CONTENT

69 EYES PG. 83 JUSSI 69 & M LAZAR PG. 58

AIDEN PG. 73 KAIRA PG. 63
AMY SCHUGAR PG. 6 LACUNA COIL PG. 64
ANOTHER WAY OF LIFE PG. 76 MARSHALL BECK PG. 60
ARTEP PG. 52 MASAKI MURASHITA PG. 85
BERZERKER PG. 19 METAL COUTURE PG. 8
BIBLE BLACK PG. 56 MICK MERCER PG. 59
BISON B.C. / LAZARUS A.D. PG. 14 MONGREL PG. 76
BLAME SHIFT PG. 89 MY OWN SIN PG. 40
CODA PG. 17 NOCTEM PG. 59
DAATH PG. 20 OPERATION DOWNFALL PG. 68 & 78
DEFAULT PG. 99 PEARL JAM PG. 7
DESTROPHY PG. 75 PILGRIMZ PG. 30
DEVI PG. 62 SEVENDAYSOFNIGHT PG. 13
DIE SO FLUID PG. 63 SUICIDE SILENCE PG. 95
DIRGE WITHIN PG. 16 TAPROOT PG. 24
EMMURE PG. 90 THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE PG. 69
FALL BACK PLAN PG. 82 THE END OF ALL REASON PG. 18
FASTBALL PG. 77 THE ROMANTIC & THE BOMBASTIC PG. 39
FIXER PG. 34 THIRD BULLET PG. 86
GOD DETHRONED PG. 102 UNSUNG ZERO PG. 46
GODFED STATIC PG. 17 WHITECHAPEL PG. 80
GODHEAD PG. 48 YIGAEL’S WALL PG. 84
HYPERNOVA PG. 74
I AM GHOST PG. 43
IAMX PG. 45
www..DarkerImageClothing.com
www.Myspace.com/DarkerImageClothing
“THIS IS REAL LIFE”
 BOOKS
Glam Metal is back for a
Reunion tour!!
Samantha Wentworth, beautiful and sophisticated owns her own very
successful gallery in LA. She has a beautiful but feisty daughter and
her life seems almost perfect to the observer. But Samantha is still in
love with her ex fiancé and father of her child GM Jay - can she for-
give his colourful past?

AMY SCHUGAR
Glam Metal, the best glam rock band from the 80s, has split up be-
cause of personal issues, GM Jay is now working in a soap opera,
Nick Glam Man is drinking to excess and Steve and Pete are hanging
out and shooting pool. Join the guys as they try to put their personal
feelings behind them and reform Glam Metal for the tour that will re-
launch their music careers. Will the ghosts from their past destroy the

RECENTLY SIGNS WITH

Reunion tour before it even gets off the tour bus? Or can they domi-
nate the Glam Rock world again? Enjoy the roller coaster ride of love,

TOWER RECORDS JAPAN

lust, jealousy and betrayal that is Glam Metal: The Reunion and dis-
cover why we all love a bad boy rocker.

Before working with Michael Schenker, Glam Metal: The Reunion is the eagerly awaited sequel to the hot and
Amy Schugar had been developing steamy Glam Metal, itʼs hotter, steamier, filled with more of those riffs
her skills as a songwriter, arranger,
and power ballads that will make your ears pop and your panties
singer and guitarist. Her talent is unde-
drop!
niable, her energy, tenacity and never-
give-up attitude have benefited many
bands and collaborators in the past. About the Author:
Amy was a popular fixture on the LA
metal scene with her Guitar Playing Anna grew up in the small village of Bracknagh in Co. Offaly, Ireland.
skills in the band "Maiden America" The youngest child in the family she began keeping journals and writ-
that performed at the now infamous ing short stories at a young age. For her 16th birthday her father gave
Troubadour, Gazzari's and The Whisky her a manual typewriter and she wrote her first book. She has trav-
clubs on the Sunset Strip. It wasnʼt elled extensively throughout Europe and New York; she lives in Swe-
surprising that by a chance meeting den during the summer, where she enjoys the tranquillity of the
with Mr. Schenker (UFO, Scorpions, Scandinavian summers beside the lake. Her interests are as vast and
MSG), the two began a songwriting varied just like her musical tastes, it was her love of 80s Glam / hair
collaboration. The duo recorded the metal that inspired her Glam Metal trilogy. And her biggest passion
album "Under Construction", featuring being classic American cars and in particular the 1962 Cadillac coupe
Schenker's soulful guitar playing and Deville.
Amy's magical voice. Recently Amy
has signed a distribution deal with
Anna Daly-McCabe is a new, exciting and uncompromising writer to
Tower Records in Japan. come out of Ireland in the last ten years. Her novels are sensational,
exciting and breathtaking and her short stories leave the reader gasp-
Myspace.com/AmySchugarMusic
ing for more.

Glam Metal: The Reunion is Annaʼs second book in the Glam

Metal Trilogy.

Photo: Danny Clinch
LEGENDARY GRUNGE ARTISTS PEARL JAM
WILL PLAY 7 SPECIAL SHOWS THIS AUGUST -
ONLY A FEW IN NORTH AMERICA
Pearl Jam have released a deluxe reissue of its famed 1991
debut album, "Ten." Four different editions were made avail-
able on March 24 from Epic Records. Each version in-
cludes a digitally remastered version of the original album
as well as new remixʼ of the set by longtime producer Bren-
dan O'Brien who produced Pearl Jam's following four al-
bums after “Ten”. The CD also includes six previously
unreleased songs such as "Breath" and "State of Love and
Trust," "Brother,” "Just a Girl," "Evil Little Goat" and "2,000
Mile Blues.”
Seemingly an almost dying genre, grunge does still exist,
usually in the similar vocal spirit of Vedder, Layne Staley or
Kurt Cobain, and a stripped down, raw version of what
United Center
ALL DATES:
Aug 13 - The Ahoy, Rotterdam
Aug 15 - Wuhlheide, Berlin
Aug 17 - MEN Arena, Manchester
Aug 18 - O2 Arena, London
Aug 21 - Molson Ampitheater, Toronto, Ontario
Aug 23 - United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Aug 24 - United Center, Chicago, Illinois
would otherwise just be called “rock.”
Hungry for new grunge, we recently came across
a great band, SONS COMPASS out of Cincinnati,
Ohio. Just newly formed in early 2008, Deric Gre-
gory, Chad "Stoneycat" Stone on vocals/guitars
and Josh Collins on drums are an amazing trio
who are producing some explosive songs with an
implicit tinge of grunge. The band currently does
not seem anywhere near their full capacity, but
have a solid foundation with the songwriting skill
and vocal/musicianship alone.
Check them out at Myspace.com/sonscompass
Metal Couture
Interview with my art background, my
METAL COUTUREʼs love of design, photogra-

to Appear at
Alison Roberto phy, fashion and heavy
New York, NY music.

Mayhem
Myspace.com/rockmetal- A few years ago my fi-
couture ancé, (Mike Marco, MTV2
Director and lead singer of

Festival
By: Shauna OʼDonnell the Burn & Cry) asked me
to paint skulls on his golf
MUEN: FIRST OF ALL I shoes and it sparked an
WOULD LIKE TO SAY idea. Mike is an avid golfer
THAT YOUR CLOTHING and at the time the avail-
LINE IS TO SAY THE able golf apparel offended
Hosted By Rockstar Mayhem Festival LEAST, IS THE HOTTEST me so much that I started
IN METAL FASHION designing golf polos, which
Saturday, August 08, 2009 THAT IʼVE SEEN. TELL quickly turned into
ME A LITTLE ABOUT dresses, tee shirts, one-
Where: HOW YOU GOT sies and dog clothes. As a
Dodge Music Center STARTED IN THE BUSI- fashion whore myself I
Hartford. CT NESS OF DRESSING know thereʼs a lot of
THOSE ABOUT TO crappy rock brands out
Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Killswitch Engage, Job for ROCK. there. Well-designed
graphics made from qual-
a Cowboy, Bullet for my Valentine, Behemoth,
Thanks so much Shauna! ity materials while remain-
Trivium, God Forbid, All That Remains...
ing cruelty free are all
The total inspiration for important aspects to me.
They'll have a booth with hot girls on roller skates! Metal Couture is made up
come by to say Hi and get FREE stickers! of many different pieces; MUEN: WHO ARE SOME
OF THE PEOPLE WHO just fun! I am a vegetarian
PROUDLY WEAR YOUR with a passion for animal
CLOTHES? rights. Iʼm currently de-
signing cruelty-free tote
I have had such a great re- bags for PETA. We will be
sponse to the line. Thereʼs giving them away to PETA
something in it for every- fans & friends next month
one; Rockers, Moms, through a Metal Couture
Roller Girls, Kids … dogs contest, the remainder of
with blue Mohawks the bags will be sold on
my website with a % going
Iʼve designed custom golf towards PETA and their
polos for Chuck Billy of causes.
Testament (Chuck & my fi-
ancé have been known to MUEN: YOU GUYS WILL
play a few rounds to- EVEN DO CUSTOM OR-
gether), Alex Skolnick (of DERS. WHAT DOES
Testament) has recently THAT MEAN EXACTLY?
rocked Metal Couture
proudly all over the world Some bands, fans or
while on tour with Judas friends will come to me
Priest. Alex has also done with an idea of something
some modeling for me and they want and I will make it
appeared in his new Guitar for them. Our very first
Center campaign wearing custom order ever was de-
Metal Couture. MUST HAVE BEEN RE- BABIES, DOGS AND AC- signing golf polos for
ALLY EXCITING. WHAT CESSORIES. WHERE Chuck Billy. It was awe-
Maria Brink from In This WAS THAT EXPERIENCE DOES THE INSPIRATION some! I just hung out with
Moment. They played an LIKE? COME FROM WHEN DE- him recently at Testa-
exclusive acoustic set at SIGNING A NEW COL- mentʼs Starland Ballroom
our Spring Runway Show It was so fun. PLAYBOY is LECTION? show in NJ and he asked
in NYC. It was such a such an awe-inspiring for more!
blast and the acoustic brand. Its history is exten- Inspiration is a gift that
footage will be appearing sive and its versatility is comes from my environ- MUEN: YOU CELE-
on the re release of their endless. To think that in ment. Everything I take in, BRATED YOUR SPRING
album The Dream which 1953 Hef crafted this little magazines I read, con- 09 COLLECTION WITH A
comes out June 30th. unknown magazine him- certs I go to and movies I FASHION SHOW IN NEW
self, in his kitchen, and watch. Entertainment, YORK ON MARCH 5TH.
Phil Demmel of Machine- turned it into a household fashion, music, friends, the WHAT KIND OF AN IM-
head, Jose Mangin of Sir- name is inspiring. weather, the color of PACT DID THE SHOW
ius XM Liquid Metal, John someoneʼs shoes on the HAVE ON YOUR LINE?
Ostronomy of Talking Jen Thiele interviewed me. subway, it all has a great WHAT WAS THE RE-
Metal, M Lazar of Septem- Sheʼs a great friend and impact. SPONSE?
ber Mourning, Jason Wood one of my gorgeous mod-
of It Dies Today and of els. Her questions are Designing kids & baby We recently had our
course Chris Adlerʼs (of unique and I always enjoy clothes comes from the Spring ʼ09 runway show in
Lamb of God) daughter talking to her, so it never fact that I have six nieces NYC this past March. It
rocks the baby girl one- really felt like an interview! and nephews. I love them was the lineʼs first show
sies! so much and they have all and the evening was un-
MUEN: NOT ONLY DO inspired the line in some believably successful. The
MUEN: YOU RECENTLY YOU HAVE A CLOTHING way. private event at Fontanaʼs
DID AN INTERVIEW LINE FOR MEN AND Chandelier Room in China
WITH PLAYBOY. THAT WOMEN, YOU ALSO DO Designing dog clothes is Town was packed from
floor to ceiling with press,
photographers and
fans.We had some of the
top hair and make-up peo-
ple in the industry, our
models were gorgeous
and tattooed. Unlike typi-
cal shows we really
pushed the individual at-
tributes of each model to
help showcase the broad
range of the line.
We had 2 amazing hosts;
Jose Mangin of Sirius XM
“Liquid Metal / Octane” &
the newly appointed host
of the almighty HEAD-
BANGERʼS BALL and Alli-
son Hagendorf of
PLAYBOY Rock the Rab-
bit.
Our models included;
Anne Lindfjeld (Host of
HEADBANGERʼS BALL
Denmark), Jason Wood
(singer, IT DIES TODAY),
Paul Zurlo (singer, TOO
PURE TO DIE) & M Lazar
(singer, SEPTEMBER
MOURNING).
Our sponsors included;
PETA2, Manic Panic, Mon-
ster Energy Drink, Zink
Magazine, Trustkill
Records, SESAC, Rust
Co, Cutler Salon & McSor-
leyʼs Ale.
IN THIS MOMENT
(http://myspace.com/inthis-
moment) made a special
stop along their tour to
play an exclusive acoustic
set. It was incredible. They
will be releasing the
footage of this perform-
ance on the release of the
special enhanced CD ver-
sion of their album ʻThe
Dreamʼ. The groove orien-
tated, hard rock band, The The metal community is so who we are and what we
Burn & Cry (http://my- tight knit, and everyone is want to tell people about
space.com/theburnandcry) totally rad. I love it. ourselves.
also performed.
MUEN: IN THIS MOMENT MUEN: HOW OLD WERE
MTV2 filmed the entire GAVE AN ACOUSTIC YOU WHEN YOU FIRST
evening and it will be air- PERFORMANCE AT THE DECIDED THAT YOU
ing soon. SHOW. HOW DID THAT WANTED TO DESIGN
COME ABOUT? CLOTHES?
MUEN: WHO DID YOU
CHOOSE TO MODEL AT IN THIS MOMENT are I only decided I wanted to
THIS PARTICULAR soooo amazing! They re- design clothes about five
SHOW AND HOW DO ally are extremely talented years ago. Itʼs been a
YOU GO ABOUT and down to earth individ- pretty recent endeavor.
CHOOSING MODELS uals.Maria and Jose Man-
FOR THE RUNWAY? gin are good friends and MUEN: HOW MUCH OF
Jose asked them to come YOUR PERSONAL
We really created the anti and play a special set. STYLE IS DEPICTED IN
runway show. I wanted this They made a detour from WHAT YOU CREATE?
to be a rock nʼ roll lifestyle the tour just to make the
event and encompass all show.They sounded in- I only design what I would
of the reasons why I love credible. Their tour man- wear.
being a metal head. I ager Jenny Douglas,
wanted unique individuals Aaron Brisco from Century MUEN: WHAT ARE
who would bring their own Media & Rob Blasko (Mer- SOME OF THE CHAL-
style & attitude to the line. cenary Management & LENGES YOU HAVE RAN
bass player for Ozzy Os- INTO BEING A DE-
Anne Lindfjeld (Host of bourne) were all so amaz- SIGNER IN NEW YORK?
HEADBANGERʼS BALL ing & helped make this
Denmark) introduced me happen. Being a designer in New
to an amazing photogra- York is actually a huge
pher named Steve Prue We held a special contest benefit. There is never a
(http://teamrockstarim- and selected 50 fans to shortage of unique materi-
ages.com/). Steve shot my come to the private show als and inspiration. The
Spring 2009 line and he in- to see the performance & amount of people I have
troduced me to M Lazar MTV2 filmed it. met through creating this
(singer, SEPTEMBER line has been astonishing;
MOURNING), Sharon Gra- IN THIS MOMENT will be models, photographers,
belle & Shannon Sousa. releasing the footage of press. I receive emails
He has worked with and this performance on the everyday from people
photographed all of these release of the special en- wanting to model or collab-
gorgeous models. hanced CD version of their orate in some way. Itʼs in-
album ʻThe Dreamʼ which spiring.
Josh Grabelle of Trustkill comes out June 30th.
Records recommended MUEN: WHO ARE SOME
Jason Wood from It Dies MUEN: WHAT EXCITES OF YOUR FAVORITE DE-
Today & Paul Zurlo from YOU THE MOST WHEN SIGNERS?
Too Pure to Die. IT COMES TO FASHION?
Betsey Johnson, Marc Ja-
And of course Melissa The endless possibilities, cobs, Alexander Mc-
Mangin (model) is Joseʼs the surprises, the outra- Queen, Ray Brown, Karl
hottie wife and one of my geous choices (good and Lagerfeld
very good friends. band). Our fashion defines
MUEN: DO YOU HAVE A
STORE OR IS IT ALL ON-
LINE? ARE THERE ANY
PLANS FOR OPENING A
STORE?
Weʼre only online right
now. Our website is being
redesigned, so weʼll have
a brand new online store
very soon. I would love to
open a store one day, but
have no plans right now.
MUEN: BESIDES DE-
SIGNING CLOTHES,
WHAT ARE SOME OF
THE OTHER PROJECTS
YOU HAVE BEEN IN-
VOLVED IN? WHAT IS IT
YOU DO FOR MTV?
First and foremost Iʼm an
Art Director. I designed
logos, advertising, DVD
packaging & apparel for
MTV for almost 7 years. I
also directed photo shoots
as well as on air pieces. I
left in December of 2008
to pursue my line. I still de-
sign logos, CD packaging,
band identities for bands
and musicians.
I am also currently design-
ing Christine Dolceʼs new
clothing line Twisted Ele-
gance.
MUEN: TELL ME ABOUT MUEN: WHAT IS YOUR
YOUR DAY WITH ZAKK AFFILIATION WITH
WYLDE. HEADBANGERS BALL?
That was an awesome
day. We filmed Zakk for
Headbangers Ball at The
Rock 106.9 WCCC in
Hartford, CT. Zakk played
a solo acoustic set for an
intimate room of contest
winners. He was incredi-
ble.
Afterwards he took us all
around the corner for a severely under served. www.rockmetalcouture.co
beer. Zakk is kind and gra- MTV2 Director, Mike m
cious and very funny. Marco & Sirius XM Liquid
Metal program director, www.myspace.com/rock-
MUEN: I READ THAT Jose Mangin have been metalcouture
YOU ALSO MANAGE working hard to change
THE BURN & CRY. TELL that. www.twitter.com/metalcou-
US WHATʼS HAPPENING ture
WITH THE BAND. MUEN: IʼD REALLY LIKE
TO THANK YOU FOR www.myspace.com/jose-
Iʼve managed the Burn & THE INTERVIEW. IʼM RE- mangin
Cry for about four years ALLY, TRULY A BIG FAN!
now. The guys recently re- I WISH YOU THE VERY www.myspace.com/the-
leased a new video for BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR burnandcry
their song “Faith Molester”. CAREER.
The video was shot at a http://www.myspace.com/
church in NJ and is com- Thank you so much mtv2HeadbangersBall
plete with a twisted priest Shauna! www.http://twitter.com/Hea
and hot nuns. Itʼs beauti- Here are some links for dbangersBall
fully done. You can check everyone to check out:
it out on their myspace
page : http://www.my-
space.com/theburnandcry.
They also played Metal
Coutureʼs runway show
with In This Moment, ap-
peared on Metal Edgeʼs
Bands That Donʼt Suck CD
compilation, and can be
found on Revolverʼs Meet
& Greet page. You can
download a free copy of
their single “3 OʼClock
Again” (which has been
heard on Sirius XM Liquid
Metal) here: http://re-
volvermag.com/meetand-
greet
Iʼm the Art Director for
Headbangers Ball. I han-
dle art direction on set as
well as all of the on air
graphics and photography.
Iʼve gotten to work with so
many great bands and it is
the most fun I have ever
had on a job for MTV.
The metal community is so
 COMBICHRIST ROUND 2!
In support of their most recent release Today We Are All
Demons, they're doing a national headline tour and will
be performing in the markets they missed their first time

DEFTONES
around. Julien-K joins the tour June 14 in Bryan, TX.
"Sent To Destroy", the first single and video from the
album, originally made its appearance on the Frost EP
that was released in July 2008. No strangers to Bill-
board's charts, the EP debuted on the Top Singles Chart
at #8 and the Dance Chart at #5. "Sent To Destroy" held
its ground on the Billboard charts for over five months.
The previous EP Get Your Body Beat entered the Dance
Chart at #5 and Top Singles Chart at #30.

Myspace.com/combichrist

Deftones have been added to the Cabaret

Vert Festival in France for August 29. See
www.cabaretvert.com for details and tickets.

Page 12
sevendaysofnight the 'bands' sound. Following positive feedback for
these original tracks Sevendays was officially born
and work began on the debut e.p. 'in darkness we
ENJOY THE VIOLENCE unite'.

In late 2008 sevendaysofnight (all one word all low- Shortly after the self-release of the ep it was added
ercase) released 'Violence is Golden' the newest to net label Amduscia records catalogue and then
contribution to the next generation wave of inventivethe tracks were added to R.I.R's playlist in Califor-
music. Their appeal remains true to hard edge roots nia. In the summer of 2007 the band featured as
but has evolved to push the envelope to create a exciting new talent on Liverpool, England commer-
new hybrid sound with influences far apart. Abrasive cial radio station Juice fm. More plays have since
yet digestible, angry yet intelligent, ʻViolence is followed and sevendaysofnight featured as the sta-
Goldenʼ contains 5 songs with energetic beats, dis- tions “Ones To Watch 2008.” The track "Outside
torted guitars, twisted vocals and lyrics, and intelli-
[Contraption Mix] (which would make it onto 'Vio-
gent song composition. lence is Golden'), also won numerous accolades in-
cluding many track of the day awards (in industrial
Jonny Seven created the sevendaysofnight project in and metal genres) and track of the week on
2006 when he abandoned the search for like minded Garageband.com.
musicians to form a band and decided to go it alone.
Jonny recorded a handful of rough demos to define Work on 'Violence is Golden' gathered steam with

Page 13
more of a focus on production and the quality of
sound than its predecessor. The e.p. was released
through the bands website and myspace on decem-
ber 1st 08 with a launch night @ One of the UK's
biggest Alternative clubs 'Liverpool's Krazyhouse.ʼ
The tracks also hit online stores such as itunes and
amazon

Since then a collection of remix tracks has been col-

lated for release, featuring none other than electro
industrial giants "Combichrist", and is scheduled for
release this summer as "ViG: Restitched"

Following interest from those within the industry the

time came to re-address 'sevendaysofnight' as a full
working band; this time, with a collection of songs
already to build on. With some media buzz and
plenty of interest, the search for musicians proved
less difficult.

The Choice is yours! ViG: Restitched coming soon.

Live shows summer 09 and debut album late 2009.

Myspace.com/7daysofnight

BISON B.C. and Bison b.c. comments; “we can't wait to crawl back into

LAZARUS AD
team up for Baptized in Beer US/Canadian tour!
Canadian metalers Bison b.c. and Wisconsin thrash-
ers Lazarus AD have teamed up for the 2009 Bap-
tized in Beer Tour, which kicks off on July 8th in
Vancouver, BC. Support on select dates will come
from Barnburner and label-mates Woe of Tyrants,
with MetalSucks.net and MetalInjection.net on board
as the official online sponsors of the tour.
the blue bitch and drive from town to town melting faces
and damaging livers - so lock up yer liquor cabinets, we
will see you in the future”
Jeff Paulick of Lazarus AD ads; “we are really looking
forward to going back to Canada; we had a blast last
time and the crowds where sick as fuck. We also look
forward to getting a chance to play some cities we
missed on the last couple of tours in the US and can't
wait to party with the guys from Bison b.c. and Woe of
Tyrants…a tour like this is going to be one big party”
E1 MUSIC SIGNS METAL
BAND DIRGE WITHIN
(New York, NY) — Chicago-based metal band
DIRGE WITHIN has signed a worldwide, multi album
deal with E1 Music, and joins label mates High on
Fire, Hatebreed, In Flames, Satyricon, Burning
Human and others. The band has also entered into
a worldwide co-publishing deal and exclusive admin-
istration deal.

DIRGE WITHIN features Jerms (vocals), Shaun

Glass (guitar), Jimmy Knight (drums), Brian Paz
(bass) and Matt Szlachta (guitar). The bandʼs debut
album will be released on September 1, 2009 and
they are currently touring nationally with Static X.

Shaun Glass of DIRGE WITHIN says, “We are ec-

static to be part of the new E1 family, joining a roster
of wicked bands and having a metal brother like the
one and only Scott Givens as our artist relations guy
is amazing. We are mega excited to be working with
such amazing people at our new home.”

VP of Metal Scott Givens adds, DIRGE WITHIN are

in my opinion one of the true leaders of a new wave
of American Metal and I couldnʼt be happier to add
them to E1 MUSICʼs constantly growing metal ros-
ter.

DIRGE WITHIN has so far played shows alongside
acts such as God Forbid, Nile, Death Angel and
Prong. They were proud to be part of the last yearʼs
Jagermeister Music Tour with Hatebreed, Type O
Negative, 3 Inches of Blood, Dope and Kittie.
Check out the video teaser for the album at
http://www.vision4films.com/AE/preview.html
For more information, please visit
www.myspace.com/dirgewithin where you can also
see DirgeTV video blog updates as they're posted!
About E1 Entertainment
in all media in more than 190 countries.
The company currently operates in Canada, the
U.S., the UK, Holland and Belgium through its four
primary businesses units: E1 Television, E1 Films,
E1 Music and E1 Distribution. These businesses
collectively represent E1ʼs extensive expertise in film
distribution, television and music production/distribu-
tion, Kids content, Licensing and Distribution.
E1ʼs content library includes more than 3,700 fea-
ture films, 2,700 hours of original television program-
ming and 15,000 music tracks.

E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading independ-

ent entertainment content owner that acquires film,
television and music rights and exploits these rights
GODFED
STATIC
Upcoming series of shows in the
state of Washington featuring
Godfed Static from Aberdeen.
The unique, defining vocal qual-
ity of frontman Levi Howard and
the overall raw original energy of
songs like "ZooBorn Rabies,"
"Aerosol," and "Higher Hierar-
chy" keeps our attention glued to
this young band's steady
progress.

Myspace.com/godfedstatic

CODA
If you havenʼt yet heard CODA from Win-
nipeg, Manitoba, Canada, you should! Itʼs
true they rarely work their myspace page,
but donʼt let the slow traffic fool you. As we
all know the number of comments on a
page really means nothing when it comes
to the actual turnout of a live show, or the
number of songs/albums a band sells. A
few of our favorite songs from this band in-
clude “November 19,” a melancholy tune
with a great vocal performance (Stade) and symphonic backdrop. Also “Burn With The
Masses” (See live performance of this song on YouTube @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ZlJD2EdsM&feature=player_embedded ), and
“Facedown.” Their latest album titled ʻMAE DAEʼ is available at Amazon.ca , iTunes,
and hmv.ca . Also check them out at www.CodaTheBand.com and
www.Myspace.com/CodaTheBand

Page 17
THE END OF ALL
REASON
is a five piece progressive metal band from Brus-
sels, Belgium, spawn in the wake of 2004. So far,
2008 has been a productive year for this ever-
growing metalmachine: A new drummer, a record
deal with IFORUS Records and the recording of
the long awaited EP entitled: FRAGMENTED.
Recorded by Aborted's Sven Janssens and mas-
tered at Hertz Studios (Decapitated, Vader, Kro-
nos...), Fragmented further explores the band's
boundaries while maintaining and improving the
ferocity and passion they are known for. The ef-
fort contains 5 songs and has a playtime of about
28 minutes!
The band had already started writing the record in
the summer of 2007 but due to a line up change
and some technical problems, the recordings
were postponed over and over. However, during
this last year, TEOAR kept on evolving, and every
song underwent a complete
metamorphosis. New lyrics were
written to match the 'man vs ma-
chine' theme of this EP.

