MAKE THEM SUFFER’s ALEX READE On APRA Nomination, Breaking Boundaries, And A True Blue Aussie Tour

Interview by Angela CroudaceFor fans of death metal, Benediction needs no introduction. With a history that spans decades, the band has continually pushed boundaries, proving that their music is not only timeless but still relevant today. As the band gears up for the release of their highly anticipated album Ravage of Empires, we sat down with Daz Brookes, one of the founding members, to chat about their enduring success, the return of Dave Ingram, and what’s next for the legendary group.It’s been over 30 years since Benediction first made its mark on the death metal scene, but for Daz, it still feels like the dream is alive. "I’m living the dream, man. That’s what I wanted to do when I was a kid, and I’m still doing it at 56 years old," he says. "I still get the same buzz I did when I was younger. I’m still excited about gigs and new releases. I’ve got no intention of giving up yet."Perhaps one of the most significant moments in Benediction's recent history was the return of Dave Ingram to the fold for Scriptures. After a 21-year hiatus, the reunion marked a new chapter for the band. Daz recalls, "It was almost like he'd never left. It felt natural, like nothing had changed, despite all the time apart. We’d had some awkward years after he left, but time heals all, right?"Their reunion was not just about the past, but about reinvigorating the band for the future. "When it came down to writing the album, Dave put his vocals exactly where we’d expect him to," Daz explains. "It felt like he’d never been gone."On the new album, Benediction continues to evolve musically. "We don’t do album fillers," Daz insists. "We want every track to be strong, and that’s what we’ve been doing for years now." Despite the challenges of distance - Daz and guitarist Peter Rewinsky live in the UK, while Ingram resides in Denmark and Gio in Italy - the band’s writing process remains a collaborative one. "We send riffs back and forth, and when we all come together, it’s like a well-oiled machine."When asked about the current state of death metal, Daz doesn’t mince words. "It’s become a competition for speed and extremity," he says. "Everybody’s trying to outdo the last band, and it’s kind of losing its essence. When we perform, whether it’s in front of 70,000 people or 500, it’s the same feeling. People are singing our songs, and that’s what it’s all about."Benediction’s music remains grounded in simplicity. "We don’t need to reinvent the wheel," Daz adds. "We just do what we do, and people respond to that. Simple is good."As the band heads into their EuropBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

6 Huhti 17min

Interview by Kris PetersIn an age where people and their personalities are becoming increasingly sanitized it is refreshing to come across an artist still unafraid to say things as they are without self-censorship or undue thought to repercussions. A singer/songwriter who adheres to the old school ethos of respect and honesty rather than rainbows and butterflies, and who isn't afraid to get her hands - or her music - dirty.Melbourne based rock dynamo Envy Marshall is all of that and more. A fiercely independent artist with an unapologetic attitude, Marshall openly confronts her own independence and themes of equality and the smashing of gender stereotypes. And all of that within just one song.Marshall recently released the track Like A Man, showcasing her powerhouse vocals, razor-sharp lyrics, and undeniable charisma. With its infectious chorus, gritty guitars, and a hypnotic mid-tempo groove, Like A Man is a rallying cry for authenticity and empowerment. Envy’s lyrics cut through the noise with glaring honesty, blending cheeky wit with raw honesty, as she chastises at one point 'stop telling me to act like a woman when you know that I f**k like a man.'But one look through her resume, and it's obvious Marshall isn't just here to make up the numbers. She is here to make a difference, and that's one thing few people can claim to truly aspire to. HEAVY caught up with Marshall between L.A showcase gigs, where she is aiming to strike next."The words and the lyrics have a bit of shock value to it," Envy began when asked about the positive reception afforded Like A Man, "but I also think it's because people are really wanting music like this now. I didn't write it to be popular. I didn't write it because I wanted anyone to react to it. I wrote it because I just really freaking needed to say it. And the response has been really good."HEAVY mentions the confronting nature of the song but also emphasizes the point that if you get through that initial moment of being taken aback, there is a much deeper underlying message."You can see some women who first of all go, ooh, and then come up to you later and go, I love you," Envy smiled. "You know what I mean? It's nice because I really care about women. I love men and I love women and whatever you want to be called, I love you. But to have a woman come up to me and give me a hug and say, thanks, that was awesome. That means a lot. Especially when there's not a lot of female fronted rock bands writing songs for women."In the full interview, the discussion focused on Envy Marshall's experiences and upcoming projects in the music industry. Envy shared her journey from Adelaide to Melbourne in 2017, highlighting her collaboration with Paul Woseen from The Screaming Jets, who played a significant role in her artistic development. She emphasized the importance of rebellion in rock music and her recent promotional tour in Los Angeles, which has opened up new opportunities for her career. Envy also discussed her song Like a Man, which has garnered significant attention and aims to challenge societal norms while empowering individuals. Envy also provided insights into her upcoming video release for Like A Man and her current album project, which promises a blend of rock with influences from other genres plus more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

