As it’s that ghoulish time of year again that people the world over love to celebrate Halloween for whatever their own reasons, what better time to have a chat with original guitarist from pumpkinhead power metallers HELLOWEEN, Michael Weikath.
As recently published Blackdiamond caught up with Michael whilst he is in HELLOWEEN‘s MiSueno studio on Tenerife with the other band members, creating the follow up to 2013’s “Straight Out Of Hell”. The special Halloween Party Show featuring the chat with Michael was aired earlier this week on Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem show on http://www.totalrock.com. Now you can listen exclusively with Metal Shock Finland.
The new album was discussed in as much detail as secrecy allows, but as always Michael loves to chat and gives extensive answers edged with his sense of humour, which is always present. You can read a few snippets of the chat below and listen to the full interview on the audio player.
Michael revealed at what stage the band are at with recording the new album:
“They’ve gone into the drum recordings and I’ve been there yesterday to witness the recording of one of the tracks I’ve written and so that was really cool. The way we do it is that we are using Dani’s natural feel for playing the drums – he has a general tempo in his head and he records the drums for as many songs as he can manage. He actually drums from memory which is quite good. I don’t know he does that, but yeah that’s what’s been taking place. Then after the drums, they get adjusted to the grid of the demo material we have, so there’s like a session in the digital editor in the pro tools. So, his drums are being matched to the grid of the demo, everything is just on the point where it belongs, it’s drummed without a click actually.
When that is done, we’re going to add guitars and vocals and special effects and keyboards and the bass will be recorded. So everyone’s dropping by for his respective work to be done. We have a schedule and it’s looking good.
In times like this when melodic heavy metal isn’t exactly at a pinnacle in the general media, you have to keep the costs low,you have to be specific to what you wanna do regarding the bullshitting or doing work. Obviously we want to get done in time, in the given schedule, what has been said is February. If we’re ahead of the schedule, we’ve got a lot more time for mixing and mastering or whatever is going to happen. Regardless, there is no pressure, except there will be festival appearances – we have fixed already for June, that is one fact that I can reveal. There’s not so much else I could possibly tell about the process taking place, like album title or song titles.”
Discussing the Halloween topic of pumpkins, Michael stated:
“Being in this band we try to stay away from actual real pumpkins. If somebody served us pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie in the catering – it was good and pleasurable and it was a joy to eat. But it doesn’t always take that form of being enjoyable, you grow a bit wary of that business you know, when you’re in that band. Imagine you were in a band called The Sugar Cups and everybody’s always bringing you sugary sweet stuff (makes noise). There’s only so much you can do and stand as a human being obviously.”
Michael revealed what he likes about Halloween:
“What I really like is diversity, when people get creative – if Batman wants to be Superman and vice versa, that’s fun. When people dress up as tree trunks and what really cracks me up is when people dress up their little doggies or other animals, that’s just amazing.”
Greek stoner/southern rockers PLANET OF ZEUS have just returned home after their ‘Vigilante Over Europe’ tour promoting their latest album “Vigilante”, released in the UK on 13th October 2014.
The band formed in Athens in 2000 and have released two previous albums , “Eleven The Hard Way” and “Macho Libre”. Blackdiamond caught up with guitarist Stelios Provis to find out more about “Vigilante” and further plans for PLANET OF ZEUS, including recording a song for a Greek movie and more touring. You can read some snippets from the conversation and listen to the whole chat on the audio player below:
“This was the first time that we tried to track every instrument at the same time, like a live performance. We tried to keep the live feeling and I think we kept it. It’s not perfect but it’s the best we can do and we’re very proud of it.”
Stelios gave some insight into the lyrics of the songs:
“We never like to dictate to people, but with the last few years in Greece, you cannot stand and do nothing – we have songs, so we are allowed to talk through them. But it’s not the only context, there are some more easy songs.”
For more information on PLANET OF ZEUS, check out their official Facebook page here and their website at this location.
You can read the new Metal Shock Finland review of “Vigilante” here.
Bass player and vocalist SCHMIER has long been a driving force in the metal world, fronting thrash giants DESTRUCTION, one of ‘The Big Teutonic Four’.
In September 2014, a new metal machine was announced, named PANZER, signed to Nuclear Blast Records. The band have a rich metal heritage between them, featuring Schmier on bass and vocals, along with Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, best known for their work with the world class Teutonic metal force, ACCEPT.
The German PANZER have recorded their debut album “Send Them All To Hell” which is due for release on 28th November.
DESTRUCTION are currently touring the UK, so Blackdiamond caught up with Schmier to discover more about this new and exciting band, which already has metalheads around the world intrigued! PANZER was discussed at length, with Schmier giving an insight into several of the new songs. You can read some excerpts from the chat and listen to the full exclusive interview about this brand new metal band on the audio player below:
Giving the background on the new band and how it came together, Schmier said:
“We met the first time in spring this year and we did the first demos. Then we did the second session in the summer – we’d been writing at home and on tour and exchanging ideas. We need to have a time slot before Accept and Destruction went on tour. You hear that the material is in your face, spontaneous, has a lot of energy and it’s been really rock ‘n’ roll the way we did it.”
