

Nathan: That could be really cool.

Mike: Especially with his voice not having to strain himself…I think that could be awesome.

Like we were saying, your music can fit in that type of setting.

Nathan: We sort of transform ourselves to whatever environment we’re in. We can do a fucking coffee shop…

TA: One of the coolest shows we did was when we did the all-acoustic with Scott Kelly (Neurosis).

Ribs: Yeah, the bar in which me and Mike work at. It was so cool. It was with the dude from Oxbow.

Bassist: And he was doing spoken-word.

And what were you guys doing?

TA: All acoustic, everything. We used a tambourine; that was the only percussion.

Ribs: We play with Scott everytime he comes through. Both Scotts actually – Scott Kelly and Scott Wino.

By way of carving your own niche, are you still encountering people in the crowd who appear as if they don’t know what to expect?

Nathan: It really depends where. We played Baltimore last night and they were really into it.

TA: We get a good mix it and love it, and sing it. And then you see people that don’t know the music, but are into.

Nathan: You see people who are hearing it for the first time, their eyes goes up a little, like “What is this?”

Ribs: We also work well with an older crowd; they get the fuck out of it. We’ve had 40’s, 50’s, 60’s…they’re into like Zeppelin, old-school stuff.

Mike: One of my main influences is the Eagles, man.

Ribs: I hate the Eagles!

Nathan: The dude in Big Lebowski gave them a bad name. I don’t see why the dude didn’t like the Eagles…just take it easy man.

Mike: That’s a name of an Eagles song!

Nathan: I know!

Mike: I think that’s the one thing with our music that goes places where others don’t. It’s heavy, but it’s not crazy heavy.

Like this bill, for instance. You manage to fit in really well, even with a band like Enslaved, who have been all over the map musically.

Mike: We can fit on any bill, I think.

Ribs: I want to do every kind of tour.

TA: We played Inferno Fest in Norway. We did great there.

Mike: The metal comparisons…I don’t even get it.

Well, you’re on a metal label.

Mike: The label is also changing with the sounds of the times. We’re a little more in-depth than most.

The nice thing with being lumped into the metal scene is that people are used to having their ears blasted all the time, then you guys come in, all melodic. And you all have metal backgrounds.

TA: Every one of us has played in really heavy bands.

It’s always fun to talk to metal guys about what they really listen to.

Mike: Metal dudes’ girlfriends really like us [laughs].

Ribs: I’d like to play to every crowd, pick up new people along the way.

TA: We’re fortunate we can fit with any style of music and hold our own and be cohesive.

You have a really simple setup in which to tour; it’s not like you’re stacking Marshalls all over the place.

Ribs: It’s easy to load in, but it’s hard to make it sound right. Now that we’re the first band, they do Enslaved, then us.

Mike: Wait a couple of years – there’s going to be stacks. We want to add a keyboard player, another percussionist, upright bass, string ensemble [laughs].

Nathan:  I have some friends who works with own solo stuff like, Godspeed! You Black Emperor. I haven’t asked him yet, and I want him to play some cello. We did have some upright bass on Godlike Inferno stuff. Certain shows do stuff like that; incorporate an added layer. On Deathlike, I did a layer of lower synth on the entire thing. That’s how you get those big punch-ups…I don’t want to give away my secrets, but that’s when the song gets really big. That gives them extra push-ups.

The harmony chain. How do you divvy them up?

Nathan: We write them as we go. Me and Mike, we’re brothers, so we naturally have a voice that matches up with each other. It fits really naturally. We take the first layer and find the appropriate harmony for it. We don’t think too much for it.

Mike: I don’t have to reach much for it…it’s just there.

Ribs: It’s tougher for me than them [laughs].

Mike: We’re pretty naturally gifted when it comes to knowing what key to find.

Nathan: Like on “Here is the Grave,” that’s definitely some of the favorite harmonies to do on the album. “Deathlike” is cool as well.

Have you started thinking about the next one yet?

Ribs: Absolutely. It’s already done. The skeletons are done.

You’re like the bands from the 70s – putting multiple albums out a year.

Mike: How many did Kiss put out their first year, three?

TA: That’s the best thing about this band.

Ribs: There’s no holding back, especially when it comes to recording.

