Interview with Black/Thrash Masters... DESASTER!

Recently I was fortunate enough to get in touch with one of my favorite bands, Desaster, and they were generous enough to grant me an interview. Here's what they said, enjoy!

SFM - You guys have been playing together for over 20 years now and just recently made it to the US for the first time. How did you guys like playing for the American crowd? Was there any difference between the US crowd and the European crowds? Do you have any plans to return?

Desaster - Hey mister! Yeah, it’s now 22 years of total Desaster. And we are still hungry for more METAL! It was a pleasure to play in the US the first time. We had good fun with all maniacs in LA and Chicago. Especially the sightseeing tour with Randy and the BBQ overkill with all Chicago head bangers was the shit! We had so much fun! I think there isn’t really a big difference. It’s strange to see metal fans doing slam dance or however you call it. But in Germany it’s also getting back. Fun was the little fight between two girls in LA next to my drum- kit while the show! In both cities many maniacs showed up and gave us the feeling to be with friends. It was great! I really must send hails to Juan, Mario and Victor who made those 2 gigs possible! Thanks brothers!

I think we’ll return soon. There is something in the works… but I can’t say more, because there is nothing 100% by now! Soon…

SFM - That's great, and I hope you guys do come back to Los Angeles and tear it up! Are there any plans for more touring this year? Will you be doing any summer festivals?

Desaster - We already played some Open Airs like “Bang your head!!!” with mighty Slayer, Lordi, DAD, Overkill, Immortal, Pretty Maids, Accept and more. And just last weekend a festival in the Czech Republic with Negaru Bunget and Avenger… This year we didn’t play so much live… some things changed in the band. Infernal can’t play so many shows anymore because he is a dad now and has some more priorities… But we try to play at least 1 show a month… Next gigs are Metal Forces Festival Lörrach, Meh Suff! in Switzerlands, Eindhoven Metal Meeting in the Netherlands and some club shows…

We stopped thinking about “touring” the traditional way. We are no professional band, so we want fun between some shows and not business shit! So maybe outside Europe 3-4 shows in a row is possible, but no more… But there’s nothing really planned now.

SFM - Send Infernal my best wishes and I'm sure he'll be an awesome dad! What is your opinion on today's metal scene? Are you a fan of any newer bands? Do you have any advice you could give to an upcoming band?

Desaster - I think the so called scene is still strong and has some really good bands. But the biggest problem is money. You can’t have all good records… it’s so fucking expensive… Anyway every metalhead try to buy as much as possible, right? At the moment I really enjoy now albums of Sonne Adam, Portrait, In Solitude (Serpents are rising is a Ear-catcher!), Grand Magus, Unholy Lust (killer dark DM from LA!), The Black League (suicide RockNRoll from FIN!), Darkest Era (“little Primodial”), Hooded Menace, Iron Lamb (killer Punk/RnR), Orchid, Ketzer, Procession,  Morbus Chron, Insidious, … and many more… But also old bands release great new albums like mighty Absu, Asphyx, Autopsy, Primordial,  Mourning Beloveth, Melechesh, Over Kill, Sabbat (JAP), Torture Squad, Unleashed … but fuck… I AM STILL WAITING FOR A NEW SADISTIC INTENT ALBUM! COME ON GUYS!

SFM - I would love a new Sadistic Intent record as well! It's been 4 years since Desaster has released a full-length with new material. Are there any tentative plans for a new album in the coming year?

Desaster - Oh fuck, already 4 years?!  We are getting slower … haha… Anyway, yes, we are at the moment writing new songs and recording studio is booked for October here in Koblenz together with our friend Wally “Kra” Walldorf. By the way he is singer of  the 3 biggest German Deutschpunk bands called Toxoplasma… A great guy and still 100% punk’n’roller… So the new record will be released at the beginning of 2012… CD again Metal Blade, Vinyl by our friend Steffen from High Roller Records and CD South America by Mutilation Records Brazil again.

There are also one or two small releases planed…

SFM - That sounds awesome, I'm definitely looking forward to that! After playing for over 20 years and touring, do you have any funny/memorable road moments you could share?

Desaster - Oh fuck… there are so many things that happened. Can’t remember all that. I think on every trip some funny things were done. Sometimes it’s only funny at that special moment and sometimes it’s only funny because of the people… by the way… here and now I can tell you that we Germans also have a lot of fun… sometimes as black as the British humour! Believe in me! Haha…

But sadly no story I can tell… maybe come to our shows and we’ll find something out! 

SFM - Speaking of playing live, what has been your favorite place to play live?

Desaster - A stage! Haha… I don’t know… most of our shows had their own special feeling. I don’t care about a special place… if the audience is getting wild and has a good time we are satisfied.

SFM - Can't argue with that. What is your favorite song to play live? Which tend to go over with the crowd the best?

