Entrevista com Varg Vikernes

Entrevista com Varg Vikernes

Kristian "Varg" Vikernes (1973-) (ou Count Grishnackh) é o vocalista, guitarrista, baterista, baixista, tecladista fundador da banda de black metal, Burzum. Foi também baixista do Mayhem no álbum “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, lançado pela primeira vez 1994. Seu primeiro álbum com o Burzum, intitulado “Burzum” foi lançado pela Deathlike Silence, em 1992.
Em 1993,Vikernes assassinou Euronymous a facadas. Segundo o laudo oficial, ao todo foram 23, em torno de suas costas e cabeça. Vikernes chegou de madrugada na casa de Euronymous e bateu à porta. Euronymous a abriu e o convidou para entrar, após uma discussão, Euronymous agrediu Varg com um chute no peito, e pegou uma faca, Varg para se defender pegou sua faca de bota e esfaqueou Euronymous.
Após a morte de Euronymous, Varg foi condenado a 21 anos de prisão. Na prisão, dedicou alguns anos ao Burzum, lançando apenas dois álbuns somente com sons de teclado, o "Dauði Baldrs" e o "Hliðskjálf".
Varg deixou a cadeia recentemente após cumprir pena por quase 16 anos.

Øystein Aarseth (22 de março de 1968 – Oslo, 10 de agosto de 1993) mais conhecido pelo nome artístico de Euronymous, foi um guitarrista do grupo norueguês de Black Metal Mayhem. Foi também o fundador da Deathlike Silence, a sua própria editora discográfica dedicada à divulgação de grupos de Black metal.
Ele foi assassinado por Varg Vikernes em 1993, líder da banda Burzum. Após terem sido os dois membros mais influentes no chamado Inner Circle, tiveram divergências ideológicas, dentre elas o fato de Varg não aceitar uma imagem satânica, enquanto Euronymous era extremamente envolvido com Satanismo - sendo considerado por muitos a pessoa mais satânica do cenário Black Metal da Noruega. Varg também por sua vez começava a por em prática suas idéias de Nacional Socialismo. A tensão entre os dois teve seu ápice em 1993 quando Varg, segundo ele, dirigiu-se ao flat de Euronymous para tratar de assuntos sobre a gravadora Deathlike Silence (que também havia gravado discos do Burzum até 1993) onde teve início a briga que só foi terminar com o assassinato de Euronymous a facadas. Varg foi recentemente libertado no dia 24.05.2009.

Fonte: Wikipedia

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Entrevista com “Varg” Virkernes
Fonte: http://whiplash.net

O site Metal-Rules.com conduziu recentemente uma entrevista com o mentor do BURZUM, Varg Vikernes, com perguntas sobre "Belus", o novo álbum da banda, e outros assuntos.

Segue a tradução da entrevista na íntegra, de acordo com o que foi publicado no site whiplash.net

NOTA: Varg é um assassino confesso, defensor da supremacia branca e possivelmente um incendiador de igrejas. As citações foram traduzidas da fonte citada e não expressam a opinião do site Whiplash! (nem do programa de rock) nem de nenhum outro senão a do próprio Varg Vikernes.

Metal-Rules.com: Um bom dia de inverno norueguês para você, Sr. Vikernes! Como vão as coisas por aí, provavelmente há muita neve...

Varg Vikernes: Bom dia para você também. As coisas vão bem na Noruega. Há muita neve, mas é assim que deve ser. Era assim quando eu era uma criança, e eu estou contente de ver o verdadeiro Inverno de volta. Por alguma razão ninguém mais tem falado sobre aquecimento global...

Metal-Rules.com: Depois de 11 anos sem lançar material novo, como você começou a criar as músicas e o conceito geral para o novo álbum, "Belus"? Foi um grande desafio compor grandes melodias e riffs que satisfizessem sua mente?

Varg Vikernes: Na verdade eu estive ativo todo o tempo, até certo ponto pelo menos, então eu nunca precisei retomar qualquer coisa. A música do disco 'Belus' foi feita antes, durante e depois de meu encarceramento.

Metal-Rules.com: Com uma base de fãs internacional, eu estou certo de que haverá alguns fãs que devem estar um pouco desapontados com o fato das letras do álbum serem todas em norueguês. Há um motivo para você não haver escrito nenhuma letra em inglês?

Varg Vikernes: Sim, há uma razão; o imperialismo americano. Os romanos exigiram que todo o mundo falasse latim, e os E.U.A., um país moralmente falido, tenta e quer ser o novo Império Romano, e o seu latim é o idioma americano (“inglês”). Eu sei que tenho uma base de fãs internacional, e é por isso que você pode encontrar traduções das letras do álbum para o francês, russo, italiano e possivelmente outras línguas no website burzum.org.

Metal-Rules.com: Como você acha que o novo álbum será recebido pelos fãs do Burzum, tendo em mente que 11 longos anos se passaram desde que seu álbum anterior, "Hlidskjalf", foi lançado?

