Us depressive black metallers GHOST BATH have unleashed their fourth album “Self Loather” on the world today – October 29th! The album, released via Nuclear Blast, closes out the trilogy – tragedy, ecstasy, and dread/hatred – and hosts the band’s most devastating and dark music to date.
Metal Shock Finland’s Alison Booth caught up with frontman Nameless for her radio show Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem, which is broadcast every Tuesday from 6PM GMT on UK station TotalRock. The show featuring GHOST BATH will soon be available to listen to here.
The new album and its recording was discussed, along with a few more topics. You can check out the audio interview below, along with some written excerpts from the chat.
Discussing “Self Loather”, Nameless explained:
“I had this trilogy planned before I even recorded Moonlover, back in 2015.So the overall theme was dread and hatred, it was always supposed to be the darkest and heaviest album that we’ve done and there’s a few things that were kinda major changes for this album. In particular, one of the biggest ones was the entire band helped write the album, whereas every previous Ghost Bath album, it was just me writing all the music, doing all the vocals by myself. And with this one, all five members were incorporated and we all wrote it together.
I think the second biggest change, at least on my part, was the vocal style and I really changed things up and I did more of a black metal vocals, I did more of lower death metal growls and I also do sort of a depressive black metal high pitch vocals as well and I mix it up a lot more.”
On the subject of the change of vocals:
“You know, I think first and foremost, they just fit with the theme of the album a bit more – it just made it heavier in my opinion. And then second of all, I think it was just time for a change. I don’t wanna record the same album over and over and do the same things over and over, so you know, it was time for me to push myself. I had to figure out how to do these types of vocals, it wasn’t just something that came naturally to me.
I had to really prepare my throat and make sure I was hydrated and I was warming up and all of that, just to make sure it could sound right. It just felt right, it felt like the right time to make that change and I also definitely wanted to keep the high pitched Ghost Bath vocals in there, because that’s I think part of our sound and part of the depressive black metal sound. It’s kind of an experimentation and moving forward as a band.”
Photo By Austin Scherzberg
Looking ahead to the future:
“It’s just a passion project for me, you know I’m not trying to get rich or anything. I think experiences are very important for me and putting out the music I create and the creation process. Those are all the most important things for me and so I think the main things are touring, to be able to get back on the road and travel, I love doing that. I love playing live and then also to continue to write music.
So, if we can’t really get any good tours or anything, we’ll probably just start writing the next album right away. Even if we do start touring, we’ve already been talking about another album, that’s kinda the plan.”
Greek guitar virtuoso and the man behind FIREWIND, Gus G, released his fourth solo album a few weeks ago on 8th October via AFM Records. “Quantum Leap” is the first instrumental album Gus has released and Metal Shock Finland’s Alison Booth caught up with him for her radio show Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem, which is broadcast every Tuesday from 6PM GMT on UK station TotalRock. The show with Gus can be heard here.
Lots of topics were discussed, mainly about the new album and its recording, with more besides! You can check out the audio interview below, along with some written excerpts from the chat.
Discussing how the album came together, Gus explained:
“I started working on it Spring 2020 when the first lockdown happened. I was actually just finishing up doing press for the last Firewind album that came out, the self-titled record that came out last year and then all of a sudden everything was cancelled.
So you know, I realised I was gonna be at home for a while and I just immediately started putting down ideas on my computer just for the fun of it, just to see what’s gonna happen and then I realised, well we’re gonna be here for a while. So I think around summer I was kinda going through the demos I had and I’m like ‘well, maybe I should just make an album. I have enough material to kind of dig in now and do something.’ It really gave me something to do, it was not a planned album, it was like a thing just to help me occupy my time I guess.
During the first lockdown I somehow felt very inspired and wrote a lot of stuff, which was kinda funny because on the second lockdown when I was finishing up the album, I had no inspiration at all [laughs]. I’m glad I was able to write all this material.”
