Fresh Beginnings With DAMIAN KULASH From OK GO

Melbourne rock/metal outfit To Octavia have shown their hand early in their career, resisting the temptation to follow in the path of easier acceptance in preference for staying true to their art.With the breakout success of their EP Somewhere In A World, Not Of The Dream, it would have been tempting and sensible to rehash the same winning formula for their debut album Melodrama. Their sound had obviously struck a chord with the music-loving public, and more of the same would have likely instantly propelled them into the next level of aspiring artists. But more of the same wasn't on the minds of To Octavia, who instead followed a darker, heavier path more in keeping line with their own musical progression, leaving behind the safety net they had worked so hard for and once again throwing their choices and music at the mercy of the public.It was a decision that has already shown dividends with four singles already making a splash, and with Melodrama coming out this Friday, October 31, it seems like the band's bold decision to defy expectations is not going to backfire on them.HEAVY caught up with guitarist Nav Jay, vocalist Merry Kirk-Holmes and drummer Lucas Keurntjes to chat more and start by asking how they are feeling on the cusp of the album's release."Very excited," enthused Merry. "This album has been in the works for a very long time, so it's really exciting to finally get it out."We ask the boys to dive deeper into Melodrama musically."We were all on the same page when we were writing it and taking it to whatever it was going to be," Merry replied. "We didn't know it was going to be an album at the time. But I guess there's more of a darker tone than the previous EP, Wonderland, which is a bit more upbeat, a bit more poppy and rocky. We decided naturally that we'd go back to our more metal influences, like our roots, really. And that led to experimenting more and more with different kinds of sounds and things."In the full interview, To Octavia tell us more about the musical side of Melodrama and how it is heavier than previous offerings. They detail their thoughts on taking the music in a darker direction and discuss the need to further expand their sound rather than play it safe.They discussed how their music has grown and will continue to grow, how Nav is fitting in to the band, the risk of alienating existing fans with the new direction and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

28 Okt 14min

Norse folk music has always been a more than handy bedfellow with metal music. Despite the obvious sonic contrasts between the two, they seem to combine well with each other, providing an unsettling ambience that could potentially veer into darker territory at any given moment.While Kalandra - spearheaded by four Norwegian and Swedish musicians - make use of these Nordic elements, they also create a sonic tapestry laced with progressive rock and pop sensibilities that is both intimate and consuming. Led by Katrine Stenbekk’s sublime vocals, the band have spent over a decade refining their sound and building a world which has led to them sharing stages with acts like Wardruna, Leprous and Eivor while earning acclaim at festivals such as France's Hellfest and Norway’s Midgardsblot.And now, it's Australia's turn as Kalandra prepare for their first ever trip to our shores, bringing their haunting, beautiful and immersive live experience to a new world filled with new opportunities for the band. HEAVY sat down with vocalist Katrine Stenbekk, guitarists Jogeir Daae Mæland and Florian Bernhard Döderlein Winter plus drummer Oskar Johnsen Rydh to find out more, starting with the final piece of the touring puzzle just falling into place."I just actually got my final email from the Australian government saying that I'm allowed to bring this little funny instrument in," Jogeir laughed, holding up a goat horn. "It's something about the nature instruments and the endangered species in Australia."We ask the band about touring countries for the first time and if they do their homework, pointing out that the Australian sense of humour is a bit different to the rest of the world, offering the example that our way of showing friendship and respect is to pay out on each other."This is very good to know," Florian smiled. "This is like in Toulouse in France. We were very confused because when they boo, the whole crowd goes boo. Apparently, that means that they love it, which is very confusing for us. So yeah, learning these sorts of things like that is very useful to us."In the full interview, we discuss in greater detail what we can expect from Kalandra's live show, why it has taken so long to get over here and what, if any, research they plan to do. We asked them to elaborate on the atmospherics with their music and how they translate to the live arena, as well as the blending of instruments in their music and how that translates live.We spoke about Kalandra's upcoming EP Morketid and what it represents, as well as the musical growth in the band over their journey. I asked about getting the balance right in the creative process and how they know if they have gone too far or not far enough in any musical direction, future plans and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

