Swinging The Axe With BRIAN SLAGEL From METAL BLADE RECORDS

Interview by Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris PetersKickAss Festival successfully completed its second year last weekend with a bumper show at Kenilworth Showgrounds that emphatically proved rock music is alive, well and thriving.Held over two days with local acts appearing alongside established bands such as James Reyne, Kingswood, Dragon and the Choirboys, KickAss Festival did just that and more with thousands of music lovers taking advantage of the camping facilities on offer to spend the weekend in rock paradise.HEAVY was granted exclusive media access to backstage interviews on the Saturday, and we managed to corner Kingswood, Choirboys and Lecia Louise for some up close and personal time.Today Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters catch up with Choirboys vocalist Mark Gable for an entertaining chat not long before the boys hit the stage.*Please note, this was recorded live so the audio might be a little unclear at times*Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Sep 202336min

Interview by Kris PetersBrazilian thrash outfit Nervosa are preparing to enter the next phase of their already successful career when they release new album Jailbreak onto the world on September 29.Jailbreak marks a decisive new beginning for the band, being the first album to welcome guitarist and founding member Prika Amaral to the mantle as lead vocalist, as well as premiering the new line-up completed by the immensely talented and well experienced Michaela Naydenova on drums, Hel Pyre on bass and Helena Kotina on guitars.Unrelenting and sonically vicious, Nervosa have decimated crowds the world over on four previous albums, but are set to spread their brutality even further with Jailbreak.Amaral joined HEAVY to discuss the album."I'm feeling super excited," she smiled. "We have been working for this new album since 2021 - so four months after we released Perpetual Chaos we started working for this new album - and for me it's the biggest step in my career because it's the first time that I have been singer (laughs). I can't describe how excited I am to show everyone what I was working very hard on."We ask Amaral to dive deeper into the musical side of Jailbreak."I think this album is super revolutionary," she measured, "because we have the second guitar right now. It was something that we had in the beginning, but we never recorded any albums with two guitars. So it's a big change in Nervosa life, and also me talking personally being a singer was a huge challenge in a very short time and period. I gave my best. I had a lot of fun. It was a very experimental album in some ways, but at the same time was the most fun composing this new album. We have a lot of diversity, and a different style of metal. Everything combined with thrash. We have thrash and death metal together. We have traditional heavy metal with thrash metal. We have punk with thrash metal and we have some melodic death metal, melodic thrash metal, and a bit, in one song, maybe death metal. We put everything together in a mixer (laughs)."In the full interview, Prika talks about following on from the success of previous album Perpetual Chaos, her role as singer and how easy the transition was, why she elected to assume the role, the new band members and what they bring to Nervosa's sound, the wicked cover image, special guests Gary Holt and Lena Scissorhands and what they brought to the album, the "new era" of Nervosa, touring plans, playing on 70000TONS Of Metal and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Sep 202313min

Interview by Erin Eddy,Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons recently dropped their new album Kings Of The Asylum.If you’re not familiar with the name Phil Campbell, then you’re not a big enough Motorhead fan. The former guitarist of one of rock and roll’s most notorious bands has spent the last few years building up The Bastard Sons, a band he has formed with his three sons Todd, Dane and Tyla.When charismatic and legendary Motorhead front man Lemmy passed away in late 2015, it was the end of an era. But with music coursing through his veins, Phil Campbell was not ready to set down the guitar and retire just yet.With his ‘bastard sons’ on board, the band that was originally assembled mainly for fun has well and truly taken off.HEAVY spent some time this week chatting with Todd Campbell, one of the band’s guitarists.“A few years before Lemmy passed, we started playing doing covers mostly, as like a party band sort of thing, doing little mini tours. We were called the All Star Band at that point,” Todd explained to HEAVY. “We just slowly morphed into The Bastard Sons doing original material and it’s just a good outlet for Phil now, now that he doesn’t have Motorhead.”Once the ball was rolling with The Bastard Sons, things gathered momentum relatively quickly and the band has been busy releasing music, as well as playing hectic festival circuits around Europe for the past two summers now.Kings Of The Asylum is the band’s third studio album and it’s first with new vocalist Joel Peters.“It just felt really natural with Joel, the fans have really taken to him. Full steam ahead, basically!” Todd smiles.Kings Of The Asylum is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.Listen to the full interview now to hear about what it was like for Todd growing up aroundMotorhead, what it’s like to be in a “family band”, what to expect of the new album and more!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

20 Sep 202329min

Interview by Kris PetersBritish progressive metal outfit Tesseract are the consummate professionals, dedicating equal measures of effort into resources into all aspects of their music without favouring the other.It is an attitude and commitment that has seen the band establish themselves as a pioneering force in world metal over four previous albums, each of which has set new standards of divinity in terms of quality and presentation.But just when you think they couldn't possibly elevate their music to another realm Tesseract have returned with an outstanding slab of music titled War Of Being that revolutionises not only all that has come before them, but possibly much of what is to come.Bass player Amos Williams and vocalist Daniel Tompkins sat down with HEAVY to discuss the intricacies of their music and more."It's pretty cool isn't it," Williams smiled when I point out the album is only hours away from being released unto the world. "It's been a long time getting to this point as well," Tompkins added. "The first few singles have gone down really well so we're quite excited to let people hear the full thing now.""We've spent a lot of time making a lot of noise, but supposedly in the wilderness for popular," Williams continued, "so it's really interesting to all of a sudden have the spotlight put back onto us. For us - because we haven't taken any time off really, we're still at full pelt - so it's super cool for everybody to catch us as we have momentum rather than having to build it up.""Like Mos said we've been so busy, and then all of a sudden the albums here..." Tompkins finished.In the full interview, Amos and Daniel talk more about letting the music free to the world and feeling a sense of ownership to the material, the conceptual themes, the creative process and how it eventuated, releasing the 11 minute title track as a single and the risks associated, the visually stunning music video and the ideas in it, which stages of the process are more enjoyable, the AI generated cover artwork, next years Australian tour and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Sep 202326min