Nathan: We think about percussion in a different light. Like, what’s around here [points to microwave], let’s use that! [banging noises ensue]

www.ancientvvisdom.com

www.prostheticrecords.com

Those who can’t get past the obvious qualities of the band’s sound will instantly relegate this to campfire status, for one could easy generate visions of a bunchy of bearded, smelly dudes around a roaring fire singing songs about our good pal Old Scratch. And yeah, the cerebral types (which this scribe may or may not be) could also see that, but the real bang-up with AVV comes via singer Nathan Opposition’s soulful croon, one that gives numbers like “Let the End Begin” and the fantastic title track the right degree of humanity and dare we say: commercial edge.

Once past the title track, Deathlike starts to level off, although the festering “Waiting to Die” threatens to be a quasi anthem, while “Far Beyond Good and Evil” relishes in the band’s would-be patented foot-stomping tempos. However, the meandering “Rebirth” lacks any sort of urgency, “Look Alive” comes across as a tad hokey, and “Death or Victory” gets turned around (the wrong way) via a ho-hum “whoa-whoa” chorus.

Deathlike is still a winner, in spite of its quick (and unnecessary) sojourn to plainsville. The title is to die for, and if you’re in the right frame of mind (read: relaxed, feeling like you want to get in touch with nature, but not in a black metal way), then Ancient VVisdom should be up your alley. Deathlike doesn’t top A Godlike Inferno, but it doesn’t push these gents out of the devil rock conversation either. Call this one a draw.

Probably the closest thing to a true DIY entity is Yayla main dude Emir Torgrul. Torgrul is responsible for not only the music, but the lyrics, artwork, label distribution and get this: the actual creation of the discs. Apparently, each copy of his Nihaihayat debut is handmade; Torgrul sprays the disc, and then cuts and inserts the prints for the jewel case and jacket. Basically, he does the whole thing himself. From scratch. He does it himself, from scratch. Imagine the long hours he puts in…dude must love coffee. Compounded with the fact he’s from Turkey, Nihaihayat takes an entirely different front than the usual Xasthur/Krieg one-man black metal outing.

As predictable as the album is in its sonic design (production on this is so 2004), Torgrul manages to place a hefty onus on mysterious dynamics, a lot of which start to click once “Through the Sigil of Hate” starts to gain footing. The riff attack is suitably blurry, as wry chords create what is the equivalent of a desert dust storm, all the while Torgrul mumbles like a monotonous drone. No emotion = total awesomeness. The real track to watch here, though, is “Immortalizing the Nine,” where upon morose riff combos merge with dirge-like funeral doom dalliances, making it one of the finer one-man BM strokes to hit the pavement of late.

Regardless of locale or how the damn thing was created (burning CD’s is such an arduous task to begin with), Nihaihayat should land on some uber cult and true black metal radars. If nothing else, it’s another quality entry into swathed-in-black, black metal.

With Mike not being around, have you come to grips with it? It must be unique for you having to do an album without him.

Yeah, it has. When the beginning when the band got back together, everyone was on the same page and wanted to do things. But, as time went on, Mike had a very strong attitude…it was getting a little too think of a thing for the rest of us. It was in the best interest that we did part ways, although it was more really him parting ways with us. To make a long story short, things weren’t working out, actions were flying and it was going back to the same things that happened the first time with Mike. I think it was the best decision for all us in general, because he can do his own thing now. For us, we’re definitely a lot happier.

So it’s almost a case of deju vu, if we want to go back to the late 90’s when you had some momentum and were on Roadrunner, but things fell apart. Yet, it appears the band is more equipped to handle these kind of things than you were 15 years ago.

Let’s put it this way: We could tour so much more than we can now, because now, there’s a lot more responsibilities on the plate with everybody. Jobs, kids, and so forth, and my band is a victim of that. To be honest, it’s a lot better, it’s not so much touring, but keeping the integrity of being able to go out and do it after 40. It’s big deal for us; it’s a big deal for Frank and I.

Dave is no stranger to a lot of death metal folk based on his work with Malevolent Creation and Hateplow. When you enlisted him to replace Mike, how did the transition go?

Everything that happened with Mike…we were like “What are going to do?” Dave has been around for a long time and we still keep in touch with other members of the band. I still talk to Doug Cerrito from time-to-time, Chris Richards, and so forth…we’re all still friends. We still have a tight-knit community. Before that, I’ve been writing pieces for Pinnacle, so had Derek and Guy, so we pretty much had the pre-production of Pinnacle of Bedlam ready, for the most part. Dave pretty much had to work off of it. It was important because it wouldn’t be as fluid if we didn’t have the axl of pre-production from him to work with before we came in and recorded. There was a real tight time frame where we had to get Dave to learn the material and get into the studio, and we still had shows, and Dave hopped right in. It was a bit of a bumpy ride; there was a lot of homework to go over, we had a lot more rehearsals than our average two times a week. It wasn’t an easy task, but we pulled it off. Dave was a trooper throughout the whole thing. He was a blessing in disguise.

