Andrew Andrew Dex
The final acts for next month’s Hevy Fest has been announced with Silverstein, Anti-Flag, Three Trapped Tigers, Me Vs Hero, Heights, Heart In Hand and Acres completing the line-up. They will join headliners Finch and The Vandals along with many more for the 2 day festival on at Port Lympne Animal Park in Kent on August 15th and 16th. A new band consisting of former Lostprophets members (Lee Gaze, Mike Lewis, Jamie Oliver, Stuart Richardson and Luke Johnson) and ex-Thursday vocalist Geoff Rickley has been formed. The band is called No Devotion, and are part of Rickley’s Collect Records.
Linkin Park will play 3 UK shos in November. Support comes from Of Mice and Men. November Saturday 22nd Manchester Arena Sunday 23rd London 02 Arena Monday 24th London 02 Arena
Moose Blood have announced they will release their debut album, 'I'll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time', on October 7th via No Sleep Records.
Frank Turner has announced a 15 date UK tour that will take place in September. September 11 Norwich UEA 12 Leicester De Montfort Hall 13 Salisbury City Hall 15 St Albans Arena 16 Cambridge Corn Exchange 18 Northampton Roadmender 19 Bath Pavillion 20 Yeovil Westlands 22 Exeter Lemon Grove 24 Hartlepool Borough Hall 25 Dunfermline Alhambra 26 Warrington Parr Hall 27 Hull City Hall 28 Wakefield Unity Works 30 Oxford Town Hall
The Pretty Reckless are set to return to the UK in November for a headline tour. November Mon 17 Rock City, Nottingham Tue 18 O2 Academy Leeds Wed 19 Academy, Manchester Thu 20 O2 Academy Glasgow Sat 22 O2 Academy Oxford Sun 23 O2 Academy Bristol Mon 24 Institute, Birmingham Wed 26 O2 Academy Brixton, London
Kids In Glass Houses have announced a short run of intimate shows entitled 'The Road To Merthyr'. The four dates will precede the bands appearance at the 2014 Merthyr Rocks festival, which takes place on Sunday August 17th. August Sat 02 Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil Sun 03 Sin City, Swansea Mon 04 Ebbw Vale Institute Tue 05 Hobos, Bridgend Welsh pop punks Neck Deep and Scottish synth trio Prides will be supporting Blink-182 at their 2 London headline shows next month. Prides will be supporting on Wednesday 6th August. Whilst Neck Deep be playing on Friday 8th August.
Protest The Hero have announced they will be returning to the UK in the Winter for a headline tour. Support comes from The Faceless, Palm Reader and The Contortionist. November 25 Mo Club, Southampton 26 Academy 2, Manchester 28 Voodoo Lounge, Dublin, Ireland 29 Limelight 2, Belfast 30 Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton December 1 Studio 24 Edinburgh 2 Koko, London
Decade and Boy Jumps Ship have been announced as support for We Are The Ocean's October UK headline tour. October Tue 14 Portsmouth, Wedgwood Rooms Wed 15 Bristol, Fleece Thu 16 Nottingham, Rescue Rooms Sat 18 Birmingham, Academy 2 Sun 19 Manchester, Academy 3 Mon 20 Leeds, Cockpit Tue 21 Edinburgh, Liquid Room Thu 23 London, Scala Fri 24 Reading, The Bowery District
Nashville’s Blacklist Royals have announced their latest album, ‘Die Young With Me’ will receive its UK release on 25th August. Roam, Shields, Despite My Deepest Fear and Arcane Addiction have been confirmed as the final names for the very first Deadbolt Festival. The festival takes place at Sound Control, Manchester on August 9th. Fresh off from playing Sonisphere 2014 and landing at number top 10 on the UK Album Chart, Mastodon will be back in the UK later this year for a headline tour. November Sat 22 O2 Guildhall, Southampton Mon 24 Academy, Manchester Tue 25 O2 Academy Newcastle Wed 26 O2 Academy, Glasgow Fri 28 O2 Academy Brixton, London Sat 29 O2 Academy, Birmingham December Mon 01 Rock City, Nottingham Tue 02 O2 Academy, Bristol
While She Sleeps have been added to next months Reading and Leeds Festival. They will on 'The Pit' stage.
Reuben have confirmed they will be releasing a 10th Anniversary deluxe edition of their debut album, 'Racecar is Racecar Backwards' later this year via Xtra Mile Records. Having recently joined Small Town Records, Midlands-based hardcore band Lock & Key have announced they will release a new EP called 'The Divide' on 1st September. Having recently won the Red Bull Studios Live At Download 2014 contest, Create To Inspire are now set to release an EP titled 'Halfway Home’ on 18th August. Midland post-hardcore quintet The Hiding Place have revealed their debut EP will be titled 'So This Is Home’ and will be released on 1st September. The likes of Tonight Alive, We Are The Ocean, Funeral For A Friend and more are lined up to play shows as part of Dr. Martens' #StandForSomething tour. October 4th Edinburgh: Cabaret Voltaire – Funeral For A Friend 11th Cardiff: Clwb Ifor Bach - Eagulls 25th Liverpool: Shipping Forecast – We Are The Ocean November 8th London: The Lexington – TBA 22nd Birmingham: The Flapper – Los Campesinos! December 6th Newcastle: Cluny 2 – Tonight Alive
La Dispute have been announced as support for Touché Amoré's show at The Scala in London on 21st August. South West metal up and comers Apherium have revealed details of their new EP. 'Neoteric' will be released on September 22nd.
Scottish indie band We Were Promised Jetpacks have revealed details of their third album. The album is titled 'Unravelling' and is set to be released through FatCat Records in the autumn. They will also be touring in September. September 11 Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland 12 Limelight 2, Belfast 13 Nerve Centre, Londonderry 14 Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland 17, Garage, Aberdeen 18 Non-Zero’s, Dundee 19 Caves, Edinburgh 20 Deaf Institute, Manchester 21 Bermuda Triangle, Brighton October 8 The Lexington, London
Gnarwolves have revealed details of their hotly-anticipated debut full-length. The album will be self-titled and will be Big Scary Monsters and Tangled Talk will be released in September. Cornish punks Bangers have announced an upcoming tour alongside Pale Angels and Doe. September 30th The Cavern, Exeter October 1st Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Brighton 2nd The Lughole, Sheffield 3rd Sin City, Swansea 4th The Joiners, Southampton (Early - WTFest) 4th The Montague, London (Late) The first details of Teesside’s Make A Scene Festival has been announced and will be headlined by Funeral For A Friend. The one day festival will take place on October 5th at Teesside University Students Union, Middlesbrough, and the line-up so far incudes The Blackout, Decade, Moose Blood, Me Vs. Hero, Hacktivist, Roam, Giants and more. Farnham pop-punks Homebound have been announced as support for the co-headline tour from Like Torches (SWE) and As It Is. September 8th Nottingham Rock City Basement 9th Manchester Academy 3 10th Newcastle O2 Academy 2 11th Birmingham O2 Academy 3 12th London O2 Academy2 Islington (SOLD OUT)
Manchester alternative rock quintet A Mouth Full Of Matches have set a September 8th release date for their new EP - 'Smoke Signals'.
Dead Harts and The One Hundred have been confirmed a support for Hacktivist for their winter UK tour. November 14 Milton Keynes Craufurd Arms 15 Norwich Open 17 Hull Fruit 18 Sheffield Corporation 19 Preston 53 Degrees 20 Edinburgh Electric Circus 21 Aberdeen Tunnels 22 Glasgow King Tuts 24 Liverpool Kazimier 25 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach 26 Swansea Sin City 27 Exeter Cavern 28 Plymouth White Rabbit 29 Brighton Audio December 02 Bristol Fleece 03 Birmingham Institute Temple 04 Manchester Roadhouse 05 Leeds Cockpit 07 Southampton Joiners 08 Guildford Boileroom 09 Southend Chinnerys 11 London Islington Academy Folk-punks Jim Lockey and The Solemn Sun have changed their name to Solemn Sun. The change marks a new rock-orientated sound.
Hang The Bastard have revealed details of their new album, which will be released through Siege Of Amida/Century Media on September 22nd. The album is titled 'Sex In The Seventh Circle' and was produced by Steve Sears at Titan Studios in London (Gallows, Spycatcher). LA metallers Kyng will follow up the release of their recent 'Burn The Serum' LP with a UK tour alongside Lionize and Anti-Mortem in November. November Wed 5 Leeds Cockpit Thurs 6 Glasgow Classic Grand Fri 7 Liverpool Arts Centre Sat 8 Newcastle Academy 2 Sun 9 Nottingham Rescue Rooms Mon 10 Manchester Academy 3 Tue 11 Colchester Arts Centre Thurs 13 Birmingham Academy 2 Fri 14 Bristol Thekla Sat 15 Stoke Sugarmill Sun 16 London Garage Over 100 acts have been announced for this year’s Southsea Fest, which will take place on 20th September. The one day festival will see the likes of Pulled Apart by Horses, DZ Deathrays, Talons, Brontide, and Goodtime Boys taking over Albert Road as a variety of bands play throughout the day. Other notable names for Southsea Fest incldue Alpha Male Tea Party, Big Sixes, Boy Jumps Ship, Brawlers, Employed To Serve, Personal Best, The Lion & The Wolf , Uncle Luc and Woahnows.
TesseracT have announced a UK headline tour, which will take place in November and will feature support from Animals As Leaders. November 3 Talking Heads, Southampton 4 O2 Academy 2, Birmingham 5 Sound Control, Manchester 6 Scala, London 7 Cathouse, Glasgow 8 Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 9 Thekla, Bristol
F.O.E.S. will be back out on tour next month and will be taking Croydon’s Press To Meco along as support. August 07 Basingstoke, Sanctuary 08 Swansea, Static 09 Croydon, Scream Lounge 11 Southampton, Joiners 12 Chester, The Compass 13 Newcastle, Head Of Steam 14 Dundee, Buskers 15 Aberdeen, Downstairs 16 Workington, Lounge 41 17 Mansfield, Intake Bristol rockers Out For Tomorrow have announced they are splitting up after 4 years together. The band released their debut album, 'You'll Find A Way' earlier this year.
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Interview with Mo
Can you tell us a bit about the formation of Lonely The Brave? Sure. All of our old bands disintegrated at around the same time, for one reason or another, which just sort of left us in the right place at the right time. None of us ever wanted to give up on music, so it was just a case of getting together and seeing what came out. I'm glad we did.
Also, how did you get to the band name Lonely The Brave? We were all dealing with certain things in our lives at the time that were far from ideal. We just had some really big decisions to make on a number of things that maybe took us a bit out of our comfort zone. David came up with it and we never looked back. I think that the name is a perfect representation of who/where we were as a band, and as people, at the time.
How did you guys end up on Hassle Records, and what have they been like to work with so far? Our friend/manager James Parrish, who's been with us since day one, had been passing our demo to friends/people in the industry. He has always believed in us and has been there through thick and thin. I just think that he kind of thought that maybe we could be more than a 'local' band and that this might actually go somewhere with the right direction and guidance. Hassle Records came in for us and it was a total no brainer as the roster, past and present, has always been amazing. They're a great label to be signed to and we're proud to be on it. Fair play to Wez @ Hassle for taking a punt on us, even if he does hate my crappy dad jokes.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout your upcoming debut album 'The Day's War'? Despair, Heartbreak and hope to name but a few! Just the ups and downs of life in general, I guess. For me, the best albums have always been the ones that are brutally honest and can sometimes be difficult to listen to because of that. It's a very honest record and I don't think we could have done it any other way. We're all very proud of it.
Can you tell us about the recording process for this record? The album was recorded at a small studio in Newbury, Berkshire with Mark Williams. We either slept on the floor of the studio, when we were allowed too, or we slept on the floor of my step dads hastily borrowed builders van. We didn't have a shower or anything in the studio so every morning we'd all drive to the local swimming pool and have a shower. That kind of stuff is character building and we loved every minute of it. literally wouldn't change a thing about it.
The artwork for your debut album is cool, can you tell us about who came up with the idea, as well as how it all came together? The artwork was done by a guy called Alex Woodhead. He's just ridiculously talented and we couldn't be happier with it. I think all of the imagery that he came up with just fits in really well with the sound and aesthetic of the album. I believe that he's a tattooist now? Probably a very good one.
Can you tell us about the narrative behind your single 'Trick Of The Light' as well as how the video idea came together for the track? Lost love, regret and maybe hoping for a better situation to come out of a difficult time would be my take on it. You'd have to ask David if you wanted an in depth explanation of exactly what it’s about as he writes all of the lyrics. It's all open to interpretation though, and like with most songs, the listener will relate to it in their own way. The director came up with the video concept and we just loved it.
As an upcoming alternative band in the UK, then what is your opinion on the 'scene' at the moment, and how do you think it has changed/progressed since you first started out? It’s changed a hell of a lot in my opinion. Looking back a few years I think that the UK rock scene was struggling for bands, and for the bands that were about it was hard for them to catch a break. I'm not sure of the exact problem but it just seemed like a really barren time for bands. It has changed massively though, and I don't think the UK rock scene has been this strong for a very long time. There are so many good bands about at the moment and long may it continue.
What else can we expect to see from Lonely The Brave in 2014? Our festival schedule is enormous! You can find us at most of the UK festivals, and a lot of the European ones, too. Our first full length album 'The Day's War' is released in September, so we'll be touring in support of that for the remainder of the year.
Interview with Dale
So how have your UK dates been going so far, and what's it been like to play some of your new material live? The shows have been great so far and we've been getting a good reaction towards the new material. We've been playing songs from the first album for around five years now, so it's really refreshing for us to play new songs and see how well they transfer into the live environment.
Can you tell us about some of the bands that have influenced you since you started out? For me, there is maybe a touch of Circa Survive influence in there? Which is never a bad thing! Since starting out, even to this day, some of our shared influences have been bands like ...and you will know us by the trail of dead, refused and hell is for heroes. As a group, we have a rather eclectic music taste, but we always find a common ground when writing music together whilst adding in each of our own influences.
So, how did you get to the album title 'Throw' and what does it mean to you? We wanted an evocative and mysterious title so we chose "Throw" because the lyrics to the song itself are quite ambiguous. The intent was to intrigue people who weren't familiar with the band.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Throw'? One of the main themes throughout the album is maturity. A lot of it is about growing older and finding yourself. Our singer finds new meaning in the songs each time we play them live, which keeps things from getting emotionally stale.
Can you tell us about the recording process for this record? It was recorded throughout June in Brighton Electric. We worked with Jag Jago on this record and spent every day in the studio. There were some 18 hour days and we felt pushed for time at some points, but we managed to get finished and we're really happy with what we've achieved.
How does the song writing process normally work for Flood of Red then? Usually one member will write a melody or chord structure and present the idea to the band, either in the studio or by sending a home recording. We then start adding our own ideas and try to find some sort of loose structure. From there it's just a case of jamming the song until we're all completely happy with it.
How would you say that 'Throw' compares to your material prior to this? I'd definitely say "Throw" is a progression from our previous releases. While some similarities can be heard, there's also an obvious shift in the songwriting and the overall mood. There is a long gap between our first album being released and now so we've naturally matured as people, and I really think this can be heard on the album.
The artwork is very unique for 'Throw', can you tell us about how it came together, as well as what you want it to mean to your fans? We decided to do the artwork ourselves as we felt it would be difficult to describe to anyone what we wanted. I used a roll of black and white film in a cheap 35mm camera to get the photo. Graham, our drummer, is the person under the white sheet. We want the artwork to stand out anywhere and hopefully fans will feel a connection to the music every time they see it.
What else can we expect to see from Flood of Red in 2014? In 2014, you can expect to see plenty more tours, not just in the U.K. and we will also be releasing a lot more content online like videos and music etc.
Interview with Mariel
Your new album 'All The Ways You Let Me Down' came out recently! So how awesome does that feel, and how happy have you been with the initial reaction to the record? It feels absolutely amazing. I haven't even been able to sleep because I've been so elated and refreshing Twitter non-stop seeing what fans are saying. I've worked two years on this record and it's finally here! It feels like graduating high school or something. My entire vision came out exactly the way I wanted it to. I am just kind of speechless actually.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'All The Ways You Let Me Down'? All of 'All The Ways You Let Me Down" has to do with my life. It's very much inspired by the straight-out-of-mydiary bands I loved growing up, like Dashboard Confessional or Bright Eyes. A lot of the themes throughout the record have to do with accepting yourself as you are - an imperfect person who has highs and lows - and finding solace in your friends or significant others. I also think there are a few more sassy breakup/"I'm calling you out for being a jerk" songs than I've ever written previously.
Also, can you tell us about how you got to the album title 'All The Ways You Let Me Down'? Well, All The Ways You Let Me Down is the title of the second single and one of our favorite songs on the record that kind of sums up our sound perfectly. I think it's really funny because initially, I didn't even want to put that song on the record. I had only showed Chad a demo and then forgot about it, but when we got into the studio and I played all the songs the band had worked on together, he was like "What about that song? If there's any song I get to pick, it's that one and then you can do whatever you want for the other 10." The guys were like, "What song?" and I showed them and they kind of scolded me for hiding it. Now it's like my favorite track to play live.
