Interviews

Metal Shock Finland’s Exclusive Premiere: PENTRAL – New Video ‘Disconnected’ + Interview

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 2, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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.

  1. 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.

  1. ‘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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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!

  1. 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.

  1. 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!

  1. 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!

  1. 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

More information at
Official Site: https://www.pentralmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pentralmusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pentralmusic 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pentralmusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2AXLFVIhosACuumLmolRPX
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/pentral/1514782602

Interview with PLUGS OF APOCALYPSE, Talking About New EP “Sad Songs For Sad Dreamers” + More

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 25, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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!

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

More information at:
BAND: https://www.facebook.com/officialPOA
LABEL: http://www.volcanopromotion.com

Interview: Brazilian SPLEENFUL Searching Musical Universe Without Being Tied To Labels

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 21, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment

Interview by Carlos Garcia

Brazilian SPLEENFUL was formed in 2012, in the city of Porto Alegre, with the proposal of making a differentiated Metal and without being tied to labels.

With influences that go through Gothic and Dark Metal, Black, Death and even Prog Metal and Djent. Obscure symphonies from the perspective of damned poetry, the occult and horror tales are also elements that constitute the musical universe created by Spleenful.

After EPs, singles and videos that got a very good response from audiences and critics, as well as several shows, including as a support act for names like Moonspell and Therion, the band went through a period of reformulation and now in 2021, with a new line-up, is producing their first full-length, probably one of the most anticipated debuts in the Brazilian Metal scene.

Certainly a long-awaited debut by those who follow the band, and that will open new doors for this original and great band from the south of the country, which always reveals important names in the Brazilian Metal scene.

We spoke with the band to know more about this important step, which is the production of their first album, the progress of production and some of the short and medium term plans. Check out!

Well, there’s a phrase it sayd that everything has the right time to happen, so finally it’s time for Spleenful to release your full-lenght? In addition to the experience gained over the years, what other factors would you place as fundamental for the realization of this debut?

Bia Giovanella: In my opinion, as a co-founder of the band, I believe that the key was to find people who had the same ideas as us, it’s difficult to have people who think alike in a band or even in a family, it’s impossible, but in Spleenful that happened. Even though we sometimes had disagreements, we entered into a consensus and this greatly strengthened Spleenful in what it is today.

Elias: We believe that there is a right time and a right time for things to happen, but mainly with planning, hard work and with everyone with the same purpose.

Tell us how the activities were in the last year, without concerts because the pandemic, and if you took the opportunity to create or develop compositions that will make the debut.

Drax: Absolutely, the home office and isolation contributed positively in that regard.
We managed to do a good creative immersion and work on good material that you’ll check out as soon as it comes out. In the last month before the start of drum recordings, Elias and I did weekly guitar and drum rehearsals, to finalize the drum lines, working out the details to get as ready as possible at the time of the official recording.

And how has the way of writing in the band been working?

Elias: The compositions for this album were made by me and Tiago Alano (vocals), but everyone can collaborate both with compositions and arrangements. Everything is written in sheet music first, before the pre-recorded.
We have two musicians with academic background, Bia and Draxl, but all members master the theoretical part, which makes the whole process much easier. We don’t stick to concepts, we always try to get away from the common, not following existing clichés in Metal.

Bia Giovanella: The way of writing in the band has evolved a lot, in the past Tiago created the songs, I added my vocals and the rest of the band followed the score, today it’s different, the band became more united from the moment we have a idea and we evolved from it, writing the songs using programs like guitar pro and musescore helped a lot.

Will the album only include new songs or will we have new versions of the EP tracks and singles?

Drax: Only new songs, one or the other not so new. There’s “Noir” which is a track that has even been played in concerts, but as it wasn’t officially recorded, we made a new arrangement and it will be on the new album.
The new songs are very good, we have great expectations for the release of this material, it was all done with great care and passion for the music, each one adding a little of their knowhow.

Spleenful emerged with the intention of making Metal without being tied to a specific label, and the band’s EP and singles show this diversity, with a sound that transits through elements of Dark, Gothic, Death and Symphonic. And the current compositions? Could you describe a little bit of what listeners can expect?