If you look at Dave’s style and Mike’s style…

[interrupting] It will probably end up where we’ll have a fill in here and there, but the band is still 100% a unit, and we discuss everything. Openly, we discuss whatever we can do. If Frank says, “We have the five shows on this tour and I can’t make it. Can we get a fill-in?” I’m going to go “We’ll get the person that’s going to fill your shoes.” It’s so much more civilized now. It’s not everybody being pitted at each other’s throats. It’s really cool now, for when we’re at home and it’s time to go to band practice, it’s not a chore; we all look forward to doing it. After 20 years, you’d think you get sick and tired of the same old thing, but with the addition of Dave and having Guy and Derek in the band the last decade, it’s really something I’ve grown to love a lot more.

I really like “As Grace Descends” and “Inversion.” There’s a nice little balance between the straight-brutal riffs and some of your more technical adventures.

Play them out until you don’t like them anymore [laughs]. We’re pretty picky as far as the style and writings in the type of riffs we like. If we don’t like it, then we toss it to the side. We really tried to pick not just one style…you can hear a little Napalm Death in there, a little Morbid Angel in there; there’s things you can actually say, “Okay, that influenced these guys when they were writing.” I hope those bands can pick up on these things when they listen to it and go, “Wow that sounds like something we did.” In the end, we wanted to make something memorable. We didn’t want note-y, squirrely riffs that would take a year for you to figure out what’s going on.

Let’s talk about the fact that you’re nine or ten albums into your career. You’ve yet to hit that creative wall where you’re essentially working backward, like a lot of retro death metal bands. Do you keep tabs on what they’re doing?

To a certain degree. I’m not so attuned to a lot of deathcore and metalcore and things of that nature these days. I do stick with oldies, but goodies at this point [laughs]. There are a lot of new bands coming out with flair and I think that say, Decrepit Birth. I really enjoy them. There are other bands like Aeon, who I think are great. When it comes to metalcore bands, Veil of Maya, they put some style and flavor into their music. Even though it’s not death metal, it’s more deathcore or metalcore, it still comes across as pretty heavy. It takes a fine ear to get used to listening something different than Morbid Angel or Pestilence, or stuff I grow up listening to.

We touched upon this briefly in our chat, but take me back to the time when the band folded in 1998 around Despise the Sun. Can you take me into the band’s mindset?

At that time, nobody ever figured the band would last that much longer anyway. We had did some tours and stuff, and it was different. At that time, the scene itself especially in New York, wasn’t doing well. It was harder to book shows, and to get out of things in normal life, like your job. The band fizzled out. It wasn’t like, “We’re never jamming again.” That was it; it was over and everybody went on their own way. In that circumstance, it was upsetting. For most of the members, I was missing something. I had been doing it for so long, and I had a regular job and I was still playing guitar, but it’s not like I was starting a new band or anything. We just had the mindset that we couldn’t go forward. Everybody’s enthusiasm went out the window. It was probably the best thing that we disbanded. It made everyone realize as time went on, that you miss it when you don’t have it.

The climate of the late-90’s wasn’t good for a death metal band anyway. Combine black metal with those lovely nu metal bands…

Yeah, and you see how fast they came and went. Death metal is a way of life. It’s not just a musical standpoint; you really have to devote yourself to it to make ends meet and get a can of soup out of it. You’re not going to keep people’s eyes on it if you stayed out the way we did. We were very fortunate that when we got back together that people picked up on it and said, “I’m still into fucking Suffocation, so I’m going to check them out or buy a record.” I’m very lucky.

You and Frank have been the long-time staples in the band. Can you speak to your relationship with him? You spoke of how he has the flexibility to miss shows if he had to, which is very unique.

Frank has been my long-time friend and I don’t think it will be any different than that. He gets his share of trials and tribulations just like everybody else, for him, and his family, and he does the best he can do. Me and Frank have gone way back, and I’m super-stoked to have him onboard and have him come and play for you guys. The thing that happens is that I’m a guitar player, so I get my share of aches and pains in my shoulder, but he gets that share in his voice or lungs, so you never know how long he can last doing something of this nature. It’s not natural. I wish for as much longevity in this band as possible and I think he feels he has something that will stay in his life for a long time. He’s not planning on going anywhere.