I also really liked the idea of the title because I thought way back to when Pitchfork Media was just a really small website and they would review records poorly in a hilarious way by making puns on the name of the album title and posting pictures of sad pugs and things like that. I always really appreciated that, especially because they reviewed some killer records really poorly, and this title kind of reminded me of something I would have read on a hilariously bad Pitchfork review of when I was a teenager, but checked out anyway and fell in love with. Maybe it's only funny to me to but I could make puns for days about almost anyone's record. I think I'm getting off topic. It's just a bit nostalgic for me!
How did you end up working with Chad Gilbert, and what was he like to work with? Chad actually found us through his former band mate who found us on Twitter. It's a classic example of social media bringing people together! Working with Chad is flat out amazing. We work so well together and he's one of the nicest, realest guys I've ever met. Not to mention he shreds and is a brilliant songwriter. The dude is seriously gifted at producing. He can hear a song that sounds amazing and think of 100 ways to make it even more amazing. Also, he kind of handles my studio mood swings much better than I thought he would, considering he chooses to be around us and isn't forced to be there while I'm screaming or being passiveaggressively quiet because I'm angry at missing notes or whatever. In a strange way, I kind of feel like Chad is an honorary member of Candy Hearts. I feel like after being on his label and making the records I'm most proud of with him, we've really collaborated and worked as partners to help the band grow. He's kind of like the coach and I'm the team captain. I am forever grateful that he's invested so much time and energy in my little project.
With a different line-up then how would you say the overall sound of Candy Hearts has changed/progressed since you first started out? I'm not sure changing the lineup had much to do with the development of our sound. Certainly we've had members in the band we've felt creatively held us back because every note seemed like a battle of whose idea was better, but overall, mostly everyone who has been in our band had the same goal in mind. We all liked the same kind of music and had the same kind of vision. I'm at the forefront of writing the songs, and I think it all really has to do with what I'm digging at the moment. That really affects whether a record we make leans more towards pop, punk, folk or alternative, though all those elements are always present in our music at varying levels.
What would you say has been the hardest part about putting this record together for you, and why? I definitely don't want to sound like a nut job but I think the hardest part was this feeling of intense writing block I had. After we released The Best Ways To Disappear, I couldn't write a song for months and months and months. I was very depressed over it and the band was like "Hello, this is what always happens every time you write a record and then last minute you come up with like 20 songs after locking yourself in a room for 3 months." Basically, they were right again and after a few months of isolating myself in my apartment, I came out with 20 songs I felt good about. Who knows you better then the people you live in a van with?
You've brought up the issue of sexism before, so as a female fronted band what has this been like for you, and how would you like things to change? Overall, I just think it's an unfortunate situation and a lot of annoying, potentially dangerous, and unfortunate things have happened to me and my band that I don't see happening as much to bands without girls in them. Mostly, I try to brush it off, but every once in a while I'll get filled with rage and yell on the internet about it. I wish I had the answers on how to change what's happening in our society and scene, but I don't. I do however think it needs to start with women supporting women vs cutting other women down. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that women feel a need to be extremely competitive rather than supportive because they feel there is only enough space for a few of them to be successful, or what the point is in cutting other women down who don't share the same exact ideals and are "not [whatever] enough" or "too [whatever]" because that makes women more afraid to say anything at all about the problem. You can't fix a problem without talking about it.
We've read that Paramore's Hayley Williams is both a friend and huge supporter of Candy Hearts, so how cool has it been to have that kind of support? Hayley is one of the most talented, smart and strong women that I know. I'm amazed by the things she does on a daily basis. It's been amazing to have her support because she's been through (and come out on top of) almost all of the situations my band faces as we grow. She's an amazing emotional support for me in that way, plus she's just fun to be around, we have the same sense of humor and like the same kind of things. Being in a touring pop punk band, I don't get to meet a lot of ladies who understand what I'm doing, but she's been there. I'm just glad to have such a talented and wonderful gal pal who happens to support my band (which Hayley, if you're reading this...I really appreciate it! so thank you! and by the way "Aint It Fun" is the jam).
How excited are you to be heading to the UK later on this year with New Found Glory, and what can attending fans expect? I'm so excited I can't even express it. Though that excitement is slightly overshadowed by my intense fear of flying over an ocean. I can't wait to see another country and visit our fans that we've never gotten to see before, plus maybe introduce ourselves to some new ones. Also - I get to do that all with my best friends? Like are you kidding me! How lucky am I? I haven't planned out much of our live set so I don't know what fans can expect. I asked the boys if they wanted to get a black light and cover our bodies in glow paint for the show, but no one answered our group text. Probably, fans can expect not to see glow paint and blacklights but to hear a bunch of our favorite new songs.
What else can we expect to see from Candy Hearts in 2014? We're heading out on a tour this summer with Stickup Kid and Seaway. It's across the whole US, plus some dates on Warped. We also have some fall touring up our sleeves besides the New Found Glory dates in the UK.
Interview with Bobby
Your debut album, 'Days That Shape Our Lives' was released back in 2010, and for some bands this can be a long time in between records, so can you tell us a bit about what the band has been up to in this time? We've been up to loads, after that record came out we were tour support for YouMeAtSix, we toured Japan twice, we played a 6k capacity room at Sonisphere, so much has happened in that four years it's sort of a blur.
What made you want to release 'Marks Of A Slave' & 'Things We Know' from your sophomore album 'I'm Completely Fine' first, and how happy have you been with the response to the tracks so far? We decided to release those 2 tracks as we saw them as good representations of what the record is about. Our old EP/record had a lot of double kick going on and breakdowns. 'Things we know' was the first song written for the new record and it still holds those characteristics, whereas later on in the writing process we opted for a few more straight up Pop-Punk tracks such as 'Marks of a Slave'.
Can you tell us a bit about the production and song writing process for your upcoming release ‘I’m Completely Fine’? The songwriting process is always strange, all bands have a different take on how they do it/what works for them, we would demo on laptops to programmed drums then send it to everyone before getting in the room and jamming it out. Other time we'd just sweat it out in a room together and see what happens, sometimes nothing would come all day, other days a whole song would get written. We ended up tracking the drums with a friend who had a great live room, Grant recorded guitars at his parents farm and we tracked vocals in a council estate in Manchester. So yeah, not the ideal way we would have liked it to go down. Romesh did a sick job of mixing what we'd done and Chris Gehringer (oh yeah, you know, Jay-z, lady Gaga and Rihanna's Mastering engineer, no biggy) killed it with the mastering.
How did you get to the album title 'I'm Completely Fine' and what does it mean to you? I think it's definitely a sarcastic title, we weren't fine at all. While tracking the record (the first time) we were watching Alan Partridge, there's a scene where he's drowning in a pool and pretending he's fine, this is where he says "I'm Completely Fine'. The way we saw the meaning was that everything was going wrong for us over and over again and that was our sarcastic take on it.
What was the hardest part about putting together this record for you guys, and why? Erm, recording it three times? Nah, I don’t know, it was all hard, running out of money, not knowing if anyone was ever going to get to hear it, it was just a horrible and stressful time for us all. We nearly called it a day multiple times.
How do you think your new material compares to that of your first album? I personally think it doesn't even compare, the old record was re-hashed old songs from the EP with some songs added and the new record is lyrically and musically more mature, more powerful and we love it.
Touring wise, what will Me Vs Hero be getting up to this year? We have our UK headliner in September, we're hoping on getting around europe and possibly to SE Asia before Christmas.
What's it been like to perform some new songs live so far, and how happy have you been with the response? 'Heisenberg' always goes down great, we released a live studio video of it a while back so people know the words and get involved. Apart from that one song we haven't really played many new tracks live, but now they're out in the open we're so stoked to play them and shout them into peoples tiny faces.
How do you think the genre of pop punk has evolved since you first started out back in 2007? Around that time, it was all very colourful and happy, i mean our 'Kerrang Introducing' section was us with super soakers goofing around. Now, I feel there's a lot more pop punk bands incorporating hardcore elements into the music which has made some styles more serious, and maybe have more meaning than the 'We're with our friends in the sun' vibe.
What else does 2014 have in store for Me Vs Hero? OUR NEW RECORD! 'I'm Completely Fine' can be preordered at www.mevshero.co.uk digitally and phsically. It comes out Sept 1st so we're going to be super busy with promo for that, we're so stoked to get it out and we are tremendously grateful to our fans for sticking with us while we got our shit together.
Interview with Randy
For those that might not know, can you tell us why Jim Lindberg originally parted ways with the band? It wasn't anything specific. It was just years of unresolved issues between everyone in the band. Not communicating well, tiny things, but they added up. We are all aware if this now, and realize how important this band is to all of us and our fans, and we are doing our best not to repeat any of our past mistakes. We couldn't be happier to have Jim back where he belongs.
Also how has Jim Lindberg ended up becoming a part of Pennywise again, and what's it been like to work together once more? Well, Jim and Fletcher ran into each other and decided to have a beer and talk about the band. The results of that conversation was Jim rejoining. It's great having him back.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout Yesterdays? A lot of the songs we did for yesterday's were actually written by Jason during the early years of the band when it was just forming. Jason's songs usually have a positive, uplifting message. So there's definitely an element of PMA in these songs. But, there's not necessarily a general theme on this album. These songs are a collection of songs that were written over a long period of time. They're all a little different.
How did you get to the album title Yesterdays, and what does it mean to you guys? Yesterday's is a perfect title because, this is a collection of songs that were written back when the band was still forming. What it means to us is that these songs were written in a simpler time, when the only concerns were having a good time, and doing what you love. That's something you should always try to capture.
We've read that there are several songs written by Jason Thirsk on this record, so can you tell us a bit about what that's been like to work with on as a band, as well as how this idea came about? We were working on putting together a box set and we were going through old tapes to try and find cool stuff to include in the box set... But these songs just sounded too good to us just to be an extra in a box set. They deserve their own format. Coincidentally it was our 25 year anniversary and we just thought it would be cool to put out a new record of old songs. Songs that we think are great and maybe we didn't do them justice by letting them sit in a box in the garage all these years. Jason had such a huge roll in creating pennywise that we always want to honor his memory, so this is also another chance for us to do that.
What was it like to record at Screaming Leopard Studios, and what else can you tell us about the recording process? Screaming Leopard is an awesome little studio, and Ian was the perfect engineer/producer for us. He really helped us catch the true essence of these songs.
Looking back on All Or Nothing how happy are you guys with this record still, and what do you think it has done for Pennywise? All Or Nothing was something we did out of necessity. We just never want the band to die. It's either sink or swim... We did the best we could on that record, considering we had just lost our singer. I'm happy with the way the album turned out. But in the end Jim Lindberg is the voice of Pennywise. He helped build this band from the ground up. Pennywise records should be made with his input and his voice. I'm happy to have Jim back and just move forward from there.
We've read rumors that you might be putting together a release to support your unreleased tracks? Is there any truth to this, or in general is this something that you guys would like to do at some point? Anything is possible... Yesterday's is basically that.
So how would you say the sound of Pennywise has grown since you first started out? Yesterday's is a perfect example of how the sound of Pennywise has changed. We tried to take it back 25 years with yesterdays, so if you compare it with our newer albums you can see for yourselves the differences.
Also how would you say the punk rock scene has progressed since you first started out? When the band first started out, the punk scene had fizzled out to almost nothing. But then Bad Religion released Suffer, and that album was so great it just resplendent a whole new scene. Punk Rock is basically mainstream now. It's a part of the fabric of society. You couldn't have said that 25 years ago
What else can we expect to see from Pennywise in 2014? Our fat asses.
Interview with Phil
Can you tell us about the creation of WOVENWAR as well as how Shane Blay ended up becoming the lead singer? After all the chaos that happened with AILD, we didn't feel that it would be right to continue under the same name. It seemed pretty tainted after the whole fiasco. The four of us wanted to keep making music so we started writing and sending ideas last summer. We knew what direction we wanted to pursue and we wanted to have someone who could actually sing. Shane has been a close friend of Nick our other guitar player for many years so when the idea came up to have him, it was a no brainer. We've all had a lot of respect for him as a musician and adding him into the mix makes us better than ever before.
Can you tell us about how you got to the name WOVENWAR? Basically the idea of the name relates to the struggles and hardships faced in life that don't define you, you have the choice to choose the right path.
So what's it been like to write & record with a different singer? It's always hectic and stressful putting an album together. I mean it's exciting but you got deadlines and it's just time to fully commit to things because there's no going back from that point. There's always a lot of pressure. Forcing yourself to be creative can take its toll but nothing worthwhile should be easy. Shane being in the fold actually made it way more positive and upbeat. He's a talented guitar player and vocalist so we trust him with his ideas and his singing really brings new life to our style. It's exciting to be in a band with a singer that wants to practice and wants to sing and improve as a musician. The writing process and band dynamic with AILD was getting a little stale.
What's it been like to get this new material out there, and how happy have you been with the response to it so far? The response has been great so far. I think for some people it was pretty instant for them to get behind the singing. They like the familiar elements from AILD too. The energy and heaviness. For some people it still has to grow on them, as they want this to be AILD 2.0. but that's not what we want to be. This band wants to exceed everything AILD did and I think we're off to a great start. There's a lot of opportunities for us so far and we're going to make the most of it.
Also, how would you say this material compares to what you have done prior? It's familiar. It's not as aggressive overall but I think the songs have a good flow structurally. We want our songs to pack a punch still. We were pretty keen on keeping things straight forward by trimming as much fat in the songs but we also want to keep the listener intrigued until the very end so we really paid attention on how everything flows whilst adding some bells and whistles here and there..
How come you wanted your new album to be named as a self-titled record? I think introducing a new band name is enough for people to take in, so an album title just didn't really seem necessary. It's also something we've never done before so it was nice to finally do it.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout the record? There's a lot of anger coming out in the lyrics but there's a "take the good with the bad" sort of approach as well. A lot of songs are about past relationships and experiences, not just with people but with religion these days and even the music industry on a certain song.
You chose to continue working with Bill Stevenson on this record, so what was that like for you guys, and how does he push you as musicians? Bill's great at pulling ideas out of you. Sometimes you want to change something but you don't necessarily know how, you just know something has to change. He's great at seeing ideas through to improve the song. We learned a lot from working with him on the last AILD album so things really clicked on this one since we kinda knew Bill's style with producing.
What would you say was the hardest part about putting together this record for you guys, and why? Picking a name, haha. There seemed to almost be more pressure with that since we know how important it is to sort of brand yourself. I hate that term when involved with art and creativity but that's how it goes. We've been so used to something for so long so it was a little difficult to make something original and unique that wasn't already taken by some garage band somewhere that trademarked the name already.
How excited are you to be heading out on some full tours soon, and what do you want these shows to do for WOVENWAR? We're all pretty excited. We've been off the road for over a year so we're ready to get out and perform, and feel the rush when you've got a good crowd in the room. We'd like to still do things at the standard we did for AILD. Now that we've got Shane playing guitar and singing, and Josh singing almost non stop as well, things feel more alive and fresh. I think it'll be reinvigorating to have completely new material to perform. Hopefully people realize this isn't a temporary thing to pass the time, we're going for it and putting everything into this.
What else can we expect to see from WOVENWAR in 2014? It's pretty much just a lot of touring until the end of the year. I think it'd be cool to start figuring out ways to do an acoustic set. Simplify the songs a little and have Shane and Josh sing in an intimate sort of setting. It's stuff like that we could never really do with AILD because we were limited in a lot of ways but it seems like we can really be more creative now and keep people interested.
Interview with Tank & Tron
So how did you guys end up on Pure Noise Records, and what have they been like to work with so far? We got on Pure Noise two years ago when we met our current manager Jason Mageau. He highly recommended Jake Round at Pure Noise and we've always trusted Jason, so we signed with PN at 2012's warped tour. It's been an amazing two years and we honestly don't see ourselves with anyone else. They have our backs. The rest is history!
How did you end up working with Kyle Black for your upcoming album 'Block Out The Sun & Sleep' and how did he push you as musicians? We had actually heard a bunch of records that Kyle had done before we even realized he had produced those records, so we knew it was the vibe we needed. On the ComeBack Kid tour they told us how awesome it was working with Kyle and it just reinforced our decision to go with him. Kyle is full of endless ideas and literally has a inhuman ear for making things sound tight and natural. He made sure every single second of "Block Out The Sun & Sleep" was analyzed before moving on. It was a pleasure having someone teach us new techniques with song writing and it definitely pushed us as musicians.
How would you say this record compares to what you have done prior as To The Wind? "BOTS&S" is To The Wind. Everything that we wanted to do with "Empty Eyes" but couldn't or didn't, we were able to do with our new record. With two years of heavy touring, it really makes us know exactly how each one of us reacts to certain ideas and songs. We were mentally prepared for sure.
Can you tell us about the themes and influences that run throughout 'Block Out The Sun & Sleep'? The themes are what we don't like about ourselves, don't like about what we see, don't like about what we can't do or can't change. You'll just have to give it a listen and see what you take from it.
It's only been just over a year since your debut came out, so can you tell us about how this record came together so 'soon'? Two years of heavy touring will force a band to grow. Some songs on "Empty Eyes" were written before we even signed with PN. We don't feel like it was "soon" we feel like it was right on time because "BOTS&S" is us now at this very moment. Not us years ago. Ya know?