28 Okt 23min

What better way to kick off a new year than a trifecta of brutality? Which is exactly what Australia is getting next February when death metal miscreants Aborted join forces with Archspire and Organectomy for a tour so crushing they have had to name it the Return To Prison Island Australia Tour 2026.For the last three decades, Aborted have pioneered death metal, taking no prisoners in their blending and cross-pollination of extreme metal, death-grind and ferocious extremities neatly wrapped in a ball of technical precision that defies their relentless approach. Their most recent album, Vault Of Horrors, solidified Aborted's supremacy, and now they are headed our way to spread sonic carnage across the land. While these three bands will complete a four-date capital city run themselves, Aborted and Archspire have also been invited to perform at both Froth & Fury Festival shows, rounding out the tour with bookends in Perth and Adelaide.HEAVY sat down with Aborted's Daniel Konráðsson to find out what to expect. We start by asking if Aborted has hit the road with either Archspire or Organectomy before."We've toured with both of those bands before, absolutely," he smiled at the memory. "We did a summer tour with Archspire, which was a great time. We toured the U.S. together, North America, and had a lot of fun. Those guys definitely are very upper alley, both musically and personally. We've known those guys a long time; the two bands go way back. And sonically, I feel like they align as well, so that makes for a very good package. It's kind of broad, but it's also going to be pretty pummelling most of the way through, which is not bad (laughs). Organectomy were with us throughout Europe, and those guys were awesome. Absolutely awesome. So we're very excited to see them all again, definitely."Over the full interview, the discussion focused on the upcoming Australian tour and live performances by Aborted. Dan shared insights on the importance of crowd participation in creating an engaging atmosphere during shows, emphasising that they aim to foster an active environment where the audience's enjoyment is key to a successful performance.He expressed excitement for Froth & Fury Festival, highlighting the unique experience of a metal-only festival and the opportunity to discover new bands. Dan recommended three key songs for new listeners and reflected on his smooth transition into the band, noting his pride in enhancing their sound while maintaining high production quality in their latest album and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Okt 16min

While the idea of conceptual records and music is nothing new, more often than not, these concepts are drawn from ideas, visions, or the minds of people who are passionate about the very thing they are writing about. While these musical storylines are more often than not an entertaining escape from the mundane existence of everyday life, they are merely a figment of another person's imagination and can be construed as such.But when it comes to conceptual stories surrounding war and the atrocities associated with it, there are few bands who manage the task well. Subjects that have basis in reality and the suffering of others must have an authentic flavour to them in order to be respectful to those who have lived it and their families, with bands like Sabaton standing out for their continued excellence in this field.But there is also another band who delves into the horrors of war with unnerving detail, except this time the band in question themselves live and/or were raised in a war zone. A real-life battle zone where life and death are a daily balancing act. As such, their music is not only based on fact, it is written in conflict.That band is 1914, formed in Lviv, Ukraine, in 2014. From the outset, 1914 have written and sung about war - primarily WW1 - but the daily threat of war that lives on their doorstep enables the band to write with an eerie authenticity unlike most others. 1914's upcoming fourth album, Viribus Unitis, adheres to the same conceptual storyline as each of the other albums, except this time the story arc follows the personal accounts of a Ukrainian soldier in the K.u.K. army, following real events and tracing a timeline from 1914 to 1919. The album paints a grim journey through the war’s rise, climax, and hollow aftermath, combining a brutal mixture of blackened death metal, slow-burning doom, and ambient war soundscapes.HEAVY spoke with vocalist 2nd Division, 147th Infantry Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Dietmar Kumarberg (Dmytro Ternushchak) to find out more."I don't know how I must feel about it," he laughed, speaking with a thick Ukrainian accent. "At least I'm still alive - because I'm from Ukraine - so it's not bad at all in our circumstances. At least we did this, and we finished this album, and we will release it on Napalm Records. I feel some… let's call it happiness (laughs), because I'm allowed to do this, and it's not bad at all."We ask him to dive into the album deeper musically."With this album - like all of ours - we started based on real historical events, with a lot of research," he replied. "It's a big concept. But with this album, we started in a completely different way. We based the whole album on the life of one soldier. This is a soldier from the Western part of Ukraine - my home town. This is the view from one soldier when he faced war at the very beginning of the First World War, and the Russians invaded my hometown, and his regiment must retreat, and he faces the huge battles."In the full interview, Dietmar tells us more about the conceptual journey of the soldier, including his lonely end. He tells us the story behind the title - which is Latin for With United Forces and how it ties in with Viribus Unitus, including personal tales of battle he has endured living in Ukraine.Dietmar goes further into the concept and explains how 1914 manage to create a sonic landscape and atmospherics that take the listener inside the war zone and the importance of research and factual information in their music. He talks of the personal toll writing about such horrific encounters leaves on him after an album cycle and runs us through what it is like living as a musician in Ukraine throughout the war and devastation, plus much more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Okt 24min

