Coming To Get Some Down Under With JOHN FAHNESTOCK From SNOT

Interview by Kris PetersForming a new band after having previously been a part of an international success story is never an easy task. But when you take two former members of popular bands and place them together to start a new project then the chances of beginning with a completely clean slate are slim to non-existent.So it was when vocalist Jake E (ex-AMARANTHE) and guitarist Jesper Strömblad (ex-IN FLAMES), joined forces some seven years ago to create a separate musical entity in the form of Cyhra. After putting out two critically acclaimed albums - Letters To Myself and No Halos In Hell - Cyhra steadily became accepted as a band in their own right, helped by the melodic metal approach that distanced the members even further from their past. With their third album The Vertigo Trigger - already being touted as the band's darkest and most ambitious album to date - to be released on August 18, Cyhra finally look set to claim their full musical identity without the ever prominent shadow cast by days gone by. Jake sat down with HEAVY recently to discuss The Vertigo Trigger and the long path to supremacy. "We are ready to release our brand new album," he enthused, "and I can't wait to get it out there because it's been cooking for a year." "There's absolutely no anxiety lingering on," he continued when asked how nerve-wracking this period just before the album comes out can get. "We don't want it to completely flop (laughs). The problem nowadays is you cannot say that an album is flopping in a sense because you can release a fantastic album, but the problem is people just don't get it. They don't know that it has been released. They can't find it because it's a fucken jungle with releases these days. There's so many bands releasing at the same time and people are listening on platforms, and it's really hard for people to understand how well an album has progressed because you have Spotify and Deezer and blah blah blah, so there's all these different platforms all over the world. A band like Cyhra, we are pretty big in Japan for example, but the Japanese people don't even use Spotify, so when we go in and check how many people are listening to us in Japan, and it's only 48 and then the record label comes back two or three months later and says you pulled 10,000 for that album it's like… they are not listening to Spotify then (laughs). You are a little bit anxious about the reception from your fans, especially now where it's gone three or four years since we released the last album." In the full interview, Jake talks about the writing and recording process on The Vertigo Trigger, why it is their darkest and most ambitious album, self-producing the record and pros and cons of that, playing the whole album live in Japan before it has even been released, new guitarist Marcus Sunnesson and what he brings to the band, finding your own musical identity and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

31 Heinä 202317min

Interview by Erin EddyUK heavyweights Sylosis are set to unleash their sixth studio album, A Sign Of Things To Come.HEAVY spoke with vocalist/guitarist Josh Middleton about the process behind this new record and what it means to be reconnecting with his musical roots.“The way we sound now is actually closer to how we started, but no one knows that,” Josh told HEAVY. “Everyone might hear what we’re doing as ‘new’ for us, but it’s actually a rediscovery of our roots, which are roots our fans don’t know we have ‘cause it pre-dates anything we’ve ever released.”Those roots include bands from the glory days of nu-metal, such as Korn and Slipknot. Josh cites these bands as his gateway into heavy music, when he was a mere 9 years of age.Josh has spent the past 6 years playing guitar for Architects, jumping in when former guitarist Tom Searle sadly lost his battle with cancer. Having only recently parted ways with them, Josh says that his time with Architects taught him to be a more collaborative musician.“When I joined (Architects) it was me writing all the guitar riffs,” explains Josh, “The first time (Dan) worked on the songs I had sent him, he chopped and changed things, and I was like, ‘oh this is really uncomfortable, no one’s done this with my music.”“Learning to let go of control, or even a clear vision of what I thought the song was and allowing it to take a different shape, that aspect has definitely helped,” Josh reflects of his growth as a songwriter.A Sign Of Things To Come sees the Sylosis frontman sharing the driver’s seat with producer Scott Atkins (Cradle Of Filth, Amon Amarth and Behemoth to name a few) and band manager Adam Foster. “Our manager was a big part in pushing us in loads of different ways, in terms of just reaching our potential and writing songs that were going to be memorable,” Josh discloses.Currently, there are three singles available from A Sign Of Things To Come; Deadwood, Poison For The Lost and the titular track, A Sign Of Things To Come.The release date for the record is September 8, through Nuclear Blast /Sharptone Records.Listen to the full interview with Josh now to hear from the horse’s mouth just what went into recording this album, as well as an insider scoop on upcoming tour plans!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