Also, looking back on your debut album 'Empty Eyes' how happy are you guys with this record still, and what do you think it has done for the 'status' and representation of To The Wind? We still jam a lot of those songs and love that record, it got us on some great tours and great festivals and we've met so many rad people because of that record. But our new record represents us how we want to be represented. So pick up "Block Out The Sun & Sleep" and then "Empty Eyes" and see what you like more. Or maybe and hopefully you'll like them the same!
How would you say To The Wind compare to other hardcore/metal bands out there at the moment? We don't like to compare us to other bands. Not our call. We are just playing music we like, and it just so happens the music we like is fast, and we want it to punch and hit people with topics they can relate to.
Touring wise, what have you been up to this year, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? We've done a ton of US tours with some of our favorite bands this year. But our highlight would have to be our European tour with our friends in No Bragging Rights. Two bands of best friends in one van playing in countries we've never been to before?! Can't get any better than that.
What else can we expect to see from To The Wind in 2014? The most energetic performances of our careers, Vans Warped Tour until August 3rd and many more tours to be announced so don't sleep and pay attention!
Interview with Taylor
So how did your recent European/UK tour go with Of Mice & Men, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? It was fantastic. The guys in OM&M and Issues are really nice dudes, the shows were completely sold out and it was our first time overseas as a band, so it was a pretty surreal experience. My favorite times on the road are honestly the times in the van between shows. Everyone gets restless and we just start doing really dumb, hilarious shit. There's a lot of van moshing and incredibly dark jokes.
How did you end up signing with Red Bull Records, and what have they been like to work with so far? John Feldman passed some of our early stuff along to them and they were really into it. They've been an incredible label that definitely puts their bands ahead of themselves. They're completely new to working in this music scene, and that's refreshing because they want to work alongside us and learn as much as they can about it.
What made you want to release 'Beaten in Lips' first, and how happy have you been with the response to this track so far? It's one of our personal favorites on the record, it's really fast and has a message that we definitely stand behind. The response has been pretty unreal to us, it's crazy. We're honestly just not used to seeing such positive responses to bands these days.
So how did you get to the album title 'Disgusting' and what does it mean to you guys? Originally it was going to be called Sick and Disgusting, however we decided to make it the second part to our EP called Sick. It's just a full realization of our sound and who we are and what we're here to do.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout the album? A lot of it is derived from Caleb's personal experiences and thoughts on life and things he's encountered that have really struck a chord in him. Ranging from his experiences with Anxiety and Depression, to his views on the world around us. From talking with people at our shows and hearing their personal issues, to seeing more worldwide issues and inequalities.
Can you tell us about how the artwork for 'Disgusting' came together, as well as what it means to you? It was some awesome work that we were interested in from PR Brown. He's worked with a lot of artists that we respect and has made some incredible artwork, so we just let him run wild with his idea and it turned out really cool.
So how would you say your sound has progressed overall as a band since you started out? I think Caleb just found his sound. It was a pretty quick evolution, but our belief as a band has always been to keep everything as simple, honest and to the point as we possibly can. So it takes out having backtracks and a lot of the nonsense bands try and stack on top of their sound these days. We just wanted to play fast, angry, honest music and I think Caleb did a great job in that respect.
You guys have really grown an epic fan base since the release of your EP 'Sick' so for you, looking back, how happy are you with this release and what do you think it has done overall for the 'status' and representation of Beartooth!? We're just super thankful for all of the support we've been shown for this album and for us as a band. It's all been very unexpected and incredible and we just want to say thank you to everyone that has bought a copy of our album, listened to it, been to one of our shows or replied to one of our stupid comments on the internet. It's incredibly encouraging.
You guys are known for putting on an electric live show, so what's been the craziest thing to happen at a show for you guys so far? We got a little too rowdy the last time we played in Detroit at the Crofoot. It was about halfway through the Unconditional tour and during our second to last song Oshie (our bass player) dove into the crowd and landed awkwardly. He dislocated his shoulder and had to be taken to the hospital so Caleb picked up his bass and finished the set for him. The next few days we had people from every band fill in for us and it was really fun to get to share that with a bunch of the guys on the tour.
What else can we expect to see from Beartooth in 2014? We're trying to break the world record for number of burritos ingested by one band of dudes!
Interview with Chris
Can you tell us a bit about how the current line-up of Texas In July has come together? When Alex and Christian (former vocals and guitar) told us they were moving on from the band, Ben, Adam and myself were in a hard spot of trying to decide what the next step should be. After brainstorming possible vocalist replacements, I was shown a video of a YouTube cover that JT Cavey, our new vocalist, had done and immediately contacted him and got him on board. In a similar case, we tried out two guitarists, both of whom we're great players, but for one reason or another just didn't work out. I then asked Cameron, our new guitarist, to try out and he passed the tour and playing tests with flying colors. All in all, even through the rough patches we've come out the other side even stronger than before and we are having more fun than ever!
So far what has it been like to write & record with your new singer J.T. Cavey, and with a new front man then how much has this process changed overall for you guys? Going into this album we had high expectations for what JT would bring to the table. We had heard his voice recorded plenty of times before so we already knew what to expect. The only thing that was different this time around was that JT also wrote the majority of the lyrics for the album, where as in the past Ben, our bassist, would take on that duty. This allowed Ben to focus more on assisting with phrasings and helping produce the vocal recording process.
Talking of your new record, can you tell us about how it's coming along, as well as what fans may expect from it? The recording, mixing and mastering process is fully complete! We released the first single, "Broken Soul," a few weeks ago which I think is good mix of old school TIJ, as well as showing some of the new elements we added into the mix with the rest of the album. The album is our heaviest, darkest, most technical and dynamic album yet and we're all extremely proud of the strides we were able to take on this album.
What else can you tell us about the recording process? The album was recorded in the band's hometown of Lancaster, PA, with Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio. The band has a long history with both producers, which allowed for an extremely relaxed and fun recording process. It also allowed us to spend two weeks in the studio prior to the recording sessions to write, while Grant and Carson were there to help shape the songs. It helped us to introduce new elements and influences we weren't able to in the past. It's great to have an outside opinion from the very beginning to think about things in a different way and offer ideas that we wouldn't normally think of on our own. It created an extremely inspired environment to work in!
Touring wise, what have you been up to this year, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? We started off our year so far with a US headlining tour and two tours with Unearth, one in the States and one in Canada. It was great to get to tour with a band that helped define the genre of music that we play, and it was great to get to take out a group of great bands on our headliner and play a longer set for our fans who are always so good to us and show us so much support!
Looking back on your self-titled release, how happy are you with this record, and what do you think it has done for the 'status' and representation of Texas In July? I'm still very proud of the self-titled album and I still think it's full of great songs! I feel like it was important to the progression of the growth of our band as musicians and song writers as well. As far as what it has done for the status of the band, that's hard to say. However, we do get a lot of requests from our fans for songs off that album, so hopefully that's a good sign!
How would you say the metalcore 'scene' has changed or progressed since you first started out as Texas In July? The scene has become more and more saturated with bands, and seems to have moved further away from appreciating true musicianship. Many of the bands in this general scene rely more on their MacBooks and backtracks than the instruments in their hands. These bands also seem to be the ones that are gaining the most momentum as well. I'm not here to judge what anyone does, but I would love to see some bands hold onto their musical integrity and for the fans to take notice to the bands who already are!
How excited are you about your upcoming performance at Hevy Fest, and what should attending fans expect? I'm very excited! In fact, I'd say it is one of my most anticipated shows of this European run! We've gotten to play many festivals in mainland Europe, but this will be our first in the UK. We're excited to play to a larger crowd and get to watch some amazing bands and friends play as well!
What else can we expect to see from you in 2014? Our new album will be out this fall for your listening pleasure, and will be accompanied with at least one music video! We'll also be hitting the road for basically the remainder of the year. We are also hoping to try and return to Europe in early 2015!
Interview with Grizzly
How did your WIITB ten year anniversary go, and can you give us a couple of highlights from your time on the road? The 10 year tour was great. It’s bizarre to think how much time has passed since the release of that record. Every show felt very special, and I'm really happy we did it. For myself, and probably for every member of this band. The show at Brixton academy was the most special Finch show in our history. It felt like everyone in the world was there that night.
Personally, what's it been like for you to re-visit these songs over the last year? Re-visiting the record was a tremendous experience for the sole reason that I got to connect with people every night of the tour that had a story about the first time they heard it, or what effect it had on their life.
What was it like to work on your live release of 'What it is to Burn X' and how happy have you been with the feedback to the record so far? That was for the most part very easy. We just had to play the best show we could, and then capture that night as best as possible in a video editing room. I'm pleased with the results.
How did you end up on Razor & Tie records and what have they been like to work with so far? Razor & Tie was the first label that approached us. Our manager Andy Harris has had a relationship with a few of the owners for probably 20 years. And they made the strongest case for putting out the 3rd Finch LP.
So when did you guys originally decide that you'd be staying together for a third album? For myself, it was the Brixton Academy show. I didn't want to go back to a life without Finch. I think maybe everyone else felt the same way.
You've been performing a new song live 'Back To Oblivion' so can you tell us about this track, as well as how happy you've been with the response to it so far? Back to Oblivion was the first song that we wrote for this record that gave us the confidence that we could actually do it. We could still write good songs together. We didn't have to be a legacy band.
So how's the writing process going for the new album ‘Back To Oblivion’, and what do you think fans can expect from the record overall? The writing process was long and difficult. We obsessed over every note from every instrument. So it’s never a swift process. We wrote about 40 songs, and then picked the best 14 songs out of that for the record.
What else can you tell us about the recording process for this record? We recorded the record with Brian Virtue at Stagg Street studios in Van Nuys, California. Recording with Brian was amazing, he's such wonderful human, so gracious, and so respectful.
You've recently announced a vinyl release for 'Say Hello to Sunshine' so how did this idea come about, and also, do you think you guys would like to do a ten year anniversary tour for this record as well? That was out of our hands. Universal I think sold the rights to a company to release it. But it looks great, and I've been told it sounds great too. But I don't think we'll do a Sunshine anniversary tour.
Also, looking back on the release of 'Say Hello to Sunshine' how happy are you with this record still, and what do you think it has done for the 'status' and representation of Finch? I love that record. I think it absolutely captured the statement this band wanted to make at that time. Just because it divided our audience, and just because it wasn't as big of a commercial success as ‘What It Is To Burn’ was doesn't make it a lesser record for me. Finch has never been a "me too" band, we just say fuck it and go our own way.
It's clear that you guys enjoy putting together awesome vinyl releases for your fans, so with this in mind, what's your opinion on this form of media, and why do you think it's still so relevant in this day and age? I think it’s still relevant because it sounds just as good, if not better than any other popular media that’s available today. It’s not as disposable, and there’s an element of it being a collectors items. Not too dissimilar to sports playing cards, or comics. It’s something to geek out over.
How excited are you for your upcoming performance at Hevy Fest, and what can attending fans expect? I'm so excited to come back to England. The shows are always great, and I have so many good friends that I can't wait to see.
What else can we expect to see from Finch in 2014? Back to Oblivion!! September 2014!!
Interview with Sam & Ross
The first I'd heard of Twin Atlantic was when you played the Venue in Dumfries and now you've just played Glastonbury, that's not bad going is it? Sam - Yeah, I guess it's a bit of a change. Not to be disrespectful to The Venue but it is sort of a world removed, when even was that?
I think it was 2008 supporting You Me At Six Ross - That was six years ago! Well thinking that way, it definitely feels as though we've worked hard enough so that we've made our own luck to then find ourselves playing Glastonbury. It still feels quite surreal that a band from Scotland, playing the type of music we do got to play it so we're very lucky.
How much chance did you get to really take in the atmosphere and the experience? Sam - We were in and out so we were only there for the day really. Baz and I got a chance to have a wonder around the site a bit and take it in. It is just so vast, and there's no way you could get through it in seven days let alone an afternoon. Just the general vibe of the festival feels like what it stands for and what it's all about. I think we all found it quite exciting and a really inspiring place.
You've played some pretty big shows lately, Milton Keynes and T in the Park, so how do they compare to Glastonbury? Sam - Milton Keynes was really different because we were on just before Kings Of Leon who were headlining. You know what? It just feels like we haven't fully digested it yet. I know it’s clichÊ and it's embarrassing to say and you should never admit this because it lets your guard down, but we're kind of living our wildest dreams just now! Rather than trying to review it too much we're kind of trying to enjoy the moment instead, and I feel the most positive thing about that gig was that we did really enjoy it. Sometimes we get a bit too much of a build up and we do freak out a little, by playing too fast or by making a mistake as our adrenaline levels are way too high. But we've taken the big shows in a much more adult way recently and we have enjoyed it a bit more by doing so.
The new album is due in August, what can you tell us about it? Sam - Yeah it's pretty good! We enjoy it, it's a good cross section of who we are and if you listen to it, it goes in a few different directions. It's a pull of different emotions, I guess with some introspective songs and a bit more brash, quite arrogant sounding things and I guess that's a breakdown of us as people in a way. We're really proud of it because we feel we have represented ourselves in quite an honest way with it.
There is a lot of expectation surrounding the new album, did that add any extra pressure during the creative process? Sam - It's interesting, maybe it should have, but I think we were so focussed on trying to please ourselves that it was more of an afterthought. It came up more after we'd finished the album and we realised that we've been really quite selfish by trying to push our buttons first with what we think is a good album. Not really in the creative element but in the pulling the trigger when it's finished and tying the bow and saying “yeah we're done.” That is when it really came to light that there may have been some extra pressure because we've got a few peoples attention now.
What can you tell us about the title 'Great Divide'? Sam - Well it all comes from quite logical thoughts, it may seem more like it's shrouded in mystique but it really is for 'Great Divide' a very multi faceted name for the album. A lot of it was written on tour and a lot was also written at home in Glasgow. I spent a lot of time over in Canada, I have family over there, while the band were in Scotland so there’s that literal sense. We recorded the album in two halves, partly in America, partly in Wales so there's all those things going on that made the name rise to the top but again in reviewing it we got a real pallet of what the album was representing. It made sense to give it a theme and that was, and I know it is a bit clichéd again but, trying to represent rock music at our age as well as the generation that we're from. It’s about accepting that we're maybe, finally adults and that we've got all these responsibilities that we didn't have before. I suppose it feels like we're through our transitional age and we're fully formed people now that are a bit more comfortable, that's really what the album is about. It sounds quite deep and emotional but for us it was more about injecting a bit more fun into our band because we'd been playing a lot of shows for our last record and they became these big celebrations but some songs were maybe a bit too serious for that so we thought “let’s let our hair down a bit more and be more like ourselves”. I do need to think of a shorter answer for that but that's it in a kind of large, huge nut shell!
Which songs are you particularly excited about playing live? Ross - Well 'Brothers and Sisters' was one that we'd been really sitting on for a long time and we first played it live about two years ago but not in its finished way that gave us a real taste for how the new stuff might be received. Now that we're playing it as a full song in our set it feels like a massive relief. I think we're looking forward to doing a couple of the more exposed songs, there's a song on the record called 'Oceans' and 'The Ones That I love' that are a bit more vulnerable, we don't have many songs like that so we're looking forward to the challenge.
You seem to be what I describe as 'road dogs', with the amount you are on tour is it ever difficult adjusting to the brief periods of downtime you have? Ross - No, well not for me anyway. It's just such a different experience when you can just fully, properly relax that I find it quite easy to separate things, I know Sam, you may have a different experience? Sam - Yeah I'm the exact opposite, Twin Atlantic to me is something that is an omnipresent 24 hour job and I'll always be so closely related to our music, maybe because it comes from a slightly more personal place with my relationship with the songs but I enjoy it! I'm really proud of it all. The only time I really switch off is when I play Golf but I don't really get much time to do that because I can't hit a straight ball or I can't hit a nice high soft drop when I'm thinking about a gig or an interview I've said something stupid in or something!
What is a typical day for Twin Atlantic on tour like? Sam - It's so different for us all man, Ross and I are a good cross section of the band. He gets up at 9am, makes his bed, folds his clothes and perfectly arranges everything. He has a very organised breakfast, and has like two showers a day and he's really just a functioning human! Where as I, get up at two in the afternoon, sometimes three, bumble about and then before you know it we're doing a gig. Ross - That stresses me right out even thinking about that by the way! Sam - I'm just conserving all my energy for the big rock show, that's what's going on there man!
The bands rise wasn't long in coming after you formed, when did you start to realise big things were starting to happen? Ross - Some people would take this as arrogance but it's more just trying to be honest, the first time the four of us played a song together that we'd written our own parts too, it felt like there was a special chemistry. We're all really big music fans with diverse tastes but the fact that all four of us were really into what we were doing meant that right at the beginning there was room to do something that mattered. We'd all left Uni and lost friends and girlfriends with the way we live our lives so it’s really been from the word go that we felt there was something there otherwise we wouldn't have pursued it for so long. Festivals are a really good indication of if it's going well and they give you more of a taste of playing to a big crowd. A good exampe would be T in the Park, as we've played every stage on the way up there really, that shows you that it’s possible and the first we'd played to a few thousand people before we'd done it at our own gigs. Those moments are real pillars of confidence and indication for us.