CKY are the flag bearers for big, raw, authentic, earth-shaking rock liberated from useless pretence. They burned it all down, with a raucous, anarchic rock sound soaked in the skate-punk culture that birthed them; and a hard-partying lifestyle onstage and off that left decimated relationships and reputations in its wake.Boasting a collection of killer rock anthems like 99 Quite Bitter Beings, Flesh Into Gear, Escape From Hellview and Familiar Realm, CKY's music is a huge part of the infamous Jackass TV series as well as just about every skate and surf compilation of the era and covered by the likes of modern superstars Polyphia, leaving a highly influential imprint on the current punk/alternate scene.Following the infamous incident that forced the cancellation of their participation in the co-headline tour with Alien Ant Farm, CKY are finally making their way to Australia in January for three very special shows. HEAVY sat down with drummer Jess Margera to find out what to expect.We can't help but point out it has been well over a decade since CKY were last out here. "I can't believe it's been 14 years, that's crazy." Jess laughed. We follow by asking what has changed with the band since the last tour."We have a new bass player, Mike Leon," he replied, "and man, he's a shredder. He worked with the Cavalera's, and he did some stuff with that new band IIgor. It's really cool. He makes my job easy (laughs)."Talk turns to the early days of CKY and where they fit into the music scene."Same as now, we don't really fit in anywhere," Jess laughed, "which is a blessing and a curse. We've been doing this a long time, and a lot of bands can't really say that. So, it's funny when we play the festivals, because they don't know where to put us. We've played the metal stage, the punk stage, the rock stage… It's funny in that respect, but I think having our own sound has definitely afforded us to have a career. I don't take that for granted at all."In the full interview, Jess talks more about touring, emphasizing the challenges of maintaining their high-energy live performances as the band ages, particularly in hot weather, while also addressing the complexities of curating a set list that appeals to a diverse fan base by analyzing streaming data.Jess shared insights into CKY's unconventional rise to fame, highlighting the influence of skate culture and media appearances, including stunts for Jackass that sometimes led to injuries and tour cancellations. The conversation also touched on the band's eclectic musical style, their instinctual creative process, and the decision to release new music as singles in response to evolving listener habits, alongside reflections on memorable touring experiences, particularly in Japan.TOUR DATESFriday, Jan 23: Max Watts, MelbourneSaturday, Jan 24: Crowbar, SydneySunday, Jan 25: Crowbar, BrisbaneBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Okt 12min

In a relatively short amount of time as far as the music industry goes, Swedish rock outfit Smash Into Pieces have quickly risen to become one of the leading exponents of rock on the planet. After twice reaching the Swedish Eurovision final and delivering a string of consistently quality albums, the band found themselves on the international stage and touring with bands of the calibre of Evanescence and Within Temptation.But if you think getting somewhere near the top is hard, it's even harder staying there. All of a sudden, the weight of expectation falls heavier on your shoulders, and new music is critiqued on a level never experienced before. Which is why the next album from Smash Into Pieces couldn't just be as good as previous releases. It had to be better.Which is exactly what Smash Into Pieces have achieved with Armaheaven, to be released on October 31. Continuing the battle between humanity and AI where previous album Ghost Code left off, Armaheaven paints an even bleaker picture of humanity's future, set to the backdrop of a cinematic and sonically abundant tapestry of riches throughout its 15 tracks. It is another step forward in the evolution of Smash Into Pieces, and reaffirms their growing status with an almost effortless ambience that hints at even more expansion to come.HEAVY sat down with frontman Chris Sörbye to find out more."We have been working on this album for a long time," he told us. "There's a lot of songs there that have been with us for a long time, which we haven't really had the time to finish. For example, Devil In My Head has been with us for almost five years now. We didn't know what to make of that song in the early stages, but it turned out great."In the full interview, Chris talks more about the musical side of Armaheaven, how it continues from Ghost Code, runs us through the storyline and gives some insightful thoughts into AI.He talks us through the guest artists on the album, including Elize Ryd from Amaranthe and the history between the two bands. The topic of integrating cinematic scores into their music was discussed, as was the art of conveying emotion through atmospherics in the studio. Talk turned to their recent tour of Australia, the ever-evolving sonic palate explored by Smash Into Pieces and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

