Challenging Forces With KEN MARY From FIFTH ANGEL
Interview by Kris PetersThe endurance of melodic power metal outfit Fifth Angel is remarkable.After starting in Seattle in the mid 1980s and enjoying massive success with their self titled debut album, co-produced with famed music producer Terry Date (who later went on to produce Pantera, Soundgarden, White Zombieand more), Fifth Angel remained at the forefront of heavy metal of an era - which also included Queensryche and Metal Church - in a town that has since become known mainly for its output of grunge acts.This swarm of emerging bands and music eventually caused the premature disbanding of Fifth Angel, who remained that way until being enticed out of retirement to perform at Germany's Keep It True Festival in 2010.The band received an overwhelming outpouring of positivity at that show and subsequently reformed Fifth Angel on a more permanent basis and picked up pretty much where they left off, eventually releasing their first album in nearly 30 years titled The Third Secret.That journey culminates with the release of When Angels Kill on June 16, a double concept album that weaves lyrics and subject matter from their first three albums into a fascinating tale of love, catastrophic events, isolation, and impending doom.Drummer Ken Mary joined HEAVY to reveal more."We felt like we wanted to make this a little bit more progressive," he began. "But at the same time we wanted to hark back to the feeling of our first album, which was a darker type of record. This album is perhaps the darkest of all the Fifth Angel albums. It's a very heavy record. The story is a heavy story, but it's an interesting story and I think it's a good story. It centres around four main characters. There's a young man named Phoenix and he has two friends, a girl named Lana and Dylan who ends up being his best friend. They are living in a world that's a little dystopian and is now being run by a global tyrant and so this tyrant is not against subjugating the entire world through force. So if you wanna resist that it could be fatal and that really is what the story is about. It's about these young people's attempts to resist the tyrant. The story takes you through that process. They are trying to survive and there's also a love story that happens, there's some natural disasters that happen, there's some terrorism that happens so it's a deep, dark story but I think one that I think the fans will enjoy and I think our Fifth Angel fans will really enjoy because a lot of the lyrics and song titles... there are little Easter Eggs that lead you back to the earlier records. So if you want to know more about what's happening you can go and listen to the songs that are referenced on this record and get an even greater idea of what's going on."In the full interview, Ken talks more about the album musically, weaving three stories into one, the flow of the album, what lessons the band has learnt over the course of their career, the early days of Fifth Angel in the Seattle scene, following the lead of Queensryche and focussing on getting their first album right more than touring, their eventual disbanding and why, getting the chemistry back when they reformed, future plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
14 Jun 202315min
Bringing The Raunch Down Under With SAM SPADE From THE MIDNIGHT DEVILS
Interview by Kris PetersGlam or "hair" metal as it has been dubbed is a strange beast.Those who like it, LOVE it, but seldom do you come across anyone who sits on the fence.A large part of that is the stereotypical sounds that most bands of the genre feel obligated to gravitate towards, meaning often such bands sound the same and compete for supremacy based more on looks than image.That's my take on it anyway. I'm in the section of people who love the music too, so don't start...Every so often a band comes into the genre with a daring edge to their music that elevates them beyond the realms of another glam metal band, forcing their way into your musical psyche with an air of indifference and rebelliousness that is honest and sincere.They may look the part and dress the part, and, to a certain extent, play the part but you can sense something more sinister simmering below the surface with an axe to grind.That band for now is US rockers The Midnight Devils who are on the cusp of their first ever trip to Australia to support the legendary Donnie Vie, original singer from Enuff Z Nuff, later this month.In an unusual turn of events, The Midnight Devils recently completed their first international tour in support of the current version of Enuff Z Nuff, with vocalist Chip Z Nuff also working on their most recent album Beg For It.HEAVY spoke with frontman Sam Spade earlier this week to gauge his excitement levels."We are ready to party," he enthused. "There's only one way to rock and it's Down Under baby. We're coming for you Australia! We are beyond excited. It doesn't even begin to touch the feelings that are running through us right now as we get ready."With this being the first chance Australian audiences will have to experience The Midnight Devils live we ask Spade what to expect."There is no typical show," he smiled. "We have an idea of what we're going to do. Going into every