Over the years, TEOAR has

shared the stage with numerous
bands from The Black Dahlia
Murder and Aborted to All Shall
Perish. With their new line up
and EP they are all set to bring
the storm.

The band is currently working on

the first full length: A concept
album that will contain 11 songs
and will have a playtime of about

60 minutes! A whole storyline for
the lyrics has just been finished,
and some pre-productions are
ready. Everything will be
recorded once again by Sven
Janssens around summer '09.
About the new album, the band
is brief but clear; "It's gonna be
epic, fast and brutal as f*ck,
darker than black, and way more
extreme in every way!
Epic in deed! Brutal assault with
a rhythmic glow that is sure to
satisfy any serious metal fan.
BERZERKER
Melicious Photography
Melbourne, Australia
Thankfully, Tim has recovered from his bursting stomach ulcer, and
there is a video coming soon for “The Deception” (Taken from The
Reawakening). New brutal as f*ck T-shirts available from the webstore,
you can buy one directly from BERZERKER INDUSTRIES. Berzerkerʼs
next show will be THE DEAD OF WINTER FESTIVAL in Brisbane on
Saturday the 20th of June. Check details at this website: www.my-
space.com/deadofwinterfestival. Brisbaneʼs first ever Horror & Music
Festival debuts on Saturday the 20th of June @ The Jubilee Hotel from
4pm-3am. Artists include - Mz Ann Thropik (Syd), The Berzerker (Melb),
Silver Ocean Storm, Captain Reckless & The Lost Souls (ex Zombie
Ghost Train – Syd), Hell City Glamours (Sys), The Dead, The Black
Market, Empyrean, Humonic (Melb), Pink Industrial Whores (Syd),
Hatchet Dawn (Melb), Horrorwood Mannequins (Syd), Hell & Whiskey,
Homeless Yellow, Psych Carni (Melb), The Quickening, D-
Nine, Headkase, Bridgitte Handley & The Dark Shadows
(Syd), In Death, The Wretched Villains, Devilution, The
Kidney Thieves, Graveyard Train (Melb), Spitfireliar,
Voltera (Melb) + many more to be announced. There will
also be Market Stalls, Burlesque, Roving Circus Acts, 4
Stages, Food and giveaways. Tickets are cheaper for the
early bird. Now on sale at www.oztix.com.au , Rocking
Horse, Butter Beats (Valley) , Gooble Warming (West
End), Rockaway (Springwood), Moshpit (Maroochydore),
Disasterpiece (Southport), Sunflower (Broadbeach), Kill
the Music & Station 13 Studios (Coorparoo).

Myspace.com/theberzerker

Page 19
DAATH
Yeah, itʼs the one I have
the most connection to for
some reason. Now that it
has been a year and a lot
of the dust has settled on
the new material, that one
(Century Media/Roadrun- THE CONCEALERS IS used to be and not even keeps drawing me in. I
ner Records) OUT SO CONGRATULA- worry about it anymore think itʼs the meanest,
Atlanta, Georgia TIONS ON THAT. because of the line-up darkest and most impos-
changes. We decided to ing. Itʼs hard to talk about
Myspace.com/daath Thank you very much. We figure out what our my own music and really
are stoked that it is finally strengths are, what we re- say what my favorite is,
Interview with out there because it took ally wanted to do and but I think that is what it
Eyal Levi about a year. what we were really feel- is.
ing and go for it. It is com-
(Guitar) MUEN: TELL ME A LIT- pletely different from MUEN: YOU HAVE
TLE ABOUT THE anything we have put out DONE SOME PRODUC-
By: Shauna OʼDonnell NEW ALBUM. in the past, but in every- ING IN THE PAST.
oneʼs opinion it is far su-
MUEN: YOUR NEW RE- Well, itʼs the perior to anything we I do some, but it was re-
LEASE first album that have ever done. We ally just a means to an
we wrote as werenʼt limited by internal end when Daath was un-
a unit forces that got in the way signed. I wanted to make
rather of our writing. It is a very, a real recording for Daath
than very brutal record, but it is and I priced out how long
as a also very song oriented. it would take at a studio
writ- There are eighteen guitar and it was $19,000. We
ing solos and we are very didnʼt have $19,000 and
proj- proud of it. the results were going to
ect. The be arguable because it
band during MUEN: SO THE FANS wasnʼt like going to Jason
touring came REACTIONS HAVE Sukoff , it was some local
together BEEN REALLY GOOD studio. We wanted all that
and wrote SO FAR THEN? time to get it right so I de-
a record. cided to buy some gear
We de- Iʼd say ninety-nine out of a and learn how to do it and
cided to hundred say it is a huge that turned into buying
ditch step up. more gear and doing it for
every- real to make a living, get
thing MUEN: WELL THAT IS some connections and
that SO COOL; IʼM REALLY meet some players. I
we EXCITED FOR YOU wanted to do whatever I
GUYS. WHAT IS YOUR could to help Daath and
FAVORITE SONG OFF eventually it worked and I
THE NEW ALBUM? donʼt really care about
that so much anymore.
“Translucent Potency”
MUEN: DID YOU HELP
MUEN: IS THAT THE PRODUCE THIS
ONE YOU LIKE ALBUM?
PLAYING THE
MOST LIVE? Technically, on paper, no
but in my opinion it is defi-
nitely a co-job. The songs
were 95% done when we
went in there and we were
very adamant about
things we wanted regard-
ing production decisions
so it is definitely a collabo-
rative effort. At this point,
it is impossible for it not to
be when Iʼm involved be-
cause I know what is
going on in the studio and
I know where I want this
to go. Even if we stepped
into someone elseʼs piss-
ing ground, that doesnʼt
change the fact that I al-
ready have a vision for
the project and Iʼm going
to try to get that vision
achieved in audible form.
That doesnʼt go out the
window when a producer
steps in.
MUEN: WHO CAME UP
WITH THE NAME FOR
THE ALBUM?
That was Mike Kameron,
the long gone keyboard
player.
MUEN: I LOVE THE ART-
WORK ON THE COVER.
WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?
(Laughing) Thatʼs beyond
me. All I know is that we
hired this artist named
Jorden Haley because we
really love his work. He
has a clothing line called
Bird Ov Prey and we al-
ways thought that his
style would work with
what we wanted to do vi-
sually. We hired him and
told him what it was about MUEN: LIKE DISTRIBU- Hopefully all confusion
and thatʼs it. Whatʼs really TION?
interesting is that the first
song is called “Sharpen The day to day. MUEN: WHERE DID THE
the Blades” and there are NAME DAATH COME
blades all over the art- MUEN: WELL, THATʼS FROM?
work. We had never told KIND OF COOL HOW
him that it was going to be THAT WORKS THEN. It comes from the tree of
called that or to use any life, mythology. Iʼm saying
of that imagery. We are I like it. The Century mythology on purpose
just on the same page. Media staff, nothing and it means abyss.
Part of what you like against the Roadrunner
about the album cover is MUEN: I REMEMBER
staff, is much more on the
why we hired him, itʼs be- THE FIRST TIME I MET
same page as us as far
cause his style is so intri- YOU GUYS. IT WAS AT
as how to handle the day
cate and multi-layered. CHAIN REACTION IN
to day and how to develop
You can look at it now or it. ANAHEIM, CA. I WAS
six months from now and STANDING THERE
you will keep on finding MUEN: YEAH, CENTURY THINKING THESE GUYS
new things. We wanted MEDIA IS PROBABLY FUCKING ROCK!
an album cover that was JUST A BETTER FIT
more of a work of art as FOR YOU GUYS? Thanks.
opposed to graphic de-
sign. Yeah, well the thing with MUEN: I WANT TO
Roadrunner is that they BRING UP THE FACT
MUEN: YOU ORIGI- deal with really huge THAT YOU GUYS WERE
NALLY STARTED THIS bands on a regular basis. SET TO PLAY IN ANA-
BAND. HOW LONG AGO What works for a really HEIM AT THE HOUSE
WAS IT? huge band doesnʼt neces- OF BLUES AND I WAS
sarily work for us even REALLY EXCITED TO
It was the year 2000 when though I think we have the BE ABLE TO SEE YOU
I got the idea to do this mentality of a really huge PLAY AGAIN AND THEN
band and by 2003 we band. We are not a really YOU WERENʼT THERE. I
were called Daath. In huge band yet and we KNOW THERE WERE
2006 we were signed. need a staff that is more SOME THINGS THAT
used to working with HAPPENED AND I WAS-
MUEN: YEAH, YOU bands at our level. NʼT SURE IF YOU
WERE SIGNED WITH WANTED TO TALK
ROADRUNNER, BUT MUEN: WELL THAT ABOUT IT.
NOW I SEE THAT IT IS MAKES SENSE. I
CENTURY MEDIA PART- THOUGHT IT WAS IN- Sure Iʼd be happy to talk
NERED WITH ROAD- TERESTING HOW YOUR about it.
RUNNER. HOW DOES FIRST SINGER WAS
THAT WORK? NAMED SEAN AND MUEN: WHAT HAP-
AFTER HE LEFT YOU PENED?
Yeah, it is kind of a best of REPLACED HIM WITH
both worlds situation. ANOTHER SINGER We are on the Dragon-
Roadrunner pays to get NAMED SEAN. HAS force North American Tour
our records made and THAT BEEN CONFUS- right now and the first
Century Media works ING FOR SOME PEO- date was supposed to be
them. PLE? in Anaheim at the House
of Blues on Disney prop-
erty. Some of you may
ends the minute the dude know that Disney doesnʼt
opens his mouth. like metal bands. There
have been a lot of bands that when you donʼt have venues. Yesterday was MUEN: ITʼS OVER-
in the past that have been a booking agent and no perfect, we showed up WHELMING ISNʼT IT?
banned like Machine one knows who you are. It and within an hour and a
Head. We got a letter two was quite a shock to the half we were on stage. In Itʼs overwhelming, the
weeks before the show system to get turned right general itʼs hurry up and thing I donʼt like about the
telling us that we were not around and sent home. wait the whole time. party is that they let the
allowed to play the show general public in, not that
for having objectionable MUEN: I WAS LOOKING MUEN: YOU GUYS ARE I have an issue with the
content. There was no AT YOUR TOUR SCHED- DOING SOMETHING general public, I have an
chance of appeal and no ULE AND IT LOOKS CALLED A DATTHU- issue with 3,000 people in
other reason was given. LIKE YOU ARE PRETTY MENTARY. TELL ME A a room that holds 1,000
So that was that, Mickey BOOKED UP ALL THE LITTLE ABOUT IT. people. I wish that the
Mouse had a problem WAY INTO AUGUST. NAMM party was just for
with us. They didnʼt like AFTER THE ULTRA We are just documenting NAMM guests. That way
our kind near their kind I BEATDOWN TOUR our lives. We have an- maybe you could walk
guess. Itʼs just another WHAT DO YOU HAVE other one coming up after from one end of the room
notch on the belt for us. PLANNED? this tour with an insane to the other in under 25
We have now been kicked amount of ridiculous minutes.
out of a country and We are going out with footage. Itʼs of our lives on
banned by Disney. Goatwhore and Abigail the road. We are trying to MUEN: I WENT SATUR-
Williams in June and July. show some of the amus- DAY NIGHT AND IT WAS
MUEN: OKAY, WHICH After that we will be doing ing and entertaining PACKED. THE SMOK-
COUNTRY WERE YOU European Festivals in Au- things that happen. Re- ING SECTION OUTSIDE
KICKED OUT OF? gust. We are working on markable things that you WAS SO CROWDED I
September right now. donʼt normally see. We DONʼT KNOW HOW
The U.K. are not really interested in PEOPLE GOT THEIR
MUEN: I BET YOU ARE doing what a lot of bands HAND TO THEIR
MUEN: FOR REAL? HAPPY TO BE OUT ON do with their webisodes or MOUTHS TO SMOKE.
WHY WHAT HAP- THE ROAD AGAIN. showing boring situations.
PENED? We are just trying to com- Saturday night was too
Oh yeah, Iʼm really happy, pile the most memorable much.
It was our fault. Before we especially on such a good stuff. Itʼs the stuff that if
were signed we booked tour like this. It has been you were there, you would MUEN: ARE YOU GUYS
our own U.K. tour and I phenomenal for us. We be talking about the next WORKING ON ANY
guess the promoter didnʼt are playing for a whole day. It is something that VIDEOS YET?
know what he was doing new crowd. Itʼs a really in- we have always done and
and didnʼt get the right pa- teresting audience. We will keep on doing. Yeah, we are actually, we
perwork. We were sent are doing really well so are working on a video for
right home which was a Iʼm not complaining. MUEN: YOU ATTENDED “Day of Endless Light”
real bummer. What local NAMM FOR THE FIRST coming up really soon.
band takes themselves to MUEN: ONCE YOU GET TIME THIS YEAR. WHAT We already shot it, but
Europe? It took six TO THE VENUE YOU DID YOU THINK OF IT? there is a lot of extra stuff
months of planning and all HAVE A LOT OF TIME being done to it. It should
our own money. Thatʼs TO KILL WHILE YOU Itʼs a great party. be done by the end of the
how determined we were WAIT TO GO ON STAGE. month.
at that level. It was kind of WHAT DO YOU DO TO MUEN: YEAH, ISNʼT IT?
hellish for us and we be- PASS THE TIME? I DIDNʼT GO THIS YEAR, MUEN: AWESOME! IʼM
lieved we deserved some- BUT I ATTENDED THE LOOKING FORWARD
thing better. We did crazy We take turns kicking AFTER PARTY. TO THAT. I KNOW THAT
things like book European each other in the face. We YOU ARE REALLY
tours. You put so much are actually trying to show I was there, I was at the BUSY, BUT BEFORE I
work into something like up later and later to the Hilton. LET YOU GO WAS
THERE ANYTHING YOU Thank you, that part I No, what happened that do that for a thirteen hour
WOULD LIKE TO ADD canʼt guarantee. Thereʼs one time is we hit a patch drive, you are going to
OR SAY? nothing safe about this. of black ice in a blizzard want to lie down and
and spun into the median. sleep. You realize you are
Thank you for taking the MUEN: ARE YOU GUYS not wearing a seatbelt
time to talk to me. IN A BUS? MUEN: YEAH, THAT and if something goes
KIND OF STUFF HAP- wrong, youʼre dead. You
MUEN: NO PROBLEM, I No, were in a van and PENS A LOT, ESPE- take that into considera-
LOVE YOU GUYS AND I trailer. CIALLY FLAT TIRES. tion and you also take into
ALWAYS APPRECIATE consideration that every
HOW NICE YOU ARE MUEN: OH WOW, Yeah, this ain't safe and single day of our lives is a
WHEN I GO TO THE THATʼS ALWAYS COM- you just have to not care road trip. We do it every
SHOWS. IT HAS BEEN FORTABLE FOR A so much. That is the only single day and the odds of
AWESOME TALKING LONG DRIVE. way in my opinion to get something happening our
WITH YOU. through the traveling part, higher.
Comfortable and treacher- especially in a van where
Likewise ous. you know if something
goes wrong with the trailer
MUEN: GOOD LUCK ON MUEN: OH WAIT! it can flip you. You donʼt
THE TOUR AND BE DIDNʼT YOU GUYS GET want to be sitting up with
SAFE. A FLAT TIRE THAT ONE the seat belt on the whole
TIME? time. You are not going to

Page 23
 TAPROOT

Page 24
(Velvet Hammer Music) release. far as being an active written the update.
Phil Lipscomb (Bass) member of the band, he
Ann Arbor, Michigan MUEN: ARE YOU STILL just isnʼt in the position to MUEN: YEAH, I NOTICED
WITH THEM? do that. THAT YOUR BLOGS ARE
Myspace.com/taproot PRETTY CURRENT.
We are not with them as MUEN: WELL THAT HAP-
By: Shauna OʼDonnell management, but we are PENS AND FAMILY IS IM- Yeah, we try to be. We try
with them as a label. PORTANT. to keep connected to the
CONGRATULATIONS ON fans and keep everyone
YOUR LATEST RELEASE MUEN: I WENT TO VEL- Yeah. updated.
OUR LONG ROAD VET HAMMERʼS WEB-
HOME. SITE AND THEY DO NOT MUEN: HOW ARE THE MUEN: YOU HAVE DONE
HAVE YOU LISTED ON FANS REACTING TO SOME EXTENSIVE
Thank you. THERE AS A CLIENT. I NICK? DO THEY LOVE TOURING. WHAT IS THE
WAS WONDERING HIM? MOST EXTREME
MUEN: YOU GUYS WHAT THAT WAS ALL WEATHER ENCOUNTER
OPTED TO NOT SIGN ABOUT. Oh yeah, Nickʼs great. YOU HAVE HAD ON THE
WITH A MAJOR LABEL Nickʼs been fantastic. ROAD?
AND CHOSE TO RE- We have pretty much de-
LEASE IT INDEPEND- cided to do a lot of things MUEN: YOU RECENTLY (Laughing) Well, I guess
ENTLY INSTEAD. WHAT on our own right now. For FINISHED THE TAKE IT we have had both ridicu-
PROMPTED YOUR DECI- instance, Iʼm acting man- TOUR. YOU DID A LIT- lously hot and ridiculously
SION TO DO IT THIS ager at the moment be- TLE SOMETHING DIF- cold, but Iʼd say the cold
WAY? cause we donʼt have a FERENT ON THIS TOUR. one was the worst. We did
release right now other YOU HAD THE FANS DO this ski resort in Albany,
A lot of things, once we left than touring so we donʼt REVIEWS ON THE New York with Alien Ant
Atlantic, we had built up a need a full time manager. SHOWS. HOW DID THAT Farm and it was outside.
strong enough fan base Right now we are as inde- GO? People were literally skiing
that we felt we could do pendent as you can get around us. We had a good
an indie release and still while still being a national At the beginning of a tour crowd and it was a fun
legitimately continue our band, which is fantastic. we tend to be real gung show. Luckily, Alien Ant
career through that path ho, but as the road wears Farm played before us and
rather than tie ourselves to MUEN: YOU GUYS ARE on us I stopped keeping they told me, otherwise I
another major label. The DOING GREAT. I KNOW up the updates. I stopped would have been really
music industry is in a weird THAT JARROD IS SIT- prompting the reviews, but worried, they said after
spot, so being with a major TING OUT THIS TOUR at the beginning it was three songs your fingers
label isnʼt necessarily the CYCLE AND HAS BEEN great. I probably did the get used to it and itʼs not
best path to go on these REPLACED BY NICK first ten shows Iʼd say and as bad. Youʼre not going to
days. They are trying to FREDELL. IS THAT people were enjoying the get frostbite and youʼll get
make their money so they GOING TO BE A PERMA- shows and telling us how the movement back. If it
have to do it in different NENT REPLACEMENT they felt about it. That was hadnʼt been for that it
ways that really limits the OR IS JARROD GOING great, but as the weeks go would have been a psy-
way that an artist can TO BE RETURNING? on there are days when chological torture thinking
make their money. you donʼt have internet that my fingers were going
Jarrod is about to have his and you start to get be- to fall off after the show
MUEN: YOU ARE RE- third child this week I think. hind. Eventually, Iʼm just and is this worth it. It was
LEASING IT INDEPEND- That pretty much limits his like “Eh! Iʼm tired of it.” We that cold and my fingers
ENTLY THROUGH ability to tour, which limits are running everything did get that ridiculously
VELVET HAMMER our ability to keep him in ourselves now, we even cold.
RIGHT? the band. I had lunch with do all the website stuff. If
him right before this last there is an update on My- MUEN: YEAH AND YOU
Yes, Velvet Hammer acted tour. I love the guy and we Space, generally that is ei- CANʼT WEAR GLOVES
as our indie label on this still keep in touch, but as ther me or Mike that have SO…
Yeah, you canʼt wear are in a van and we donʼt FAVORITE CITY TO PLAY once we get on stage it
gloves when you play and get the best nights sleep, IN? OR VENUE? doesnʼt matter how we
were playing on metal there is a reason for that. feel, itʼs go time.
strings. That is something The reason is to continue As a group collectively, I
people donʼt think about. our career. would say Vegas. I think MUEN: WELL THATʼS
Metal strings in the cold that goes for a lot of GOOD BECAUSE IT
just donʼt mix. MUEN: WHO DOES THE bands. Vegas is awesome, GETS THE CROWD INTO
DRIVING? but the east coast has al- IT TOO.
MUEN: DEFINITELY NOT, ways been good to us, as
YOU GO UP TO CANADA Mainly our tour manager, well as the west coast. Yeah, we care a lot about
TOO. I HEAR IT IS he has taken up a lot of Everywhere we go the fan our performance. We want
PRETTY COLD UP the slack on that, but I will reaction is so fantastic. Itʼs to get into it. There is a
THERE. help drive and our guitar hard to pick a favorite city. whole exchange between
tech will help drive. Our If there are more things for you and the crowd. If you
Yeah, we have done some drummer Nick will help us to do other than just are just standing there,
Canada gigs as well as drive, but he has been play the show, obviously how can the crowd get into
North Dakota, Montana, fourth string on this last thatʼs better for us. It gets that?
and all sorts of cold tour. I donʼt think we used boring on the road. Once
places. We have also done him once. We just never show time comes, we get MUEN: NOW THAT THE
all sorts of hot places needed him. We all con- to see the kids, shake their TOUR IS OVER WHAT
down by the border of tribute in whatever way we hands afterwards and talk ARE YOUʼRE PLANS?
Mexico. Itʼs all part of the can. to everyone that makes it
game. all worth it. We have a little break
MUEN: WHO HAD THE here. Iʼm actually on vaca-
MUEN: DO YOU PREFER KIDNEY STONES ON MUEN: I WAS WATCH- tion in Texas visiting my
THE HOT OR THE THIS LAST TOUR? ING A VIDEO OF YOUR brother. We have a couple
COLD? LIVE PERFORMANCE of shows at the end of
Thatʼs Nick our drummer. AND IT LOOKS LIKE June that we will an-
I donʼt know, I guess the We had a whole run of just YOU GUYS PUT ON A nounce in the next couple
hot because we havenʼt bad luck. Everyone got HIGH ENERGY SHOW. days. After that we will
had 130 degree weather; sick on the tour three days DOES IT GET TOUGH probably put together a
we have had 110 or 115. in. We had this twelve hour HAVING TO PUT ON A tour with Cold. They just
The cold just gets to you, drive we had to do from SHOW LIKE THAT NIGHT got back together and they
the cold you canʼt physi- Illinois to Wichita, Kansas AFTER NIGHT? have a tour coming up in
cally play in. and then in Wichita we hit the summer. So we are
a blizzard. That morning You would think so, but going to try to get a tour
MUEN: DO YOU GUYS that we woke up in the once it is time to play it all together with those guys.
TOUR ON A BUS OR IN A blizzard, when you should- goes away. It doesnʼt mat-
VAN? nʼt even be driving, thatʼs ter (Whoa! I almost quoted MUEN: “WHEREVER I
when Nick woke up with Limp Bizkit there,) We had STAND” IS THE LEAD
Right now we are doing it kidney stones. He didnʼt a videographer come out SINGLE OFF OF THE
in a van and trailer to even know he had kidney for five or six shows on ALBUM RIGHT?
make ends meet. Itʼs stones so we had to take this last tour and he made
funny; I think we are all en- him to the hospital. He a comment that when he Yes
joying it more this way, was like “Dude, I think Iʼm would videotape us before
than we did on the bus. dying.” If you know what it the show it was boring be- MUEN: ITʼS A GREAT
There is a sense of ac- is you can be like at least I cause we were just sitting SONG AND I LOVE THE
complishment that comes know what it is. Not know- there doing nothing. From VIDEO FOR IT TOO.
with finishing off a tour and ing is the scariest thing. show time until after the
knowing that everything show when we go to bed Thanks, we had fun doing
we do is contributing to the itʼs on. We are happy, en- it.
money that we make at ergetic and we are having
the end of the tour. If we MUEN: DO YOU HAVE A fun. Thatʼs really how it is, MUEN: ITʼS SO COOL.
HOW WAS IT FILMED?
Again, thatʼs us saving
money and cutting cor-
ners, with no big label be-
hind us. Itʼs all done with
still shots. We did quick
action shots with a high
end camera that can take
those fast shots and still
make them all clear. It was
really cool once we saw it.
This guy had an idea for a
cool way to make a video.
If you took that video and
did it on video, it would be
the most boring video
youʼve ever seen, but
given that effect it actually
gives it a little more than
what it is. It makes some-
thing out of nothing, really.
MUEN: ITʼS REALLY
COOL TO WATCH ACTU-
ALLY.
We did this little stupid
thing at home because we
shot some of it in L.A. and
all of the live shots we did
in Michigan with friend of
ours. We did this little
thing, because itʼs still
shots, where all of us were
getting out of a box. It was
almost like a clown car
kind of thing where all four
of us are getting out of a
box that obviously all four
of us could not fit in. With it
being done with still shots
you can stop it and the
next person can get in and
then once you animate it, it
looks awesome. You put
the Benny Hill music over
it and it was great.
MUEN: IS THAT THE
ONLY SINGLE OFF THE
ALBUM?
Yeah, technically, we are
having a few radio stations
play “Take It.” Radio hasnʼt
really been picking up the
first single and we are not
going to spend a bunch of
money getting the second
single out there. We are
just going to tour and get
the word out that way. We
will use the internet the
best we can. I made “Take
It” a free download so you
can get that song any way
you want. We are not
going to do a full service
trying to get radio stations
to play it. Radio is hurting
as much as anyone else
and they are not picking
up songs like they used to.
We are not going to waste
the money doing a video.
We might do a video using
the live stuff, thatʼs why we
hired a videographer, but
as far as doing a full on
this is our single, not really.
The more we talked over
the numbers it just didnʼt
seem right to do a full on
single release. If you guys
want to play it feel free, I
love that song.
MUEN: ARE YOU STILL
INVOLVED IN A SIDE
PROJECT CALLED THE
TOQUES?
Yes and no. Itʼs me and a
few friends of mine who
get together and play. We
happened to get on that
music soundtrack through
connections. Really, every-
one has their own thing.
The guitar player is actu-
ally out with the New Kids
on the Block right now. He
is a badass L.A. musician.
Our drummer is a UCLA
professor and is one of the
smartest guys I know, so
we all have our different lit- days it is a much more col-
tle things. Our other gui- lective mix.
tarist is a sound guy at the
House of Blues. When the MUEN: THERE WASNʼT
stars line up we get to- AS MUCH MUSIC BACK
gether and write some hit THEN AS THERE IS
songs. NOW. YOU LISTENED TO
WHAT WAS ON THE
MUEN: YOU GUYS SUP- RADIO AND NOW
PORT THE WORLD THERE ARE SO MANY
WILDLIFE FUND OR BANDS ON THE INTER-
WWF. CAN YOU TELL US NET.
A LITTLE ABOUT THIS
ORGANIZATION? Oh yeah, and it is both
helpful and hurtful at the
I thought that was same time. It is hard to say
wrestling that we sup- where it is going to end up.
ported. Itʼs almost like the music
industry has this A.D.D.
MUEN: (LAUGHING) I thing going on. Itʼs hard to
THOUGH IT WAS TOO focus on any one thing.
WHEN I SAW WWF. THAT
IS FUNNY YOU SAID MUEN: THERE ARE SO
THAT. MANY DIFFERENT GEN-
RES NOW. IT USED TO
I always have to make the BE PRETTY SIMPLE.
wrestling joke. We are all
very much into Earth, Oh yeah, like metal itself
wildlife and animal friendly has like ten different gen-
organizations. Anything res. Itʼs like “What?”
that supports that kind of
environment, we support. MUEN: IS BASS THE
We have been trying to get ONLY INSTRUMENT YOU
this thing together where PLAY?
every Earth Day we do a
video. The last two Earth I play a little acoustic gui-
Days things didnʼt work out tar and thatʼs about it.
and we didnʼt get it done in
time. Maybe this next one MUEN: DO YOU SING?
it will work out.
No, Iʼm not a singer and
MUEN: WHAT KIND OF anyone whoʼs heard me
MUSIC DID YOU LISTEN knows that.
TO GROWING UP?
MUEN: WHAT IS YOUR
Metallica, Poison, Skid ALL TIME FAVORITE
Row, Guns N Roses and ALBUM?
Iron Maiden is what I grew
up on. A little later it was That would be Red Hot
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chili Peppers “Blood
Korn, Nirvana and Pearl Sugar Sex Magik.”
Jam. Everything that had
to do with rock. These MUEN: AND YOU LIKE IT
BECAUSE……

