Friday, April 29, 2011

Impalers - A Necessary Evil Review


Well it's been a while since I've posted here but I've returned to review a very kickass demo by a very kickass band by the name of Impalers. Impalers come from Denmark but they sound like they should've been playing with Kreator and Sodom back in the 80's over in Germany. This new demo of their's, "A Necessary Evil" tore me a new asshole and will hopefully tear your's open too. Let's get into the review shall we?!

Power Behind the Throne - Impalers open the demo with the longest track, "Power Behind the Throne." This song opens up with a rapid fire thrash riff that will split your eardrums and it continues from there. A good mix of blistering speed and slower interludes to be found here as well as some beautifully executed solos to enhance the songs as they fit perfectly. A very great way to kick this beast off. 4.5/5.

Nuclear Nights - Next up is "Nuclear Nights." This opening is fast as hell with the inclusion of the pummeling double bass and it doesn't let up until mid song when you get a slower, tempo-changing riff that will guarantee that your head will bang. Not to mention more awesome solos that are added. 4/5.

See What I See - Just like the songs before it, Impalers doesn't hold anything back and they fly right into it with those fast ass riffs but this time with a cool intro solo to go with it. There's some more tempo changes and nice melodies to be found here as well. Another great song. 4/5.

Death in Fire - This is the best song off of the demo and is definitely the best possible way to end this demo. It's full of catchy riffs and solos as well as awesome vocals. 5/5.

Impalers showed everyone that they are here to thrash and to thrash fucking hard. They delivered a brilliant release and I am anxiously awaiting a full-length from these guys. I highly recommend this to anyone who's a fan of fast and brutal music reminiscent of the masters such as Kreator and Sodom. Also go like them on their Facebook page and buy the demo!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Impalers/61205462500?sk=info

Final rating - 4.65/5 or 93%.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Top 10 New Wave Thrash Albums!

Hello all again... A buddy of mine requested that I do this and since I have no interviews at the moment or any albums to review, I figured why not? The following 10 albums are the best new wave albums thus far IMO and they all receive my highest recommendation if you haven't heard them yet.

#10. Head on Collision - Ritual Sacrifice
This album is great and is a fantastic example of how newer thrash bands don't need to try and reinvent the wheel to sound awesome. This album is heavy and aggressive and plenty catchy at that. The standout tracks here are definitely the opening intro "Arise From the Wreckage," "God Hand," and "Electrocutioner."

#9. Lich King - World Gone Dead
This album is just about as great as the artwork that was masterfully done by the mainman of Lich King, Tom Martin himself. This album is definitely Lich King's best offering thus far as they worked on perfecting their production and refining their craft. The riffs are heavier and the vocals are also A LOT better than they were on their previous albums. The best tracks here would definitely be "ED-209," "Act of War," and "Grindwheel."

#8. Vektor - Black Future
Coming in at number 8 are the Sci-fi thrashers Vektor. Vektor are very unique sounding especially in the vocal department. The singer has been described as some kind of "Space Falcon." But the riffs here are the main part that keep the listener happy. Everything mixes well and the music itself makes you feel as if you're in space. The best tracks here would be "Black Future" and the 13 minute epic "Accelerating Universe."


#7. Warbringer - War Without End
Next up is Warbringer's awesome debut "War Without End." This album is filled to the brim with everything that you want in an album. It's got the riffs that range from Kreator/Slayer like thrash riffs to some solid OSDM riffs for a variety. The intensity on this album is also off the charts and did a wonderful job of putting Warbringer on the map in the metal world. The best tracks here would be "Combat Shock," "Systematic Genocide," "Total War," and "At the Crack of Doom."


#6. HeXeN - State of Insurgency
Time for some Melodic Thrash. HeXeN manages to mix up the melody and the heavy thrash riffs extremely well on this record by delivering some very brilliantly written music that is technical in a good way as it keeps the listeners from being bored to death (Unless you're into that whole tech-wankery music, this album still has plenty of technical aspects to keep you happy too). Stand outs here are "Blast Radius," "State of Insurgency," and "The Serpent."


#5. Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation
Even though the Waste's past two offerings have gotten really boring rather quickly, this gem still holds up. There's nothing too serious here, just straightforward, fun thrash. Definitely a great album for those just getting into thrash as well. The best tracks here are, "Terror Shark," "The Thrashin' of the Christ," and "Unleash the Bastards."

