Stright out of Italy, melodic metal band LAHMIA offer up their latest album ‘Into the Abyss’ on to the world, with bone crushing vocals and melodies to keep you on the seat of your chairs. After reviewing their album I took the chance to ask Flavio Gianello (lead guitar, main composer) about the band, the music and the life of it all.
1. Welcome to Metal Shock Finland, I’m Dylan Raine, Can you introduce yourselves?
Hi Dylan and thanks to you and to Metal Shock Finland for the space you are giving us. We are Lahmia and we are from Rome, Italy. We play a layered melodic death metal in which you can find various influences: Swedish and USA death metal doom, black metal but also more classic stuff.
2. How and where did the music start?
The band met its present identity in 2007. In that year we released our first demo titled “An Eternal Memory” which received e great feedback but we actually were still in search of more personal and unique sound. If I put that CD on now I can hear several nice ideas but also a lot of stuff poorly developed.
One year later we released our second EP (“Forget Every Sunrise”) and the goal was almost achieved. The feedback was even better than on the first release so we knew we were on the right way. With demo we found our sound that was finally optimized with “Into the Abyss”: a balance between extreme yet melodic genres.
WINGER mainman KIP WINGER has added additional show dates to his upcoming tour schedule. The new tour dates (including some with his band Winger) are as follows:
June
29 – Centerville, OH Soft Rock Café
30 – Akron, OH – Ripper Owens Tap House
July
1 – Mt. Clemens, MI – Emerald Theatre
7 – Waterloo, IA – Waterloo Fireworks Festival *
19 – Oshkosh, WI – Leach Amphitheater*
21 – Charlotte. NC – Amos’ Southend*
August
3 – Bay City, MI – The Labadie Pig Gig*
10 – Clear Lake, IA – Surf Ballroom*
23 – Vancouver, BC – Venue Live*
24 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon*
25 – Oakdale, CA – Sierra Music Fest*
September
15 – London, UK – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Ghosts Ballet
16 – London, UK – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Ghosts Ballet
21 – London, UK – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Ghosts Ballet
*- With Winger
Kip Winger recently announced a string of solo dates in Brazil running from late May until early June including two Hard Legends Party dates with Steve Augeri (ex-JOURNEY, TYKETTO, TALL STORIES) and Richie Kotzen (ex-POISON, MR. BIG).
May
27 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Rio Rock & Blues
29 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Dhomba
30 – Jundiai, Brazil – Aldeia
June
1 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil – Studio
2 – Brasilia, Brazil – Espaço EMMA (Hard Legends Party V)
3 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Carioca Club (Hard Legends Party VI)
According to CBC News, IRON MAIDEN and ALICE COOPER are among the headlining acts scheduled to play at Ottawa’s annual Bluesfest music festival.
The music festival, scheduled to run from July 4 to 15 this year, has for years moved away from a traditional blues lineup and towards an eclectic mix of artists from multiple genres, and this year’s lineup is no exception.
Both Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper will perform on Saturday, July 7th on the Main Stage.
For a complete list of performers, go to the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest website.
Roadrunner Records recently conducted an interview with OBITUARY drummer Donald Tardy about the 15th anniversary of their 1997 album Back From The Dead. An excerpt from the interview is below:
Roadrunner Records: Did you feel like you needed to change your sound at all for Back From The Dead, or was it a continuation of what you’d already been doing?
Donald Tardy: “Obituary has never been a band that tries to focus on what we think fans would want from a new album, nor did we ever try too hard to change things just to change things. Back from the Dead had enough changes in what we did before, because of the approach we took to recording with a different producer in a new studio setting; that alone was the big change we agreed to and focused on. Other than that, we stuck to our game plan when it came to writing songs and recording them – which was, write songs we will be proud of and ones we want to play for ourselves. We always kept the mindset that if we liked them; we believed our fans would like them. We never allowed outside influences to creep into our brains while creating new material. We have always been that way as individuals and as a band in full – Obituary took on a life of its own, and is bigger than any one member. So as soldiers, we go with the flow and write songs we love that truly represent the Obituary style.”
