„In The Name Of Metal“ is an unmistakable statement by Swedish metallers BLOODBOUND. The album is now released in whole Europe, the USA to follow on November 27th. „Metalheads Unite“, the first single, is available for free download here. Just follow the link www.afm-records.com/free enter the code „MG52K2V“.

KISSIN‘ DYNAMITE‘s  European tour is turning into a real world tour! The German power rockers now also conquer the Asian continent as they will play three concerts in Japan:

9th of Feb – Osaka @ FANJtwice
10th of Feb – Nagoya @ Apollo Theater
11th of Feb – Tokyo @ Club Holiday Shinjuku

Also a new TV show called “Hairforce 1” will start today (Thursday, November 15th, 21:00 CET) on German TV station IM1. Kissin’ Dynamite’s Hannes and Jim will host the show, their first interview partner there is the legendary Slash. Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-08q3WLPMk

U.D.O. “Live In Sofia” is now available in Europe and the USA. It includes a concert of the band in Bulgaria’s capitol, wrapped into DVD/2-CD and BluRay/2-CD packages. A second teaser can be found here.
And there’s another reason for all U.D.O. fans to celebrate:
finally the band’s extensive back catalogue will be made available again – in special “anniversary editions”. This series will start with „Solid“, „Man And Machine“, No Limits“ and „Holy“ (all albums incl. bonus tracks) on December 7^th. In early 2013 more U.D.O. classics will follow.

Sweden Rock Festival is one of the nominees for the “best international music festival” award at the highly acclaimed American music busines magazine Pollstar’s Concert Industry Awards. This is the first time a Swedish festival has been nominated for the prize.

 

- It feels great, comments Sweden Rock Festial CEO Mats Natvig. We see this as an acknowledgement of our long term efforts to make Sweden Rock a comfortable festival with a high service level and friendly atmosphear for our audience and the artists. In the last few years, Sweden Rock Festival has enjoyed increasing international recognition and we now get visitors from some 50 countries. This nomination should serve to further strengthen the Sweden Rock brand. 

 

Pollstar magazine was founded in 1981 and is the world’s leading live music business magazine. Each year, it invites hundreds of randomly selected music business professionals to participate in nominating for the annual awards gala, Pollstar Concert Industry Awards in Los Angeles. The 2012 winners will be presented on February 7th.

 

The nominees in the “best international music festival” category for 2012 are:

Sweden Rock Festival

Bluesfest Byron Bay (Australia)

Primavera Sound (Spain)

T In The Park (UK)

Tomorrowland (Belgium)

V Festivals (UK)

 

No Swedish festival has ever been nominated before, and this is the first time since the Roskilde nomination of 2006 that a Scandinavian festival is among the chosen few.

 

The 22nd edition of the Sweden Rock Festival will take place in Sölvesbog, southern Sweden, on June 5-8 2013. Around 70 bands will perform on 5 stages, and among the confirmed artists so far are Kiss, Rush, Status Quo, Accept, Saxon, Amon Amarth, UFO and Krokus.

 

For more information, please see www.swedenrock.com

Swedish progressive melodic death metal icons, SCAR SYMMETRY, have been forced to cancel their upcoming North American tour that was scheduled to take place this November/December. The band has issued the following statement:

“North Americans can we have your attention please! It is with deep regret that we bring you these news: due to unforeseen problems securing our US work visas in time, our North American headlining tour will have to be cancelled. The waiting time for a visa interview appointment was several weeks longer than what we’ve experienced before. Our sincere apologies to THREAT SIGNAL, STEALING AXION, LORD OF WAR and KINGS FIELD – you guys rule and we do hope for the opportunity to share a stage with you sometime in a not-to-distant future instead!

To our fans, we will work our asses off to make this up to you! Expect to see SCAR SYMMETRY back in North America in 2013 – back with a vengeance!”

SCAR SYMMETRY’s latest album The Unseen Empire was released on May 17^th 2011 via Nuclear Blast. View this video of drummer/lyricist Henrik Ohlsson explaining the lyrical concept of the album, which deals with conspiracy theories/illuminati themes, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwON-tZOxQ0.