Varg Vikernes: Eles parecem gostar [do novo álbum].

Metal-Rules.com: Por que você decidiu não liberar todas as 11 músicas inicialmente planejadas para integrar o álbum "Belus"? As três faixas que ficaram de fora não se ajustavam ao conceito do álbum ou você planeja liberá-las mais tarde em outro lançamento do BURZUM?

Varg Vikernes: O tracklist que você viu não era definitivo. É assim que o processo de fazer álbuns funciona, você faz mudanças o tempo todo até se sentir satisfeito, e então você grava o álbum. Isso é tudo.

Metal-Rules.com: Agora que você tem à sua disposição tecnologias de gravação cujo acesso era sempre limitado ou simplesmente inexistia na prisão, as pessoas podem esperar uma produção para o novo álbum que soe diferente dos álbuns anteriores do Burzum?

Varg Vikernes: A produção está melhor, assim como o som, mas não se diferencia muito dos álbuns de metal lançados anteriormente. Continua soando cru e áspero, exatamente como eu queria que soasse.

Metal-Rules.com: Há algo especial nas letras de "Belus" que você quer que as pessoas percebam e entendam sem provocar suas mentes com metáforas complicadas que você pode ter incluído nos seus textos?

Varg Vikernes: Eu realmente acho que é melhor que as pessoas possam ler as letras e terem suas próprias opiniões a respeito, ou caso não queiram ter uma opinião, que lhes seja permitido ouvir o álbum sem sentir que eu tento forçar goela abaixo um “verdadeiro” significado para as letras. A arte deve ser percebida da forma mais subjetiva possível, se qualquer um quiser ver algo em "Belus" que eu não tinha planejado está tudo bem.

Metal-Rules.com: A arte gráfica dos álbuns do Burzum sempre refletiu sentimentos obscuros, frios, mas também uma beleza que enche os olhos. Qual o processo padrão a partir do qual você escolhe uma arte para a capa e a declara adequada para o BURZUM? Você tem uma certa visão em mente de como a arte de álbum deve ser?

Varg Vikernes: Eu sempre tenho uma certa visão.

Metal-Rules.com: Você ainda é um fã da obra “O Senhor dos Anéis” de J.R.R.Tolkien? Como muitos sabem, seu antigo pseudônimo "Count Grishnackh" provém do Orc Grishnákh. Eu sei que as histórias contadas por Tolkien devem muito às lendas escandinavas, e eu imagino que nisso consiste seu principal interesse, mas como um fã de Tolkien, eu estava um pouco curioso para saber sua opinião e de que forma a obra de Tolkien foi uma inspiração pra você.

Varg Vikernes: Isto pode te desapontar um pouco, mas eu devo confessar que meu interesse por Tolkien decaiu dramaticamente no decorrer dos anos. Suas habilidades lingüísticas são incríveis, suas histórias são ótimas e fascinantes, mas... sua perspectiva era muito Judaico-cristã, e o uso que faz das criaturas míticas é muito... ignorante. Ele até mesmo admitiu isso; quando escreveu o Senhor dos Anéis ele teve que corrigir seu engano de fazer o “hobgoblins” maiores que os “goblins” em seu trabalho anterior. Ele percebeu que na mitologia é o contrário disso que se observa, e assim ele criou os uruk-hai, para ter uma criatura que se assemelhava ao “hobgoblin” de sua obra anterior.

Varg Vikernes: Suas outras criaturas fantásticas, como os anões e os elfos, também são muito, muito diferentes dos anões e elfos da mitologia que ele usou como fonte. Os anões mitológicos (também chamados elfos negros) são habitantes dos túmulos, feios e escuros, enquanto os elfos mitológicos (ou elfos claros, se preferir) são meros espíritos. Os anões são originalmente os corpos dos antepassados mortos, ao passe que os elfos são seus espíritos. É dito que os anões forjaram armas poderosas e outros objetos porque os mortos eram enterrados com os seus pertences, e os vivos entravam em suas tumbas (no Dia das Bruxas) para coletá-los, ou de fato para “tomá-los de volta”, já que eles se viam como os mortos renascidos – e estes objetos lhes pertenciam.

Varg Vikernes: Agora, o mundo de fantasia de Tolkien ainda pode ser fascinante, maravilhoso e bonito, mas não é nada mais que fantasia, e eu prefiro o mundo de fantasia mitológico que o mundo de fantasia moderno de Tolkien. Em linhas gerais é isso.

Varg Vikernes: Ah, e aquele filme hollywoodiano do Senhor dos Anéis foi realmente uma porcaria, uma verdadeira decepção. É o que Hollywood sempre faz, mesmo com as boas histórias...

Metal-Rules.com: Todos os álbuns antigos do BURZUM são tidos como marcos do gênero black metal. Você se sente orgulhoso pelo papel essencial do BURZUM na definição deste gênero do Metal e pela imensa influência do BURZUM sobre bandas mais jovens?
Varg Vikernes: Sim, eu me sinto orgulhoso se o que você diz é verdade.