#4. Violator - Chemical Assault
This is an album that is just drenched in old-school. This album sounds like it came straight out of 1986 and it just thrashes like an absolute maniac. Violator are one of the few new bands who play complete retro thrash but also retain their own sound rather than sounding like a bunch of Kreator/Slayer/Exodus ripoffs. The best tracks here are "Atomic Nightmare," "UxFxTx," and "Addicted to Mosh."


#3. Dekapitator - We Will Destroy... You Will Obey
Just like Violator's "Chemical Assault," this album sounds like it was recorded some time in mid to late '80s. However this album is a bit more catchy and all around better. The riffs are awesome, the solos are great and the vocals sound like Razor! What's not to love about this record? The best tracks here are "One Shot, One Kill," "Possessed By Damnation," and "Haunted By Evil."


#2. Havok - Time is Up
This next album just came out this year but it crushes. It completely blows it's predecessor "Burn" right out of the water. Havok upped their intensity and songwriting all around here and delivered a modern masterpiece. There isn't a single bad track on here but if I had to recommend the best songs I would say "D.O.A." "Fatal Intervention," and "Killing Tendencies" are the best.


#1. Warbringer - Waking Into Nightmares
And for #1 we have Warbringer's "Waking Into Nightmares." This album is a masterpiece and an album that I believe will go down in history as one of the best thrash albums EVER. It's got excellent riffs, solos, drumming, basswork and vocals. Every aspect of this album is done masterfully and together it makes for an amazing record. Best tracks are, "Severed Reality," "Prey for Death," and "Shadow from the Tomb."

Anyway those are my top 10 new wave albums. If you have any disputes feel free to leave a comment and tell me what I left out. I hope you all enjoyed and until next time peace.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Interview with Bruce Corbitt of Rigor Mortis/Warbeast!


Hello all again, I'm back with another interview, this time with the frontman of Texas Thrashing legends, Rigor Mortis as well as Warbeast. In this interview Bruce talks about the future plans of Rigor Mortis and some of their biggest influences. Anyway I hope you all enjoy.

SFM - I figured we could just get straight into the interview if you don't mind. Since 2005 I believe, you and the rest of the gang decided to reunite Rigor Mortis for some shows and if I'm not mistaken you're going to be working on a new album, which will be the first album to have new material since Rigor Mortis vs The Earth back in 1991. Can you give us any insight on what this album will sound like?

BC: Yeah man, we just recorded the music for the 1st two new songs and I am going to do my vocals next week. We are letting some of record labels that are interested hear a couple of songs. Hopefully then we can sign a deal before we go in to record the entire album. If not, we will just release it ourselves.
Anyway, this album will be different… just like the 3 previous releases were all different from each other. Rigor Mortis had a very distinctive sound back then. But every album was still unique in its own way. We don’t want to just imitate something we have already done. You may hear some parts that remind you of something from all 3 of those releases. But it will also have some diverse sounding parts that are nothing like anything we have released before.

These first 2 songs are called "Blood Bath" and The Infected". The titles and subjects fit that classic Rigor tradition. Blood Bath is about serial killers. The Infected is about Zombies and inspired by the movies 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

This album is going to sound like what Rigor Mortis should sound like in 2011. All the years of experience has made us all better and more experienced musicians. I love how we are mixing our classic speed metal style with some different paced sections and adding some melodic parts. This still sounds like Rigor ‘Fucking’ Mortis… and that means it doesn’t sound like any other band in the World. That is the FACT that I am the most proud of!

SFM - Well it's good to hear you guys are sticking to your sound and playing what you want and not following any trends. Are there any possibilities of a Rigor Mortis tour?

BC - Fuck yes there will be tours! This time Rigor Mortis is serious about doing it the right way. So we plan on hitting the road as much as possible after we release the new album. We are especially going to concentrate on trying to tour Europe for the first time. We already have label interest, a good booking agency and PR people ready to get behind us.

SFM - Well I'm looking forward to it, let's hope for a Los Angeles date! What are some of your guys' major influences musically?