Interview by Kris PetersGold Coast metal titans Snake Mountain have never been one of those bands to go with the flow.Instead, they have adopted a kind of Cobra Kai attitude of strike first, strike hard and not only become an integral part of the local live music scene, but also a proactive and fundamental link in what is becoming an increasingly more delicate chain.Tonight (September 15) Snake Mountain return to Mo's Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads to spearhead Brutal Coast 4, an annual celebration of live music which they initially started to provide exposure for local bands but what has now become a highlight on the Gold Coast music calendar.Vocalist and all round top bloke Neville Pearce joined HEAVY to tell us more."I think it sounds kind of cool," he laughed when we point out the event name is actually quite intimidating. "You've got to have a cool name. I like having that branding on it. It sounds evil but it's not. We're all happy metalheads (laughs)."When it started four short years ago, Brutal Coast was but a simple idea but over the years has developed into more of a lifeblood of sorts for the local music scene."I just wanted to put together a line-up that was a little bit more diverse than the usual shows we play," he recalled. "Which there's nothing wrong with those because we love doing the heavy, heavy stuff, but I wanted to put on something where it was more diverse with sub genres where you have a bit of melodic metal, or you have a bit of hardcore or you'll have maybe a tribute. I just wanted something that brought all different sides of the scene together and some of their followers might be opened to other bands that they might not usually see. So that was the whole idea to begin with and it took off from there."In the full interview, Neville talks more about his vision for Brutal Coast, what he looks for when selecting bands, the other bands on the bill and why they were chosen, his view of the current local music scene, new music from Snake Mountain and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

15 Sep 202315min

Interview by Kris PetersEmerging Woolongong outfit Brooklyn Comic have an interesting take on music, combining the sounds of emo with hardcore laced with rock sensibilities.It is a unification that, on paper, should not work but somehow Brooklyn Comic have struck that delicate balance between two worlds and harnessed that energy into their music which is a reflection of the world they live and see around them.The band's most recent single Charlie's Song details the repercussions addiction has in relationships and continues their common thread of exploring societal issues and mental health.HEAVY sat down with Jayme, Steve and Emerson to talk more."The band has been around for just over a year," Jayme informed us. "I started writing music pretty heavily during the second lockdown, just as a means of aiding my mental despair. Basically, we have one mission statement and that's to raise awareness for mental health. And I like to scream into a microphone (laughs) and that kind of helps."In the full interview, Brooklyn Comic tell us more about Charlie's Song, what they were going for musically with it, what the song is about and how it addresses modern problems, the film clip and what message they hope we take out of it, future music, upcoming shows and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202312min

Interview by Kris Peters & Kyra-Jade CoombsKickAss Festival successfully completed its second year last weekend with a bumper show at Kenilworth Showgrounds that emphatically proved rock music is alive, well and thriving.Held over two days with local acts appearing alongside established bands such as James Reyne, Kingswood, Dragon and the Choirboys, KickAss Festival did just that and more with thousands of music lovers taking advantage of the camping facilities on offer to spend the weekend in rock paradise.HEAVY was granted exclusive media access to backstage interviews on the Saturday, and we managed to corner Kingswood, Choirboys and Lecia Louise for some up close and personal time.After speaking to Alex Laska from Kingswood several times via zoom, it was long overdue that we finally got the chance to talk with him in person, and it didn't disappoint.Kingswood are currently riding the crest of a musical wave that is steadily building to a tidal wave. Following the release of their country inspired album Home earlier this year - an album that has since seen them secure ARIA Awards in that genre - and a massive Australian run of shows, Kingswood are now only days away from heading overseas for another European tour. It seems everything they touch is gold. Until they said yes to this interview.Kyra-Jade Coombs and Kris Peters drew the short straws for the day.Kyra kicked things off by bringing up Kingswood's ever changing sound and whether it is a planned progression musically or more a matter of circumstance."To be honest it's so weird," Alex replied. "You would think there would be a distinct conversation and then there's a strategy behind it where we say we should do this, but honestly Fergus and I love so much music and always have done. We've been musical around each other since we were 12 years old. There are so many different influences. These things happen where we eventually just go 'this is inspiring at the moment, what do you think of this?' And there's so much mystery that has made us who we are musically that at some point, once you've exhausted something, you feel like you become accomplished in it…"Nothing is off limits in the ensuing 30 minutes as we cover everything from touring to festival survival tips. Strap in and enjoy the ride.*note due to the live recording of the interviews some background noise and comments can be heard intermittently. Keep an eye on HEAVY over the coming weeks for the full video interviews, uncut and (mostly) uncencored *Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202324min

Interview by Kris Peters Depression and mental health are becoming an increasingly prevalent 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. This Saturday, 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. Black Whisky, Goatzilla, Gutterfire, Tailor Made Rejects, Krave and more unite together over two stages for not only a great cause, but also a great afternoon/night of live music. The day will raise not only awareness, but also funding for The Black Dog Institute, Beyond Blue and Headspace with tickets HERE Today we speak with Logan/Gold Coast punk outfit Pugnacious to find out why they volunteered to be a part of this great day.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Sep 202313min