Metal-Rules.com: Você considerou escrever uma autobiografia para dar sua versão completa da história em suas próprias palavras e acabar de vez com as mentiras e rumores que sempre acompanharam o BURZUM? Entrevistas, seu website, e artigos podem ajudar bastante nisso, mas um livro oficial cobrindo sua vida é algo que os fãs do BURZUM apreciariam bastante!

Varg Vikernes: Talvez, mas nesse momento estou ocupado com outras coisas. Pessoalmente eu gostaria que os artigos publicados no site burzum.org fossem o suficiente... eu gosto de manter algum anonimato e privacidade.

Metal-Rules.com: Após passar tantos anos na prisão, foi estranho estar livre de novo no "lado de fora"? Você se considera um homem verdadeiramente "livre" agora?

Varg Vikernes: Não, na realidade eu não sou livre, nem mesmo no papel. Eu tenho que me apresentar uma vez por mês a um oficial de liberdade condicional, e isto é considerado parte da minha "pena”. Mentalmente e espiritualmente eu fui livre durante todo o tempo, mas agora que as paredes foram trocadas por leis eu ainda continuo sendo fisicamente um prisioneiro. Nós somos todos prisioneiros, e a maioria de nós tem sido desde a introdução da agricultura – em algum ponto na Idade de Pedra...

Metal-Rules.com: Depois de estar afastado da sociedade por 16 anos, avanços modernos como cartões de débito, iPods, mp3s, internet, telefones celular etc te supreenderam? Você sente como se estivesse permanecido em algo como uma urdidura do tempo, tendo “ficado para trás” enquanto a sociedade evoluiu na sua ausência? Houve qualquer outra dificuldade de reintegração?

Varg Vikernes: Estar a 120km por hora numa estrada apenas para descobrir em seguida que a “bem conhecida” estrada à frente foi completamente reconstruída pode ser uma revelação surpreendente, e isto aconteceu algumas vezes. Eu de fato me sinto como um homem de Idade de Pedra em 2010, mas o choque maior para mim é ver como a sociedade se degradou de tantas maneiras. "Liberdade” é atualmente algo ainda mais relativo que antes, e todo o mundo parece estar conformado com isto. Dificilmente há qualquer evolução para se ver em qualquer lugar, eu vejo principalmente degeneração. Reintegração? Então você considera que eu alguma vez fui uma parte integrada desta sociedade? Eu acho que não. Não mais que um urso em um jardim zoológico, tentando dar o fora...

Metal-Rules.com: Em muitas entrevistas você lamentou a atual situação de sociedade/humanidade moderna. O que está fazendo você para mudá-la ou, na sua perspectiva, salvá-la? A sociedade está perdida em a tal ponto que você não sente mais nada pelos humanos comuns e se tornou impiedoso?

Varg Vikernes: Sim, este barco furado está navegando para o abismo, e eu escolhi pular no mar e nadar para a praia em lugar de tentar convencer a tripulação cega a acorrentar o capitão insano. Os outros homens inteligentes também já pularam no mar, e nós estamos melhores fora do que com esses que vão se afogar quando o barco afundar. Isso é a sobrevivência do mais apto...

Metal-Rules.com: Enquanto o Cristianismo tem sido seu alvo primário, o que você pensa a respeito do Islã? É uma das religiões que mais crescem no mundo e que também tem seus extremistas. De acordo com ALGUMAS estimativas, a população de Europa será 40% muçulmana antes de 2020. Diante desse quadro, o Islã causa os mesmos sentimentos de desprezo?

Varg Vikernes: Islã? Eu não preocupo muito na verdade; nós lidamos com grupos estrangeiros destrutivos em nosso meio antes, e provavelmente assim o faremos novamente. O humor está mudando na Europa, eu observo isso diariamente. Salve Ricardo Coração de Leão!

Metal-Rules.com: O que você achou do recente documentário sobre black metal "Until the light takes us"?

Varg Vikernes: Pelo que me disseram é ok, mas não assisti eu mesmo ainda, então eu realmente não posso falar muito a respeito.

ALBUM REVIEW: Karma Collision – Cobra The Impaler

Hot on the heels of a variety of festival performances where they’ve cultivated a swath of new fans and followers, COBRA THE IMPALER are back with a follow-up to their powerful debut Colossal Gods. Karma Collision offers up ten new tracks and a swirling, intoxicating sound as kaleidoscopic as the album cover. With captivating dual guitars and attention-grabbing vocals, the Belgian quintet have crafted a work of heavyweight power and are keen to cement the accolades they’ve already earned and highlight that they’re a force to be reckoned with.



With a commanding blow, Magnetic Hex serves to dispel any thoughts that COBRA THE IMPALER might rest on their laurels, with a powerful full band sound cascading through the riffs and rhythms while the vocals soar clearly in the mix with an engaging melody. As an album opener, it’s a full on rager, delivering all the elements that the band crafted on the debut and offering a sense of refinement and exploration.

