Monday, October 29, 2012

Bust A Move Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never
heard of you before?
We are Bust A Move, a deathcore band from Germany (Ruhrarea). Marc is our shouter, Dimi and Phil play the guitar, Lasse plays bass and Spiller is on the drums. We founded Bust A Move in the end of 2009 as we wanted to play heavy music and knew each other as friends. We recorded a 4-track EP, played a lot of shows, uploaded our single "Contaminated" on Youtube and released our first full-length "There’s no Place like Home" on October 19th 2012.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
Our music is energetic, aggressive and fast but also groovy, melodic and slow. We try to mix really heavy and fast riffing orientated riffs and blast beat sections mixed with more groovy, headbanging, hardcore beatdowns.with brutal breakdowns combined with groove and bouncy parts.
Thus, our music consists of deathmetal  orientated riffs and blastbeat sections mixed with more groovy, headbanging, hardcore beatdowns. blastbeat sections mixed with more groovy, headbanging, hardcore beatdowns.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the music?
On our new album "There’s no Place like Home"
our lyrics deal with the concept of homeland and belonging somewhere. For this purpose our album "There’s no Place like Home" tells the story of a man searching for home, affiliation and identity. However, the world’s atrocities and woes prevent him from getting there. Metaphorically speaking this means that every person on this planet has to find out where they belong. This search can be sometimes difficult but yet it is indispensable to find your personal home, your place where you belong. In other words: "There’s no Place like Home".
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?
Bust A Move means something like "move your ass". In this case we make music, that makes people bang their head, mosh like there’s no tomorrow and move to our breakdowns. Furthermore the abbreviation of Bust A Move is BAM, what stands for the band’s vigor.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
As we have played a lot of shows so far it is difficult to name one particular show that can be called "the best show ever". However, as soon as we feel that the band’s energy is transferred to the crowd, people start to mosh, bang their heads or stagedive we know that this is a good show. Our live performance is lively, energetic and powerful. In order to play tight and professionally our live set is prearranged, our drummer plays with a clicktrack and samples lead the audience from one song to another that gives the impression of a coherent live performance. Furthermore our outer appearance is aligned, we all wear mostly black clothes.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
We want to go on tour with our labelmates "The Green River Burial" in spring 2013. Though, there are no specific tour dates so far.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans
of extreme metal?
Due to our music video for the song "Contaminated" the feedback from international fans has been huge. As the internet connects people worldwide and everyone is able to watch and listen to our music we have a relatively large fanbase in America and Mexico. Also for our album, we have to answer a lot of interviews in English and read a lot of reviews from other countries.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time
line up?
Bust A Move is the only project for every member of the band. As the band is really time consuming and we also have to work, go to university etc. it is not possible to have a side project besides Bust A Move. Bust A Move is a full time job!

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
We definitely want to become heavier but more melodic at the same time. However, it is difficult to say what our music will sound like on our future release. Songwriting is a process which develops. Therefore we will just sit down, let our creative juices flow and write the heaviest, most innovative and energetic Bust A Move album ever.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
All in all one can say that we listen to Deathcore and Hardcore. We are influenced by bands like Whitechapel, Molotov Solution or Emmure. However, the bands we listen to can change and there is not a main influence. For partying we also like house or HipHop.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Our drummer loves taking photos or making little movies since he has his new camera. Marc, our shouter is in a boxing club and does bodybuilding, just as Phil does.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
We want to thank every single person, who supports us in any possible way, may it be by coming to a show, buying our new CD or some merch or just leaving a positive feedback on our Facebook page. Furthermore we want to thank Aljoscha from Pitchback Studios who recorded our album, Grindesign who designed our awesome artwork, Dominik from Doom Design who filmed and edited our music video for "Contaminated" and Marco from Bastardized Recordings for his support! Thank you. Get contaminated!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Sybreed Interview


1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Drop : We have our 4th album, "God is an Automaton", out since October 2nd. We are currently on an European tour with Mnemic and Hatesphere, and we are on discussion for early-2013 Euro tour. I can't talk about the USA at the moment cause everything is still on discussion, not confirmed, but I hope we will announce something really soon, by the end of the year.
Also, we would like to start writing the new album as soon as possible, we might have some new songs finished this winter already.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous recordings?

