One week prior to the release of SEPULTURA‘s new effort “The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart” (October 25), Tarja Virmakari had a chance to interview (for Truemetal.it) the band’s well-established leader Andreas Kisser. The main topic was of course the new album, but Andreas spoke also about the latest news in Sepultura -camp and he was granted the opportunity to respond to the insistent provocative statements of the former frontman Max Cavalera. Andreas revealed also how the former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo got involved with the album, as a guest. To know about this and more, please join the chat below.
To read the interview in Italian, please go to Truemetal.it, HERE.
Blackdiamond recently caught up with the original guitarist Michael Weikath from German power metallers HELLOWEEN, during a short break from the Hellish Rock Tour Part II with GAMMA RAY. Michael was very relaxed and drinking coffee in his home on the Canary Islands during the humorous chat.
We discussed everything from what’s happening with the band to MAC computers and U2. You can read some excerpts below and listen to the full interview on the audio player:
On the current album “Straight Out Of Hell,” Michael said: “The album has been fun with positive reviews. This is one of those things you always dream and hope would come along and we’re very proud of it. We hope we can repeat it a few times.”
About the next HELLOWEEN album, Michael expressed: “There’s general ideas hanging in mid air as usual, but there’s not the slightest idea of what it could be about. But we assume it’s going to be another record in the line of the last three or four, because that seems kind of a good approach. It can be expected in early 2015 – we want to do it properly and not rush things.”
We also talked about the music Michael enjoys listening to and he had plenty to say about a couple of bands:
“I’m kind of suffering a little bit from the last Muse album! I’m such a big Muse fan until the last record. It’s kind of sad to see how they copy Queen and U2, which nobody needs. I would prefer to hear original material. it’s great if it sells, but please, I need more interesting Muse records in the future!
U2 right now are the biggest band in the world, sadly. I don’t mean disrespect to the persons involved, it’s just that kind of music is not so great that it should be number one. They are selling a lot more than AC/DC. I don’t want to piss people off by what I say, that’s just what I think.”
Swedish metallers TAD MOROSE are back with their first album in ten years; “Revenant,” released today, 15th November 2013. The band started its life in 1991 and have been through many line-up changes over the years.
Blackdiamond recently caught up with founding member and guitarist Christer ‘Krunt’ Andersson for a chat about the new album and all news about the band. You can read an excerpt from the interview and listen to the chat on the audio player below:
Discussing the new album, Krunt expressed:
“It feels an unbelievably huge relief to finally get this album out. It’s plain, ordinary good old fashioned heavy metal. A lot of people think it’s a bit darker and more aggressive than the other albums.”
On touring and live shows, Krunt said:
“Playing live is what it’s all about for us as a band, so we’re really looking forward to going out on the road again. It doesn’t matter if there are 5 people in the audience or ten thousand, we have such a great time on stage anyway.”
Check out the new video for “Beneath A Veil Of Crying Souls”:
For more information on TAD MOROSE, check out their official facebook page at this location.
Interview by Tarja Virmakari – Proofread: Diane Parkes
AYREON is the flagship musical project by Dutch composer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. The musical style of Ayreon draws mainly from heavy metal and progressive rock, but also incorporates aspects of other genres such as folk, classical and electronica, resulting in the unique “Ayreon sound”. The new album, The Theory Of Everything” came out on October 28th, via Inside Out Music, and it has already gained Album Chart entries in many countries worldwide.
Just a couple of days ago Tarja Virmakari had a chance to have a long and interesting chat with Arjen. He spoke about a completely revamped conceptual universe for Ayreon. Gone are the complicated story lines featuring sci-fi, aliens and time-travel; in their place is a real-world drama set in the here and now. Arjen told also about the inspirations he had while creating this masterpiece of four epic tracks, divided in 42 segments, which is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… but Tarja and Arjen talked also about many other Album details too, so please join to the conversation here below.
To buy the album go here (Europe) or here (America+rest of the world)
Only two months ago, Metal Shock Finland’s Blackdiamondinterviewed the newest member to join metallers ICED EARTH, drummer Raphael Saini. But after recording the not yet released “Plagues Of Babylon” album and touring with the band, Raphael announced his departure from ICED EARTH.
So, Blackdiamond spoke to Raphael for an update on the situation, you can read the chat below:
Hi Raphael how are you doing?
Hey! I am doing great thank you, it’s been a very interesting period of my life.
Last time we spoke you were ICED EARTH’s newest member and had recorded the new album with them. It was a big surprise to see that recently you had left the band, can you explain what happened? And how do you feel about leaving?
Since the beginning I knew it was going to be temporary, but I did my best to help deliver it all. The band had a tight schedule with festivals and rehearshals/writing for the new album, so it was really challenging.
What Happened? It happened that something temporary can’t last forever 🙂
I feel its the best thing for the band as well as for me, and I am happy that Jon Dette is playing, I really like his style and playing and I am honored to know that he will be playing drum parts that I created.
How was your time in ICED EARTH, as you achieved a lot in a short space of time, such as touring and recording?
It was surely a great experience and a “School” that helped me out in my path on becoming a better musician. I never played this kind of “heavy metal” before: I was playing death metal, hardcore… so it was a challenge…I mean…everything was a challenge but you learn a lot from yourself: you learn that if you’re strong enough to keep the pressure and believe in yourself… you can do it.
We played some great festivals and shows plus I had the chance to work in the studio with Jon and this was the most interesting part: an amazing learning situation … something that is worth alone all this experience. I have a lot of respect for him and the way he works, so I am very happy for the opportunity I had of learning from him.