A lot of classic bands have done this, so I’m wondering if you’ve ever entertained the idea of playing Effigy in its entirety live.

You know, I have SO thought about it. There’s been times that everyone in this band have gone “Dude, we should play a record from beginning to end, and let that be our set for the tour.” We all turned around and go, “We can’t do that.” There’s so many records we’ve put out and songs we’ve done that we can’t leave them off. We could play the title track off every record and that could be the set. We, as a band, go “We can’t turn our back on that song. We can’t turn our back on this song.” So by that time, we have our set [laughs].

www.facebook.com/suffocation

www.nuclearblastusa.com

The new album is still heavy, but it’s also melodic and positive. The best of both worlds, perhaps?

For me, it’s just the way it turned out, you know? We had all the songs and if they sound like they sound, we won’t push them in another direction. They need to have their own life. When I do an album and listen to it later on…it’s still so close. It needs maybe a half of year. It needs different ears so it can start to sound normal. Just because I’m coming out of the process where I listened to the guitars and drums without the keyboards, without the vocals…I still hear it in little sections. We still need time to hear it as a big picture [laughs].

Lots of songs seem to be working well. “Far From the Sun” is one, “Church Breaks Down,” and “Fire Make Fly” is another. What songs are sticking with you?

“Nabetea” is a great theme; it’s a little classical piece Andi wrote about ancient history. I like it a lot because it has to do with freedom, which is something Helloween has always written about, like “Eagle Fly Free.” This “Nabeatea” thing is an amazing story about this nation years and years ago, and they were trying to do a democracy in the early days, which was interesting. It’s based on a real thing, actually. We’ll put it into the set to see how it works out, you know?

Andi sounds great on it, too.

Yeah, and if you listen to the ballad (“Hold Me In Your Arms”) you’ll notice he’s doing some different things, too. There is a lot of stuff on the album that is pretty different from song-to-song. I like that range of variety that we put on.

Plus you have “Asshole.”

Well, that one had to be said, you know? [laughs] They won’t play that one on American radio, won’t they?

I very much doubt it [laughs] Moving along, the recording sessions, what are they like these days? When I spoke to Weike about them, he said they were very much relaxed, that you guys were the model of efficiency. Do you see it that way too?

It’s pretty easy. When the songs are done, you know what you’re going to do most of the time. There are some parts in the studio that when you listen to the drums or guitars, I might change something here and there. The hardest is part is when you start and you expect to write some tunes, and you don’t have a single note yet [laughs]. You’re standing right on a big mountain, thinking you need a couple of tracks in a few weeks or months, then you start thinking it’s never going to work out. Then you finally start the very first song, and do some lyrics for it, then you write into it. Recording is like…I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it’s better than standing at the bottom of an epic mountain.

Once we hit 2014, you will be celebrating your 30^th anniversary. You have been there from the start, so, have you given this any thought?

Well, decay might start soon [laughs]. It’s being going on a long time, being in a band. It’s still not over…it keeps getting better.

Those early days when it was just the four of you: Ingo [Switchenburg], Kai, Weike, and you. What were they like?

I can remember the very first time we came over to the States. You couldn’t imagine it. That was the time I called the “big hairspray.” We were going to LA and going to the all the bars like the Rainbow. You’d be on the toilet, thinking you were in the ladies room [laughs]. That was just a point of time in the mid-80’s and late-80’s when heavy metal and hard rock was very big, like MTV, they came over for each fifth day and supported us big-time. It was great for us to go there. With everyone was happening, coming from Germany, we did a couple of tours in Germany, then Europe, then over to the States for a couple of months and doing all the American-styled things. It was a great experience. You can imagine coming there and doing all of those things at 22 years-old…it was crazy.

There’s a Youtube video shot in Minnesota on the first Keeper tour. Have you seen it?

Yeah, yeah. I like seeing the old stuff; it’s a great memory. Falling back into good memories…I like it. Kind of romantic.

You wouldn’t know it by your demeanor on stage, but that was around the time things went south with Noise Records and Kai started thinking about leaving.