Current single Season Of The Savage portrays the sense of growth even further. The qualities that shone so brightly previously are honed to a point, and driving the soaring melodies is an established rhythm section that is inexorable in its delivery. The track has a heavyweight bombast that stands out and when the guitar solo kicks in the atmosphere generated is one that will lead many to hit the replay button.


As mentioned, this album has a swirling, kaleidoscopic feel to it. There’s always another layer to discover and what may at first appear out of place slots together to deliver an expansive sound. This is evident on the title track. With a gentle acoustic prelude in the form of Eye Of The Storm, Karma Collision sits at the midpoint and joins together all the aspects of what the band have created. The previous track blends seamlessly into it, allowing for the full band sound to overtake the gentle acoustic tones like a hurricane replacing a soft breeze. Rather than jarring with what has gone before, it heightens the sense of songwriting and techniques that the band employ, illustrating that they’ve become comfortable with putting in a powerful dynamic shift and have the quality to execute to such a high standard. As a standalone track it carries a lot of presence and will certainly go down a storm in their live setlists.




Like many albums that contain an array of songwriting elements, if the mix doesn’t match that precision and power, a record can fall flat. That’s not the case here. Each rise and fall of dynamic is perfectly accentuated, and the clarity of the melodies allow them to carve through the roaring rhythms. The textual layers are coherent and there is a lucidity to the tracks that complements the musical intensity. Tracks like The Fountain and Assassins Of The Vision benefit hugely from the lush mixing. On any other album, these two songs would stand as the pinnacle, yet here, while they are exemplary of the band, the mix allows them to both stand out yet fit the unity of the album. The result is Karma Collision becomes an immensely engrossing work.

As a sophomore release, Karma Collision fulfils the brief and then some, firmly establishing the techniques and themes from the debut yet offering enough explorative variation so that it is neither a one-dimensional copy nor a collection of tracks that didn’t make the initial cut. It may not quite reach the same electrifying heights as the previous album, but it can certainly hold its own and will definitely allow for the band to grow and reach new audiences.

Rating: 8/10



Karma Collision is set for release on May 31st via Listenable Records.

Alien Ant Farm: Prosperous Futures

“There’s been plenty of times in the past where this thing could have died, and lo and behold, we still have this little ALIEN ANT FARM plant,” says vocalist Dryden Mitchell, who’s busy pacing the corridors of his California home, as he reflects on the arrival of their first album in nine years, ~mAntras~. “This time around we’ve watered it and we’ve given it nutrients; this is the full chance of a flourish and at least from our end, for karma’s sake, I think we’ve put a lot more into this than we have anything in the near past.”



Dryden’s not lying either. From the moment The Wrong Things opens the door to ~mAntras~ and walks through with a grungy, alt-metal stomp, it’s clear the ALIEN ANT FARM you’re getting isn’t the band you grew up moonwalking around your living rooms to – and for the better.



“We learned a lot of lessons over the last few years, but one of the best things we could have done for this record was let ourselves be ourselves,” reflects guitarist Terry Corso, the Kyle Gass to Dryden’s Jack Black. “For this album, it was important to fall back on who we were, and who we are now, and just be ourselves as creators, as musicians. It’s like us, but a very grown-up, wiser version of us.”

For a band whose name is synonymous with their noughties nu-metal cover of MICHAEL JACKSON’s Smooth Criminal, stepping out of that songs shadow is something that’s taken them 23 years to confidently do. Because “a lot of people just go right to Smooth Criminal in their head”, it’s always been hard to steer ALIEN ANT FARM down a different lane, as Terry adds, “we’re well aware of what that song did, and how it helped the future unfold, and it’s always there but I try to push it out.”



~mAntras~ really does pick its paints from a different palette. The likes of Last dAntz and So Cold sail into the proggy arena-rock shores COHEED & CAMRBIA swim in, whilst drummer Mike Cosgrove’s drums and Dryden’s penchant for groove-laden hooks leave Fade and No1 sounding like supernovas in the night sky. Even their version of WHAM!’s Everything She Wants is a seriously fun alt-metal outing that doesn’t get stuck in the mud of a cheesy cover.

You don’t need this writer to tell you it’s their best album, Dryden, Terry, Mike, and bassist Timmy P will be the first to admit it. Self-produced by themselves, after four of the songs came from failed sessions with a producer Dryden just couldn’t gel with, it’s the sound of a band with their shit together, as Dryden explains. “I wish ANThology had some of this sturdiness, because then that would’ve been a knockout; not to say I [don’t] love ANThology, it is what created the sound that we are, but this record just feels buffer and tougher and slicker in so many ways”.



Whilst so much of ~mAntras~ wears its heart on its sleeve, an audible diary documenting Dryden’s journey to sobriety, on no track than the future anthem No1 is it clearer where the ALIEN ANT FARM glow-up got its start, both lyrically and musically.