Elias: That was the factor that made me join Spleenful six years ago, not being stuck with labels. And this is maintained with the entry of Draxl on drums and Lucas on bass. The new compositions will have elements of Industrial and even Djent, very technical, keeping brutality and melody.
Bia: Each one adds your own musical characteristics, whether me, mixing lyrical with belting, Elias joining technical death metal with dark, Drax joining progressive metal. As a musician I see that compositions are on another level, as each one of us has added a little bit of ourselves to them.

What are currently the strongest influences that make up the band’s sound?

Drax: Absolutely, Scepticflesh and Gojira, the folks who compose the melodies are heavily influenced by Devin Townsend.

And you Bia, as a musician and composer, as well as a co-founder of the band, in this current phase, what would you highlight about the new elements and techniques that you used in the new compositions?

Bia Giovanella: One part that’s been challenging for me is that I took over the keys, cas i have a degree in music, my background is popular piano, but i have never played metal and it has been a super cool experience, i am learning and also adding details of popular music to the songs, as we are brazilians why not add parts of bossa nova? It’s an influence from most of the band, so there will be new things on our album, but we’ll keep doing the dark metal we’ve always done, but with a new face.

What about the lyrical part? What themes will the band address? Did these almost chaotic times bring any kind of inspiration?

Elias: The new songs still address themes like the occult and horror literature as before, but this time they have a much more personal approach and open to interpretation. Tiago who writes the lyrics and he has inserted themes such as psychoanalysis, astronomy and politics in a very metaphorical way.

For example, we have a new song called “Zeitgeist” which is our way of expressing a protest against the devaluation of art and culture in these dark times in which we live.

Thanks for the interview, there is space for your closing remarks, and we’ll keep an eye out for updates on the album, hope it’s available soon and we’re also in better times!

Bia: Spleenful has a new face, I believe that whoever listens to the new album will experience something different from what we had already done. We’re happy with the results we’re building and excited to show Spleenful’s sound to headbangers all over the world.

Spleenful are:
Tiago Alano: Vocals
Bia Giovanella: Vocals and keyboards
Elias Mendes: Guitars
Drax the Ax: Drums
Lucas Ollé: Bass

“Winter Solstice Dream” video:

More information at https://m.facebook.com/spleenfulband

Interview With JULIA AND THE ROOFERS Talking Debut Album ‘The Will Of Evil’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 9, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment

Interview by Tarja Virmakari

Just recently, Italian Rock Grunge Project JULIA AND THE ROOFERS released their debut album ‘The Will Of Evil’, strongly influenced by the sound of the Seattle bands of the 90s as well as by the angry approach typical of the riot groups (Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Hole, Babes in Toyland). The album is now available digitally on the main digital platforms, and physically on Amazon, eBay, Spotify + on the band’s Bandcamp page.

Metal Shock Finland‘s Tarja Virmakari had a pleasure to talk with the band’s frontlady Julia and Ranza, talking widely about the band’s debut album ‘The Will Of Evil’, which was released on January 7th 2021 via Diamonds Prod, and many more. Read the interview below.

  1. Hello JULIA AND THE ROOFERS, welcome to Metal Shock Finland! First a question to you, Julia, entered the musical world in 2010, would you like to tell me about how?

Julia: Hi Tarja! I started playing when i was 15 in a band made up of some school friends. When I realized music was more than a passion I started studying singing and guitar. Then I joined a Led Zeppelin tribute band and this experience completely changed my point of view and “trained” me. After that I tried a lot of diffenre genres: I played guitar in a reggae band but also sang in some prog, heavy and thrash metal bands.

  1. Please tell us, how you came up with the project, formed in 2018, and why this name? How is it connected to roofs, lol, or just a nice nick to your band mates?

Julia: At first we were an acoustic cover band because where we live is very difficult to play in an electric set. So at the beginning we just wanted to play and have fun till we decided to try composing something new taking adcantages of the lockdwon period. I left my colleagues choose the name and they insisted on calling themselves “roofers”.

Ranza: About the word “roofer” we choose this one with Peso because sounded cool, yeah guys, we fix roofs lol, last year we discovered that in english slang it means “pushers” lmao

  1. Infact, talking about your band mates, Peso and Ranza, how did you meet each others? And what are their inputs in this project, concerning the songwriting etc?