It’s been some very, very good times, but we had some very rough and bad times, too. That’s what you have to go through to be in the end, how can you say…the guy you are. Everything that happened is a part of you, and it forms you. It’s not always funny when you’ve been doing it for as long as us, because we’ve had record company trouble, and members leaving. I remember the times when nobody wanted to hear us because they thought Helloween was finished, but then we came back with Master of the Rings.

The time from Keeper Part II to Pink Bubbles and the three-year layoff. With the legal troubles in mind, were you worried the band might never make another album?

That was never the point. It was just a matter of thinking of how to do things differently. When Kai was leaving, it was like “We have to find a new guitarist!” And we did that, but then we had all of this record company trouble, and we couldn’t record anything because we weren’t allowed to do anything under the name “Helloween” for one and-a-half years. But we always dealt with it well, and like, “Let’s carry on. What we started, we won’t give up.” We never thought about stopping it.

And you were always the middle man, too. On one side, it was Weike and Roland, then you had Ingo and Kiske on the other side. How hard was it to navigate those personalities?

Then you had the problem with Ingo, who was in very bad shape [Switchenburg committed suicide in 1995 – ed]. There were a lot of strong characters in the band, and we always had fights and things, but we always had good times, too. If somebody changes his mind and wants to do something different, he will do it without Helloween or do something else, or go with Helloween and do what is right. There were always decisions about those things and sometimes it wasn’t easy. You’re thinking, “My God, what’s going on this time?” Things got out of control sometimes.

And you were the mediator.

[laughs] Sometimes it was havoc, and sometimes it was like, nobody would really listen and everyone wanted to do things with their own heads. It’s been a very rough job sometimes [laughs]. Sometimes you had to make decisions, and they weren’t always fun. It’s like you go to work and you have this chief and when you’re told what to do, it’s easy. But this is a business and we have to decide for ourselves. The decisions you make are not always…you have to decide something that may hurt other people, but that’s the way it works.

It makes me wonder what the sessions for the Chameleon albums were like. I read stories that they were bad, and for a lack of a better term, “interesting.”

These recordings were very strange. It was a record where a couple of members wrote individual songs for themselves. It wasn’t such an album we did together. It was just like a bunch of solo album, album tracks from the members. They didn’t fit together. It’s an interesting album, but it wasn’t an album we worked together [on]. It sound great and good, but the songs are different, which isn’t a bad thing. At the end of the day, in a band like Helloween, none of those albums are sounding the same, it’s good to have an album like Chameleon in the back catalog. If you see it in the big picture, it’s still an interesting album.

Moving a bit forward, do you remember your first encounter with Andi?

Yes, of course. It was in Hamburg. With his former band, Pink Cream 69, they were doing recordings and we were living here, and I visited and gave them some pot and stuff [laughs]. We treated them like guests, then we were drinking beer and having fun. We learned each other and got to know each other, just staying in Hamburg with the boys.

Those first rehearsals with him, what were they like?

He came in very quick. The freshness of the Masters of the Rings album, which I very much like. He came in and we were already rehearsing for that album. He had some ideas for the album and some of our stuff was ready to go, and then we didn’t have much time. He came in and we were working on it already, and after a couple of weeks, we went into the studio. We had some great times working on those tracks very quick. It got something back from what we were missing from the two albums before, and that’s what I love album it.

He came in and at the time, Helloween were trying to find a way back to Helloween. He came in as an outsider, having a great overlook about what Helloween was supposed to be. He came in and reminded us of what we really are. It made a lot of things much clearer suddenly.

That was your career turning point. Have you ever thought from purely a hypothetical standpoint of what you would have done had Andi not come along?

I don’t know…I couldn’t see anyone else! We were friends already. He followed Helloween’s career and knew a lot about Helloween’s career and the last two albums we did. He said, “When I come in, Helloween has to be Helloween again!” I couldn’t see this with a stranger, you know? That was the right thing to do.

It’s interesting to think of how your career is divided into segments. You have the Kai era, then Kiske, and Andi, who has lasted nearly 20 years as your singer. Few bands have a history like that.

Everything we did…after Masters of the Rings, we had this feeling that if we can do this again, we can do anything. If we can get this machine re-started, there’s nothing to stop you.

Are you looking forward to hitting the road with Gamma Ray again?

Oh yeah, of course. We did the Part I of the tour a few years ago and now doing it again. We have a little jam with Kai somewhere in the set. It’s very good for the people; Kai plays like, more than an hour and we play an hour and-a-half or more. I think it’s a good thing for the people.

It’s always cool to see the two bands onstage together at the same time.