Roadrunner Records: After Back From The Dead, Obituary had a long layoff, and you all pursued different projects. What did you learn during your hiatus? Do you think it made you a better band?
Donald Tardy: “During the hiatus, I spent three years touring the planet, drumming for Andrew W.K., performing to a click track live, so that taught me a lot. Mainly, it taught me to be calm and relaxed no matter how pumped up I was for the magnitude of the show. It was very easy to get overexcited and get ahead of the cowbell when performing on such huge stages, on massive performances like Saturday Night Live, Conan O’Brien, and the big tours we were invited on with AEROSMITH and at Ozzfest. I learned how to be patient and control my nerves as a drummer during those years, and I think that really helps me nowadays with Obituary, both live and in the studio.”
‘Threatening Skies’
‘By the Light’
‘Inverted’
‘Platonic Disease’
‘Download’
‘Rewind’
‘Feed on the Weak’
‘Lockdown’
‘Pressure Point’
‘Back from the Dead’
‘Bullituary’ (Remix)
On April 20, Aniruddh Bansal of Metal Assault conducted an interview with with former HELLOWEEN and current UNISONICsingerMichael Kiske. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metal Assault: Did you feel that the songwriting [for the UNISONIC debut album] went through a big change when Kai [Hansen, former HELLOWEEN and current GAMMA RAY guitarist/vocalist] arrived in the band?
Kiske: Well, he has his own ways. I like him and his songwriting anyway, and I know him for a number of years now. I was always a fan of the things he was doing. When he comes into a band like UNISONIC and starts working on material, he does it in his own way. Dennis Ward, who is an American, he also has his own ways and he writes beautiful songs. It’s not that Dennis can’t write great songs, but Kai has his own style of pushing things around, and as soon as he has his hand involved, things get more interesting, at least for my ears. It just gets more of an edge. Kai has a talent for nailing things down to the basics and throw out useless stuff. I think pretty much all the songs gained a lot after he joined the band. It’s just my personal opinion. Maybe there are people who don’t see this as dramatically as I do, but I really think Kai is a huge plus to UNISONIC.
Metal Assault: The main question in the fans’ minds would be, how does UNISONIC‘s music compare to the HELLOWEEN material that you did a number of years back?
Kiske: To me, there’s not much of a difference. I’m still myself, you know. I’m a different person, of course, it’s been 23 years since the “Keeper” days. Kai has changed, too. I think when I sing stuff that he has written, it always sounds like HELLOWEEN in a certain way, because that’s just how we sound. I don’t believe in a record production that attempts to sound like records of the past, trying to fake the sound on purpose. I would never go for that. I think that’s really wrong, but we’re just ourselves, and as much as that’s the case, I think we do sound the way we always sounded. Of course, there are other people in the band now. Mandy, Dennis and Kosta are different people as compared to Michael Weikath, Ingo and Markus [members of HELLOWEEN‘s “Keeper” lineup]. So, for that matter, it sounds different, but nobody knows what the next HELLOWEEN record after “Keeper II” would have sounded like, if Kai was still in the band at that time. It might have sounded like that, but we were never the type of band that repeated itself, you know. We always tried to break some new grounds creatively, and I think that’s why those “Keeper” records, even to this day, appeal to younger people. There was some kind of a “no-fear” spirit going on, just enjoying the time and making the best out of each song, not worrying too much, and that’s what I loved about that time. To a certain extent, it’s still the same way with UNISONIC. There is still a spirit going on between me and Kai, which reminds me a lot of that time.
Metal Assault: Vocally, have you done anything different on this album, or is it the same style that we’ve known you for over the years?