Julia: I met Peso and Ranza when I started taking guitar lessons at musicart school with Pier Gonella. I performed a few times with Peso for various events sponsored by the school until he offered me to start a band. this is how Julia And The Roofers were born.

Ranza: I first met Julia in a concert organized by the school where I teach guitar, when I was coming in the theatre where the bands played I heard her singing and I thought “Wow! She has a great voice!” Then six years later I started playing with her.

  1. What are your personal influences, music-wise?

Julia: Personally I consider Led Zeppelin my biggest influence as a singer and a musician but I also like Alice In Chains especially Jerry Cantrell’s work as a composer.

Ranza: My influences come from jazz, I love John Coltrane and Pat Metheny, ‘70 rock with Beatles and George Harrison and one of my favourite metal records come from Finland: “Elegy” by Amorphis, I think it’s a milestone in my musical growth.

  1. Talking about the songs themselves, from where you take the topics and inspiration?

Julia: This album is a very personal work. I decided to talk about some episodes of my recent past that I wanted to exorcise using all the bad memories and anger to create something useful and start over.

Ranza: It was a pleasure and honor to work with such a musicians like Peso and Julia and I really enjoyed and had fun studying the harmonic arrangements. I only regret that we had not the magic of work together in a rehearsal room and in a recording studio but, well, I think we did a great team work.

  1. How would you describe your musical style?

Julia: We tried to make something different not focusing on a specific genre. Anyway my grunge influence is very recognizable as well as some reference to the sound of the 70s. I think that Peso gave that heavier touch to the songs and Ranza worked hard to make everything homogeneous.

  1. We all know that this current world situation has changed the music industry, but you didn’t stop, and during the lockdown you decided to draft your debut album ‘The Will Of Evil’, please tell us more on how it came together?

Julia: Because of pandemic we had to work remotely so I played the drafts of the songs via Skype and I recorded them with my phone so they could work on them too. It was a bit of a complicated process but it allowed us to arrive in the recording studio prepared and motivated.

Ranza: Sometimes, working one by one, we felt differently the feelings of any single song, I remember that one time, when I was first approaching “bones” I played a totally different intro and she told me “this is not what I have in mind” lol, but we worked to give form to Julia’s ideas and this is good.

  1. Your debut album ‘The Will Of Evil’ was released on January 7th 2021 via Diamonds Prod, what can you tell us about its sound?

Julia: I think this album is something to be listened to without prejudice, without imposing limits related to genres and styles. This is what I recommend: close your eyes and just listen!

  1. Is it a concept album, or does it have 9 separate stories?

Julia: It’s more a concept album, all the songs are shades of the same story. To sum up the record is about a toxic relationship.

  1. Just recently you released 3 singles + videos from the album, ‘Sound of Evil’, ‘Eros & Thanatos’ and ‘River’, why these choices as first singles?

Julia: We chose at first “Sound Of Evil” ’cause when we were recording it we fell in love with the song which also sees the participation of Pier Gonella as solo guitarist. With the second single “Eros And Thanatos” we wanted to show our dark and erotic side which we best represented in the video. For “River”, the third one, we created a lyrics video cause it’s one of the most representative lyrics of the album.

  1. As we don’t yet know when the proper shows and tours will be again possible, how will you support the album in the meantime?

Julia: We planned to make more video to support the project hoping to be able to perform live as soon as possible.

Ranza: The best thing to support the album is to work hard for live shows, the arrangements in the recording are rich in overdubbings and we have to recreate the same feelings in three on stage.

  1. And what about your future plans?

Julia: We are getting ready to be ready to play the record live but we are also working on some new material.

Ranza: Cross the fingers while we wait for a change of season when people and musicians can come back to live shows, we really miss them.

  1. Now the word is yours, what is your message to our readers and your fans?

Julia: Thank you so much for your support! You can find us and all our songs on our Facebook page, Bandcamp, Spotify and Youtube! We can’t wait to play all these songs and entertain you all! See you very soon.

Ranza: I’m really pleased to talk to Finnish pals ‘cos guys YOU ROCK! You have a lot of the best metal musicians ever!