It is! People have always wanted to start this “Gamma Ray Camp” versus “Helloween Camp” and those two sides…but we thought it was cool to put this together to make those people shut up. It’s fun and something different. People seem to like it. It’s very inspiring, actually.

www.helloween.org

Jussi: In a way, yes.  I think the lineup is finally stabilized. We don’t have anything to prove. We know exactly what we’re doing and where we’re going from here.

Where does At Every Door succeed where Teotwawki failed? Not say its predecessor was a failure, but you catch my drift…

Toni: I didn’t have any part in the process of making the previous albums, but while listening to them, I have a feeling that they, while of course having their own merits, are somewhat made to fit a specific mold, when it comes to style and sound. I think that At Every Door succeeded in dropping the unnecessary self-censorship, and thus was able to breathe freely.

Jussi: On Teotwawki we felt we had to do something totally different from “Inherit the Eden”.  We didn’t want to do the same album twice; we wanted Teotwawki to sound exactly the opposite when compared to Inherit the Eden. Like Toni said, this time we didn’t feel the need to over analyze things. At Every Door is more like a “go with the flow” album.

In terms of building the album, what were some of the foundational tracks? As in, the songs that were easiest to put down that you knew would work?

Toni: I’m bound to go with the colossal “To End All Ages,” as you could already hear from the demo versions that it would carry a tremendous weight, even in a crappy rehearsal recording. That was probably why it was the last one to be finished. We nailed the hardest ones first. Another one would be “Ash and Dust.”

As a whole, the album has a melancholic, dreary feel. What themes did you explore?

Toni: The themes are about dystopic visions of tomorrow; a journey to the world of future, of what is likely to come if we do not take heed of our history. It’s a work of fiction, with several intertextual references to both fictive and actual events in our past.

To me, the album title reflects life, and how with “every door,” there is a new challenge. Am I off-base by thinking that?

Jussi: I love album titles that make you think. That’s your interpretation and it has a meaning for you so you’re not off-base at all.

Toni: I think the album title has many meanings. I didn’t come up with it, so I can’t give you an official answer. It’s also a tribute to another great piece of music, which shouldn’t be too difficult to find out…

Along with the melancholy and dreariness, the album is very digestible. Songs like “Ten Thousand Cranes” and “The Cure” have instant appeal. For you, what moments stick out the most?

Toni: I’m gonna go with “Wormwood.” On top of being the most interesting one to make and probably the most unlikely of the bunch, it goes with an entertaining anecdote: While recording the drums, we were using the software Reaper, which I wasn’t very familiar with. I botched the safe-copy, and the drum recordings of the first third of “Wormwood” were lost. I was crestfallen, as that was supposed to be the sure-fire metal song of the album. We considered building a drum track from samples, but that didn’t feel right. Fortunately, we decided to go all-out experimental with this one, and do a machine-drum filled eerie intro, with completely different vocals. What was supposed to be the most straightforward growl-verse-clean-chorus song came out a whole lot different.

Was there any temptation to use additional clean vocals? I think you did a tremendous balancing act between death metal vocals and cleans.

Toni: I was going to put clean vocals in many places that have growls now, but fortunately Jussi put me in my place. I agree with you: the balance is great right now.

You spent the early part of your career on Spikefarm, but have moved over to Lifeforce. What prompted you to make that move?

Jussi: After the release ofTeotwawkithere were a lot of changes in the Spinefarm/Spikefarm staff. The people we used to work with were gone. Both parties felt that it was time to move on. Lifeforce showed interest from day one as we started looking for a new label so it was an easy decision to sign with them.

What do you make of the current wave of Finnish bands playing dark and somber metal? It seems like Hanging Garden is going to be a permanent fixture in this movement…

Toni: There are a lot of great acts, especially the lesser known ones bubbling under. If I were to name one example, I would tell you to check out Mother Susurrus. Of course, the bigger acts like Swallow the Sun, are doing great releases after another.

Finnish winters. What do you to get through it?

Toni: Lots of booze and vitamin D. Also, we make musicJ

Do you ever tire of the ongoing darkness?

Toni: Every single winter. Right now the days are fortunately growing a bit longer: we already have six hours of daylight. The Lapland dudes have it harder: during the Kaamos time of midwinter, the sun doesn’t rise at all…

Finally, what’s on the agenda for 2013?

