Archive for the ‘Frontpage Feature’ Category

Award-winning Glendale, AZ heavy music powerhouse JOB FOR A COWBOY has completed work on its hotly-anticipated sophomore album, entitled Ruination. The record will see a July, 2009 worldwide release date via Metal Blade Records. The follow up to the quintet’s celebrated debut album Genesis, Ruination was recorded at Audio Hammer Productions in Sanford, FL with […]

Interestingly enough, the same week this interview was conducted with Ben “Boss” Hogg the vocalist was also officially welcomed as one of two new writers for Teeth of the Divine. I always enjoyed reading Ben’s work in Metal Maniacs (R.I.P.), his preference for the gnarly ‘n nasty aspects of metal (not unlike mine) and I look forward to reading his contributions here.

Speaking of the gnarly and the nasty, in addition to his front man responsibility in Beaten Back to Pure (new album coming later this year), Hogg has been the vocalist of underground super group Birds of Prey for three albums strong now, including a brand new release called The Hellpreacher. A concept album about an inmate-turned-priest, Birds of Prey – also including guitarists Erik Larson (Alabama Thunderpussy) and Bo Leslie (The Last Van Zant), bassist Summer Welch (Baroness), and drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis) – continues with its southern ‘n sludgy brand of old school death metal and brings along with it an even better compositional approach. Read all about it right here, straight from the Boss’ mouth.

New Orleans, LA’s sons of American no-frills black metal, GOATWHORE, have just announced that the title of their fourth full-length album, and second for Metal Blade, will be Carving Out the Eyes of God. For the follow up to 2006’s A Haunting Curse, GOATWHORE headed back to St. Petersburg, FL to record with producer Erik […]

There is prolific and then there is what Fistula’s Corey Bing does. The man that has redefined the term. A veteran of the Northeastern Ohio sludge/doom battle zone, Bing has played in numerous heavy hitting acts – Accept Death, Sollubi, King Travolta, Ultralord, you name it. But Fistula has always been the area’s flagship act with a sound that is quintessential in its hatefulness and crushing weight, yet one that is also varied and always impeccably written and recorded. New album Burdened by your Existence owes as much to crust as it does Black Sabbath, driving listeners into the ground with crawling menace and ripping out throats with quick turns into speedier tempos, and everything in between.

Bing is a lifer in the truest definition of the term. Guys like Corey are the reason I continue to write about the world of metal, particularly the underground superheroes like Bing and the fertile community in which he resides. His work is created out of love, nothing more, nothing less, just like many of the scene veterans with which he has played. In the interview that follows, Corey and I discuss Fistula past and present, his former and current projects, record labels, and what this beloved thing call metal is supposed to be all about. As much as I hate to make self-important douche-bag claims, I’m inclined to call this Fistula interview a pretty damn definitive one. Soak it up and sweat it out.

Normally, for me to attend a decent metal show I have to either drive 2 ½ hours East to St Louis or 2 ½ hours West to Kansas City. However, once in a while Columbia, Missouri, a mere 30 minutes from my house, will have a decent show at one of their smaller venues (Origin, All That Remain, Mastodon, Between the Buried and Me). So once I saw that North Dakota/Minnesota noise merchants Battlefields were going to hit up one of the venues along with former label mates Sleeping In Gethsemane (who by the way are a very cool instrumental metal act) , I had to attend. I also thought I would squeeze in an interview with a band which has released two very impressive albums (2007s Stained by the Blood of an Empire and 2009s Thresholds of Imbalance) that take the typical post rock genre, add some doom, some progressive elements and a sprinkle of hardcore. So on a chilly evening outside the venue I shared some beers and visited with the very amicable trio of vocalist Rusty Steele, drummer Rob Schmidt and guitarist Matt Ricigliano….

Word on the street is you’re the kind of person that has equal amounts of love for Hellhammer and Discharge. It is just something about the worlds of primitive hellish bludgeon and nihilistic d-beat aggression. So why not start a band called Dishammer that combines the finer points of both of those seminal bands? A nasty little act from Spain did just that and dubbed the ugly cuss Dishammer. An album called Vintage Addiction was then birthed in all its punk, metal, Satanic, and pornographic glory and released on CD and vinyl formats via lordly underground label Hells Headbangers. Vocalist/drummer Dopi took the time to educate us about all things Dishammer. It’s a philosophy and a way of life, kids! Get with the program now!