Music Videos:
“Ascension Chamber” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJHU-kYeMFM
“Noumenon and Phenomenon” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylTmVkmsuws&feature=relmfu
“The Iconoclast” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJ01A28qS8&feature=relmfu

For more info visit: www.facebook.com/scarsymmetry | www.myspace.com/scarsymmetry | www.nuclearblast.de/scarsymmetry

German thrash metal legends EXUMER have been confirmed to appear at the Ragnarökkr Metal Apocalypse Festival in Chicago, IL! The fest is scheduled to take place from May 3-4, 2013, and also includes Onslaught, Eldritch, Oz, Omen, and many more. Information and tickets can be found at ragnarokkrmetal.com and facebook.com/RagnarokkrMetal. This appearance will be part of EXUMER’s first full U.S. tour in the band’s 27 year long history, which is scheduled to take place April/May 2013. Dates and details will be announced as they are confirmed.

EXUMER released their latest album, Fire & Damnation, in April of this year. The album, described by Bloody Disgusting as a “blistering, arcing, glorious moshfest”, is the band’s third full length release and first since 1987′s Rising from the Sea. EXUMER’s debut album, Possessed by Fire, holds exalted status in the thrash underground as being one of the best releases of its era. And now, in 2012, EXUMER has returned to the stage, many years wiser, and as electrifying as ever. Fans can watch the video for the title track Fire & Damnation at metalblade.com/exumer.

http://www.exumer.de
http://twitter.com/exumerofficial
http://www.facebook.com/exumerofficial
http://www.youtube.com/exumerofficial

Devin Townsend – guitar virtuoso and music genius – recently released his latest effort, Epicloud, under the slogan: “It’s Epic, it’s Loud, it’s ‘Epicloud’”. Today finally sees the premiere of Devin’s new video for the track “Lucky Animals”, off of the new album Epicloud. The video was created on the basis of combining all sorts of amazing and outstanding self-recorded videos that were submitted by Devin fans from all over the world, to make “Lucky Animals” a very special visual experience for everyone. More than 150 videos were submitted, out of which a good 130 made it into the video in the end (due to quality or legal issues some could not be used unfortunately).

Check out the new “Lucky Animals” video here: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/devin-townsend-lucky-animals-video-premiere/

In regards to the video, Devin Townsend comments: “Hey guys! So here’s what we came up with for ‘Lucky Animals’! We tried to use at least a clip from everyone’s contributions, I really hope we succeeded =) …The sync was a little difficult with some of them, and the quality varies between them all, but man…such fun! It’s a great feeling to see people having a good time, and it makes us feel great that we’re all having a good time with such a dumb song. Thanks a lot for this! Feel free to post your full videos on Youtube as well!”

To purchase Epicloud, please visit iTunes for a digital copy or CM Distro for various CD/LP formats. Read on for a few reviews of the album:

Devin Townsend recently played to a completely packed out Roundhouse in London on October 27th, wrapping up most of his entire career in a 3+ hour-long set. Narrated by Steve Vai on three big video screens, this “Retinal Circus” performance was accompanied by Baby-Ziltoid, Jed Simon, Anneke van Giersbergen, to name but a few, plus various actors, animals and other performers. For those who didn’t make it to the show and also missed the live-stream of the event, this spectacle was filmed and will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray later in 2013, so watch out for more info about this coming soon!

North American fans also have the chance to see the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT live in early 2013 with GOJIRA and THE ATLAS MOTH! Check the dates below to see when DTP will be coming to a city near you!