Kiske: I think I’m a lot better now (laughs). I can’t really listen to myself on the “Keeper I” and “II” records. I was a baby then. I was like eighteen years old when I did the vocals for “Keeper I”. Same for “Keeper II”, I was nineteen at the time. The vocal cords were not fully developed when you’re at that age. For a man, you have to cross the age of 30 for your vocal cords to really develop. So I think in terms of the sound of my voice, I’m a lot better these days than I was back then. I sound a lot fuller, and I don’t have to kick my ass that much to sound good out there, you know. Of course as a person I have developed, so my singing has improved. The vocal performance always depends on the personality. I’m 44 years old now, and I’ve been through experiences. I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m a grown man now, and I think all that benefits the performance I’m able to give.
Metal Assault: Obviously, you got better with age in terms of your voice. But not every singer is able to do that. Some get worse with age. Do you think that’s just natural, or is there something singers can do to improve with age?
Kiske: Absolutely. I mean, singing has a lot to do with your head. I don’t have problems with my voice unless I’m having a bad time. When my soul is down, then I begin to have problems with voice, but when I feel good about things, I can sing without any problem. I think it’s pretty much the same for every singer when it comes to technique. If you do things right, there is no reason you’d lose your voice. It will change over the years, but not necessarily in a bad way, and if you’re aware of what you’re doing, you’ll be capable of singing great, and you’ll be able to do everything you used to do when you were young. As long as you deal with the changes in your voice and learn how to do things differently, you can enjoy singing your whole life, actually. When singers lose their voice, either it’s a mental problem, or they do something wrong to burn the voice. You should always try to avoid violating your voice as a singer.
Ruben Mosqueda of Oregon Music News recently conducted an interview with Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, ex-SEPULTURA). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Oregon Music News: On your new album, “Enslaved”, you have a couple of new members joining you and guitarist Marc Rizzo. You have bassist Tony Campos replacing Bobby Burns and drummer David Kinkade replacing Joe Nunez. Did you know who you wanted or was there an audition process?
Max: Last year, we parted ways with our bass player, then shortly after, our drummer quit. It was perfect because it gave me an opportunity to reorganize SOULFLY; it gave me an opportunity to pick some very cool guys and make a great record with. I specifically picked Tony and David because they are a great fit for this kind of band — they have played extreme metal, death metal and they’re perfect for SOULFLY. When the other guys left I was already beginning to envision SOULFLY would go into the direction of death metal.
Oregon Music News: So it sounds like there were no auditions and you simply knew who you wanted on board?
Max: Right. I knew what they were capable of. Tony is a solid bass player; he approaches the bass like a guitarist does. It’s almost like we have three guitar players in the band now. David is a great extreme drummer; he was playing with BORKNAGAR in Norway — a death metal band there. David is great with double bass and blasting beats. It’s really exciting for me to play with new guys and make a heavy record like ENSLAVED. The whole process was very exciting for me; I really dig reading what people think of the record.
Oregon Music News: Obviously there will be more CAVALERA CONSPIRACYmusic. When do you foresee that taking shape?
Max: It will happen, but much later. I have a new project that I’m working with Greg Puciato from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, which is in the vein of NAILBOMB. We’re not going to tour behind that; we’re just going to do a couple of shows. We’ll be putting the record out there just like we did with NAILBOMB — just the record with little promotion and a couple of live shows. CAVALERA will take place after that so right now it won’t be until 2013 until you see a new CAVALERA CONSPIRACY record.
Oregon Music News: The last time we spoke you talked about how you reunited with [your brother and former SEPULTURA drummer] Igor. One of the things that is on the minds of the fans, myself included, is how close you, Igor, [and other members of SEPULTURA‘s classic lineup] Andreas Kisser and Paulo Jr. are to being on speaking terms?
Max: [Pause] I’m just waiting to see what happens. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. Right now, I feel like it won’t happen. I’m not counting on it. If it happens great, I’d be excited to do it. If it doesn’t happen, I’m happy with SOULFLY, CAVELERA CONSPIRACY, the project with Greg — my plate is full.
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 