Discussing the interest in PANZER, Schmier is audibly excited:
“We were surprised about the interest that came before we even had something to listen to! So that was interesting to see that people are supporting us before they even heard the music. That’s really kind and I think it’s a killer album – melodic, catchy good hooks, but fast and heavy. I would totally buy it!
We don’t know what to expect, how it’s received, people will also be excited when they hear the material because I think it’s a really strong record with great metal moments, I’m very excited!”
For more information on PANZER, check their official Facebook page here.
Guitarist PAUL ALLENDER (ex-Cradle Of Filth) has lately been right in the centre of a media storm with his latest creation WHITE EMPRESS, the completely new and different musical concept, which has all the right ingredients to become an endless and unbounded saga. I last interviewed Paul in June this year, but as so much has happened since then in the WHITE EMPRESS camp, this new chat was a must. To find out more about the new album “Rise Of The Empress” (released on September 30th, via Peaceville Records), upcoming shows and much more, join the chat below.
Also check out the video breakdown of the first five tracks off its new album “Rise of the Empress” and the music video for “Darkness Encroaching”:
Finnish metallers have always played a big role in the metal music industry, no doubt about it. From symphonic rock to black metal and traditional heavy metal to death metal, Finnish metalheads raise the flag, fists and the horns. Recently our Chief Editor discovered a new Scandinavian true heavy metal outfit, SOULHEALER, hailing from Kajaani, Finland. So, Mohsen conducted an interesting interview with the band’s guitarist Sami Mikkonen, which is now available to read below.
Sami Mikkonen
Hello Sami, thanks for Accepting Metal Shock Finland’s call for this interview. How are you doing?
Hiya! No problem at all, my pleasure. I’m doing fine thanks. SSDD you might even say you know hoho! To begin with, would you please introduce your band and describe your music for people who don’t know SoulHealer yet?
We’re SoulHealer, a tremendous live metal band from Finland! We’re a five-piece who play melodic metal made in Finland. Catchy tunes, big choruses, guitars solos…everything you thought you left behind when the Eighties ended.
Can you tell us more about your favourite music, influences and where your metal comes from?
My favorite music…well, you could say that if has a good melody, heavy guitars and/or a guitar solo in it, I’m in! But in all honesty, I grew up in the Eighties. So that era of music has a special place in my heart of course. I do listen to all kinds of music, so if it’s good, I like it! I reserve the right to judge what is good and what is not though hahaha! My biggest infuences…well obviously Iron Maiden’s got a huge influence in my playing and songwriting and everything, as have all the bands from my teens, Ratt, Dokken, Accept, Helloween, Judas Priest…that list is endless! But I do count The Shadows and The Beatles in my influences as well.
You recently released your newest album “Bear The Cross“, how has the reaction been from your fans and critics so far?
Tough question… the album comes out on October 17th, so we haven’t seen or heard the fans’s reaction that much yet. Although the new song “Dead Man Walking” has received pretty damned nice reactions! The reviews have been very, well, promising in the lack of a better word. The people who’ve listened to the album have liked it very much.
I would like to know more about the process of recording your music, would you please tell me who is/are more responsible for writing and recording? Also I would like to know how you arrange writing lyrics?
So far we have relied very much on Teemu Kuosmanen’s songwriting. I mean the majority of songs we have recorded, the music and most of the lyrics are by him. I’ve penned a few tunes as well on our previous efforts, usually teaming up with Teemu. The recording part we usually do together at first, the basic tracks like drums for example and then the respective instruments by ourselves. Vocals are done by Jori & Teemu or Jori & me or Jori & Teemu & me. Or at least that’s how the process has been so far.
Now the topic of lyrics is an interesting one in itself. I mean, writing the music comes very naturally to me, and I’m sure it’s the same with Teemu. And he has a knack for good melodies in my opinion. He writes catchy stuff! But you really can’t have a metal band without vocals, so you need lyrics. And for me it’s always been really, really hard to express myself or anything in that kind of limited space like a song lyric usually needs to be. So you could say they’re a necessary evil if you will. As said earlier, Teemu does write most of the lyrics to his own songs, but sometimes he may ask me if I would have an idea for this or that tune, he might have the chorus worked out or some bits and pieces for the verses, you know? I take it from there and by some kind of strike of magic squeeze the lyrics out of my head hahaha! I mean there’s nothing magical about it at all. The songs need lyrics to be ready to be performed and we need to provide them. The inspiration can come from anything or anywhere, I remember writing Dead Man Walking when I took my daughter to skating school one cold Sunday evening… had the melody playing in my head and it just hooked in my head with the lines in the chorus. The whole lyric was written in like 30 minutes after I started typing on my phone. I guess what I’m trying to say that inspiration for lyrics can strike anytime, and the inspiration itself can be anything. A few lines of words you hear on TV, read somewhere etc or get pissed off enough that you need to let it all out verbally hehe.