 

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT tour dates feat. GOJIRA, THE ATLAS MOTH

1/14 – Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN

1/15 – The Garrick Centre – Winnipeg, MB

1/16 – Odeon Events Centre – Saskatoon, SK

1/17 – MacEwan Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB

1/19 – Vogue Theater – Vancouver, BC

1/20 – Studio Seven – Seattle, WA

1/21 – Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR

1/23 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA

1/24 – Ace of Spades – Sacramento, CA

1/25 – Henry Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

1/28 – The Marquee – Tempe, AZ

1/29 – Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM

1/31 – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX

2/1 – White Rabbit – San Antonio, TX

2/2 – Warehouse Live – Houston, TX

2/4 – State Theatre – St. Petersburg, FL

2/5 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA

2/7 – Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD

2/8 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY

2/9 – Mr. Smalls Theatre – Millvale, PA

2/10 – St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI

2/11 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL

2/13 – Phoenix Concert Theatre -Toronto, ON

2/14 – Le National – Montreal, QC

2/15 – The Palladium – Worcester, MA

2/16 – Theatre Of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA

 

 

Devin Townsend online:

http://www.hevydevy.com 

http://www.facebook.com/dvntownsend 

http://www.omerch.com

WHITECHAPEL and EMMURE announce “Brothers of Brutality” co-headlining tour!
Whitechapel have announced that they will be embarking on a North American co-headlining tour with Emmure! The Brothers of Brutality Tour, presented by Revolver Magazine and Rockstar Energy Drink, will be one of the first tours of 2013. Dates, cities, and support acts will be announced shortly.

Guitarist Alex Wade comments on the collaboration: “We are really excited to announce our co-headlining tour with Emmure. We have been friends with them for quite some time now, and this is something we have always talked about doing, so it’s awesome to see it finally come to light. Our first show ever was with Emmure in Nashville, TN before either of us were signed, so it’s incredible to see how we have both grown so much in the music industry and are able to come together and put together this co-headlining tour!”

WHITECHAPEL recently premiered their new music video for “Possibilities of an Impossible Existence” off their current, self-titled release, via AltPress.com. The video, which was filmed by the Rockstar Media department with director Strati Hovartos while the band was out touring on 2012′s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest, can be viewed now on the band’s youtube channel, youtube.com/WhitechapelTV.

In other news WHITECHAPEL, who recently finished up a full US tour playing direct support to Hatebreed, will be re-releasing their full-length debut The Somatic Defilement via Metal Blade Records in the spring of 2013. Mark Lewis is set to re-mix and re-master The Somatic Defilement, which was originally released July 31, 2007 on Candlelight Records.

The band’s latest effort, the self-titled album that dropped on June 19 in North America, debuted at #47 on the Top 200 Chart, #10 on the Top Independent Albums Chart, #3 on the Hard Music Albums Chart (Current), #2 on the Hard Music Albums Chart (Core Stores) and #64 on the Top Digital Album Chart.

For More Information Please Visit:
http://www.whitechapelband.com
http://www.metalblade.com/whitechapel
http://www.facebook.com/whitechapelmetal
http://twitter.com/whitechapelband

Exclusive: FUSE posts “30 years of Metal Blade” video; Brian Slagel discusses the label’s history FUSE TV has launched an exclusive interview with Metal Blade Records CEO, Brian Slagel, over at Fuse.tv. The in-depth interview, conducted at the Metal Blade offices, will give fans insights into Slagel’s favorite bands, how the label has evolved, bands the label has missed out on and discovered throughout its three decades in business. Watch the video now HERE and subscribe to FUSE’s youtube channel for more exclusive videos at youtube.com/fuse.

Metal Blade Records will be wrapping up 30th anniversary celebrations for 2012 with a huge show on November 30th at the House of Blues Sunset Strip. Show headliners Armored Saint will be joined by newcomers Gypsyhawk, as well as a special, short set from thrash legends Sacred Reich. Additional special guests confirmed for the show include: Amon’s Amarth’s Johan Hegg, Ray Alder of Fates Warning/Redemption, as well as dUg Pinnick of King’s X. The guest musicians will join Armored Saint on stage throughout their set to perform a variety of cover songs. That Metal Show’s Eddie Trunk and Don Jamieson are confirmed to host the event.

Tickets are currently on sale now at houseofblues.com.

EPICA with ALESTORM

Words and pictures by Kyle Moore, the Metal Magnus

Irving Plaza – New York, NY

October 26th, 2012

 

EPICA’s live show has twice-wowed me, even if their CD’s have not. Their most recent album “Requiem for the Indifferent” left me feeling, well, a bit indifferent towards the newest tunes. Something that had really gelled during “Design your Universe” got lost in the new effort, and the result wasn’t compelling. Maybe experiencing them again live would change that?