BC - Well I can’t speak for every member of Rigor Mortis… because we do have different influences. Naturally the classic metal bands like Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Motorhead, Slayer etc were an influence on all of us. Casey and Harden had some punk influences too. Mike Scaccia had many guitarist influences going back to when he was really young… like Les Paul, Chuck Berry, Hendrix, Michael Schenker, Joe Perry, Randy Rhoads etc. I grew up on The Beatles as a kid in the 60s. In the 70s it was Aerosmith that made me want to be in a band. In the 80s it was Iron Maiden that influenced me the most.

SFM - Are you a fan of any of the newer thrash bands? If so which ones and what tips do you have for them if any?

BC - Yes I am, I like bands like Toxic Holocaust, Warbringer, Avenger Of Blood and Municipal Waste. Man, I made so many mistakes I don’t know if I am anyone that should be giving advice. Some of these bands have already accomplished more than I have. So maybe they should be giving me some advice… haha!

SFM - Was there any kind of competition between the older Texas thrash bands back in the day? You guys had a really good scene with bands like yourself, Gammacide, Morbid Scream, Devestation, Rotting Corpse, and Plague Allegiance.

BC - Not as far as Rigor Mortis goes. I mean we already thought we were the best band in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I hope those bands thought the same way. Plus we were the biggest band in our area during the time I was in Rigor Mortis back then. So we never thought about trying to compete with the other local underground bands. We just wanted to kickass for our fans and get our band known worldwide. We didn’t give a shit about being the kings of Dallas/Ft. Worth or Texas. So we were never like… "Ok guys, we are playing with Gammacide tonight, we got to really try hard to blow them off the stage." That shit never crossed our minds. I do know some of the other bands might have thought of it like a competition…. but not Rigor Mortis. We liked and supported most of the bands you mentioned and many other bands from that era.

SFM - Well I want to thank you again for your time, do you have any words for your fans?

BC - I just have to thank all of them for the many years of support. I know it’s been a very long wait for them since we recorded a new Rigor Mortis album. But it’s finally happening. Just give it fair a chance when the album comes out. I always notice when an older band puts out something new, people judge it after listening to it once. They say they like the older albums better. Well they’ve listened to those old albums 1000 times and the songs are embedded into their brains. So it’s harder to like something just as much after hearing it once. I’m proud of these new songs and I am confident that Rigor Mortis fans will not be disappointed. I can’t wait to tour the World playing this new material… along with the classics of course. Cheers!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Check out Neil Wonnell's Metalmouth radio station!


I recently came across a radio station on the internet that was actually really good. I highly recommend this site for anyone here that likes Old School/New School thrash whether the bands are your favorite signed bands or a kickass unsigned band that you've never heard of. The site is run by Neil Wonnell who uploads a new show every weekend at the following link.

http://www.reverbnation.com/neilwonnell

If you're in the mood to check out some kickass thrash that you may not have heard of, I highly recommend this radio station and you yourself can join "The world wide legions of Metalmouth listeners!"

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Interview with John Kevill of WARBRINGER!


This interview has definitely been one of my favorites as I am a GIGANTIC Warbringer fan. I really liked their debut, but their sophomore effort "Waking Into Nightmares," is just downright godlike. The best thrash album since Epidemic of Violence In my honest opinion. Anyway before I gush over Warbringer some more, here's the interview that I was lucky to enough to do with their frontman, John Kevill. I hope you all enjoy!

SFM - First off, you guys have been working your asses off to promote "Waking Into Nightmares" by touring around the world nearly all of the 2010 year. Have you been enjoying your much needed time off? What have you been up to?
 
John - It's been cool having so much time off, I've been home over twice as long as I have ever been since this band started touring at the beginning of 2008. Even when we made "Waking..." we only had a little over two months to write and record the whole thing before we were back on the road. It's been great, we have a had a lot of time to work with the recent lineup change and get everything sounding really natural again, and then a lot of time to work on each song. Some of us have been working some random jobs in the meantime, but mostly focused on meeting at least a few times a week and moving forward on the album.
                                 
SFM - Well you only had a little time to write the modern masterpiece that is "Waking Into Nightmares," so I can only imagine what you're all capable of with all of this time alotted to you. Since coming off of the tour, you suffered a loss of your drummer, Nic Ritter. He was a very integral part of the brutal and heavy sound on "Waking Into Nightmares", but as far as I know Carlos Cruz, the new drummer, is very talented and even plays spanish guitar if I'm correct. How has he been doing since joining the band?
 