Desaster - My favourite song?! I don’t know… I like all songs… Our setlist is build that we don’t have to concentrate so much on playing. Instead we prefer to have fun and bang our heads… I think Metalized Blood, Tyrants of the Netherworld and Hellbangers are always  good choices to see some heads roll! Haha…

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

Desaster - Thanks to you for the interview, thanks to all maniacs out there! Keep it Metal and never whimp out! In case of any merchandise wishes check out: www.total-desaster.com

BANG OR BE BANGED

Tormentor & DESASTER

Orgy of Destruction Weekly Series #1 - Infernal Majesty - None Shall Defy

Everyone... Welcome to the Orgy of Destruction! This is a new feature that I'll be doing with the blog, where basically every week I'll review an older/classic album, that I feel is truly under appreciated or just not well known enough when it should be. And what better album to kick this series off then Infernal Majesty's masterpiece, None Shall Defy?  


For those of you who have never heard or heard of Infernal Majesty before, they are a thrash band from the great white north of Canada. I'm sure that when people think of Canada, the first bands that come to mind are Razor, Sacrifice, Voivod, Annihilator, etc. Well None Shall Defy can easily compete with all of those bands' best albums, and can even surpass them. 


What really separates Infernal Majesty from those bands though, is their overall sound and aura, which can only be described in two words... FUCKING EVIL. The only album that I find more evil sounding than this record is Altars of Madness, and I wouldn't doubt it if this album was a huge influence for Morbid Angel when they were writing it. "Night of the Living Dead" is a perfect example of how to capture a sinister, dark feeling for a song without any need for keyboards or symphonic effects. For seven minutes this song slays the listener with it's absolute heaviness as well as the melodies found on the track to maximize the devilish presence, but the true evil found here is at the end when those chants come in with the heavy riff backing it.


However, being evil isn't enough to make this record great, but luckily Infernal Majesty understand the importance of writing a song that holds the listener's attention. There's a nice variety of riffs to be found here from proto-death metal sounding riffs to fast thrashy riffs, all the way to doom-laden riffs that will hit you like a semi truck. Not only is there a nice variety of riffs, but they're all structured very well throughout the songs. "Anthology of Death" is a brilliant track and it's because of it's great use of changing the tempos and riffs throughout the song, as well as incorporating some amazing lead guitar work and showcasing the bass playing talents of "Psycopath." (No I didn't spell it wrong).


This album is one that simply must be heard in order to understand, just how brilliant it truly is. There isn't a single bad track to be found and each is different from the next, but they are all guaranteed to send chills down your spine. The best tracks here are definitely the title track, with one of the most catchy choruses I've ever had the pleasure of hearing and the epic and haunting "Night of the Living Dead." If you haven't heard this album yet, do yourself a favor and get your hands on it, I guarantee you'll love it. 

Deceased - Surreal Overdose Review

Let me just start this review by saying, I have never heard any of Deceased's previous material. I spend a fair amount of time in metal forums, and that is where I learn about a lot of bands and music in general, but Deceased's name was never one that I heard. But just this past month I heard quite a bit of buzz about this album, Surreal Overdose, so I headed on over to Youtube to see what all of the fuss was about. The couple of tracks that I heard were great and had me sold. Surreal Overdose and Deceased as a whole became my top priority as far as looking for new music goes and I couldn't be happier.

This is far from your typical death/thrash album to say the least. Sure, most of the riffs may meet the criteria of the genre, but there is so much more to the songs. There are so many great melodies and harmonies on this album, it's almost ridiculous. You add catchy riffs, great vocals and fantastic structuring and that's a formula for brilliance. Each song here tends to stand out on it's own, with some songs being more straightforward death/thrash, while others encompass some progressive elements. The song "Off-Kilter" is a perfect example of one of the more basic songs but it's still a raging tune, while the song "Skin Crawling Progress" takes all kinds of twists and turns throughout it's near 7 minutes of life.

As I said before, every track tends to separate itself from the others, but they also seem to take the listener for a little ride. The songs don't follow your typical patterns of verse, bridge, chorus, break, and repeat, but instead contain several different riffs and melodies. The best part about all of these different parts of the song though, is the fact that Deceased holds your attention the whole time. A lot of bands try to fit in as many riffs or solos into a song to try and sound more unique, but they tend to seem like one huge forced clusterfuck and leave the listener hanging. Deceased doesn't do that but instead leaves you wondering... what's coming next? 

Besides the amazing guitar work, everything on this album is above average whether it's the aggressive, yet clean and understandable vocals that command the music or the intense drumming that keeps Deceased running at full throttle. There are no complaints that can be made about this album for me and I find it difficult to pick a best track but I'd say the two best tracks are "Skin Crawling Progress" and "Cloned (Day of the Robot)." 

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of listening to this beast of an album, you had better hurry up and get it, because as of right now, I'm going on record as saying this is the album of the year thus far. Check out Deceased on Facebook at the following link and get your hands on Surreal Overdose!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DECEASED-UP-THE-TOMBSTONES-OFFICIAL-BAND-PAGE/309398579508

Final Rating - 4.6/5 or 92%

Interview with Kevin of Hellcannon!