6 Huhti 16min

Interview by Kris PetersGrinding Eyes craft a uniquely dark sonic landscape, fusing psychedelic shoegaze, drone rock, and ambient garage punk. The Sydney band released their third studio album, Out of Focus, last Friday, further capitalizing on the momentum built through their 2018 self-titled album and 2021’s Taste the Monochrome.Known for their relentless touring, Grinding Eyes have shared stages with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Swervedriver, Graveyard, Moon Duo, Dinosaur Jr., Monkey Wrench, Superchunk, New Candys and Mudhoney, as well as Australian bands, Amyl and the Sniffers, Cosmic Psychos, Spiderbait, The Drones, Straight Arrows, DMA’s, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, POND, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Tropical Fuck Storm.The band’s line up also boasts members from past and present bands The Mess Hall, Treatment, The Laurels, Bliss and Kimono Drag Queens, further cementing their deep roots in Australia’s underground music scene. But Grinding Eyes are more than just the sum of their past bands. They are a sonic extension into another realm of musical experimentation held back without boundaries or expectations.Vocalist Matt Wicks joined HEAVY to tell us more."With this album, I suppose we sort of concentrated a little bit more on the sounds where previously we've pretty much done everything live," he measured. "We would dive straight in, start recording, do a lot of long sessions and sort of see what comes out. On this one we tried to refine it a little bit more, do most of the songwriting and we actually played most of these songs live for a couple of months. So they became a life of their own. We wanted to really harness more of a tighter sound where we could mess with it more in the studio than just having the sort of raw organic rock and roll feel of it."In the full interview, HEAVY spoke with Matt about the release of Out Of Focus following a year of delays. Matt expressed his relief regarding the album's completion and highlighted the band's creative evolution, mentioning that they have already started writing new material. The album features a mix of musical styles, reflecting their organic songwriting process.During their forthcoming Australian tour, the band intends to perform a substantial portion of the new album alongside some older tracks. Furthermore, they will support Pig's Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs on their European tour later this year.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

6 Huhti 9min

Interview by Kris PetersTwo decades into any career and you would be forgiven for starting to grow stale or formulaic. Be it an office job, labouring, or even in the music industry, the old saying familiarity breeds contempt holds firm. But try telling that to Scottish metal outfit Bleed From Within who, after 20 years in the music scene, have reached their peak - their Zenith, if you will.The Glasgow firebrands are one of the hardest working acts in metal: playing shows globally with everyone from Megadeth to Slipknot, all while writing and regularly releasing monstrous, exhilarating songs. The upward journey reaches new heights on their seventh album, Zenith, which contains the band’s heaviest, catchiest and most intrepid music to date.The band's first two albums, Humanity (2009) and Empire (2010), made Bleed From Within cult figureheads in the deathcore scene, before Uprising (2013) broadened their palate with groove metal adrenaline and melodic death metal prowess. It also marked their major-label debut, catapulting them onto tours with heavy royalty.In 2018, the band returned with the ferocious Era. Then, follow-ups Fracture (2020) and Shrine (2022) proved their greatest triumphs to date, intertwining vocalist Scott Kennedy's snarls with Steven Jones' majestic singing. The millions of streams gathered by such singles as The End of All We Know, Into Nothing and Levitate proved Bleed had become the next big thing. Now, on Zenith – announced ahead of career-affirming tours with Slipknot, Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine – the quintet are primed to leap into superstardom.HEAVY spoke with frontman Scott Kennedy to go deeper into Zenith."It feels like we've been waiting so long to drop this album," he sighed. "So, I'm buzzing for it to finally get out. I think it's the best collection of songs we've ever done and I'm desperate for people to hear it."We ask Kennedy to talk us through what Bleed From Within were going for musically with Zenith."To be honest, with Bleed From Within there's never really any concepts or anything like that," he replied. "It's more just about - for me personally - the songs are always about what I'm going through at that point in my life. I always try to write from the heart and write songs that are really meaningful because I don't want to go on stage and sing a song that doesn't really mean anything to me. I don't just want to go on and sing any old shit to the crowd. With Bleeding From Within it's just always about writing the best collection of metal songs that we possibly can, and I truthfully believe that this is the best collection of metal songs we've ever written."In the full interview, Scott discussed Zenith further, expressing his excitement about what he considers their best work to date. He highlighted the opening track Violent Nature for its heavy and fast nature, and elaborated on the collaborative songwriting process among band members, emphasizing a natural evolution in their music.Scott also mentioned Bleed From Within's experimentation with various musical elements, including strings and guest vocalists, to achieve a distinctive sound. The discussion wrapped up with a mention of upcoming tour plans and festivals following the album's release.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