The album was released through Pure Steel Records, a company which supports heavy/power metal. How did you get support from them, are you happy with what they did or are doing? (You can talk honestly with us) And what is the band’s relationship like with the record company?
So far so good I’d say. The first label we’ve ever been on too. If I’ve understood correctly, they’re expanding their territory to the Finnish market and we’ve been one of their “spearhead projects” in doing so. So there have been some minor hiccups on both sides but all in all, what more can one ask for from a record label these days? In my opinion the band’s relationship with the label is a good professional relationship.
Ok, almost everyone knows that now is not a good time in the music industry. Can you tell me how you see this industry and its difficulties? And what are your plans to face them as a serious group of heavy metal musicians?
I guess you want an honest and straight forward answer?
Yes, absolutely!
I personally think the record industry or the music industry in general is in big trouble if it doesn’t change it’s attitude towards all this new technology. And the whole culture really. As for any plans to face the music haha, well, we’re prepared to work from the ground up, basically do the same we’ve been doing the last five years, in fact whole our career. You need to work, you need luck, you need to be in the right place at the right time probably. As a musician, what else can you do? Just work your ass off and believe in yourself. May be a cliché but that’s all there is.
How do you see SoulHealer in the future; 10 years from now for example?
In 10 years SoulHealer will have outgrown Madison Square Bedroom sized venues and are playing at least Madison Square Livingrooms hahahaha!
No, kidding aside, I’ve not thought about things that far ahead. But now that you ask me…I’ll be a bit older than now. The band has released at least four more studio albums and a double live album along with the appropriate DVD release. Couple of hundred gigs at least more under our belt. We’re enjoying the fruits of our hard work with the band and can even turn down a gig every now and then if the money or time isn’t right. You could say we’ve earned our independence in a way. Yeah, that sounds about right!
Our readers are from almost everywhere, from Japan to the Middle East and Europe to the USA. So would you tell those who are not familiar with the Finnish metal scene, how is it going there and can you tell us about the current state of heavy metal music and its fans and musicians in Finland?
Man! I really haven’t got a clue of the current state of anything here in Finland! From the band’s point of view things are slowly getting better in terms of getting paid gigs and audience at the gigs, if you know what I mean. But it seems there’s a global trend going on actually, that smaller gigs don’t attract audience in the same way it was a few years ago, and that trend is pretty well seen here as well. The big names, in any genre really, they fill the icehalls and stadiums and clubs etc but the underground bands struggle to get audience. Locally, there’s not that many metal musicians in my opinion, it looks like kids want to either play with their smart phones or themselves rather than play an instrument. But there’s always the few who carry the torch!
Thanks for giving me your time, any final words?
Hey, it’s been my pleasure, thanks for having us! Anyone who reads this, check out our new album “Bear the Cross” from your preferred (legal!!!) music outlet, be it iTunes, Amazon, local mom & pop music store. I’m sure you’ll love it. If you have the chance to check us live we’ll blow your socks off and then some! Sin Chee Clearly Anymore!
Formed in 1996, Polish Tech Death masters DECAPITATED have built a reputation over the years as one of the international leaders of their genre. Throughout their near 20-year career, DECAPITATED has released five studio albums, which are considered to be some of the most influential death metal releases of the 21st century.
For their sixth full-length record, “Blood Mantra”, the band returned to Hertz Studio, located at Bialystok in their native Poland. Recording the new creation has proven to be an extremely demanding process for DECAPITATED, as they have never before faced a challenge so testing as the new songs turned out to be. The band cross-bred various styles and sounds, setting the bar higher with this new release. Flirting with various tempos, mixing Death Metal with Grindcore, Black Metal atmosphere with more groove laden beats and Stoner-Rock vibes, there are also modern Metal rhythmic riffs on DECAPITATED’s latest output that hark back to their 2006 release, “Organic Hallucinosis”.
“Blood Mantra” is set for release on September 26, 2014 via Nuclear Blast, and that was the main topic during the interview Tarja Virmakari had recently with the founding member Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka. But of course Tarja and Vogg talked about the band’s first years and the metal scene at that time and how they have changed over the years. To discover more about it and much more, please join the chat below.
Check out the lyric video for the track Blood Mantra:
and stream “The Blasphemous Psalm To The Dummy God Creation”:
Chief Shock Video
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
Ads
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
As it’s that ghoulish time of year again that people the world over love to celebrate Halloween for whatever their own reasons, what better time to have a chat with original guitarist from pumpkinhead power metallers HELLOWEEN, Michael Weikath.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 