On being a solo artist, Gus expressed:
“I have my own style and my own sound, but obviously I’ve been experimenting quite a lot on my solo efforts. Whether it is me collaborating with different singers or musicians and making more like rock stuff or hard rock stuff, or whether I’m making classic metal or modern metal, or now, going instrumental. I look at my solo career as a vessel to put out all the other stuff I wouldn’t be able to do in Firewind. I think this instrumental record is a nice addition to the catalogue. I mean, now whenever I go back to playing live I can sort of mix it up onstage. I can kind of envision that, of doing maybe a half and half show or something, or blend it all in.“
Discussing the pandemic and the situation for playing live:
“The measures are changing, like every week. As of today* (in Greece), music is banned indoors in all venues, cafes, bars, restaurants, whatever. It’s crazy because nobody knows what’s going on, so like we were saying before, you really don’t know if there’s going to be any live scene left you know. I mean I don’t know if I should book gigs. I’m probably not going to because it’s all so strange right now. I was thinking about doing some gigs locally, at least I could start here, maybe do something in Greece and maybe later on in the coming months if I have some ideas to do something abroad like, even if it’s a one off thing. But, it’s just really weird, we’re in a strange time, so I’ll wait.”
*The first week of October
On connecting with the fans, Gus said:
“I like to connect with the people that support me, especially nowadays seeing as I can’t travel and meet them in person or play for them in person. I’ve been putting out content more often and trying to do a few live stream things here and there on the YouTube channel or on Instagram or whatever. Yeah, just trying to make everybody forget a little bit from the dark cloud that’s over our head and just have a good time. And this is not only for the people, it’s also good for me, for my mental health. So it’s good, it’s been a good healthy thing.”
From the early days in 80’s California, to going on to become a band recognised as a pioneer of the thrash metal scene, EXODUS are back! After seven years since their last album, “Blood In, Blood Out”, the brutal and eleventh studio album “Persona Non Grata” is set for release on 19th November via Nuclear Blast.
Metal Shock Finland’s Alison Booth caught up with drummer Tom Hunting for her radio show Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem, which is broadcast every Tuesday from 6PM GMT on UK station TotalRock.
Of course all fans know Tom has been fighting cancer and had a successful gastrectomy in July. We had a chat about his health before the interview, Tom told me that everything is looking great and he is back at work with the band, with some recent shows taking place.
Lots of topics were discussed from the new album and its recording and back to the old days, with more in between. You can check out the audio interview below, with some written excerpts – it wasn’t the best connection so it’s a little clipped in places, but Tom had lots of interesting things to say!
About the release of “Persona Non Grata”, Tom expressed:
“We feel awesome about it, I mean this album’s been done for quite a while but we’re super proud of the work we did on it and you know, the manner in which we recorded it and the songwriting process was, we just had fun all the way around. Crazy times and we just kinda like did the best with the time we had you know? Everything’s hooky and just you know, lotsa crunch. We’re very happy with it.
I think all the fun we had recording really came out in the music you know and we had a good time. We were under no time constraints like for tracking or anything like that. We had an open book of creativity and it was flowing you know?“
About recording in home studios, Tom revealed:
“Usually, when it comes time to track drums, we have the songs and arrangements worked out, but I usually only have like seven or eight days to set up, get my tracks in and then I can never revisit or redo anything. The way we did it this time, I set up, did my tracks – got it done pretty fast. But if I heard something you know, if I wanted to enhance a riff or whatever, I can go and basically insert a different drum fill or whatever. And that was a great privilege to have for me, ’cause at the end it’s a more beautiful drum template to play, you know? The guys liked it too and the same could be said for them, ’cause we were all stuck here together and it just worked out, everything lined up.
And it was the first time we tried to record this way, so remotely. Usually we do the drums in a proper studio and everything else gets done anywhere. But this time we just did it all, there was a lot of DIY involved. I was nailing up big ass pieces of carpet, you know I had my stapler out – I was stapling pieces of fabric to the ceiling to try and get those sound waves right for the cymbals crashing [laughs].”
Regarding keeping EXODUS going after so many years, Tom said:
“Well, I’m gonna go with a cliche here and we’ve all said it, everybody in our band. It’s crazy, if you’d asked me, you know when we first started, if the journey would still be going in 2021, I would tell you I don’t think so. But Gary is a force, Gary Holt is a guitar force in this world, our band’s more of a brotherhood than other bands I see that do it like on our level. You know, we’re still best of friends and we’re family you know.“
I think as younger men doing this we probably were more into it for the party you know and now we’re older, I think we respect the journey a little bit more. It’s the best education I ever could get in my life.”