Read the rest of this entry »

 

 

Singer Azriel St Michael – Audio Porn

Interviewed by: Anders Sandvall

Thanks to Birgit Bräckle at Brooke-Lynn Promotion for the help to get this interview done.

Thanks to Music Buy Mail for the promotional pictures of the band.

 

Audioporn is the name of a new hard rock act that consists of singer Azriel St Michael, drummer Byron Black, and Jeff Westlake from the band Hydrogyn. St Michael and Black had earlier been in the band Jezebels Kiss together but have now a brand new act and album out. I had the opportunity to talk to the really nice St Michael and amongst many things we talked about the new album, studio work, the future and the past he and Black had in Jezebels Kiss. Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles, CA – After successful runs on Paganfest and with Dragonforce in the US earlier this year and currently destroying stages across Europe, the demand for the live onslaught of HUNTRESS is at an alltime high. Beginning November 30, 2012, the fearless metal pentad fronted by Jill Janus, whom LA Weekly named “It Girl in metal,” will be direct support on 3 Inches of Blood’s 13-city West Coast tour. Please see below for a list of tour dates.

 

Says Jill Janus of this current live offensive, “Huntress is ready to slay the West Coast USA with 3 Inches of Blood! We’re currently on tour with Dragonforce in Europe, but there’s no rest for the wicked. We’ll have one day between Amsterdam and Tacoma, WA to haul ass and join forces with 3 Inches of Blood as direct support on December 1st. Shred ’til yer dead!”

 

Los Angeles-based metal band Huntress released their buzzworthy debut album Spell Eater on May 8, 2012 via Napalm Records. The album, which Metal Hammer calls “a magical debut from the hottest new act of 2012,” was recorded last fall in Los Angeles and was produced by Chris Rakestraw (Danzig, Children of Bodom and Skeletonwitch). The music video for the album’s title track sums up the band at its core: true to the roots of melodic heavy metal with a penchant for thrash, death and black metal. To view the video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz_VbKLC_jI.

 

Huntress was spawned from the preternatural union of Jill Janus and the Southern California metal band Professor. Janus began her ascension into the realm of heavy metal in the Catskill Mountains of New York. She was born to scream – an operatic banshee with a four-octave range. The Catskills were not enough to contain her, and in her teens she toured Europe as a young opera prodigy.

 

Upon her return to New York, Janus took Manhattan by storm where she became a part of the nihilistic club scene and hosted Felliniesque parties to support her quest for Huntress. A few years later she would make the journey to Los Angeles, where she would ultimately find her band. Huntress is a blend of thundering drums, heavy riffs, spectral solos and catchy choruses that come from the band’s musical concoction of occult science and archaic sorcery. Let the witches in!

 

Tour Dates:
11/30/12 – Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo
12/01/12 – Tacoma, WA @ The Loch’s
12/02/12 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
12/03/12 – S. Lake Tahoe, CA @ Whisky Dick’s
12/04/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
12/05/12 – San Diego, CA @ Ramona Mainstage
12/06/12 – Tempe, AZ @ 910 Live
12/07/12 – Las Vegas, NV @ Cheyenne Saloon
12/09/12 – Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar
12/11/12 – West Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky
12/12/12 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
12/13/12 – Reno, NV @ The Alley
12/15/12 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon

For more information on Huntress, please visit http://huntresskills.com/.

To like Huntress on Facebook, please visit http://www.facebook.com/HuntressKills.

To follow Huntress on Twitter, please visit http://twitter.com/#!/Huntresskills.

To check out the recent Huntress EPK visit: http://bitly.com/VXAzik.

Hardline Media proudly presents Paul Dianno and Blaze Bayley – former vocalists of Iron Maiden – performing together for the first time ever in Australia and New Zealand. In a world exclusive, for their co-headlining sets both singers will be belting out only Iron Maiden songs – classic tracks from their respective albums with one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world. This promises to be a must-see event for any fan of Iron Maiden and heavy metal!