You obviously have a busy time coming up with festivals and of course the album release, what does the rest of the year and moving in to 2015 hold for Twin Atlantic? Sam - We're going to try and get back to a lot of the places we haven't managed to go to for a while because we've been so busy writing and making this new album. We're going out to places in Europe that we've been and we’ll be back in America quite a lot. We have a headline run in the UK later on in the year and this will be the first chance I guess to play most of the album. Then hopefully we’ll go to places we haven’t been before like Australia and just spread the good word of the Twin Atlantic bible.
TAKING SHAPE
Interview with Mike
The new self-titled album is coming out in Setpember, so can you tell us a bit about what to expect from it? With all our previous albums, they were written in a short period of time. It was always write and record an album in between tours because we tour so heavily, we are always kind of a live band and the records came second to that. This time though, we took a year off, got our own recording studio and we spent time on an album and we'd never done that before so I think it translates. You can expect a better album!
Can you talk us through the creative process this time out with taking a year out? All of it was written on a computer so we were writing as we went along, that way every bit of it was heavily scrutinised. There was a bullshit filter and everything had to go through it meticulously. There was about six or seven drafts of songs, we just kept chucking them back through the filter so when we got to the end and we had a demo we were happy with, every part was crucial to the song and we thought it was sounding great. We then went back through the sessions and recorded the drums instead of the programmed drums we used to write, started re-amping guitars and getting session players for the string section, things like that. It was a really interesting way to to do things in a way we'd never done before.
Has the process made you more comfortable with experimenting given the string and electronic elements? Yeah it has, with guitar music I've always felt if you are going to add some kind of electronic element it has to be done really tastefully and it is quite hard to strike that balance. Like I said, we'd taken all that time off so we had the time to go through and try things. It is all trial and error at the end of the day and I think we've pulled it off. I'm going to say that though because I'm biased, I think it's fucking great!
I've only had a chance to hear a few of the songs and there is some interesting lyrical content, it seems there is a lot of personal stuff being expressed? There is, I always write reflective stuff and writing lyrics is very much a therapy for me and I can gain closure on certain events in my life after I've written about it otherwise I'd be racking up some severe shrink bills and be in a psychiatric ward about it! On previous albums I'll admit I've tried to be a bit clever when writing lyrics. A lot of it would be very specific to me and so specific that it wasn't really relevant to anyone else. On this album I've scaled it back a bit, the lyrical content is a bit more basic but people can relate to it in their own way. It means something to me but it can also mean something to anyone else listening.
Are there any new songs you're particularly excited about playing live? Good question, well at the moment we only play one and that's 'Here We Go' which is our new single that is out at the moment and it's just so heavy man. We open the set with it and it’s quite a bold move to open the set with a new song but it just kicks off. We played it at three shows in Japan, a corporate gig then the Radio 1 Rock Show. Yeah, that one I'm very excited about.
With this new album cycle there will obviously be plenty of touring, are there any places you haven't played yet that are high on the wish list? Australia is definitely one place, we've never been before and I think it would be a great place to get over to with the lads to play some shows, do some surfing have BBQs and all that good stuff!
The last album was released on Island Records, what were they like to work with and what led to the split? I'll tell you the whole story. We got signed to Island, for reasons unbeknown to me, they signed us. It came to a point where they were streamlining the roster and anyone that hadn’t sold something like 150,000 records or whatever the number was got dropped but they'd already picked up our option, we'd signed the contract for our next album and they'd given us our record advance. They called us in and said, “look, judged on your last record sales, predicted sales for this next album aren't great so we're going to really invest in you. So you can either have the album released half arsed by us or you can take the money and run.” So we decided to take the money, build a recording studio, record this album and take the time to do so. Then we signed to Sony about a month ago, so that's it, that's the story.
So with Sony Records, how is that relationship working out so far? It is completely different. I found with Island it was very much a production line kind of thing with people making money, and at first we were charmed and we were flattered to have been signed by a major label but it just didn't work out. With Sony, our manager actually works there now which is great and obviously beneficial to us. Our product manager, this guy called Ali Tan is just a guy around our age who loves music and he's a fan of the band so we couldn't ask for more. We only work with two people there and those two people love our band so it's great.
How has the bands sound evolved from the hardcore punk beginnings to the more melodic, anthemic sound today? It's happened so gradually over four albums and an EP. It is just as we've matured the music has matured with us, as cliched as that sounds that is what it is. When we used to be a punk band, I was angry at the world, I didn't have much but now that I'm less angry I'm more sad. Sad and jaded. I gave up with the anger, it didn't get me anywhere!
Interview with Chris
So how did your recent UK tour go, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? It went really well! We visited a lot of places we don't really tour often, or have visited in a while, like Wolverhampton and Brighton. A personal highlight for me would be starting the tour in Norwich to a home crowd. It's not often that first days of tour are the best one, but I think in this case it was!
What was it like to perform with a gospel choir and a string quartet recently, and how did this idea come about? It was great, it's the same two groups we've used for a lot of sessions since the end of the Fools And Worthless Liars album campaign, and we try to get them involved with as much stuff as possible.
What's it been like to perform the new songs live so far, and how happy have you been with the response to the material? Since we started playing the new material, it feels so much more organic. We're pretty pleased that fans of our previous albums have stuck with us, but ecstatic with how fans of bands we like are getting into us now also.
What was it like to tour the states, and how would you say touring over there compares to the UK? It's so much harder. The travelling is absolutely mental!
Can you tell us a bit about the narrative behind your track '22'? We've read that it's to do with an odd night in Amsterdam!? James wrote the song after a very messy night out in Amsterdam with the Maine. Very messy.
Can you tell us about the two new tracks that feature on your upcoming '22' EP 'Whiskey' and 'Drive All Night (English Hearts')? One is about being a terrible alcoholic, and the other one is literally about whiskey!
Also, were these songs ever considered for your latest album? No, they were written after we recorded Old Souls.
How excited are you for your upcoming slot at Reading/Leeds festival, and what can attending fans expect? Well we're hopefully bringing some friends for a start. We're always excited to play such a legendary festival.
What do you think of the current rock 'scene' in the UK, and how would you say it's grown/progressed since you first started out? I think if anything, bands are becoming too dependant and expectant on social media to make them huge overnight, whilst failing to realise that what makes a good band are good songs.
Interview with Deon
You've recently announced that your latest album 'Lowborn' and your upcoming touring cycle will be the bands last, what has brought about that decision? I think we came to the realization that our personal lives were pulling us in different directions and that it had begun to effect Anberlin. After 12 years of touring and recording, it seemed like a good time to take a break.
How long before the announcement did the band know this was it? We took about three months to get our affairs in order before we made the announcement.
What can you tell us about the recording process for 'Lowborn', and with it being your last record, then how did it compare to what you've done previously? We wanted to make an album that said, “this is who we are right now,” seeing as it will be our final album. And so, we decided to work with friends. Matt Goldman recorded our first demos, we played our first show with Aaron Marsh’s band Copeland and Aaron Sprinkle recorded our first albums. These are the people that have been with us since the beginning, so there are few people that could understand us like them. Many people have assumed that we wanted to record the album separately, but we weren’t separate, we worked together every step of the way.
The artwork certainly catches the eye, what does it represent? We adopted the crossed fingers logo during our Vital album. We like the visual and what it represents, so we decided it should grace the final cover as well. It’s apparently caused a lot of discussion and debate among fans, but to us, it simply seemed appropriate to have reoccurring themes.
Can you tell us about the themes and influences that run throughout the album, as well as what fans can expect overall? This album is meant to represent who we are right now, so there is a common theme of taking stock in life and saying goodbye to what we have created. I wouldn’t say this is a typical album for us, but it is undoubtedly an Anberlin album and I hope fans hear that in the music.
The Facebook page broke the news of the albums delay citing, “not so fun circumstances having to do with this industry”, can you expand on the reasons? I can’t really speak into that as it deals with contract stuff, but luckily, Tooth And Nail was able to rally and do their best to not let the album be delayed too much. They’ve really been great with this process. They were here for us at the beginning and they are proud to be with us at the end.
You will be taking on three UK dates to start the tour, can you tell us about your first trips here and are there any shows from the UK that stand out in the memory? Our first trip to the UK was a tour opening up for The Starting Line and The Early November. It was also our first tour in a bus and we had so much fun exploring the country and playing for UK fans. The first Manchester show on that tour is one that really sticks with me because I had grown up listening to bands like The Smiths and Oasis and there I was, playing in their hometown. So, of course I took The Smiths pilgrimage to Salford Lads Club with our singer Stephen and Joe from The Early November. Combine that excitement with the fact that Manchester fans are awesome and you have the makings of a great show.
The band are really taking in all corners with the final tour including Singapore and Australia, is there anywhere that looking back you wish you could have played? We have been fortunate to have played in so many places. I personally wish we were going to Japan and Ireland one last time. I love both of those countries and I feel like we never got to go nearly enough in 12 years of touring.
Your final gig is will be in Orlando, so do you have anything special planned for the night? I don’t think I want to try to plan anything crazy. I just want to let the night happen and let it be unforgettable for everyone there.
Looking back at the band’s back catalogue, what is your favourite album and why? Cities holds a special place in my heart mostly because of the process of creating that album as well as the music. We lived in Seattle’s Capital Hill for 2 months while making that album. We had no car and we shared an apartment only a few blocks away from the studio, so every day was spent walking around, working in the studio and listening to music. We really did love that album and I think it came through in the final product.
After 12 years the end is in sight for Anberlin, what do you feel when you think about your time with the band and what has it meant to you as a person? It’s something I’ll never forget or regret. I never knew that we’d be fortunate enough to make a second album let alone a seventh album. The fact that I was able to play music and travel the world with my best friends for twelve years is something that will always be with me. It’s what has made me who I am today.
Do you guys already have plans as to what you will do after Anberlin? We do and we don’t. You never know what the future will hold. The thing is, we can do whatever we want to do. We devoted so much time to Anberlin over these twelve years, but that is coming to an end. There will be so much time for anything and everything we want to do next. It’s really exciting .
Interview with Telle Smith
Interview with Dan
So what made you guys want to put out an EP instead of releasing another full length? Well mostly time restraints but also, we like the idea of putting out shorter releases more often. That way costs are lower and we can get back in the studio sooner after a release and try to have multiple releases per year, to keep things fresh.
How did you get to the EP title 'Go Down In History' and what does it mean to you? The song ‘Go Down in History’ is about since we decided to be active, there’s a lot of emotions that go into getting everything going again. thoughts like, “will anyone care”? “will we be able to be the FYS we want to be”? go through your head. Obviously we are getting older and you start to think of this ticking clock, but at the end of the day we put our hearts into everything we do and it doesn’t matter how long we’ve been gone, or where we were. Giving it everything we have trumps all.
How did you end up working with Machine @ The Machine Shop, and what were they like to work with for this EP? We’ve worked with Machine on two other records (Enemy and the cover record) as well as the special edition stuff for enemy, so we’ve had a great relationship with him for years. When we decided to start to record again, we started to think of how fun it was to record with him before and that we didn’t want to take the time to get to know a new producer. He’s an amazing guy and producer so it was a quick and easy decision.
You guys have never put out the same release twice, and you always have an exciting progression with each record. So how would you say this EP compares overall to what you have done before as Four Year Strong? I would say this EP is a great mashup of how our song writing style has evolved over the years. Riffs like RODT, melodies like ISWSOF and the energy of EOTW. We wrote every song with the live show at the forefront of our minds. We want these songs to be a riot when we play them.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout the EP? I would say there aren’t really any themes to the lyrics, but as far as the music goes, we just really concentrated on musicianship. Everyone just played the shit out of their parts!
What would you say was the hardest part about putting together this EP for you guys, and why? I would say the hardest part was the time factor. We wanted it out for the summer but with the Bayside tour we just did and some other personal barriers, we just made sure we did everything as fast as we could without sacrificing the quality of the songs. Whilst also making sure that things didn’t fall through the cracks, it was intense.
How come you ended up pairing with Pure Noise Records, and what have they been like to work with so far? Pure Noise has been killing it lately. Everything they put out is quality. The standards that Jake (Pure Noise) has defined for himself and the label are really great. Once we started talking to him we knew he was the way to go. Working with them has been amazing so far, and I can’t wait to see how far we can take it together.
Are you guys working on a full album as well just yet then? If so, can you tell us a bit about that? Right now we are just working on supporting this EP and continuing to write. I’m super stoked to get these songs into the set and get kids going nuts again. But we’ll keep the new music flowing, you won’t have to wait long.
What else can we expect to see from Four Year Strong in 2014? There’s a lot of really cool stuff in the works for 2014-2015. It’s going to be a great year!
Interview with Björn
The new album is ready and due for release in September, what can we expect from this 11th In Flames record? You make me feel old! We try to have the same mind set every time we do an album, and we try to step outside just a little bit from what we have done in the past by learning from the experiences we've had along the way. I think you'll find some fairly soft parts, so it’s very dynamic. Maybe not so in your face but at the same time we are keeping some of the heavier stuff that we've done. The mixture for us is more important than having this kind of song or that kind of song, or we have to be true to whatever, because it's still going to be classic In Flames!
The bands sound has evolved over the last few releases, is that an organic thing or simply just what you're writing? I think the sound and the writing process are two completely different things, the process of writing has always been pretty much the same. The dynamic of the song writing and the song writers has changed obviously since Jesper (Strömblad) isn't with us any more, him and I wrote most of the music for our records together, now I'm sort of doing most of the music by myself and bouncing the ideas off the other guys, especially with Anders (Fridén). I think vocals need to take a huge part of what we do, not just something you layer on as the last thing you do. It needs to be part of the song (writing) to get the depth and there is so many things you can do with the vocals. We've switched some of the melodies that were obviously guitar melodies to begin with, and they now go with the vocals. We've done that in the past with keyboards but now we can do whatever we want. It's a fantastic feeling when you sit and write.
Do you ever listen to music or other things to give you inspiration going in to it? No. If you ask anyone in the band, especially Anders who is opposite of me, I'm very old school when it comes to musical taste. I'm not very open to new things, it takes a lot of listens, and a lot of times for me to get in to new stuff, that's always how I've been. It's about rhythms and melodies that speak to me, if I hear it while I'm taking the kids to day care and it sticks when I get back home then it's probably good enough to be at least recorded once and I can try it out, it's always the same thing. I'm a very lazy guy, I need a deadline or a time limit on the actual work but I'm always collecting them (melodies) and if I remember one I'll do a recording. I’ll do a quick arrangement, put on some guitar, bass and drums, maybe some harmonies just to see how it feels. Then maybe from that I can draw some inspiration and continue but the first process is very slow, it takes months and sometimes up to a year, then when we have the deadline or a period when we want to release the record then we count backwards like “that means we need to record it by then so that means I have to start working by then”, a deadline is always helpful and useful for me.
Does that pressure of knowing you have to have the stuff done help add to the creative process? I think it works in two different ways. I get more focussed, I don't fuck around and I try to distil between the stuff that's important and the stuff I only did for laughs, gets booted out. At the same time it allows me to take away from the stuff that I like and get to the essence of things instead of just fucking around. Then, together with the other guys and again Anders in particular I start to look at what kind of songs does the album need for it to be on the whole a very dynamic experience because we're still seeing records as a whole, not just song by song. It's something that is supposed to be listened to from side A, all the way through then you turn the LP over and listen to the second half like it’s all one big thing. Then when that's done we gather the riff bag as I call it on my computer and work on the arrangements. I mostly come in with half prepared or almost done songs and we work on them.
Are there any songs that you are particularly excited about playing live from the album? That is actually an interesting question because it's probably going to change over the course of two days but right now I'm very excited just to play these new songs because they are fresh, we haven't played them together once so far but they are made for being played live. The songs we've played live 10,000 times are still awesome but refreshment is needed, after a tour or two we'll know what works the best and take it from there. To begin with I just want to play all of them! That may not be a fun thing for people who are into what we've done in the past but for me that would be a lot of fun!
This will be the bands first release on Epic Records, how has it been so far? I think everything has been stepped up a notch, without trying to use clichés but it is different. The whole way of doing things is different, the machinery's kind of bigger so I think, it might be a good thing, or it might be a bad thing but you don't have to do anything rash when you're on a major label. At least that's the feeling I have, if you want to explore ideas you do it on the writing board and go with what you think is best then push all your power in to it. The smaller labels, even though the labels we've been on are major labels in that genre are some of the biggest and were always fantastic to us, we've always loved working with those guys. It's just a different approach we're trying this time and we've never done that before. We've always been on an independent or underground label so it is a very exciting thing for us to try. We're really looking forward to it, the guys and girls we're working with are really fantastic, really enthusiastic and they know our history, they are aware of it and want to keep it. That is something that is super important to us of course.
The artwork has been done by Blake Armstrong and it is a very striking piece of art, how did this relationship come around? We met the guy on a tour in the US, he's a friend of Andreas who works with us. He actually had a whole script of doing a comic book for us which is basically a long story, it travels through the first album all the way up to the tenth at that time. The script was done and he showed us some artwork, we just fell in love with it. From there we met him and started talking, we came up with the idea of doing ten comic books or maybe now 11. We started working on the (album) artwork but we couldn't agree on what we wanted. Then either Andreas or Anders or whoever said “let Blake try it” and Blake is a fantastic artist so the first couple of things that came from his hand we had, we didn't need to think twice. He talked with Anders about the lyrics and he got the concept and the feel right so very fast, it was very efficient and it’s a great piece of art.