Drop : I personally think this new album is a mix of everything we did in the past, it has the grooves of Slave Design, the melodic parts of Antares and some of the chaotic riffing The Pulse of Awakening was made with. Everything digested with a « live shows » aspect and more solid arrangements. I think every old Sybreed fan can find itself in this new record. I don't think it differs that much cause the only thing we had in mind during the writing process was writing typical Sybreed songs, with paying a particular attention on how they will sound live. The songs we've played in concert so far reached our expectations.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release?

Ben: mostly the subject we are interested in since the beginning of Sybreed: there’s a precise core of ideas which is the foundation of the band’s philosophy which is present in God is an Automaton, such as the relation between man and technology but more on the social and political point of view, the behaviourist aspect of power and its effect on the masses, the questioning of morals and values … in every way it is mostly an adaptation of a Nietzschean grid of reading to our modern civilization, as well as how we human adjust or not to an ever-growing flow of information and innovation, how we deal with a society which emphasis security, obedience and enforcement of laws and the constant tension which threaten democracy to turn in dictatorship. For example the title of the album refers not the an personal definition of “God” or any criticism of faith but how the concept of a “divine being” can often be use both as a external form of exculpation or a tool of power, so as to say the notion of “idol”.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Ben: it’s a two-meaning word. First, with its right spelling, a cybrid design an artificial cell created by fusing the elements of two separate ones. However we weren’t happy with the visual aspect of this spelling, so we decided to change it by creating a portmanteau with the title of one of our first song, so as to say Synthetic Breed. Then, why did we choose this word precisely? Well, I suppose we wanted to have a band’s name which would sound futuristic, yet however we wanted to avoid the usual “mechanical” feel linked with all the Cyberpunk culture: choosing something more “biological” seemed more appropriate to the music we wanted to do.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Ben: well, we had quite a number of awesome shows since we started the band back in 2004, so it’s hard to pick up one. I’m going to take one example then: recently, we played in Estonia, headlining for a festival. We played quite late at night but in summer time the sun never really set down there and this coupled with the moon rising up, it gave to the whole area a pretty otherworldly atmosphere. So when we got up on stage, with the audience getting crazy and the whole northern night thing, I think we just got in some sort of trance and made a totally rock’n’roll show almost like in some sort of dream: it is quite impossible to describe our performance in such cases … all what I could say is that it feels fantastic when it happens, when one reach the musician equivalent of the “zone”.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Drop : As I told you on question number 1, we are currently on an European tour with Mnemic and Hatesphere, and we are on discussion for early-2013 Euro tour. I can't talk about the USA at the moment cause everything is still on discussion, not confirmed, but I hope we will announce something really soon, by the end of the year.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of extreme metal?

Ben: honestly, I couldn’t pick on precise tendency. The thing is we have a pretty wide range of fans, so some might enjoy very rough extreme metal and still enjoy Sybreed while some won’t. However, so far it seems that most of the adept of a more extreme kind of metal appreciate the heavier aspect of our new album, while some where a bit disappointed by its less atmospheric aspect. In any case, it’s impossible to please every one. Yet the good point is that now we aren’t considered as newcomers but as one of the references in the Cyber-metal genre usually.

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

Drop : Sybreed it's a full-time line-up. Even if some of the members have some other musical projects. Our bassplayer Ales has his band Djizoes since 2003, they toured a lot in Asia, and I hope he will use his relations to bring Sybreed there, hahaha.
I personally have another band called MXD, sort of electro/metal trio, 1 DJ, 1 vocalist and 1 guitarist. I also have my studio in Geneva, the Downtone Studio, and I produce some bands.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Drop : I think there is no limits on writing music, so I can't tell you precisely how the future Sybreed songs will sound. We always write music with our feelings of the moment, and so on I am not able to know how we will feel in a year or so. The only thing we wanna do for the next album is pushing our style further, doing more complex structures, even longer songs, but as I told you, this is the plans, we need to feel it at the right moment.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Drop : Sybreed has a ton of influences, going from metal to electronica with progressive and rock fm in between. We all have different influences, which allow us to bring something different, but our "common" influences would be Meshuggah, Fear Factory, In Flames, Front Line Assembly, Depeche Mode, Katatonia, and honestly music in general.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Drop : I have a studio, I am a record producer, I play in two bands officially and a dozen of others in the studio as the "man in the dark".
I love traveling. I travel a lot for the music, tours, promo, etc… but I love going somewhere to know different people, see other cultures, that's one of the best thing ever.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Drop : Yeah! Thanks for reading this interview, and check our new album out, I hope you gonna dig it. See you on the road as soon as possible, keep up the good vibe, and have fun.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Bust A Move/There's No Place Like Home/Bastardised Recordings/2012 CD Review