Talking about debut album “Bonded By Blood”:
“There’s times I dread having to play Piranha for the umpteenth billion time, but I’m super proud of the fact that we made an album that was a statement, so long ago and so many statements were made back then. We just had fun – we were young, guys in the throws of creativity and just kind of hungry and learning our instruments.”
Tom had lots to say about his love of English drummers:
“I think about Clive Burr all the time. I watch his videos. I have to say I was pretty mad at Iron Maiden for releasing him without any real explanation as to why [laughs]. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nicko McBrain, I’ve been listening to him since he played with Pat Travers and I love Nicko, he’s a very colourful drummer, but I love the way Clive drove that band. The way he would install these crazy heavy metal disco type beats and he had such a fast flick of the wrist, you know?
And then of course Keith Moon was a maniac. You expect from a traditional drumming standpoint, even rock drumming, you would think he would do one thing and he does another. And Bonham, he was a force. There’s a lot of ’em, a lot of English drummers. Ian Paice, my favourite leftie, a man after my own heart ’cause I too am left handed, he’s still doing it!“
EXODUS is: Gary Holt | Guitar Tom Hunting | Drums Steve “Zetro” Souza | Vocals Jack Gibson | Bass Lee Altus | Guitar
Just recently Keith Clement from Metalheads Forever conducted an in-depth interview with GENTLE SAVAGE‘s Tornado Bearstone and Theo Van Boom, talking widely about the band’s debut album “Midnight Waylay”, released on June 17th via Bandcamp. Among other topics the guys talked about the band itself and their future plans.
In Keith’s words: “The Five Member band from the great land called Finland. These men are nothing but pure awesomeness, Great songwriting, amazing musicianship, and guess what they put up an awesome album early this June “Midnight Waylay”.”
Tornado on “Midnight Waylay” album: “Midnight Waylay depicts a ‘taking it easy in the daytime, turning into a beast at night’ kind of lifestyle. Just like a hunter strikes from the shadows, ruthless and silent, these songs can without warning rock your world. As a concept the album Midnight Waylay is best appreciated when served whole, but each song has its own character and works well independently. Find your own adventure, let yourself loose!”
Kimmo Kuusniemi, Godfather of Finnish heavy metal, on Gentle Savage’s debut album “Midnight Waylay”: “Listening to Gentle Savage reminds me of Deep Purple! That’s not bad at all!”
Tornado stated on the album coverart: “TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY Isn’t it strange that when you get something really big done you are at the same time relieved and a bit confused?! That’s how it feels like right now. Our debut album is ready for release, coming out on June 17th via our Bandcamp page, and now we are proud to reveal the MIDNIGHT WAYLAY album cover to the world. The cover art was created by our friend, graphic art wizard Vin Valentino. Vin and vocalist Tornado created the Midnight Waylay world based on Tornado’s visions of a Rock Band descending down to earth using a ‘stairway to heaven’. That’s Tornado’s way of showing his gratitude to the old great ones who showed the Rock’n Roll way for latter generations to roll. “
“It is all about the songs. And their internal message. That’s the basic philosophy behind Gentle Savage.”
GENTLE SAVAGE are: Tornado Bearstone, songwriter, vocals and guitar Jay B, drums and backing vocals Vance Bead, bass and backing vocals Tim O`Shore, guitar and backing vocals Theo van Boom, keyboards and backing vocals
’Treat yourself and let our magic in. We’ll take care of the rest’.
Band promo photo by Timo Soasepp Artcovers by Vin Valentino
Brazilian PENTRAL have teamed up with Metal Shock Finland to premiere exclusively their new video ‘Disconnected’, taken from the band’s debut album “What Lies Ahead Of Us”, which was released on May 7th, available on all platforms.
Watch the video here:
Furthermore, Metal Shock Finland‘s Tarja Virmakari had a pleasure to talk with the band about the premiered video, their debut album + else. Read the interview below.