Niclas (Engelin) joined the band as a full time member after Jesper's departure, how has it been playing with Niclas after so many years with Jesper? It's different of course but if you see my history with Niclas, he's a couple of years older and I used to go see shows with his old band called Sarcazm. They did shows at the local youth centre and they kicked ass! They looked fantastic, they'd do Slayer covers, their own songs and I was a huge fan of his guitar playing right from the start. The first time Jesper couldn't go with us on a tour, then he was with us in 1997 for a summer tour of festivals so we asked him to join us but because of priorities and stuff, he had about 15 other bands, he never really stayed after so that was kind of a bummer but I saw my opportunity to start playing guitar (Björn began as a drummer) and I'm very grateful for that so at the time I wasn't that sad about it. When Jesper began not being able to tour we had to find an alternative and he was the first guy that came to mind. I remember this one round the world trip we were going to have like to Japan, Australia, the US back to Europe in one go of about four weeks or something, Jesper called me two days before and said “listen, I'm sorry but I'm not getting on the plane” and I was like “what??”. So how were we going to solve this? There was a lot of people depending on this, not only the crew and us but all these people who have bought tickets. I called Niclas, it took about 20 minutes to decide if he had time and he did then we had two days of coffee and guitar playing. A few songs later and we were travelling around the world. That was a time we needed him and he put everything into it so that is how he joined and we knew he was the right guy. What he also brings, which is a huge difference compared to Jesper, I don't think Jesper even considers himself a guitar player. He's an excellent, phenomenal song writer, he loves music, he loves melodies, but he doesn't really like to play guitar. I'm a guitar player, I like playing guitar and I don't have anyone to really bounce my guitar playing off, before shows we barely touched a guitar so my guitar playing got worse and worse. With Niclas, it's the opposite, we play for two hours before the set. We jam new tunes, we jam covers and just play guitar, he loves playing guitar and he makes me better.
You'll be back in the UK as part of the tour, how has the UK been for In Flames over the years? It's been kind of tough for us in the UK, we always like being there because we have a lot of friends there, and there are loads of great bands coming from there. We had the opportunity to tour with Motorhead and that was fantastic for us to go to the cities you normally don't. Well we normally don't go, it's usually London, Manchester, up to Scotland then once in a while we'll go to Ireland but that's about it for us. It's always great shows and crowds but it's been kind of tough with media and getting the right bands but it's always so much fun to play there and we hope to do more shows, there is an audience there and I think we can reach more people by going more often. The world is big and we try to keep everybody happy and ourselves happy too. It isn't far away, it's fairly simple to tour there and we will for as long as people want to see us!
Many readers will know that you began as the drummer when you first joined In Flames but they may not know what led to you moving to guitars, can you tell us how it came around? Well I've always been a guitar player, drumming was something I kind of learned. When I was young I worked at a youth centre to teach bands how to play together, people who were interested in music but couldn't really play anything so I taught them to play a little bit of guitar, drums, bass so they could play some cover songs and I learned a little bit of drums there. When the opportunity came up for me to try out for the band back in around '94 my cousin was childhood friends with Jesper and he introduced us. He said “dude this is my cousin, he can play drums” and I barely knew how to play them. As it happened, Jesper was even worse at drums, he was like “you're fantastic” and I was like “no, I'm just better than you!” He sucked, I sucked a little bit less! The reason I joined wasn't to be a drummer but because I could join as a song writer, make a difference and have my part in the song writing process, so that's what really made me stay and grow as a musician. We had some fantastic years. Then after the Whoracle record Glenn and Johan quit because they didn't enjoy touring, you need to be a certain person to enjoy touring so to speak and they weren't. They wanted to have families and get jobs, the things that grown ups do and at the time we weren't, we wanted to do this. Niclas was with us that summer and Peter joined the band and we decided fuck it, let’s find a drummer instead, I want to try the guitar. Eventually we found Daniel, well, he was the first guy we tried out, who was a huge fan of the band which was kind of embarrassing, he is a fantastic drummer. At the, let’s call it an audition, he played two songs that I'd played on however many tours and however many hundreds of times live and he nailed it way better than I ever could so we'd found our guy, right there. I was so happy because I can play the guitar!
You're known as a big Star Trek fan I believe? I'm a Sci-Fi nerd.
So how do you think JJ Abrams will do after jumping over to Star Wars? Well, let’s put it like this. He did nothing wrong, he did an amazing job when it came to the Star Trek movies. I'm a super fan, I actually get goose bumps just talking about it. I was so happy about that because it's not an easy thing to do, Star Wars on the other hand, that's a big leap. Then again I don't think he could fuck it up more than the last ones! To be honest they were cool, I had friends who worked on them and I liked the ideas but it was just... Just wrong. Maybe I'm just older, maybe expectations were too high but now I think most peoples expectations are lowered enough to appreciate this for what it is. He's a great director and I think he's going to do a great job. I'm really looking forward to it!
In Flames are heading towards 25 years as a band, not to make you feel old.. haha, thanks again man!
What do you think when you look back at your time with the band? Oh wow, you know what? I don't really think back, I remember certain feelings and of course I remember every moment being on stage and everything, the huge shows that we did, great tours with great bands but certain feelings, it's getting harder and harder to get those feelings back. Listening to the Jester Race in Glenn's car for the first time, this is us recorded by Frederick and it sounds like a fucking album, you know that feeling. The magic is taken away from you in the studio when you understand no fairies are coming down to help you with the guitar parts, you have to do the work yourself and that is when the magic comes flowing back, as soon as you hear the result, that feeling is fantastic. I actually got that feeling again now, for the first time in a very long time listening back to the album that we've just done and that's not a clichÊ or a lie, it's just how it’s turned out.
Interview with Tim
So what made you want to release 'I Don't Want to Be Here Anymore' as the first single from your new album ‘The Black Market’? I’ll be honest I haven’t tuned in to the response too much yet! I don’t spend a lot of time trolling the internet trying to figure out if people dig what we do. As much as the internet has democratized information, it’s also too often a place void of meaningful conversation. I know if people like what we do when they walk in the door of one of our shows. That’s the community I really care about. I’m pretty confident we made an important record that will find the right people, and ruffle the feathers of the wrong people.
Can you also elaborate on the narrative behind this single? It’s a pretty simple and visceral escapist sentiment. It’s about not wanting to be in a place, physically or mentally. It’s something most of us have said to ourselves, if not aloud, at some point in our lives. Whether you feel you are being exploited or ignored, or you can just imagine a better place, it’s about longing for that place and finally admitting to yourself that you aren’t content with you current situation. But it doesn’t have the answer either. It’s just the first step.
You've stated that 'This album is a lot more introspective' than being so much about politics, so with this in mind can you tell us about the main themes and influences on this record as well as how they compare to what you have done on records in the past? Rise Against has spent most of our time looking out at the world, but this one looks inward. I spent a lot of time reflecting on who we are as a band, how people see us, and what people expect of us. It’s an interesting experiment to spend a giant chunk of your life churning the waters of your soul for words to express in songs that then reach people. Sometimes you wish those waters would remain calm and undisturbed. I wanted to explore that on this record.
What's your view on being labelled a 'political band' by some, and do you think that maybe more bands should be covering the subjects that you have covered? I think bands should do whatever the hell they want to do. If they have strong feelings or feel passionate about something and they keep it to themselves for one reason or another, then I think that’s sad and a damn shame. I write the lyrics I write because it’s what is on my chest or in my heart. But if you don’t have passions that slant politically, then the world still needs the next Ramones or Jawbreaker, both bands that prove you don’t need to be political to be powerful. Do I wish the airwaves reflected this tumultuous time we live in a little more? Of course I do.
Also, in a kind of reference to the last question, what have been some of the major problems that you have seen in recent years in maybe the news or read about, that the world should really be paying more attention to right now? The Green Scare. The Green Scare is the slow process of re-defining environmental activists as terrorists, or ‘eco-terrorists.’ It alludes to the ‘Red Scare,’ when American politicians conveniently labeled their enemies as Communists to turn the collective will against them. This is all bubbling under the surface now, but this is dirty politics aimed at silencing critics. We have a song called “The Eco-Terrorist In Me” on the new record that talks about this.
So how did you get to the album title 'The Black Market' and what do you want it to mean to your fans? It’s about the cost of self-awareness. So many artistic endeavors involve going to dark places to create something, our music included. This record was a reflection on what it means to go to that dark place and not always being able to walk away from it unscathed. This music we create, it traffics in emotion. That is our currency. There’s something dark about that. That’s where the title came from.
What can you tell us about the recording process for this record? Much like our last few recordings, we tracked this record in Fort Collins, CO with Jason Livermore and Bill Stevenson (Black Flag/Descendents) at The Blasting Room. Prior to that we got together in different studios around the country to write the material. We met in LA at the Red Bull Studios, Austin, Chicago at Atlas, and spent a week in CO also. We tried to expand some of the sounds a little to give this record a little different, and rawer, feel. I think it worked.
What was the hardest part about putting together this record for you guys, and why? For me, it was the lyrics. I wanted to speak my mind without re-hashing anything I’ve written before. I wanted to be honest with myself and our fans. I challenged myself to dig deep.
With every album making your band bigger and bigger on a global level, then does this kind of success ever add a lot of pressure for you guys when putting together an album? The greatest amount of pressure is the pressure we put on ourselves. We’ve been doing this long enough to know what feels right.
What would you like 'The Black Market' to do for the 'status' and representation of Rise Against? I’d like The Black Market to be another chapter in the Rise Against story, one that keeps you turning pages.
Can you tell us about how the artwork for this record came together, as well as what it means to you guys? I wanted the cover to be something beautiful, but marred in a way. It needed to be stained, the way our experiences sometimes stain us.
How would you say the overall sound of Rise Against has progressed since you first started out? Every record we learn something about capabilities and our limitations. But most of all we trust our instincts. We know that trying to write a hit is just as insincere as trying to write something that sounds like a record you did ten years ago. When you come to terms with that, you move forward.
Also, how would you guys say the punk rock 'scene' has changed or progressed since you first started out as Rise Against in 1999? We started this band before there was such thing as ‘social networking’ and that has changed access to punk. It was far more word of mouth back in the day. It’s been interesting to watch it all evolve.
What else can we expect to see from Rise Against in 2014? A sick, sweaty show in a city near you, see you in the pit.
When you think about rock anthems that can certainly get the blood pumping you're inclined to think of one of the following: Sweetness, Bleed American or The Middle and all are by the extremely talented Jimmy Eat World. These guys have been around for so many years and have a massive back catalogue behind them. Fear not if you miss them on main stage, they're headlining lock up too! Those kind hearted guys.
The LTA lads have been kicking around for a while, with three consistent full-lengths under their belts and another one on it’s way under a major label. There has been no better time to see the guys hopefully perform an eclectic set of material past and present. Expect a no-holds barred performance as they smash through their own blend of punk, whether it be from the thrashy Far Q or the more rock driven Changing Tune, Lower Than Atlantis have something for everyone across the whole spectrum.
British Metalcore band, Bring Me The Horizon have released four studio albums, all of which I'm a fan of, but if I had to chose my absolute favourite album of theirs it would have to be their latest album released in 2013, 'Sempiternal'. The main reason this is my favourite is becase I feel it incorporates all their best elements of their previous three albums, all the while creating something exciting and different. The band also show quite a transformation, which sometimes isn't a good thing, but the band pull it of tremendously as they almost reinvented themselves showing a more mature side that is undenialably genius and executed superbly. I think they gained a lot more fans and of course appeased and surprised existing fans! I think it is quite fair to say that this album sees some of their best songs to date, such as the hughely powerful and popular single, 'Can You Feel My Heart' which immediately highlights their new sound with strong electronic emphasis, as well as Sykes more varied and emotive vocals and not too mention the massive ambience and atmosphere. I think it was a nice change to see Oli push himself and expand on his capabilties and with brilliant results. For example in 'Sleepwalking' it has the right balance of singing and screaming and a stand out chorus with a nice use of creepy and positive effects, similarly, 'Shadow Moses' has a haunting sound, which demonstrates one of their best songs to date in my opinion. It seems they have honed in on their skills and musicanship and found the perfect formula especially when looking at the contrasting sides from soft to brutal or positive to eerie, but they do this effortlessly so it flows cohorently. For those who prefer their older heavier roots the album caters for this, as it has plently of heavier offerings also which go back to their older roots entwined with their more electic sound also, which can be heard particularly on, 'The House Of Wolves' and 'Antivist'. But some of the biggest highlights for me are the songs which start out fairly minimilistic that build up with complexity and depth as they unfold, showing stunning musicanship and arrangement, in terms of tempo, synths sounds, amd vocals to fit the instrumention and atmosphere. The use of electronic music in the rock/metal scene is now something that is used a lot, but some bands can't pull it off as well as others, but this albums sees it used at a high calibre indeed without overwhelming or detracking from the rest of the song. If its possible that you have some how never heard any of Bring Me The Horizon's music and are looking at giving them a go, their latest album might actually be the best starting point, as you get the more refined and complex side of them, which demonstrates their starting point and their evoluntionary growth all in one.
So what made you want to remaster 'Adagio In D Minor' for a release this year, and what was it like to re-visit this iconic track? It was never actually mastered in the first place. The version that’s on the Sunshine soundtrack came straight out of ProTools and onto the album, which was why it sounded so quiet and dull. We tried mastering it ourselves in 2012 and it sounded a little better. Then we came across Joe Lambert when we were looking for someone to master ‘Ano’ and we thought we should let him have a crack. And he nailed it. So we decided to release it. It’s always a chore going back to an old track but the good thing about mastering is someone else is doing it!
The track got featured on trailers for Gravity & X-Men: Days of Future Past, so how did these collaborations come about, and what do you think it is about this track that makes it work just so well with the sci-fi/fantasy world? What usually happens is my publishers get in touch saying there’s some interest in the track and they ask if I’m interested in licensing it to them. Obviously it depends who it is and what it’s for and in most cases I have to say no. But sometimes it’s something cool like the X-Men trailer or the Gravity trailer and it’s worth it. As to why it works with sci-fi stuff… even though it was written years before I did ‘Sunshine’, I think it’s that first exposure that sets it on its path you know? As soon as Sunshine came out it was always going to be associated with space. Even though I was really just trying to write a very slow ascending piece. I definitely wasn’t thinking sci-fi.
We've read that your latest release is a rejected filmscore (as the title suggests!) from the early 90's, so what made you want to finish this filmscore, and how did this idea originally come about? It’s actually from about six or seven years ago. I think I was still touring with dodgy British bands in the early 90s! Funnily enough the idea came to me as soon as they threw it out. I don’t really like most of the film scores I’ve done but I actually liked this one. And it was the only time I’d ever had a score thrown out so I was gutted. Especially as it hadn’t even got past the demo stage. But it’s happened to better film composers than me so what the hell. Anyway, the call came in, and as I put the phone down I thought fuck them. One day, when I have some time, I’ll finish it like I hear it in my head and put it out myself. So that’s what I did. And once I’d started it, it was so liberating being able to do all the things they usually tell me not to do, I knew I had to finish it.
How would you say this output compares to what you've done on films in the past? It’s difficult to compare. With ‘Ano’, I had time to experiment and mess with it. Tyler Barton, who produced it, had time to record and mix it properly. But on a film, everything happens so quickly, and the music gets so diluted and derailed along the way, it’s a miracle if anything original and worthwhile survives. So yeah, ‘Ano’ was built around the themes of the original rejected score - but there was none of the round the clock madness you go through on a film. There were no deadlines, no playbacks, no ‘studio notes’, no politics. So it’s probably unfair to compare really. Compared to what most scores go through ‘Ano’ had it easy!
Are there any main themes and influences that run through the album? If so, can you elaborate on them? The themes that run through it are the themes that ran through the original rejected score. Even though I was mashing up the original ideas I felt that I had to stay true to the original themes. The main theme is the haunting ‘la-la-la-la’ lullaby you hear in 3:59 am, Ghosts, and Automatic. It’s actually my wife Charlotte singing the main themes and my son Jude doing the narration. It was cool keeping it in the family!
What was the hardest part about putting together this release for you, and why? The only real difficulty was doing it in bits and pieces. A few days here, a few days there. I’d rather have done it in one blast but I had a lot of work on so it had to wait in the wings a lot.
Alternatively, what was the most rewarding part about putting together this record for you, and why? For me, writing music for films has always been this fantastic and utterly frustrating experience. It’s fantastic because, in those rare occasions that you get it right, and you get it right in your own way, you actually get to feel that you’re doing something special you know? And it’s frustrating because you know you’ll never be able to do that in every scene. Either you won’t have enough time to try out the more original ideas, or the studio want to play safe and rip off the temp score, or the director wants you to sound like his favorite film. So to have the opportunity to finish a score, as I originally heard it in my head, was fantastic. I actually felt guilty doing it. And it was great being able to keep it all in-house. Apart from the strings and the drums (which Tyler played), I got to play everything myself, Charlotte did the vocals and my kid did the little narration. So if something had to be changed or redone I didn’t have to ring someone’s agent, I just shouted into the kitchen.
