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’.

VREID Premiere New Song + Music Video ‘The Morning Red’

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

Norwegian Sognametal veterans VREID have teamed up with Decibel Magazine to premiere the haunting video for their new song, “The Morning Red”. The track is taken from VREID‘s unique new album and accompanying film, ‘Wild North West,’ which will be released on April 30 via Season of Mist! Watch and listen at THIS LOCATION.

VREID comments on the film’s historic location: “The more than 100-year-old sanatorium lies completely isolated in the mountainside above the world’s longest fjord, Sognefjorden. Once built to shield people from infectious diseases and later the asylum of the wild northwest, it became our creative center during the pandemic. With the world closed down, we admitted ourselves to one of Scandinavia’s most mythical and majestic buildings to record the movie. The massive building has been abandoned for almost 30 years, and the harsh climate has taken its toll as the building are being consumed by nature day by day. The history and destinies that these roughed walls embrace are fascinating, vile and dark to say the least. And with Wild North West, we have become a part of this majestic white castle’s history.”

VREID has  recently appeared on Norway’s TV2, the biggest commercial news station in the country! The clip spotlighted the band’s ‘Into the Mountains of Sognametal’ livestream, which attracted over 140,000 fans from all over the world when it premiered in June of 2020, as well as the band’s ambitious upcoming album and film. The TV2 news item can be seen HERE.

‘Wild North West’ is a concept album that developed alongside an entire movie. Inspired by both true events and pure imagination, the listener is taken on a whirlwind of a journey, diving deep into themes of war, fear, betrayal, loss, anxiety, and madness with thought-provoking lyrics that embody human nature. It captures the Nordic heart at the core of their sound, taking cues from Norway’s rugged landscape as it ricochets between eternal darkness and the solace of bracing light.

Pre-orders are available for ‘Wild North West’ HERE.

The cover was created by Remi Juliebø (Deformat Design).

Tracklist:
1. Wild North West (05:23)
2. Wolves at Sea (05:14)
3. The Morning Red (05:42)
4. Shadows of Aurora (05:20)
5. Spikes of God (04:10)
6. Dazed and Reduced (04:55)
7. Into the Mountains (05:20)
8. Shadowland (09:53)
Total: 0:49:23 

STORMRULER To Release Dark Fantasy Inspired Debut “Under The Burning Eclipse”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 9, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
[Photo Credit: Chris Bauer]

Sharpen your blades and prepare for war with fast-rising USA black metal export STORMRULER! The St. Louis-based two-man project – featuring the dark lyrical genius and deft skill of guitarist/vocalist Jason Asberry and drummer Jesse Schobel – have built a noteworthy subterranean following since their formation. Thus, the band has signed a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records and will release their stunning debut full-length, Under The Burning Eclipse, on May 28, 2021!

STORMRULER combines unrelenting black metal atmosphere and vision from varying metal genres with a brutal, modernized twist of inspiration culled from high-fantasy and history. Listen carefully – you may just be able to identify themes from some of your favorite stories, games and more…
 
Featuring 19 tracks alternating between ominous instrumental ambience and incendiary black metal riffs and fury, the album tells harrowing tales of war, death, victory and defeat, and delivers an unmatched, hellscaped auditory experience. This is proven evident on first single “Reign Of The Winged Duke” – a searing track made rich with blackened thrashy blastbeats, infernal riffage and powerful progressions as it tells the tale of an immortal magical beast. Its accompanying video sees STORMRULER donning their finest armor and swords, readying for battle!

STORMRULER offers about the track:
“‘Reign Of The Winged Duke’ is a great lead off track because we feel it most strongly represents our overall sound. The imagery of the song lends itself well to video performance too!”