Toni: Doing a lot of live shows, getting out the new music video (be sure to check out this one, it’s something completely different!), and starting the recordings for the next album, for which we already have an abundance of raw material!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hanging-Garden/8829792427
www.lifeforcerecords.com

Not really. There has never been any kind of competition of any ‘main band versus second band’issues. The reasons for leaving Night in Gales were both a lot more personal and artistically minded. Five Scars could most probably have been released a few years earlier and I would still have left the band a while after its release. After a few things went down the drain for Night in Gales in 2001/2002 we always knew we will do another record whatsoever. But as time passed by, it became clear for me that this record will nevertheless be my swansong for Night in Gales. No matter if we were put on ice for a while, we all were still part of that band emotionally.

But things have simply come full circle for me. I am very proud of Five Scars and there´s no bad blood, but I just didn´t see myself doing another Night in Gales album. It would not be honest. Take a look at the lyrics of Five Scars and you will understand. Five Scars finally had to be my last Night in Gales album. I left the band with my head up high and think this was the right decision for me. I wish the rest of the guys all the best, may the force be with them!

For such a hands-on guy like you, will it be tough seeing someone else take charge of things such as lyrics, artwork, etc. in Night in Gales?

It will be strange for sure. Indeed I didn´t only take care of the lyrics and vocals lines, but I also did the artwork, most of the interviews etc… So it will be weird to see somebody else doing this, definitely. Yet I know my successor and he´s isn´t only a nice person and long-time Night in Gales fan, but a really talented guy, who already achieves quite some success with his band as well. So I´m also really curious to see what happens with Night in Gales in the future.

It appears that you’ve been steadily building The Very End since its formation in 2004. Is now the right time to strike, especially based on how strong Turn off the World is?

From the band member´s point of view I say: Oh yes, damn sure! But from the behind the scenes point of view I rather say: Let´s wait and bleed. I know that Turn off the World is a damn good album, we´ve spilled a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it done. And 2013 could indeed hold some changes for us up its sleeve. Yet I know how tough the scene is nowadays, especially in Germany. It´s totally ridiculous, but take two bands of the exact same quality, one from Germany, one from abroad. What do you think which band will get more attention in Germany, more chances being booked etc? Right, the band from abroad. This is something I will never understand and I don´t want to understand, either.

Were you at all deterred when Dockyard I went under? Seems like the first album [Vs Life] didn’t get a lot of promotion because of it

One could even say that Vs Life happened beyond public awareness! We had zero promotion, except for one ad. I repeat, one ad! And you never guess in which glorious magazine this was. The Burger King Magazine. A fucking fast food tab that may have a huge printing but only gets picked up by bored fatties who wait for their plastic food. Well, obviously that elaborate 20-page thingy had a few music ads and interviews back then, but what the fuck? Did anyone think some promo in a METAL mag would maybe make more sense? Well, they chose THE BURGER KING MAG! Can you fuckin´ believe this ha-ha!??

So, what about interviews? Ah well, they got us one… or maybe two. Too many to remember correctly. A tour, or even a single gig? Zero… A royalty statement? Ha-ha nice try… So, after all ‘deterred’ is the wrong term. I wasn´t disillusioned, either. We were simply pissed as fuck! They went bankrupt, shit like this can happen. But how they dealt with it was pretty bad. It was like rats leaving the sinking ship, only one remaining Dockyard1 person talked openly to us and tried to do some damage control. But of course it was too late anyways. We set up dissolution of contract and looked ahead. We have all rights regarding Vs Life and hopefully we will get the album the attention it deserves sooner or later.

Working with SPV is definitely a step in the right direction. What do you hope to get out of it?

Right, SPV is an important step forward. They had to suffer from business problems, too. But they were open-minded and honest, and finally we signed to them whilst they were recovering from the aforementioned problems. They didn´t give up, they still had the will to live and to get back to business stronger than ever. This was a main point for us signing to them. And so far the cooperation is smooth. SPV know The Very End is a band that still needs to be build-up, so we´re working on that together.

You’re using a variety of voices on the new album and you’re singing more, which is a good thing. Do you think you’ll ever fully transition away from death/screamed vocals?

Not within the realm of The Very End at least. No matter how the ratio of screams and melody will evolve in the future of The Very End, there will always be a certain amount of aggressive vocals within our music. I have a punk rock´n´roll kinda project called The Rules, where I only sing classic kick-ass rock style, so I don´t necessarily feel the need to sing more and more melodic in The Very End. It comes with the music. If a song benefits from screams, I will scream. If not, will sing melodic. Both feel great. As simple as that.