  Bust  A  Move  are  a   band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Ther's  No  Place  Like  Home"  which  was  released  by  Bastardised  Recordings.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  modern  day  death  metal  with  deathcore  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melodic  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  which  are  only  utilized  on  one  song  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos and  leads  that  combine  power  metal  with  melodic  death  metal,  as  for  the  pianos  they  are  only  used  on  one  song  and  they  bring  a  dark  sound  to  the  music.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal/deathcore  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  metalcore  style  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  everyday  themes,  as  for the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Bust  A  Move  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  death  metal,  deathcore  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE " Inner  Demon"  "There's  No  Place  Like  Home"  "Misanthropic  Hell"  and  "Catharsis  Of  The  Damned".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Bloodbeast/Bloodlust/2012 CD Review

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  Bloodbeast  are  a  band  from  South  Africa  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal,  grindcore  and  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  album  "Bloodlust".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffing  that  combines  old  school  death  metal  with  grindcore  and  thrash  mid  80's  and  early  90's  style  as  opposed  to  the  more  modern  technical  sound   of  those  genres,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  gore  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  which  capyures  the  early  90's  death  metal  vibe  perfectly.

  In  my  opinion  Bloodbeast  are  a  very  great  old  school  sounding  hybrid  of  death  metal,  grindcore  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Out  For  Blood"  "Fuck  Or  Die"  and  "War  Eternal".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Sublevels Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

We are band from Cordoba, Argentina, part of the South American Death Metal scene, Sublevels was formed in the year 2010 and since then have been growing steadly as a group of metal musicians in this part of the world.

 2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Our music is a blend of extreme death metal with elaborated grooves and progresive/experimental music elements, we focus mainly on delivering the most brutal compositions with a big enfasis on groove and rhythms.

 3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

The themes that our songs cover, lyrically, deal with madness, death, aliens, suicide and the darkness of the human psyche. The lyrics of the songs are intended to be as brutal as the music that we play, so they go hand to hand with the tunes.

 4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

The name was borrowed from a Messhugah song title, but it also has a speacial meaning for each of us, the name "Sublevels" can be interpreted in many ways, for me (Gaston, guitarist) it refers to the world of the dead, which is underground and so it gives me the image of a labyrinth of tunnels, a maze of hidden cities deep beneath the earth, that is one possible interpretation.
The term Sublevels is also taken from the theoretical physic sciences, where it is used to describe the structure of the atom.

 5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

We try to deliver all our energy in every show, no matter where or for how many people in the audience, we are constant, allways giving our best in every single performance, with full blown energy and brutallity as it should be considering the music that we make.

Our best shows so far were in San Salvador de Jujuy in the far northwest of our country, where people are absolute crazy, best audience ever, very brutal mosh and very warm people, we loved it.
Another great show was given in our hometown Córdoba in a open air show at a downtown square, it was great, lot of our friends and fans showed for our performance and we played really good.

 6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Right now we are finishing the first part of the national tour for Eo Abyssvs Occvltvs, having covered many of the most important cities in Argentina, and for the future we are planning to tour other countries such as Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Uruguay and also visit some of the cities in Argentina that were left off the tour.

 7. Currently the band is being promoted by Abyssal Warfare, how did you get in contact with them and how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?

The owner of AW Promotions contacted us after getting a press pack from us and hearing our material and after we talked, we connected and they became our main promoters in Europe, so far its been a great work relation, we are very grateful for all the reviews, interviews and recognition that we are getting from all their work.

 8. On a worldwide level how has the support been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

Our first album "Eo Abyssvs Occvltvs" got great reviews by the international press and the album is available worldwide in digital format, its doing great in Europe and the USA.

 9. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

Each one of us has other musical interests and projects, Sublevels being the main band for us to tour and play live. Gaston and Andres are recording a new album with their side project Devius, which is a experimental extreme metal band.

 10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

We want our music to be more brutal, extreme, fast and also integrate more grooves and progresive elements into the mix.