Current line-up
JULIA – voice and bass
RANZA- guitar, sitar and keyboards
PESO drums

The Will Of Evil -tracklisting:
River
Summer (seems so easy)
Sound of Evil
Come to an end
Eros & Thanatos
The rope
Gardens
Down in the net
Bones

“The Will Of Evil” was recorded and mastered by Pier Gonella at MusicArt Studio.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/Julia-and-The-Roofers-113700193813172

Check out the videos + singles, taken from the debut album ‘The Will Of Evil’.

Interview With ENDEZZMA’s Priest And Prophet M. SHAX, Talking New Album “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” + More

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 8, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Interview by Tarja Virmakari

Norwegian Black Metallers ENDEZZMA released their third album “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” on January 22nd via Dark Essence Records. With this album, Endezzma take a huge step forward in songwriting. Mixing the raw grimness of the early days of black metal with the epic grandeur of later bands, the album bridges the gap between the dark anthem and primitive aggression.

Just recently, Metal Shock Finland‘s Tarja Virmakari had a pleasure to talk with ENDEZZMA founder, priest and prophet, M. Shax, talking widely about their new album “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” and many more. Please read the chat below.

Hi M. Shax, and welcome to Metal Shock Finland! How are you doing and how has this 2021 started for you?

Hello Tarja. I’m doing fine thank you. The start of the year has been as good as it get. Feels good to finally have the album released after such a strange and troubled period. It feels like an eternity since we finalized the production. The response and the attention concerning the new album have been extraordinary, so we’re very satisfied with the situation. Even though it feels kind of weird and strange dropping a new album not being able to head out on tour and do festivals in support of it.

Let’s go back to 2005, when the band was formed. How were the scenes back then?

Looking back now I must say it feels like 5 years more than 15 or more! In my eyes the extreme metal scene and especially the Black Metal have been in a constant change over time. From being a pure underground riot wrapped into a musical revolution back in the early 90’s until todays more commercial oriented picture. Black metal in the start of the 90’s was a rather unique, fascinating, and dangerous time. Back then it was much about revolting against already set patterns, musical styles, and traditions, but also aside of the musical aspect revolt against society and the establishment as well. The acceptance of extreme metal from the global audience have made things a bit different, I guess. For us the main drive has always been to make music that we burn passionately for and express it with sincere energy and devotion. In that way we cruise forward with the same intentions in 2020 as back in 2005.

Please tell me about the band’s name ENDEZZMA, what does it mean and what is the story behind it?

I always liked operating with unique words and making up new words that have special meaning to our own philosophical world and platform. The word Endezzma is put together by some key-basic fundamental aspects. It’s a personal word dealing with the portal to death.

On January 22nd you unleashed your third effort “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” via Dark Essence Records. What can you tell us about its sound and songwriting process?

When it comes to the actual sound it’s a complex ride with a matter to get the point where all components and factors blend perfectly together. Mixing epic expressions with brutality. It’s particularly hard to blend grace with primitive aggression, but that’s also what’s make the process so challenging and intricate.
The final sound is essential and very important for us. We want to bring elements like atmosphere and grace into the mix but at the end of the day what is our absolute focus is to keep the energy and intensity at a high level. You got to get some demon-sweat on your back when you listening to a Endezzma album, that’s important, it must be tense and intense. We do what we do with an uttermost passionate devotion and the listener must get that vibe and energy through the speakers. We are very proud and satisfied with the new album and the work we put into it. And the value must always be that the listener should get a full package from the visuals and artwork to the philosophical thematic to the powerful soundscape, nothing is coincident, all details is though through and serve a purpose … Its solid wood…
When it comes to the songwriting process, we usually all together make a plan where we want to go with the album. Figuring out what kind of structure we want to achieve before we start. Working towards a goal. It’s mostly Malphas that start with riff ideas and making pre-productions with his ideas, then we send it around, back and forth, making changes and inputs. I make the lyrics and we later work and adapt the songs and lyrics to suit together, making the changes needed. When we get a sufficient result that we feel connect with our goals we bring it into the rehearsal-room and finalize the songs and add the final ideas and fills. This time around also Nihil, the other guitarist contributed to songs. It was really a band effort where everyone contributed with inputs and ideas. I think that’s the key answer to why it ended as good as it did.

