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Interview With Kareem Chehayeb, VOICE OF THE SOUL: “I think the Middle Eastern metal scene is getting better overall”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on April 19, 2015

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: BLACKDIAMOND, Kareem Chehayeb, VOICE OF THE SOUL. Leave a comment

Interview By Blackdiamond Progressive death metallers VOICE OF THE SOUL started life in Kuwait in 2007, now based in Lebanon and Dubai. Their first EP “Winds Of Apprehension” was released in 2009, followed by “Eyes Of Deceit” in 2010, before going on to release their most successful EP “Into Oblivion” in 2011.

VOICE OF THE SOUL recorded their debut full length album “Catacombs” in April 2014 at Haven Studios with Hadi Sarieddine from BENEVOLENT. The album was released last September in the UAE and at the end of March 2015 in Europe.

Blackdiamond caught up with vocalist and guitarist Kareem Chehayeb to discuss the new release and other topics, including the metal scene in the Middle East. On this subject Kareem stated:

“I think it’s getting better overall. Dubai is having a lot of club shows and a lot of bands are starting to look at Dubai as a place to hit before continuing on to Asia. So we’ve seen bands like Obscura and Krisiun. I think in terms of pulling off these big fest shows it has to be the legendary bands, like the Big Four kind of bands, Sabbath and so on. Lebanon has a big history with the scene and local shows with hundreds of people. But there’s a bit of government corruption despite it being a semi-democracy – the police break into clubs and cause some problems. It’s easy to mess around with such a small group like metal fans, as opposed to the electronic scene which is funded by big nightclubs and sponsors. But bands still play here, there was a bit of a slump but I think it’s going up right now. But I think it depends on the political climate.” You can listen to the full interview on the audio player below:

VoiceOfSoul2014 For more information on VOICE OF THE SOUL, visit their official Facebook page at this location and Bandcamp here.

Interview With Bison Steed, REIGN OF FURY: Talking “Death Be Thy Shepherd”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on April 3, 2015

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: Bison Steed, BLACKDIAMOND, Reign Of Fury. Leave a comment

Interview By Blackdiamond

Bison Steed Since releasing their debut album “World Detonation” in 2012, British metallers REIGN OF FURY have been pretty busy lads! They are very active on the live circuit and also personally planned and performed a 12 date UK tour for the charity “Headbangers Balls” (raising funds and awareness for testicular cancer and the Teenage Cancer Trust) two years running.

The band have recently announced they will appear at this years’ Bloodstock Open Air Festival, which takes place at Catton Hall, Derbyshire, from 6-9th August. REIGN OF FURY also have a run of UK dates, the first one starting today, 3rd April.

I caught up with vocalist Bison Steed recently and we discussed newly released album “Death Be Thy Shepherd”, touring, future plans and more. Check out the full chat on the audio player below. (Apologies for the echo in places, due to the Skype recorder)

Listen to one of the new album tracks ‘All Is Lost’:

REIGN-OF-FURY-cover

REIGN OF FURY on Facebook

REIGN OF FURY Official Website

Review: MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK “Spirit On A Mission” 2015

Posted by aliblackdiamond on March 17, 2015

Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: “Spirit On A Mission”, BLACKDIAMOND, in-akustik, Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock. Leave a comment

Review By Blackdiamond

Artist: MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK

Album: “Spirit On A Mission”

Label: in-akustik

Release Date: 23rd March 2015

Tracklist:

1. Live And Let Live
2. Communion
3. Vigilante Man
4. Rock City
5. Saviour Machine
6. Something Of The Night
7. All Our Yesterdays
8. Bulletproof
9. Let The Devil Scream
10. Good Times
11. Restless Heart
12. Wicked

Guitar legend Michael Schenker is storming back with a brand new corker of an album, along with his TEMPLE OF ROCK band. Michael describes how he came up with the title for the new album –

“A while ago I was asked how I wanted to be remembered, and I said ‘as a spirit on a mission, spreading the joy of music from a place of pure self expression.’”

During the recording of the album, the studio was broken into and original recordings and guitars were stolen. But that didn’t deter the band, despite making more work, it also made the material stronger.

“Bridge The Gap” was the last album released by the band in 2013 and for this next outing Michael knew exactly what he wanted for “Spirit On A Mission”, including some 7-string guitar for a low, heavy sound.

All the songs were co-written by Michael and vocalist Doogie White, with guitarist and keyboard player Wayne Findlay this time taking on a bigger role by co-writing five songs. “Spirit On A Mission” is the second TEMPLE OF ROCK album to feature the former SCORPIONS rhythm section, Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz.