One usually knows what to expect from a Unique Leader release, which is not a bad thing. It just means that the soup of the day is technically proficient death metal brutality. Most, however, would not expect the soup de jour to be made in Ankara, Turkey. But that only means that some folks on these shores have not been paying attention to what has been for some time now a fertile extreme metal scene. Enter Carnophage, one of the shining stars of the Turkish death metal movement. Deformed Future / Genetic Nightmare consists of eight smartly written compositions that are savagely delivered and technically competent, yet also surprisingly varied, often groovy, and individualistic. In other words, you can in fact tell when one track ends and another begins. Guitarist Berkan Basoglu checks in with The Teeth

UNEARTH AND LAZARUS A.D. TO SUPPORT!!! Bay Area thrash legends TESTAMENT are taking the stage once again for their first US headlining tour in support of the award-winning The Formation of Damnation. The band’s first new studio album in nine years won “Album of the Year” at the 2008 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. The […]

Hailing from Finland, Folk three-piece (with the aid of some noteworthy session members) Crimfall entered the folk metal fray back in 2008 with their Burning Winds demo. And now with their Napalm Records debut, As the Path Unfolds, those demo tracks as well as eight brand new tracks deliver exactly what you’d expect from a Finnish Folk/Viking band-and more. With the luscious Helena Haaparanta providing an operatic gloss to the expectedly up beat, typically Finnish, blackened yet epic and bouncy fare, Crimfall, like the recent release by Kivimentsan Druidi, Arkona and country mates Battlelore, have given folk/Viking metal some elegance amid the grime and chain mail driven throes typically associated with the genre. From the bombastic chorus of “The Crown of Treason” through the ethnic chants of “Wildfire Season” and Middle Eastern Aura of “Sun Orphaned” to ballad “Aubade” the album covers all of Folk Metal bases with confidence, gusto and an orchestral grandeur. I visited with guitarist Jakke Viitala to find out a little more about one of Finnish folk metal’s newest additions…

Razorback Records keeps picking winners from the nose of death. Said pickings would include Condemned Cathedral from Texas’ (Cooper or Dallas, depending on your geographic orientation) Decrepitaph. The trio’s self-described “death metal the ancient way” is filled to the rim with dirt-caked and pummeling, yet fundamentally structured and tuneful, death metal that takes its cues from the doomy side of the genre (Incantation, Asphyx, etc). And yes, zombies are involved. Drummer/lyricist/composer Elektrokutioner spills his guts about Decrepitaph.

Candlelight Records today confirms the worldwide signing of England’s Anaal Nathrakh. The popular extreme metal duo are currently in the studio working on their label debut titled In The Constellation Of The Black Widow. The album is expected for a summertime release. Vocalist V.I.T.R.I.O.L. says, “Candlelight have shown a strong belief in Anaal Nathrakh and […]

On this day (January 15, 2009), Saxon’s Biff Byford turned 58 and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal icon dismisses it as just another day. Yet it is another day in an illustrious 30-year career as front man for one of the most pure, consistent, and too often underappreciated (at least on these shores) heavy metal bands of all time. On this day, he can once again speak proudly of the release of an outstanding album, Into the Labyrinth, one that combines heavy metal thunder, sleazy electric blues, and triumphant hard rock. At the center of it all is a sound that is distinctly Saxon. There is no secret formula at work here. Members Byford, Doug Scarratt (guitar), Paul Quinn (guitar), Nibbs Carter (bass, keys), and Nigel Glockler (drums) stick to a fundamental songwriting approach on Into the Labyrinth, one comprised of great riffs, memorable choruses, and a rock solid rhythm section, as has been the case with pretty much every Saxon album. It matters not if the style is an epic one (e.g. “Battalions of Steel” and “Valley of the Kings”), an unapologetically heavy one (“Demon Sweeny Todd”), or a bluesy one (“Slow Lane Blues”). As Byford discusses below, it is about remembering your roots, yet always looking to the future, and never forgetting the basics.

According to various news sources including Blabbermouth.net, Miika Tenkula, former lead guitarist and main songwriter of the acclaimed Finnish band SENTENCED, was found dead at his home yesterday. He was 35 years old.Nalle Österman (GANDALF, LULLACRY, CHAOSBREED) tells BLABBERMOUTH.NET, “It’s true, confirmed personally by [former SENTENCED] drummer Vesa Ranta. “The fact remains that Miika had […]

What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger; words that seem most appropriate in the context of the demise of Belgium doom/sludge merchants Thee Plague of Gentlemen after the arrest of vocalist Steve Wackenier in 2006. In trying times like those, the best option was to disband Thee Plague of Gentlemen and forge ahead with a new venture that expanded upon the sound of its predecessor. Bassist Steven Van Cauwenbergh, drummer Frederik “Cozy” Cosemans and guitarist Frederic Caure wasted little time in forming Serpentcult and releasing the Trident Nor Fire EP on I Hate in 2007, this time with a female vocalist by the name of Michelle Nocone who worked wonders for a band looking to utilize a traditional vocalist and incorporate a more melodic approach to go with the crushing heaviness. It all came together on the band’s full-length debut, Weight of Light, on Rise Above Records. The approach is unequivocally low-end doom in those leaden riffs and ironclad rhythms, yet the tempos are varied and Nocone not only provides brilliant contrast, but also makes the already ably written tracks more fluid, colorful, and of course tuneful. Time may heal all wounds, but finding one’ s creative groove in the aftermath of tragedy closes them even quicker.