The tour will also mark Blaze Bayley’s first time Down Under, taking himself and Di’Anno all across Australia (including regional NSW dates) and New Zealand in late November/early December. While Di’Anno has successfully toured Australasian shores previously, it will be his first performing solely Iron Maiden songs.

Both artists have released a wealth of their own successful solo material, but as a special treat for ‘Maiden’ fans, to make this tour special they have agreed to only perform Iron Maiden tracks. This means that punters can expect to hear Di’Anno-era classics such as ‘Phantom Of The Opera’, ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Running Free’, ‘Sanctuary’, and ‘Killers’, along with classic Blaze-era cuts such as ‘Sign Of The Cross’, ‘Futureal’, ‘Lord Of The Flies’, ‘Man On The Edge’, and many more. The majority of these songs are hardly ever played live anymore by Iron Maiden, so fans will have the rare opportunity to hear them performed by the legendary vocalists who first recorded them.

This will be a dual headlining tour – whoever goes on last each night will be determined by the toss of a coin before the show. Fans are encouraged to get there early so as not to miss a minute of this special event.

Iron Maiden are one of the biggest names in heavy metal and the music industry as a whole. As leaders of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement in the early eighties, they would go on to become one of the biggest and most successful heavy metal bands of all time, influencing countless acts that followed and selling over 100 million records worldwide. As the original singer of Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno’s unique and aggressive vocals featured on their first two ground-breaking albums – the self-titled debut (1980) and its follow-up ‘Killers’ (1981). Both releases are widely regarded as classics and have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. When Di’Anno’s successor Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden in the early nineties, Wolfsbane vocalist Blaze Bayley was selected to front the band out of hundreds who auditioned. Blaze would record two albums with Iron Maiden – 1995’s ‘The X Factor’ and 1998’s ‘Virtual XI’ – helping to ensure Iron Maiden’s prominence during the nineties when heavy metal was at a low point.

Two legendary vocalists together in Australia and New Zealand for the first time performing NOTHING but Iron Maiden (with likely a few surprises – such as sharing songs – thrown in as well). This is a must-see event for all heavy metal and hard rock fans.

* Special, extremely limited VIP tickets are available. These will gain you entry to the show, a VIP laminate, a few goodies, as well as the once in a lifetime chance of meeting both Paul Di’anno and Blaze Bayley before the show – get photos, get stuff signed, have a chat!

See you there.

Tickets available through www.hardlinemedia.net

Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley Australian/NZ Tour:

Thur 22 Nov – MELBOURNE – The Hi Fi
www.moshtix.com.au
Supports: Nothing Sacred + Hazmat

Fri 23 Nov – HOBART – The Brisbane
www.oztix.com.au
Supports: Hazmat + SmokeStack

Sat 24 Nov – PERTH – The Civic
www.moshtix.com.au
Supports: Psychonaut + Silent Knight

Sun 25 Nov – ADELAIDE – Fowlers – ALL AGES
www.moshtix.com.au www.venuetix.com.au
Supports: Octanic + Matterhorn

Mon 26 Nov – BRISBANE – The Hi Fi
www.moshtix.com.au
Supports: Inhailed + Hazmat

Thur 29 Nov – NEWCASTLE – Cambridge
www.bigtix.com.au
Supports: Hazmat + Atomesquad

Fri 30 Nov – SYDNEY – Manning Bar
www.oztix.com.au
Supports: Stand Alone (ex Rose Tattoo) + Hazmat

Sat 1 Dec – CANBERRA – The Basement
www.moshtix.com.au
Supports: Hazmat + Deprivation

Sun 2 Dec – WOLLONGONG – Waves
www.moshtix.com.au
Supports: Hazmat + Dragonsclaw

Fri 7 Dec – WELLINGTON – Bodegas
www.undertheradar.co.nz
Supports: Hazmat + Bulletbelt

Sat 8 Dec – AUCKLAND – Kings Arms
www.undertheradar.co.nz
Supports: World War Four + Hazmat

 

Interview and pics Arto Lehtinen

”VVVOOIIVOODDD”- is the immortal scream which opens the debut album WAR AND PAIN of the Canadian legends Voivod. Since those days a lot of water has passed under the bridge until now. Voivod is about to unleash their 13th full-length studio album called TARGET EARTH. The album will feature the current guitarist “Chewy” who has created the newer material for TARGET EARTH. Voivod recently visited Helsinki and vocalist Snake had a few minutes left for the short but informative interview.