What would you like to say to the ICED EARTH fans who had welcomed you to the band?
I would like to say THANK YOU from the deep of my heart and I hope they appreciate my contribution on PLAGUES OF BABYLON.
Also please accept the fact that I am not part of the band anymore, don’t take it personally…. Things happen. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about IE or i don’t care about the fans. Things happen and things change, Iced Earth will continue to kick asses and I will continue my path… I am pleased that we crossed our paths for a bit.
So what are your plans now, do you have any new projects?
Over the last 4 years I’ve been touring and recording with an impressive amount of bands :
Master (Usa), Abomination (Usa), Arhythmia (Italy), Chaoswave (Italy), Visions of Atlantis (Austria), Emergency gate (Germany), One Machine (the band of Steve Smyth ex testament and Ex Nevermore) and recently Iced Earth (Usa)…and more!
I’ve been jumping on headlining tours with 24 hours of advance, I’ve been fighting like crazy to prove to myself that I was able to do it all… and I did it.
It was something I did for myself mainly not for the “fame” or the “glory”, it was my personal war against my demons (I should write a book about a crazy story of a guy coming out from nowehere and having the chance to tour the world playing heavy metal music ahahahha). It was my way to prove that nothing can stop a man with a strong dream.
After I.E. I wanted to take a break… but one of my dearest friends and one of the best singers in the planet asked to join her new band.JADED STAR (https://www.facebook.com/jadedstarofficial)
Her name is Maxi Nil and we’ve been friends since I toured with her other band Visions of Atlantis in 2011. So here I am again doing pre-productions for this album.
Also I got an impressive number of purposals for new bands…. But I am not really on the mood to decide anything now, so we’ll see what will happen.
I mean surely I will not stop playing but now it’s to early to decide anything else…
Right now I just want to play drums and have fun… as I always did.
I know something good always comes on my way…it’s just a matter of working hard and staying positive.
Interview by Sagiv Shaniv – Proofread by Diane Parkes
“KUADRA” is an Italian band from Vigevano, Italy. The band was formed at the end of 2005. Each member has his own musical influences, such as hip hop, metal, crossover, electronic… All these genres came together to create the project “KUADRA”, that is, first of all, a melting pot of rap, rock and nu metal.
1. You sing only in Italian. Why so? Do you think you’ll be able to break through the local market to international recognition that way?
Actually, we never thought about making it through the show business. Italian is our mother-language and the language of those who attend our live shows. If we sang in English we wouldn’t receive the same feedback.
2. Do you plan to release material in English in the future?
We can’t exclude that we may write some English lyrics in the future. Perhaps for the next album, who knows?
3. What is your opinion about the Italian metal scene? Do you feel a part of it?
The Italian metal scene has never had a proper identity. All the bands being part of it are inspired by big American names. It seems that there’s no much effort in trying to renovate this genre. We feel part of it, but the thing we’re trying to do is making our sound and our path as personal and original as possible.
4. What can you tell about your best show to date, and where was it?
Saying which was our best show is impossible. Every time we play we think our performance has been better than the previous one. At every concert something happens that makes it worth being remembered, the cause being we always try to give our best when we’re on stage.
5. How would you define yourself by metal-genre?
Aggressive. That is basically the way we show up. This aggressiveness is clearly aimed at moving those who listen to our music and those who attend our concerts. Our main purpose is trying to leave a mark, even the smallest one, in the hearts of those who listen to us.
6. What lyrically inspires you? What do you base your writings on?
Our lives, the questions we make about the existence, our society, the people we meet.
7. What are your major musical influences?
Our music has its roots in ’90s metal and crossover, in rap, but we’ve been trying to enlarge our musical horizon for some time now. We follow post-metal and post-rock scene of northern Europe: bands like Cult of Luna, 65daysofstatic, Amenra and Deafheaven are just few of the bands which have really impressed us. Generally, we are influenced by very direct, strong and powerful bands.
8. How was your summer tour? How many shows did it include and where did you have the most fun?
The Summer tour was amazing. We wish every band could have the opportunity to play concerts and have fun as we did. We’ll surely never forget the night at the Cycle Club, in Florence, more because of what happened after the concert than for the concert itself.
9. When did you start playing together? How was the band formed?
Band was formed in 2006. Line up has slightly changed since then. It all happened almost by chance. Our former drummer contacted me after one of my exhibitions, telling me he had started a band and they needed a singer. So we started rehearsing and “KUADRA” has never stopped ever since.
10. Why did you decide to call yourself “KUADRA”?
That happened after our first rehearsal. We immediately understood that things were going in the right direction and since in Italian the word “quadra” means that “something works”, we came to choose it replacing the “q” with a “k” in order to give it a touch of modernity.
11. What can you tell of future releases and generally the band’s upcoming activity? Are you planning on any tours soon?
We have ten shows planned in between October 19th and December 21st. There’s may be the possibility of playing few shows in eastern Europe, but we still have to decide the modalities to do that. Last but not least, we are writing new stuff.
12. If you could choose any stage in the world to play a show on, where would it be and why?
Rock am Ring would be perfect. It’s among Europe’s most important festivals and has hosted many of our musical idols.
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Blackdiamond recently caught up with the original guitarist Michael Weikath from German power metallers HELLOWEEN, during a short break from the Hellish Rock Tour Part II with GAMMA RAY. Michael was very relaxed and drinking coffee in his home on the Canary Islands during the humorous chat.
Swedish metallers TAD MOROSE are back with their first album in ten years; “Revenant,” released today, 15th November 2013. The band started its life in 1991 and have been through many line-up changes over the years.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 