John - We knew Nic wasn't going to be an easy drummer to replace. From the first time we talked about finding someone else who could do a great job playing drums for Warbringer, Carlos was the first guy that came up. He had been playing in the local metal scene for a while, and we had hung out with him at various shows for a long time. We jammed with him a couple times and he picked everything up really quickly, and after jamming with him for about a month and just working him into the band we started writing all the time. He's been doing a great job and is really easy to work with, we all have a unified collective mindstorm going on each one of these songs we are making.
 
SFM - That's great to hear. Now there was a pretty big refining of your style on "Waking Into Nightmares" compared to the debut "War Without End." Do you think this new album will sound similar to the death/thrash style that was implented on "Waking Into Nightmares"?
 
John - I think it continues from our previous two albums but is different in its own ways as well. I think all the songs we have written so far stand out from each other pretty well and together will form a damn fine record.
 
SFM - Well I'm looking forward to the new record a lot and I'm sure the fans are as well. Gary Holt's obviously been busy touring with Exodus in support of their album "Exhibit B: The Human Condition" as well as filling if for Jeff Hannemann over in the Slayer camp, so I think it's safe to say you won't be working with him on this album. Who is producing this record?
 
John - We will be going into the studio in a little under two weeks from now with producer Steve Evetts down in Orange County. We are pretty excited about this, we are going for a really big sound this time, we want the riffs to sound gigantic.
 
SFM - So how does the band go about writing the material? Does one member come up with a rough version of a song with just the riffs and then the whole band jams from there or does one person typically write an entire song and everyone else learns it?
 
John - It's pretty collaborative. One person starts by bringing a few ideas up, a riff or a set of riffs, and we'll jam it out and chew it over, talk about it, add and subtract stuff, and generally mess with it until we have a whole song that we feel works well on every level.
 
SFM - Now that we know about your songwriting process let's talk about a sound that I hear a lot in your music. Demolition Hammer has obviously been a huge influence on you guys, so I was wondering since I too am a huge Demolition Hammer fan, which of their first albums do you prefer? Tortured Existence or Epidemic of Violence? What would be your favorite song?
 
John - I'd say Epidemic of Violence by a slight lead, the sounds on that record are a little more savage, and I think all the songs on there are really good. It's a little more death-thrashy than Tortured as well. The first record is awesome as well though.
Some random favorites- Skull Fracturing Nightmare, Pyroclastic Annihilation, Carnivorous Obsession, Gelid Remains, 44 Caliber Brain Surgery.
 
SFM - Those are all great choices. In addition to Demolition Hammer you guys played a cover of Unleashed's "Execute Them All." Have you guys ever played that cover live? If not do you have any plans to play it live?
 
John - We never really do covers as part of our live show. Maybe one day, I think our version came out pretty good (we rehearsed and recorded it in one day, in the middle of a tour in Germany), and some people have asked that we play it. So maybe someday, but on our next few tours we are probably going to focus on playing a bunch from the new album as well as including some from the first two that we haven't usually been playing.
 
SFM - What would be your favorite songs to play live and which tend to be the most popular with the live crowds usually?
 
John - Living in a Whirlwind and Total War both go over well live and are both a lot of fun to play. Abandoned by Time is fun for me, though one of the harder ones just because there is a lot of sustained fast vocals in that song. Shoot to Kill is a bone-simple song but is just a lot of fun to sing live. And we always close with Combat Shock, which is always one of the more fun ones.
 
SFM - Well from experience of playing your guys' songs, I'd have to thoroughly agree with you. How did it feel to sing along with Mille Petrozza and Kreator during that special performance of "Pleasure to Kill?"
 

John - That was awesome, such a good time and thanks to all of Kreator for letting me do that! It was a huge adrenaline rush to be up there with Kreator, as I am a big fan of theirs. That is one of the songs that got me into the kind of rapid-fire vicious vocal style so it was just an awesome feeling to be able to go on with them and do it live.


SFM - Well I'd like to thank you again for letting me interview you so in closing do you have any words for your fans?
 
John - Thanks for all your support, we will be doing shows again soon so keep your eyes open! Hammer on!
-Kevill

Check out Warbringer at the following links
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Warbringer/34913752005
http://myspace.com/warbringer

Interview with Matt Harvey of Exhumed/Dekapitator!