“It’s pretty apparent it’s about me getting sober, and I wanted to say something that wasn’t cliche or preachy,” discloses Dryden, who’s an open book on his experiences past and present. “I want you to hear my take on how to crawl out of a seemingly pretty terrible situation and make new again and make nice again, and try to show up and be present in people’s lives.”


No1 bears Dryden’s scars for all the world to see, with lines like “last year my world was burning, falling apart, so I made a plan to clean it up, make a brand new start, I can’t recall a single happy day, I guess that’s just the price I pay” leaving a lasting impression long after the next song is served up. It still sticks with Dryden, too. “It’s a trippy one man, because the ‘can’t recall’ is the horror word right there, because there’s a lot of that with my drinking; pretty sad to not remember what a shithead you’ve been, but it’s even sadder to not remember the good things.”



Musically, the track takes its cues from the band’s time making 2003’s truANT with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS’ Robert and Dean DeLeo, and from the song Still Remains off 1994’s Purple. “The riff that Terry gave me for No1 reminded me of little hints of that time period, but I remember specifically wanting to make that one lyrically special in a weird creepy way, like the Scott Weiland thing where he didn’t even stop getting fucked up, there’s a hint to that.”

Sure, Dryden’s sobriety takes up its fair share of the record’s lyrical stock, yet doesn’t outstay its welcome. And there’s plenty of other themes to fill your cup up with and drink from, as Terry elaborates that “the songs were all derived over this period, with all this different stuff happening from pandemics to real life stuff, like people passing away, people being born.” It’s where the album’s easter egg-filled title track gets its name from.

“It was just life stuff that we dealt with and it altered us in ways hopefully positive, you know, and it’s the idea of a mantra, or maybe a meditation, and it’s like a universal kind of feeling – it feels like we made a collection of our own life mantras,” Terry says, before Dryden spells it out. “A mantra is gotta be something that you repeat, and I already did 7,000 takes of these damn songs, so if the repeat ain’t in that than I don’t know what else to call it.”



In ~mAntras~, ALIEN ANT FARM have found 11 mantras they’ve made their own. They could’ve called it quits and no one would’ve cared, instead they’ve delivered their best work in decades, demanding you to stand up and take notice. But at the end of the day, they’re just proud of themselves.

“This one feels really trippy to me, it sounds like a different band and I love that about it,” beams Dryden, before driving it home, “sometimes when I feel like I made it, I don’t dig it as much as if someone else made it, like when you cook your own food or something, it’s good and it tastes great, then someone else makes something and you like it more for some reason.”

“It’s hard to get myself to give me the chills through music, maybe because I’m not that good at it, but every once in a while, we hit those little moments in this record where I’m like ‘oh man’ and it slams down the perfect lyric and it gets me all chilly.”

~mAntras~ is out now via Megaforce Records.

Like ALIEN ANT FARM like their official page on Facebook.

KERRY KING - FROM HELL I RISE

From Hell I Rise does exactly what it needs to do. Heaps of expectations and perhaps trepidation was saddled on Kerry King’s debut solo album. With 40 years of Slayer in the backdrop, the bearded behemoth doesn’t overthink his writing and does what he does best.

The smartest addition to his solo lineup is the addition of Phil Demmel as his guitar partner-in-crime. King drops in usual chaotic, frenzied madness and Demmel plays off him tremendously with nuanced melodies and eerie lines. He is truly and underrated talent.

Devilish praises also need to be dropped on Mark Osegueda, who provides a menacing presence with his aggressive, violent, angry vocals. While it would have been a plus to hear Mark utilize his melodic voice in certain moments, it is understandable why it was not used. Paul Bostaph is a total pro behind the kit and Sanders is talented as well, but the bass barely registers.






Hell’s fury cranks for 13 tracks at 45 minutes with a fresh production job, the guitars roar with intensity, thankfully missing that muddiness that drained Repentless. The one-two punch of “Trophies Of The Tyrant” and “Crucifixation” is King at his best – mixing mid-paced evil atmosphere with inventive, speeding riffs. “Everything I Hate About You” is the shortest King-penned track at 1:21 at Osegueda owns it vocally. “Idle Hands” being the first single is perplexing as it’s the most standard piece and doesn’t showcase the muscled songwriting highlighted througout. “Two Fists” is also a punk-fueled rant – think Undisputed Attitude, but it does not fit the vibe and is out of place.

The fire still burns. Even the most cynical-minded of folks will find a load of songs that hits the mark. If he’s interested and maintains inspiration, King could end up carving out a sturdy solo career. From Hell he indeed rises, taking his crown and reigning from south of heaven.

UNLEASH THE ARCHERS - NEW ALBUM STORMS THE CHARTS IN US AND CANADA

Canadian modern power metal icons, Unleash The Archers, released their massive sixth studio album, Phantoma, on May 10 via Napalm Records. The album has hit the charts in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Napalm Records: "Congratulations to Unleash The Archers on their amazing chart success! Their latest album has stormed the charts, and we couldn't be prouder. Thank you to all the fans for your incredible support."