Watch the epic music video for “Reign Of The Winged Duke” HERE

The banners of imperial black metal brigade STORMRULER are flown high! Creeping in like menacing sonic smoke, instrumental ambient intro track “Shine Of Ivory Horns” launches directly into opener “Reign Of The Winged Duke”, instantly careening into a cascade of pummeling drums and charred riffage. Under The Burning Eclipse evenly ebbs and flows between warning mystical atmosphere and ghastly action, evident on the likes of blackened headbobbers “Age Of Steel & Blood”, “Dawn Of The Eternal Fire” and unrelenting 8+ minute title epic “Under The Burning Eclipse”. Standout burner “Of Hollowed Souls & Distant Flame” looks to the north with archaic screams and memorable, colossal progressions, while combat-ready tracks like “At The Cliffs Of Azure City” incorporate ruminations of classic heavy metal combined with scorched, war-torn percussion. The album traverses desolate musical peaks and valleys before closing with the otherworldly brutality of “Fear The Old Blood” – a non-stop onslaught of black metal attack – and ambient, acoustically-driven finisher of olde “Fields Of Mortal Shame”. Under The Burning Eclipse is a solid hour of fantasy-laden, grim fables transfixed in blackened scourge. Fans of extreme metal will not want to miss this debut offering from the mighty STORMRULER! 

STORMRULER adds about the album:
“We sought to take all of the elements we love about black and death metal and make the album we always wanted to hear.  Early on, we formulated the idea to compose interludes between the songs to segue the moods, yet maintain a cohesive nature.  As long-time fans of dark fantasy and historical warfare, it seemed like the proper path lyrically.”

Pre-Order Under The Burning Eclipse HERE

STORMRULER comments on signing to Napalm Records:
“We are thrilled to embark upon this journey with a solid label like Napalm Records. Many bands that have inspired us have found their home on Napalm in the past and presently. We hope to forge our own path amongst their legacies!”
 
Sebastian Münch, A&R, Napalm Records adds:
“STORMRULER is living proof that excellent black metal is not an entirely Scandinavian business! Under The Burning Eclipse is probably the best black metal album of the last 10 years!”

STORMRULER also recently signed with Hard Impact Management, led by Maurizio Iacono (Ex Deo, Kataklysm)! Maurizio says:
“When Sebastian at Napalm called me up to check out STORMRULER, I immediately saw the fire and did not hesitate to make them part of the Hard Impact family. Scandinavia was the birthplace of black metal, but I think America is now crafting some of the most forward thinking black metal bands in the world. STORMRULER has the work ethic and the songwriting magic to compete amongst the best in the genre, and I look forward to helping develop them to their full potential.”

Under The Burning Eclipse tracklisting:
1. The Shine Of Ivory Horns
2. Reign Of The Winged Duke
3. The March Onto Golden Lands
4. Age Of Steel & Blood
5. Culling Of The Blood Moon
6. Blood Of The Old Wolf
7. Journey To The Unknown
8. Under The Burning Eclipse
9. Prithee, Chosen
10. Of Hollowed Souls & Distant Flames
11. An Empire Of Ash & Dust
12. At The Cliffs Of Azure City
13. Illuminating The Ancient Sky
14. Dawn Of The Eternal Fire
15. A Message From A Foreign King
16. Mark Of The Valkyrie
17. Blood Ritual
18. Fear The Old Blood
19. Fields Of Mortal Shame

SKOLD’s New Industrial Metal Album ‘Dies Irae’ Gets Released Along With A Visually Stunning New Video

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

When TIM SKOLD, producer and former member of Marilyn Manson’s band, ex-KMFDM member, Motionless In White producer, and co-founder of Swedish metal act Shotgun Messiah, titled his new album Dies Irae – a Latin phrase meaning “Day Of Wrath” – not even he could have imagined what the fates had in store for 2021. Between political upheavals and violent revolts to a myriad of allegations against established heroes and icons, it seems a day of reckoning may indeed be coming, like a “black cloud on a dirty horizon.” That’s the image painted by SKOLD in the lead-off track to Dies Irae, the fifth and most aggressive album to date, “Dirty Horizon,” a heavy-as-fu*k metal anthem that grabs you by the throat with its opening riff and doesn’t let up for the entirety of its 4-minute running time. It’s a bold and powerful opening to the set, even as it suggests that this particular beginning is in fact the beginning of the end, “Goodbye and goodnight / Everything is alright / Blinded by starlight / Everything is fine / Just let it BURN.” And burn SKOLD does through nine more tracks of face-melting metal riffs, glorious keyboards and lyrical musings on death (“Terrified”), revolution (“The End Is Near”), romance (“Love Is A Disease”) and more. 