5 Huhti 9min

Interview by Angela CroudaceAs The Juliana Theory prepares to celebrate the anniversary of their seminal album Emotion is Dead with a special Australian tour, frontman Brett Detar shares his thoughts on the album's creation, its unexpected impact, and what fans can expect in the future.Looking back, Brett recalls the humble beginnings of the album, created when he was just 21. “We were five kids from a small town who recorded in a tiny converted garage studio,” he says. “We made the album for very little money, and to think that it has had such an enduring impact—people telling us they named their child after our band or got married to a song off the record—is humbling.” Reflecting on how time has passed, he adds, “It’s wild to think that more time has passed since Emotion is Dead was made than I had lived at that point.”When it comes to the rapid rise to success the band experienced, Brett admits it was a gradual process. “We played local shows for a while, and then suddenly, after our first album Understand This as a Dream, we noticed the crowd size was doubling at venues. It was a shocking but exciting moment, but we were so young, we didn’t quite grasp how special it was,” he recalls.The upcoming tour marks a full circle moment for The Juliana Theory, as they join forces with The Spill Canvas, another beloved band from their era. Brett recounts a unique experience from 2019 when the two bands toured together in an unexpected way. “We did a US tour, but we played as just an acoustic duo. That tour reignited our passion for making music together, and it led to new songs, new recordings, and ultimately, us signing to Equal Vision.”Discussing the creation of Emotion is Dead, Brett explains the shift in the band’s approach after their first record. “We wanted to expand beyond just making a fast, poppy emo record. We wanted to experiment with longer songs, heavier sounds, and even throw in some Pink Floyd-inspired moments.” The album’s title, Emotion is Dead, came about in a joking conversation during the van ride, with Brett and the band brainstorming what would later become an iconic, yet tongue-in-cheek, statement about the genre.Despite the album’s association with the “emo” label, Brett admits the band has never fully embraced the term. “At first, we thought it fit, but then it started feeling limiting. We’ve always tried to push boundaries and not just fit into one box.”Bret neatly wrapped up his feelings, saying; “It feels special to see how much Emotion is Dead still means to people, and it’s even more exciting to bring new music into the mix."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

5 Huhti 21min

Interview by Kris PetersBands of renown all boast a number of great albums to their name. But within that body of work, there is always that one album. That magnum opus. That genre-defining, gravity-defying masterpiece that sets a standard by which not only their peers, but the band themselves are measured by forever more. For ATREYU, THE CURSE is that album.With their legacy as one of the originators and frontrunners of metalcore, and a reputation as one of its greatest live bands, ATREYU could have easily rested on their laurels with their notoriety assured for life. Instead, they have embraced growth and evolution, seamlessly morphing between styles but always ending up with killer results.July 2025 will see ATREYU return to Australia to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Curse with a series of never to be repeated shows that will see them play the songs from the album as well as other fan favourites. Joining them will be Texan metalcore titans Memphis May Fire, who will be making their first trip to Australia in over a decade.HEAVY caught up with Atreyu guitarist Dan Jacobs to get a gauge on what to expect."Yeah, it's exciting," he enthused. "We've never been down that way with Memphis before, and they've been friends of ours for a long time. We've done several tours with them before, so it's always fun to tour with them. It made sense. Also, getting to come down and play The Curse in its entirety… It's gonna be a good time."We ask Dan what some of his memories are of making The Curse."Oh, man," he sighed. "I remember when we recorded it - or demoed it I should say - we had the whole album completely written and recorded in the order that you hear it on the album now. We just put the whole thing together and when we turned it in to the producer and asked if it was cool, he said yeah, let's record this. It's actually pretty interesting how much the demos and the recording… it's just all the same thing, as opposed to chopping songs up or moving things around or changing the order. But we demoed it the same way it is on the record, which is kind of fun. We recorded it up in Canada on this island. Half of it was done in the studio in Vancouver in Bryan Adams' studio. It's called The Warehouse. We did basically the pre-pro there and then some drums and when we came back when we were done for a week we did all the mixing. The majority of the two weeks of recording were all on this island where we were basically locked there to an extent. We didn't leave for two weeks. We didn't leave this dudes house. We just stayed at his house and recorded for two weeks. We didn't go to any bars or restaurants or anywhere. We just stayed at this dudes house in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It was kind of making us go crazy a little bit, and I think that all played into the vibe of the album a little bit."In the full interview, Dan talks more about making The Curse and what that album means to Atreyu, whether or not they knew they had struck gold when they wrote and recorded it, what to expect from Atreyu live, new music, the early days of the band and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

