sexta-feira, 2 de agosto de 2024

INTRODUCING: Reliqa






The phrase “there’s something in the water” gets thrown around a lot, particularly when Australia’s burgeoning metalcore scene is involved. Over the years it’s given us everything from arena heavyweights to – more recently – forward-thinking music unafraid to blur the lines across sounds from nu metal to pop and prog. New South Wales quartet RELIQA are the latest in that proud tradition, with their debut album Secrets Of The Future dropping on Nuclear Blast this month. We caught up with vocalist Monique Pym – at opposite ends of the day with time differences – to get the lowdown on all things RELIQA.





“All four of us have been friends since the start of high school,” she explains of their beginnings – in fact, for all of them, this is their first band. “We’re friends first, band second. This more or less didn’t start out as anything, we were just friends making music together.” RELIQA’s formation very much lined up with Monique discovering heavy music. “Being friends with them, that’s when I was introduced to heavy music, I wasn’t raised on it. I felt this infectious, dude where’s this been all my life?! Listening then eventually turned into creating, and I started coming into my own as a singer.”

That firm basis in making music as friends came with the underlying feeling that they could, perhaps, eventually turn it into something more. They started going to local shows, and eventually got booked to play some. One thing led to another, and after releasing a few EPs, Nuclear Blast found them and saw – rightly – that RELIQA had something special on their hands. “All four of us have very different listening styles, personal genre preferences,” she begins. “That creates disparity in what you’re coming together to create, but that diversity is something we’ve intentionally tried to explore.”

From Mon’s love of melodic metalcore through to pop, to Miles’ (“the token classically trained member” she laughs) interest in not only prog like POLYPHIA or PLINI but also jazz, and even Brandon [Hutcheson, guitars] being a fan of hardcore alongside K- and J-pop, there’s a huge variety and they’re very conscious not only of a disparity but a real sonic tension across the influences they each bring in. “A lot of bands say they’re genreless; I’m not trying to say anything like that, I just think it’s quite a tough one to pin down,” she grins of their own expansive music.


All of this comes to a head with their upcoming debut album, Secrets Of The Future, one that Mon describes as more than just a debut album, but like a debut for the band all over again now that, through Nuclear Blast, they’re being exposed to a much wider audience. Shifting from what she describes as an almost “production line style” of songwriting whereby one member would deliver demos and the others would help refine, to a far more collaborative process where they tried to “explore the tension between ideas more.”



That’s as apparent on tracks like The Flower as it is Sariah or Keep Yourself Awake; the former sees Mon flowing between twisting melodies and a rap flow, while Sariah is the closest they come to a full ballad with its towering chorus. Keep Yourself Awake meanwhile, finds itself a toe-tapping groove and settles into it, something Mon says they were very conscious and comfortable with doing this time around to help showcase the various styles and tensions between them, giving each time to shine. “It’s part of why we called it Secrets Of The Future too,” she explains. “It feels modern to us, it feels far reaching into the future.”


With such a broad-ranging sound, is there any worry people won’t get it? “It’s a tricky one to introduce people to,” Mon accepts. “There is insecurity in me that the atmosphere we’re creating for ourselves is alienating to anyone. It’s a risky move to make an album that doesn’t confine itself to one aesthetic.” She needn’t worry; Secrets Of The Future oozes authenticity and an unbridled love of exploration. “We like to take risks,” she grins. “People that have latched on, have latched on hard. It feels authentic.”

It’s almost an oxymoron, to be so assured of their identity, and that being ambiguous. “That question of who really is RELIQA, it still exists and it will continue to exist,” Mon enthuses, “the beauty is in leaning into that, this uncertainty of our identity becomes our signature.” The singles so far, Killstar (The Cold World) and Terminal are again, very different-sounding songs, something that she hopes will appeal to people who perhaps don’t typically enjoy either progressive music or metalcore. “There’s something for everyone on that journey, which I really love.”

RELIQA have had a steady rise; for years they’ve put in the work, and to sign to Nuclear Blast is the start of seeing that pay off; to them, it’s an opportunity to seize with both hands. “We’re not afraid to be a little fish in a big pond,” Mon stresses. “Our pond started very small and we outgrew it, but we took everything we learned to the next one. Too many bands think they have to give off big fish energy!” She’s very conscious, as are her bandmates, of where they came from, and that humility shines through; “our roots are the Central Coast, we’re just a bunch of nerds making music together,” she grins.