---

This is your last show of the tour here in Helsinki, then going back to home – You have got  25 or 26 shows in a row?

Yeah 26 shows in 29 days. We left Barcelona a few days ago, then we have had  flight cancellations, no sleep at all, we had two cancellations of flights, lost luggage. This has been really stressful and no time to do anything, just doing it.

This is your third time here in Finland. 

Yeah.

DIMENSION HATROSS AT ROADBURN

I saw you at Roadburn Festival last spring, playing the DIMENSION HATROSS album as a whole. Did this idea come from the Roadburn organization asking you to do the whole DIMENSION album there?

No, what we did want to do, they wanted us to put out something different for the festival because we were the curator and we had two shows to do. We said to ourselves “well what were going to do because we wanted to do something special” and I think it’s an idea that came up, maybe from Walter or from Lars, but I don’t remember. We played a whole album and then yeah, why not you know? So we went and we practiced like crazy trying to remember the lyrics because it’s an album that was released 25 years ago. Some of the songs have never been played live.

Like “Macrosolution To The Mega Problem”?

That was played live when the album came out, but songs like “Cosmic Drama” and stuff like that, so it was, for us it was like rediscovering the album and it was great. It went fantastic.

How did you end up picking up the DIMENSION album, not NOTHINGFACE instead, as far as I remember NOTHINGFACE was basically the breakthrough album for Voivod in general? 

Well I think DIMENSION HATROSS was a thing on its own, because it was a concept album. I think it was perfect for the situation, for playing it from one song to another like you would listen to the album at home. So I think it was the real thing to do to pick up DIMENSION HATROSS as for a special feature.

MECHANICAL TARGET EARTH

When listening to new songs like the single “Mechanical Minds”, it takes me back to the heyday of the 80’s. In my opinion it has vibes of NOTHINGFACE and of DIMENSION HATROSS. Did you try to capture the old spirit when writing the new songs for the TARGET EARTH album? 

I think when Chewy was coming up with riffs and “Mechanical Minds” was something he recorded at home and when I heard it the first time I said wow, this is like going back, like what we were doing 28, 20-something years ago. And because Chewy a real Voivod fan in the beginning and he really captured what the most important features for this song and because he’s a fan he knows what the fan wants. That’s the way it happens and we never step back and say “oh it was the perfect thing to do” and get back to the roots, when the fans a long time ago was listening to DIMENSION HATROSS non-stop and trying to figure out what was going on and stuff like that.

Piggy was always the main composer and writer in Voivod and now Chewy is the guitarist of Voivod, so how was the writing process different for you?   

Yeah it’s a bit different because it’s not the same person, but actually it’s great for capturing the essence of Voivod and as you learn from. He was 13 years old when his first show was Voivod. The next day he bought a guitar and tried to learn Piggy’s stuff. So the way he put it together it was just like it would have been Piggy’s stuff, it was just like. It’s pretty amazing the way he put things together and the whole spirit of Piggy is on the album. He’s not copying the guy, he doesn’t try to imitate the stuff, but he knows how to make them fresh with the spirit of Piggy and that amazes me. I’m really proud of what he has done.

As far as I know the songs of the new album are completely new and they’re not leftover from the era of Piggy?

Completely new ones.

You completely recorded the album in your hometown. Was it obvious choice to record there and not going into elsewhere and record and work it there then? 

We did a pre-production in our home studio and stuff and then we went to a studio in the nature, like far out in the woods. You have to go there, the roads are inexistent. You have to go 4×4 to get there so it was during winter and we were there three weeks, focused on the album, just nothing else to do. Forsaken in the middle of nowhere in the woods so it was the perfect thing. You know the four of us, same place, cooking our own meal, relaxing and it was our perfect place to do because when you play, say you record in LA or New York or whatever there’s always distractions around. Sometimes you lose one member, two members, they go out and night and they visit stuff. So it’s more like you want them to be really focused on what we were doing.