 11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

While forming the band the influences were artist like Oceano, Whitechapel, Carnifex, Chelsea Grin, Divine Heresy etc. more oriented to the Deathcore scene, but also there were more classic bands like Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Nile, Morbid Angel, etc.

 12. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

Yes, in the lyrics the theme of occultism is present and is also used for musical inspiration, but it is something in which we cannot elaborate much further, its very personal and we want to keep this private.

 13. How would you describe the metal scene in your home country of Argentina?

Metal in Argentina was never very popular and the most known artists practice a form of hard rock or traditional metal rather than thrash or more extreme forms of metal. Anyway in the underground scene there is a growing fan base for bands like ours and people is getting more and more moved by extreme metal, which is great for us. Bands are also putting more effort in releasing good sounding albums and performing in shows with a professional level, that obviously helps the scene to grow.

 14. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

For me personally (Gaston) music is everything, exploring and listening to different forms of music, for example, is very important to keep things fresh and to keep being motivated to play metal. Besides music i like reading a lot and i have a psychology degree, so i always keep studying and reading about that matter.

 15. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview

Torn The Fuck Apart Interview


1.     1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?We’re a Kansas city technical death metal band that has been ripping up various stages since 2005.  Though a “technical” death metal band, we implement various facets of metal across the spectrum in attempt to create something of our own that expresses the totality of our musical interests. 

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
2.  The blistering, raw, furious sound of a multi-faceted conglomeration of  primarily the most extreme styles found in underground music, utilizing the aspects of the classics while in the context of modern death metal and the gradual refinement of its technique. 

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3. Though primarily a violence/gore oriented subject matter, The Dissection of Christ delves into the more deterring sentiments regarding religion, and in this case namely Christianity. 

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
4. Initially, the concept of being “drawn and quartered” had inspired the idea of being dubbed, “Torn Apart”.  However, it had since been discovered at one point that this band name had already been applied to various groups, and to express the obscenity of the very nature we embody while solving this dilemma, added “the Fuck” to the middle. 

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
5. Though there are certainly some memorable shows with some of the giants that paved the way for us, we can honestly say that virtually every show is as amazing as the last.  To elaborate on the vibe of our performance, it’s a straight forward, balls to the wall, teeth grinding scene of brutality overload. 

 

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
6. Nothing in the works at the moment, but we do aim to keep a consistency of playing about both our area, and the surrounding areas that take an interest in what we do. 

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for your music?
7. Of course, a label is impertinent at some point in a bands career to aid the extensiveness of our music to new fans, along with the ability to produce new and more professional material.  However, it’s most certainly not detrimental to our drive to pursue the next song, show, or what have you.  Labels that take an interest in the top numbers, charts, and the complete stifling of creativity and deprivation of creative license are absolutely out of the question and of no interest to us.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?
8. Extreme Variance.  Some people love it, others abhor it.  Some just think it’s ok.

9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
9. Though a full time line-up, there is currently a side project under works by Nick on guitar, playing for Klehma. 

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
10. Pushing the envelope we’ve been establishing over the years harder than the last. More technical, heavier, and more integration, an attempt to best ourselves at every whim.

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
11. Some inspirations include Dying Fetus, Rings of Saturn, Cattle Decapitation, Nile, Gorgasm, Cerebral Bore, Deicide, Burning the Masses, Cannibal Corpse, Phobia, and Carnifex. 


12. I know the band is anti christian but do you have any interest in Satanism and Occultism?
12. Though the vast majority of the band is objectively atheist, without the pursuance of any type of non-corporeal manifestation or facets of esoteric pursuit, Nick has dabbled in various categories of occult significance, namely that of shamanic Chaoism, Discordianism, and a form of post-modern occultism that ties into the Domus Kaotika, Marauder Underground, and the A.A.O.  However, this is very strictly not to be confused with religion, paganism, or any likeness to the objective projection of non-corporeal personification of various manifestations of the subjective experience.

13. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
13. Physical fitness, borderline alcoholism, prospecting for NYDM, smoking entirely too much reefer, heresy through the devouring of hot-dogs on Fridays, fucking bitches, and summoning Baphomet for tea.

14.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
14.We are currently writing the music of our next album, to likely be titled “Sexually Transmitted Torture”.  It is our intent to have this album recorded by the middle of 2013, and is certain to express absolute evisceration, gore, and wretched horror implemented into a new level of technical brutality.