show we don't write set lists, we don't play tracks, we don't do anything. It's all about feel and the energy coming off the crowd. You can better believe that we're gonna bring it. It's gonna be make up clagged glitter, rubber, lipstick smeared insanity from the get-go, and I'm telling you it's not just on-stage. It's off stage as well, so prepare yourselves! You can expect loud screaming and excitement all around."In the full interview, Sam talks more about coming to Australia, what he is expecting, how daunting it is travelling to the other side of the world to play for the first time, what he knows of Vie and playing with him, his relationship with Chip Z Nuff, their new single Sound Of Domination and the raunchy film clip recorded live at the Whisky A-Go-Go, how they were received in Europe, being part of the glam rock scene, the rockier nature of their new music, upcoming tours, a new album and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
11 Jun 202314min
Pushing The Boundaries With NATHAN MORRIS And DANNY JOWETT From ROTHSCHILD
Interview by Kris PetersOne of the beauties of music is there is no right or wrong when it comes to creating your sonic masterpiece.Sure, some sounds and genres might blend better than others but at the end of the day there are no rules or limitations except those we place on ourselves.Which is a good thing for Yorkshire four piece Rothschild whose eclectic sounds and structures defy most conventional boundaries but somehow work.Their music is full of timing and tempo changes, often switching things to almost unbelievable levels, but through sheer grit, determination and an abundance of talent and vision these four Englishman succeed where many others would fail.Or not even bother trying.With the recent release of the band's debut EP Broken Man, Rothschild boldly laid their musical souls bare to a world that too often ridicules and scrutinises without actually listening. But this didn't phase the band who, in my humble opinion, have delivered one of the most scintillating, brutal, honest and engaging bodies of work this year to date.Vocalist Nathan Morris and guitarist Danny Jowett sat down with HEAVY last week to tell us more about the band and dissect the EP."It started around four years ago," Morris offered, "just because we wanted to start gigging and playing shows and writing music again because we hadn't done it for a few years. We had a few line up changes and everything like that, but now we've finally got one settled and released an EP. We just wanted to combine all the genres we love in heavy music and see if people like it."Music traditionalists would probably shy away from Rothschild's music, but then again, the band didn't make it for people who aren't prepared to fully immerse themselves in the experience."There's a calculated risk to that aspect of it (our music)," Morris measured, "where we thought we could put a breakdown in here. It might not work, oh. But after a while and we started playing them live before recording them we worked out what people were responding to in the audience and things like that. There's always a risk putting anything together that has so many weird and different structural elements."In the full interview the boys talk more about their sound and where it comes from, mixing it together so much but still keeping it cohesive and Broken Man musically. We also run through each of the six tracks on the EP and read out what the HEAVY review said about them and how accurate we were in our assessment.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
11 Jun 202327min
Backstage At SPRING LOADED FESTIVAL With ESKIMO JOE
Interview by Neville Pearce and Kris PetersSpring Loaded has come and gone for another year, and what a fun time it was!And how could it not be, with Spiderbait, Eskimo Joe, Frenzal Rhomb, Shihad, Magic Dirt, Ratcat, Bodyjar and Screamfeeder all on hand?This year HEAVY was granted exclusive backstage access to speak with the bands as their day progressed, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved Empire Touring, On The Map PR, the bands, their management, and, of course, the team of Neville Pearce (Everblack Media), Kyra-Jade Coombs, Cory Stevenson and Sam Totman.HEAVY hasn't had many opportunities to speak with Eskimo Joe in the past but Neville Pearce and Kris Peters were treated with the opportunity to chat with Stuart MacLeod (lead guitar), Joel Quartermain (drums) and Kavyen Temperley (bass, vocals) all making themselves available, and what a likeable bunch of lads they are!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
11 Jun 202313min
Backstage At SPRING LOADED With KELLIE & TIM From SCREAMFEEDER
Interview by Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris PetersSpring Loaded has come and gone for another year, and what a fun time it was!And how could it not be, with Spiderbait, Eskimo Joe, Frenzal Rhomb, Shihad, Magic Dirt, Ratcat, Bodyjar and Screamfeeder all on hand?This year HEAVY was granted exclusive backstage access to speak with the bands as their day progressed, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved Empire Touring, On The Map PR, the bands, their management, and, of course, the team of Neville Pearce (Everblack Media), Kyra-Jade Coombs, Cory Stevenson and Sam Totman.Screamfeeder were always going to be the feel-good fun band of the day - as evident by their merch list which included band frisbees - and Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters gladly sat down with bassist Kellie Lloyd and guitarist Tim Steward for a highly entertaining chat about... well, anything really.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