The band ushered in release week with the epic album closer anthem "Blood Empress". The track tells a bittersweet tale with spine-tingling, grooving choruses before closing with a grandiose blastbeat attack amid a sea of voices.

On the new concept album, listeners join protagonist Phantoma, a Phase 4 / Network Tier 0 unit - model A, on an inspiring yet harrowing journey as she discovers the brutal truths behind the manufactured sheen of social media posturing on a dystopian, near-future planet earth. With the band’s one-of-a-kind blend of power metal, traditional heavy metal, modern prog and pop sensibilities, Phantoma spins a web of sharp musicality, high sci-fi concept and important social commentary.

Brittney Slayes of Unleash The Archers says about “Blood Empress”: "This was the last song that we wrote for the album and we wrote it together in our Airbnb while we were recording. We always like to save one song to write together in the studio to give a kind of snapshot of the headspace we were in while recording, and this one was a ton of fun. We wanted to do a bit more of a radio rock track and have it be something simple that would be a blast to play live and potentially end the set with. The album story ends with Phantoma having destroyed both The Collective and the Human Council that once stood against her, but now she had all of robotkind and humankind looking to her for where to go next. We wanted the song to feel dark but also triumphant, and to hopefully be catchy enough to make the listener want to start the album all over again. The video was filmed once again by RuneGate Studio and they did an awesome job with finding a set that could parry between both the synthetic and the human sides of the story. We all love this track in UTA and hope that you all can bang your heads to it too!"

Watch the official music video for “Blood Empress”:



Intertwining reality with imagination, Unleash The Archers were inspired to utilize elements of AI during the creation of Phantoma, in keeping with its innovative theme. Frontwoman and lyricist Brittney Slayes conjured the album's concept in 2021; before the swarm of pressing commentary surrounding AI began to reach an all-time high.

The band weaved electronic and synthwave elements throughout the album’s 10 colossal anthems, which - in line with its theme - prove much darker and heavier in comparison to the bright positivity of Abyss. Album opener “Human Era” sets the tone with imagery of a bleak, windswept futurescape that crescendos headlong into the breakneck pace of power metal bastion “Ph4/NT0mA” - a masterwork of dueling guitar solos and vocal acrobatics. Trad-metal influenced “Buried In Code” lights the way with pummeling rhythms before the album’s path turns dark on heavy metal hardened “The Collective”, with Brittney Slayes’ warm tones inviting the listener to ‘join or stand aside’! Hair-raising first single “Green & Glass” unveils the truth before the upbeat 80s flavored “Gods In Decay” and the extraordinary balladic anthem “Give It Up Or Give It All” showcase the varied song writing prowess of Unleash The Archers’ modern era. A trifecta of concept closers begins with the moody “Ghosts In The Mist”, leading into the soaring yet menacing “Seeking Vengeance” before closing with the bittersweet tale of “Blood Empress”.

Mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen, and with lead guitarist Andrew Kingsley at the helm as both principal songwriter and producer, Phantoma is an exciting advancement in Unleash The Archers’ songwriting and storytelling mastery, and a giant leap forward in their towering musical trajectory.



Phantoma will be available in the following formats:

- Earbook Edition with 2CD (2 Bonus Tracks and instrumental version of the album), 7" Single (2 bonus tracks on Black vinyl), 60 pp booklet (Napalm Mail Order only - limited to 1000)
- -2LP Gatefold in Phantoma Cristallo Multicolored Splatter (Napalm Mail Order only - limited to 300) - NEW!
- 2LP Gatefold in Marbled Orange Red with 24 page vinyl booklet and artprint (Napalm Mail Order only - limited to 300) - SOLD OUT!
- 2LP Gatefold in Glow In the Dark (Napalm Mail Order only - limited to 300)
- 2LP Gatefold in Splatter Aquamarine Orange (Napalm International Mail Order only - limited to 300)
- 2LP Gatefold in Transparent Lime Green (Napalm North American Mail Order only - limited to 300)
- 2LP Gatefold in Silver (North American indie retail only - limited to 700)
- 2LP Gatefold in Black
- Cassette Tape Edition in Fluorescent Green with White Print (Napalm Mail Order only - limited to 200)
- Jewel Case CD Edition
- Digital Album

Pre-order here.



Phantoma tracklisting:

"Human Era"
"Ph4/NT0mA"
"Buried In Code"
"The Collective"
"Green & Glass"
"Gods In Decay"
"Give It Up Or Give It All"
"Ghosts In The Mist"
"Seeking Vengeance"
"Blood Empress"

“Seeking Vengeance” video:



“Ghosts In The Mist” video:



"Green & Glass" video:



Unleash The Archers will tour across the globe in 2024, with dates already announced in North America, Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. See below for all currently booked tour dates.