For the latest addition to my blog, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Matt Harvey, the man responsible for two of my favorite bands, Grindcore masters Exhumed and Thrash maniacs Dekapitator. Anyway I hope you all enjoy the interview, and can hopefully forgive me for my epic fuck-up.


SFM - First off, as far as I understand your thrash band Dekapitator is still active but aren't doing any shows. Are there any plans for another Dekapitator record or some live shows in California in the near future?

Matt - Well, we're not exactly active yet, but we will be getting going in the very near future. We have almost half of a new album written which I'm really excited about. We are hoping to record late this year or early next year depending on how busy the Exhumed schedule gets. In the meantime, our first album, "We Will Destroy... You Will Obey" will be re-issued by Relapse this year with a couple of bonus tracks from the first 7". Once we start rehearsing, I'm sure we'll book a couple of shows to get a taste for it again. I miss thrashing with those guys!

SFM - That sounds great! I can't wait for some new Dekapitator material. Now your other band, Exhumed is also set to release a new album, "All Guts, No Glory." You also have a show planned for August 7th in Hollywood as well as numerous European dates. Are there any plans for more shows in the US?
 
Matt - We're doing a western North American run with Cephalic Carnage, Macabre and Withered throughout the end of July and the beginning of August which will be a lot of fun. We're hitting a lot of places like Denver, Minneapolis, Illinois, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and lots more. It'll be a great time getting to rage with old friends and make some new ones hopefully. We've toured a lot w/Cephalic and those guys like to have a good time, and so do we, so our livers and lungs better watch the fuck out!

SFM - I will most definitely be making out to see you guys tear Hollywood a new asshole, that's for sure. Now what are your biggest influences when it comes to writing music for both Exhumed and Dekapitator?

Matt - Well... Metallica is probably my biggest overall influence, with Repulsion being second, but there are a bunch of bands and shit. For Exhumed, pretty much the first 20 Earache releases, any British Grindcore stuff, early Swedish Death Metal, Autopsy of course, Exodus is a big one for me as well, as well as German Thrash. Records like "Consvming Impvlse", "None Shall Defy", "Darkness Descends", and some of the more extreme thrash bands like Devastation (TX), Incubus (LA), Massacra (France), Razor (Canada), Merciless (Sweden) all made a big impression on me. I love all the early Death Metal stuff, Massacre, Death/Mantas, Insanity, Possessed, Celtic Frost / Hellhammer, Master/Death Strike, Devastation (Chicago), Obituary/Xecutioner, Amon, early Morbid Angel, Incubus (FL), Vomit (Norway). Also a lot of Hardcore stuff like Mob 47, Anti-Cimex, Shitlickers, Discharge, Ripcord, etc. All the Poweviolence stuff from the 90s like DespiseYou, Spazz, Man Is The Bastard, Crossed Out, Rorschach, Infest, and all the old HC/Crossover stuff as well, like Cro-Mags, Cryptic Slaughter, Final Conflict, Crumbsuckers, early Agnostic Front, D.R.I., Siege, Deep Wound, Negative Approach, fuck man... all kinds of shit really. I mean we talk about AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, and Van Halen as much as we talk about Terrorizer and Carnage and stuff. There's all kinds of obscure stuff we riff off – from Molly Hatchet and Blackfoot to Robin Trower, to Slayer to Assuck.
 
Dekapitator is a little narrower, as far as influences go. Definitely the whole German and Bay Area thrash thing is primary – but also a lot of Canadian metal, Exciter, Anvil, Razor, Voivod, Soothsayer, shit like that. Plus a lot of older Heavy Metal, Priest, early Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Tank, Jaguar, all the NWOBHM stuff really. Dan Bulldoze is big into Hardcore, all the old NYHC stuff, and we all dig Kiss a lot.
 
And beyond that, we all listen to a lot of different kinds of music, not just metal. Right now, I'm listening to the soundtrack for a cop show from the 50s called M Squad – has that kind of Mancini sound, but very "spy" sounding and suspenseful – great horn section.
 
SFM - Wow, that's a lot of influences, but you can never listen to too much music! You've also played with one of your biggest influences, Grindcore pioneers "Repulsion." How was that experience?
 
Matt - That was awesome. How many people get to play in their favorite band? I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to jam with those guys and I just had such a great time getting on stage and playing songs I love. I wouldn't trade that for anything.


