Interview: Vermin, Heathen, and Corpse from Leper Lord

Band: Leper Lord

Genre: Black Metal

Location: Winchester, VA

Year Former: 2010

Members: Vermin: Vocals

Heathen: Guitars

Bastard: Bass Guitars

Corpse: Drums

Website: http://reverbnation.com/leperlord

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leper-Lord/148158868546663?sk=photos#!/pages/Leper-Lord/148158868546663?sk=app_2405167945

Interview with: Vermin, Heathen, Corpse

Interview: Dante

Band: Dante

Genre: Rock

Year formed: 2006

Location: Bogota, Colombia

Label: Unsigned

Members: Kami R. - vocals
Alexx - guitar
Tank!- guitar
Gonzo B.- Bass
drums- The Jester

Website: http://www.danterockband.com

Interview with: Everyone

Interview though Email

What are some of the bands that influence your music?

     Gonzo (bass player):  "Our influences are mostly based on rock n roll. Each member has different favorite bands, but to name a few, we like guns n roses, motley crue, old aerosmith, HIM, Inxs, Rammstein,queen, and metallica. There are some non rock n roll influences, like ennio morricone, for example."

If some one picks up "The Rorschach Manifesto" what should the expect to hear?

     Kami (lead singer): "I think we where attempting to make an album that was a cool rock n roll album with some catchy riffs & choruses but beside that that if you wanted to find something deeper you could find it in the lyrics, artwork or videos. But sonicwise I think its a hard rock album with some punkish rawer edges and sometimes a few bluesy smoky surprises. A bit like a roller coaster." 

What is the music scene like in Colombia?

     Alexx (rhythm guitar): "The scene down here is very diverse. There's  a lot of metal & punk. But there's also your tropical, as you know Shakira is from here. So there's tons of folkloric things.  There's fusion, a lot of it too. It also depends on the region in our case we live in Bogota which is a cold weathered capital and that influences the sound. Maybe that's why there's so many metal bands in the underground."

     Jester(new member, official drummer): "Well,  rock isn't one of the most "popular" music genres here when it comes to mainstream so its large but underground. So sometimes it's hard for the public to notice you and the radio stations and media to pay attention to national rock bands. But despite that fact, the scene is in a "growing up" stage, since there are more and more people getting interested in rock, more people wanting to play instruments and make bands, and little by little there are spaces that are being opened to let  bands play. So, though it's been taken a while to reach the mainstream, it's getting really stronger and really good products are getting out of it, and people are starting to realize this and to pay a lot more attention to rock here in Colombia, pay a lot of attention to "National rock"."

 What is the message the band what to give there listeners?

     Tank (lead guitar): "Be yourselves, don't let anyone tell you who to be or what to do and explore your creativity, and...welcome to the gang!"

How did you come up with your name?

     Kami: "We wanted a strong name that was easy to say and could work both in a superficial & profound way. Like it could be said easily but like with everything that comes with this band if you dug deeper you'd find other things. In this case being fans of Dante Alighieri the infamous writer who wrote of his journey through his vision of Hell, purgatory & paradise it just worked perfectly for us. Because we used this metaphor to write about personal Hells, Paradises , purgatories...it opens up many possibilities when it comes to rock n roll."
 

What are the bands goals?

     Alexx: "We're just trying to make cool rock n roll & good Art as long as we can. Its been a tough ride but we've gotten the chance to meet many amazing people who have helped and believed in us. Hopefully people will keep liking what we do & support us."

Why did you start this band?
     Kami: "One day, me and Alexx where sitting somewhere just talking about the future prospects. We must've been around 15 or something. We just contemplated a future of working in an office 7 to 5 pm wearing a tie & it just sounded horrific.  Creating art & making cool rock n roll music felt a bit of a better way to go. There weren't many bands out there currently that we liked anyways.  As we progressed we found others that felt the same way...."