31 Heinä 202326min

Interview by Kris PetersAs the name would suggest, Mr. Phlyzzz (pronounced Flyzzz) are not your average entertainment machine.More like an amalgamation of every musical genre that your Mother warned you about - and some she should have - Mr. Phylzzz is best described as a noise rock duo, but even that doesn't do their sound justice.Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Clinton Jacob and drummer Danny Sein, Mr. Phylzzz is a musical entity unto themselves, shedding every ounce of expectation and instead dousing the sonic flame with a devastating wall of noise that simply has to be heard to be understood.And heard it shall be in the form of their recently released album Fat Chance.An album the band has proclaimed is "definitely a bit different than the previous album, especially tonally" and their "most straight forward and focussed record yet", what Fat Chance is, is a breath of fresh air on a musical landscape that is becoming increasingly mundane and predictable. It is an unrelenting, dynamically charged assortment of tunes that challenges all music conventions and dares to experiment on a scale few bands these days even contemplate, let alone commit to recording.With Fat Chance landing on the HEAVY desk last week amid more than a couple of cries of WTF, when the opportunity to become better acquainted with the men behind the sonic trail of destruction came up we jumped at the chance."It's a lot heavier than what has gone in the past," Jacob offered. "It's a lot more of a straight forward record. We put that together at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Illinois, which is right down the road from our practice space. "We've been playing these songs live for a year coming off the last release Cancer Culture Club. That's enough time for me. I work really quick and Dan works really quick. We felt good about the songs - I'm not about fillers, I'm about killers - so it's a short record for a reason. I don't put fillers out. I just put what I believe in."Going back to the bands statement about being different from previous releases, we ask the boys in what way."On the last record Cancer Culture Club Clinton wrote all the tracks himself and produced them in his apartment," Sein replied. "That had a much more noisy, chaotic feel to it. He left things in, like his cat would be meowing in the room and he would leave that in the song. So it's got a different atmosphere to it. With Fat Chance it's a lot more straightforward. When you listen to it, it's kind of like how we play the songs live. Normally when we play there aren't really any chances to breathe in a sense because it's just Bam, Bam, Bam and in your face. It's short and sweet and it's got a big, huge drum sound. It's a lot more like... hi-fi. But we're using that beautiful studio space so there's fancy mikes, fancy equipment and all that."In the full interview, the boys talk more about the sound on Fat Chance, the more polished way it was recorded and what effect that had on the finished product, their creative process, the title and where it comes from, their perception of how many songs constitutes an album and how many for an LP, a history of the band, their sound and how it works, heading out on the road with The Melvins and Boris and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

31 Heinä 202314min

Interview by Kris PetersWhen members of Soilwork, Arch Enemy and Mean Streak ventured outside of their comfort zone ten years ago and created The Night Flight Orchestra the seeds of something special were instantly sewn.By defying the "supergroup" handbook at the time, Björn Strid, David Andersson, Sharlee D'Angelo and Jonas Källsbäckbroke broke away completely from the sounds of their original bands and ushered in a new (albeit harking back to days of old) era of music that bears little if no resemblance to the style of music for which the respective members were known.Instead they created an 80s party band with the sole objective of making people dance.Despite the tongue in cheek nature of their music, The Night Flight Orchestra went about their business with a serious and level head, paying homage to a decade of musical fads and trends without actually mocking it.Which was a fine line to tread, but one which was carefully navigated with due caution and respect.Spawning hits like Domino, Lovers In The Rain, West Ruth Ave, Divinyls and This Time, TNFO have pushed the proverbial envelope in as many directions as it would turn, pumping out everything from hard rock to pop to disco infused ditties and love drenched ballads and everything in between.Despite the global success afforded each of their five albums, TNFO have somehow managed to steer clear of Australian shores for the duration of their existence, a blight on their social calendar that is soon to be rectified when the unruly gang of cavalirs touches down for three exclusive shows starting in Brisbane on August 3.Frontman Bjorn Strid cleared his schedule to explain the bands absence and what they plan to do to make it up to us."It's gonna be a hell of a dance party," he promised. "So go get your tickets now!"With the first show under one week away, we ask Strid if he has finished packing in preperation yet."I guess so, yeah," he laughed. "It feels like it was only a matter of weeks ago that we hit Australia with Soilwork but it was in November last year. Regardless, it's gonna be something completely different. I'm really grateful that we're able to come to Australia with The Night Flight Orchestra. We feel like the fan base has grown a lot in Australia so I had to poke Doug from Hardline Media to get us over there. We're definitely ready. We have a beautiful set list coming up for these three shows. It's going to be special."Not ones to take these things lying down, HEAVY presses Strip on why TNFO have neglected Australian fans for so long."Good question," he laughed. "We wanted to come in all those years so many times but it's... it had to grow a little bit but we've definitely felt that the last couple of years that a lot of people come up to you when you're in Australia with Soilwork and say 'hey when is Night Flight coming to Australia and bringing vinyls to the signing sessions so we noticed it's been growing a lot and now is definitely the time. I wish we did it five years ago, but at the same time it was worth waiting for I think."In the full interview Bjorn tells us what to expect from the shows, explains what Death To False A.O.R Australian Tour means, supporting KISS on their last ever Swedish shows, takes us back to the start of the band and where they fit in, his love affair with 80s music and where it comes from, continuing the saga laid out in Aeromantic and Aeromantic 2 and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