I loved it even before I

played bass, but now that I
am a bass player, I think
the bass playing is amaz-
ing. Flea just really came
into his own on that album.
He has always been great,
but that is when he musi-
cally did some really cool
things. That whole album
has an amazing vibe to it. I
actually wish that it didnʼt guy seems to have some TAPROOTMUSIC.COM try and say it is a thing of
have the hit songs on it sort of urge to know how to OR YOUR MYSPACE the past. MySpace is just
like “Under the Bridge” and fight. I have never been in PAGE AT fine, why are we chang-
“Give it Away” because a fight in my entire life, but MYSPACE.COM/TAP- ing?
those are the only songs I I have been training for it ROOT.
skip on it. I loved both of for the past six years. MUEN: I AGREE, I LOVE
those songs when they MySpace is the one we MYSPACE AND I THINK
came out, but now those MUEN: WELL, IN CASE update the most. We up- ITʼS WONDERFUL.
songs have been so over YOU NEED IT, YOU date taprootmusic.com,
played, I skip the hit sin- NEVER KNOW. DO YOU just not as much. I have been using my sta-
gles. The whole album is GUYS HAVE NICK- tus update on MySpace as
fantastic. NAMES FOR EACH kind of like my Twitter. I
OTHER? MUEN: YOU ARE ALSO have been putting lyrics on
MUEN: BESIDES MUSIC, ON FACEBOOK AND I there that make sense to
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU Not really, the closest Iʼd LIKE TOO. what is going on with me
PASSIONATE ABOUT? say is we call our singer right now or just something
Godzilla when he gets re- Yes, although Iʼm still I happen to like.
My main number one thing ally drunk. learning Facebook. I have
besides music is Brazilian a hard time wrapping my MUEN: IʼD LIKE TO
Jiu Jitsu and fighting like MUEN: (LAUGHING) head around it for some THANK YOU FOR THE
mixed martial arts. Iʼm so OKAY WHY? reason. AWESOME INTERVIEW.
into that, itʼs ridiculous. IT WAS A PLEASURE
He starts destroying MUEN: I APPRECIATE TALKING WITH YOU.
MUEN: WELL, THATʼS things. SOMEONE ELSE SAYING
COOL, IT KEEPS YOU IN THAT BECAUSE I CANʼT No problem, thank you for
SHAPE. MUEN: THATʼS FUNNY. I EITHER. I HAVE TWO having me.
LOVE YOUR BLOG THAT MYSPACE PAGES,
Yeah, itʼs fantastic. I made SAYS MYSPACE ISNʼT THATʼS GOOD ENOUGH.
a bunch of the guys on the BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD
road box with me. I beat TAPROOT. DID YOU I have two MySpace pages
them all up, it was fun. No WRITE THAT? too, come on! Twittering,
one had ever boxed before itʼs like “Really? We have
so I bought mouth pieces I think Mike wrote that. to do all that?”
and gloves. I didnʼt hurt
anyone too bad. I chipped MUEN: IF PEOPLE WANT MUEN: I KNOW, I HAVE A
one guys tooth. Everyone MORE INFORMATION ON TWITTER, BUT I RARELY
liked it and enjoyed it. THE BAND OR WANT TO GO THERE.
Everyone wants to learn KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR
how to fight whether itʼs TOURING SCHEDULE The problem is now no
boxing or Jiu Jitsu. Every THEY CAN CHECK OUT oneʼs on MySpace, they
NYC's The Bowery
Electric to host a run of
John Patrick Shanley's
Play Savage in Limbo
June 12th-28th
Opening night performance by Ian
Astbury with The Soft Revolt
Artists Band Together to Bring
Creativity Back to The Bowery

patron of the arts, being from the disappointments

moved most by the raw
emotion portrayed by the
actors in a live staged pro-
duction and has become
dedicated to helping up
and coming performers.
Set in a slightly seedy
neighborhood bar in the
Bronx, Savage in Limbo
revolves around a group of
regulars seeking relief
and tedium of the outside
world. “Savage in Limbo is
the product of New York in
its savage, untamed state,”
says Astbury. “In the spirit
of the play, we have turned
to the original hunting
grounds of that animal,
The Bowery. Cultural revolt
in this time of creative im-
potence!”

On June 12th, One of ting the stage with

NYC's hottest nightspots,
The Bowery Electric (327
Bowery @ 2nd Street,
NYC) will host the Apollo-
nia Players' production of
SAVAGE IN LIMBO by
John Patrick Shanley.
Shanley is best known for
his work Doubt, which was
made into an Oscar-nomi-
nated film last year starring
Meryl Streep and Philip
Seymour Hoffman. On the
opening night (June 12th),
Ian Astbury will also be hit-
his new project The
Soft Revolt who also
performed at the
benefit party on April
9th at The Bowery
Electric to raise
money to help sup-
port the production.
Astbury, who is best
known as the singer
for The Cult is a resi-
dent of New York
City for the past two
years. In his time
there, has become a Page 29
PILGRIMZ Actually weʼve been nomi-
nated 2 times for "Best
All scandinavia, Germany, WHO ELSE CAN YOU
Netherlands and in the NAME AS SOME OF
Live Act" in Danish Metal UK. YOUR INFLUENCES?
By G. Cataline Awards (2005 and 2008). I
must say the best show MAX, YOU HAVE A REAL We all have very different
I HEAR YOU ARE CON- ever for us is when we DISTINCT VOCAL... backgrounds in music
SIDERED ONE OF THE performed on Roskilde SOME HAVE EVEN COM- genre and we're all listen-
BEST LIVE ACTS COM- Festival, but the best tour PARED YOU AND THE ing to totally different
ING FROM DENMARK, up to date is the (UK) tour BAND TO A "MORE bands, but inspiration for
AND WERE NOMINATED with Gojira. "BoarRiders" METAL SOUNDING" the band is coming from
FOR "BEST LIVE METAL (The first album) is expect- 'THE HIVES' ... WERE each musician in our band
ACT" FOR THE DANISH ing to be released in U.S. , THEY AN INFLUENCE and not specifically from
METAL AWARDS 2006... hopefully this autumn with FOR YOU AND THE some selected band.
WHERE HAS BEEN a tour in the U.S. following BAND? We're just playing what our
SOME OF YOUR BEST the release . own ears tell us to rock.
SHOWS TO DATE, AND Well I'm inspired by many
DO YOU THINK YOU'LL WHERE HAVE YOU PER- artists in many different MAX, WHEN DID YOU
EVER PERFORM IN THE FORMED OUTSIDE OF genre...but yeah, the Hives FIRST START SINGING...
U.S.? DENMARK ALREADY? rocks! AND WHO WRITES THE
LYRICS FOR THE ernment mentella music. It's about a gangster who we really have the oppor-
BAND? And he has an absolute owes a lot of money away tunity to be seen and
unique talent within music. to some unfortunate types. heard. So we are very
10 years ago, and I write I, Nal play the drums and He becomes a cropper happy and pleased. And
the lyrics... you might say I say things and it is really such a we are really looking for-
as they are ! I've played in western story that involves ward to kicking some ass
WHO ARE THE OTHER many different bands and a liquidation. on the stage!
MUSICIANS IN THE in many different genres.
BAND, AND CAN YOU Both as a guitarist, drum- WHAT OTHER SONGS THIS NEW 'BOAR RID-
BRIEFLY TELL US mer and singer. OFF THE ALBUM ARE ERS' IS ONE ALBUM I
ABOUT THEIR PERSON- YOU MOST PROUD OF WOULD HIGHLY REC-
ALITIES AND MUSICAL SO ABOUT THIS GREAT AND WHY? OMMEND TO ANYONE,
PAST? SOUND YOU ARE GET- WHERE CAN SOMEONE
TING IN THE STUDIO... I must say that we are BUY THE CD?
Herman who plays the WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED proud of the album in full,
bass, has previously IN THE RECORDING as we see a line through- You can buy the album all
played as a bassist in a PROCESS, AND WHERE out all the songs on the over europe and online...
blues band and plays DID YOU RECORD YOUR album. check
alongside Pilgrimz as a LATEST ALBUM? www.myspace.com/pil-
drummer in a folkrock HOW MUCH RADIO grimz
band. He is the band's We have recorded "Boar- PLAY HAVE YOU RE-
more conservative image, Riders" at HansenStudiet CEIVED ALREADY IN WHAT ARE YOU CUR-
and is also the quiet and used Jacob Hansen to DENMARK? AND HAS RENTLY WORKING ON..
shadow of us all, with an record the album, and THERE BEEN ANY AND/OR WHAT ARE
extremely large music tal- mixed by Tue Madsen at OTHER INTEREST OUT- YOUR GOALS FOR THE
ent. Aage who plays the Antfarm studio... SIDE OF DENMARK? REST OF THIS YEAR?
sixstring has a great love
for the old deathmetal WHAT TYPE OF GEAR We have been played on We are working on getting
bands. Equally in hardcore DO YOU USE, GUITARS the radio and on the inter- some tours. hopefully we'll
and the Swedish under- /DRUMS, ETC...? net radio around the world, tour europe and usa later
ground rockscene. He has but how many plays there this year but first there is
virtually always played gui- Tama, Zildjian, promark- has been on the radio; I the summer festivals. At
tar, but has previously stickʼs, ESP guitars, Mu- have no idea. the same time we're work-
played bass in the band sicman, Peavy amp- 5150, ing on our second album ..
before it became Pilgrimz. ampeg bass amp. TELL US ABOUT THE
He is clearly having the GREAT GIGS YOU HAVE IS THERE ANYTHING
most control over the prac- WHAT ARE YOUR PAST COMING UP IN JUNE, ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO
tical stuff and is also draw- ALBUMS, AND HOW WHERE YOU WILL BE ADD?
ing us back into the collar WOULD YOU SAY THEY SHARING THE STAGE
when the accounts must DIFFER FROM THE NEW WITH MARILYN MAN- Sex, beers and rock'n'roll
be made up. Max is the 'BOAR RIDERS' ? SON, DISTURBED, THE and we hopefully see you
band's absolute French KILLERS, MOTORHEAD, at a festival soon.
clown and singer . When There has obviously been AND MORE!
you assign him a slam- a development from earlier
ming for having done a lit- demo recordings, which That's gonna be a BIG
tle too much celebration, were very newmetal in- time for us ,as a band like
he often clowns himself spired. And "BoarRiders" is us, in between such big
out of the troubles. Max more rock-metal. legends within the music
also has great background business. It is clearly a big
in music and listen to WHAT IS THE SONG advantage for us to play at
everything from Chinese "JIMMY'S CASTLE" such large festivals with
deathjazz to Russian gov- ABOUT? such great artists, because
Page 31
 FI X ER
FIXER IT FEEL GOOD TO BE
HOME?
(Riker Hill Records)
Evan R. Saffer: It was a
Evan R. Saffer
bit shocking coming off
(Vocals) the road like this after so
many months of touring.
We were basically living
Rev Swank (Drums),
Tommy Zamp (Guitar), on the road for a year
Adam James (Bass) and half. What happens
is you go through a
New York City change in your mind, in
your life and it's a bit
Myspace.com/fixermusic scary. I think we're over
that now and have em-
By: Shauna OʼDonnell braced the idea of writ-
ing, reinventing and
MUEN: YOU GUYS ARE recording our next effort.
ACTUALLY ON A It's a really crucial part of
BREAK RIGHT NOW being an artist and not
FROM TOURING. DOES just a performer. You
have to be able to dig
deep and figure out who
you are again. What do I
want to say, what do I
feel, where is the band
at, where's the energy
and inspiration at this
time? Does it "feel good"
to be home? Well, I
guess the initial reaction
is you feel like something
is wrong or not happen-
ing fast enough, but now
I'm in a new place and
it's making me stronger.
The most difficult thing
for an artist to do is make
something from nothing.
It's easy to feel like a
rockstar touring all the
time and getting that im-
mediate feedback.
“Now we have to dig
deep and really be confi-
dent, positive, curious
and open to change.”
We've already got at
least 8 new songs which
are killer and everytime
we play together I get
pumped up to keep going
down that road. Our first
recording sessions are
booked for mid June and
I think we're going to be
patient with this one.
MUEN: ARE THERE
PLANS TO HIT THE
ROAD AGAIN ANYTIME
SOON? 8 years Fixer put out 4 MUEN: THE COVER us and we dug the
different EP's, did a video FOR ʻBEFORE THE creepy vibe of the house
Evan R. Saffer: We are and several demo's be- SUNʼ IS HAUNTING. and the kid... who you'll
doing some one-off fore we just said: "F@ck WHAT WAS THE INSPI- notice if you look close
shows regionally to test it, we need to take this to RATION FOR IT AND only has three long fin-
some new material, show the next level ourselves." WHOSE IDEA WAS IT? gers. So we ran with it.
our faces and just get the I think a lot of young
lead out. We are getting bands half heartedly put Evan R. Saffer: Our MUEN: YOUR SONG
offers now and then to go their work before their original cover was bril- “MIXING IN WITH MY
out on bigger tours, but dreams and put out liant, it was done by an BLOOD” IS FEATURED
the problem is you have music hoping the right artist named Jennifer ON MTVʼS ʻTHE HILLS.ʼ
to focus. In my mind, un- manager, label, or agent Murray who helped us WITH THAT BEING ONE
less it's a huge opportu- will come along and dis- bring to life our decadent OF MTVʼS HIGHEST
nity, we really need to cover them. My advice concept. The idea was RATED SHOWS, WHAT
focus on this next album (which we're taking more to create something full KIND OF AN IMPACT
and I don't want to be than ever), is to really of energy but also dark. DID THAT MAKE FOR
distracted with another It had naked people THE BAND?
round of touring. “hone your craft, put the dancing and covorting
hours and years into your around a fire, they were Evan R. Saffer: It gave
Rev: We're in a writing team and yourself to be half human and half noc- us a great jolt of attention
groove, and we're due for the artist you are so con- turnal animals of some when it aired, our my-
the next record anyway... fidently selling to the kind. The demon head space plays spiked
especially since we have world.” logo we have was tremendously and a lot of
two new members since formed in the smoke people heard it. How-
ʻBefore the Sun.ʼ I think That's the kind of music I coming out of the fire. ever, like anything else it
we've arrived at what will want to make and to lis- The record label thought was a moment and it
ultimately be known as ten to. Not a bunch of it was too "evil" for our passed.
"the classic Fixer lineup," kids who think they have music so a new graphic
so let's get the party talent and rush to get artist was brought in to “The career and life of a
started! that effort out on the do something more in rock artist is one that is
road. The road taught us line with their vision. filled with those mo-
MUEN: I WOULD LIKE a lot, but it's only a piece Those are some of the ments, but is also just a
TO SAY CONGRATULA- of the puzzle, it doesn't compromises you need perpetual journey of con-
TIONS ON THE SUC- "make you". In the end to deal with when signing tinuing forward.”
CESS YOU HAVE HAD you make yourself by de- to a label. We all thought
ON THAT FIRST FULL voting your life to your the ghost boy design was MUEN: I WOULD HAVE
LENGTH ALBUM ʻBE- craft which should be also clever. It had a TO SAY THAT THERE
FORE THE SUN.ʼ HAV- equal parts creating it haunting and creepy ARE A LOT OF GREAT
ING WAITED EIGHT and performing it. I think vibe, my only problem SONGS ON THIS
YEARS SINCE THE that is why in my heart I was that it lacked the ALBUM, BUT THE ONE
CONCEPTION OF THE never auditioned for "motion or energy" that I THAT STICKS WITH ME
BAND TO PUT OUT A American Idol. It feels find in our music. It's all THE MOST IS “TELL
FULL LENGTH, DO like those are glorified a work in progress and I NO ONE.” WHAT IS
YOU THINK IT WAS performers. I want to be am looking forward to ex- THE SONG ABOUT?
WORTH THE WAIT? more than that, I want to pressing something ex-
be the artist behind that cellent on future album Evan R. Saffer: “Tell No
Evan R. Saffer: We amazing performance as covers. One” is about keeping
played the "demo game" well. secrets, but not ones that
for a long time. In those Rev: It was presented to will hurt other people. It's
about trying to change what the song was
who you are, becoming about. A young girl with
someone else, putting a conflict, a dark secret
things behind you and and the choice to either
living your life as you accept things and keep
dream it to be. It's about pretending, or to leave it
the duality of being part behind. We shot tons of
beauty and part the footage in a short
beast. Lyrically a lot of amount of time, had
that song came to me at many favors, locations,
a difficult time in my life makeup, models, actors,
when I was just burning and tons of endless serv-
to step out of my job, a ices at our fingertips be-
relationship, even my cause of the amazing
hair style and leave devotion of our fans,
those things behind and friends, family and belief
be someone else. A lot in Fixer. In the beginning
of people dream about it's very hard to compete
radical changes but very with a top quality product
few have the courage to when you don't have a
execute it and really live. serious budget to work
I feel like I'm actually with. In the end it came
going through that all together, the editing was
over again right now with also very difficult be-
the drama of coming off cause parts have to flow
the road, getting to know together and make
the minds, tendencies sense. I think we could
and creative process have done better with
again with new band that, the full concept
members and pouring wasn't completely as I
that into all the new envisioned it. Several
music. scenes we shot never
even made the final cut.
MUEN: TELL ME In the end it's a great
ABOUT THE MAKING quality video for that time
OF THE VIDEO FOR IT in Fixer's history and a
AND WHERE CAN IT good experience. You get
BE VIEWED? wiser and better as you
go along. You can see it
Evan R. Saffer: I pro- and all things Fixer on
duced the video with our website. www.my-
Eclipp Inc. They are space.com/fixermusic
good guys who are very and www.fixermusic.com
passionate about video, and
lighting, and taking the www.youtube.com/fixer-
project from A to Z. We music.
tried to create a story be-
hind the song, sort of a MUEN: WHAT IS THE
short film to illustrate WRITING PROCESS
LIKE FOR YOUR
BAND?
Evan R. Saffer: It is
something that we're all
still trying to define. The
band is still very young
despite our 9 years of
being Fixer; Rev and I
are the only two original
members. Tommy Zamp
(lead guitar) came on
board 2 years ago and
Adam James (bass)
came on board about 4
months ago. This will be
the first record written
and recorded by this
lineup so it's exciting and
yet another challenge to
figure out how things will
work. I find with any art
that it's not a science,
there is no one way to do
it, and no matter who
writes the original con-
cept or idea, it really is
the whole band making it
into the musical master-
piece that you hear. We
are open and honest with
each other, we give and
take criticism, and that's
what makes any band
better, because it's a
combined effort. The art
of writing a song, then vi-
sualizing it sonically in all
it's wonder to the final re-
lease is an incredible
challenge. I really make
an effort to listen to a lot
of new music, and to also
write with multiple people
that I can respect and
learn from. Writing
songs: the lyrics, the gui-
tar riffs, the beat and the
vibe are still an unbeliev-
able concept, thrill and
passion of mine after all
these years. I'm looking
forward to our upcoming
records.
MUEN: WHAT IS THE
CRAZIEST THING YOU
HAVE DONE WHILE ON
TOUR?
Evan R. Saffer: I have
survived and still love
Rev Swank, Tommy
Zamp and Adam James.
You can't describe it, so I
suggest you just become
a part of it by coming to
the shows and seeing us
on tour. It's like a new
food, if I gave you a de-
scription, you'd still have
no idea what I'm talking
about. All I can say is
that it's a brainsick, gaga,
infatuated, unrestrained,
emotional, wild child,
rollercoaster of blood,
sweat, tears and love.
Adam had a dog eat
peanut butter off his
balls. Rev coached the
dog and filmed it. Check
it out on
www.youtube.com/fixer-
music
Tommy: Taken a rugby
shot which is.... snort a
line of salt, take a shot of
tequila, then shove a
lemon in my open eye
MUEN: I HAVE NOT
HAD THE OPPORTU-
NITY TO SEE YOU
PLAY LIVE YET. DE-
SCRIBE FOR ME IF
YOU WILL WHAT I AM
MISSING. UTE WOULD YOU SAY one looked at me differ- DREAM?
YOU ARE FAMOUS ently from then on, when
Evan: Drama, a full on FOR? WHAT MAKES I kept winning every mu- Evan R. Saffer: Not al-
trip and a show that you'll YOU STAND OUT sical award throughout ways. I think that's a
never forget. FROM THE REST OF highschool, when I ex- good thing though. You
THE BANDS IN YOUR ceeded time and time have to earn respect and
Adam: Have you ever GENRE? again and kept getting show them and yourself
seen aerial footage of better, when fixer slayed that you are the best. I
one of those soccer riots Evan R. Saffer: Our dy- a crowd of 3000 opening would say as a young
in some South American namics in the music and for Godsmack when person and a teenager
country? It's like that, but in the show. There are a every other band got they always saw an inter-
with instruments. lot of bands out there boo'd, when we over- est and a talent there,
with talent. We had tal- come and surpass every but I really got the re-
MUEN: IN YOUR EXPE- ent our first year. Now I obstacle and kick to the spect and support I was
RIENCE, WHAT IS THE think we're learning to balls, when I refuse to looking for once I com-
BEST ADVICE YOU use that to make some- get down, refuse to take pletely devoted my life to
CAN GIVE TO STRUG- thing that sets the bar. no for an answer, refuse my craft and started
GLING BANDS OUT We win over any crowd: to need anyone's ap- churning out music that
THERE ON THE ROAD metal, rock, punk, girls, proval because I know reflects that commitment.
FOR THE FIRST TIME? guys, old, young, we're great, when I read I think that's a secret
straight, gay, man, this interview question motto of my family "do
Evan R. Saffer: Make woman, beast, princes and asked myself...."do I whatever you want, just
sure you're ready for the and paupers. hehe. I still want to be?" F@ck be the best." Despite
road, everyone stay posi- think we have a lot to say yea. making other sugges-
tive and put in those end- with a silly disposition on tions and making sure I
less, countless hours life. That's refreshing to “No one can deny that was sure, my mom did
with joy rather than impa- me. I'm a little tired of the "star" part of that always let me take piano
tience. If you're not play- the same old tough and label comes with fame lessons, bought me a
ing together almost every take attitude, aren't you? and selling millions of piano, attended every
day at home first and records over a career. performance, drove me
getting along, you're not Adam: I'd say we're However, the rest of it is to every audition and en-
ready for the road. probably most famous for a lifetime of toil and and couraged anything I was
our sweet Barbershop insanity that you twirl be- interested in. That's for
Adam: Have an extra Quartet style harmonies. tween your fingers and sure.
everything. Because That and our love of the don't ever say die.”
everything inevitably gets elderly. Tommy: Always!
broken, lost, or stolen. MUEN: WHAT DRIVES
Like Rev's virginity on the MUEN: AT WHAT POINT YOU TO CREATE THE Adam: Totally. My mom
last tour. IN YOUR LIFE DID YOU MUSIC THAT YOU DO? has been to more of my
REALIZE THAT YOU shows than anyone else
Rev: Stay with fans in- WANTED TO BE A Evan R. Saffer: Pas- in my life. She's my
stead of hotels... it's ROCK STAR? sion, compassion, en- biggest fan.
more fun and you meet ergy, love, the questions
lots of cool people and Evan R. Saffer: When I and being the perpetual MUEN: BESIDES
form lasting friendships. was 2 years old and sat student of life. MUSIC, WHAT ELSE
And of course you save on my dad's lap while he ARE YOU INTERESTED
money. rocked out on piano, MUEN: HAS YOUR IN?
when I sang my first solo FAMILY ALWAYS BEEN
MUEN: WHAT ATTRIB- in 4th grade and every- SUPPORTIVE OF YOUR Evan R. Saffer: I love
cooking actually. I think getting his motorcycle li- sleeve. MUEN: I WOULD LIKE
it's another creative out- cense, I'm a former Jun- TO THANK YOU EVAN,
let and each dish can be ior Olympian ski racer, Evan R. Saffer: I'm writ- AND THE BAND, FOR
a masterpiece or a disas- and Adam LOVES booz- ing every day especially THE INTERVIEW!!
ter. Last night I made ing. since we're off the road.
chicken and shrimp soft We get together several Evan R. Saffer: Thank
taco's with sauteed swiss MUEN: HAVE YOU times a week and jam you Shauna, I'm happy
chard, red onion, garlic, BEGUN TO WRITE FOR out the new ideas. It's you chose to interview
shitake mushrooms, YOUR NEXT ALBUM coming together as it us. I've read MUEN a
jalapeno peppers, ched- YET? should, with Adam killing bunch of times and there
dar cheese and fresh himself. are always good stories
cilantro. I jazzed it up Adam: Oh man yeah. and cool bands in there.
with some hot spices and The new stuff is great. MUEN: IS THERE ANY- Now you've got some
had some salsa on the I've had this one song THING ELSE YOU FIXER! ROKK! We'll be
size to drizzle over the we're working on stuck in WOULD LIKE TO ADD? sure to send you an ad-
top. It was amazing. my head for two days vanced copy of our up-
straight. No joke. It won't Evan R. Saffer: No, this coming album!
Rev: We all have outside stop. I'm going to kill my- dish is already overflow-
interests... among other self. ing, just serve it up. heh.
things, Evan's a food and
wine enthusiast (and a Tommy: We've got a lit- Adam: Tommy's a
great chef), Tommy is tle something up our douche.
The Romantic & The Bombastic
Have you heard of The Roman-
tic & The Bombastic? This band
from Portland Oregon are some-
thing to look into, if you appreci-
ate cool melodies mixed with
interesting lyrics sung by some-
one who actually has a reason
to be at the mic, backed by com-
petent and talented musicians.
Hmm, I think that covers it. I re-
ally enjoyed the vid they made,
which was done at a ski shop??
Itʼs called ʻThe Penny Jam Gets Romantic & Bombastic.ʼ There needs
to be more info out there on this band.
They seem a little reserved when it
comes to pimping themselves. But if
you are into discovering cool indie/al-
ternative bands, then get familiar
with this one! I donʼt think I will ever
get tired of their music, although
typing their name can get a bit tire-
some. ~Warren Meyers