     Gonzo: "We decided to form the band at the time when we realized that we could make music that in our opinion was cooler and more interesting than what was playing in the radio & Mtv or whatever. We wanted to make the band sound as cool as some of the classic bands that we liked whichw asn't something happening much when we started the band."

Album Review: Mass Murder Agenda: Bring the Violence

Band: Mass Murder Agenda

Album: Bring the Violence

Year Released: 2012

Label: Black Lodge Records

Album Length: 42:32

Number of Tracks: 12

Favorite Tracks: Feeder, Drawing Flies, Becoming God, #1 with a Bullet, Ad Nauseam, Piece of Shit

Rating: 9/10

Reason for the Rating: The production value is great. The album first song "Feeder" and it starts off a lil slow, well sorta of building up the album. After the intro to this song the whole album is non-stop in your face!! If you think no one is making good music any more then you need to check these guys out! Great for any Metal fan.

Interview: Longo from Norte Cartel

Band: Norte Cartel

Genre: Hardcore

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Members: Felipe Chehuan: vocals
Daniel Portugal: guitar
Longo: bass
Dudu Manel: drums

Website: http://www.reverbnation.com/nortecartel

 

Interview with: Longo

Interview Through Email:

What are some bands that influence your music? "Basically NYHC bands such as Warzone, Agnostic Front, SOIA, Madball and Brazilian oldschool hardcore such as Ratos de Porão, Sociedade Armada, Agrotóxico."

Why start a Hardcore band? "We have been playin' in hardcore bands since the mid 90's. It's
something we can't live without. It's a very important aspect of our lives."
What is you inspiration to write your music? "Our everyday lives, the life in a big urban city, our feelings regarding our culture, our scene. That's basically where our ideas come from."

What is the music scene like in Brazil? "There's plenty of crap music just like anywhere else... But I guess you must be asking about the underground hardcore scene, right? It grows stronger everyday. There are a lot of shows, a lot of great competent bands. There's a lot of integration between the scene from different cities. It is emerging in a beautiful way!"


Interview: Andrew From Rex Shachath

Band: Rex Shachath

Genre: Death Metal

Year formed: 2011

Members: Dave: Vocals
Andrew: Guitar
Franky: Guitar
Eddie: Bass
Jay: Drums

Website: http://www.rexshachath.com

Interview with: Andrew

Interview Though Email:

What bands influence your music? "There's so many, each of us in the band have our own individual influences musically but something we all share is a passion for death metal and I think that's fairly obvious when you listen to Rex Shachath. If I was to speak about my own personal influences I'd have to say bands like Morbid Angel, Entombed, Pestilence, Bolt Thrower, Vader, Dying Fetus, Asphyx, Cannibal Corpse and so on have had a big impact. I've quite a broad taste in music in general, my favourite band of all time is Iron Maiden, as a guitar player I'm really into Joe Satriani and guys like Steve Vai but overall I guess old school death metal shines through as the biggest influence."

Why start a Death Metal band? "When I think back to when I started playing guitar I always wanted to push myself further as a musician and death metal provided that scope, the technicality, speed and more extreme edge compared to more mainstream metal if that's how you could describe it. When myself and Dave (Rex Shachath vocalist) got talking about starting a new band I wasn't really sure initially if I could devote the time to a new project because of commitments with my other band Overoth. As time went on and the more Dave and I spoke I got more and more into the idea, or at least getting a few guys together and having a couple of jams in a rehearsal room to see how things went. We talked about what we'd like to do and we decided it was always going to be extreme metal in some form because ultimatly that's what we play. We thought something a bit more new age death metal like Man Must Die with a punky edge to it would be cool but when we got a lineup together and actually stood in a rehearsal room together with our instruments the initial idea just hit the floor. We wrote a song together with one punky riff, the rest was just pure death metal. That song turned out to be 'Blind From Birth' from our upcoming EP 'Sepulchral Torment' and that punky riff isn't even there anymore. When we done the pre-productions for the EP it stood out like a sore thumb so we changed it slightly so it was more death metal. We're doing something different to what we initially had in mind but in the end if that's whats inside then that's how it's going to be and without sounding cheesy it is art afterall and that's something that should come out naturally, you shouldn't force anything different."