European Festivals:

July
5 - Ballenstedt, Germany - Rock Harz
6 - Knislinge, Sweden - Time To Rock
12 - Visovice, Czech Republic - Masters Of Rock
19 - Laukaa, Finland - John Smith Fest
21 - Baile Figa, RO @ Celtic Transylvania

August
2 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
9 - Villena, Spain - Leyendas Del Rock
10 - Walton-On-Trent, UK - Bloodstock

Supporting Powerwolf in North America:

August
29 - Los Angeles, CA - The Hollywood Palladium
31 - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theatre

September
3 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre
4 - Cleveland, OH - The Agora Theatre
5 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
7 - Tampa, FL - Jannus Landing
8 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
9 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore
12 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore
13 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
14 - New York City, NY - Brooklyn Paramount
15 - Laval, QC - Place Bell



Unleash The Archers lineup:

Brittney Slayes - Vocals
Scott Buchanan - Drums
Grant Truesdell - Guitar, Vocals
Andrew Kingsley - Guitar, Vocals
Nick Miller - Bass

(Photo - Shimon Karmel)

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Noizzefest 2024

It was ten years ago that Jac Holloway, at the time working in the legendary Fuel rock club in Cardiff, came up with the idea to launch his own publication to cover alternative music; today, Noizze came home. What started as a wild idea to celebrate a decade of existence has turned into a sold out, one day festival split between the venue where it all began and The Moon next door. The undertaking has been mammoth, but it’s all come together wonderfully, and now it’s time to let the impressive lineup of Noizzefest throw the best party possible.






The bands are staggered between the stages to allow for an uninterrupted day of music and it all kicks off with Barrow-in-Furness punk outfit THE LIARS CLUB. Coming onto the grandiose strains of Nessun Dorma, made famous by Luciano Pavarotti, they deliver half an hour of huge songs – the highlight of which is Redefine Me – with riffs that swing like pendulums with the heft of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY; there’s a good amount of stoner/desert vibes in there too a la THE SWORD and the gravel in Griff Wise‘s vocals have a lot of depth. It’s a strong performance full of confidence and there’s still plenty to go.

Rating: 7/10Blank Atlas live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

BLANK ATLAS open proceedings in The Moon and deliver a wonderful display of post-rock and post-hardcore with more than a little nod to the early days of BIFFY CLYRO. The trio have their three part vocal harmonies down to a tee, especially during the choruses which are nothing short of gorgeous. There’s plenty of layering in the tracks, some of which contain a lot of time signature changes but it’s no matter – as the title of the second song says, there’s a big Connection building between them and the punters watching. “This song is about how I feel when I play a lineup this good!” gushes bassist Chris Simpson when introducing I Feel Great; everyone watching fully agrees with the sentiment.



Rating: 8/10Slash Fiction live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

The first truly standout set of the day comes in the form of SLASH FICTION, moved up the bill following the unfortunate cancellation of DELOUR. Playing the ‘adult’ pop-punk and mid west emo blend that bands like THE MENZINGERS and SPANISH LOVE SONGS have made so popular, the quintet have come all the way from South Yorkshire and take Noizzefest to the next level in no time at all. The vocals are lush, they benefit from a great sound that means you can hear every note and they have some songs with plenty of weight behind them like Pick My Stitches and How’s This For Heartbreak?. This is a band with big things ahead of them.



Rating: 9/10

If you ever wanted ENTER SHIKARI, but goth, then look no further than NIGHTLIVES. There’s a healthy audience for the band, playing a hometown show, and they’re appropriately spooky and spooky with the time they have to perform. With infectious choruses, some huge electronic breakdowns and an on brand aesthetic (think the likes of DEATHSTARS and THE 69 EYES), they bring the evening in with aplomb and energy, the likes of The Sleepless Club going down a storm. Plus, their songs are proper earworms – whether you wanted to or not, you weren’t about to go home without them lodged in your head.

Rating 8/10

Back in Fuel, the Essex boys in BEYOND EXTINCTION have run into technical difficulties that begin to eat into their set time. They eventually sack off their backing bass tracks and use their frustrations to stoke the fires of a set that, whilst truncated, is utterly brutal. Much has been lauded on this young band in recent times – us at Distorted Sound among the outlets championing their potential – and if they’re feeling the eyes of the UK music scene on them, they aren’t showing it. New track Posthuman goes off like an atom bomb and, for all of their initial obstacles, they’ve overcome them in the most brilliant of ways.

Rating: 8/10



“We play music to bury your enemies to!” proclaim DELAIR THE LIAR as they play a room that is more intimate than many they’ve done this year. Fresh off supporting the likes of BLANKET and AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS – and with dates opening for DREAM STATE coming up – the Londoners take their emotional, metal and hardcore infused punk that invokes the likes of VUKOVI and HOLDING ABSENCE and use it to put The Moon to the sword. They’ve got big riffs, bigger melodies and even bigger choruses, and their rising star status is evident throughout. They’ve got a raw spot following BEYOND EXTINCTION, but outside this they’re very good indeed.