Well did that happen when you recorded the self titled album with Jasonic?  

Yeah Jasonic, we recorded at this place, well we did a big pre-production at this place and then we were doing a record plan, it was in Frisco. But I was quite close to his place and we were returning every night but we didn’t have any distraction there too, that one we were just doing it. It was a serious thing.

Was it hard writing the INFINITE and KATORZ albums because Piggy had recorded all the material on his laptop, you tried to get them

Voivod

out and record them by putting the pieces together?

Yeah it was different process, because we couldn’t play it. It was what Piggy has left and we wanted the integrity of it, we wanted to keep it that way. Even if Katorz and Infini was basically demos. We kept the structure as it were. We didn’t want to fool around with it. But in the process of creation you’re kind of stuck in the box and you cannot move. So this time around with Chewy and we were free to do whatever we want and so it’s quite a big difference to have the opportunity to express yourself and not being confined and dealing with what’s already there is.

As Blacky has returned to the band in 2009/2010, and when you are out on tour supporting the Infini album when you played here in Finland I guess, I remember you didn’t play any songs from the Katorz or Infini album, even though you were promoting those albums. What are the reasons why, was it because Blacky had returned to the band and Jasonic was out?

No. While we were playing “Global War” I think but I don’t remember, because sometimes in festival, but sometimes when we play festivals we’ve got like 45 minutes and so we wanted to focus on stuff people know best, traditional “Tribal Conviction” and “Over Reaction” and like stuff like that. However, of course I struggle in the mind how these classic we cannot go out there and not play them. No, it has nothing to do with it I think.

Do you think that the writing of songs is getting a little bit challenging for you because you always have the pay attention to the legacy of Voivod? 

Well of course we try to do the best every night and we focus on what we do and as we get frustrated because we’re getting older every day, but I think when you do a big tour like that it gets better every day. Of course you’re tired from the traveling and all that, but as a performer things didn’t go easier in some ways. It becomes like a kind of a job, another job. It’s like a mixture of you have to do this.

THRASHING RAGE

You however enjoy being on the road.

Of course my favourite satisfaction is when I finish a show and everybody’s going crazy and okay we’re done but people enjoyed it.

Do you miss the old days when people were literally going crazy, doing stage diving the whole thing is more controlled by security and stuff like that. But back in the day when you played with Possessed, Deathrow, Vio-lence and stuff like that, the people were completely out of control.

That was back in the days when metal was like exploding everywhere and we were part of it and we were young kids going crazy as the crowd was going crazy. I remember when Possessed was finished; it was pure mass of people on stage. I mean we couldn’t play because there was like 20 people on stage dancing.

What happened in Bochum in Germany as Jeff Becerra from Possessed has also told stories about that gig ? 

Yeah we had to stop the show at one point and police came and it was pure hell. That was when metal was exploding everywhere, hahah

IRON GANG FACTORY

You are now on Century Media. The previous albums came out on Relapse and End Records and the self titled album came out the Chophouse. Do you usually make an one album deal with a record label or how come you switch labels every time?

Well it’s just a matter of the business. It’s different for everybody. It’s not like the old days where we had big contracts for 3, 4 albums. The record label doesn’t take any risk and the same for us. If we’re not pleased with a company, it’s not that were not pleased with what the other companies did, but the situation nowadays is really different than what it was. You don’t want to sign like long contract deals; you don’t want to put money and advents on anything. It’s almost they want a finished product and then release it. So it’s a matter of negotiation. I’m not dealing with the owning of negotiations, it’s more like the management thing. We see the offers from different companies, sometimes people are not interested you know. It’s just bizarre you know.

When you are on Noise Rec  in ’87/88 and things were a little bit different at that time. I did an interview with Andy Sneap who used to

VoiVod

play in Sabbat, he told that Sabbath got little bit ripped off by Noise. They would have needed someone to guide them as they were so young when making the deal with Noise. What about you? Did they treat you fairly or did you have the problems?