SKOLD is also proud to announce a brand new video for “Dirty Horizon,” another collaboration between SKOLD and filmmaker/award-winning music video director Vicente Cordero. The two had collaborated previously on the sweeping, cinematic video for “Small World” from SKOLD’s 2019 album Never Is Now as well as on two haunting videos for Not My God – SKOLD’s other project with Psyclon Nine’s Nero Bellum – “Fiction” and “Sowing Discord.” The “Dirty Horizon” video finds SKOLD paying homage to the legendary film by fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman, the 1957 epic “The Seventh Seal.” Shot in the stone dungeon of the stunning Abbey Arroyo, the video has SKOLD performing dual roles as both the medieval knight and the physical manifestation of Death to whom the knight confesses. The result is a visual masterpiece of religious imagery, dark foreboding and the ancient struggle for meaning and redemption in a wrathful, fallen world.

Watch the video here:

As for SKOLD himself, after 3 decades of making music, he is determined as ever to remain true to his vision and defy audience expectations, saying “I really don’t know what people expect but I think that is a good thing. The idea is that if I just stick to doing my thing I will somehow retain the original enthusiasm and it is actually working, I’m literally getting more inspired the further down the rabbit hole I go. It’s getting scary.”

Dies Irae features artwork from hugely talented German artist Sebastian Nabel (https://sebastiannabel.com/) showcased beautifully on reverse-board digipak for CD plus a special limited edition vinyl edition with a reverse-board jacket and full-color inner sleeve housing a gorgeous CLEAR vinyl LP!

Order the album: https://orcd.co/skold_dies_irae

Track List:1. Dirty Horizon 2. Unspoken 3. The End Is Near 4. Terrified 5. Love Is A Disease 6. This Is The Way 7. Silicon Dreams 8. As Above So Below 9. Kill Yourself 10. Goodbye

VARMIA Unveil Dramatic And Conceptual Music Video For ‘Ten Blask Co Po Nim Śmierć’

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

Ahead of this Friday’s release of their third album (and M-Theory Audio debut) “bal Lada,” Polish pagan black metal group VARMIA have unveiled the music video for their latest single, “Ten Blask Co Po Nim Śmierć” (English translation – “the gleam and then death”) The conceptual video – depicting a compelling visual tale of a Polish villager roaming through the forest in an attempt to heal his ailing lover – was shot in the band’s native region of Warmia in northern Poland, and can be viewed below.

CD and limited-edition brown-marble double-LP editions of are available for pre-order www.smarturl.com/varmia or in Poland https://vianocturna.com/varmia-bal-lada-cd-p-1844.html

“We have been awaiting this moment for over two years now,” explains singer/guitarist Lasota. “When we started shooting this music video nobody realized that it will take so much time. So many things changed in that period. First of all, we never thought that the content of that picture will be so… prophetic. The script was written long before anybody used the term Covid or pandemic. Yet here we are. The times have put a new interpretation to our piece. Funny how the world powers can manipulate your original intentions. Keep your eyes wide open when staring straight into the gleam… and then death. This massive production wouldn’t be possible if not for the co-operation with our friend, DOP, co-writer and co-producer Łukasz Gracz.”

VARMIA pays tribute to their Baltic roots by combining black metal with traditional instruments such as the goat horn and the tagelharpa. All of their albums to date have been recorded in culturally significant regions throughout their native Poland, including the 10 tracks of ominous and atmospheric pagan black metal that compose “bal Lada.” The recording process for their new album saw the band setting up a makeshift studio inside a culturally significant 19th Century manor in northern Poland, with all instrumentation recorded while playing together as a live unit with no sound editing. VARMIA recently posted a behind-the-scenes video detailing the recording process for “bal Lada,” including footage of guitarist/vocalist/band founder Lasota recording his vocals outdoors in a northern Poland forest. This clip can be viewed at https://youtu.be/PsXDwzH23PQ. 

In recent weeks, VARMIA unveiled two other tracks from “bal Lada”, both of which are currently streaming at https://varmiaband.bandcamp.com/ and available for immediate download with pre-orders of the full album. The video for the first single from the new record, “bielmo”, is a stunning visual montage of the band’s home region, and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/ujzPY7NmeXQ. The video for “Upperan” – featuring a guest performance from Polish “whitevoice” vocalist Jagna – was recorded live in a local castle with no overdubs or post-production sound editing, and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/0ydYs0vR7bg.