28 Heinä 202312min

Interview by Kris PetersDepression and mental health are becoming an increasingly prevelant condition, especially in the modern age where sometimes just living can become a struggle.They are real problems with no definitive answer. Problems that could affect any one of us at any time.As much as money always helps in any situation, perhaps more importantly in these cases the vital factor is more awareness.Awareness that it can and does happen. Awareness that it is not your fault or something you should go through alone and awareness of the fact that sometimes it's okay to not be okay and the most important first step to helping yourself is communication and putting your troubles out there for the world to see, hear and help.One way to do this is by staging events - of any nature - but when music is your life and passion the default mechanism generally switches to live events. And, as we all know, musicians do it better than most.On September 16 the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane will host Rock Beats Depression, featuring an eclectic assortment of local and interstate bands uniting for one common cause. Brisbane metal warriors Dreamkillers head the bill, with Black Whisky, Goatzilla, Gutterfire, Tailor Made Rejects, Krave and more coming together for a common cause.The day will raise not only awareness, but also funding for The Black Dog Institute, Beyond Blue and Headspace with tickets under $50 from Oztix.Each week HEAVY will be speaking with bands on the lineup about what being a part of Rock Beats Depression Means to them.Today we start things off chatting to Brisbane heavy/sludge/doom experimental outfit HIPPO and frontman Loki."Mental health awareness and helping is something that's pretty close to our heart, in the band and outside of it," he began. "The tattoo studio that I own does a lot of mental health stuff that helps people as well. As soon as I saw them advertising for the gig earlier on in the year I sent them an email I said I would love to be a part of that. It's definitely something we're all about and the struggles in life."Listen on to hear Loki discuss mor about Rock Beats Depression, the other bands on the line-up, what it means to him personally and professionally to contribute, personal brushes with both mental health and depression, a bit of history about HIPPO and what they plan to unleash on the day and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Heinä 202313min