 
SFM - That's definitely a great experience to have, I'm sure everyone would love to play with their heroes! Around the time that Dekapitator first released their debut album, the thrash scene was very stagnant and because of this, Dekapitator are seen as one of the key bands that spawned the NWOTM. Was there any intent on trying to bring thrash back to the forefront of metal or were you guys just trying to play the music that you wanted?


Matt - We never really thought about bringing back Thrash Metal en masse– I don't think we were that ambitious. At the time there were a bunch of Scandinavian bands doing the retro-thrash thing, like Guillotine, Aura Noir, Gehennah, etc. and we thought we could do it at least as well, if not better than those guys. At the time, Col and I weren't really getting along with Ross in Exhumed, so it was a good outlet for us to cut loose and have fun, where Exhumed had become a bit more serious or something at that time. We also felt that the Bay Area should have a thrash band, it seemed weird that there was a period of time where there were pretty much no bay area thrash bands at all.
 
SFM - Now aside from Dekapitator and Exhumed you played in quite a few other bands. What would you say is your favorite moment on the road as a member of several different bands?


Matt - Oh man... there are so many funny and weird stories from being on the road. Most of them start with, "this one time we were in ______, and I was so wasted..." Really I love traveling, I love playing music, and I love hanging out and partying with my friends and that's why I love touring. We played in Germany once and Col kept giving me shots of Ouzo and making me go up to every chick in the venue and try and hit on them, supremely drunk – that was pretty funny. We perfected the art of diving off tables face-first into pies in Rochester NY while on tour with Mayhem, and we got Hello Kitty towels and photo albums as gifts in Japan. We played on a boat in Sydney Harbor, then hung out and watched a rugby game and strippers came over during halftime and did their own halftime show. We did drugs, posed for pictures with a naked chick and bough beer from the mob in Vancouver, and swam in the ocean and barbecued in Northern Italy. We served ourselves copious beers and knocked over tables in Belgium until the police came, right after we got cut off by the flight attendants on the flight to Europe. We swam in hot springs and ate a wonderful lamb dinner and terrible burritos in Iceland. So many weird, fun irreplaceable times.
 
SFM - That's definitely a plus when you're on the road all the time. Now both Exhumed and Dekapitator are signed with Relapse records. How has it been working with that label?


Matt - We have a great relationship with Relapse. I'm so happy that we've been able to have one label for 13 years now, and it makes my life easier. They are totally supportive, and don't bullshit me, so what more can you really ask for from a label. I consider them an integral part of how we get things done, and everything we've accomplished so far.
 
SFM - That's great to have a label like that, especially when labels will at times try to influence your music for a sound that they want rather than what you want. You are obviously from LA. What are your thoughts on the current metal scene in LA? Do you have any particular favorite bands?


Matt - Ummm... I don't want to be a dick, but I'm actually from San Jose (Go Sharks!!!!), about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Although I now live about 200 miles from LA and 250 from San Francisco, and I'm in LA and Orange County all the time, rehearsing with Exhumed and Gravehill. I'm not too hip on the scene in LA, aside from my friends bands, but Fatalist, Intronaut, Murder Construct, DIS, Gravehill, Winterthrall, Evildead, Destroy Judas, Anger As Art, Fueled By Fire, Warbringer, and Bad Acid Trip are all killer bands that you should check out.
 
SFM - Wow... That was an epic fuck up. I want to thank you for your time (Even though I don't even know where you're from!) and lastly, do you have any words for your fans?
 
Matt - Cheers, man, thanks for the interview, I appreciate the support! Thanks to everyone throughout the years who dubbed a tape, bought a 7", reviewed us in a fanzine, came to a show, bought a shirt or an album, and most importantly, to anyone who bought me a beer! We can't wait to get out and party with all you fuckers this summer!



Be sure to check out Exhumed at all of the following links to stay updated with tour dates and news on the new album!
http://www.myspace.com/exhumed
http://gorefuckingmetal.blogspot.com/
http://facebook.com/exhumedofficial

Monday, April 4, 2011

Interview with David Sanchez of Havok!



I'm back with another interview and this time I had the fortune of interviewing the frontman of Denver, Colorado's own, Havok. I recently did a review for their newest album, "Time is Up" and I absolutely loved the record so I got in touch with David to get a little more insight on all things Havok. I hope you guys enjoy it.