The album was mixed and mastered at Necromorbus Studio Stockholm by the great producer Tore Stjerna. How was your collaboration with him, and what is his input to the album sound?

Tore knows the drill. He has obviously worked with his chare of bands up through the years and ages of metal and especially black metal so it’s easy to make preferences that he relates to an understand. The communication was simply outstanding and also his understanding in meeting our demands and desires sound-wise. He is also a drummer which gives him a good perception, depth, and insight in how to make a good drum sound that is both powerful with punch and sometime floats into the mix naturally without taking too much room and space. One of Stjerna’s first impression when he heard the recording was that we sounded like a “young Emperor but with a good drummer” , that was quit an interesting consideration , and maybe not that far from the truth in how we think and how pretentious we was according getting the right sound on this album. 

In generaly, how your sound has changes in these past 16 years?

The music on the new album is maybe the most diverse and multi-layered material we have ever made and the most planned and worked through album we ever made. The traditional Endezzma roots is there but we have explored new territories music wise. This evolution has maybe added yet another epic and monumental layer to the expression. We still wanted to bring forth our pervious intense sound. Endezzma have an old school fundament and we are very aware of staying true to our core essence as well as develop our sound and music.

What are your musical influences?

I think I’m not able to point out an exact source of musical influence. All the members of the band have a genuine interest in music and we always listened to a lot of music across the genres. But the old school dark metal will always be burned into our core of course. When that is said Endezzma always operated without no boundaries when coming to the sonic expression. No musical limitation whatsoever. We are pushing the borders and bringing the old school expression into modern landscapes. I think that’s how music develop into healthy musically directions when you follow your heart with a touch of old instincts. You should never expect to get the obvious when you listen to a new Endezzma album.

The album title “The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” is the 4th song in the album, why this choice?

It’s kind of a concept album since all the thematic is built around the same philosophy that is visualized through the album artwork, lyric and musical. The musically thematic and lyrics are connected and that’s why the songs are placed in a certain order on the album. We have earlier written much about death, and the meaning of death based on how you live, present yourself and our inner darkness. Through the album philosophical thematic we have created certain characters and placed them into a certain landscape and mythical setting. You have lot of energies talking and a huge symbolism that we invite the listeners to dive into. It’s like poetry, everyone will maybe sit back with a different reaction after they both read and listened…

The album coverart is very impressive, what can you tell me about it?

Thank you. Actually, the album cover got a lot of attention. The artwork is painted by a Serbian artist Stefan Todorovic and his Khaos Diktator agency. It’s a very special painting that we are very devoted and satisfied with, very describing, and capturing according to the lyrical and philosophical platform of the album. I had a very clear art direction concerning what we wanted from the artwork, but he added so much energy and depth in it. The painting, together with the title, tries to paint a picture as detailed as possible in the listener’s mind. The Archer, fjord and the thunder are 3 essential key words in the album’s philosophical agenda. The Archer is the main magus and the fjord is the passage and the thunder manifest the fire and the energy of this grand epic and mythical world of stellar darkness. It’s kind of a concept album since all the thematics are built around the same philosophy that is visualized through this above-mentioned elements and key words. We have earlier written much about death, and the meaning of death based on how you live, present yourself and our inner darkness. Through the album philosophical thematic we have created certain characters and placed them into a certain landscape and mythical setting. You have lot of energies talking and a huge symbolism that we invite the listeners to dive into. It’s like poetry, everyone will maybe sit back with a different reaction after they both read and listened…

We’re currently living some pretty weird times, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We all know how it has changed the music industry, and nobody knows if and when the live shows and tours can happen again, without restrictions. But despite it, how will you promote the album?

Since the album was just done and ready before the covid crisis hit we have planned a good and tidy drop with a promotion stretching out as much as possible. Luckily we all ready had video productions lined up and done right on time before the lock down, and that turned out to be a crucial thing according to the promotion when concerts and toured become impossible.
We have all together dropped 4 new music videos from the last year and until now.