“Infidel” is a song that routinely gets stuck in my head. Which songs seem to be translating best for you these days?

You know, some songs you´ve predicted to be world hits don´t turn out as great as expected in the studio. On the other hand there are songs that seem like fillers when you record them but turn out as the strongest of the whole album. Yet I won´t tell you which songs I mean ha-ha! People seem to have really different favs when talking about or reviewing Turn off the World, and that´s the best to happen. It will be boring if everybody said “Splinters” is the best track, while the rest of the album is flat, right?

You had a fantastic habit in Night in Gales of combining words together (i.e. “Feverfeast,” “Blackfleshed,” etc.). Do you think you’ll ever go back to wording lyrics like that?

As you have said, I had that habit in Night in Gales. And it was one of Night in Gales ´ trademarks. The Very End´s lyrics have other emphases and their own trademarks yet again. To be honest I had to keep myself from using such combinations of words when I started writing lyrics for The Very End, as I have worked with those for years. But I think I have managed to come up with a distinct little world of The Very End lyrics over the course of our three albums. So, most likely I will not resuscitate this Night in Gales style, because it wouldn´t be more like a lukewarm theft.

Some will instantly peg you as a thrash band, but you’re much more than that. Plus, German thrash is generally considered Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, etc. Where do you see yourselves fitting in?

We´re pretty much fallen in between the cracks I think, but our basis is definitely thrash. We come from a very metal region, steeped in history. Kreator, Sodom, Rage, they all come from the Ruhr Area like we do. And many more great bands. This region is the most active of the whole country actually, also in terms of new bands. So, at some point we try to accept our heritage and get the German thrash on the next level. Not in terms of paying better thrash than Kreator or the likes, but in terms of playing open minded, modern, massive metal BASED on thrash. Right, some of our songs are thrashier than others, and finally it all comes down to metal without any prefix. But that´s how we see it. Thus, style-wise we easily could go on tour with bands like Metallica or Kreator, but also with Disturbed, The Haunted or Black Label Society. As long as it´s heavy, I don´t need a concrete thrash environment to tour with. You just gotta have balls. And right, our balls are bigger than Jesus!

Do you think The Very End has a better chance at cracking the North American market than Night in Gales?

I totally don´t know. Both bands haven´t played in North America yet. I really hope The Very End will get the chance to play over there soon! At least we´re not only hoping for it but also working on it. I mean, the more people give us attention, the bigger the chances for sure! So if you wanna see The Very End play some North American shows, spread the word folks!

Finally, what’s on tap for 2013?

Getting as many shows as possible, getting more followers, filming another video clip, writing songs for album number 4, drinking a lot and last but not least – cleaning the rehearsal room, ha-ha!

www.theveryend.net

www.spv.de

Ping the word “anonymous” in black metal, and instantly one is thrust into the world one-man, efficiency apartment and/or basement recordings. It takes a lot to convince people that’s there’s some diabolical fiend behind the Tascam 4-track, which lends to the gradual truncating of solo-run BM. Nine Covens, though, make anonymous black metal slightly more appealing, having undergone some sort of transformation from their underwhelming …On the Coming of Darkness debut to their sophomore On the Dawning of Light. Improvement is here in spades.

The direct sonic line goes to Watain, who have entrenched themselves with what is perhaps, the most potent arsenal of vitriol (and animal blood) in black metal. Visuals aside, Nine Covens paints more of a gauntlet-themed picture than dense forests, as the brazen attack of opener “Origin of Light” gets down with potent blasting and the circle punking that Darkthrone tends to lunge for. Similarly, “As Fire Consumes” hits paydirt with threads of melody placed over top – you guessed it – more blasting. It’s a sure-fire album highlight, and the most Watain-ready song of the lot.

As it turns out, the album’s melodic strands are the foundational characteristics that catapult On the Dawning of Light over its predecessor. Numbers like “As the Ocean’s Strand,” “The Mist of Death” and the instrumental “White Star Acception” all take on memorable guitar lines without a problem; “White Star Acception” emerging as the type of song that only veteran (and brave) black metal bands would attempt.

More coherence and onus on melodies have served Nine Covens well. While their perpetually cloaked-in-darkness presentation may elicit yaws from the crowd who pines for more cow blood, On the Dawning of Light should help Nine Covens escape the black metal doldrums and enter the conversation of at least, second-tier bands.