5 Huhti 11min

Interview by Kris PetersSydney punk/rock outfit Crash & The Crapenters have become well known since their 2016 debut for their signature immature but experienced psychedelic rock that touches on themes of mental health, addiction, and burnout, and their latest EP Species Du Faeces is a showcase of their sound.This four-track journey - which is out now - is packed with homages to their musical influences, the first of which is the album name, a reference toSpecies Deceases, the 1985 Midnight Oil EP.HEAVY caught up with singer/songwriter Chris Carpenter to go more in-depth."We honestly feel, at this point in time, creatively it's a turning point for us," Carpenter voiced. "We're already looking forward to what we do next. The working title for our next album which is in pre-production at the moment is Surpass, and we'd like to think that we're going to be able to surpass everything that we've done before with what we do. When you look back at Midnight Oil's career, they pretty much were able to do that and achieve their greatest creativity and their greatest successes after having used Species Deceases as that sort of bridging that gap between Red Sails and Diesel and Dust."In the full interview, Chris provided an overview of his band, Crash & The Crapenters, and their new EP, Species Du Faeces, which features four thematically linked tracks addressing drug abuse and its consequences. The title pays homage to Midnight Oil's Species Deceases, reflecting the band's influences.We explored individual tracks, including All Geared Up, which narrates personal experiences with drugs and party culture, and Depression, (Smells Like Middle-Aged Spirit), which delves into mental health struggles, plans for the rest of 2025 moving forward plus more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

2 Huhti 20min

Interview by Kris PetersIt's been a long six years between drinks for Adelaide chaotic hardcore outfit Life Pilot, with their last new music coming in the form of a stand-alone single back in 2019. After giving fans a taste of their sonic force with a 2013 Compass split record with Statues (WA), their debut EP High Noon in 2014 and second EP Too Hot For Killing in 2017 Life Pilot would release just two more singles in the ensuing eight years but have more than made up for their absence with the recent release of their self-titled debut album.The album speaks on numerous themes; fear, doubt, frustration, self-reflection, compulsions, night terrors, societal expectations and how these all play into personal connections and our interaction with the world around us. It is a deeply personal record for the band members and lyrically it is predominantly introspective with a focus on close relationships. With the benefit of age and maturity, Life Pilot felt now was the right time to open up through their music, resulting in a more dynamic and vulnerable side of their musical psyche to come to the fore.HEAVY caught up with drummer Eli Green to talk more."It's a pretty hectic 12 tracks of chaotic, angular metalcore," he surmised on the album's musical direction, "but it's got some beautiful moments tucked within it. We self-recorded and produced the whole thing, which is pretty cool."We ask what expectations - if any - the band had considering it was their first full-length album."We really weren't sure because we've taken a long time to put this together," Green measured. "This whole thing started before COVID and then obviously that wiped everything out for a while, and we had band members having kids and all sorts of stuff throughout that period. So we weren't in any rush to churn out a record. The time to capitalise and keep momentum had long gone in the pandemic. We then just wanted to make something that we were really proud of. I guess what we expected as far as a response was anything from crickets to what we got, which was in the first couple of days we ended up at the top of the iTunes charts, which was a first for our band. That was really quite amazing. We just thought, wow, after all this time, it seems like there's some people who care about this as much as we do and want to support it."In the full interview, Eli introduced Life Pilot's new album in greater detail, emphasizing its blend of chaotic hardcore and metalcore which reflects the band's personal growth and significant life events. HEAVY inquired about the expectations for the album's release and the selection of singles, to which Green responded that while they did not extensively analyse their past work, they aimed to connect with their earlier style while exploring new musical elements. The emotional depth of the lyrics, especially in the final track, was noted as a significant shift from previous themes.Eli also described the unpredictable nature of Life Pilot's live performances, comparing them to Southern metalcore shows, and expressed enthusiasm for their upcoming interstate tour, highlighting the energy of all-ages shows and the memorable experiences they create and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

1 Huhti 20min