Page 39
MY (Guitarist), Joe (Bassist) sues that they face every- that leaves me being the

OWN
and myself Danie (Vo- day. The inspirational freak behind the lyric
cals). The two "juniors" of band list however, is ex- sheets. All of my words

SIN
the band have been in tremely long. To name have deep meaning even
the band for a couple some: Tool, Slipknot, if some of it may come
years, Liz (Keys) and Mudvayne, Static-x, across as moderate.
Nate (drums). They have Skinny Puppy, American
definitely completed this HeadCharge, NIN, “Naturally most songwrit-
rotten little puzzle. Nate is
KMFDM, Ministry, Korn, ers have gone through
By Brittany Todd
hopefully a keeper! Manson ... these are some pretty hard times,
MUEN: YOU ALL SEEM some of the top on the and yes I have, and I still
LIKE A PRETTY TIGHT- MUEN: OUT OF THE 20 list. do.”
KNIT BAND. HOW DID YEARS I HAVE BEEN
YOU ALL MEET? LISTENING TO METAL, I MUEN: THE LYRICS TO So yes, most of it is about
HAVE NOT HEARD YOUR SONGS ARE what I've been through.
It's a very long story so ANYTHING LIKE YOUR ALSO A UNIQUE FEA- However, some of it is
we won't bore you with MUSIC. IT'S SO ORIGI- TURE YOU BRING TO about what I've witnessed
the details. However, I do NAL. WHAT HAS INFLU- THE BAND, SO WHERE other random idiots do.
think we may have bro- ENCED YOUR SOUND? DID THE LYRICS COME The words are to give
ken a record with drum- FROM? WHO IS THE strength to the weak who
mers. We have nailed a We all come from differ- GENIUS BEHIND THE are always taken advan-
14 drummer switch up in ent backgrounds. The PEN AND PAPER? tage of with a major dark
the past 7 years. The 3 one thing that inspires all twist. From what I've
original members of the of us is our surroundings We all write our own parts seen and felt, the
band however, are Phillip and our fans' lives and is- to the music. So I guess stronger side of people
lingers in the dark. This is goooood..... our first album release. All what goes on here, but,
where I find myself every- of the info will be posted yeh... no... nothing
time I write. MUEN: I NOTICED YOU on our new website that strange. Phillip, Nate and
JUST OPENED FOR will be up within a few Joe dig the video games,
MUEN: WHAT IS YOUR DISTURBED LAST weeks along with My- Liz brings pain to every-
FAVORITE SONG TO MONTH. IT MUST HAVE space and Vampiref- one through piercings
PERFORM AND WHY? BEEN NERVE-WRACK- reaks.com. We do and I am a work-out-holic.
ING PLAYING WITH however, need fans to re- We're pretty domesti-
We all have our favorites. ONE OF THE MOST quest us on cated. Sorry that wasn't
So I guess you could say POPULAR NU-METAL demandit.com so we more interesting. Al-
all of them for the sake of BANDS IN HISTORY! know where they want us though we do enjoy the
argument. WHAT WAS IT LIKE? to play. We'd prefer to occasional drink till you
play for our fans, not puke, pass out in the pool
MUEN: AS A NEW AND We were one of many someone else's. Our fans with all of your clothes on
UPCOMING BAND, openers for the show. It have been there for us till someone sees you
WHAT HAS BEEN was an honor to play with this whole time... obvi- singing and talking to
SOME OF YOUR them along with Bury ously the least we could yourself and makes the
BIGGEST CHAL- Your Dead, Spineshank, do is come say hi. effort of getting you out
LENGES SO FAR? Lacuna Coil, and more. before you drown type
Disturbed was just the MUEN: SINCE YOU deal. And no, this wasn't
Getting the word out icing on the cake. It was- HAVE ALREADY PER- me. I prefer to jump in the
about us and finding the n't nerve racking how- FORMED WITH DIS- pool with my clothes off.
right path to do so. We ever, We play better and TURBED, WHAT
believe we have found become less nervous in WOULD BE THE TOP 3 MUEN: IF PEOPLE
that path and we're going front of larger crowds. BANDS YOU GUYS WANT TO BUY YOUR
to take it. Big things are The more the fans move WOULD WANT TO PER- MUSIC, WHERE CAN
coming up this Fall for us. and freak out, the more FORM WITH NEXT? THEY GO TO GET IT?
It's a secret though, of we do as well. It's that en-
course if I told you, I'd ergy that takes over that Let's make it 4: Korn, Our EP "Identity" is cur-
have to kill you. makes an awesome Tool, Slipknot and Mud- rently available on Rhap-
show. vayne. All of these bands sody, iTunes
MUEN: I HAVE BEEN are heavy and have that andCDBaby.com. Our up-
FRIENDS WITH YOU MUEN: I'VE ALSO BE- same groove we like oh coming album is set to be
GUYS ON MYSPACE COME AWARE THAT so much! available in Best Buy and
FOR A LITTLE OVER 3 YOU GUYS ARE PLAN- Hot Topic along with other
MONTHS, AND I HAVE NING ON TOURING MUEN: NOW FOR A merchandise in Hot Topic.
SEEN YOUR MUSIC AROUND THE EAST RANDOM QUESTION: I Check us out on my-
PLAYER GO FROM A COAST. WHAT BANDS WANT TO KNOW IF space.com/myownsin and
LITTLE OVER 800 ARE YOU TRAVELLING ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY very soon on our new
SONG PLAYS TO NOW WITH AND ARE YOU HOBBIES THAT SOME- website www.myownsin-
OVER 25,000 PLAYS... GUYS PLANNING TO ONE MAY THINK IS music.com.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TOUR ACROSS THE COMPLETELY OFF THE
KNOWING YOUR COUNTRY? WALL, CRAZY OR
SONGS HAVE BECOME STRANGE.
SO POPULAR IN SUCH Unfortunately, we do not
A SHORT AMOUNT OF have confirmed info on I don't see any of our
TIME? the East Coast Tour. Yes, hobbies being off the
we are indeed doing it, wall. I mean I know we're
Really?! It has? Wow.... but we do not have dates down from the South and
that's awesome. I guess or line ups as of yet. It will that there's some pretty
it's a good thing. Feels be this Fall to promote f**ked up rumors about Page 41
Page 41
Finishing up shows with THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE, I AM GHOST remain on the road
throughout June and July in the west.

Conceived by former animator/artist Steve Juliano, I Am Ghost was formed in the fall of 2004
in an attempt to create a style of music that not only rocked but also explored the beauty
within darkness. After finding fellow musicians who shared his vision, Juliano and crew
recorded an EP, We Are Always Searching, which quickly helped the band amass a strong fol-
lowing throughout southern California. In 2005, I Am Ghost signed to Epitaph Records, who
released their debut full-length, Lovers' Requiem, the following year. In 2007 the band went
through a lineup change and refocused their direction with Juliano (vocals) leading the way
and Timoteo Rosales III (guitar), Ron Ficarro (bass) and Justin McCarthy (drums) filling out
the sinister backup.

I Am Ghost is now releasing their second full length album, ʻThose We Leave Behind.ʼ

Page 43
 I
A
M
X
It's not often that a
band infiltrates the
essence of your
being, where you
live and breathe
their music and their
words. But for many,
the Berlin-based IAMX has created a diehard cult
who wait for their every move with bated breath. With
their third album, IAMX has created another master-
piece in the Kingdom of Welcome Addiction (release
date: May 19, 2009 on Metropolis Records) in which
the glam noir stylings of IAMX get an organic and
much more intimate makeover. "I always imagined
IAMX as a broad project," explains the uber-creative
and intensely intelligent band leader Chris Corner. "I
feel completely free to experiment in every aspect -
with humour, with sincerity, with sex, with anger, with
fragility. I am a very private person but I felt, with a
more organic approach, I could begin to explore and
expose another angle. IAMX does have two sides:
the rabid animal and the bleeding heart. I am trying to
show a warmer, more concerned side with this
album."
Kingdom of Welcome Addiction is a foray into the
sensitive side of IAMX. While earlier IAMX material
was swathed in rhythmic dance beats and hard elec-
tropop, his vulnerability remained shielded from this
form of armor and rarely emerged except for
glimpses from his recent live television performances
in late 2008 on Fearless, Vlaze, ManiaTV, etc. The
naked and raw emotions are embracingly welcomed
on this album and coddled with care, from the vulner-
able shuffle of "Tear Garden" to the regal march of
"Kingdom of Welcome Addiction" to the late-night pri-
mal dancefloor rhythms of "Nature of Inviting". His ex-
posure of his tender underbelly however couldn't be
more apparent (and beautifully presented) than in the
ethereal ballad "I Am Terrified," that's filled to the brim
with emotion, passion and pain. The slinky "My Se-
cret Friend," featuring a duet with the Grammy-nomi-
nated Imogen Heap, further pushes the boundaries
for IAMX's music, as this is the very first duet Chris
has ever done. "I would never subject anyone to the
full attack of my hypersensitivity but, yes, I felt it was
time to bring out sincerity," he says of the songs. "I
have long been avoiding simple statements person-
ally and creatively. Life is simple. Everybody is vulner-
able and I feel comfortable with that now. In fact, it
has added risk and depth for me, standing by such
exposing and, on the face of it, banal words."
Originally breaking through the mainstream as one of
the founding members of Sneaker Pimps, Chris Cor-
ner has been building his empire from within the bro-
ken walls of Berlin in the past few years. Frustrated
from the industry forays of his former band, he built
IAMX in his own vision without any input from outside
sources. What he's created is a timeless catalog of
dark and primal dance/rock music that is perfectly at
home in a dark and swanky club as it is in a huge and
expansive music hall, which has been put to the test
with his multiple sold-out tours through the U.S. in the
last two years.
Ever the philosophical and incredible thinker, Chris
explains the origin of the album's title, Kingdom of
Welcome Addiction as thus: "IAMX is my subversive
little kingdom. I feel a bit like a mutant Charlie Chaplin
in The Great Dictator. It is here, and in the environ-
ment it has created, that I feel at home. Almighty, dy-
namic, omnipotent. I imagine everyone has such a
place , a dream , or a persona . The drug of all drugs.
The power of reason, passion, change and independ-
ence. Addiction in the positive."
Tour dates are as follow:
June 2 TT the Bear's Place Cambridge,
MA
June 4 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
June 6 Subterranean Chicago, IL
June 9 Slim's San Francisco, CA
June 12 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Page 45
UNSUNG
UNSUNG ZERO
ZERO

After their start in late 2007, Unsung Zero has
been assimilating rock fanatics left and right.
From their headquarters in Birmingham, AL,
they have been playing some of the best
shows Alabama has to offer a local band. They
have played with such nationally touring acts
as Aqua Teen Hunger Force's very own MC
Chris (Lil' Brittle, Sir Loin...), twice with Hell
Within (Lifeforce Records), and Forever in Ter-
ror (Metal Blade Records).
Unsung Zero averages 150+ plays per day
and 500+ new friends on MySpace per day.
Unsung Zero has been making plans to set out
on a tour of the southeastern United States in
late 2009 to early 2010 to ring in their debut
album, Remember Tonight. This album unites
Aaron Weatherford's (Lead Vocals, Guitar)
beautifully dynamic vocal work with the road-
seasoned rhythms of Eddie Johnson (Drum-
mer, Pearl Endorsee), Buddy Pack (Lead
Guitar), and Ray Cole (Bass, Vocals) to evoke
the new sound of rock for a new generation of
fans. With songs like "Save Me" and "Dying
Moon" it's easy to see this band dominating
radio airwaves far and wide. With influences
ranging from Nickelback and Three Days
Grace to bands like Bullet for my Valentine and
Atreyu, Unsung Zero is an essential addition to
any music lover's library.
Myspace.com/uszero
Myspace.com/digitalrevolutionrecords
 GODHEAD
Interview changes in the early for-

with Jason
mations of the band.
leased 9 studio albums to

Right off the bat we

date and Jason Miller of

Miller
started touring the States
God Head is currently

and Europe. In 1999 is

working on his acoustic

when Marilyn Mansonʼs

solo project as well as

manager saw Godhead

keeping busy with his

By: Morbid Miller

play in Hollywood, Cali-
many acting and voice

fornia and we signed to

over jobs.

MUEN: Tell me how Mansonʼs Posthuman

godhead formed as a
Godhead is a band
label in 2000.
band?
that has been con-
trolling the under-
MUEN: Did you guys
ground sounds by
blending industrial Jason Miller: It was kind become good friends
with hard rock of like one band formed with Manson?
music for over out of another. The band
15 years.
was originally called Jason Miller: Yea, I
Blind. We toured quite a would say so. There for a
They were
bit regionally and nation- couple of years when we
the only band
ally. When got signed it were working together.
signed to
turned out that another He always kind of kept
Marilyn Man-
band had been going by his distance though.
son’s Posthu-
the same name Blind al-
man records
ready. So I changed it to MUEN: You guys were
releasing their
the name that I originally the only band on his
ground breaking
wanted to call the band, Posthuman label right?
album 2000
which was Godhead.
years of Human

Since 1994 we have gone Jason Miller: Yea, it went

Error. Since their

under the name God- well for the short amount

formation Godhead

head. We had some of time that it was run-

has made them-

lineup ning.
selves a house
hold name by tour-
ing extensively and
consistently put-
ting out solid
records. God-
head has
re-

Page 48
Back then when a big album called Evolver, much already have a certainly disappointing
artist like Manson wants which I thought was an home for it but I donʼt but we are going with
to start a label they would amazing album. You want to announce it yet. some difficult times right
get another label to fund worked with some of now as a country.
the whole thing. So they the guys from Static-x MUEN: You just re-
got Priority Records to on that album right? leased a new Godhead MUEN: Are you guys
fund it. When EMI who album At the Edge of playing any local shows
already owned Priority Jason Miller: A little bit the World howʼs that while you are waiting to
Records merged with yea, Wayne is a friend going for you? go on tour?
Capital Records we were and I wanted to have
dropped. Capital was some guest vocals. So Jason Miller: Well as far Jason Miller: Yea, we
mainly focused on their he did guest vocals on as creativity goes it went plan on doing some more
hip-hop catalog. Capital the song Give Away for very well. We put it to- of that. We donʼt want to
wasnʼt really concerned that album. It was really gether and found a home over play the L.A. area.
with the rock side of cool to have him. for it. Right now the tour- We did a press release
things. Ozzy had a label ing possibilities arenʼt party when the album
and Manson had a label MUEN: At any point in looking to good for it. came out in Hollywood.
and when that happened this time are you able to The economy isnʼt too We will be doing some
they kind of went away. It make a descent living good right now; we donʼt weekend runs and stuff
was all kind of a sad deal. with your music? Was want to go out and lose a like that in the future.
Godhead your full time bunch of money. We are
MUEN: Were you guys job? just waiting for the right MUEN: Do you guys
fans of Mansonʼs music touring opportunities to have a solid fan base in
before you signed with Jason Miller: Yea ab- start promoting the L.A.?
his Posthuman Label? solutely, when we signed album. A lot of people
with Manson it became like our new album At the Jason Miller: We always
Jason Miller: Yea, we our job. Now things have Edge of the World. We seem to do well here. I
were stoked man. We changed a little bit. Unfor- have been doing some think thatʼs another rea-
were fans, but we werenʼt tunately since the Man- videos for it as well. We son why we donʼt over
copiers or anything. We son deal, we have been have another video com- play the area. If we
appreciated what he was on three different labels. ing out for the song called played every week fans
doing musically. That kind of hurts or ca- “The Decline”. We did a would be like “well I will
reer for sure. Now we all video for the song “Hero” skip this show and I will
MUEN: Did you guys kind of do other things to and we are going to do a see them next week” we
take off after you supplement our income video for “The origin of donʼt want to fall into that
recorded 2000 years of besides Godhead. I run a Suffering”. Thatʼs all in type of thing.
Human error album? recording studio and I do the works, but as far as
some acting. Iʼm also touring goes, we really MUEN: So with your
Jason Miller: Yea ab- working on a solo record canʼt go out right now. album called Shadow
solutely, people knew thatʼs completely different Itʼs been kind of frustrat- Line the press was say-
about us before. Thatʼs from Godhead. This is ing; we blame the label ing that it was your at-
how we caught Mansonʼs something that I have al- that we are on now. They tempt to go main
interest, but it defiantly ways wanted to do in the have been having some stream. One even com-
took the band to a new back of my mind. financial difficulties and pared your album to the
level. none of the artists on the likes of Staind. Does
MUEN: Are you looking label are touring. We are any of that hold some
MUEN: After your for a label for your solo basically waiting for truth?
Posthuman Records project? money from their distribu-
deal ends you guys tor. Everything is just kind Jason Miller: I hated that,
record your follow up Jason Miller: Yea, I pretty of on a holding pad, itʼs I thought that was funny.
I donʼt think we sound over to the set and this just kind of put it together. messages that you try
anything like Staind at all. car drives by and this girl I have always felt that the to convey to your lis-
We tried to branch out a leans out the window and person signing should be teners through your
little bit on a couple of says “Oh look its Jason the person writing the lyrics?
songs on that album. We from Godhead” and then lyrics.
know that people donʼt the very next car some Jason Miller: Itʼs weird
want to hear the same dude drives by “Says hey MUEN: What made you because with my solo
thing over and over look its Stone Cold Steve guys want to release an album Iʼm trying to tell
again. We actually just Austin” (Laughs) so I unplugged album? more personal stories but
got the rights back from couldnʼt even rebel with with Godhead I try to
that album, so we are the fact that I got recog- Jason Miller: We have leave it some what am-
going to remix the album nized before someone been doing that type of biguous. I want people to
this summer and have it else just shot me down. thing for years. Itʼs kind try to figure it out for
available on iTunes or Thatʼs life right! of the philosophy around themselves. I want it to
rhapsody. The remixes my solo album. It was become their song as
are incredible! MUEN: What does the originally going to be all well.
name Godhead mean? I acoustic. I have incorpo-
MUEN: How would you know that Manson is rated some more players MUEN: You have re-
describe Godhead to very out spoken reli- and its kind of evolved leased 9 albums with
someone who has gion do you share some into this roots rock band. Godhead, do you have
never heard your band of the same views? The solo project is what an idea of how many
before? they call Americana. I records you have sold?
Jason Miller: I we think like to think of it as alt-or-
Jason Miller: I usually that we share some of the ganic and Godhead is Jason Miller: Yea, we
say that itʼs industrial same views. People say more rock. have sold about 200,000
rock, some what in the all these things about records.
vain of Nine Inch Nails. If how religions have de- MUEN: How has God-
I said that to the general stroyed society and what- head fans reacted to MUEN: I noticed that
music fan that they would ever which I agree with your solo project? Do you have done a lot of
get a good idea of what that to some extent. they think that you are voice overʼs for video
we sound like. If you get Godhead really means going soft? games, cartoon net-
into too much detail its the highest embodiment work, and have also
like their brain freezes. next to God. For us thatʼs Jason Miller: Most peo- acted in some films
what music is to us, itʼs ple really appreciate it. (checkout his resume
MUEN: Do people ever our Godhead. One or two haters might at www.jasonmiller.net)
come up to you and be write something negative how did you get into
like “Oh man your that MUEN: Do you right all about it on Blabbermouth. the film business?
guy from Godhead”? the lyrics? Those guys on Blabber-
mouth will write anything Jason Miller: I started
Jason Miller: Yea, I get Jason Miller: I write all and everything to get a doing music for commer-
that sometimes, you the lyrics and we run a rise out of the artist. cials when I moved to
know the other day that three way split most of They will write something Los Angeles, then I
happened. It was funny; I the time with the music. like “Godhead is coming started singing on com-
was on Hollywood boule- On this latest record At out with a new album… mercials. That kind of
vard where all the people the Edge of the World we Fuck you Goatwhore moved over to voice
dress up like super he- did a split all the way. rules!” you know I canʼt overʼs for shows. I acted
roes. My friends band What happens is that I really compete with that as a kid so I thought I
was playing the Jimmy might right a song all by (Laughs). would work on some on
Kimmel show and I was a myself or the other guys camera stuff again and so
guest. So I was walking might right a song and we MUEN: Do you have any far it has worked out
great. a really big tour lined up tice, once you get your Miller: Later this year the
for the fall, but once again band together you got to Shadow Line Deluxe is
MUEN: If you had to I canʼt really talk about it. practice like there is no going to be released as
choose between a So make sure you keep tomorrow. You have to well as my solo album.
Music career or acting checking the Godhead make sure that your worst Keep an eye out for us on
career which would you site show is better than every- the road later this year!
choose? (www.myspace.com/god- one elseʼs best show. I
head) for announcements hate when I see an act For more information
Jason Miller: Music, Iʼm a for that. live and they havenʼt re- check out these sites
musician and Iʼm always hearsed enough. You
writing songs. I love MUEN: What advice do have to be tight, tight, www.myspace.com/god-
music more than anything you have for young mu- tight, end of story. head
in the world. Acting is sicians starting out in
nice because you always pursuit of a musical ca- MUEN: Is their anything www.myspace.com/ja-
get paid. reer? else that you would like soncharlesmillermusic
to add?
MUEN: What does the Jason Miller: Practice, www.myspace.com/mor-
rest of the year look like practice, Jason bidmiller
for you guys? prac-
www.jasonmiller.net
Jason Miller:
We have

Page 51
 Artep
By Jeanne Thomas (JET)

MUEN: WHAT IS IT
THAT YOU LOVE
ABOUT MUSIC?

A: When I listen to music

and write music, it takes
me to another world far
from here. Black metal es-
pecially, really speaks to
me.

V: Music is a form of ex-

pression, and black metal
is a very expressive style.
This genre can create
some amazing imagery
and really take the listener
on a journey, and that ap-
peals to me.

MUEN: WHAT IS THE

PERSONA OF THE
BAND THAT YOU TRY
TO BRING FORTH?
TELL US THE STORY
BEHIND ARTEP.

A: Images of war and suf-

fering, human weakness,
death and Armageddon . .
. The songs are about life.
Everything mentioned in
the lyrics means some-
thing. The lyrics are based
on history, the present and
the future.