Secrets Of The Future is out now via Nuclear Blast Records/Greyscale Records.

Like RELIQA on Facebook.

sábado, 27 de julho de 2024

YES - FRAGILE (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)






Just about every month during the early '70s, a now-classic prog rock album dropped. And 1971 was seemingly overflowing with 'em: Jethro Tull's Aqualung, Pink Floyd's Meddle, Genesis' Nursery Cryme, ELP's Tarkus, Uriah Heep's Salisbury, etc.

But the undisputed kings of '71 prog were Yes – simply due to the fact that they issued not one, but two classic prog studio offerings that year, The Yes Album and Fragile.

METALLICA PRODUCER FLEMMING RASMUSSEN – “HANK SHERMANN’S AMP WAS USED ON RIDE THE LIGHTNING”





METALLICA PRODUCER FLEMMING RASMUSSEN – “HANK SHERMANN’S AMP WAS USED ON RIDE THE LIGHTNING”





Metallica’s iconic second album Ride The Lightning celebrates its 40th anniversary today. The album contains classics like “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, “Fade To Black”, and “Creeping Death”.



Producer Flemming Rasmussen (who would also producer Metallica’s Master Of Puppets and …And Justice For All) has posted a message about his recollections of the recording:

Evergrey: The Emptiness Of Inner Peace

 

Photo Credit: Patric Ullaeus


Anyone that’s read Ian Winwood’s excellent Bodies: Life And Death In Music will have some understanding of how difficult it is to be a rock star. Yes, it seems like a glamorous way to live and travelling the world to play music certainly has its moments, but the reality of it is gruelling. The parties, groupies and excess get most of the attention, but far more time is taken up by a brutal slog that plays havoc with your head. It’s an endless string of repetitive days on tour buses, where you barely get any alone time and spend a mere fraction of your life at home. For Jonas Ekdahl, it’s time to call it quits. Having spent a significant chunk of his adult life playing drums for EVERGREY, he’s understandably had enough of eating airport food and seeing motorways whenever he looks out of a window. He’s bowing out and while he’s still very much a part of the band’s extended family, his life on the road is at an end.



“When I first started, playing live shows was the best thing in the world, it was the best feeling to be on stage, and nothing could beat that. But over the last couple of years that feeling has shifted towards the songwriting and production aspect of music,” he explains, “it’s now got to the point where I feel that I’d rather be doing that instead.”

At the time of our chat, EVERGREY hadn’t revealed who Jonas’ replacement would be and despite offering him a Twix, he remained tight-lipped, and we couldn’t tease an exclusive out of him (it was later revealed to be veteran Norwegian drummer Simen Sandnes). However, he’s going out on top.

Theories Of Emptiness is EVERGREY’s fourteenth full-length album and quelle surprise, it’s terrific. The Swedes have been reliable workhorses of the European metal scene for decades now, but they’ve really upped their game in the last few years. The conventional wisdom is that 2001’s In Search Of Truth is their best work, but they’ve been on a creative high of late and if anything, are better now than ever before. This is their fourth album in six years and there’s no sign that the well of inspiration is running dry.

“After Escape Of The Phoenix, the pandemic hit, and we figured, instead of taking a break we would just keep on writing,” says Jonas. “We couldn’t go out and do any tours or shows, so we just wrote. We were in a good creative phase at the time. It turned into a new album, and then we kept going. I guess we’re just striking when the iron is hot and making the most of the time we’ve got.”


The surge of creativity triggered by the coronavirus lockdowns resulted in 2022’s A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament), a progressive-minded take on power metal with a dark overtone. It was excellent, but Theories Of Emptiness manages to outdo it. Despite the name, it’s also lighter than its brooding predecessor.

“It deals with different kinds and aspects of emptiness that you can feel depending on the situation. And it doesn’t always have to be a negative one, because I believe that most people are afraid to feel empty, but there’s also a positive side of emptiness as well. If you find inner peace, for example. If you have inner peace, then in a way you have emptiness.”

This optimistic outlook is evident in the music. There are fast riffs, vibrant melodies and catchy choruses aplenty. There’s a noticeable lack of their traditional Gothic-tinged ballads, and there’s even a riotous, crowd-pleasing anthem described as “EVERGREY meets W.A.S.P.” One Heart is a fist-pumping barn burner with fan-submitted backing vocals and the band sound like they’re having a great time playing it. EVERGREY have a reputation for dealing in heavy-going subject matter, but this one is a lung-bursting party song.