Looking back to the band’s career, what are your highlights, so far?

It must be the new album. We really did a massive investment in The Archer, Fjord And The Thunder, both mentally and sonically. We are truly proud of the new album and how it turned out and we are looking forward to bring this beast of a album with its spectacle out on the road and up on the stages across the world.

What will happen in the ENDEZZMA -camp next, i.e. what are your plans for 2021?

We had so many plans for both last year and this year that now are floating and uncertain. But I hope we can soon see the end of this fucked up situation and start to practice what we preach again.
We have festivals and tours lined up all through Europe and even a cross the shores in US and the South America. We will tour as much we can with the new album.
If the situation doesn’t allow any travelling throughout the year we will again enter the studio to work and record the next new album again. No time to waste when the stellar darkness call ! Maybe we will have 2 new albums to promote until we are able to tour again, who knows ,….. but the Archer !

And now the word is yours, what is your message to our readers + your fans?

Thank you Tarja for your questions and time.
We are hungry and morbid sick to get out on the road playing The Archer Fjord And The Thunder for our fans and audience. Meanwhile check out the new album and get your mind and souls into the epic morbid world of the Archer and prepare yourself. See you out there soon!

Watch

‘The Archer Fjord And The Thunder’ Tracklist:

  1. The Awakening
  2. The Name of the Night is a Strong Tower
  3. Anomalious Abomination
  4. The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder
  5. Formless and Void
  6. Garden ov Heathen
  7. Wild Gloriour Death
  8. Open Your Eyes and Stab the Sight
  9. Arrows of Equilibrium
  10. Closure

“The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder” was released the 22nd January 2021, via Dark Essence Records, and is available in Digipak CD, digital and LP formats, with an A2 poster included with the vinyl version.

Webshop: https://www.darkessencerecords.no/shop/
Endezzma bandcamp: https://endezzma.bandcamp.com/releases
US webshop: https://darkessence.aisamerch.com/

Endezzma was formed in 2005 on the ashes of Dim Nagel by frontman M. Shax, the original lineup featured Urgehal’s late, and much lamented, Trondr Nefas. The band now consists of Morten Shax (vocals), Malphas (guitars), Nihil (guitars), Aske (bass) and Skriu (drums).

Band: https://www.facebook.com/endezzma
Label: http://www.darkessencerecords.no

Interview with DORO: “We already have six songs for the new album”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on December 10, 2020
Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . 7 Comments

Interview By Alison Booth

Metal Queen DORO has certainly earned that title, with a career spanning over more than three decades. From the first album release with her band WARLOCK in 1984, Doro paved the way for women in metal and has long been an inspiration, empowering so many artists in the rock and metal industry.

After releasing her first album post-WARLOCK in 1989, Doro has never looked back, with a steady stream of albums and collaborations with many artists over the years.

Just a few weeks ago, Doro released a best of album, “Magic Diamonds – Best Of Rock, Ballads & Rare Treasures”, via her own label Rare Diamonds Productions. The album contains a fantastic collection of 56 songs with 20 rock songs, 18 ballads and 18 rare treasures!

Metal Shock Finland Senior Manager Alison Booth, recently caught up Doro who was the special guest on the 8th anniversary of her radio show Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem at TotalRock. The whole show can be heard at this location.  You can hear the chat on the audio player below, along with a selection of excerpts to read:

Discussing the new album, Doro explained:

“There’s another box set and it has two double vinyl, one is white, the other is clear. It all looks nice, sounds great.

I did it because it was impossible to tour this year and we had two European tours and two American tours, Australia, South America. Everything was lined up, tons of great festivals and everything got cancelled or postponed. So I thought yeah I wanna go back into the studio, working on some new songs, which I did. And then I thought, maybe I want to put out a best of record. At first I started with like fifteen songs, then it was twenty five, thirty five, forty five and now fifty six songs!

And there’s still some songs I would love to put on maybe volume two in the next couple of years or something. There are so many songs that deserve to be heard in a different arrangement or live. That’s what I miss the most. There’s tons of live versions on there, so even if people can’t come to the concerts, they can definitely get the excitement and the power when you listen to it.”