Artep was born in 2006

as a solo project in the
cold mountains of North-
ern British Columbia.
'Fires of Mortal Deception'
was released in 2007 for
which a session drummer
'Lord Goatesque' was
used. Since then, the
Page 52 band has evolved quite a
lot. Dark joined Atep in
2008 as a session bassist
later deciding to join as a
permanent member. A few
months later Vultyrous
joined as a guitarist and
lead singer. Our drummer
Maelstrom joined us in
January 2009.We have
not yet found a keyboard
player, but manage fine
with our sampler playing
all of the critical sym-
phonic parts live. We love
experimenting with new
sounds and you will see
that on the next album
after Thy will be done. We
have all have various in-
fluences and all of our
skills will be used to its
fullest potential on the
next album.
MUEN: DO YOU THINK
IT MAKES YOUR
SOUND FULLER HAV-
ING 2 VOCALISTS?
HOW DO THE 2 VOCAL-
ISTS VARY IN THEIR
STYLES?
A: Vultyrous has been
doing most of the vocals
up until now. He also does
all the lows and is even a
formally trained singer. I
do all the high pitch
screeches (ei: Eruption
intro and middle), some of
the main vocals usually on
bridges or choruses and
most of the spoken/whis-
pered stuff. The difference
between us is that i do ex-
hales and he does mostly
inhales. I think having
more than one vocalist
adds dynamics to the
music and I wouldn't have
it any other way.
V: Well, on the CD I'm A: We are not trying to STAGE PRESENCE IS
doing most of the vocals. provoke that. IMPORTANT?
A lot of people are con-
fused about that. Usually MUEN: ARE YOU A: Absolutely!!! A band
they assume that all the WORKING ON A NEW should not only be very
highs are done by Artep CD? WHEN CAN WE tight with their music but
and all the lows by myself. EXPECT IT AND WHAT also put on a great show.
CAN WE EXPECT
Artep has some awesome FROM IT? V: Very much so. Nothing
parts on the recordings bums me out more than
where she layers effects A: Our upcoming CD 'Thy going to a concert to see a
on her voice to sound Will Be Done On Earth As band I'm stoked on only to
completely inhuman on Is Done In Hell' is see them just standing
some spoken word sec- recorded and we are there, looking bored while
tions. The Czech section looking for a label right playing their songs.
of Eye Of The Serpent is now to release it. If we
all her also, this time with- don't find a suitable label MUEN: NOW THAT YOU
out any FX at all except a we will be forced to self- HAVE A PERMANENT
little reverb. release the album. We are DRUMMER DO YOU
already working on the HAVE PLANS TO TOUR
MUEN: YOUR SOUND next album. Up until now I SOON?
IS VERY EPIC AND have written all the music
MELODIC FOR BLACK and lyrics myself, but the A: We would like to start
METAL. WHAT MADE next album all Artep mem- with Canada and the US,
YOU WANT TO PLAY bers will be working as a but hopefully with the right
THIS TYPE OF MUSIC? team and contributing, so label we will get support to
you can expect something tour Europe as soon as
A: I write whatever comes special. possible because we do
to me. There is no specific have a lot of fans there. I
plan as to what it should MUEN: WHO DID THE would especially like to
or will sound like in the COVER ART FOR THE play at Brutal Fest just
end, I just go with the flow BLACK WAR CD? WHAT outside of Prague. Not
and this is what comes DOES IT DEPICT? only is it in our favor be-
out. cause it is an outdoor fes-
A: The artwork for Black tival and we can put on a
V: A desire to be theatri- War was done by 'Metal killer show with our fire
cal, lol. Artist'. We found him on breathing and fire show,
myspace. He is profes- but I am also born there
MUEN: DO PEOPLE sional and awesome to so Artep has quite a fol-
FIND YOUR MUSIC work with. We will be lowing there so we would
CONTROVERSIAL? using him in the future as get a warm welcome and
well. I think the cover a lot of local promotion. If
V: No more than any other speaks for itself as to what we don't find a suitable
symphonic black metal it depicts and the name label, we are still planning
band. 'Thy will be done on earth a self-financed mini tour
as is done in Hell' con- after releasing our full
MUEN: HAVE YOU EVER firms it. length album, but this will
HAD PROBLEMS WITH only include a few cities in
ANY RELIGIOUS OR PO- MUEN: BLACK METAL Canada and Northwest
LITICAL GROUPS? IS AN ART IN ITSELF I US and only last a few
BELIEVE. DO YOU days.
V: Not yet. THINK A STRONG
MUEN: ARE YOU CUR- ture material. Long term band called Defenesrated. TOOLS OR OTHER
RENTLY LOOKING FOR dreams I think would in- PROGRAMS TO
A LABEL? IF SO WHAT clude getting on a good MUEN: DO YOU SHARE RECORD YOUR MUSIC?
DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A label, touring, basically ANY OF THE QUES-
LABEL? making a name for Artep TIONABLE NON VAL- A: Yes, of course I am an
worldwide. UES OF SOME BLACK audio engineer by profes-
A: Weʼve actually had a METAL ARTIST? DESE- sion. I don't like to use
few offers from some MUEN: IS THIS YOUR CRATION, ANTI-HUMAN- Pro-tools though. Logic is
smaller labels, but they ONLY GIG OR DO ANY ISM, OR ANYTHING much more versatile espe-
were really weak in the OF YOU HAVE SIDE LIKE THAT? WHAT DO cially for film scoring, not
areas that are most impor- PROJECTS GOING ON? YOU THINK ABOUT ALL to mention Pro Tools is
tant- exposure, distribution THAT? being phased out and
and tour support. We are A: I used to be in 4 bands buying it in my opinion is
looking for a label help us at once, including Van- A: I myself, don't specifi- risky and too expensive
move forward at a much quished and Sabazius cally care for any of that for how little it does.
faster pace and will add to (now known as Grim- desecration or anti-hu-
all the work weʼre already bane). It was stressful and manism stuff although in MUEN: JUST OUT OF
doing ourselves. In my took up all my free time. I personal life I do have CURIOSITY, WHEN YOU
opinion, without good dis- realized that even though I some questionable prac- ARE JUST HANGING
tribution and touring, you was very serious about all tices. I do however sup- OUT WHAT KIND OF
don't get proper world of them and made sure I port confidence in oneself, MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN
wide exposure and your could play the material leadership, individualism TO?
success builds much flawlessly, I wasn't really and non-conformity.
slower and very limited. there mentally and all 4 A: I like everything that
MUEN: What are your bands suffered. I decided MUEN: ARE ANY OF shows talent, but mostly
plans for the band for the to end the madness and YOU FORMALLY Metal and progressive
remaining part of 2009? stick with only one serious TRAINED IN MUSIC? Classical music. I like vari-
What are your long term project that I will focus on ous genres of metal, some
dreams? and devout my full atten- A: Cumulatively we hold of my favorite black metal
tion to. I do however score three music diplomas from bands are Emperor, Dark
A: We want to find a label films and write sound- accredited Canadian post- Funeral, Dimmu Borgir,
to release our new album. scapes for a local horror secondary institutions and Cradle of Filth, Satyricon,
It is ready to be sent to the movie film company and have a combined music Mayhem, Craft, Dawn, but
press, mastered by Andy when time permits, I work and recording experience I also like bands such as
LaRocque, artwork is on a symphonic/ ambient/ of 57 years. Dark has Opeth, Morbid Angel,
done and it is all in an en- bass studio project called been playing for 21 years Amorphis, Pink Floyd and
velope ready to either be Cease Existence which including 13 years of clas- even other completely dif-
sent to a label or off to the will feature Vultyrous on sical piano training, Vulty- ferent metal genres. I am
press. We want to record bass. rous has 16 years of into almost all genres and
a video, tour Canada and experience as a multi-in- as far as Classical music,
US. We are already work- V: I've always got some- strumentalist, holds a Jazz I really enjoy Phillip Glass,
ing on our next album and thing else going on. I Diploma and I am also a John Williams, Elmer
it will be ready for releasehave two solo projects on multi-instrumentalist, hav- Bernstein, Danny Elfman,
in 2010. the go right now, Funeral ing played piano since 7 Howard Shore. . . list
Fornication, which is de- years old and guitar since could go on.
V: This year we will also pressive ambient black 12. I also hold a Profes-
be releasing a 3-way split metal, and Ringbearer, sional Diploma in Audio V: I love all styles of metal,
CD done between Artep, which is Tolkien-themed Engineering from the Art as long as the bands I'm
Funeral Fornication and a dark battle-ambient/neo- Institute of BC. listening to show talent.
solo black metal project by classical music. I also But oddly enough, I really
Aron of Blasphemy. It will currently play bass for a MUEN: DO YOU USE enjoy power metal. Right
promote some of our fu- technical death metal THE HELP OF PRO now my favorite power
metal bands to listen to
are Lost Horizon, Hibria,
Rhapsody Of Fire and
Blind Guardian. I also re-
ally enjoy dark ambient
stuff like Uruk-Hai from
Austria, Arcana, Dead
Can Dance, etc. The
death metal stuff I enjoy is
that new age hyper-tech-
nical stuff like Brain Drill,
Spawn Of Possession,
Necrophagist or the
darker death metal sound
like Morbid Angel, Mithras,
Drawn And Quartered,
and Immolation. But
when it comes to black
metal, I am floored by acts
such as Immortal, Em-
peror, Vhernen, Taake,
and Absu, among many
others. I listen to a lot of
classical as well. I am
often inspired by the THEM? site. You can download
works of Messiaen, Pen- our music on iTunes or
derecki, John Corigliano, Thanks for your support, CD-Baby. Our merchan-
and Danny Elfman. keep the black flames dise can be bough on our
burning high! website and myspace:
MUEN: TELL US SOME- www.Artep.com and
THING ABOUT YOUR- MUEN: DO YOU HAVE www.SymphonicBlack-
SELF (ANY OF YOU) ANY MERCH OR CD'S Metal.com
THAT PEOPLE MIGHT AVAILABLE IF SO
BE SURPRISED TO WHERE CAN WE GET MUEN: AS A BLACK
HEAR? IT? METAL DJ AND AVID
FAN OF THE ART I CAN
A: I love fishing and hunt- Yes we have T-shirts, long HONESTLY SAY I WILL
ing and have been doing sleeves and girlie shirts. BE LISTENING AND
so since I was a child. We also have the Artep 'A' WAITING IN ANTICIPA-
stainless steel pendants, TION FOR YOUR NEW
V: I am a music teacher by they will be available soon WORKS
profession. and we are working on
some awesome new shirts Thank you for having us
MUEN: YOU ARE for our CD release party. Jet, if we play a show in
STARTING TO GATHER Our CD 'Fires of Mortal your area, send us a mes-
HORDES OF FOLLOW- Deception' and promo sage, we will add you to
ERS. WHAT WOULD 'Black War' can be bought the guest list.
YOU LIKE TO SAY TO on our Myspace or web-
Page 55
BIBLE BLACK Wead was in the band! I June 15th and will be re- KR: We were playing
love King Diamond and leased in two versions. around with different
Mercyful Fate, and after Version one will be a jewel names in the beginning
By Metal Mike
seeing the video, “Bleed,” cased double cd which will and finally settled with
I now was totally digging feature a bonus dvd. Ver- “bibleblack”. The name
Allow me to introduce you
Mikes new work. And let sion two will be a digi pack works as a good comple-
to the band BibleBlack
me just say that if the rest version featuring addi- ment to the dark sound of
consisting of
of the album, which is ti- tional artwork. Mike and the music. Personally, I
Kacper Rozanski - lead
tled ʻSwan Song Epi- Kacper were kind enough also like the fact that itʼs
vocals, Mike Wead -- lead
logue,ʼ is anything like the to touch base with me in an adjective, describing a
guitar, Simon - Johansson
dark, heavy, brutal music an interview and below is particular shade of black
- rhythm guitar, Johaz Bu-
with electric energy in this what they had to say... ☺
lund - bass and
video, then we will be
Tobhias Ljung - drums.
hearing from this band for MM - Metal Mike MM: Ok bro you have
some time to come. Stop MW - Mike Wead been involved in quite a
Bible Black are a newly
on over to the bandʼs My- KR - Kacper Rozanski few bands besides being
formed band out of Swe-
space page which is with the King. I was won-
den consisting of mem-
www.myspace.com/bible- MM: As we are hear to dering if any of your side
bers from King Diamond
blackofficial talk about bibleblack, I work is still active be-
and Memory Garden. I be-
- check out the music and was wondering about sides bibleblack your
came aware of them while
if you like it click on the the band name and new band?
searching for videos on
link to pre order specifically how the
youtube. I did some re-
ʻSwan Song Epilogue.ʼ name came to be used? MW: Yeah, I'm constantly
search and saw that Mike
The Cd will be released on
working on different ing the recording of the MM: So how long have ages, whether itʼs in the
things. Firegod might ac- Nattas album: “Inde you been playing gui- eye of the beholder or
tually happen later this deus abest” in their stu- tar? the creator. I've always
year, we'll see. I also dodio, SolnaSound enjoyed the possibility of
a lot of session/guest Recording. We had lots MW: Since the burning exploring the mental im-
stuff, the last one I did of fun working and when of Rome! ;) I bought my ages that show up in my
was with The Project the album finally was first guitar the day after I own head while Iʼm
Hate. done, Mike asked me to turned 15...so that would singing. Therefore, I
It's called "The Lustrate try out some vocals on a make it...4 years...right!? think that the theatrical
Process" and will hit the thrash song that he had ;) touch is always there for
streets this summer. in his back pocket, called me in the creative
“Bleed”. We had even MM: Tell us about the process.
MM: Now the aggres- more fun doing that and making of the video
sive style that bible- one thing led to another. “Bleed”, and how did MM: Tell us what we
black has is a little Starting out as a trio, the band come to can expect from your
different than we are Mike, Simon and I soon choose this song over debut cd The Black
used to hearing from found a need for a bass the others for the vid? Swan Epilogue that is
you with King, Which player and a drummer. due to be released May
style would you con- Simon got hold of Tob- KR: “Bleed” was the eas- 4th on Vic Records
sider to be your own? hias Ljung for the skin iest choice for the video
Or are you comfortable punishing job and I for many reasons. One MW: The release date
and alive with both called my brother in is the length of the song. has been changed for
styles of play? arms from Nattas, Jonaz Many of the tracks on June 15th due to printing
Bülund for the bass. "The black swan epi- issues.
MW: I'm pretty comfort- Then we recorded "The logue" are quite long, too
able playing any style of black swan epilogue". long for the regular KR: You can expect a
metal...or music for that music video standard. solid thrash album with a
matter. I've played any- MM: As you began "Bleed" has a good progressive touch to it,
thing from symphony or- playing guitar Mike length and is a good in- created by professional
chestra to jazz/blues to when did you realize troduction to bibleblack musicians with twisted
black metal. you had the skill to in my opinion. It's a solid minds ☺
To me music is just play in a metal band, thrash song with a nice
music in any shape or and when did metal in bibleblack twist to it and I MM: MM How did the
form:) particular come into think it can appeal to a band come to work
focus for you? large crowd. with Vic Records ? And
MM: Since you are a since I am not familiar
newly formed band MW: Growing up as a MM: Now will bible- with them either could
and we don't know teen during the early black be as theatrical tell us a little about this
much about your be- '80's I got to experience as King Diamond or company as well?
ginning, I was wonder- the whole NWOBHM, will you guys just let
ing if you could Judas Priest, Saxon, the music speak for MW: I've been working
elaborate on what Maiden etc...so rock and you? on and off as a mix-
specifically drew you metal was very popular ing/mastering engineer
to each member of the and it was just KR: I think that making for Vic Rec for a long
band and how bible- a natural thing for me to music is one of the most time and it felt natural to
black came to be go that direction BUT I important things about ask them first since the
formed? was still playing a lot of playing in a band. On the contact had already
different styles even other hand, music also been
KR: I got to know Mike then. gives rise to all kinds of established so to say.
and Simon in 2007, dur- emotions and mental im- The company is Dutch
based and even if it's “Sometimes I feel like a ping
JUSSI 69 AND M LAZAR SHOOT FOR
JUNKER CLOTHING’S FALL LOOKBOOK
kinda smaller one they pong ball going back and forth
work really hard to pro- to LA for music stuff and mod-
mote their bands and we eling” says M Lazar, “but then I
have a very good see the results from my trips
and it makes it all worth while!”
biz connection with them.
“I was stoked on this past LA
MM: Currently what is up trip that had me shooting with
in the King Diamond Finnish photographer Ville Ju-
World? urikkala and friend/rockstar
Jussi 69 from 69 Eyes for
MW: King has been suffer- Junker Clothing's fall cam-
ing from back pains for a paign. Junker does custom
long time and still is even clothing for Steven Tyler, Slash,
Dave Navarro, Motley Crue just
though he's getting better
to name a few....
day by day, and we have
no tours planned. The shoot was super fun...
here are some pics from the
MM: ok man As your 900 plus that came out! Keep
name was changed to your eyes peeled for the Fall
Mike Wead, I was just a Campaign !!
little curious as to why
you went in this direc-
tion?

MW: I got that nickname

years and years ago 'cos I
was always hanging out
with a band called "Wead"
and it just stuck. It has
nothing to do with drugs.

MM: End this interview

for us by touching on
anything we might of
missed or that you
would like to address .
And I thank you for your
time to bring us up to
speed on the cool new
band you currently have
going bibleblack.

KR: “The lesson is ending

and you need to bleed.
Jussi 69 and M Lazar
shoot for Junker Clothing's
Fall Lookbook
 NOCTEM
NOCTEM
companied on the stages
by international bands.
mercialized for 2 years.
In 2008 the band signs
After several formation
with NoiseHead Records
changes, the band contin-
(Austria) and realizes an
ues their way making na-
European Tour where the
tional level concerts and
group destroys the stages
scrutinizing in the deepest
of half Europe (Spain, Por-
of their minds to find a
tugal, France, Belgium,
more particular style for
United Kingdom, Italy and
Noctem was consolidated the bandʼs profile.
more...)
as a extreme metal band
in April 2001. Itʼs founders In 2004 Noctem commer-
In January of 2009 the
cradled by the ideals of vi- cializes in the period of 2
band records in the Noise-
olence exaltation, misan- years his live CD " Live
Head Studios of Vienna
Music To Die For: The au- thropy and antithesis to 2004 ".
with Mario Jezik their
thority on all things Goth the totality of the absurd
debut album «Divinity»,
and post-Goth. Mick religions created this most In 2007 the recording of
which counts with the col-
Mercer books have been excellent machine of War , the MCD «God Among laborations of Leal (For-
renowned for their combi- which advances by leaps Slaves» takes place. With ever Slave) and Christos
nation of encyclopedic and bounds among the the release of this work
Antoniou (Septic Flesh).
knowledge and opinion- ranks of a putrid and poor and its big success among
ated writing style. social values infested civi- the press online, advertis-
Nowadays, Noctem is
lization. ing means and the metal-
working to desolate the
Visit: heads, the band with their
stages all over the world
Myspace.com/mickmercer Noctem records in 2002 new formation fulfills sev-
again.
their first work « Unholy eral promoting tours
blood» which was com- throughout the country ac-
MARSHALL BECK
MUEN: TELL US ABOUT THE DIFFER-
ENT PROJECTS YOU HAVE GOING,
IS IT JUST THE TWO BANDS: RE-
BIRTH AND DYER? WHERE DO YOU
FIND THE TIME TO BE IN TWO
BANDS, AND WHY DO YOU CHOOSE
TO DO THIS?

I actually have three that I actively work

with. Rebirth, Dyer, and Reign of
Vengeance. I do this because I pursue
a different sub-genre of metal and lyrical
content with each. Rebirth is powerful,
melodic, and structured. Dyer is more
along the lines of old school thrash.
Reign of Vengeance is extreme brutal,
bloody, death fucking metal. I donʼt
sleep much, Tyler Durden from Fight
Club would be a fucking pussy in my
book.

MUEN: DO YOU WRITE ALL THE

LYRICS TO THE SONGS IN THESE
BANDS, AND WHO ARE YOUR MAIN
CO-WRITERS FOR THE MUSIC IN
GENERAL?

I do write all of the lyrics for these bands

and some others... I drink a lot and
when I find myself drinking I enjoy writ-
ing. Writing lyrics is something that
makes my often overactive brain focus
on something it enjoys, which is often
horror or philosophical exploration. Un-
like a lot of the un-entertaining, stupid
fucking minded propaganda bullshit I
see on television and in movies these
days, my own mind while writing keeps
me entertained. Writing Reign of
Vengeance lyrics has been especially
entertaining at times, especially after in-
gesting a few pain killers and de-hydrat-
ing enough to hallucinate…
The music is taken care of by the differ-
ent members in each band. On this up-
coming Rebirth Ep “From The Ashes,
Arise” Tommy Gibbons did the guitar
and bass work and plans have been
made for Duane to track the drums next
week. Tim, Duane, Novy, and myself
will be taking over as far as future Re-
birth recordings go from this point on.
With all of my bands each individual
member typically take The release of almost 6 or 7
turns at some point giving different albums, I canʼt
each other input when it keep them all straight with
comes to the creation of what Iʼve done in the past
the music. and what I have going on
currently in production, Iʻm
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU drunk, I donʻt feel like think-
FEEL ARE SOME OF ing about it… That and hav-
YOUR BEST SONGS, ing some of the metal
AND WHY? legends that inspired me
growing up play on the al-
These are the kinds of bums. Signing to the labels
questions in interviews and knowing there are peo-
that are brutal to answer ple out there that are willing
and actually require a lot and wanting to financially
of thought…….. Its tough invest in your work works
because each band is a well for the ego… And of
different side of my per- course the very intense live
sonality. Trying to pick a show.
favorite song from one of
the bands I make music MUEN: WHAT ARTISTS
with is almost fucking im- HAVE BEEN SOME OF
possible… Iʼll just say this, YOUR BIGGEST INFLU-
I have enjoyed inspiring ENCES?
why I like having Duane were all getting into it to-
with Rebirth, enjoyed cre-
Timlin around in Rebirth gether and having a great
ating havoc with Dyer, and Iʼve met or been in contact
and Reign of Vengeance fucking time. The sound
Iʼve enjoyed the release of with most of the people that
from Dying Fetus. I grew guy was awesome and
some of the deepest rage influenced me musically…
up listening to Dying Fetus the staff treated us very
Iʼve experienced in my life On a musical level they still
and after working with one respectfully. On the other
through Reign of kick ass, on a personal
of their drummers I enjoy hand you have a large
Vengeance… level most of those fagots
them even more. show, like the one I did
can suck my dick. Not that
with Dyer and Divine
MUEN: HOW DID YOU he influenced me or I ever
MUEN: FROM THE Heresy at The Whisky in
FIRST GET INTO MUSIC, even liked Korn, but did you
LOOKS OF YOUR Hollywood, where the
AND WHAT DOES know Jonathan Davis wears
VIDEO, BOTH REBIRTH sound guy was doing a
METAL MUSIC MEAN Abercrombie and Fitch
AND DYER SEEM LIKE A horrible job the entire time
FOR YOU? backstage…? That will just
PRETTY KICK ASS LIVE and the crowd just kind of
give you one example of
ACT.. WHAT ARE SOME stood there watching us
Metal is nothing short of what most of these fucking
OF THE BEST SHOWS blankly… It pissed me off
pure inspiration and re- “rockstar” and “metal gods”
YOU CAN REMEMBER, so I told them if they didnʼt
lease from a caustic world. are truly like and thatʼs
AND WHY WERE THEY move more Iʼd pull my
Iʼm glad there are plenty roots forgetting mother
SO GOOD? cock out and piss on them
that donʼt know its pleas- fuckers…
or something to that ef-
ure and its power because
You know the best shows fect…
most donʼt deserve to. MUEN: WHAT ARTISTS
arenʼt always the biggest
DID YOU LIKE AT ONE
shows… I remember the MUEN: WHAT ARE
MUEN: WHAT HAS TIME, AND NOW LIKE
first time Rebirth went up YOUR THOUGHTS ON
BEEN SOME OF YOUR LESS, AND WHY?
to Seattle, Washington PAY TO PLAY?
BEST ACCOMPLISH-
and played at Studio
MENTS IN MUSIC TO Most… Almost all that I
Seven. The crowd wasnʼt Would never do it and
DATE, IN YOUR OPIN- have personally met. How-
enormous but they were those that do are fucking
ION? ever, to some of their credit,
ecstatic, you could tell we idiots… When Iʼm not
some are still legit. Thatʼs
touring I book shows for
metal bands touring
through and local to Ari-
zona. I know how much
those pay to play promot-
ers are ripping the bands
off. Hereʼs the deal if
youʼre a band and you are
playing somewhere youʼre
expected to promote,
along with the promoter,
and bring fans or you cost
the venue and the pro-
moter money. If you bring
a reasonable number of
people then thereʼs no
reason you shouldnʼt both
share in the profits. For a
promoter to expect a hard-
working and well drawing
band to go broke so he
can pay his mortgage is
bullshit, when a band pays
to play thatʼs just what
theyʼre doing. On another
page if I book your band,
unless your touring, and
you fucking bring no-
body… You can bet your
ass youʼre going to play
only one or two songs on
that stage before I cut you
and tell you to get the fuck
off.
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU
DISLIKE ABOUT
TODAY'S MUSIC INDUS-
TRY?
Is there much to like be-
sides the music? No…
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU
LIKE ABOUT IT?
The great, new, and old MEMBER AFTER ONE
metal bands that keep re- OF YOUR LIVE SHOWS? If you want to stay in closer touch, stop by the
leasing material for myself
and other metal heads to Thatʼs their choice…
enjoy.
MUEN: WHO IS SYNIS-
TER EMPIRE
RECORDS?
Itʼs a label/clothing line I
started a while back that I
sold off to a buddy of
mine. I still have some
ownership in it and lots of
say, but technically its
his… Iʼve been scouting
lots of talent lately so Iʼm
hoping he can get more
money soon to sign some
other acts and push it for-
ward more than it has
been the past 8 months.
They handle a lot of my
myspace stuff though so
thatʼs why Iʼve cut him
some slack.
MUEN: SO YOU HAVE A
SMALL TOUR COMING
UP IN JULY, HAVE YOU
DONE MUCH TOURING
DEVI
IN THE PAST?
Iʼve done my fair share. I
havenʼt been like most
bands though that will run
off like jack-asses for
months on the road to do
a bad tour and play to ten
people each night and
Devi has just released the title track from ‘Get
then come home thou- Free’ as a "fan exclusive" to everyone on their
sands of dollars in debt to email list. Download it for free at www.reverbna-
never go out again and
end their career. I pick
tion.com/devi. Just click the "down" arrow, and
and choose my battles, or
then "I'm already a fan."
do my best to in order to
make each tour/show That's kirtan singer Wynne Paris singing backup on
count. "Get Free." Wynne's joining them for a (free)
MUEN: WHAT DO YOU
acoustic show June 18 at the beautiful vegan cafe
HOPE THAT YOUR AU-
inside Jivamukti Yoga School NYC. As one (male)
DIENCE WILL MOST RE- friend says..."oooh, flexible women!"
Devi Facebook page. They are posting some new
videos there.
 KAIRA
The Kaira band was formed by Paul Drozdov (guitar, music) and Kaira Drozdova (singing, lyrics) in January
2006. The same year the 1st full-scale album ʻThe Will of Fateʼ was released. It was made in Heavy Metal
style and was recorded in collaboration with sessional musicians from Russia and Ukraine on the Moscow
label Irond Ltd. By the end of the year it became bestseller of summer 2006 (according to the polling carried
out by the leading heavy metal magazine “Dark City”. In 2007 Kaira invited some musicians from Belarus to
play in the band and with the new cast a music video on the song ʻTo the Verge of Everythingʼ was shot and
the 2d album “The Wheel of Fortune” was recorded. In February, 2008 the third full-scale album ʻThe
Huntressʼ was released. Then the band made a sound track to an English movie “To Escape from Destiny”
and wrote a song for the renowned circus troupe of the Zapashny brothers (“The Legend of the Brothers of
Camelot”). After that Pawel Drozdov decided to put off the planned performances to renew the bandʼs cast. In
2 months the band was ready to work on the 4th album “Child of Fire”. It was recorded in 3 months and was
made in a totally different style (the bandʼs original one of Symphonic-Industrial-Sex-Metal). The album was
released with a folder of 20 pages, the “Dark City” magazine was its informational partner. The presentation

Die So Fluid
will take place in several cities of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In March, 2009 the group signs the contract
on release and sale of an album " The Child of fire " in territory of Australia. By April, 2009 the band plans to
have started working on a new project.

Die So Fluid are now touring Europe again. After a suc-

cessful tour throughout Germany just a few months ago,
this London based trio are poised for increasing numbers
of fans, and also have a brand new CD due out soon!