Rating: 7/10Wallowing live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

The sight of people dressed as beekeepers in mourning come on stage doesn’t get any less bizarre, but WALLOWING are – to tap in the obvious pun – beginning to cause quite a buzz. If you’re not aware of the Brighton quintet, they sound like SUNN O))) with added black metal and blast beats, thereby creating music to make your teeth rattle. Their set is, as expected, a visceral experience of noise, feedback and samples that’s also quite harrowing in places – when one of the two vocalists goes on a long, drawn out monologue that grows increasingly anguished, it’s really effective. They’re bleak, bludgeoning and utterly brilliant.



Rating: 8/10El Moono live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

The Noizze team are expectant – through certain, prior events, Brighton outfit EL MOONO have a cape in their possession that everyone is hoping makes an appearance during the show. They aren’t about to be let down – it’s around the shoulders of vocalist Zac Jackson from the moment the quartet start and isn’t going anywhere. The band, however, are certainly going places – a blend of metal, grunge and sludge that’s complimented with quieter, more post-metal moments, The Moon fills up nicely the longer their set progresses and are suitably captivated by what’s on show. Like many others who are playing, there’s a lot of potential here.



Rating: 7/10Burner live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

Is there anything that BURNER can’t do right now? Whether playing the upstairs room of a pub to a handful of people or the sold out rooms of their recent support slot with SYLOSIS, they’re one of the most exciting heavy bands in the UK right now. Tonight, once again, they’re lethal – their hardcore-laden death metal is so potent it’s a miracle the speakers don’t blow with the sheer deliverance of their songs, and the room responds in kind with ferocity. If you’re heading somewhere this year that has BURNER on the bill, do everything you can to catch them – they will shatter your mind into the tiniest of shards.



Rating: 8/10The St Pierre Snake Invasion live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

THE ST PIERRE SNAKE INVASION have a special bond with Wales, given its the motherland of vocalist Damien Sayell, and their show is as incendiary as the dragon that adorns the flag. Just how this group aren’t any bigger is both a mystery and a travesty, because they should be and deserve to be – this performance is testament to that. From the moment they open with Kracked Velvet to the dying strains of Rock ‘n’ Roll Workshops, they are tight, loud, lairy and superb. The response they receive after each number shows just how much love there is for them – it can’t be long until the world wakes up to them, surely?



Rating: 9/10Death Goals live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

If HECK and CODE ORANGE had a baby, it would be something like DEATH GOALS. A two piece, metallic hardcore outfit with a hefty dose of chaos thrown in for good measure, the band completely mishear the news that they have ten minutes to go until their allocated set time and start there and then, with barely more than a few individuals in front of them. Not that they care, of course, because they’re going to have a blast whether in front of 12 people or the sold out 120, yet there is something perfect about how, because of their early start, they kick into If I’m The Enemy Then Who’s the Protagonist after Fuel has begun filling up nicely and to a rapturous reception. Hugely entertaining to watch and bringing Zac from EL MOONO on for a song, they might have started slowly, but they exit triumphant.



Rating: 8/10CLT DRP live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

CLT DRP have been given the task of closing The Moon stage and they do it with panache and overflowing confidence. The vibe within the venue isn’t dissimilar to that warm, fuzzy satisfaction of hearing a song and thinking ‘this is a proper bop’, extended for an hour and a dozen numbers. Their brand of electronic noise rock/punk is going down a treat with an audience that aren’t showing any signs of tiredness and even a hiccup with the microphone can’t stop them from producing an excellent performance. Front and centre is Annie Dorrett who oozes charisma, delivering songs like I Don’t Want to Go to the Gym and Until You Showed Me with what can only be described as a graceful confrontation – it’s provocative, but done without getting in anyone’s face. On really good form and with an adoring crowd, CLT DRP are assured and slick.



Rating: 8/10Vexed live @ Noizzefest 2024. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

A dozen bands might have come before them and all put on strong performances, but VEXED are not about to let anyone else steal the show. This is a band on the top of their game right now and they can get even better, which is both exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. Much of the set is dedicated to brilliant new album Negative Energy, with choice cuts from debut Culling Culture and standalone single Dominate sprinkled in as they go along, yet the momentum and tempo is cranked to 11 from the off and never dissipates. X my <3 (hope to die) hits with the force of a petrol bomb and Fake – dedicated to the men in the room who have suffered abusive relationships – is already a cornerstone of the live set and threatens to bring the roof in. Without a doubt, though, the highlight is It’s Not The End – tonight marks its debut airing and, despite Megan Targett choking up in the emotion, it’s a world-class performance. As the band come back to perform Nepotism as one final hurrah, NOIZZEFEST closes with a very pertinent statement – this is VEXED‘s world, and we’re just living in it.



Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the day’s action at Noizzefest from Serena Hill Photography here:









































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