The album kicks off with my favourite track ‘Live And Let Live’, also the current single, with its fast tempo, full of that classic Schenker sound and heavy riffs, complimented perfectly by Doogie‘s vocals, full of energy. It’s a real feel good song, with a great solo halfway through and also an outro solo. I can’t put my finger on why, but the only song that didn’t stand out immediately for me was the second track, ‘Communion’, but after only a couple of listens, that soon changed.

The first single to be released from the album was third track ‘Vigilante Man’ – another stand out one. Michael‘s vision of “keeping the fast songs rolling like a train with lots of energy” was certainly spot on with this catchy tune full of melody. Next up is ‘Rock City’, the whole arrangement of the song REALLY reminds me of early WHITESNAKE and UFO. Maybe that is no mistake as Michael has also stated that some of the songs have writing more like in his UFO days.

At 5.59, the longest track on the album is ‘Saviour Machine’ – a great heavy one complete with melodic solo in the middle. ‘Something Of The Night’ is excellent, the opening guitar evokes ‘The Flight Of The Bumblebee’, maybe a little Rimsky-Korsakov is reincarnated in Michael! Guitar buffs will love this track I’m certain, Michael‘s skill on the fretboard is just fantastic, especially the Howler sound used here. Combine that with Doogie‘s excellent vocals and it results in the ultimate listening pleasure.

‘All Our Yesterdays’ has a slightly different feel to it, heavy but also flowing, again with great vocals. ‘Bulletproof’ has some great chugging riffs, with a short Flamenco sounding guitar break in the middle of the song. Moving onto ‘Restless Heart’, another fast tempo track with great riffs, what else can you expect really from a band with Michael Schenker at the helm!

Concluding this epic album with a great song in ‘Wicked’, the pace doesn’t let up and is full of melodic heaviness. The professionalism and skill of all the longstanding musicians shines through on this album, along with the outstanding production by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss. Definitely a ‘must’ in any classic rock music lover’s collection.

“Spirit On A Mission” will be released on CD, Deluxe Edition (CD + DVD), Deluxe 180 Gram Vinyl (Special DMM-Cut) and Digital Download.

Rating: 9/10

Michael Schenker

Photo By Jay Hawkins

Interview With ARTHEMIS: “It’s the real deal, the real Arthemis back as we wanted”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on February 26, 2015

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: 'We Are The Fire' European Tour 2015, Andy Martongelli, Arthemis, BLACKDIAMOND, Kekko. Leave a comment

Interview By Ali Blackdiamond

Italian metallers ARTHEMIS were formed by guitarist Andy Martongelli back in 1999 and are the epitome of a hardworking metal band, with their thrashing, catchy heavy music! The band’s most recent album, “Live From Hell” was released in 2014 and recorded at Hard Rock Hell VII.

ARTHEMIS are now well into the “We Are The Fire” European Tour with GUS G. I caught up with guitarist Andy and drummer Kekko before the first show of the tour in Nottingham on 20th February. We discussed everything from the band and live music to cakes! Check out some excerpts below and the full chat on the audio player:

Andy Martongelli, ARTHEMIS, With Blackdiamond
Nottingham 2015

Discussing ARTHEMIS in general since the release of last studio album “We Fight” in 2012, Kekko stated:

“We had some line-up changes – the rhythm section – bass and drummer (me!) and we recorded the live album “Live From Hell” with the new line-up which is great, very tight.”

Andy continued: “Me and Kekko were in Powerquest back in the day so we’ve known each other forever. JT the bass player is my good friend from 2002. This time it was so easy to get the real deal, the real Arthemis back as we wanted.”

The guys talked about what’s going on with the band at the moment and their views on playing the live circuit:

“We’re just writing a bunch of riffs here and there, putting together ideas. We’re working on the album, trying to find the right direction, cos we got so many ideas.

Five years ago you would see a tour, some gigs and studio album. But now, you see two years of touring sometimes. Probably, the proper album is not considered that much these days compared to the past, but the live scene is amazing now!

It makes it more like back in the seventies – where you had to see the real deal and see if the band is really good – they had to prove it straight away. We’ve been confirmed for a festival with Obituary and Angra for the summer and some more news to come soon. We keep gigging, so that’s good!”

ARTHEMIS
Nottingham 2015

Interview With GUS G: “Ive already written all the new songs…We’re aiming to finish it by summertime”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on February 23, 2015

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: 'We Are The Fire' European Tour 2015, BLACKDIAMOND, Gus G.. 5 Comments

Interview By Ali Blackdiamond

FIREWIND creator and guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne, GUS G. has been very busy over the last year with his solo project. His debut album “I Am The Fire” was released in March 2014, featuring various artists including Mats Levén, Billy Sheehan and Jeff Scott Soto and received an overwhelming response from fans.