Did you discover any new sounds/effects whilst putting together this release? If so, can you tell us a bit about those and how they found their way onto the record? Tyler and I are always messing with different ways to record stuff but the thing we really got into on this album was the ‘radio re-amping’. We had the idea to re-amplify takes through old valve radios and then re-record them with old lo-fi microphones. So we hit the junk shops and bought some old valve bakelite radios and had them modded so we could play stuff through them direct from ProTools. Some of the tones we got were mental. Especially when we distorted the shit out of them. We started off feeding pianos through them but ended up putting guitars, vocals and even strings through them. We went a bit mad in the end. The vocals on Ghosts are through an old 50s radio and the piano at the start of Boy is through an old 30’s radio. Old radios are mad. Loads of fun.
What made you want to release 'How To Leave Your Body' as a single, and how happy have you been with the response to the track so far? I liked the weird 7/8 ‘vocal’ theme in it. It reminded me of a 60’s French B movie or something. Plus a director mate of mine, Alex Nicholson, wanted to use it in a video he was making as part of a series called Blood and Beauty. So I thought why not put it out before the album comes out. The response on the blogs has actually been great. Much better than I expected for such a weird track.
Also, this track seems to refer back to your material that you did on Sunshine, so what made you want to re-visit that structure/sound for this track? Haha! I didn’t even realize that till my wife mentioned it! I honestly think that structure/sound is in my default DNA. I need to be less lazy.
You recently completed work on a short entitled 'Love Never Fails/Forever Found' so can you tell us about this short, as well as what it was like to work on? Stephanie McNeal, who is the founder of ‘Love Never Fails’ contacted me in 2012 asking for permission to use some of my tracks for a film she was making called ‘Healing Kindness’. “Love Never Fails’ is a world charity that saves children from child sex trafficking and she was making the film to submit to the festivals to raise awareness of the problem. It’s the most shocking and heartbreaking film I have seen. The problem was, as with most of my film stuff, I didn’t own the rights to the tracks she wanted to use. But I promised her I would get her the tracks anyway. So I contacted the various publishers, studios and master rights owners and pleaded with them to watch the film and help by letting her use the tracks for free. And they did. We got all the licenses together just in time for her to submit the film to Sundance. I’m more proud to have worked on this than anything. If anyone wants to watch the film you can see it here. It’s called ‘Healing Kindness’. http://www.loveneverfailsworldcharity.org/#/healing-kindness-video/
What else can we expect to see from John Murphy in 2014? Well I’m going to be traveling for a bit, and work permitting, we’ll probably start the next album in October. But I may do something with Alex Nicholson and possibly a few remixes before the year’s out. Things are always popping up so I’ll just wait and see.
Can you tell us how you first got into conducting (composing)? I’ve been an avid gamer since Space Invaders hit Atari in 1980. However, I never really considered writing music for games as a career until right before I graduated from the music composition program at UCLA. I was always interested in writing the kind of epic orchestral scores that I fell in love with from the movies, though I hadn’t really heard anything in games that led me to believe that this was a viable path. But a few months before I finished school, I heard the score to Outcast by my now good friend Lennie Moore, and I realized that games could offer me the creative outlet that I was looking for. With the video game industry leaning towards more narrative storytelling, I was able to really fulfill my dream as a composer. Not only do I get to write the kind of music that inspires me, but I also get to record with amazing orchestras and choirs around the world. In 2003, I was finally given my first opportunity to score the video game Battlestar Galactica. Games continue to be my primary outlet and I couldn't be happier!
Also, what was your first major project as a composer, and how rewarding was that for you at the time? My first major project was God of War. I had done a few games before that one, but it was by far the biggest one early in my career. God of War game me the chance I had been looking for ever since I wanted to become a composer. I could finally write that huge, thematic orchestral score! Working on that game definitely opened a lot of doors for me as well. The music won all kinds of awards and suddenly lots of people wanted to start working with me.
So what was it like to work on the Borderlands franchise, and how did you go about creating music for such a unique atmosphere? Borderlands was so much fun. It was a weird game and no one really knew if people would like it or not. Obviously, people did (and do) love it! The guys at Gearbox are very smart and they wanted to try new things, not only with the game, but also with the music. For example, there is no "main theme" to the whole game. I had never worked on a game before that where we didn't have a theme. The score wound up being sort of "Mad Max meets the Wild West". So there's lots of tribal percussion, steel string guitars, and a bunch of weird instruments thrown in for color. For Borderlands 2, we kept the same basic style but added even more synth work to it. It's been one of my favorite franchises to work on for sure.
You also worked on the God of War franchise, so how did you go about creating music for this Greek mythology kind of world, and how would you say the games compare to anything else you've done? On the music for God of War, the music is always at a 10. Sometimes, you have to dial it up all the way to 11! Big drums, big orchestra, big choir, and tons of memorable melodies. That's the God of War sound in a nutshell. The whole game is just so over-the-top. You're literally pulling the heads off your enemies or climbing onto their backs, reaching around, and gouging their eyes out. It is super violent and the music has to play to that. I learned a lot about writing for brass on these scores. Not in an intricate fanfare way, but in a gutwrenching powerful way. It can be a tough score to work on because the music is just always so BIG. Luckily, I get lots of chances to write in other styles these days. But if I'm being honest, I'd say that those scores speak to my true style of writing better than most others.
For those that don't know, can you tell us a bit about the main steps that go behind putting together a soundtrack for a game? Here's the short answer: Once I get hired for a game, I generally already know what the score will sound like. Usually, it's because I've demoed for the project and have proven that I understand what they are after. I will then still have a series of initial meetings (in person or over the phone) with the audio director to discuss the music. This is everything from style and instrumentation, to length of cues and how many minutes total will be needed. Then I'm on my own for a while. I'll generally have a cue sheet of all the initial pieces that need to be written. I'll go through this and start to develop the themes and figure out the instrumentation a bit better. Will there be solo instruments? Will it be orchestral? Electronic? A mixture of both? Do I need to create something new and weird? Once I settle in on this, it's time to come up with the Main Theme. This is always the hardest cue for me to write and usually takers the most time to come up with. The theme needs to be recognizable and memorable. It needs to take the ideas of the game and wrap it all up in one neat package. When you hear the theme, you should instantly know what the game is. This is really hard to do! Once that is done, I now have the essential building blocks for the rest of my score. That's when I'll really dig in and start composing. There can be anywhere from only 20 minutes to hours worth of music in a game. As I write each piece, I send them out to be mixed and then they're off to the client for approval. Depending on the schedule, I can have 10 days to a year to finish a game score. Doing a game soundtrack from start to finish is a fun but stressful job. I have to be creative every single day and that can be quite exhausting. It's also intensely rewarding and I absolutely love it!
Do the game creators/designers normally tell you exactly what they want, or is it more they just give you the game/idea, and let you send in some ideas? Maybe it varies with each project!? It definitely varies with each project. Sometimes there is a very strict style in place. They know exactly what they want. Other times, there can be a lot of experimentation. What sounds good on paper may not eventually be a good fit with the game. Almost always though, the developer will ask for my own opinion and allow me a huge degree of freedom to write the score in a way that I feel best fits the game. I always send a fully realized piece in for approvals though, even if we will be recording the score live. That way, everyone is 100% happy with the score right from the beginning.
We must quickly ask, we’ve been a massive fan of Starcraft since it first came out, so how did you end up working on the second game, and what was it like to work with the guys over at Blizzard? I'm also a huge Starcraft fan. I used to log in tons of hours on the original when I was in college. Working with Blizzard was always a dream of mine. Over the years, I've managed to become friends with some of the guys there like Russell Brower and Derek Duke. They thought I would be a good fit with the game and asked me to contribute some music to the Heart of the Swarm game. Working with those guys is always a great time. The other cool thing about working on something like Starcraft is that I know I'll be playing it when it comes out!
With God of War & Borderlands you got to work on the main games of the franchise, so with this in mind, what do you think it is that people like so much about what you do on games? I just try to always treat every project as if it's a multi-million dollar AAA game. I never want people to think I didn't do my best work. But with games like God of War, Borderlands, or Mass Effect, I'm so inspired by them that it's quite easy to do my best work. Those games are so polished and so fun that it's just a joy to work on them. The music practically writes itself when I see Kratos battling a Titan or when Commander Shepard is running from a Reaper! So let's discuss your new work, Enemy Front! Can you tell us a bit about this game, as well as what it was like for you to work in this World War II atmosphere? Enemy Front is based on the Warsaw Resistance. To my knowledge, no other game has tackled this particular aspect of WWII. It was also developed by City Interactive, themselves a Polish company. I felt that there was a lot of emotion being poured into this game and I wanted to respect that with my music. Rather than go "all out" with a huge orchestral score (the kind that everyone would expect for a game like this), I wanted to try to capture the emotional side of the story, the sense of loss and grief, and the feeling of banding together as a country. Before I started the score, I looked to one of Poland's most famous composers, Chopin. The way he composed for piano, Chopin could convey so many feelings with a single instrument. I decided that the piano would also be one of the main instruments for my score, and I tried to weave the orchestra around it.
You also just completed work on COH2: The Western Front Armies, so how did you get involved with this project, and with this also being a World War II game then how did you go about creating something different? Well, I worked on Company of Heroes 2: Eastern Front before this one, about a year prior. I've had a great relationship with Relic going all the way to Warhammer: Space Marine, so working with them again is always a no brainer for me. Working on the Western Front was a continuation of what I did for the Eastern Front. Big orchestra, tense ambiances, bombastic combat – these are all still present in the Western Front. Only this time, there's more of an emphasis on music for the Americans and the Germans rather than the Soviets. I wrote a brand new Main Theme for this one too that a lot of the score draws from.
What has been the hardest game for you to work on, and why? Each game presents it's own challenges. If I had to narrow it down though, I'd probably say that Clive Barker's Jericho was one of the hardest games I've worked on. It wasn't that the music itself was hard, it was more the situation. I got called in at the very last minute to write this one. There was around two hours of music that needed to be written and recorded in about three weeks. I was also working on a game for Ubisoft called Haze at the same time so I was in full crunch mode. I would work about 20 hours a day on this to get it done in time. I'd basically work until I couldn't keep my eyes open. Then I'd drink a cup of coffee and take a nap for a couple hours. By the time my alarm went off, the coffee was kicking in and I'd get right back to work. But even that wasn't the hardest part! For me, Clive Barker has been one of the most influential people in my life. His books, movies, and art have helped shape me creatively for years. This was the first time I'd ever had the opportunity to work with him and I wanted to make him proud. THAT was the hardest part for me. I wanted him to be so happy with the score. I really pushed myself to do my best work as fast as I could. In the end, I was quite happy with how it all turned out. More importantly, Clive was too!
What else can we expect to see from Cris Velasco in 2014? I've just announced my new involvement with Clive Barker. Madefire is putting out a motion comic issue for each one of Clive's stories in the Books of Blood. There are a lot of them and I'll be scoring them all! I'm also currently writing music for a beautiful game called The Long Dark. I'm premiering a bunch of new music in Spain on September 13 at the PlayFest concert. I've got a lot of other big game projects and even a movie or two happening as well, but I'm just not ready to announce any of them yet. If you catch up with me again by the end of the year, I'll have some very exciting announcements by then.
Beartooth - Disgusting When a band you haven't heard of rolls up in your review pile, there is always a certain sense of excitement and when the opening seconds take you back to the first time you heard Pantera it increases ten fold. That is exactly what the opening to 'The Lines' did for me, everything from the drums to pounding bass and massive screeching at times riffs took me back to being a wide eyed kid. The vocals are a different story though giving more clean melody amongst the cut throat screams. 'Beaten in Lips' continues the hard hitting, speed attack with great breakdowns adding the dynamic as the clean vocal slices in to the cut throat and 'Body Bag' is a shear power house of modern metal beating and crushing its way through. 'In Between' changes it up with what a melodic and in light of the carnage that has come before, probably fairly tender and more emotionally charged number that I wouldn't normally be huge fan of but it works very well. It provides a brief respite before normal service is resumed with 'Relapsing'. Beartooth do a fine job of mixing the different styles in such a way that it would be hard to pin them down to a particular genre. Moments such as 'Ignorance is Bliss' treads the line between hardcore punk and power metal while ''One More' and 'Keep Your American Dream' have a hint of radio friendly modern metal with its melodic, catchy and punk rock style chorus's. Compare these to a song like the punishing 'Dead' and it is at times night and day but again, it works. They seem to have found a formula and it is working, they are also making it sound organic and effortless. AN
Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown Following up the success of Ex Lives was never going to be easy, it brought vast critical acclaim and also the biggest commercial moment of the bands career after debuting at #20 on the Billboard Chart. Well Every Time I Die have done more than just follow that up with this 31 minute slice of crushing, hardcore metal brilliance. The first notes of 'The Great Secret' give a menacing sign of what is to come before it launches in to a chaotic and unrelenting wall of noise giving no opportunity to breather let alone do anything else. Keith Buckley rasps out every word with the aggression and venom of a snake cornered, the guitars thrash along with an utterly crushing bass and drum section that is surprisingly catchy. One of the highlights has to be 'Moor', the ominous darkness of the single piano notes gives this an edgy and bleak feel, the gradually growing harmony behind the voice adds a ghostly, haunting quality before the guitars kick it up again. It packs a massive punch in an album of big hitters before 'Exometrium' continues a very memorable mid section to the album. There is more than just a tinge of southern rock added in to the mix with 'El Dorado' with some great piano work and rock n roll guitars adding to a straight metal groove. Buckley's voice really shows what else it can do as shows his more melodic side. This song is an out and out banger mixing every element Every Time I Die have shown through out the album. By the time the album heads to its conclusion there has been much to get excited about when they next hit the UK, these songs are going to give every excuse to get down and dirty in the pit and it is going to get very dirty indeed. AN
Feed The Rhino The Sorrow and The Sound Already one of the best live bands in the UK, Feed The Rhino offer up their third helping of metal chaos The album opens in typically dominant fashion, 'New Wave' cuts between the brutal and melodic in such a subtle fashion it is easy to miss. Lee Tobin's voice is as cutting and aggressive as ever as he leads the line with a swagger in his voice and a fist from his throat. It is clear fairly early that they are moving in a more melodic direction it would seem with this effort, the hints were there in the opening few songs but it goes full tilt with 'Black Horse'. It is a stand out song with Tobin showing some great emotion in his voice and structured to give the high moments full impact as it moves in to 'Finish The Game' which seems to be the conclusion to 'Black Horse'. There is a lot of atmosphere on this record, 'Revelation Not Revolution' has so much going on vocally with various harmonies echoing behind the lead, its slowed down tempo makes it seem heavier than it probably is and follows a trend that seems to be happening through out British metal at the moment. The tag of being described by some as the British Cancer Bats no longer applies, this is a band who are refining their sound, stretching beyond what they've done before. Although this record ticks most of the right boxes, they don't seem to quite have that perfect sound nailed down just yet but when they do? There could be something very special coming. LN
The Front Bottoms - Rose EP Ahh pop punk isn't it just great! It's got that happy side of music that lights up your heart but at the same time the kings of the genre Blink 182 make us think that every pop punk band would be pranksters and jokers discussing dicks and vaginas on stage every night. This is a different look at pop punk as we know it today. This is slow pop punk, still with the amazing lyrics but a softer tone and it works so well. The Front Bottom's newest EP entitled Rose (named after the drummer's Grandmother) is a breath of fresh air in this world inhabited by repetitive noise and bullshit on the radio. Flying Model Rockets starts off this album and instantly it will put you in an instant good mood, it's a weird combination of guitar and keyboards. With a great sing along section at the end in the form of 'woah's but it just makes this song an instant hit for me. Lipstick Magnet only reassures the fact that this band are awesome, 'I'm getting on my knees, would you kick me in the face please?' these lyrics are still buzzing around my head after first listen. After racking my brains it finally hit me that the lead singer does sound like Tom Delonge, that's why so many of these songs tick all the boxes for the Blink fan deep down inside. Twelve Feet Deep is the same with the brilliant lyrics and just carries on creating a good name for this album. When Jim Boggart kicks in following a female voice it's quite a nice change of pace but the male voice is still awesome and dominant and by the end it's worthy of even an Arcade Fire sing along. Be Nice To Me starts off with a fast paced guitar that Frank Turner would be extremely proud of and carries on just as well. This album really surprised me, when I started listening to it I thought 'this isn't for me' but if there's one thing I love in music it's when it proves me wrong. The Front Bottoms have that kind of sound that just gets under your skin and nests until you love them! Touring in the US at the moment supporting Say Anything up until the end of July maybe they'll get some free time in summer and pop over the pond to say hello. I look forward to seeing them. RO
Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun This is the sixth studio album from American Metal band,Mastodon who are know for their impressive progressive ideas and unique sound. The album has already debuted at Number Six in the Billboard charts in the US, so they must be doing something right!... Opening song, 'Tread Lightly' is built up of lots of grand layers giving a huge sound, especially with strong powerful all surrounding voices of the talented members with brilliant melodies, the band sure didn't go 'lightly' with this, as they throw you in quickly to their mesmerising sounds.. 'The Motherload' continues to show the multi talented members of the band by each member taking to the mic (at somepoint throughout album), with Dailor's clean vocals being the main focus as well as bassist, Sanders helping out in the verses. Each one of their vocals gives a different feel and paired with superb rhythms and instrumentation, including impressive guitar work makes this one certainly a 'motherload'! First single 'High Road' sees some stand out gang vocals and hard hitting mean instruments which make glorious transitions from fierce to upbeat melodies, much like the contrast of high and low pitched vocals, all perfectly balanced and manoeuvred! Title track, 'Once More 'Round The Sun' immediately grabs you with brilliant interchanging and exchanges of vocals which are seriously catchy, this may be one of the most memorable tracks yet, with the instruments taking many changes but maintaining its coherency all in a marvellous swirl of sounds! 'Chimes At Midnight' takes you on a musical rollercoaster which you will highly enjoy! This one of the fastest and heavier offerings so far - just sit back and enjoy the many thrills! 'Asleep In The Deep' opens on ambient guitar riffs and vocals, giving it an almost ethereal feel to it, perhaps to fit the context of the title, maybe one being disconnected or in deep hypothetical sleep or dream world - who knows the exact meaning - all I know is this is one weird spaced out superb track! 'Feast Your Eyes' picks up the pace and brings the more dark mood back with ferocious growled vocals and broody instruments.. In 'Aunt Lisa' we are once again treated to many different vocal styles which somehow all blend and compliment each other wonderfully, most notable some serious screams and distorted vocals from Dailor and then out of no where towards the end a chant of "Hey! Ho! Let's Go! ‌ Let's Get Up and Rock and Roll" appears not from the band, but almost a cheerleader group which will be fun for the fans to shout back! 'Ember City' begins the overload of awesome instrumentation right away all equally matching with the end result of a master piece, something they seem to produce effortlessly! This is a stand out one! 'Halloween' has an eerie cool sound which seems rather appropriate, with some skilful instrumentation which is well structured and layered. To end this mastery musical assault on the senses we have, 'Diamond In The Witch House' - this is the longest song featured which opens on a nice haunting acoustic guitar which is gradually accompanied by more sounds before blasting their full blown presence! Overall it has a sinister eerie dark sound, portrayed through vocals and complimentary instruments - with each member getting to have their moment to 'shine' but without distracting from the flow of the song. The tone and sound is different to other songs, so again just shows how creative and diverse they can be. This latest album is grandiose, classy and creative in its all surrounding power - it may even be a serious contender for one of best and most unique metal albums of 2014 so far. Mastodon seem to building more momentum and expanding their capabilities and ideas as they go, with each album they release never disappointing, only pushing the boundaries and taking you on a creative musical adventure - I can't wait to go on the next trip! Both existing fans and new fans delving into the unfamiliar territory of Mastodon will 'warm' to this as quickly as the sun burns you on a scorching day! CL
Linkin Park - The Hunting Party 'The Hunting Party' is the sixth studio album from American mainstream rock band, Linkin Park. This album is the first album since 2003's 'Meteora' that hasn't been produced by Rick Rubin and was actually self produced by members Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson, along with, Emile Haynie and Rob Cavello. With the statement from the band saying this is going back to their 'rock' roots and to be their heaviest offering to date, I'm not going to lie I was quite excited and highly anticipating their latest release. But did it live up to expectations?!..... Opening 'Keys To Kingdom' intro opens on fierce vocals from Chester which sound fuzzy and insane through the use of effects making for a promising start, with fast paced riffs and drums to soon accompany. The clean vocals and contrast of Chester's screams is highly effective with the instruments providing a mean backdrop throughout, with an epic ambient ending aided by the masterful riffs of Brad Delson, showing a more guitar driven sound from the get go.. 'All For Nothing' featuring Page Hamilton of alternative rock group, Helmet boasts a big strong chorus with stand out gang vocals for more emphasis. A good first collaboration, which brings us on to the next.. 'Guilty All The Same' which sees a guest appearance from American rapper, Rakim and was also the first single released from new album. Its not to hard to see why with its catchy guitar riffs, superb clean vocals from Chester and building up to a hard hitting chorus. The end of song hones in on the heavier side but nicely balanced with some skilled rapping from Rakim. The fusion here is wonderfully arranged. 'War' is short but sweet and has a hard core punk vibe with fierce vocals, fast badass riffs and again some impressive technical guitar work from Brad. Although one of the shortest songs, this packs a punch and is certainly worth a listen! 'Wastelands' opens on a super groovy heavy riff with brilliant rapping from Mike and cool sound effects before diving into a big and vast chorus which Chester delivers wonderfully. The song is dynamic with many exciting transitions which all flow effortlessly. 'Until Its Gone' was the second single released features beautiful clean vocals from Chester with a big all surrounding sound and great production and effects to aid this from Joe Hahn. 'Rebellion' sees the third guest appearance from Daron Malakian of System Of A Down lending a hand on guitars, and his influence is apparent immediately in the sound! Rob delivers on the heavy side of drums to accompany and while memorable effects, great clean vocals from both Mike and Chester make this a stand out one! The strange but wonderful effects pick up pace to fit Chester's fast screams towards the end. 'Mark The Graves' sees some brilliant instrumental sections where the band all get to strut their stuff and let loose! The verses and chorus are more mellow in contrast than previously for the most part, but with some powerful vocals from Chester ending on a very heavy ending note, making this a dynamic and changeable track! Next guest appearance comes from American guitarist, Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine & Audioslave). The song is beautiful with keyboards and atmospheric sound effects and guitar work in this all instrumental track, offering something a bit different from the band! 'Final Masquerade' sees some highly melodic clean vocals from Chester which will stay with you, with an equally catchy chorus and an upbeat sound shown through the instruments. And so we reach the end with, 'A Line In The Sand' which is the longest offering so far, which opens with isolated effective vocals from Mike before pounding quick drums and fast catchy riffs come in. The chorus sees the return of Chester's more aggressive vocals again, and the rapping part from Mike is reminiscent of Hybrid Theory, which adds further to the nostalgia seen in parts of this album. Again we are treated to some heavy instrumentals which they pull off well but slyly end back on where it started ending on Mike's soft and clean vocals to close. The whole meaning of the title of the album.'The Hunting Party' is about the band bringing back the energy and soul of rock, with the band setting out to produce simply a 'rock record' departing from their previous two electronic rock based albums, and if that was their aim, they certainly achieved this in my opinion! They found a perfect balance of their previous material, incorporating elements of their classic first album, 'Hybrid Theory' through the heavier aspects as well as their later albums, all the while creating something dynamic and fresh as a band and showing what else they can offer through more instrument driven music! I enjoyed this from start to finish, with never a dull moment in between, and you can tell the band put a lot of energy, passion and hard work into this and had fun with it! I for one can't wait to see what direction they decide to take next, whether you like or not, the band aren't afraid to try new things and be bold! CL
Tigers Jaw - Charmer I love America, always have and always will. They give us some of the best bands in the world in the world of rock and metal and even sometimes there are some absolute diamonds that come out of the coal in the form of indie music. Interpol is all I'm saying on that. Now it appears that Tigers Jaw wish to do the same thing, this is their third studio album and it appears they have been extremely busy making it. There's something about this music that resonates with the Arctic Monkeys fan inside me and yet at times it has a bit of an R.E.M quality about them. This band tick all the boxes. The first two tracks Cool and Frame You certainly set the tone for this album and it's a little shook up when you reach Hum with a female accompanying singer that fits in absolutely perfectly. The album carries on with the slow track of 'Divide' and is then bought a little back up to speed with the brilliantly named track 'Teen Rocket' (I hope they're pokemon fans to make this band even better) If there is one thing this album does it proves that guitar music is still alive and well. While my forte does lye with metal and rock it is nice to chill out and hear some talent in other forms. There are certain songs on this album that will make you revert back to a childhood state of 'I want to pick up a guitar and make noises like that'. The vocals are fantastic and the instrument work just goes together to create a perfect harmony. More than anything this album leaves you yearning for more and more. Their last two albums are definitely on my list now. RO
Pennywise - Yesterdays The word 'legend' is one that really bugs me nowadays, it is tossed around so much and to describe people that quite frankly don't deserve to be described as such, that it loses a lot of its significance. In the world of punk rock though, it is one that is fully justified when it comes to Pennywise, they have been a constant and have always continued to be a big part of the scene while not hitting the commercial heights of some of their contemporaries. This 11th studio album also marks the welcome return of Jim Lindberg and his instantly recognisable voice is to the fore straight away with 'What You Deserve', a catchy, straight to the point, singalong opener. 'Noise Pollution' is one of those punk anthems with the age old punk themes of rebellion and saying fuck you to the rules, keeping with the political side Pennywise have always stamped on their music. It's catchy and instantly memorable and will surely be a staple of the live shows on this run. One of the albums stand outs is the crunching and thrashy 'Slow Down'. Opening with short sharp hits that are like gun blasts it moves in to a far heavier and melodic speed freak of a song that at certain moments makes you think of Iron Maiden taking them out of their usual demographic but still keeps that signature sound. The closer 'I can Remember' is more about the words than it is the music. Taking in memories of the late bassist Jason Thirsk, it is touching, thought provoking and at times hard to listen to while Lindberg pours his heart out on the pain he clearly still carries with him. This is a great Pennywise album that long time fans will lap up, it also shows how wrong a certain outspoken metal singer is in saying punk players are somewhat lacking in musical ability. AN
Freeze The Atlantic - Self Titled Six years after their conception; Freeze The Atlantic have released their second album, that's good going for such a deteriorating business like the music industry these days. It's clear to see why these guys are making a name for themselves. They've taken influences from the biggest bands in the UK and ran with it completely. The simple yet compelling lyrics are thought provoking and enjoyable. Together with the incredible instrument work they create a truly awesome sound. At times this band sound like the UK's answer to Rise Against so I am instantly in love. The single Stompbox is an absolute anthem combining the rough singing with some background screaming and the ending result is incredible! Guarenteed this song will be in your head for days once you have your first listen. There Is A Spark is fast paced awesome song with the typical slow bit on the comedown but it works so well with this extremely talented bunch. The pace definitely picks up for Idiot Check, I can't help but picture it live and just imagine that pits would be erupting all over as hordes of sweaty people throw themselves in. The energy that oozes off this track is contagious and I'm just left to whack it on repeat. However if I did do that I'd miss the rest of this dare I say stellar album! From the start to the end this album has just been give, give, give. I find that most albums these days there's that section in between where you're bored and can't differentiate between songs. Freeze the Alantic have managed to make a compelling interesting and awesome album. I've heard people argue in the past that British rock music is dead but if guys like these, Lower Than Atlantis, Blitz Kids and to a lower denominator Attention Thieves are around then we will be just fine. RO
The Harlequin State - Destroy//Rebuild I love metalcore, something about it is so perfect. I think what I love about it is the stigma that comes with it if you mention it to a Pantera or Slipknot fan and the undying love you get if you mention it to a Bring Me The Horizon or Architects supporter. In the metal and rock world it's like marmite - you absolutely love it to pieces or you despise it with every fibre of your being. So as soon as I whacked on The Harlequin State I was instantly hooked! Hailing from over the pond these five roughians do their best to entertain you with their music and make you want to destroy everything in sight and rebuild it if you want to. They sound like according to them: 'Morgan Freeman narrating a fist fight between Mr. T and Chuck Norris, with Liam Neeson as the referee' Not quite, but they do sound pretty fucking awesome! The breakdowns are intense, the vocals are rough but sound amazing, the lyrics are fantastic and more than anything they've really captured their live essence on this EP. Love everything about these guys. From the opening slow paced Skeletons all the way through to the ridiculous Lost Hills it's all go from these guys. Destroy//Rebuild actually has some really decent singing instead of screaming at the beginning and though it's not what you expect it's a nice change of pace and brings you back to appreciate how talented the vocalist is. Though they're only doing small shows at the moment I imagine it won't be long until they're ripping huge venues apart with their insane riffs and quality tunes. RO
The Dead Rabbitts - Shapeshifter The Dead Rabbitts emerged as Escape The Fate's lead vocalist, Craig Mabbitt's side project in 2012, releasing their first EP 'Edge of Reality' around the same time but nothing since. Fans of the American metalcore band have been long awaiting and alas they can finally feed their ears with the final release of the debut album 'Shapeshifter'. The album starts off with a punch of fury on 'My Only Regret'; another heart broken another song swearing to the world they'll never fall in love again. But behind that old chestnut of lyrics lies somewhat basic but clean and tightly produced hooks. The ambient piano intro in 'Make Me Believe It', builds up the ambience with a mood that'll have you believe you're going to get a track that your granny would approve on, and then it accelerates to full throttle dropping with a heavy thump of a bass line. The duet from by Craig and Caleb Shomo of Beartooth works so effortlessly with a mix of haunting emotion and utter fierceness. The bands savageness on this album oozes out from tracks such as Keep Telling Yourself You Were Right, self-titled Shapeshifter; which is up to its neck in battered drum peddling and ambient vocals. Finishing off this album is the valiant number, 'Black Cloud'. An excellent effort from Craig with his guttural vocals that stand out from the rest of the tracks and in fact make this track for what it is. This album has cemented a solid groundwork for the band to build upon but there isn't anything particularly distinctive that'll get them set apart, which runs the risk of drowning in the pool of other similar post-hardcore bands lacking that break from tried traditions. MP
Vanna - VOID If you've somehow not been won over by this band yet then Vanna's fifth album, Void, will be the one that will get you hooked quicker than you can say jack me up. Their title intro track will have you pumping yourself up with pure adrenaline with its violent blend of throaty vocals spitting out hate through each heated breath, charged with filthy and wild hard-hitting tempos hammered out by percussionist Eric Gross. The majority of the album is a collective of detestation to everything with songs such as Toxic Pretender, Y端th Decay and the brilliantly punned Humaphobia that explodes their hateful anger everywhere. Whilst their chugging riffs and pummeling of drums suffocate you, and Muise's vocals throttle you, it is Pastusak's harmonious vocals that bring a calm to the storm and it's this contrast that keeps this band so lively. Vanna have unquestionably changed for the better with this full-blooded album they have without doubt created their best work. Sonically their music sounds more in tune with each other and it's this combined forceful energy that brings it altogether as a whole. Davey Muise's vocals are a far scream away from previous lead vocalists, a complete new level of where they were back in the days when that cringe-worthy of a title Screamo was all the rage with every hardcore band of the time. Even compared to the last few albums with Muise's vocals you can hear a new sense of raw energy ripping through his throat, which coincide with Pastusak's dulcet harmonies. The five-minute long outro track, Bienvenue, an atmospheric yet a powerful crescendo of thrashing riffs is probably Vanna's most diverse track on the album. Waxing lyrical about "not waiting for rivers to flood/and mountains to fall" to make that change in your life. This is a band that have explored their strengths, elevated their sound to new heights and like a teenager that's held his load for too long exploded with an album packed full of ferocious aggression. MP
Expire - Pretty Low Milwaukee's Expire are back with their sophomore LP 'Pretty Low' on Bridge Nine Records. Their debut LP 'Pendulum Swings' caused a big stir in the American hardcore punk scene and the band have become one of the giants of current hardcore punk. The title track kicks off the album in style, a brutal opening of throat wrenching vocals combined with ferociously fast drums and a dark guitar tone, the song focuses on the theme of how low someone's life can go. 'Just Don't' starts in similar fashion, featuring a great low bass guitar tone and a superbly delivered chorus typical of passionate hardcore punk. 'Fiction' is dominated by a raucous riff and incredibly aggressive vocals, the song focuses on staying away from the perception of what beauty is within society, an interesting theme. 'Gravity' is another huge tempter to head bang, the bass line and fast instrumentals are brilliant and the vocals are noticeably ten times as aggressive as they were on the first album which just shows Expire's progression. 'Nobody' focuses on despising those who only get to big places by knowing someone and not by working hard. The message is delivered with huge intent in this vigorous number, 'Old Habits' is probably my favourite track on this album - it reminds me a lot of their earlier work which shared the same incredibly fierce instrumentation. The end of this track features the guest vocals from the vocalist of hardcore band Bent Life, they blend in perfectly. 'Forgetting' focuses on the theme of losing memory of past problems, a little solo moment from the vocalist towards the end of the track reminds me a lot of their previous LP 'Pendulum Swings'. 'Callous' continues the relentless energetic theme of the album. 'Rejection' has an incredibly fast drum pattern and again; deep, dark low bass lines creating a very interesting atmospheric sound. Drawing towards the close of the album 'If It Were Up To Me' gives no sense of winding down, the track actually has a very meaningful theme - the song exerts anger based on the fact that one of the band member's close friends was a victim of sexual abuse. 'Second Face' starts with gloomy opening reminiscent of the likes of Weekend Nachos or Xibalba, the track suddenly springs into life with another crazy chaotic vocal performance which takes centre stage even amongst the loud blaring guitars. Additional vocals are used to good effect to close out a pounding, non-stop record which deserved it's place in the US Billboard 200. I hope vocalist Josh Kelting had a good rest after recording this album, I'm sure he would have needed it. JP