VARMIA was formed in 2016 by with a mission of fusing black metal with musical influences that pay tribute to the ancient Baltic tribes of the historical Warmia region of northern Poland. “bal Lada” is the group’s third album following 2017’s “Z mar twych” and 2018’s “W ciele nie.” Vocally, harsh growls shroud the band’s music and native Polish lyrics in a visceral aura, the only breaks occurring when using the traditional, ancient technique of “whitevoice” clean-singing as utilized during ancient East-Central European rituals, rites of passage and festivals. Meanwhile, the power of the band’s metal influences are enhanced on “bal Lada” by traditional ethnic instrumentation of the Baltic Rites via sounds of tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba and krivula. The result is a compelling mix of dark metallic sounds that channel the spirit of early Enslaved, Satyricon and Wolves in the Throne Room and folk elements that drive acts such as Wardruna.

NUCLEAR BLAST Celebrate Women’s History Month With Awareness Campaign

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

There’s no denying it, the metal world is full of strong women running the business; on stage as artists, in offices as magazine editors, behind the scenes as managers, tour managers, agents and promoters- and the list is far from complete. Despite having a mostly male outlook, the metal community in 2021 is as diverse as ever and still continously growing and developing. In celebration of Women’s History Month starting today, Nuclear Blast Records is launching an awareness campaign on their socials to spotlight inspiring women across all countries and industry positions, alongside no-less inspiring men willing to support female empowerment in the scene. Over the month of March, the worldwide leading metal label will share portraits of metal heads to help inspire other women and men with diverse profiles and stories. For this purpose, many great figures in the metal community such as NB artists Doro Pesch (DORO) and Olof Mörck (AMARANTHE), actress and musician Jessica Pimentel andentrepreneur Kim Dylla have submitted personal shoutouts sharing their journey in metal, their experiences of working in the scene throughout the years and their advice to all female metal heads around the world.

ELUVEITIE – Breathe
“I will be gone, I will be reborn
Behold, I have fought my fight, I’ve run my race”

CELLAR DARLING – Challenge
“This is the sound, this is the sound, this is the sound hear me shout it out loud!”

BATTLE BEAST – Push It To The Limit
“Nothing gonna stop you
Going for the back of beyond“

DORO – Do You Like It
“Would you like a woman who could never, ever get enough
Would you like a woman who is strong and tough”

BURNING WITCHES – Maiden Of Steel
“At the end of all things we will get what we deserve
So fight for your dreams and fight for what you believe”

AMARANTHE – Strong
“Cause I know I can heal almost anything
Because I am stronger than I’ve ever been”

Tiffany Cantegrel, head of label marketing, stated about the campaign:
“Participating in making metal even more inclusive matters to me. For non-metal heads – including women, the metal community can look difficult to access while most of the testimonials we received actually highlight how supportive it is. We enjoyed giving birth to this project with a 100% feminine task force at Nuclear Blast, across different countries and teams. The response we got from all those inspiring people was impressive and stimulating, we are proud to be women in metal!”

But the Nuclear Blast campaign doesn’t stop at the bottom of your Instagram feed: We want to invite all metal heads to participate in showing the diversity of metal and share their stories and shoutouts, using the hashtag #womeninmetal.

“Everyday at Nuclear Blast, we’re building a very diverse label with people coming from all cultures, countries, gender, age. That’s what makes the power of the label: It is the connection between people sharing the same passion no matter who you are, your gender or where you come from. Women are leaders, are creators, are artists, managers and we’re standing together for equality and respect“, says Jerome Riera (Label Manager NB EU).

Marcus Hammer (MD NB EU) adds: „During this month, we want to give a platform to all the women of metal via the channels of Nuclear Blast and celebrate their leadership in many ways.“

For over 30 years, Nuclear Blast Records has been the worldwide institution in heavy metal, extreme music, and hard rock. Founded in 1987, Nuclear Blast has established a trusted global reputation with numerous Billboard album chart entries, high-profile tours, and continual signings of new & heritage acts. The label boasts a roster of over 150 bands. Acquired by Believe in 2018, Nuclear Blast artists benefit from Believe’s in-house technology & data organization providing global distribution and digital marketing solutions. Nuclear Blast has offices in Los Angeles, London, Hamburg, and Paris as well as talent scouts in Australia, Brazil, Finland, Italy, Sweden, amongst others. www.nuclearblast.com