Gus has already done some touring with “I Am The Fire” but has just embarked on a new European “We Are The Fire” tour for 2015, along with vocalist Henning Basse, bass player Strutter and drummer Jo Nunez. Support on the tour comes from Italian metallers ARTHEMIS and young English rockers SKARLETT RIOT. I caught up with Gus before his first show in Nottingham on Friday 20th February, where we discussed the tour and future plans including shows and the next solo album. To hear what Gus revealed about his new album, favourite food and drink, FIREWIND and more, check out the interview on the audio player! You can also read some excerpts from the chat below.

GUS G, Blackdiamond
Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
February 2015

During our chat, Gus mentioned his next solo album, so I asked him more about it. Gus revealed:

“I’ve already written all the songs and we’ve just finished tracking drums. So once I go back home from this tour I’m gonna go back in the studio and start working on the guitars. So yeah, we’re aiming to finish it by summertime.”

Regarding guest musicians, Gus stated:

“It will still be very much like that (last album) but with less guests. It’s going to be more like a close group of people that I collaborate and co-write with. I’m excited about that, it’s a very high energy album actually. There’s a lot more up-tempo and heavier stuff on it, a lot of guitar in it – just focusing a lot on songwriting. I love to have catchy tunes on there that rock hard!

I co-wrote some songs with Mats Levén and also wrote a lot of songs with Jacob Bunton – he also sang on the first album, he has more of a leading role in this album. There’s a couple more people that I’m not gonna mention right now, because it’s still not set.”

Asked when we would hear more from FIREWIND, Gus expressed:

“The reason why I haven’t made any official statements on the band’s website is because I still haven’t found a singer that I’m comfortable working with on a long term basis yet – I’m pretty close to one right now. And also another factor is because I need to feel really one hundred percent confident that the material is going to be killer and it’s going to be a great album.

So we decided with the band there’s no rush to go back in the studio and do another album and tour cycle – we’ve been doing that for ten years nonstop. Right now I have some ideas that I’ve been working on that I’m excited about, but we’re going to start working with this new singer and we’ll see what happens, if he’s the right one.”

Check out “I Am The Fire” at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham:

Gus G
Nottingham 2015

WOLF: “There’s gonna be some Wolf ale, so beer drinkers beware!”; New Video Interview Online

Posted by aliblackdiamond on February 6, 2015

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: Anders Modd, BLACKDIAMOND, Devil Seed UK Tour 2015, Di Parkes, Richard Holmgren, Wolf. 1 Comment

Interview By Ali Blackdiamond

Video Recording By Di Parkes

Back in summer 2014, Swedish ‘old school new blood’ metallers WOLF unleashed their seventh heavy metal offering “Devil Seed”, produced by Jens Bogren. Fans were also treated to an epic no nonsense pure metal video for the track ‘Shark Attack’ prior to the album release.

The band recently started their European “Devil Seed Tour 2015” and have taken their metal shows to Germany, Austria and the Netherlands before hitting the UK shores again.

So Metal Shock Finland caught up with the band on the first date of their UK tour in Sheffield on 4th February. Check out some excerpts from my conversation with drummer Richard Holmgren and bass player Anders Modd below, and the full interview is available on the video.

WOLF
Sheffield 2015

Discussing the recording of “Devil Seed”, Richard informed me:

“I was really pleased this time – I could just set up the kit and he just pressed record and after finding that sound we wanna have, we just recorded the songs, like really easy! You just play a five minute song, ‘is it a take?’ – ‘no’ – you just play it again. Five minutes take – ‘yes’ then it was done. We did all the songs like that. I knew from the beginning it would be a really good recording with all of us – Nik’s vocals, guitar solos, everything.

“Working with Jens Bogren has been really good, also really easy. He really understands what Wolf is all about , so it came out perfect. We are really really pleased with this production – I think it’s ten out of ten.”

We went on to talk about WOLF merchandise and Richard and Anders revealed:

“This year there’s gonna be some Wolf ale, so beer drinkers beware! It’s on its way! We’re just starting to get it together and it’s supposed to be released in early summer this year.

We had some ale testing and found a couple we liked, I think they are starting brewing some test ales now, so when we get back home I’m sure we’re gonna have some tasting to do, let’s see what happens!”

Richard – “I think I know what’s gonna happen!”