Page 63
Live Reviews
LACUNA over three decades ago
COIL
for an absolutely fantas-
tic show by Kiss during
the Alive tour, and after
Cobo Arena in Detroit May missing the first tunnel
2, 2009 bus and having to do a
pirouette for a border offi-
Review and photos by:
cer at customs, I was fi-
Eric Eaton
nally standing outside
Cobo.
I was really looking for-
ward to my visit at Cobo
The second stage for the
Arena in Detroit for the
event was assembled at
ʻMusic As A Weaponʼ
the side of the Arena
tour featuring Lacuna
where I found tons of
Coil, not just for Coil, but
fans taking in many of
for the fact that the last
the local acts. I arrived a
time I was in there was
bit later than I wanted to
but since the tattoo approaches and puts a
artists and most of the wristband on my wrist,
booths that were travel- allowing me to get in the
ing with tour didnʼt make line for an extremely
the event, I didnʼt miss quick greet with the band
much. What I ALMOST as well as an autograph
missed was the Lacuna of the CD with Lacuna
Coil signing at the FYE Coil themselves! I was
tent. lucky as there was only
about fifteen minutes left
I noticed a dude with before Killswitch Engage
a bunch of Lacuna Coil was scheduled to hit the
CDʼs and DVDʼs held up table, so I headed in line.
high over his head and
for the price of fifteen It was so great seeing
bucks, I had my copy of them again. They looked
their new CD, Shallow fresh and fantastic.
Life. Suddenly, a woman Cristina appeared trim
and fit and the guys go into the lower level of panse, I started getting myself! Of course, I had
looked like…. well, the Cobo Hall, which is adja- goose bumps. I had to no intention of leaving for
guys! I shook hands with cent to the arena. As I stop in the center, just for anything until LC was fin-
all of them along with descended on the esca- a second, and look way ished. Word had been
kudos for releasing what lator, I was greeted with up to Tier ʻCʼ, the nose going around that the
I thought was a great cd! a HUGE lineup of people bleeders, where I could first two support bands
Although photos with the already waiting, snaking see the exact seat I sat were alternating in cer-
band werenʼt allowed, I itʼs way along the walls of in for Kiss back in 1974. tain venues and at Cobo
was able to take a few the lower entrance and It was an amazing feel- Arena, Chimaira started.
from the back, including down the hall. Fortu- ing.
one of Andi and Cristina nately, they opened up I had seen them once
throwing horns my way. It early and the line moved There was already a before at Harpoʼs in De-
was a great start to a swiftly. good crowd at the rail but troit when they toured
great evening. there wasnʼt anything with Arch Enemy how-
I had no intention of happening on stage so ever on that evening,
Doors were at 6:00 heading for a beer or the getting to the front was their lead singer Mark
p.m. and there were a merch tables as I usually rather easy and, thanks had to leave due to a
couple of Cobo assis- do when I enter. My eyes to two 'fine young canni- death in his family, with
tants outside who where were on the rail up front, bals' holding their own at his vocals being per-
yelling that anyone with but as I wandered on the the rail who made room, I formed by God Forbidʼs
main floors tickets had to main floor amidst the ex- actually made the rail lead singer Byron.
Tonight however, the hear; ʻDown Againʼ. That down five set lists with headbanging!
whole band was present tune is a headbangers black tape. I was at the
and played a pounding delight but I will admit, rail, stage right, where I Live, and at this major
set that included a cou- older in their catalog. knew Marco and Maus venue, the band has im-
ple of songs off of their That was ok though be- would be positioned. proved 100% from their
new album ʻThe Infec- cause after they had fin- There was some chat previous tour both with
tionʼ. Itʼs obvious that ished their excellent half going around while we their stage presence and
Chimaira have certainly hour set, Lacuna Coil waited including some their sound! I was blown
progressed a long way was up. great fans of Lacuna Coil away by the clarity of the
since their days on just behind me. Within an vocals and the guitars
Farmclub and taking into It was awesome amazingly short ten min- and drums were fantas-
consideration that Detroit watching Chimiriaʼs gear utes, Criz was at his tic! The sound truly was
is not that far from their being taken away in drums, horns to the incredible. It was nice to
home base of Cleveland, modules, to be lifted by a crowd, huge smile on his see Maus, Pizza, and
it isnʼt any wonder that lift truck backstage and face, the crowd cheering. Marco switching posi-
they got a great recep- brought to the appropri- Maus, Marco and Pizza tions on stage for a
tion from the crowd that ate area. Lacuna Coilʼs followed and with the be- change, all playing with
now totaled over 10,000 kit was exposed and ginning beats of ʻTo The the crowd, and I was es-
strong! To my disappoint- Luca, their tech, was be- Edgeʼ, out came Andi pecially glad to see Pizza
ment, they didnʼt play the hind getting the sound and, with a bit of a skip, over on my side, allowing
one song I wanted to just right, and laying Cristina, and off we went, me to finally get a shot of
him with my camera. shortage of headbanging close his eyes and hand in Tier ʻBʼ behind me,
material, with the setlist it to a fine young woman was amazing! A great
During their half hour set, including Fragments of to my left. Thatʼs ok bunch for sure.
Marco and Maus were Faith, Fragile, Our Truth thought. There will be
constantly tossing their and their opening To The more. I wanted to get home
picks towards us at the Edge. Reactions varied early so after KSE, I left
rail. Like meat thrown to for the two new songs Off I went to finally Disturbed to the rest of
the lions, many of us they played from Shallow grab a beer ($8.50 for 24 the waiting crowd inside
would scramble to get Life, with Spellbound get- ozs!) and the merch and proceeded to leave
what ever was tossed, ting the better response table. LC offered just one through the doors that
but I had no luck. Once to Not Enough. It was a shirt each for male and were adjacent to the tour
in a while, one would great and exciting set in- female. The first was the buses. Of course, I
land in the photo alley. deed and it was so good tour shirt with the crystal wanted to try and identify
The security dudes had to see them live again. grenade on the front and which bus was LCʼs and
no problem grabbing dates on the back. The possibly say thanks to
them and handing them They finished off with other had a fantastic any of the band mem-
to someone at the rail, Our Truth, and then Comilies sunflower on bers that might be hang-
usually one of the fine thanked the crowd, the front and the song list ing. Once outside and
looking women enjoying throwing water bottles from the CD on the back. with three tour buses
the show. Luckily, one of and a couple of towels to It was really sweet. parked way over to my
them was kind enough to the crowd with big smiles left, I noticed to my right
give me a Maus on their faces. I didnʼt I stayed for the Kill- a lone bus parked along
pick. Itʼs impressive with see if Criz had thrown his switch Engage set, stay- the curb with the waters
ʻShadow Lifeʼ printed on drumsticks, but he might ing around the center of the Detroit River and
the front and ʻMaus 09ʼ have. The crowd of near the soundboards my hometown of Wind-
on the back. A sweet ac- 10,000+ was cheering and from here I could un- sor behind them. There,
quisition to be sure and and it was so cool to see derstand just why La- sitting in the drivers seat
will be hanging around a group of people this cuna Coil sounded so was Marco with what
my neck very soon! size make noise for excellent. The acoustics looked like a computer or
While Andi performed them. Bravo! for Cobo Arena are made blackberry on his lap. He
solos, Cristina would for sound and their sys- noticed me and waved
play one far corner of the I hung around the rail tem is totally sick, with with a smile on his face,
stage, then the other to for a few minutes and the ambience of the then got back into his
the crowd that had filled was hoping to secure arena just right. I was in business. I was going to
the upper edges of Tier one of those setlists, shear heaven listening go over but decided he
ʻBʼ at Cobo. Then, vice eyeballing Maus and from the center. Kill- was busy and relaxing
versa! Yes, their stage Marcoʼs copy, which was switch was really good and Iʼm sure the others
presence has improved the closest to me. A tech and had a sweet back- were exhausted too, so I
greatly! for Killswitch Engage drop made of three or left, hitting the tunnel bus
was working there and four huge light panels back to Canada with
They played six proceeded to rip it off the that provided an excel- Spellbound playing
songs, all from Karma- floor and just fling it to lent background for their within my head all the
code and Shallow Life, the crowd without look- set. It was obvious that way back. No problems
and taking into consider- ing. It didnʼt go far, land- many in the crowd were as, judging from their
ation the Detroit Rock ing on the top of an amp there to see them play, performance and the
City crowd, of which directly behind one of the judging by the amount of crowd reaction to it, Iʼm
Cristina happen to men- security dudes. A few of KSE shirts floating sure theyʼll be making
tion, it was a wise us brought it to his atten- around the crowd, and their way to Detroit Rock
choice. The place roared tion and he was more the reaction from the City sometime again
for them. There was no than happy to grab it, fans, especially the ones very, very soon!
Live Reviews
weaker by the minute this
operation has become a
Operation Downfall. In-
deed that being the name
to suite them best this Los
Angeles based metal act
has brought the blood from
the operation state straight
to the floors of the many
venues across the Los An-
geles County. For instance
at last nightʼs event up in
the Valley a handful of
metal heads from females
to males of all ages, came
out to support the local
metal acts just eager to be
heard. One act dishing out
the goods was this local
metal act known as White
Silence and then of course
were all upbeat and in
your face, especially
"Robert Paulsen," and
"(FATE)." All in all it was a
night of total massacre
and blood drenching good-
ness you surely will not
want to miss out on, So be
sure to catch Operation
Downfall on their remain-
ing dates because blood is
limited!
Set List:
To Be Forgotten
New Breath
The Architect
Bred For Control
Out Of Nothing
Myth Of Progress
Robert Paulsen

OPERATION
Operation Downfall who (FATE)
yourself on the operation blew up the place during

DOWNFALL
table watching your body their 30 minute set up get-
being pulled left and right, ting the crowd running in
leading this bloodshed to circles all over the club-
one solution, this is the house. "To Be Forgotten,"
By Natalie Perez end of your life. As you started the craziness going
feel your body becoming into a total of 8 tunes that
Itʼs a clear, cold, evening
as your hurrying down the
freeway at maximum
speed trying to get to your
destination on time. When
all of a sudden your desti-
nation breaks its course
and you are on a one way
trip to the blood bank or
worse the operation table.
The ambulance pulling up
besides the wreckage
pulling your carcass onto
the stretcher as your soon
wheeled into the double
doors of the hospital wing
your life on the end of its
last cycle. When you find
yourself awake and reality
sinks in youʼre not only in
the hospital, but you got
Live Reviews

THE ical thing to do consider- since it was Sunday, I With my hunger satis-

BIRTHDAY
ing the nature of the found the traffic much fied and my thirst
beast that touring must lighter than what one quenched, I headed for

MASSACRE
be. Well, perhaps for would normally find on the queue where I was
most bands, but for that the interconnecting high- greeted by three ʻghoulsʼ
ball of ways than lead to the who entertained the
The Mod Club May 17,
industrial/techo/metal en- front doors of the Mod crowd and the pedestri-
2009
ergy that The Birthday Club. A small crowd has ans promoting the theme
Massacre are, coming already started to form on of the night, that being
Review and photos by:
home is a celebration that the ascending ramp to the ʻViva Los Muertosʼ, where
Eric Eaton
is to be shared by the en- entrance and I was a cou- fans could dress up in the
You would think that tire base of home crowd ple of hours early, so I form of death, repre-
after weeks of performing fans. headed to a small corner sented by the skull. For
night after night for their café called the Sicilian an all ages show featur-
fans on the road, a band … and celebrate they did! where the veggie soup ing The Birthday Mas-
would finally start to un- was very tasty with an ice sacre with support
wind once arriving home. The 400 km. drive to cold beer. coming from Purr and A
Surely it would be the log- Toronto was smooth and Primitive Revolution, this
Live Reviews
shoots.

Then, with a hint of mist

in the air, the lights were
lowered save for a few
spotlights as Rhim took to
his kit with a slight wave
to the cheering crowd, his
band mates following.
Then, with the rhythmic
beats of the opening,
Chibi bounded on stage,
waving to the fans,
smiled, winked, then
lurched down towards the
floor for the opening of
ʻRed Starsʼ …. and we
were off!

In the many concerts Iʼve

attended, I have never
witnessed a band more
was going to be fun. Another poster offered drummer Karli to finish energetic and fan active
was for the Viva Los things off, there was no as The Birthday Mas-
With the doors open Muertos event, screened doubt that this band kept sacre, especially with a
and the line moving well, on parchment paper with the crowd in a very active crowd filled with young
it wasnʼt long before I was inks that seemed raised mood judging by the re- fans at an all ages show!
inside the venue. Wan- in black and yellow. I sponse they received. Chibiʼs interaction with
dering onto the main floor found this well worth the them is priceless at times
brought into my view an five-dollar asking price. After an excellent set with hugging, hand hold-
extremely large stretched from alternative rockʼs ing, messing hair, singing
canvas propped upon an The first two bands, APR, the crowd began to together with them on the
equally large easel where Purrr and A Primitive Rev- develop more to the stage microphone, or mugging
anyone could contribute olution, were an excellent and looking back from my for an ensemble of cam-
art of one kind or another opening combo for the position in front; I could eras all within inches of
with an indelible marker. ambience of the crowd, see that attendance had her face.
After adding my contribu- and I was quite im- swelled to what must
tion, I headed to the pressed with Purrr, a have been capacity, in- Owen and Rainbow
merch tables at the back threesome that also calls cluding a private party also contribute to this vi-
where I found three nice Toronto their home base. going on in the upper sual storm. Owen spin-
shirts being offered by Their industrial metal was level. The place was liter- ning continuously with his
TBM as well as their addictive and Sam Cush ally packed! To my left keytar at hand or creep-
Show & Tell tour poster, on the noise was really and right at the stage, ing completely off the
stickers and of course, impressive. Sampling young fans, many with floor and upon his key-
their current release, that bass was done on the painted skull faces, board, and Rainbow mak-
being the Show and Tell other side of the stage by waited in anticipation ing a few of his many
live cd recorded in 2007 their guitarist Roger while chatting and fidget- fantastic, perfectly timed
in Hamburg, Germany. Sader and with their ing with their point nʼ jumps while spring water
Live Reviews

dribbled out of the side of

from their catalog includ- lighting. The timing was rail earlier in their per-
his wide, painted grin. All
ing ʻTo Die Forʼ, which I perfect and it was obvi- formance of ʻLoverʼs
the while M. Falcore, per-
was especially looking ous that the lighting tech Endʼ, except it was from
forming to one side, smil-
forward to seeing live for knew their music well. the younger set!
ing at the girls reachingthe first time. I had moved The strobes were espe-
for him when Chibi isnʼt from my position at the cially effective on TBM With Chibi making her
around. Though a bit stage to almost halfway considering all of the exit with Walking With
under the weather ac- back so the younger fans movement that they do Strangers and while the
cording to an announce- could get in closer to on stage. It was simply guys finish off the ending,
ment by Chibi, O.E. stuckChibi, and so I could sam- excellent entertainment. the hoard of fans that
it out and did what he ple the quality of the Their cover of ʻI Think filled The Mod Club
needed to do to entertainsound system, which was Weʼre Alone Nowʼ was began to cheer, loudly
the fans with his backingquite decent. From this joined by many of the and consistently. Such a
vocals and bassing near position I could see how older fans back where I great response from the
perfect. great the light show was was standing who were home base deserves an
with The Mod Clubʼs fine singing word for word encore and they did not
They played an ex- array of spots, servos, with Chibi. Of course, the disappoint, coming out to
tended range of 16 songs strobes and specialty same was found up at the perform Blue and Happy
Live Reviews
Birthday, both of which for the home crowd was the merch table and While driving home on
were not on the set list. over. I had noticed that looked for any of the band the highway with the
Blue was almost dramatic there was five set lists members of TBM to ap- sounds of their live cd
with the emotion that distributed on stage be- pear. I had seen Rhim at playing, I suddenly real-
Chibi put into her growl- fore the set began and the front of the stage but ized something. I had just
ing in the chorus com- after Happy Birthday, security was insisting that attended an all ages,
bined with the bit of their tour tech quickly everyone leave due to an- packed crowd for a show
vigorous moshing that gathered them up and other party to be held late by The Birthday Mas-
was going on in the mid- went along the stage in the evening. Since it sacre, and not ONCE did
dle of the pit. handing them out ran- was a long drive home, I I see a set of cute, fuzzy
domly. I missed my decided not to wait any rabbit ears!! Not ONCE!!!
With Chibi off the stage chance but there will be longer and left with the
and Owen and O.E. liter- other performances to satisfaction of seeing one
ally letting the fans in see and other setlists to hell of a fantastic perform-
front play their instru- get. ance by The Birthday
ments for the last notes of Massacre in celebration
Happy Birthday, this treat I picked up my booty at of coming home from a
grueling tour.
Live Reviews Page 72

AIDENʼS man of goth punk rock 'n'

TICKET TO
roll sensation Aiden, the
audience replied "No"

HELL
along with cheers and
shouts then WiL remarks
"Oh well itʼs about God,
too bad there is no such
By: Natalie Perez
thing." as he tosses the
book over his shoulder
Aiden the Seattle boys
and the band breaks into
that thought they could
the remainder of their
did. Accomplishing four
set. Coming out of Seat-
LP's with constant tour-
tle who knew that these
ing from all over the
intense and aggressive
world being on magazine
four young talents had
covers and interviews ga- ment "Knives," entitled awaiting the fun and ex-
what it takes to create
lore; who would ever "Scavenger of the citement that awaited the
such angry music. That is
think that these goth rock Damned," along with conclusion of the night.
what Will has been
and rollers would still be "Killing Machine," that As the song broke into “I
asked repeatedly in his
standing to this day? kept the energy impacted Set My Friends On Fire,”
current interview may-
Many may not have and flowing. When their the two halfʼs came to-
hem but his response
heard of these rock and set hit mid-way point the gether smashing against
"I'm not angry, I'm afraid."
rollers, but their aggres- crowd chanted “Aiden, one another some going
sion and intensity alone Aiden, Aiden,” as the up into the air while oth-
Who wouldn't be afraid
sets the scene for their band freshened up briefly ers scrambled to get up
especially how the cur-
musical performance that and ran back onto the off the ground as the
rent economy is affecting
they captured the night stage to conclude their band continued to rock 'n'
us both health wise and
they brought it all home set for the night with not roll their way until the
moneywise we will all fall
on their latest but minia- one, but two tracks in very end. WiL hopping
straight to the depths of
ture tour known only as store. onto the floor while oth-
hell. Never having the
"Your Ticket To Hell!" tak- ers hopped into the stage
chance to witness "The
ing place at Hollywood's The audience accepted singing, dancing and ex-
Last Sunrise," was the in-
very own Knitting Fac- the bandʼs departure and pressing themselves in
troduction tune that got
tory, Aiden rocked the continued to rant and every way possible Aiden
the entire Knitting Fac-
jammed packed crowd rave through the first of in the end drawing in the
tory in Hollywood flowing
with crowd surfers, pit the two songs remaining intensity that will blaze
with complete energy,
dancing, and stage div- and then hell itself on until their light is burnt
sweat, and tears. As the
ing mayhem from all an- opened up from under- out under the worse cir-
band broke into a short
gles possible. Why don't neath us as WiL wraps cumstances.
but simple 45 minute set
you jump in on all the fun up the night “We are
list that consists of the
and excitement while Aiden and we will see
old, new, and newest
everything is still fresh you on this summerʼs
mixture of tunes, "The
and burning in the fiery Vanʼs Warped Tour
Last Sunrise," "Die Ro-
blaze of hell! 2009!” “Now everyone
mantic," "Teenage
Queen," We Sleep For- knows what this is right?”
"Did somebody loose a as the entire floor split
ever," newest single off
book?" shouts WiL front into two halfʼs everyone
their fourth accomplish-
 Sick of politics? When
thinking of Iran you prob-
ably don't consider that region of the world as
being an alternative rock hotbed. After all, the
simple act of performing rock music there can
lead to a public flogging, time in prison or
harsh fines. That's where Hypernova is com-
ing from.

Myspace.com/hypernova
CD Reviews
Page 74

on choice radio stations. ing an album. What ever Myspace.com/destrophy

You can here the 80ʼs you do please check this Myspace.com/morbidmiller
roots playing a major part band out; it will change
in this song. The very next your life. Destrophyʼs
track “March of the Dream- “Way of the World” is a
less” leaves off were the metal masterpiece!
former left, but with an up-
beat rhythm blending into ~Morbid Miller
some badass groove that
will break your neck if your
not careful. The album is
DESTROPHY
made up of 15 blistering
“Way of your World”
hot tracks, some old and
some new. Making The
This album is real! It con-
Way of your World a com-
nects with your innermost
pilation of their best songs
self and lets it breathe.
to date; off their old demo
Some may ask who is De-
recordings here comes the
strophy? They are one of
goosebumps “Why I Hate
the most promising bands
Goodbye” which is one of
in the country who have
my favorite songs from
shared the stage with the
these guys it sendʼs chills
likes of Disturbed, Seven-
all through my body when-
dust, Avenged Sevenfold,
ever I here it. “Eye for
Papa Roach, Strapping
Eye” is an amazing song
Young Lad, Dope, Buck
that will keep you head
Cherry, and hundreds
banging and thinking
more. They have played
about your main priorities
major festivals in front of
in life, lyrics on the chorus
thousands and have re-
“This is my heart, anyone
cently picked up a spon-
can see, this belongs to
sorship from Jagermeister.
me” makes you want to
They have been touring
fight for what you want in
around the Midwest since
this life and donʼt take no
the mid 90ʼs evolving their
for an answer. Now for the
sound into what they are
show stopper which is also
today, which is aggressive
one of my favorite old De-
heavy metal with melodic
strophy songs of all time
hooks. They have one of
“Rise Again” the intro is so
the most intense live
fucking brutal that, if you
shows that I have ever
donʼt like this song than I
seen. This album is a
donʼt like you. Itʼs like
solid non-stop release
that… the chorus is an-
from beginning to end.
other spine chiller giving
Title track “The Way of
the listener the true mean-
your World” is a prime ex-
ing of melody and brutality!
ample of their mainstream
This album is the best of
rock potential. A very
the best and something
catchy tune that can be
that every unsigned artist
heard across the country
should shoot for when writ-
CD Reviews
ANOTHER WAY OF
LIFE
(Self Titled)
Another Way of Lifeʼs self
titled debut CD delivers to
your ears another fresh
look at rock with a twist.
Classic rock at it finest but
with a distinctive mix of
metal, rock and touches of
soul are found throughout
the twelve tracks. The
band lists many influences
and that is evident with the
awesome mixture of writ-
ing and performance
found in this CD.
It is difficult to pick just
one contribution that
makes this all work so well
but the lead vocals that
vary from velvety tones to ~Macavity
some that are mechani-
cally altered for effect defi-
nitely stand out with the
backing vocals and music
a very close second. Lis-
tening to some of the bal-
lads makes you feel you
are listening to a mix of
the Seal and Paul Stanley
singing articulately well
written lyrics. When you
hit the well balanced mix
of full on rock tunes
though, you definitely feel
you are listening to a great
combination of Matchbox
20 and Five Finger Death
Punch. This is well illus-
trated in“32205” with intri-
cate instrumentation and
amazing vocals to compli-
ment the changeups
throughout the tune. “What
Will Be Left” and “Fade
Away” are easily the best
showcases of the talent
within all the members of
this band. Both start with
brilliantly executed music
and smooth vocals and
move quickly to hard driv-
ing rock with great riffs,
machine gun drumming
and a solid bass line that
is complimented with
edgier vocals. The CD has
a great balance of ballads
and rock tunes, with some
tunes encompassing both,
that keeps your interest
throughout and makes
your choice of favorite
tune all the harder to de-
cide. Fortunately, Another
Way of Life has given us
another way of listening to
rock that is fresh and ex-
ceptional.
stand outs for the demon-
stration of what this band
is capable of throwing out
with a bit more commercial
appeal while still holding
tight to their signature
crashing drums and a new
breed of Guns ʻn Roses
style of shredding guitars
along with angry and opin-
ionated lyrics and vocals.
MONGREL The vocals are most no-
“Fear, Lies & Propaganda” ticeable, along with the
music, for the raw emotion
Mongrel offers up a fifteen heard within these two
track debut CD that grabs tracks. “The World Loves a
you, as their name might Tragedy” truly demon-
suggest, like a rabid dog strates how all the ele-
rock album that is anything ments of this band come
but a purebred, boring together equally to show
rock offering. Although they have the goods to
they classify themselves perform any tune they
as Punk and Rock they do write with kick-ass dedica-
have those and much tion and energy. Forget
more in their sound. There about getting a pure bred
is a heavy dose of angry and head for a Mongrel
death metal and hints of CD and headbang your
southern rock throughout way through punk, rock
this headbanging CD that and metal.
has you wondering which
tune to listen to over and ~Macavity
over again. They definitely
serve up a healthy dose of
views on politics, religion
that includes immolation,
relationships, and world
events in their own angry
attention-grabbing way
much as a hungry mutt
would attack a bone and
fight to the death for it.
“Dyslexia Alchemist” is
definitely one of the stand
out tracks of the CD with
Hetfield-ish vocals articu-
lating strong lyrics and ac-
companying amazing
music. “Houdini” and
“Bound to Crash” are both
CD Reviews backing vocals and har-
Page 76

monies as well as their

signature tight melodies
and lyrical hooks wrapped
in innovative instrumenta-
tion.

Rarely do you find a CD

where you want to listen to
every tune without skip-
ping at least a few tunes
FASTBALL
that just seem filler. Not at
“Little White Lies”
all the case in “Little White
Lies” They lull you with a
Fastball took five years to
softer melodic rock sound
write, record, produce and
in a tune like “Always
mix their first album since
Never” that encompasses
“Keep Your Wig On.” “Lit-
synths, violins, acoustic
tle White Lies” was worth
and electric guitars. But
the wait! There are no lies
just when you think you
or deception, as the title
will hear a complete pop
would suggest, within this
CD they pull “White Noise”
album but great music that
out and show you they
has evolved Fastball even
know how to play some full
further as a top quality
on rock exceptionally well.
band capable of providing
They leave you wanting
a full CD of great tunes,
more as any really profi-
each worthy of being re-
cient band would do with
leased as a single. It is
an unexpected ending to
hard to pick a favorite from
the CD in “Soul Radio” that
the CD and took several
shows yet another versa-
listens to come up with a
tile and innovative side to
list of tunes that really
Fastball that is much more
spotlight their versatility
soulful sounding.
and growth.
It was worth the wait and
They have retained their
worth listening to the
unique and individual
whole CD from start to fin-
genre of a mix of pop,
ish over and over.
rock, retro and as they de-
scribe “Vulcan mind meld
~Macavity
harmonies.” “The Malcon-
tent” and “Angelie” show
just how far this band has
honed its sounds and yet
remained true to its roots
and original writing skills
and talents. Both tunes
have outstanding lead vo-
cals but with awesome
OPERATION
DOWNFALL
www.myspace.com/operationdownfall

By: Natalie Perez

The infection has begun. What could be more

entertaining than a raging infection that could
possibly spread and spread with no cure
available? Well there is one cure to solve this
problem, why not listen to some metal music
worthy of your time. Presented by some doc-
tors who learned from the very best. That's
why you are now in the hands of the Opera-
tion Downfall team and they're about to spill
their guts all over you. The entire band con-
ducted an interview with me after their set in
Los Angeles at the Cobalt Cafe.

MUEN: Can you briefly summarize how the band

formed and what you do in Operation Downfall?

Mike: I met up with a couple of guys and started play-

ing. There were some line-up changes here and
there, and Bobby and I kept on going. Chris joined
the band and then recently Eric came in about 5
months ago. We have a pretty strong line-up now.

