Interviews

Inspired by Swiss metal band Celtic Frost’s iconic 1985 album, To Mega Therion, Swedish symphonic metal forerunners Therion has successfully carved out its own niche within the metal world since its 1988 formation. On the band’s 17th full-length record, Leviathan (released through Nuclear Blast Records), all the Therion trademarks are represented.

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.

After eight years of relative silence, Naglfar has reemerged from the darkest depths of Sweden to once again grace us with their distinctly chaotic brand of blackened noise in the form of their seventh studio album, Cerecloth, released by Century Media. Recently, we had the privilege of talking to guitarist and founding member Andreas Nilsson about Naglfar’s return, his thoughts on Cerecloth, and the future of the band.

Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton steps outside of his day job with his second solo effort Ether. Known for his extreme metal style of playing with Lamb of God, Morton strips the music down with five acoustic songs, including covers of The Black Crowe’s “She Talks to Angels” and Pearl Jam’s “Black.”

Australian progressive metal act Ne Obliviscaris has unleashed their latest album Exul, which took years to make thanks to the pandemic and was a long process but worth the wait. “It was incredibly difficult (laughs), yet incredibly rewarding with how the final product turned out.”

Grammy-nominated Swedish doom metal legends Candlemass have come full circle with the return of original vocalist Johan Längquist, whom recorded vocals on the band’s 1986 debut masterpiece Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. After 35-plus years, Candlemass remains firmly on top of the doom metal heap. Edling spoke with us about Candlemass’ Grammy nomination, their new EP, and the band’s long-lasting legacy.

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

THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Black Dahlia Murder from OUTBURN #51 (2009) The Black Dahlia Murder closed a chapter in its history with the critically acclaimed and fan beloved Majesty DVD. After capping a period that saw the release of three blazing displays of melodic death metal (Unhallowed, Miasma, and Nocturnal), you knew that their next album would be a blockbuster.

On the eve of the release of album number 13, Solitude in Madness, we caught up with guitarist/vocalist/lone original member Piotr Wiwczarek via a one star worthy Skype connection to discuss shifting worldviews, how the need for speed translated into one of the fastest albums of the band’s discography, and looking at the bright side of a global pandemic.

Light the Torch’s second full-length album, You Will Be the Death of Me, is a master class production of modern melodic metal. In our talk with Howard Jones, the singer explains how he went through dark times during the writing of the new album.