Interview by Kris PetersPrequels and such talk are usually reserved for the film industry. The blockbuster before the blockbuster, if you will, but in all honesty has it ever really worked?I could drag out a myriad of examples and create all sorts of conjecture here, but at the end of the day you have to admit it is not a word commonly used in the music industry.But then again From Ashes To New are not your run of the mill common band.Since breaking through with their debut album Day One in 2016, the US rock outfit has gone on to amass four Top 10 singles, over 600 million all-time streams and more than 75 million video views to date. So when they announce their intent to make a prequel to an already successful concept album then who cares to stop and argue the semantics of contrasting industries?From Ashes To New are far from a safe band.By weaving hard rock, hip hop, electronic and alternative music into a tapestry of sonic enlightenment FATN have set themselves distinctly apart from an ever clustering swarm of by-the-numbers rock outfits that class experimentation as deciding on which degree of seperation they are feeling on any given day.And so enters the fray an album titled Blackout which acts as a conceptual prequel to Day One, encapsulating the trivialities and nuances of a pre-apocalyptic world that was glimpsed through realistic eyes during the 2020 pandemic during which the album was written.With the release date of July 28 looming, HEAVY sat down with vocalist Danny Case to venture down the rabbit hole that has consumed his thoughts during the making of Blackout."We've been comparing it a lot...," he measured, "...it's a quote, unquote prequel to our debut album Day One. When we were writing the record it was early 2021 when the lockdowns were just starting to end - for us at least - and touring still hadn't come back but we were writing. It was in your face every day. One of the first songs we worked on was Armageddon because it seemed like every day was the end of the world. That was the song that came about early on and we were like, hey, we have our very first record day One. The art on it has a kid on a planet looking back on the old planet as it is falling apart. So why don't we take this record and make it where the kid is on that old planet before he leaves for the new planet. Another thing we were trying to do was capture the same kind of heaviness that the first album had. We wanted to take a step back and look at what do we really wanna do? What do the fans really want from this band? And we found that we really enjoy writing heavy music and that was what put this band on the map. It also tied in with the music we were making in that it was kind of like an apocalyptic record almost."In the full interview Danny talks more about the musical side of the album, writing to a concept, the singles released and how they represent the album, the concept in greater detail, how FATN has changed since he joined the band, the different styles that make up their music and how they successfully integrate them together, future plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Heinä 202316min

Interview by Kris PetersIt's been a big year and even bigger last few weeks for East Gippsland alternative rock outfit Outloved.As well as recently releasing the single Tourniquet - which features Ocean Sleeper vocalists Karl Spiessl and Ionei Heckenberg - Outloved also supported Windwaker and Caskets, announced EP launch shows in Sydney and Melbourne and are also preparing to drop their EP Drowner.Blending heavy rock, pop punk and metalcore, Outloved refuse to sit neatly into any one genre, instead choosing to express themselves according to their own values.HEAVY caught up with vocalist Jaydon Colvinto find out more, starting with the new single Tourniquet."It's a mix of metalcore plus bringing a bit of pop/punk into it, in a way," he offered. "We haven't really written a song with low tuned guitars before and that song was originally meant to be a filler song on an EP and it ended up being a case of let's make it a single. As we started pulling it together I thought this could do with a feature and Ionei, who sings in Ocean Sleeper, is our producer as well and I co-write with him quite a lot. I said do you and Karl wanna jump on it and he said that would be sick. They were happy to jump on it and pull the track together in the end, which was awesome."In the full interview, Jaydon talks more about Tourniquet, what Karl and Ionei brought to the song, what it's like collaborating with other artists, how Tourniquet differs musically to previous single Never The One, the upcoming EP and what to expect, what they take out of playing bigger support shows, their album launch shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

25 Heinä 202312min

Interview by Erin EddyMelodic metal outfit Caskets are in Australia for the very first time, something they’re still pinching themselves over.“When we got here, I wasn’t expecting anyone to really know who we were,” says vocalist Matt Flood, “so the fact that most of the crowd at every show has been singing back to us, it’s been pretty crazy.”It’s been a steady rise to success for the boys from Leeds, who have amassed a loyal following since their inception in 2018.They are touring the country with Windwaker on their Love In The Dark tour, but have managed to sneak in two headliner shows while they are out here, the first of which happened last Saturday, July 23 at The Workers Club in Melbourne, the second taking place in Wollongong on July 25.HEAVY was privileged to be invited into the green room at The Workers Club before the show, to spend some time chatting with Matt and drummer James about the wild ride that Caskets are on.“We never thought we’d get to this stage.” James told HEAVY. “Constant disbelief.”As well as touring Australia for the first time, Caskets have just released a string of singles from their forthcoming second full-length album. Reflections is set to be released on August 11.The band’s songs feature strong messages surrounding mental health and personal struggles.Caskets fans call themselves the Lost Souls, which is the title of the band’s first album. The online community of fans has been cultivated by the band themselves and has become a space where, through the power of music, no one has to feel alone.“We want to be the outlet for kids that we needed when we were kids,” Matt expresses, “So many people look to music as an outlet for so many things in their life. It’s important that they’re heard and that we take what we’ve been through in our lives into this job so that they can witness that we’ve been through what they’re going through and that there’s a better way out.”Listen to the full interview to hear more about the band’s passion for portraying their messages with conviction, and going to bed with blocks of cheese.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

25 Heinä 202331min