What is the Metal scene like in Ireland? "It's good for all the size of it... we're cut off from the rest of Europe here but there's plently of cool bands passing through the big cities now, more so Dublin and Belfast these days and there's definetly more happening than when I first started going to gigs. There's a decent number of good local bands as well, there's the more well known bands like Primordial, Gama Bomb, can I mention Thin Lizzy? I'm personally a big fan of Warpath, Coldwar, Abaddon Incarnate who've been flying the flag here and abroad for years... There's a lot when I really think about it. One thing that we don't have enough of is venues, there's literally only a handful of places to play in Ireland but on the other hand it isn't a massive scene in general so there's enough to accomodate everyone. The scene is also quite active, the guys in Into The Void (a record store) are doing a lot for the scene in Dublin, there's people running webzines, magazines and there's more record labels popping up. It's these people that really keep the scene alive."

What was the game plan going to record the "Sepulchral Torment" EP? "I don't think we had a set game plan really. We just wanted this EP to sound as big as we could make it, or as far as our budget would stretch haha. Because this was a new band, made up of seasoned musicians and we want to unleash something 'with a bang' as it were. We wrote I think six songs in total and then we booked into The Oaks Studios in Enniskillen with producer John Moffat a couple of months ahead. We didn't really have a great deal of time to record, only two or three days recording time so we picked five out of the six songs and we just played the songs over and over and over to get them as tight as possible. We done a lot of work on the pre-productions just so we were well prepped. Then when the time came we loaded up the cars and headed out, nailed the tracks and came home with mighty hangovers haha! Dave lost his shoes along the way as well haha! The intro we recorded was quite fun, we wanted to mimick the sound of a tomb made of stone closing which you'll hear in the last few seconds of the intro. We pulled bricks against each other, rocks, everything and in the end what made the best sound was a flowerpot of all things... I wonder if anyone else has ever used a flowerpot in a death metal release?"

What kind of sound where you looking to achieve with this EP? "I think everyone had their own idea's but what we all agreed on was a very natural old school vibe and I think John captured that really well. The production feels very dark as well, there's a bit of atmosphere on there for sure and it's perfect for the concept of 'Sepulchral Torment'."
 

Do you have a favorite song off from it? "That's a tough one. Anytime someone's asked me that before on any other projects I've worked on I've answered it but this time that's a tough question. Each song has it own strength, the title track 'Sepulchral Torment' is very old school death, it reminds me of faster Asphyx and a bit of Slayer. 'Follow The Bastard Prophet' is just pure groove, it opens with a fast double kick part and slower snare hit, then it goes quite thrashy and it's got a great headbanging chorus riff, it'll be a great one live. 'Blind From Birth' has a fucking massive shit stomper at the end, very Dying Fetus and the lyrics are very cool and very real. 'Seven Serpents' was a real hard one to record, it's got speed, technicality and a lot of groove, it's very old school death and I think out of all the songs that one covers the most ground. 'Statues Of Death' kicks you in teeth from the get go, the opening riff is just huge, then it goes into this real rollercoaster and the ending is so scarily errie, it's very unnerving. I had the idea for the ending but when it was recorded it turned out ten times better than I imagined it would. If I really had to pick at this moment in time I'd say 'Satues Of Death' just for the ending." 

When and where can someone pick this EP up at? "It's not due out till later this year, at the start of September and it'll be released via Hostile Media. We'll be releasing a track online and details for a special pre-order package in the next few weeks so keep your eyes out for that. It'll be available to buy online at our webstore (www.rexshachath.bigcartel.com) or directly from the label. It will also be in some shops and it'll be available digitally through iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon, etc."