Interviews

Sometimes, what you see doesn’t always match up to what you initially expected. Take NYC’s brass/hip-hop/rock band Brass Against for example. Led by brainchild/guitarist Brad Hammonds, the nonet created several videos that went viral of various cover songs from bands such as Audioslave, Tool, and Rage Against the Machine.

ORIGINALLY FEATURED IN OUTBURN ISSUE #44 / JUNE 2008 Eager to get back on the road, vocalist and guitar whiz Alexi Laiho offers his thoughts on the band’s sixth studio release and what keeps Children of Bodom going strong.

Lucifer IV is an album you can imagine being played at everything from a seance and a 70s key party to being featured prominently in Mark (Grand Funk Railroad) Farner’s record collection and as the centerpiece of a stoner film soundtrack. We spoke with Johanna Platow-Andersson about the importance of proximity, growing up in Germany, and how to say fuck you to the patriarchy without actually saying fuck you to the patriarchy.

Blending both Japanese and English lyricism and featuring production and several guest features by Matthew Kiichi Heafy (Trivium), RYUJIN’s high speed riffs and breakneck guitar descents pair with traditional Japanese elements on their self-titled album.

Mortiis has gone through various changes in musical direction throughout his career, starting in Emperor and then going on to have an incredible solo career first with dungeon synth (a genre he helped create) before moving to a more goth industrial sound for the past 15 years. Now, Mortiis is digging back into his Era 1 material, performing and reinventing classic songs from his second album, and even considering potential re-recordings in the future.

New Zealand’s very own Alien Weaponry have found their way back to California soil to kick off a tour with Black Label Society. A band heavily influenced by Māori, Alien Weaponry has quickly made a significant splash in the metal world. From playing all of the biggest festivals in the world to touring with legendary bands, this group is hard to ignore.

Enter Shikari never stops moving. Even when the world is literally in lockdown, Rou Reynolds’ singular focus is forward. The St. Alban’s four piece is poised to drop their sixth (and first with Reynolds at the producing helm) record Nothing Is Real & Everything Is Possible, a title as layered as the band’s career itself.

California groove metal merchants DevilDriver have delivered a solid effort with its first part of a double album called Dealing with Demons I on Napalm Records. Guitarist Mike Spreitzer recently spoke with us about the new records, the response they’ve been getting so far from fans, the band camaraderie, and what DevilDriver plans to do next.

On the band’s blistering fifth full-length, Hell Unleashed, Ol Drake takes over lead vocal duties, as well as handling all lead guitar parts. During our conversation, he talks about his return to the band, his brother’s exit, and the new album, and what the future holds for Evile.

Timewave Zero pulls the emergency brake on the cosmic, psychedelic, oblong death metal they have come to prominence with their two full-lengths, Starspawn and Hidden History of the Human Race, and leaps head first into an experiment with progressive, avant-garde Krautrock that the quartet is referring to as “our ambient record.