SFM - First off, I want to say that your new album, "Time is Up" is fantastic and the best album of 2011 so far. One key reason for that is because this album is heavier, faster and all around, much more intense than the predecessor, "Burn." Was upping the intensity on this record something that was planned before writing it or did it just happen that way naturally as you went along?

David - Thank you very much for the kind words! We definitely made an effort to make an album that ripped peoples’ faces off! At the same time though, we were naturally getting faster as time went on. So even though we planned on making it more aggressive, it was only natural to get more in your face.
 
SFM - You guys definitely succeeded with that mission as "Time is Up" serves as perfect proof of that. This record also features a new lead guitarist and drummer. The drums on this one are amazing and are definitely an integral part of that heaviness and the lead work is also better. How is it having these two guys in the band now?

David - Pete Webber (drums) and Reece Scruggs (guitar) are great assets to this band! I love having them in the group and I feel like their contributions only make us better. There is no doubt that our next album will showcase their abilities even more. We’re only getting better…


 
SFM - Good to hear, I will certainly be looking forward to those guys' future output. You recently did a tour with Death Metal veterans Malevolent Creation. How did the crowds react to you guys, being the only thrash band on the bill?

David - We had a blast on that tour and the crowd reactions were great! It’s pretty rare that there’s a death metal fan that doesn’t appreciate thrash metal. We’ve been on some pretty mismatched tours and the crowd response is always awesome. I think we have pretty good crossover appeal to almost any form of metal.
 
SFM - I'm sure that also helps building the fanbase quite well by touring with other bands from different genres, but back to thrash, I definitely feel that you guys have made some serious noise with this new release in the metal community and have put many bands on notice, as well as risen to the top of the NWOTM. What are some of your favorite newer bands?

David - Again, thank you for the kind words! I have a huge list of newer thrash bands that I like – too many to name. But to name a few: Vektor, Warbringer, Revocation, Witchaven, Lazarus AD, Bonded, Mutant, Evile, Savage Messiah, Lich King, Violator, Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Decapitator, etc.
 
SFM - Do you have any more tours coming up in support of this album?

David - We will be touring through all of 2011 in support of "Time Is Up", so keep an eye out for us. Touring is what we love to do, so don’t expect to see us slowing down any time soon.
 
SFM - That's great, I would love to see you guys tear it up over here in Los Angeles. Now being from LA, I really have no idea what the scene is like over where you're from. How is the metal scene in Denver, or Colorado in general?

David - Colorado’s metal scene is thriving! There is probably a metal show happening on any given night in this state. There are lots of metal bands and lots of fans for it, so I can’t complain.
 
SFM - Gotta love having a lot of fans from your hometown. What has been your favorite place to play while touring?

David - We have LOTS of favorite places! But one place that stands out is Quebec City. Quebec was one of the best times I’ve ever had on the road. It was on the Primal Fear tour and the show was packed. Nobody really knew who we were yet or knew what to expect, but after 2 songs, the entire venue was chanting "HA-VOK! HA-VOK!" That was an amazing experience. I can’t wait to go back there!
 
SFM - Well now I'd like to thank you for your time, and do you have any words for your fans?

David - I’d like to tell the fans to pick up "Time Is Up" and get ready to bang their fuckin’ heads! Also, thank you for all the support over the years. Without the fans, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do, so from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Some Awesome Death/Thrash Recs...

Sorry about not posting much recently but I've been pretty busy lately and I'm still busy. I've got a few interviews that have been booked but the only problem is waiting for the people to get back to me. So to get you all through I'm here to enlighten you all with some awesome tracks from some awesome bands of the awesomeness that is death/thrash. Look for the next post to feature either an awesome interview or a random album review.


First up we have the Rhode Island thrashers, Ritual Sacrifice. A very underrated band, that put out an amazing demo know as "The Inhuman Race." Check out the track below and prepare to headbang.





Next up we have a newer band from the home of thrash in the Bay Area... Laceration. If you're a fan of Demolition Hammer or Warbringer, you'll love Laceration and if you don't believe me just check out the track below.




This band is a bit more well known than the one's previously mentioned however they remain severely underrated and undiscovered by many so I bring you the pure kickass-ness that is MERCILESS.