Interviews

Following the release of Borknagar’s 10th album in 2016, Winter Thrice, many of the pieces that drove the band’s progressive Viking/folk/black metal for a good portion of the past two decades started falling by the wayside. These included guitarist Jens Ryland, whose association with the band went back as far as 1997, and lead vocalist Andreas “Vintersorg” Hedlund, who understandably bowed out after suffering a near-tragic injury.

On its 16th full-length album, Too Mean To Die via Nuclear Blast, the newly founded sextet—featuring vocalist Mark Tornillo, original guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, drummer Christopher Williams, guitarist Uwe Lulis, bassist Martin Motnik, and guitarist Philip Shouse—has crafted 11 classic trademark Accept anthems.

Lajon Witherspoon recently spoke with us about Sevendust’s new album, the October 23 live streaming event, his long awaited solo album, and the band’s future plans amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Coming off the heels of its magnificent 2017 comeback album, Woe to the Vanquished, California thrashers Warbringer have upped the ante with its sixth full-length album Weapons of Tomorrow, released via Napalm Records. After 2013’s underwhelming IV: Empires Collapse, Warbringer literally collapsed, leaving sole original member and vocalist John Kevill to rebuild the band.

Now with their fourth full-length album out on Spinefarm Records, vocalist Justine Jones speaks about the new album Conquering, being in a band with her significant other, and running the successful Church Road Records.

When there’s nothing else to do, you write, write, and write some more with the result being Electrified Brain, the Waste’s rip roaring and highly nuanced seventh album. We sat down with guitarist Ryan Waste to discuss the result of the band’s pandemic activity, how things have changed for him at home and on the road, and what else he got up to after putting down the guitar and picking up a pen.

Vancouver Island based progressive metallers Spiritbox have catapulted themselves to the forefront of the genre, despite playing only a few shows in their home country of Canada and a slew in Europe supporting After the Burial before the tour was cut short due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The band, comprised of metal power couple Courtney Laplante and Mike Stringer (both formerly of avant-garde metalcore act Iwrestledabearonce) and Bill Crook has been making waves since their self-titled debut in 2017.

ORIGINALLY BILLED AS A SUPERGROUP, the metalcore quartet Devil You Know proved to have more heart and staying power than similarly manned novelty acts...

Abigail Williams is one of the most diverse bands in modern metal. Their earlier material was the perfect combination of melodic and technical with plenty of black metal influences. But the band’s newest release, Walk Beyond the Dark, introduces a more evil atmosphere to Abigail Williams’ signature sound. We spoke with Sorceron about the writing behind Walk Beyond the Dark and the band’s tour with Ensiferum, Kalmah, and Aenimus.

It’s hard to think that Animals as Leaders forged its legacy only 10 years ago. The trio of musical geniuses still reigns today, but we can’t forget about the band’s powerful self-titled debut that will perpetually leave its mark on both metal and instrumental music history.