Hello PENTRAL and welcome to Metal Shock Finland. Today, we’ve a pleasure to premiere your new video ‘Disconnected’, so let’s start talking about it. Please, tell us the story behind the song and video.
The song talks about our hostile society, and how the characters of our debut album – a mother and her kid – have to cope with all the selfishness, aggressiveness, and apathy they face when escaping from the woods. That’s why the characters and all of us fell more and more “disconnected”, like thinking only about ourselves. I really believe this is one of the biggest issues mankind has to deal with. As for the video, differently from the previous ones, we thought that for this song – as this is a more energetic track – we should make it through live performance, and that’s the way it was made in an old theatre in our home town, with all the intensity we could put out.
‘Disconnected’ is taken from your debut album “What Lies Ahead Of Us”, which was released on May 7th, on all platforms. How has it been welcomed by your fans?
The debut album is being well received so far. On all platforms and radios worldwide – considering we can’t go out on tour – the songs are getting fair airplay and getting traction amongst different audiences, which are quite exciting as this is beyond what we would expect for a debut album under the uncommon circumstances we’re all living in. These are weird and challenging times, but we’re glad about the reactions to our music and really hope we can push this debut effort even more through live concerts as soon as this is possible to happen.
Now tell us about PENTRAL and its members and how you guys got together?
All it started with many projects years ago and I was always focused on writing songs, singing, and playing guitar. My younger brother (Vagner Lima) a few years late started playing drums and became a great musician. Back in 2018, I had dozens of songs that were pre-recorded, so I thought it was the right time to start out a new band with the new material. I Shared some of these songs with him , so that He could work on better drums arrangements, and as the format we were all looking for is a power trio, we met Joe Ferry, who is an old friend and such a great bass player as well, and Pentral was born.
Going back to the debut album, what can you tell us about its songwriting process and topics, being a concept album?
As for the songwriting, I can’t say it’s usually a planned process. There’s no way I can schedule a precise time when I’m going to sit and write something new. It’s much more like a melody and a message that comes to my mind, which I believe is much more of a spiritual gift, something that has to be expressed and shared at that very moment. Mostly I use an acoustic guitar or a guitar with clean sound and no effects at all and the song comes as a whole. I kind of know what the track should be about, as this feeling or presence is quite noticeable and it’s attached to something from this material and chaotic world and to what I believe is a parallel existence that is right beside us, and everything has to be written together, verses, chorus, outro, bridge, etc. After that, considering the message, I write lyrics. “What Lies Ahead Of Us” is a concept album that describes a drama of a poor couple and their young kid living in the woods, as they fight for their lives and deal with land-grabbers, violence, selfishness, racism, greed, bigotry, and indifference. All they can do is try to do is keep themselves alive and trust in the power of love. This is not only a Brazilian story but a call for awareness of what we are as human beings, all over the world.
How would you describe your musical sound?
A mix of much different stuff. We all love Progressive Rock, Heavy Music, Thrash and Groove Metal, Jazz and Folk, and many Brazilian artists as well. I would say Pentral’s music is the outcome of all these various sources. That’s why you’ll feel influences from “Led Zeppelin”, “Queen”, “The Beatles”, “Rush”, “Yes”, “King Crimson” and even “Metallica”, “Faith No More”, “Van Halen”, “Megadeth”, “Slayer” mixed with brazilian artists like “Djavan”, “Gilberto Gil”, “Milton Nascimento”, “Lulu Santos” and even jazz fusion guys like “Chick Corea”, “Return to Forever”, “The Mothers of Invention” and “Dixie Dregs”, to name a few. It’s really a crazy thing.
Give us 3 good reasons why we should buy your album?
Truth – we don’t try and never will try to sound like band A or B. We love so many bands from the past and present, and we’re naturally influenced by the greatest acts, but the songs are supposed to sound like Pentral songs. The lyrics and the songs are our truth. There’s no way we make something to pretend what we don’t believe; Emotion – whatever I write and whatever we play we do it putting all the emotion we could get. This is something that is being done with a love for music and really believing in the message we’re aiming at, and this is something that will touch people. Pentral will have something to say; Diversity – there’s no formula neither a specific genre we’ll be always stuck in. Pentral will do heavy music, but acoustic, progressive, groovy, and always try to make it exciting!