The fact that Wisconsin’s Desolatevoid is not a household name in the extreme metal underground is a fucking crime. Perhaps some bands are just meant to be tunnel dwellers. Nah, screw that, it’s time for you and all your friends to grab a copy of debut album Self Medicated Psycho Therapy and new long player No Sign of Better Times and find out what happens when you put crust punk and NOLA metal into a blender. The music is pissed off, calamitous, and abrasively groovy, while the lyrics are a few hairs short of complete dementia. Schizoid vocalist Andy Howard, guitarists Mark Stolp and Brent K, drummer Tim Smith, and bassist/CAH Records chief Nick Carroll discuss what makes Desolate Void tick and why you’re probably too much of a pansy to handle this kind of sonic terror.

When one thinks of Australian metal, I imagine not too many doom tinged melodic death metal bands come to mind, but enter Melbourne’s Be’lakor. The band’s 2007 self released debut “The Frail Tide” was arguably one of the most critically acclaimed and well received independent metal releases I can remember, so when keyboardist Steve Merry contacted me via myspace to review the upcoming follow up, I took the opportunity to sneak in an interview and find out a little more about the band as well as the new album…

It’s a fairly well known fact that Progressive Rock has had a hand in influencing Heavy Metal. Bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning would not exist without earlier bands like Yes and Rush. Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris, I am told, virtually worships Jethro Tull (to the point that Maiden’s recent work is showing traces of Prog Rock). There is even a crop of bands that still carry on a tradition of Progressive Rock. Now, I’m aware that “tradition” and “progressive” seem to contradict one another, but the latter generation of Prog Rock bands take what came before them and build upon it so that “progressive”, much like “alternative”, carries two meanings, the literal and the figurative. Into this current crop of Prog Rock bands steps Edensong. Relying heavily on 70s styled composition ala the Gabriel-led Genesis, Kansas, Tull & Yes, while not forsaking the literal meaning of their genre’s tag, Edensong brings musicianship & vibe together as one and into the here and now. Here’s my conversation with main-man James Schoen.

ISIS, the Los Angeles by way of Boston band, has set a May 5 release date for their anticipated new album, “Wavering Radiant” (Ipecac Recordings).  The album, produced by Joe Baressi (Tool, Queens off The Stone Age), will also see a limited edition vinyl version released on Apr. 21. Tool’s Adam Jones contributed guitar to […]

The UK is known for loads of metallic Doom and Gloom. One could chalk it up to the weather, which I’ve heard is not too pleasant a lot of the time. I’ll choose, however, to chalk it up to sheer musical affluence and superiority. At any rate, The Drowning are here to carry on the grand traditions of their dark and dreary forefathers. I had the privilege of conversing with lead singer James Moore and lo, here is the resulting exchange.

In a year that saw vast amounts of turmoil for many of us here at teethofthedivine as we made a transition from the previous site, one thing kept us going-the huge amount of great metal that was released. So here it is-the first annual teethofthedivine year end list! Feel free to comment and post your own year end picks, hurl insults at us or sell us Viagra!

Fist in Fetus’ 2007 EP release was one of the most inspired – and inspiring – discoveries I’ve heard all year (credit goes to intrepid TOTD bloodhound Cynicgods for finding it). You’ve heard symphonic elements woven into metal dozens of times by now, but they’ve rarely been this modern or unconventional. And it’s never taken the form of soaring power metal crossbred with screaming, spastic grind. Or delivered by an unlikely team of musicians – classically trained Perttu Vänskä and new Stratovarius guitarist (and Finnish Guitar Idol 2008) Matias Kupiainen.

According to Unrestrainedmag.com, one of the metal media’s pioneers, Adrian Bromley, who started e-zine Chronicles of Chaos as well as Unrestrained Magazine and recently worked for The End Records and Ixmati Media, has passed away. From Unrestrainedmag.com; “It is with a very heavy heart we report that Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley passed away in his […]

Logging in well over 20 years, and innumerable miles, in Thrash Metal, California’s Hirax is no stranger to fans of the underground. Led by its tenacious and ferocious lead singer Katon W. DePena, Hirax continues to release great music and trek across the planet delivering its own intense, aggressive brand of cult Thrash Metal. I managed to corner guitarists Glenn Rogers and Lance Harrison for a little Q & A session.

The UK’s My Silent Wake just released its third album of Folk-infused Doom Metal entitled A Garland Of Tears. Boasting a mature yet melancholic sound, the band has been making its presence known in the Metal underground over the last few years. I spoke with vocalist/guitarist/founder Ian Arkley (a fixture in the UK Metal scene since the late 1980’s) recently about the new album, here’s what he had to say.

A scant two years after forming, Vancouver Canada’s BISON B.C. released its second album (first for Metal Blade) entitled Quiet Earth on September 30. Two years…two albums…not to mention the countless shows all over Canada & the USA. To say these guys are “busy” just doesn’t cut it. This constant motion has paid off, as it turns out, because Quiet Earth is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. I was able to track down guitarist/vocalist/anti-hipster Dan And to answer a few questions for me.