Not that they’re going to be skipping through fields of daisies and frolicking in the sunshine though, Theories Of Emptiness still has a touch of darkness about it. There’s a running theme of grief and loss in here, and tracks like To Become Someone Else aren’t afraid to scream their pain at the world. But there’s also a drive to overcome adversity, best exemplified in the uplifting Our Way Through Silence and the aggressive opener Falling From The Sun.

“We can go super dark if we want to, but we also learn to embrace the uplifting side more and more as well, to find the contrast between them.”

In other words, while EVERGREY are as emotive and melancholic as ever, but there’s a cautious hopefulness about them this time. Theories Of Emptiness is a potential Album Of The Year contender, and a fitting swansong for Jonas’ time in the band. It marks the end of an incredible run, but he looks happy and content to be away from the rigours of life on the road and get to sleep in his own bed more often.

And as he’s stepping away from the band who wrote In Search Of Truth, one of the best alien abduction albums ever, there’s one question we’ve got to ask: does he believe in extra-terrestrial life?

“Probably… yeah I think it’s likely. Maybe not flying around in saucers and abducting people, but we have no idea. We barely know what’s happening on this planet. I’m interested in extra-terrestrials and the universe and stuff like that, I think I’m a pretty spiritual guy. So, I’m very open minded to all that. If was only us, that would be super weird.” Keep watching the skis. Skies.

Theories Of Emptiness is out now via Napalm Records.

Like EVERGREY on Facebook.


quinta-feira, 25 de julho de 2024

POWERWOLF - WAKE UP THE WICKED





While they don't need North American validation (hell, they bypassed the continent for years and worked themselves to festival headliner status, without us), but now that they'll start the Wake Up The Wicked global trek in the States, where there IS a rabid undercurrent of support, the latest eleven offerings take on greater importance. They've been recording for almost 20 year (longer than some of their fans have been alive!), but sort of hit their "comfort zone" a few albums back, a formula that isn't radically altered here.

My main "complaint" on recent discs was embracing the younger, often female audience, at the expense of the speedier numbers, as well as the tongue-in-cheek religious pokes in the eye. Good to see both are back, beginning with the opening "Bless "Em With The Blade". It races, start to finish, and is over in just 2:47, the shortest inclusion (although only one cracks four minutes, and by just four seconds!). Probably seen the pre-release video for "Sinners Of The Seven Seas" already. Nice to hear the sparingly use of Latin lyrics, like the early days, on this one and elsewhere on the platter, including regal follow-up "Kyrie Klitorem".

On a bouncy, mid-paced folk melody, "Heretic Hunters" has a build-in audience sing-along chorus, although the multi-voice, orchestral choir might be a bit too much for smaller stages. Obscure historical track this time around is "1589", the tale of Peter Stumpp, the werewolf of Bedburg (Germany). Convicted of 16 murders, as well as accusations of witchcraft and cannibalism, he, his daughter and mistress were all tortured, executed and bodies burned. His severed head was posted on a pole as a warning against similar activities.

GENE HOGLAN FINISHES RECORDING DRUMS FOR NEW DARK ANGEL ALBUM - "IT'S COMING!"; VIDEO





GENE HOGLAN FINISHES RECORDING DRUMS FOR NEW DARK ANGEL ALBUM - "IT'S COMING!"; VIDEO



news heavy metal dark angel gene hoglan



California thrashers, Dark Angel, have begun recording their new album. In fact, drummer Gene Hoglan has finished recording his parts for the new record.

Hoglan shared the video below earlier today. In the clip, Gene says, "Hey, everybody. It's your big buddy Gene here, and I just wanna let you know that I just finished the drums to the new Dark Angel record. It's coming."

ANVIL LIVE













As lendas do metal canadense, Anvil, lançaram a parte americana de sua turnê One And Only em 10 de julho na Stone Church em Brattleboro, Vermont, e Airrick Nh enviou um vídeo do set completo da banda. Assista abaixo.

Setlist do Anvil (conforme Setlist.fm):

"Marcha dos Caranguejos"
"666"
"Ooh Baby"
"A Verdade Está Morrendo"
"Finalmente Legal"
"Rock 'n' Roll Fodão"
"Jackhammer"
"Livre Como O Vento"
"Isto É Treze"
"Mothra"
"Cadela Na Caixa"
"Swing Thing"
"Em Chamas"
"Metal Sobre Metal"


As datas restantes nos EUA estão listadas abaixo.