They were a few things that happened, but it was not a big deal because we signed a contract for three records. At the end of it we had an offer from MCA… And we switched to MCA. Of course Noise wanted us to stay with them and perhaps called Walter back; he flew to Montreal to try to convince us, make us change our mind. But we’re going to a major label and that’s how it happens but I don’t see, there was nothing wrong there.

Do you basically want to keep control over Voivod albums because you have this Iron Gang Factory, are you are making license deals with record labels for the TO THE DEATH and LIVE IN ROADBURN albums as they came out on Iron Gang Factory ?

Well of course we always try to negotiate with them about the opportunity to keep all the rights and If we do like a re-release or another pressing. We try to always have the option to do so. It was about the negotation. But with major deals it different. they want to keep their hand on the thing and it’s more complicated to do another pressing or a re-release. You need big lawyers and stuff.

Do you think it’s easier for you to work with record labels and their staff who are familiar with metal stuff because big corporations are not aware of metal and how they are supposed to treat metal bands?   

Well things have changed since 25 years ago I think. But record labels have changed their attitude towards bands. There seems to be really more open-minded, because for them the situation has changed to so they don’t have like the power they had back in the days. And so their more, they realize that if we work together to, if we work together efficiently it can create something better than just like having a control on people. That’s in the past, that’s over.

AWAY’S ART AND SNAKE’S PREVIOUS DEPARTURE

Away’s art is a trademark of Voivod, it’s quite unique, gives some kind of picture what Voivod is all about when you’re seeing the art or Voivod and Away’s art and works. How do you see that art concept with Voivod?

I think it goes together for me, my opinion, Michel’s art and Voivod’s music is almost like inseparable. It’s just like one goes with the other and I write lyrics when I get inspired by his drawing. Sometimes he draws something inspires my lyrics and it’s a work in process and we try to make it like one big picture. A musical picture and a visual picture as well. And it’s part of the Voivod world I guess.

Away had the art exhibition at Roadburn and there was a lot of people visiting there and there was a huge collection of his art  from the different decades. 

He had the gallery at the Roadburn festival. Plus we had the big screen back then showing stuff on the wall.

When OUTER LIMITS came out and you left the band. I was really surprised at why Snake left Voivod, and though” it’s not Voivod anymore cos his voice wasn’t there anymore”. Did you get disillusioned about Voivod because you toured with Faith No More and Soundgarden and they got really huge and Voivod had more the cult following – Did you get tired as things led nowhere or why did you quit the band?

Back then the grunge thing really hurt all metal bands; even Metallica cut their hair off. It was any good years for metal. But I had my personal problems as well and  something else in life, it was rough. It all started, when I was 18 years old,  and every experienced back then. I needed the fresh air somehow and experience other things. And it’s good sometimes to get out of the bus. It was a tough decision. It was not easy but at the time I thought it was the best decision and a few years later I regret it. I wanted to come back because I realized I was a real artist, because music was part of my life and I missed it so much and so I started a few bands that never got anywhere but just to make music. And I realized that music was part of me. I need it like eating, it was necessary to my life and when the opportunity came to me to rejoin the band I said yes.

That was easy.

Yeah.

Alright. Thanks for the interview.

Thank you!

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The official VOIVOD sites :

 

www.voivod.com

http://www.myspace.com/voivod

http://www.facebook.com/Voivod

http://www.voivod.net/

 

 VOIVOD IN HELSINKI ON THE 31st OF OCTOBER

 

 

MICHEL AWAY LANGEVIN’S ART GALLERY AT THE ROADBURN FESTIVAL

 

 And the master himself with his art

TESTAMENT’s video ‘Native Blood’ won the award for Best Music Video at the 37th annual American Indian Film Festival last night at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA.

he American Indian Film Festival recognizes outstanding Indian cinematic accomplishments, and will recognize Native media makers and talent via its American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show. The Festival also provides an opportunity for filmmakers, tribes, media and public audiences to come together and share in the creative experience and celebrate cinematic accomplishment.

‘Native Blood’, whose lyrics are about vocalist Chuck Billy’s Native American heritage, was filmed at the Hopland Indian Reservation in Hopland, CA. The clip was directed by Mike Sloat (MACHINE HEAD, STAIND).

The video, as well as making-of features, can be seen below: