Interviews

This fall, The Infernal Pathway sees the legendary black metallers returning with an absorbing 11 track odyssey that showcases some of the band’s most aggressive and ambitious efforts to date. We caught up with 1349’s founder and frontman Ravn to discuss the songwriting process and the unique creative directions within the record. He also shared one of his favorite US television shows, and there’s no way you’ll guess which one it is.

Richmond, Virginia’s crossover thrash newbies Enforced are in pretty good company. Home of GWAR, Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan, and Lamb of God, the band has kept up the hometown tradition of creating pulverizing extreme metal. On Enforced’s second full-length album, Kill Grid, the band’s sound has steadily progressed compared to its early demos and its 2019 debut album At the Walls. On Kill Grid, the ferocious quintet is in full attack mode on its nine blistering tracks.

The Crown first returned to the international extreme metal scene back in 2010 after a six year hiatus and have released a relatively steady stream of solid albums since then. And their latest, Royal Destroyer, is something special. Guitarist Marko Tervonen discusses the new album and what keeps The Crown’s creative flame burning.

Wayne Static was a legend. Is a legend. His untimely passing left a hole in the hearts of many, from his family, to his friends, to all of the fans that were touched by his music. Away from the public, an idea was brewing from those closest to Wayne to somehow, in some way, bring a piece of him back to the world. Fast forward to now, and we are on the cusp of an anniversary tour…

The rise of Copenhagen quartet Konvent has been astronomical. When bassist Heidi Withington Brink got the idea to direct her lifelong love of music towards actually creating and playing it, she didn’t let her inexperience get in the way. Teaming up with a collection of fellow exuberant amateurs from the local scene, Konvent was born, and in four short years, the doom/death quartet—Heidi, guitarist Sara Helena Nørregaard, vocalist Rikke Emilie List, and drummer Julie Simonsen—has gone from nervous newcomers to Danish festival regulars, a band with European tours under its belt, and a deal with Napalm Records, who are issuing the band’s debut, Puritan Masochism.

ManiaCult has all of the usual traits of an Aborted album—brutality, technicality, and absolute craziness. Even with some newfound diversity, Aborted is still a classic gore and guts band. We spoke with Sven de Caluwe about writing and recording the album during the pandemic, the sound behind ManiaCult, and his best music business advice.

For Mother’s Day, we wanted to do something special with one of the most supportive moms in music. We had the pleasure of speaking with Judith White-Gluz, mother of Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) about Alissa’s history with art, music, health, rescuing animals, some funny stories, and, of course, the amazing bond between Alissa and her incredible mom, along with advice we should all take to heart.

The duality of beauty and evil is wonderfully captured by professional photographer Jeremy Saffer in his massive coffee table photo tome, Daughters of Darkness. The 288 full page, full color photo book features hundreds of models, celebrities, actresses, and musicians from all over the world—wearing nothing but corpse paint.

Six long and quiet years have passed since The Almost last graced our speakers. With a very public saga of the demise and subsequent rebirth of vocalist Aaron Gillespie’s juggernaut of a full-time job, drumming for Underoath, fans of his side gig weren’t holding their breath for a follow-up to 2013’s Fear Inside Our Bones. As fate would have it, keeping fans in the dark is exactly what Gillespie needed to complete Fear Caller.

Diamante stormed the scene in 2018 with her first album Coming in Hot. Now two years later, Diamante reflects on the trials and tribulations of working with a record label as she announces her amicable split with Better Noise Music, a new single and video “Obvious,” and gives us an idea of what her future looks like as an independent artist.