11 Jun 202315min
Backstage At SPRING LOADED FESTIVAL With CAM BAINES From BODYJAR
Interview by Cory Stevenson & Kris PetersSpring Loaded has come and gone for another year, and what a fun time it was!And how could it not be, with Spiderbait, Eskimo Joe, Frenzal Rhomb, Shihad, Magic Dirt, Ratcat, Bodyjar and Screamfeeder all on hand?This year HEAVY was granted exclusive backstage access to speak with the bands as their day progressed, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved Empire Touring, On The Map PR, the bands, their management, and, of course, the team of Neville Pearce (Everblack Media), Kyra-Jade Coombs, Cory Stevenson and Sam Totman.One of the highlights was undoubtedly our chat with Bodyjar singer/guitarist Cam Baines who filled us in on the highlights of his day, how it felt to be up on stage, their upcoming national tour with Gyroscope to celebrate 25 years of Bodyjar's No Touch Red album, Tik Tok, some interesting questions about the other bands on the line-up, red back spiders and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
11 Jun 202312min
Finding Relevance With LINDSAY ROSE From PRIMROSE PATH
Interview by Kris PetersBeing an emerging band anywhere in the world in the modern age is a battle of attrition.Not only do you have to compete with the thousands of other bands releasing songs on a daily basis, but you also have to build a fan base while at the same time forging your own musical direction and finding your own musical identity.While many bands struggle with this, Perth outfit Primrose Path have managed to manage all of the above with aplomb and dignity in their short history, despite facing the added disadvantage of being from one of the furthest capital cities from the main music hub in Australia.With the recent release of the single Irrelevance, Primrose Path walked a heavier direction to their grassroots sound of dark progressive metal, incorporating elements as diverse as djent and black metal into a mixing pot that already includes grunge, melodic metal and death metal.And whats more, Primrose Path nailed the proverbial out of it, delivering a song that perfectly encapsulates their growth as a band while also retaining enough success to their known and loved sound to keep existing fans happy.HEAVY sat down for a chat with vocalist and lyricist Lindsay Rose earlier today to find out more."We recently released our song called Irrelevance," she began, "which is a really big step up from our previous releases. We tactically had a change of drummer - if I can put it that way - about six months ago, just with a view of being able to up the ante of what we were doing rhythmically. Previously our emphasis has always been on the melodic aspect of progressive writing, but we thought if we want to be competitive in this market and also play the things that we really get off on playing then we need to get a little bit heavier. Irrelevance, I think, is a bit of a taste of what's to come and is the first single off our debut album that we're releasing."In the full interview, Lindsay talks more about the musical direction of Irrelevance and why they chose that path, the film clip and how it ties in with the song, finding your musical identity, their mixture of genres and how they make it work, their upcoming album, live shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
9 Jun 202314min
Bringing The Heavy With prchr.
Interview by Kris PetersMusical growth and progression is something that can only come from within.Sure, you can have your influences and guidance from others, but at the end of the day that personable nature of music is inherent best when served from your own sonic palate.Emerging Australian artist prchr. (percher) has done just that with his latest double release Ghost/Chicago, embracing the heavier side of his nature as well as sharing more of himself with the tracks.prchr. joined HEAVY to discuss more, starting with the decision to release two songs at the same time."Just to try something new," he shrugged. "I've always been doing these singles by themselves and then it all leads up to a bigger release. I just thought I would try something different for once."With Ghost the focus track of the two released we ask prchr. to give us more insight into the song."I wanted to have it as an introduction track to who I am as an artist and person," he measured. "Just to express how I feel and how I feel about what people think about me in that sense. I just made it super heavy (laughs)."In the full interview, prchr. talks more about Ghost lyrically and musically, the heavier nature of the track, revealing more of himself through his music, if it was more difficult writing about something personal, the song Chicago and what it is about, upcoming new music, planned shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.
9 Jun 202312min