MUEN: Your lyrics are infused with heavy detail

and raw emotion. What is it that normally gives
you inspiration when writing lyrics, and is there a
concept behind the music you create?
Eric: It's been great, everyone likes it. We're spread-
ing the infection and getting a lot of positive re-
sponses.
Chris: There is a story behind the album, but you
have to buy the CD to hear the story. Show up at our
shows! We're really proud of the reaction so far, and
have some new material we're writing up for the next
album.
MUEN: Your new album 'Virulent,' is coming out.
How has the reactions been thus far? What can
fans expect when they listen to your music?
Bobby: All the reactions thus far have been going
well. All the kids are enjoying our music.
MUEN: How do you think you will affect the music
scene you are part of? What are your thoughts on
the growing popularity in it as well?
Bobby: We're trying to be unique. There are a lot of
bands on MySpace and we're really hoping that the
kids enjoy the music.
MUEN: Many of your songs are so hard and in-
tense that I am sure they translate well into a live
setting, taking on a whole new life in front of a live
audience. How does it make you feel when the
emotion and power that you envisioned in the
recording studio, come to life while playing in
front of a crowd?
Mike: We try to put on an intense show, I mean
recording all the time, you know, we try to bring the
medical theme into the live show and on our My-
Space as well. The blood bags on the drum sets, etc.,
we're just trying to get as aggressive as we can live.
We play with as much live energy as we can, and
play as hard as we can.
far? And why?
Mike: We'd like to play with Lamb of God, Slipknot;
another band would have to be Metallica because it's
Metallica.
Bobby: We have yet to tour, but when we play shows
we have to tell the kids we're not touring, just playing.

MUEN: What are the upcoming plans for Opera- MUEN: Every band has its musical influences.
tion Downfall? What are some of the other bands and artists that
have greatly influenced you guys and your
Band: Just to play out as much as we can, build up music?
our fan base and branch out more. We'd like to do a
tour... we had one aimed for the summer, but it got in Mike: I like rock like Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw, and
the way of our jobs and what not... hopefully in the then our drummer listens to real music.
Winter we'll be able to get out. Then we will try to get Bobby: I like listening to Tool.
on more tours with bigger bands and then take over
the world!!!! MUEN: What's your reaction when/if a fan told you
a very meaningful statement such as "Your music
MUEN: How has Myspace and the internet im- changed my life?" Has this ever happened to
pacted your band, and do you think downloading you?
helps or hinders the artists?
Band: It's amazing.
Mike: Myspace has helped a lot with promoting and Eric: There is this kid that went back and re-recorded
we try and go promoting outside of Myspace as well, our songs with his own vocals and plans to come out
but people reply on Myspace at least. There are a lot here next month to check us out.
of bands on here though. Everyone is on here, so Chris: It's always nice when someone says something
we're not saying anyone is good or bad (We're Awe- nice about a song so we always try to just focus on
some) but what's going on with Myspace is over satu- the music and that keeps us going.
ration. As for downloading, it increases our popularity
and then they go and tell their friends about us so it MUEN: All of that passion that you play with must
all works out. be tough on you physically. How do you prepare
for the physical demands of a tour?
MUEN: What is the toughest lesson you ever
learned in the studio and on the stage? Band: We go through a lot of stretching and then a lot
of bands ask us what we're doing?? Oh there stretch-
Mike: We've learned a lot from working in the studio. ing no wonder, my neck and body is always hurting.
We went in and recorded our album and spent three
days just recording random tracks, but weren't happy MUEN: Anything else you'd like to add?
with those and got rid of them. So we went back in
and rehearse and there are so many things we Band: All we have to say is the infection has begun.
wanted to do, and so many other things we had Thanks for the interview, great questions you really
learned and picked up, it was hard to sit and pick and made us think. Why did you make us think? (Laughs)
really focus on it.
Chris: We've all learned a lot about practice and all
the regular stuff bands have to go through and what
goes on behind the show.
Eric: The important thing that I learned is that you
never play a show unless it is set to go, because
shows always get cancelled.

MUEN: What bands would you like to tour with

and who has been your favorite to tour with this Page 79
Whitechapel you can have a list of
like a gazillion of them.
really heavily. Plus we ac-
tually shot our music
doing good.

By Jeanne Thomas (JET) video at this venue as MUEN: Have you ever
Haha Yeah right. well. So that's just a cou- been to DollyWood
Interview with Alex ple of things that all add there?
MUEN: Is there anyone up, and allowed us to
MUEN: Is the New Eng- you really want to see claim a slot in this yearʼs Yeah yeah! I used to go
land Metal and Hardcore during this tour? tour. there all the time when I
Festival the biggest was a kid. My family used
event you have ever I'm really stoked to see All MUEN: Are you all from to go all the time. It's like a
partaken in? That Remains,They are an TN? really red neck Disney
amazing band, they are World. It has mountain
I don't know if it's the headlining today and this Yup themed attractions. I loved
biggest but it's definitely is their hometown, so I am it as a kid.
big and we are stoked to sure it's gonna go over MUEN: What's the metal
be playing here and being huge. scene like there? MUEN: What made you
part of it. We played decide to be in a band
some really big Festivals MUEN: How did you get Oh its alright. There's not and what were your par-
in Europe with our Never chosen to play this tour really a lot of local type ents reactions to all
Say Die tour as well. anyway? bands, but there are a this?
couple of bands that are
MUEN: So now when Well we are friends with native from our area like It was just one of those
you go on your myspace the Promoter that books it Straight Line Stitch and things that kind of hap-
and you list all the every year, Scott Lee. So Ten Years. And there are a pened. I had been playing
bands you played with that along with just touring couple of bands that are on and off in a lot of bands
since I was like 15. I did Death Metal? get to hear a part of what angry?
like 2 years of college and we're doing that way.
decided it just wasn't me. Yeah, we throw in what- Yes.
ever we can, death metal, MUEN: Whatʼs your fa-
MUEN: To do what? metal core, progressive. vorite song to perform? MUEN: Itʼs been almost
a year since the last cd...
Graphic design MUEN: Progressive? Ahh.. “Possession.” Its the are you writing for a new
Yikes! heaviest song we do. I am one now?
MUEN: Wow, so at least all about the heaviness.
you can design all the No no not like Dream The- Yes we are actually. We
graphics for your web- ater. More like a MUEN: About your last are writing now for the
sites right? Meshugga. cd, ʻThis Is Exile,ʼ was new cd and we are shoot-
that a concept cd? ing for a January record-
Yeah yeah, sort of... MUEN: What makes you ing. We are pretty excited
When we started this band different than any other Yeah, the singerʼs lyrics about that. We are ready
I never thought it would Death Metal Hardcore kind of float through and to get in there and crank it
get to the point of where band? tell a story there. out.
itʼs at now. We were just
writing music, started tour- We try to go the extra mile MUEN: Do you like con- MUEN: What are you
ing and got noticed by our and make our music a lit- cept cds? doing after this festival?
first label, and put out a tle more interesting for the
cd. Yadda yadda, you listener. We try to use dif- Yeah, I think it makes the We have one more day on
know the rest. My Parents ferent aspects of music cd more epic and more in- the Suffocation Tour and
really wished I would have like cool effects and stuff. teresting. It kind of makes then we get to go the hell
just finished college and We try to make our music it a more dramatic experi- home. We get to go home
stuff like that, but they are more atmospheric instead ence for the listener. for about 2 months and
really happy that this thing of just chugging on trying then we head to New Jer-
is becoming more suc- to make the riffs heaver to MUEN: Who does most sey to play Bamboozle
cessful now. It would have please the listener. of the writing? Fest.
been one thing if we were
working hard and failing, MUEN: Has this always Its a group effort. It starts MUEN: Is there anything
but we are fine so yeah been the genre you have with the guitars and then you want to say to your
they are alright with it. played or have you done we go to the drummer and fans?
other stuff like metallic finally we take it to the
MUEN: Is this all you polkas? singer who will write lyrics Yes. Thank you for all the
do? that fit. Rather than writing support. Keep your eyes
Haha! When I first started lyrics and trying to fit a open for all the tours and
Yes this band is all we do playing in bands I was a song around them. It flows watch for the cd to drop!
skate punk kid, so I liked much better for us this
MUEN: Where did the bands like NOFX. They in- way. MUEN: Well thank you
name come from? fluenced what I played at very much. Have fun at
the time. MUEN: Are you cool with the fest today!
The name comes from a his lyrics?
district in London where MUEN: Have you ever We will. And thank you!
Jack the ripper did all his heard your songs on the Oh yeah. Every now and Hope you enjoy the
deeds. We just thought it radio? then we throw in a “what show!Hi everyone... it's
applied to our music really the fuck?” But he's very been a long time since
well. With us being a Yeah, it was pretty cool. good. We rarely have any we've last updated, so
death metal band and Weʼve been to XM twice to kind of problem. His lyrics here it is, much overdue.
what not. do on-air interviews. That flow well.
was really cool because
MUEN: Is that how you all our friends and family MUEN: Would you say
describe your music? could also listen in. They that your music is
 need to breathe
www.Myspace.com/needtobreathe

FALL BACK PLAN

Fall Back Plan have se- filming a multi-part docu- Also on that bill are
cured some great spon- mentary for TV. In the Cake, Robin Thicke,
sorships with Buckle, meantime, shoot them Dionne Warwick and
J-Shoes and Live Me- an email, or go check Robert Randolph and
chanics. Also, the band out a show. the Family Band.
have finished writing for
the new album! Fall Back Plan will be
live at ArtScape in Balti-
If that isnʼt enough, the more on July 18th (Sat-
band is in the process of urday).
69 EYES

The 69 Eyes on Sunset Boulevard in Silverlake, Los Angeles in April 2009

Photo by Ville Juurikkala

For all you blood thirsty fans, the new 69 Eyes album is *nearly* done !
Read the bandʼs Royal Artist Club blog for more insight.

69 Eyes will also be present for the Download Festival 2009 in the UK, their first
ever Australian tour this June, also The Rock festival in
Germany, and more!
Myspace.com/theofficial69eyes

Suzie Q Myspace.com/soulofpain
Live Reviews
fectly with the music.
So many times in this
genre of music the vox
is off timed and just
sounds like some
pissed off guy ranting
over disorganized
music. Not the case
here, Yigaels Wall
found the magic.
"Requiem for the Liv-
ing" also starts out ex-
tremely dark then
thrashes the shit out
of you. This is what is
so unique about
these guys. One min-
uet you swear you are
listening to seasoned
death metal and then
the next minute they
are shredding the
place to pieces with
their heavy thrash riffs.
The best part is the

Yigael's
singer remains con-
sistent in his vox. He
about them." Guess I bers they will be a

Wall
never goes into that
was wrong! force to be reckoned "thrash rap" like most
The band is under with. hybrid bands in this
new management,has I love the dark bru- genre.
added a new drummer, tality of death metal People are starting
and last I checked and when these guys to take recognition as
By Jeanne Thomas were still searching throw in their Bay area well. They are slowly
(JET) for a bass player. style of thrash it really getting endorsements.
Singer Shane Stillwa- is something extraor- The most recent is
I must admit that ter, their former vocal- dinary. Halo Guitars. The
when the request ist, has returned , and The beginning of band states that" they
came in to do a little Vincent Vidavici is still the song " Broad" is are getting all their is-
write up On a Thrash/ there writing and tight. It's where Yi- sues situated "and
Death Metal band my moving this band in a gaels Wall open up that this will be the
first thoughts were," steady forwards di- the portal to hell, jump "strongest group and
Oh great same old rection with his musi- in, and start thrashing album to dat". Lets
same old where I have cal and lyrical genius. the place. The vox hope they deliver!
to struggle to find Once this band tight- are noting short of Check them out!
something unique ens in the new mem- powerful and fir per- myspace.com/yigaelswall
YVONNE’S WORLD www.myspace.com/Yvonneaddicted
Masaki Murashita
Pivotal Rage Lite:
"These guys are brutal
akin to Arch Enemy and
Carcass and the chords,
solos and riffs are mem-
orable and melodic not
too far removed from
Megadeth. The result is
a extraordinary merger
of melodic death metal
and Bay Area thrash.
Who Needs A Shepherd
is a solid collection of
furious, venomous
thrash metal that will
have even the most sea-
soned metal veterans
take notice. Are you lis-
tening Nuclear Blast,
Century Media and Metal
Blade? Listen to Who
Needs A Shepherd and
Iʼm sure youʼll concur." -
Ruben Mosqueda

MetalBite:"Who needs a
Shepherd?" is by far the
truest form of the metal
spirit I have come
Masaki Murashita - Vo- 'METAL ARTIST OF THE Murashita, drummer across in many years" -
cals/Guitar YEAR' by The Phoenix Travis Thune, bass JD
Jack Fliegler - Lead Gui- Music Awards! Even player Sunao Arai, and
tar more recently, guitarist lead guitarist Jack Extreme Underground
Sunao Arai - Bass Masaki Murashita re- Fliegler have not just Metal Coven: "Hemopty-
Travis Thune - Drums ceived an endorsement sis is a great example of
rooted themselves in the
through Krank Amplifi- a hybrid of modern
classic styles of Metal;
Riding high off the re- cation. Hemoptysis brings the American and European
lease of their 5 song EP, future of Metal!. death and black metal
"Who Needs A Shep- Formed under the fused with 80's era
herd?", Hemoptysis ap- deadly heat of the Ari- "Hemoptysis have what thrash...this metal entity
pear poised to conquer zona sun in 2007, He- it takes to hold their own has a bright future in the
the Metal realm. The moptysis has perfected among the elite of heavy genre." -Chris Rhynard
band continues to re- a unique and pure Metal metal. Throw Who http://www.myspace.co
ceive both internet and sound, distilling old Needs A Shepherd ? in m/hemoptysismetal
terrestrial radio airplay, school Thrash, modern your stereo, then kick http://hemoptysis.metal-
garnering plenty of Death Metal, and other back and watch it all musicpromotions.com/
media attention, and global influences. Gui- burn." -TheSaltyPi-
have been Dubbed tarist/vocalist Masaki rate.com
Page 85
Birmingham, United King- gigs keep them at the fore- I'm not gonna tell you with an idea and jamming
dom front of their fans at home. which one but you can for ages to try and beat it
We caught up with James, probably guess. Political into shape. Somehow we
(Unedited) Ste and Matt to ask them conspiracy is something have this tendency be-
about Third Bullet and we draw on regularly for tween us to know when a
what to expect from them. our lyrical inspiration. song is ready and we
Interview by: Macavity never compromise on any-
MUEN: Hi guys! Thanks MUEN: Fair enough. thing. If we've spent weeks
Third Bullet are easily one for sitting down and talk- Then how is the music writing something and
of the hardest and most ing to MUEN today about written for the band and we're still not happy with it,
visible bands in the Mid- Third Bullet. OK so a by whom? we'll start again. We're not
lands area of the U.K. but usual type of question. one of these bands who
are just beginning to gar- But where did the name TB: I (Matt) write all the churn out 30 average
ner notice with the rest of come from and does it music these lot do jack songs in a week. We'd
the world. Two highly de- have a particular mean- shit! Just kidding. We tend rather craft and hone a
sirable and high profile ing for the band? to write much of the music song to perfection. If it
uses of their music is mak- together once James has doesnʼt sound right, we
ing them much more Third Bullet: The name has come up with a killer riff. don't play it. It does take
known to the rest of the a connection to a well We'll spend sometimes us a while to get a song
world while their frequent known political conspiracy. months, messing around into shape but I (James)
just couldn't put my name
to anything that didn't have
100% of my blood sweat
and frustration in it.
MUEN: Two of you have
been together since you
were 15 years old. How
did you decide on this
lineup with the third and
when?
TB: James and I have
known each other from
school and have always
been in bands together.
Matt (drums) was in our
previous band, and was in-
troduced to us by our old
guitarist. We've settled on
a three piece for a 'less is
more' approach, both in
song writing and sound
and it also gives us a
tighter more raw edge. To
be honest, it's important to
have people you can rely
on and we were the three
most reliable people from
previous bands. And you
get more cash when
there's only three of you
(provided that you sell
records!)
MUEN: Since you have
been together so long,
how do you get along
and stay together as a
band and friends this
long?
TB: Enjoying what we do
and havin a laugh and not
taking ourselves too seri-
ously. James: Being to-
gether this long means
that we've been able to ce-
ment our musical connec-
tion and songwriting
becomes more natural.
Not to say that we don't
have any arguments. Alco-
hol and politics usually melody on a massive playing live, your not really
play a big part. There have scale. Think of Velvet Re- a proper band are you?
been some rather heated volver, Muse and Slayer. And, you never get tired of
moments. Matt: It bores Itʼs relentless. Our pro- hearing people tell you
me shitless! ducer, Gavin Monaghan how great you are!
described it as like being
MUEN: What other bands continuously punched in MUEN: Do you have any
have you been in and do the head! plans to tour in states
you still work with oth- any time soon or are you
ers each of you? MUEN: You have a still building your fan
unique set of influences base in England first?
TB: We mainly concentrate and a love of harmony in
on the Bullet now but at sounds which is not TB: To be honest, if Amer-
one point we had another something you usually ica wants us you can have
band on the go called find in a rock band. How us! Unfortunately, this is
Movin Stills. We had kind did this come about? where we have to treat the
of an early 70's rock thing band a bit like a business.
going on, in the style of TB: We all love bands like As we're self financed,
Fleetwood Mac and Crosby Stills and Nash, we've only got so much
Crosby Stills and Nash. the Beatles, the Eagles, money that we can put in.
But there came a point and all that late 60's early The rest we have to make
when we had to focus on 70's Americana. Harmony through gigging and selling
one band and as the was a major part of that records. If America buys
heavy stuff is in our roots music and so we've drawn enough records then we'll
and hearts the choice was a lot of influence from that be on the first plane over.
easy. Ste and James and itʼs become an impor-
started in a metal band tant part of our sound. It MUEN: Speaking of tour-
from school called Disor- also means that we're able ing, what has been the
der. There was a bit of role to fill out a lot of the sound most unusual or memo-
reversal back then though because sometimes a rable thing to happen at
because Ste was the main three piece can have its a gig?
vocalist and James could- limitations, particularly live.
n't sing a note. We used Basically we draw on our TB: Well we had this gig
to do a few Sepultura and influences and experience in Leicester and one of the
Nailbomb covers. Over the in music to create a more guitarists in the support
last 15 years there's been complete sound says the was bouncing around on
so many bands, from bloke (Matt) who hardly stage when he jumped off
metal to folk, that we've sings! the drum riser and
built up a catalogue of snapped his leg in half at
over 100 songs so don't be MUEN: You have played his shin. You could hear
surprised if you find some many gigs and seem to the snap over the band.
of them out there at some play more than most un- Matt: Yeah, and we never
point in the future. signed bands. What played that night because
drives you to play live the gig got cancelled. One
MUEN: How would you and where do you legged Wanker! James:
best describe your mostly gig? And there was the time
sound to someone that when we played some gig
has not heard you live or TB: At our level, being self and half way through the
on MySpace? funded and unsigned, set the place just erupted.
playing live is the only way The mosh broke into a
TB: In a nutshell its alter- to get our music heard. massive brawl and we just
native, grunge, metal. Playing live is the lifeblood carried on playing through.
However it is riffs and of any band. If you ain't It was like watching a
movie and we were the son Motorcycles picked come about? there?
soundtrack. Rock and roll! one of your tunes to use
as their music for their TB: Taylor has a training TB: There was a time
MUEN: You have sam- newest line of bikes. camp in our home town. when if you were a serious
ples up on MySpace How did such a great ex- His manager, John band you had to be in Lon-
from your forthcoming posure come about? Roberts, heard we were don but things have
album. When can we ex- causing a stink on the changed so much. Even
pect and how are you TB: A guy called Greg metal scene and came to though the music scene in
going to get it to the fans who works for Harleyʼs ad- a few rehearsals. The next Birmingham has taken a
there and here? vertising company came to thing we know, they've bit of a battering of late
a gig and bought a CD. asked us to write a song with venues closing down
TB: We're really pleased Two weeks later they ap- for him to enter the arena there is still a great metal
with how the recording proached us to use “Resis- to. So we wrote Relentless and rock scene and we
went, especially consider- tance is Futile” as they in one rehearsal (believe it love being part of it. We
ing it only took us 7 sleep- though it was perfect for or not), recorded it and be- spent a lot of time driving
less days and nights. The their commercial. Basi- fore we know it its being to and from London doing
sound of the record had a cally we were in the right played at the 02 arena in gigs because we thought
lot to do with our producer, place at the right time, as London to 30,000 people that was the place to play
Gavin Monaghan, who is a they say, and it was just and at every UFC event if you were good and
respected name in British the break we needed and since. Yet another exam- wanted to make it. The
music. As for the release has opened a few doors. ple of being in the right truth is London has some
date, it should be available place at the right time but I of the worst bands we
to download from iTunes MUEN: Do you have a suppose you make your have ever seen and
around the middle of June video planned for the own luck. played with. Itʼs full of pre-
2009. It will also be avail- one of the tracks from tense and ego. James: I'd
able from our MySpace the CD or to showcase MUEN: How useful has move to L.A tomorrow if
and CD Baby. So get buy- the band especially the MySpace been to the the offer was there.
ing! live performances for promotion of the band?
those that cannot see MUEN: What more
MUEN: Understand that you live? TB: MySpace has be- should we expect to see
you are unsigned and come every fans first port from Third Bullet for the
yet have merch and a CD TB: At the moment were of call. Back in the day it rest of 2009?
and dates planned. How exploring a few options. would cost a band a for-
is that coming about One is were trying to get tune to get a website up TB: The album is coming
being without a label? some local students to and running but now its out in June and we plan to
make us a video as a col- free and you can upload tour it in the UK and
TB: Doing it yourself is a lege project and the other music which was unheard maybe Europe. We have
massive commitment and is we do as we've done of about 8 years ago. My-had a lot of interest from
takes a lot of time and ef- with everything else and Space is an essential forsome of the mainstream
fort. You don't just go from learn to do it ourselves. I any band. No other socialrock mags over here due
being a pub band to one don't want to keep harping network can compete with to the Harley thing so that
with merch, gigs, an album on about it but it comes should help. If things go
it. Ste: Itʼs opened up so
release and tour bookings down to money at the end well then maybe get our-
many doors and not just in
overnight. It's a full time of the day and the album the UK. You guys found selves a good support slot
job and means a lot of late was the priority. us. Thatʼs down to My- and plan to record an EP
nights. You learn a lot of either at the end of this
Space. James: And a bit of
things when you do it on MUEN: You have another word of mouth. year or the start of next.
your own and if it works distinction and again un- Matt: Hopefully we prick
can be massively reward- usual for an unsigned MUEN: Changing a bit, the ears of a label some-
ing on all levels. rock band that gives you you have a base in Birm- where and we can do it all
some amazing exposure. ingham U.K. Are there again next year without
MUEN: It seems to be How did the tune for any plans to move or do paying for it!!
working as Harley David- "Relentless" Paul Taylor want to stay based
MUEN: What do you
each like to do when not
playing/writing music?

Ste: Me and Matt play

football for a local team
and enjoy that. Matt: I go
snowboarding as often as I
can, play in the local chess
league and restore antique
furniture. James: I don't do
anything else. Its music
music music. When I ainʼt
trying to come up with a riff
I'm just playing guitar.

MUEN: Is there anything

As most of you
I have not asked that you
think our readers would make you wait, down to the
like to know about Third know, Blameshift we figured we shows. Our new
has taken some
Bullet?
may as well give music will only be
TB: We are a fucking hard time to write and you something to available there for
record some
working and dedicated
band, committed to writing look at. the meantime.
the songs the major labels brand new music. Blameshift just
We recorded at
are too shit scared to re-
lease. It's a shame its announced a new Thank you again
down to the bands like us Vudu Studios in tour that will be for all the support
Long Island and
to do the work the labels
are supposed to do and taking us through over the years.
I'm not surprised the in- had the songs about half the
produced by Mike
dustry is on its arse. The
internet has been a bless- US. We also Blameshift
ing for unsigned bands Watts. Things launched a brand Jenny Mann/Tim
turned out even
and a pain in the backside
for the labels and that new myspace Barbour/Joe
makes me happy. JUST better than we page with new Meyer/James
expected. We'll
BUY THE ALBUM!!!!! It's a
fucking bad ass listen!!!! pics. Check it out Miller
The albums called "R E V be posting some at www.my-
samples of the
E L A T I O N S"
space.com/blame Also check us out
Thanks guys for taking the new songs June shift and drop us on Facebook,
15th, so put the
time to talk with MUEN
today. We look forward to some comments. Purevolume,
seeing and hearing a lot date in your Post our new Imeem, Stickam,
phone!
more from you in the fu-
ture. banner on all Youtube. Buz-
your friends znet, Itunes
And while we pages and get
Interview
with
Frankie
Palmeri
By Morbid Miller

This is pure fucking brutal-

ity!! Emmure is the best
band that I have heard in
a long time!! This band
caught my attention a
couple of years ago with
their first release The Complete guide to Needle Work that they recorded independently.
They have since gone on to sign a deal with Victory Records releasing two full length albums
Goodbye to the Gallows and The Respect Issue. This is not your average metalcore/death-
core/hardcore or whatever you want to label it band. This is raw energy that will change your
life; trust me it has changed mine! Whatʼs truly amazing about Emmure is their intense live
show that empowers the listener by altering their perception of reality into making them feel
like they are ten foot tall! THIS IS THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD! Blending ele-
ments of all genres including Nu-Metal, Metalcore, Hardcore, and just some good old fash-
ioned heavy metal with some badass breakdowns! Thatʼs what Iʼm talking about! This is the
next Hatebreed! MARK MY WORDS…

MUEN: How did Emmure form and how long have you been a band?

Frankie: We formed 2003, we had some member changes but nothing finalized so itʼs been about 6 years
now since the band has been in existence.

MUEN: What was it like as a local band?

Frankie: We were pretty lucky when we first started playing shows and doing DIY demos because we had
MySpace to help promote the band. Our fans could constantly keep checking up on us and checking out our
music to see how we have progressed. We are lucky that we had a good grass roots following early on, es-
pecially in Queens, NY. If it wasnʼt for the New York scene, then we probably wouldnʼt be were we are at
now. It started small but as with anything you put the time into, itʼs going to grow.

MUEN: Who was the first big band that you guys opened up for?