Doro expressed her thoughts about the pandemic:

“It was a big shock. My last normal gig was actually March and we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Saxon in my former hometown in Düsseldorf, Germany. And there was Saxon and Diamond Head, Tygers Of Pan Tang and us and we had a great, great night – it was awesome!

Then, two days later they announced only a thousand people allowed in the venue, then it went down to five hundred people, then nobody and yeah, so March was our last normal gig. Then we thought maybe we can hang in there till the summer festivals. Yeah and then summer festivals one by one got cancelled or postponed, it was shocking, it was shocking.

I did a couple of things which was like totally different, was a big challenge. We did some drive-in shows. For the first time it was weird, because it felt exactly like our All We Are video that was shot in 1987, where everybody was in their cars and we were performing on top of the tour bus and then with the magic of metal and you know and Warlock, it came to life and we were rocking out together and it felt exactly like that. I hopped on stage and I saw only cars, it was so surreal but it was fun. We made it I think that everybody had a great time, it was exciting! And we actually recorded some songs and one song is on the Magic Diamonds album, which I like so much. It’s Love Me In Black and you don’t see any audience participation but you can feel there’s a good vibe going, a nice, magical version.

It was a rough year I think for everybody and we try to stay positive, but it’s hard when you’ve nothing to do – especially for the band and the crew. But we’re hoping next year we’ll get back to normal kind of, it would be awesome. And if not, then we’ll work on a new album.”

Doro had lots to say on the topic of duets:

“Actually, all my duet partners were always great because we stayed great friends. Like there’s one song on this album with Udo Dirkschneider and it’s a cover version of Breaking The Law, because Judas Priest was my first band I’ve toured with in 1986 and I always wanted to say thank you to Priest, so we recorded Breaking The Law and I was just working with Udo Dirkschneider on his album and said ‘hey Udo you wanna work on my album as well?’ with an orchestra, it was really nice, came out so great. We always love to play Breaking The Law.

There’s another duet with Tarja Turunen who sang for Nightwish and this song’s called Walking With The Angels – something that fits so perfectly because she has such an angelic voice.

And then there’s one song, Bad Blood, that’s with Blaze Bayley. We are great friends for a long time. And Descent, that’s another song with Pete Steele and unfortunately he is not any more with us, but he was a great guy. He was the tallest guy I ever met, he was such a gentle giant.

And then my favourite duet is Love Me Forever with Lemmy. That was my first time that I did a duet and it was in 2000. We recorded it for my Calling The Wild album. We did two songs, one was Alone Again and the other one was Love Me Forever and Eric Singer is playing drums on it, the KISS drummer and Bob Kulick, he played guitar on it and it was in his studio. And Bob, he passed away a couple of months ago, I couldn’t believe it. We always stayed friends. So these duets, they mean a lot to me, especially Love Me Forever with Lemmy and Descent with Pete Steele, because you know – I feel we’re very connected in heart and soul, but it’s kinda tough to live without them. Lemmy was my best friend, I loved him so much.

On the “Ace Of Spades” anniversary:

“Somebody sent me the nice box set, oh it’s awesome! If people want to get something really special, this is wow, it’s so nice. Yeah Ace Of Spades was my favourite album. I had my first band in 1980 and when this one came out, like wow, it was so inspiring. I still love that song Ace Of Spades, oh my God. And Love Me Like A Reptile was the second song on Ace Of Spades and it was by coincidence that Dave Ellefson said ‘hey you want to sing a MOTÖRHEAD song?’ And it was oh yeah! Maybe it was meant to be, it was a lot of fun!“

Looking ahead to the future, Doro revealed:

“If I could do ten or twenty more records it would be awesome. I love people and that’s I guess what I’m here for and yeah, I just wanna make people feel great and get inspiration, motivation and positive metal power – that’s what I would love to continue doing. There’s not much, I don’t have any other dreams – I’m definitely living the dream, making music. I always wanted to become a singer since I was three years old.

But I love animals too, that’s my other passion and I just wrote a song for the new album and it’s called Heavenly Creatures, that’s a work title.

Yeah next year and hopefully a tour behind the new album, but we’ll see. But we already have six songs so I think middle of next year the album will be done.”

Official DORO Facebook

Official DORO Website