As we don’t yet know when the proper shows and tours will be happening again, how will you support the album in the meantime?
Live Streams, Playthroughs, and all the experiences we can provide to our fans so that they can feel like they were attending a Pentral live concert. Releasing versions of the songs,and trying to keep people interested in the full process behind making the songs and record them. We’ll do our best to keep busy and share our journey with the public.
Talking about Covid, how’s the situation in your home-country, Brazil?
Awful. Our president – Bolsonaro – is a lunatic and criminal who denies the vaccines being effective against the virus, and we’re having corruption issues here that have delayed the vaccination, so we’re doing it now, but only after a huge struggle against our own government who insisted in postponing the purchase of the vaccines, and this lack of support took a lot of time and tons of Brazilians lives, unfortunately, but as they are coming we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! We’ll resist!
And what about your future plans?
Playing live! This is the priority! And I wrote a second album already but we got to focus on the debut album at first, and then raise the bar for the second one! Pentral has plenty of new ideas to share with people who appreciate our sound. We’re looking forward to it!
Now the word is yours, what is your message to our readers and your fans?
Remember you belong to a much bigger picture, so be part of the solution rather than the problem. Look after your family, friends and community as well. Music is art, life is art, and art is to be a valid way to change reality, it’s not like anyone could be “the savior of the world”, but to make us all grow our own consciousness and respect for each other, no matter where we came from neither who or what we believe in.
Thank-you guys for this great chat, take care, stay safe and keep on rocking!
Brazilian PENTRAL mix hard rock and progressive metal music, and though the two brothers Victor Lima (vocals and guitar), and Vagner Lima (drums), and their third bandmate Joe Ferry (bass) had already worked together before, under that current name they are releasing their debut album this year. Pentral has been around since last year dropping some versions of classic rock songs from iconic bands through their YouTube channel, like Queen, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
“What Lies Ahead Of Us” is a concept album. “Silent Trees” was the first single, unleashed on March 5. Following the first single, two other singles have been released, “All My Wounds” out on March 26th, and “Aiming For The Sun”, out on April 16th.
“What Lies Ahead Of Us” Track Listing:
1 – Silent Trees 2 – All My Wounds 3 – Disconnected 4 – Letters From Nowhere 5 – Aiming For The Sun 6 – A Gift From God 7 – No Real Colour In Souls 8 – The Shell I’m Living In 9 – Are You Satisfied? 10 -The Law
Produced by Pentral and Tim Palmer Mixed by Tim Palmer Co-produced by Sergio Fouad and Cesar Bottinha Mastered by Justin Shturtz
Italian goth rockers PLUGS OF APOCALYPSE aka POA released their new EP, entitled “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” on June 18th.
Metal Shock Finland‘s Tarja Virmakari had a pleasure to talk with the band about their new EP + else. Read the interview below.
Hi Guys, and welcome to Metal Shock Finland. Let’s start by introducing your band and its members…
Hi! We are POA – Plugs of Apocalypse, a rock/metal band from Rome. Our singer is Giorgio Della Posta, then we have Alessandro Sajeva & Alessandro Cirlinci on the guitars. Iacopo Fichera plays bass, and our drummer is Davide Itri.
Your “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” EP was released on June 18th. Please tell us about the EP concept and how the songs and topics came together?
The concept of our new EP “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” is probably its most important feature for us. Everything revolves around the idea of dreaming. We are dreamers, we always have been, so in a certain way we can say that this path is completely autobiographical. We have been heavily affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and we wanted to invite our fans to keep dreaming in order to move on after this terrible period. We put all our effort into conveying these feelings, and we really hope our listeners will get that.
How would you describe your musical sound?
We tried to get a dreamy feel with intense, ethereal atmospheres – without losing our heavy influence. The sound of this EP is warm like a nostalgic sunset and deep like the coldest of the nights. Our guitars, bass and drums have a rock approach, and our synths, pianos and vocals remind us the coldest gothic stuff. This weird mix of genres is made of sad melodies and heavy breakdowns, and we think it totally works. Hope you like it!