My Iron Lungs - Relief Relief isn’t present on My Iron Lungs debut record of the same name. Instead you’ll hear tortured screams, melancholic guitar lines and harsh drumming. But don’t let this put you off, as this is probably one of the best melodic-hardcore releases we’ve had this year. Opener “Commonwealth” kicks in with dancing riffs and all of the above we’ve just mentioned. It’s probably the best example of what My Iron Lung are about. Leading into “Conflict of Interest” slowing the pace down with a drum roll that builds into a heavy refrain. Vocally it’s all performed with an almost hoarse tone, giving off a hint of heart and rawness to the record. Notably the record only clocks in around the 25 minute margin, with only the opening pair being the longest tracks on the record. Although this doesn’t really resonate on the listening experience it appears to be a short record compared to it’s genres counterparts. Most won’t notice this though as Relief powers through it’s aggressive 25 minutes. Tracks such as “In Defense of Drowning”, which provides incredible drumming throughout and final track “Save For A Pocket of Warmth”, provide enough vulnerability and atmosphere to cement this as one of the best releases to come from the genre so far. This is Relief, it may not show any signs of the emotion throughout it’s short span, but maybe it can give you that from what My Iron Lung are giving to you. GD
Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties - We Don’t Have Each Other Dan Campbell tends to be associated with filling venues both big and small with The Wonder Years, and playing highly energetic sets with a side of crowd surfing. However, now it seems that he wants to separate himself from that lifestyle somewhat and in doing so he brings us his acoustic side project, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties. The debut record 'We Don't Have Each Other' sees Campbell's creation of this character Aaron West, and documenting his experiences. Whether West is considered Campbell's alter-ego, we aren't really sure, but the character goes through the trials and tribulations of reality. 'Divorce & the American South' tells the story of losing a loved one and is a touching track which allows you to come to your own conclusions as to who it is about. 'The Thunderbird Inn' is all about those places that we can't stay away from, and they have many stories linked to them, both positive and negative. It's one of the heavier tracks on the record and sees Campbell lean back towards his Wonder Years persona. 'Get Me Out of Here' is Campbell's interpretation of faith which he proclaims he has lost. A dreary number which sounds almost grunge-like. 'We Don't Have Each Other' is not just your typical pop-punk goes acoustic record, it's Dan Campbell telling a detailed story open to the interpretations of its listeners. Whether he is going to tour this album is not known, but we would love to hear how it translates into a live environment. AG
Casket Of Cassandra - Day Four Female fronted metal-core/melodic thrash five piece return with their sophomore album and follow up to their debut album, 'Embracing The Void'.. Opening song, 'Dance Of The Moon' sets the scene with an atmospheric eerie build up, which leads us to, 'The Egotist', which opens aggressively with, "I'm going to fucking kill you!", immediately showing the impressive and rather scary talents of vocalist, Amanda! Guitarist, Riley offers a hand on clean vocals to contrast yet compliment the harsh vocals! The tempo changes and transitions keep it dynamic and hold your attention, aided by catchy guitar riffs and scaring the hell out of you..in a great sense! Next up the interestingly titled, 'Mobster Lobster' featuring Jake Raines - this one is relentless from the off with fierce vicious vocals, but with a nice balance of clean vocals also and sports a seriously heavy and well executed breakdown and melodic guitar work, making this a highlight! Title track, 'Day Four' opens with an air of insanity which grabs you whilst listening intently and being slightly on edge at the same time ,with ever demonic vocals from Amanda and effective whispers from Riley, who offers some superb clean vocal sections also. The instrumentation is equally impressive and mental, with some brutal and technical guitars and drums, this is a must hear which represents album wonderfully!Previously released single, 'Bury You' opens with brilliant thrash groove riffs to start, solid stand out clean vocals, and ever powerful and terrifyingly great screams from Amanda which help portray the lyrics and emotion. This one will 'dig' deep into the foundations of your mind! Closing track, 'You Shouldn't Have Done That..' opens on a calm serene sound which is uncharacteristic thus far, but shows it can be done and shows of the bands talents and gives them each a moment to shine. The songs builds up and progresses in sound with some particular nice guitar work, including some dual pieces from Issac and Riley, before taking us into some mad demonic hell with unhuman screams which will give you a shock and keep you on your toes! It takes you on many strange endeavours, messing with your senses through effects! A fitting end to a terrifying ride and exhilarating adventure! They have created a seriously scary and wonderful sound which is creative and unique, making it very powerful and intriguing! Each song possesses intensity without losing their great melodic side paired with dark brutality. The underlying sense of eerieness is throughout and not having heard the band before I was pleasantly surprised and drawn in from the start with their creepy sound! I think this album will enthral others and earn them new followers as well as satisfying their existing fans! CL
The Moderates - Colour This young unsigned trio from California have released their debut EP, 'Colour' and are looking to prove they have created a unique sound for themselves to unveil to the world.. The EP kicks off with single, 'Strange Town' with slow melodic sounds and low unique vocals, before diving into the loud and fast chorus; all the while the band clearly are having fun and inject honest passion into their different alt rock pop sound! 'Where Are You' showcases further Josh's powerful and superb vocals, accompanied by ambient and resonant guitars, which are great melodic upbeat instruments and an acoustic section further in, which is well structured and beautiful along with the lyrics! 'Inescapable You' has a more melancholic vibe especially through the lyrics and vocal delivery. But with catchy instruments and beats to give a more optomistic hopeful sound to compliment. Again here especially we see more of the bands emotion and honesty which makes for a brilliant track and shows their maturity and musicianship. 'Black and White' contains great melodies, rhythms and meaningful lyrics and again is more downbeat without being depressing, but more driven and a vent of raw passion and mix of emotions. The use of high pitched backing vocals to contrast Josh's main vocals works well for emphasis and power, and towards the end the backing chants help close on a big and powerful note! Closing the EP we have, 'Coma' which has a different sound to other tracks, it has more of a classic rock 'n' roll vibe which they pull off well with wonderful bass lines, guitar licks and perfectly placed vocals to match the beats. The chorus is a particular highlight building in volume and depth, all resulting in a very memorable and groovy one to end on! The band show they can strut their stuff in many ways and create different vibes, all the while embracing elements of different genres, but maintaining their own unique sound! This is a wondeful debut EP from this young three piece act, displaying maturity almost behind their years through their impressive song writing abilities and honest and well written lyrics, all stamped with their own unique sound! Any band that can produce their own brand of music certainly deserves praise and recognition, and I think its only a matter of time before the band are in receipt of this massively! The Moderates are one up and coming act to watch out for!! CL
Rise Against - The Black Market This new album marks the American Punk Rock bands seventh release and has earnt them their highest charting position in the UK debuting at number 13! The album is in keeping with their signature sound but has more depth and power aided by strong backup vocals and guitar harmonies, making them very much stand out in the punk rock scene!.. Opening song, 'The Great Die-Off' starts with some nice instrumentals and is extremely well written, with powerful lyrics which are delivered equally effectively with Tim's harsh and raw vocals and of course backed up by all the right beats and rhythms! Straight in and they deliver what we come to expect, a massive anthemic track! The pessimistically titled lead single, 'I Don't Want To Be Here Anymore' possesses great chants, isolated vocals for emphasis in the build up to the chorus and sees use of brilliant progression and structure of the instruments - this is one infectiously catchy punk rock song which is set to be a fan favourite! 'Tragedy + Time' in contrast to the previous track is much more upbeat instrumentally and less harsh, instead focusing more on the clean vocals, with the end result being very pleasing and majorly catchy! Title track, 'The Black Market' changes things up, with its many turns and twists which keeps you guessing with a driving chorus - although slightly harder to digest at first than previously, this will soon grow on you for its brilliance! Drummer Brandon stands out with leading beats and the harmonic layered guitars and stand out vocals from Tim Mcllgrath and backing vocals make this a must hear! The great and thought provoking, 'The Eco-Terrorist In Me' grabs you with its solid screams from Tim and faster pace with a more hard punk sound, with wonderful and meaningful lyrics which are delivered powerfully! 'Sudden Life' opens on soft guitars and Tim's vocals compliments this; it generally has a more positive upbeat sound and again keeps things dynamic and shows there can pull of different sounds. The use of group vocals is highly effective for emphasis, something which consistent throughout! 'A Beautiful Indifference' goes back to their fast paced punk and is one for old fans and new fans alike, giving you a summary of past work and new in one track, making this key track with all their characteristic stamps! 'Methadone' opens on strong emotive lyrics and demonstrates their musicianship and skills at its peak, with each member giving it their all and with every element embracing wonderfully to create an unforgettable track. 'Zero Invisibility' opens on a great stomping riff and an extremely catchy melody which continues throughout with all members strutting their stuff and again we are spoilt with brilliant vocals and superb guitar work! 'Awake Too Long' takes us back to more familiar territory again sounding more like their previous material and helps to keep standards high and consistent with reflective lyrics as we draw nearer to the end. 'People Live Here' sees the only soft acoustic track, the results are equally effective, powerful and beautiful. Tim's tones fit the acoustic chords and melodies wonderfully. Closing song, 'Bridges' speeds things up again with great signature tempos and rhythms which they never disappoint with! This ending song is solid and enjoyable and summarises and ends the album on a good and strong note! Rise Against have definitely evolved through the use of more vocal and guitar harmonies and prove they are more than just your standard punk rock band and continue to effortlessly create and master the winning formula of huge anthems which they are known for; but here I think they excel more so for sticking to their guns, but also for being more creative and pushing their musicianship skills to the limit, creating a brilliant mix of their old sound and etwinning new elements! This may just result in some of their best work yet and leaves you wondering what they will produce next! CL
Four Year Strong - Go Down In History EP So after a three year break it appears Four Year Strong are ready to return to the stratosphere of pop but with more punk genre and with it they bring an awesome new EP. Following on from their latest album In Some Way, Shape or Form the band took a hiatus and have now returned with Go Down In History. After only reading positive reviews of the new tracks played on Warped Tour I was more than eager to check out this new effort from the Massachusetts foursome. What I love about this EP is that most strive to change their sound and sometimes completely go wrong with it and lose a whole fanbase (I can think of a few but Panic! At The Disco spring to mind). Four Year Strong keep the raw passion that made them who they are and got them to where they are. Catchy riffs, awesome vocals, lyrically brilliant and all together it creates the perfect formula for the people who are bored with just 'pop punk' and want something a bit heavier. Ironically A Day to Remember and these guys don't get along, which is odd as they both seem to have the same perception for making music. Living Proof of a Stubborn Youth is definitely one of the stand out tracks on this EP it has something about it that just makes you want to jump and scream and shout. So pure and untouched, just perfect. I have one issue with this EP - it's too damn short! Just when you're getting back into it after so long of them being away you're like 'Yeah this is awesome!' and then it ends and it just feels premature. Oh well time to stick it on repeat I suppose. Four Year Strong haven't lost what made them perfect and that is fine by me, same formula, same punky lyrics, and best of all the vocals and breakdowns are still manic! Go Down in History is awesome! RO
Faint Lines - Change A very atmospheric affair, this debut album from the Bedfordshire/Cambridge team up of Rob Nelson and Blaine Fontaine throws up an interesting blend of styles and moods. 'Open Wide' is a slow builder, gradually upping the tempo with every minute until its big climax and lead in to 'Sirens'. Again a low builder that is raised when the vocals enter along the multi layered melody of the guitars. The pace quickens as does the use of a more electronic element with 'Honesty', the chorus is bouncy and catchy, stopping and starting to give a nice dynamic. The string section is more to the fore on 'Time', adding yet another element to the arsenal of differing sounds, it creates a new mood on what is a very angst sounding record. Even when the up beat, almost club like synthesisers open 'Choices', they soon return to the bleaker, grey sound that dominates through out. The keyboards and synthesisers play a massive part on the album, building and holding the rhythm in a style that seems to have made a big come back following the success Calvin Harris has had in making the sounds far heavier and grindier, Faint Lines have tapped that sound and use very nicely here. 'Panic' is a fine song, heavier and grittier than much of the album. Fontaine's vocal really lets rip here and showcases the grindier side of his voice. The stand out though, is the closer, 'Speechless', the acoustic guitar has some hooks and the tender sound it brings is amplified by the vocal, the echo adds some great atmosphere and closes the album out in style. The pacing of the album is something I can't decide whether I like, so many of the songs blend in to each other and the more dynamic have been put closely together making it hard to listen to in one sitting however if you want an album to chill out to then this should be right up your street. AN
Wasted Shells - The Collector Sweden has a very well earned reputation and history for the quality and power of its metal, Wasted Shells have a lot to live up to and manage to do so comfortably with the follow up to 2011 debut, 'The Debt'. The infectiously, catchy opening riff of 'Machine' leads in to a fast paced monster, full of hooks along with a mix of growls and a singable, clean vocal prechorus make this a crushing opening and sets them a high standard to follow for the rest of the record. The likes of 'Stand Alone' and 'Man 0' Mankind' mix the pace and speed of thrash with the grind and groove that is the standard in metal since the turn of the century, many of the riffs also have a nice sleaze rock feel making it more than just a typical sounding metal album. If there is one thing that needs working on it would be the clean vocals, I didn't notice it on the opener but it becomes more evident as you listen through particularly on the likes of 'Stand Alone' and 'The Atheist'. It doesn't lessen the enjoyment of these songs, it's probably more of a nit pick as the rest of Ola Svensson's growling, screaming vocals are top notch and make it well forgotten by the time the curtain comes crashing down with the hefty and spine breaking 'Bulwark'. The influence of the likes of Pantera and Machine Head are clear with Wasted Shells but they are so far and away from the run of the mill copycat bands out there that you will quickly forget about the influences and the slightly problematic clean vocal and focus entirely on what a banger of an album this is. LN
Castle Pines - Summer Blood Fresh from Corona, CA drop their first album, following on from the Bless This House EP in 2012 and seem ready to make a big mark. This is an album that manages to keep a raw but still very well produced sound, layered from top to bottom with catchy and melodic riffs. Opener 'Derailed' grows from a solitary guitar in to an, atmospheric anthem. The music never goes overly loud but is pulled up by the voice of Leandro Barrientos, his voice is one of those that has the ability to raise the scale of a song and everything benefits from it. The heavy use of the delay pedal effect adds a very U2 style throughout the record, I've always been a big fan of delay pedals used in the right way, too often it can dilute the finished product and be distracting but this isn't a problem for lead guitarist Nick Barrientos. Everything is done just right and adds great dynamics to each song, 'Palm Springs' being a master class in its use. The tempo changes with the fantastic 'Black Star Canyon', a bluesy, jazz number that makes for a perfect interlude feel good song before the return of Leandro and another example of his vocal range on 'Wretched Life'. The second half of the album is a much rawer affair, leaving out the effects and providing a far more organic sound. While I enjoyed the first half, I enjoyed the second half much more. The sounds are rich and full of soul and I'm left with the feeling that these songs will sound seriously heavy live. This is a band that could play stadiums one day, 'Plastic Sky' and 'The Jetty' are songs that belong in that setting while the title track and 'Anyway' are pure bar room rock. Either way, remember the name Castle Pines, they are a band with massive potential and have a great album to back that potential up. LN
We are the Millers
We are the Millers is the 'family comedy' with a twist. Jason Sudeikis plays a small-time drug-dealer who suffers a series of rather unfortunate events and is forced to become a drug mule in order to make up for his mishaps. To do so, Sudeikis calls on his long-time neighbour, played by Jennifer Anniston. There is a mutual hatred between the pair but after much arguing they agree to work together. Sudeikis has decided that the best way to smuggle drugs into the country is to go across the border to Mexico acting as your typical family, with Anniston playing the happy wife and Will Poulter and Emma Roberts playing the parts of son and daughter. Poulter is as nerdy and socially-awkward as they get, whereas Emma Roberts is the street-smart kid. Sudeikis's sick and twisted plan seems to all be going to plan until he realises that the man he is doing the favour for has in fact stitched him up and landed him in even more trouble. We are the Millers is hilarious in so many ways, and Will Poulter in particular plays his part fantastically. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber has done brilliantly with this film and it can be considered to be up there with his 2005 classic, Dodgeball. Comedy of the decade, possibly. Give it a watch.
The hype behind Martin Scorcese's Wolf of Wall Street was so unreal that we were uncertain it would meet our expectations. The film revolves around Leonardo DiCaprio who plays Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker who learns how to suffer the highs and the lows of the harsh reality of the stock market. DiCaprio starts out at a Wall Street firm as a small-time employee and is taken under the wing of Matthew McConaughey who teaches him about some of the finer things in their business. DiCaprio's time at the job comes to a very sudden halt following that day that every broker dreads, Black Monday.
After some time out of work he joins firm that deals in penny stocks, and as a result he meets Jonah Hill and the pair do their utmost to make as much money as possible, and blow it. Despite being particularly lengthy, you never really find yourself suffering with boredom. Matthew McConaughey's part is hilarious as it highlights the schizophrenic-style personality that can result from working in the stock market. Hill's character is also superb and the friendship between him and DiCaprio is unusual yet seems so natural. If you haven't watched this yet, book the night off work, grab a pizza, and stick it on.
The fun doesn't stop there you can catch villains by surveying them, infiltrate gang hideouts in Splinter Cell style or shoot first and don't ask questions or take out criminals on the road. These add up to whether you're a good or bad guy but ultimately doesn't affect your story at the end - but it is ridiculously fun to do. Of course if you just wish to run around spying on people you can always do that, prepare for some hilarious and shocking scenes though like when you see a dead body and hack a voicemail saying 'we'll come and see you today Dad' them feels. This game is an 18 after all. The actual mechanics of the game and the hacking are brilliant and work like clockwork. If you need to use traffic lights to destroy someone's car you can, if you want to blackout the whole city you can and it may be a gimmick to get people to buy this game but it is so much fun to do.