So last night I wrote up a review for Hellcannon's debut album, Infected With Violence, and today I wake up to find this interview magically show up in my mailbox. I talked with Kevin about the album, influences, tour plans, a new album, etc. Here's what went down. 

SFM - For the readers who may have never heard your music, can you give any background information about the band? How long have you been out? How many releases do you have?

Kevin - We're a metal band from Buffalo, NY, and we've been around for about three years. So far we have two releases, the "Raiders of the Waste EP" and our first full length "Infected with Violence" released on Butchered Records.

SFM - Now, who are the main influences when it comes to writing for Hellcannon?

Kevin - Between the four of us, there's a lot of diversity in our influences. We all take a lot of influence from bands like Death, Carcass, and Slayer. But we're always listening to stuff old and new to find inspiration.

SFM - I can definitely hear those influences in your music, and that is indeed a great mix of bands. Now onto the new, are you a fan of any newer metal bands? If so who?

Kevin - Definitely. There's a lot of killer new bands right now, we really dig Warbringer, Revocation, Havok, Saviours, Vektor, and Razormaze. This is a really good time for metal music.

SFM - You hit the nail right on the head about all the good bands! What is the scene like over in Buffalo? 

Kevin - The scene is killer. The Death Metal roots in Buffalo are still thriving. Bands like Seplophile, Vile Vindiction, and Grave Descent are still keeping it alive. When we first started playing shows a few years ago, we were playing with hardcore and punk bands- but since then the scene has grown a lot and there's a lot of awesome metal bands locally.

SFM - Awesome, I just got a demo from that band Seplophile that I need to look into. Hellcannon released their first full length album, Infected With Violence at the end of last year. How have your fans received the album? Do you feel that you accomplished what you wanted with this record?

Kevin - Our fans have been really awesome, we've got a lot of support with this album, and people seem to be enjoying, so thats good enough for us. The goal was to make a fast, heavy, and evil sounding album, I'd say we nailed it.

SFM - I would say that you nailed it too! Are you guys planning on releasing another full length anytime soon? If so, can we expect any changes from the last record, possibly something you guys haven't tried yet?

Kevin - We're just finishing up writing for another EP. We just want to record and get some songs out there before doing another full-length. Also, we have a new drummer, Bryant, who is a beast and fits our style very well. These new songs are definitely a departure from the last album, don't expect "Raiders 2" but its still gonna be fast, heavy, and evil.  

SFM - Awesome, I am definitely looking forward to that. Do you have any plans to play shows outside of New York this year?

Kevin - We're playing a lot more shows out of New York this year. We'll be in Brooklyn and New Jersey October 7th and 8th playing with Deceased, and Possessor among a few others. A lot more will be announced soon, so if you live in the East, prepare yourselves. 

SFM - That sounds like it's going to be a great time. Speaking of playing live, what are your favorite Hellcannon songs to play live, and which tend to go over the best with the live crowd?

Kevin - A new song called "Scourge and Devour" has been killer to play live. "Chainsaw Ripping Death" is really easy to headbang to, same with "Act of Violence". People go crazy when we start "Raiders of the Waste" and we usually do a cover song in our set, lately that's been "Pull the Plug". 

SFM - Thank you for your time Kevin, and last but not least, do you have any words for your fans?

Kevin - Smoke weed, worship Satan, and get Infected with Violence.

There you have it folks, be sure to check out Hellcannon on Facebook and like their page!

http://www.facebook.com/hellcannonmetal

Hellcannon - Infected With Violence Review

Hellcannon are a 4 piece death/thrash band from Buffalo, New York and they are guaranteed to pummel your face to dust and enjoy every second of it. These guys know exactly how to blend the best of death metal and thrash to obtain a perfect mix of the two genres. There isn't much innovation on this record but that doesn't matter AT ALL because the material here is brutal, catchy and all around great.


The best part of this record is definitely the guitar work. The riffs are heavy and brutal, but at times show glimpses of technicality. But the real technical ability lies within the shredding solos found on every track. The song "Leviathan" showcases Hellcannon's undeniable talent for songwriting and lead guitar skills as it opens with a sinister sounding clean guitar melody and ends the brutal and chaotic track with some arpeggios, not often heard in thrash.


The vocals have a black metal edge to them, but it suits the viciousness of the music greatly and gives the listener the impression that they might have their eardrums rupture on the spot. Another noticeable part of Hellcannon's music is the utilization fo the bass as something other than just for keeping the music heavy at the bottom end. Tracks like "Raiders of the Waste" and "Sacrifice by Fire" both put a spotlight on the bass, even if it is only for the intros. 


Hellcannon is a band that everyone needs to take notice of and Infected With Violence is rock-solid proof of that. My personal favorite tunes here are definitely the epic "Leviathan" and "Harbinger of War." Now do yourself a favor and check this band out, you will not regret it!


Be sure to check out Hellcannon on Facebook, and like their page to stay updated with everything happening with the band!
http://www.facebook.com/hellcannonmetal

Final Rating - 4.3/5 or 86%