Frankie: I donʼt know man, it depends what perspective that you are coming from. Some bands might be big
to one person but be small to another person. Hatebreed in my eyes is huge but to someone else they
might not be considered that. Our first show we ever played was with E-Town Concrete and that was in
2003. You get to meet all emotions trying to figure was one of the best tours got to do and I wouldnʼt
these people have been out what we do and donʼt we have done. ask for anything better.
through all these walks of like musically but all and
life in the music business all we are very proud of MUEN: Do you find it dif- MUEN: Have you guys
and you take different what we have done for dif- ficult being on the road played over seas yet?
things from it. But like I ferent reasons. Itʼs like I all the time?
was saying the biggest canʼt compare any of Frankie: Yea, we have
band for anyone to give them, and I canʼt tell you Frankie: I think that every been to Europe twice and
loyalty to would be Hate- the exact direction we band goes through what both times were a blast!
breed just because of what were going, because when we are going through right We had some great times
they have done with their you have so much in front now. We are trying to with the bands that we
career. They are larger of you when youʼre first make a name for our- played with and the fans
then life and have really starting as a band you selves, trying to put our were really into what we
stitched themselves to the donʼt know whatʼs right staple in what is consid- were doing and all in all
fabric of hardcore music. yet. But I think the new ered the music industry they were both great times
It has been a real pleasure record we are going to put scene. We obviously want for us. We are hoping to
to be able to play with out is going to be our to get noticed and be rec- go out their again, here
those guys. niche. Itʼs going to be a lit- ognized for what we do, real soon. I wouldnʼt say
tle feature of what the thatʼs why we tour so itʼs a whole another world
MUEN: Hatebreedʼs first bands going to be like. much. If youʼre not on out their, but I will say that
album was the first time I tour, then people are not itʼs a whole new experi-
heard a breakdown and I MUEN: Whatʼs your fa- coming out to your shows, ence.
feel that they gave birth vorite song to play live? then no one is going to
to the break down on know about your band. MUEN: Is Emmure your
that album? Frankie: I donʼt want to You have to stay true to full time job or do you
pick a favorite with the what you are doing and have a normal job when
Frankie: Yea, they have a bulk of vulgar music that you have to stay true to youʼre not on tour?
very influential sound with- we play. To me personally your fans and know that
out question many bands the song “Your more like a you are doing this for the Frankie: No, I hustle on
emulate/ replicate them. friend without the R”, it right reasons. You have to tour basically, thatʼs why
was on our last record, but make it permanent. You Iʼm always on tour, if Iʼm
MUEN: How did you itʼs defiantly one of my fa- donʼt want to be that band not playing shows then Iʼm
guys end up signing with vorite songs to play live that just hits the road for not getting paid! Itʼs my job
Victory Records? musically and it means a the summer and just be you know, itʼs what I do to
lot to me personally/lyri- cool for a minute and make a living. I make
Frankie: We were a DIY cally. thatʼs it. We reach for music and Iʼm very grateful
band that got a little bit of longevity and in time op- for that. Also on another
attention. We caught the MUEN: How did the Atti- portunities will come page, obviously you look
attention of the owner of cus Tour go? You guys where you can slow down for stability and I donʼt
Victory Records and he in- Co-Headlined with Winds the touring after you have have stability because of
vited us to addition. We of Plague right? made a solid name for this life style, but at least I
played for him and some yourself. Take into consid- get to have fun and Iʼm
other people on this small Frankie: Oh, it was amaz- eration a band like the going to keep doing this as
stage, he was impressed ing! We went on stage Deftones. When they were long as I can.
and we signed a contract every night and tons of first starting or getting at-
the very next day. people showed up and tention, they were touring MUEN: Last time I talked
gave their support. We constantly and now they to you, we were at the
MUEN: Tell me a little made lots of friends and play a couple sets a year. Bamboozle Festival in
about some of your al- some good memories that Thatʼs how they survive Orange County, Califor-
bums? I will never forget. Yea, we with the music that they nia and you guys were
really miss those guys, it make. Maybe one day we about to play, what did
Frankie: Truthfully, we was a really fun time and will be their but for right you guys think of that
were going through the to be honest with you it now we are doing what we show?
Frankie: Great crowd! the most fun I have seen out there that would kill to
Getting to play with all the somebody play heavy MUEN: Can you tell me get to do what we do.
west coast bands was a music for that time. Obvi- about your new record? Whatever it is that you are
privilege in itself and we ously, when you get older attracted to do, anything
were playing while some you branch out to different Frankie: Well I donʼt want that you put your time into
monster acts were on. things. I grew up where I to say anything thatʼs in “understand that you have
Taking Back Sunday was would go into a phase detail, but our new record to believe in what you are
playing the same time as where I would only listen is what our band is sup- doing otherwise itʼs just
us and the fact that we to deathmetal, hardcore, posed to be. I think itʼs not worth it”. I think inter-
had a big audience to play noise, or whatever. I have what I always envisioned nally the band and I really
for was amazing. We can been through it all and for the band. Itʼs some- believe in what we are
only hope that maybe one where I am today with thing that Iʼm 100% proud doing.
of these days we will be a music and aspire to be is of and knowing that this is
main stage band. still taken from the bands where you want to be in MUEN: What advice do
that I thought did it best. music is a great feeling. you have for young mu-
MUEN: You guys were So thatʼs what I want to sicians starting out in
the last heavy act to play MUEN: I hate to call it say about the record. Itʼs todayʼs industry?
at the Bamboozle Festi- the Nu-metal genre but I defiantly what our band is
val. feel that it didnʼt get the going to be like. This is Frankie: Love what you
credit that it deserved! our defining record! do and donʼt be afraid to
Frankie: We in a since, People look back on it as take charge in what you
headlined that section of if it was some kind of MUEN: What does the believe in. If you feel that
the festival. It was a great joke like the “80ʼs hair rest of the year look like you have something that is
opportunity! metal phase or some- for Emmure? meant to be bigger then
thing”. run with it. Donʼt let any-
MUEN: Itʼs been docu- Frankie: We have the one discourage you, just
mented that you are a Frankie: Yea defiantly, Warped Tour lined up and because you start small
big fan of the Deftones anything that shines the we have a bunch of tours doesnʼt mean that you end
and the Nu-metal genre, most for the shortest pe- in the works. We are going small.
how has that inspired riod of time for some rea- to be busy for the rest of
your musical career? son gets looked down on. the year. You will catch us MUEN: Anything else
“Oh look it was popular supporting our new record. that you would like to
Frankie: The truth is dude, like 10 years ago and if We are looking forward to add?
I never really thought of a you are into those bands being out there and seeing
band “Oh Iʼm going to lis- now youʼre a joke” be- what people think about Frankie: Check out the
ten to this band because cause the bands are long the new record. new record in August!
of the name or the genre” I gone. To me those bands
listened to whatever music made timeless records. It MUEN: Has their ever
spoke to me the most and goes beyond picking a been a time when you
had the most personality genre and putting them have seriously thought
to it. I listened to rap, into a category. I will prob- about giving it up?
hardcore, punk, metal, ably listen to those bands
anything that I thought was forever. When you put Frankie: Yea, completely I
honest and pure. The one of those records on think that everyone has
bands that I was influ- and you get the same feel- doubts in whatever they
enced the most by are the ing that you got when you do, whether itʼs in music,
bands that put on the best first heard it. fashion or a desk job. You
live show. In my personal second guess yourself es-
opinion, bands like Korn, MUEN: Exactly! Did you pecially when youʼre
Limp Bizcuit, and the ever get into Glass Jaw? young. Iʼm only 22 and I
Deftones had the best live just look forward to whatʼs
show, because they had Frankie: Oh yea, I love going to happen with this
the most energy. It was Glass Jaw! band. There are people
EMMURE
Photo by Jeanne Thomas (JET)
New England Metal & Hardcore Fest
Page 93
‘SEE IT THROUGH’
OUT
JUNE 9, 2009 Myspace.com/thesammustheory
Interview with Mitch Lucker from
Suicide Silence
By: Morbid Miller

The sub-genre known as "Metalcore" has grown as stale as a bunch of turds that have
been sitting in a tin litter box left in the Arizonian heat. Just when you think that you canʼt
take it anymore, Suicide Silence is born and saves the integrity of Heavy Metal. Bone
crunching riffs and thunderous drumming drive a vocalist that Iʼm pretty sure is related to
Lucifer himself. This band is a breath of fresh air for extreme music lovers. Their intense
live shows will sweep you off your feet to get the blood flowing as you're banging your
fucking head as if it were Armageddon. In 2006 Suicide Silence signed with Century Media
Records which is an international label that has spawned such bands as Lacuna Coil, In
This Moment, Winds of Plague, Behemoth, Shadows Fall, Iced Earth, and Diecast. In the
first week that Suicide Silence dropped their major label debut, The Cleansing, it reached
the top 100 on the billboards and sold more than 7,000 records thereby making them the
top selling debut artist for Century Media Records of all time. Since The Cleansing, they
have played over 300 world economy will amp and jam these friends with the owner
shows a year with depend on Suicide Si- heavy ass riffs. We of the club called The
todayʼs top artists. lenceʼs record sales. I didnʼt have a bass Showcase and he
They've played the have already started player or drummer at would put us on with the
the time. We would national acts that would
Mayhem Festival, paying my taxes to
write these songs that play there. One time
Bamboozle Festival, Mitch the Vocalist of were 5-6 minutes long while we were doing a
Spring Breakdown Suicide Silence. with these heavy riffs, show for a national act
Festival, and are get- Thatʼs the only way I after heavy riffs, after and there was like 400
ting ready to play the could get him to heavy riffs. It was fuck- kids at the show and we
infamous Download agree to an interview ing awesome. Then we opened the show and
festival in Europe. with Morbid Miller. slowly recruited the best after our set was over
Suicide Silence was Thanks for taking an of the best from the like half of the kids left
recently named the hour out of your busy local scene. Now we and didnʼt stick around
need another guitar for the headliners. We
“Best New Talent” at schedule to talk to me
player, now we need a had this great following
the Revolver Golden and give me some
bass player, now we from the beginning and
Gods Awards hosted fun pointers. You rock need a drummer, now thatʼs how the word
by Megadeth. I was Mitch!!! Thanks to we need a better bass spread.
fucking blown away Dan their Tour Man- player, now we need a
the first time I saw ager and the rest of better drummer and so MUEN: How did you
these guys live by the the guys in Suicide on…. we kept improving guys end up signing
intense power that Silence! Much re- our line up. We steadily with Century Media?
they bring to the spect!! built the band, making it
stage,and when I was better and better. We Mitch: We actually held
MUEN: How did Sui- started playing local off from signing to a
there to see them
perform at the Golden cide Silence form as a shows and from that label for the longest
band? point on we just played time. We did our own
Gods in Los Angeles our asses off. Since American tours and Eu-
that same power was
Mitch: I used to go to all 2006 we have had the ropean tours. We also
in the room when the local shows and I same lineup. We have put out an E.P. inde-
they played. Itʼs very played in a few other played around 300 hun- pendently that sold very
rare to see a band local bands. In 2003 the dred shows a year since well. We had every label
with the passion that only kind of music that 2006. throwing these con-
these guys display. you could see for metal tracts at us. We were
MUEN: What was it able to be like this con-
This is perhaps the was like shitty fucking
positive hardcore and like playing as a local tract is better than that
hardest working band
in metal today, and I Nu-Metal bands. I was band in Riverside, Cal- one and this contract is
like "This is bullshit. I ifornia? Did you guys better than that one. We
believe Suicide Si-
canʼt be seen in a scene have to work hard to started telling labels that
lence is on their way like this." So Chris get people to come to this label is offering this
to being one of the Garza (Guitars) and I your shows or did all and that. We started a
biggest bands in the went out of my way to of that just come natu- battle between labels
world. Mark my start a band thatʼs just rally? and we ended with Cen-
words: these guys will fucking brutal. We tury Media because
be taking on the world would get together with Mitch: Really, really they stepped it up the
Dethklok style!! Our just a P.A. and a guitar crazy cause we were best.
MUEN: I was listening
to some of your early
demos and I noticed
that you guys incorpo-
rated some Family
Guy samples and on
your 2004 demo and
you have them on
your album cover.
Whatʼs that all about?
Mitch: Well at the very
beginning when the
band was just staring
out, some of the kids
were turned off because
it was like straight up
heavy ass metal; brutal
shit. We wanted to add
something that would
lighten it up a little so
itʼs not so serious. We
wanted to stray away
from the perception that
we were these big bad
brutal dudes. We do this
for fun, so we wanted to
lighten it up a little bit.
We are all about our live
show so that was one of
the things that we would
incorporate into our live
show.
MUEN: Was your
album The Cleansing
the best selling debut
artist for Century
Media Records?
Mitch: I think itʼs still the
best selling album for a
debut artist. It was on
the top 100 of the bill-
boards and its seriously
still selling like crazy
and we have no idea
why. I think itʼs honestly it seriously. I would like so by time we got the
because we're always to be considered as a award we were like
on tour. We force peo- heavy metal band that Wee-hoo! Fuck it!! It
ple to check us out. We makes some heavy shit. couldnʼt have gone over
did Hardcore tours, Itʼs been around forever any better. It was like
Heavy Metal Tours, Nu- and it will never go the most exciting thing I
Metal Tours, and we did away. Stop trying to have ever done.
every possible genre make up these sub gen-
that we could get into. It res and shit. MUEN: You have a
all went very well! new album coming
MUEN: How was win- out June 30th, 2009.
MUEN: The Cleansing ning the most innova- How much pressure
album was recorded tive band at the first did you guys have on
live. Why did you guys ever Revolver Maga- your shoulders to fol-
decide to do that? zine Golden Godʼs low up to such an epic
Award show hosted album as The Cleans-
Mitch: When we signed by Megadeth? ing?
to Century media, we
wanted to put out a Mitch: It was amazing to Mitch: It wasnʼt that
record as soon as pos- be awarded best new much burden. There
sible so we could start talent and have Alice in were no worries. The
touring on it. We had all Chains hand it to you in new record we did in 5
these songs that we front of all these people. weeks. We moved from
had been playing live It was fucking great! California to New Jer-
for a couple of years. sey and we went there
So we recorded it in two MUEN: How nervous to do nothing more than
weeks and we would were you guys? to make an awesome
just keep the best takes record. These songs
of every song. We put Mitch: To play we were that are going to be on
mistakes on the record. really nervous cause we the record we actually
There was no quick were on tour with Dis- took our time to write
track on this record and turbed and shit and we and its perfect. It was all
thatʼs how that record flew in from little rock mapped out.
came about. Arkansas to do the
bamboozle festival and MUEN: What was it
MUEN: It sounds the award show. We se- like working with Ma-
great. I couldnʼt tell riously landed and had chine?
the difference. How do to go play the Bamboo-
you guys feel about zle show then we had a Mitch: It was like going
being labeled in the day off and the next day to boot camp. We lived
Deathcore Genre? we went to the Golden an hour from the studios
Gods. Everyone was so we had to wake up at
Mitch: Everyone pretty completely out of it and like 7 in the mourning to
much hates it. Were just not there. We were so arrive at the studios in
a heavy metal band. nervous to play and time to start at 9 a.m.,
Deathcore is a teeny after we played we just then we would work to
bopper joke! I canʼt take started pounding drinks, like midnight (1 o'clock
or 2 o'clock on some that going? Mitch: Donʼt write shitty and when Iʼm done on
nights), drive back, go music. Donʼt write music stage I take really good
to bed at like 4, then Mitch: Disturbed, Kill that sounds completely care of my voice cause
wake up and drive back Switch Engage, Lacuna like other bands be- its my instrument. If a
to do it all over again. It
Coil, Chimaira, Crooked cause thatʼs fucking re- guitar string breaks you
was like that everyday! Edge, and Spineshank tarded and you're not just get another string. If
and two local bands going to get anywhere my voice fucks up Iʼm
MUEN: On your My- open up the show every doing that. You have to screwed, so Iʼm always
Space you have a night. Its cool, but we're tour; if you're not touring consciously aware of
Deftones cover of getting a lot of cancella- than you're not going to that.
their song Engine No. tions right now. It's pour- make it. I can guarantee
9. Are you guys big ing down rain almost you that. MUEN: What did you
fans of the Deftones? every night and its an do before you started
outside show. MUEN: Coming for a suicide silence?
Mitch: Thatʼs the one band that tours a lot
band that all of us love MUEN: What does the do you feel that tour- Mitch: I worked in a Tat-
and we listened to at a rest of the year look ing has made you bet- too shop doing pierc-
very young age. Every- like for Suicide Si- ter as a band? ings and stuff like that
one grew up listening to lence? for John Montgomery.
the Deftones and that Mitch: You play every He is one of the busiest
first record is something Mitch: After this we are single night for 3 tattoo artists in South-
that all of us loved doing the Slayer, months straight, then ern California, so I
growing up. If the Megadeth, and Machine you have one day off worked for him full time
Deftones werenʼt a Head tour. It's Canada and all you have to do is and when I started this
band I donʼt think that and Northwest states. play music, and when band I would take a few
we would be a band at Right after that we are you're on stage you're months off here and
all. doing a headlining Cali- playing music and prac- there and then come
fornia tour right after our tice makes perfect. You back to work when I
MUEN: I noticed that albums comes out. get better and better. If wasnʼt touring. Then
you guys toured with Then after that, we go you're out there playing things started to pick up
A Day TO Remember back to Europe for everyday and you're not and I would be gone for
how was the tour? awhile. It's all been getting better then 9 months at a time so
booked, it's just I donʼt something is seriously he was like “Dude I
Mitch: It was awesome really now all the details fucking wrong with you. think Iʼm going to find
cause we toured in Aus- cause I usually donʼt Everyone in this band someone else”; but its
tralia with them and know where I am till I has updated and im- all cool. We are still
Parkway Drive, who is wake up. There's too proved 150% since we good friends. mitchy-
from Australia, and much shit to keep on so first came out and thatʼs poosays@gmail.com
every show was you just kind of have to what's going to make
packed. A lot of kids just go with the flow. this record so much bet-
came out to that tour. ter than The Cleansing.
Australia has a really MUEN: What advice
good scene there. do you have for young MUEN: How do you
musicians starting out keep your voice
MUEN: Your currently in pursuit of a musical healthy while touring?
on the music as a career in today's in-
weapon tour? Howʼs dustry? Mitch: I do warm ups,
 think.
Interview with

Danny Craig
MUEN: So were any of
you guys in bands be-
fore this?
By: Slavewriter6
Yes. Dallas not so much
Myspace.com/slavewriter6 but the rest of us had been
in multiple bands. Nothing
MUEN: Hey Danny, how that ever succeeded past
are you? local bar stardom you
know but we all had a few
Doing good, thanks! projects.

MUEN: So DEFAULT got MUEN: You guys have 3

together about ten years
ago and you were one of
the founding members
correct?
Thatʼs correct, yes, three
of the four of us are, and
our bass player joined six
months after the bandʼs in-
ception, so he is basically
a founding member as
well.
MUEN: Thatʼs really
good. Ten years is a
long time. A lot of
bands donʼt stay to-
gether that long these
days.
Yes, we revel in it some-
times, weʼre like wow! It
still surprises us some-
times, which is good I
albums out now and
Chad Kroeger did some
production on your first
it really did great for us. I from back then and we
one right?
mean thatʼs what kept us gave our demo to him
going. when we recorded it and
Yes he produced the ma-
he produced it for us.
jority of the first album. It
MUEN: Cool, so tell us
was the whole independ-
how you guys hooked up MUEN: Very cool, well
ent version and then when
with Chad Kroeger. the song Wasting My
we signed to TVT Records
Time was so huge here
we went and recorded
Well Jeremy, the guitar in the US.
three more songs, one of
player and myself had
them was Wasting My
been in the same band be- Yes, it totally surprised us,
Time and we did that with
fore this one and worked I mean we love the song of
Rick Parashar who did
with Chad and our band course but that year it was
PEARL JAM-Ten, BLIND
had opened up for Nickel- wild, it was the 7th most
MELON- Blind Melon and
back before they were played song on any format
many others. It was a cool
signed, a long time ago, in America so it was totally
time working with him too.
you know, in the 90ʼs! fantastic.
So yes we put that record
out and Deny was the sec-
MUEN: Right… forever MUEN: Now you guys
ond single off the record,
ago! have a 4th album coming
which was one that Chad
out sometime this year
Kroeger had produced and
So yeah we knew Chad and it has been ready for
quite some time correct? Nickelback is a really other bands, you are curse!
wicked drummer and has also a song writer and a
Yes. We finished our 4th definitely shown me a few producer so tell us a bit MUEN: Very cool, I had
record in November of things and same with their about how long you have not heard that before.
2007. Then begins the drummer before that, Ryan been doing that and who
saga of TVT going bank- Vikedal, and a couple of you have been working Itʼs a Canadian legend!
rupt and all of the waiting other guys like Morgan with.
through court decisions from Sevendust , wicked MUEN: Too funny! Now
and what not that followed killer guy, so yeah since I have been producing for you also play drums on
that. So anyway they went then I have just been chal- coming up on seven years a THEORY OF A DEAD-
bankrupt early last year lenging myself and getting now and I do a lot of the MAN song, tell us a bit
and the record has been better technique wise. I work at my house now. So about that.
on hold until now. Finally can hold my own now any- basically my process is
weʼre working out a deal way! that I go downtown Van- Yes, off their first record, a
with BMI it looks like and couver and record the song called What You De-
itʼs going to be released in MUEN: So whatʼs the drums and then I can basi- serve. Before recording
both Canada and the US writing process like for cally cut everything else that record, they recorded
and we are excited, canʼt you guys? Does the en- up at my place. That defi- a three song demo with
wait. tire band contribute and nitely allows for more time Chad Kroeger, who pro-
does Dallas write all of spent and a better result in duced it, and they asked
MUEN: I am too, along his own lyrics? the end. So, recently I just me to come and drum on
with many others I am finished with a band called that song so I did. So after
sure. I canʼt wait to hear Definitely everyone con- ONE BAD SON and weʼre all was said and done,
it! When did you start tributes. With the lyrics we about to start shopping they got signed and went
playing the drums? had a little bit of help on them. Iʼve also got a and re-recorded the record
this record from the same whole record coming up and on that song in partic-
I started playing drums guy who helped us on the with the band COLD ular they really liked what I
when I was 11 or 12. last record, Marti Frederik- DRIVEN, which you and I had done for them so they
sen who works with Aero- have talked about before. were kind enough to keep
MUEN: Did you just smith and lots of other They are a wicked sort of it on. They even sent me
teach yourself how to bands. So yeah he came pop metal band, if you will, a plaque when the album
play? in and helped us out with from British Columbia here went gold in Canada so
the lyrics for the record but and I am really excited and that was very cool. They
For the most part, yes. I for the most part it is a col- have big expectations for are really good dudes.
mean I was a band kid in laboration between all of that one.
school so I certainly us and we start with the MUEN: A couple of your
learned all of the theory music and then sort of fill MUEN: Yes I am excited songs have been used in
and what not from there. in the melody after that to hear that one too, video games and also
For the most part it wasnʼt and the lyrics are often the those guys are really Wrestle mania right?
until we started playing last step for us. It seems good! Now DEFAULT has
with other bands, and we to be what has always won some Juno awards Yes. The Wrestle mania
got signed and touring with worked for us and we are right? one was kind of a surprise
bigger bands that I all of a always happy with the end to us. We had no idea it
sudden went from one of result. Now with my pro- Yes, we won one in 2001 was happening and a cou-
the better drummers in the ducing, I sometimes do it for Best New Group in ple of buddies of mine are
crowd, being in the local the other way with the Canada and the story be- big wrestling fans and
scene, to being one of the, bands I work with where hind that one is that Juno were watching and they
you know, not so great we will start with a lyric or was always a curse prior called me right away and
drummers so I have defi- a melody and work around to us, I suppose because told me. So I was like right
nitely learned a lot since that. everyone who won it never on, cool. What was funny
then just from some of the got to sell much or got to was that it was a total bal-
guys we have toured with MUEN: Yes, now speak- release in the US so, ap- lad that they played. It
you know. Daniel from ing of your work with parently we broke the wasnʼt even a heavier
track; it was like a full-on
piano ballad.

MUEN: So we can look

for the new DEFAULT
album hopefully this
year.

Yes, definitely we are hop-

ing by summer to have a
single on the air, at least in
Canada in the next month
or so and hopefully in the
US as well. It takes a little
bit longer to launch any-
thing down there unfortu-
nately.

MUEN: Well I hope to get

you guys down here for
a show as well!

Yes we will definitely be

touring and you know
Texas has always been a
great market for us. Plus
our manager lives in Texas
so he wonʼt have it any
other way.

MUEN: Well, great! Peo-

ple can come and check
you out personally at
www.dannycraig.com
and they can find the
band at www.defaulton-
line.com and www.my-
space.com/defaultcaand
a.

That is correct! Thanks

Holly!

MUEN: Thank you

Danny!
God name as a band in many that topic anymore so I People who don't like it

Dethroned
countries and it would be write about different stuff. just don't buy it. It's not
a pity to lose that be- something thatʼs forced
cause of lyrics that would MUEN: Where did the onto people is it? Same
Myspace.com/villavampiria be misunderstood or name God Dethroned with lyrics.
lyrics that would some- derive from?
By: Jeanne Thomas thing negative about a MUEN: How have sales
(JET) certain country or people. From these anti-religious been on Passiondale?
views I have. I thought What have peoples re-
MUEN: Do you chose
MUEN: Do you ever the name itself would actions been to it?
not to be political in
write songs about reli- point that out pretty
music because it does
gion? clearly. It's too early to say some-
not have a place in
thing about sales, but the
music or because you
Yes i did on our first MUEN: What are your overall response is just
do not want to feel any
album The Christhunt. I'm views on censorship amazing ! Many maga-
repercussions from it?
against organized religion both in art (cd covers) zines and fans say that
and I wanted to express as well as musical and this is our best album to
We chose not to be politi-
that on that album. On lyrical content? date.
cal because we are no
the later albums I some-
political band. Passion-
times took stories from I think it's weird because MUEN: So it sounds like
dale deals with World
the bible and twisted we have the freedom of you are pleased with
War I, but i wrote all the
them a little. Nowadays I speech, so why should how it turned out?
lyrics from a neutral point
don't really care about artwork be censored?
of view. We have a good
Yes definitely. We wanted
to go back to our roots vision yourselves out the new album yet stuff as well.
and so we did. It proved doing once you retire then do so!
to be the right choice, from your music ca- MUEN: What is it you
since people are totally reers? MUEN: Where are your wish to achieve with
into it. But also the con- CDs and merch for this band?
cept is great. We are the I don't know yet, and sale?
first band to ever write a hopefully that will be a Just a lot of respect from
concept album about while. Just check out the Metal metal heads world wide.
World War I, so that Blade website. We are
made it stand out from MUEN: Do you have any working on a new website
the competition. Of side projects going on? too and there you'll be
course i didn't know if the able to buy shirts and
story would come across, No. I think to do one band
but it did. It's unique andproperly is already
that makes it get noticed. enough work, so no side
projects for me. In the
MUEN: Do you think itʼs past i did though, but now
your best cd to date? i feel that it would take
the focus from God De-
Yeah I think so, but I throned away too much.
guess every musician
says that about their lat- MUEN: What is the
est album... biggest struggle for a
band out there now in
MUEN: How would you your opinion?
explain your musical
style? Dealing with the overkill
of releases and tours. Be-
I think it can be best re- sides that it's pretty diffi-
ferred to as Blackened cult to come up with
Death Metal. something fresh.

MUEN: Any tours MUEN: How would you

planned? US maybe? describe your fans?

Yes we'll be doing a world We have a very loyal fan-

tour for this album, start-
ing on June 25th. On
September 1st we go to
South America for a tour,
then Mexico and on Sep-
tember 30th we start on
the US and Canadian
part of the tour. When we
come back we will do an-
other European tour.
We're also working on
Japan and Australia.
base but also a lot of
youngsters showing up at
our concerts which is very
good in my opinion.
Some bands keep the
same audience for years,
but no new fans so they
die a slow death.
MUEN: Anything you
would like to say to
them?

MUEN: What do you en- If you haven't checked