Just recently you released your stunning video for the single “All The Things We Didn’t Say”, feat. Sara Mun. What are the things we didn’t say?
“All The Things We Didn’t Say” is the first single we released and the first song on the EP. Imagine the moment when a crisis begins. Your dream starts to feel unattainable, everything you built starts to fall apart, coming to an inevitable end. We tried to express this feeling through the metaphor of a relation between two lovers that’s coming to an end, and there’s no way to fix it. “All the things we didn’t say” are the silence between us, a real distance growing, the first sign of the end of us.
The EP coverart is very interesting, what can you tell us about it?
The artwork is drawn by Francesco Persichella (Piskv), a incredibly talented italian artist who managed to perfectly express the concept behind Sad Songs for Sad Dreamers. The image of a vulnerable and lighthearted kid saved from a deep black hole by two smily ballons suggests the idea of us being saved from our depression, from our demons, by our dreams and hopes. The little girl on the artwork doesn’t know her future, she just trusts her dreams.
As we don’t yet know when the proper shows and tours will be happening again, how will you support the album in the meantime?
The only way right now is spreading the word online. Reviews, videos, playthroughs, reactions etc. are some very welcome gifts for us. You can also buy the EP on iTunes. We really can’t wait to hit the road again after this tragic moment, and start touring as we used to do before.
And what about your future plans?
We’ll absolutely keep writing new songs and promoting them! We’ll do our best to not disappear and keep making our fans dream with our music.
Now the word is yours, what is your message to our readers and your fans?
Don’t let life knock you down, keep dreaming and don’t ever lose faith. Don’t give up, but rise up and live your dreams. Also, we invite fans and readers to go listen to “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers”. Thank you very much, cheers!
Thank-you guys for this nice chat, and keep on rocking & dreaming! ᐧ “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” tracklist: All the things we didn’t say A little fragile moment The last night we spent together Dream on
“Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” is written and produced by Riccardo Studer (Time Collapse Recording Studio) and Plugs of Apocalypse. This EP increases the rock/darkwave influences of POA previous works creating a perfect balance between a softer and a heavier sound. A concept EP whose tracks involve nostalgic atmospheres and dark melodies – with the right amount of distorted guitars. A trip through dreamy emotions and melancholic melodies. Four sad and nostalgic tracks that reach every type of audience, from melodic metal fans to dream rock lovers. ARTWORK BY PISKV (Francesco Persichella).
PLUGS OF APOCALYPSE Line-up: VOCALS/SYNTH – Giorgio Della Posta GUITAR – Alessandro Sajeva GUITAR – Alessandro Cirlinci BASS – Iacopo Fichera DRUMS – Davide Itri
Watch: All the things we didn’t say (feat. Sara Mun)
PLUGS OF APOCALYPSE, aka POA – Plugs of Apocalypse is an Alternative Metal band formed in Rome (IT) in 2008. The band is composed of four members that started their career with two Deathcore releases: “Necropolis” (2011) and “Ashes” (2012). Thanks to these full-length albums, POA started playing on the best stages across Italy, along with well-known bands such as Protest The Hero, iwrestledabearonce, Texas in July, Vitja, Ade, etc.
After the last EP release, the group decided to make some important changes, starting from the deathcore influences’ reduction in favor of more melodic ones , which can be found in their video “Tears” (promoted by Rocksound and Blubbermouth in March 2016), which can be considered as a manifesto of the new path started by POA.
In April 2017 the band increased its fanbase in Italy and all over the Europe thanks to the publication of the new album “Deeper Than Hell”, the final result of this artistic change. After their first European Tour, POA released the single “Disappear” in May 2018 on every digital store reaching more than 600K streams/views.
1 year later they announced and released their album “Stay” reaching more than 1MLN of stream/views.
This established the end of their “self-production” path.
In 2020/2021 POA wrote and recorded their latest EP “Sad Songs for Sad Dreamers”, which was released on June 18th, 2021 via Volcano Records.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 