27 Okt 29min

Celebrating twenty years in the music industry is a great achievement in itself, but celebrating 20 years of sustained success is even better. Bursting out of the blocks with their 2007 debut album The Way Of The Fist, Five Finger Death Punch were on a collision course with the rest of the world, laying the foundations for a turbulent yet continual upwards trajectory.By the time War Is The Answer followed two years later, the band were notorious for their rebellious spirit and ruthless approach to music, but love them or hate them, there was no denying Five Finger Death Punch were the real deal. For every one person who hated the band, there was another ten who loved them, and despite the public perception that 5FDP were the bad boys of metal, they maintained their belief and integrity and stayed on course.Now, 20 years later, that trajectory is available for the world to share when Volume 2 of the band's Best Of double header is released on October 24 via Better Noise Music. Both albums feature music entirely re-recorded, with 5FDP tenaciously clinging to the notion that their music was to be celebrated, not recycled. On the eve of the release of Volume 2, HEAVY sat down for a chat with guitarist Zoltan Bathory to relive the journey that has been two decades in the making."It's kind of crazy, because by doing this little exercise of recording these songs, we got to sort of revisit our past, you know?" he began. "Because we are a forward-facing band, like what's next? Where are we going? What's the next thing we're doing? So it's not really that we're looking into the rearview mirror so much, and so this was kind of crazy, looking back… 20 years… if I had to put some money in and bet, I probably would bet against us (laughs). I would have lost, because not many bands make it that long. It's difficult. And from all bands, this was like… it was a fire tornado or whatever for the last 20 years (laughs)."We ask Zoltan which of the two Best Of albums is his personal favourite."Each record has amazing moments, and both records have a song that has a feature," he measured. "The first one had Maria Brink, and that song became a number-one song. And it made a lot of sense. A lot of people don't know this, but In This Moment, and Maria and Five Finger Death Punch, our history is kind of intertwined. Not many people know this, but there was a band in Los Angeles that was a local band that was fairly big locally, but never really made it. And when this band fell apart, half of the band became In This Moment, and the other half went to Five Finger Death Punch. Then they got the record deal, I think, with Century Media. Then we got ours and we sort of grew in the same time. They were heavier, so they kind of went into that direction. We had radio songs, so the band obviously blew up."In the full interview, Zoltan takes us into both albums in greater detail, highlighting the guest artists on each and why they were chosen. He explained the band's decision to re-record everything rather than re-mix it or touch it up with technology, and relayed some fun stories from their studio time.We spoke about the never-before-released live songs on Volume 2 and how the band chose which songs to put on each album and why. Zoltan shared insights into changing certain bits of the songs, and if that was a rehearsed or jammed in the studio decision, what songs he may have fallen back in love with again during the process, plus he also revealed details of planned new music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

23 Okt 17min

Interview by Kyra-Jade CoombsOnly recently I celebrated my five-year anniversary with HEAVY Mag and over the years I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interviewing some of the world’s biggest music stars, living out my wildest music nerd dreams. Nerves come and go depending on who it is that I’m interviewing, and ‘normally’ I hold my shit together. Today? Oh boy… Don’t get me wrong, I jumped at the opportunity to have a chat with Wolfgang Van Halen, although it wasn’t until I somehow blasted through THREE, yes three, whole pages of questions I wanted to ask that I sat back and reflected on the gravity of the occasion. I thought about what his music means to me, what his family’s music means to me, and how insane it was that I would be casually chatting to Wolf from my little office in Australia.Wolf’s newest album from his band project Mammoth, The End, is due for its release on October 24, and this was a major topic interview. I wanted to know how this recording experience at the legendary 5150 Studios varied from his other Mammoth albums and what it was like to work with Robert Rodriguez on his self-titled film clip that honours the 1996 Quentin Tarantino horror film From Dusk Till Dawn as it celebrates turning 30 next year. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and watch it. Many Easter eggs await to be spotted… I’ll wait, hurry back...Being a man of many hats, or instruments rather, I felt I already knew what his stance would be about this particular question, although trying to be a good journalist, I wanted to ask about AI/technology and see how he felt about its place in the music industry. His answer was pretty much F$%K AI. "There's no soul or heart behind it. It makes hot dogs - it’s all gross stuff and none of it is real". Great answer, and honestly, if I’m going to trust anyone’s opinion on the matter, it’s going to be the guy who’s taught himself instruments without asking a computer to ‘fill in the gaps’. AI has its place in mundane tasks, not in our creative community.This was such a fun interview. We covered a lot of ground mapping out his music journey this far, dropping cool stories and treasured memories from over the years that only a Van Halen fan could subtly sprinkle in. Look, I could carry on all day - this is only meant to be a quick summary, go ahead and check out the video below and have Wolf tell you all about it himself!Get ready to have your f*#$king socks blown clean off. The End is near, and for once, everyone is running towards it. Be prepared to turn it up LOUD with your air guitar and drum sticks ready on stand by.Bye, legends!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

22 Okt 16min