Monophonics-in your brain

In your brain is a truly wonderful psychedelic soullful and funky record the third one by Monophonics a brilliant band formed in San Fransisco in 2005.

The playing is tight and the songwriting really efficient, neraly each song on the record is a "hit", you just can't resist to the groove of songs like "bang bang" or the aptly named "there's a riot going on". just listen to it and your mind will be blown away on a psychedelic path full of funky/spacey guitars, brass, soulful vocals, choruses and funky drumming.

lsitening to this record is mandatory, there won't be no excuses!

http://monophonics.com
you can listen to their previous records here : http://monophonics.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-infrasounds

Ursut-Dårarnas Paradis

 

Dararnas paradis (fool's paradise) is the first album by Ursut and it's a fine exercise in swedish crustpunk. Nothing really original but it's well done. the vocals are in swedish and are cool. the songwriting is good with a variety of rhythm, some more agressive parts, some more heavy parts, and some others more melodic. They manage to keep the energy and the dynamic at a high level throughout the whole record.

if you're into crust or hardcore you should give it a try :

http://ursut.bandcamp.com/

Nile - At the Gates of Sethu (2012)

I use to deal with less well known band, but hey, Nile is really a cool band, so I make an exception. and even the biggest death metal bands are still largely underground so...Yes Nile is among the biggest death metal bands and its not by chance for they were among the band that really brought something new into death metal int he last fifteen years. You known what it is : mind blowing intensity and musicianship but serving a truly brilliant , epic and larger than life songriting (with the egyptean/oriental mytholocial atmospheres, the hooks, the grooves, crazy solos, etc...). Since "Annihilation of the wicked" in 2005 they introduced a cleaner production and added more trashy parts to their death metal (but kept intensity to a high level), "Those whom the gods detest" in 2009 was a return to something more brutal but "At the gates of Sethu" stays is the direction of focusing more on catchy riffs and "songs" (but still death metal songs so the brutality is really present of course). In a few words it's a new great Nile record...

Nile official website

Dallas Toler-Wade, guitarist in Nile answered to the questions I sent him (thanks!). Read it below : 

- how do you see At the gates of Sethu in the evolution of Nile ? 

 
  Dallas Toler- Wade : I think with every record we learn more and more about writing and recording. At the gate of Sethu shows that we are still hungry, and focused on becoming better writers and players.

- was there something new for the band in the process of writing or recording/production?

  Pretty much the writing process is the same as in the past, except this time we made more complete demos with all of the elements there.  It really helped in getting everything as good as we could get it.
 We wanted things to be a little more raw this time, and I think we accomplished that.

- I feel that since Annihilation of the wicked your songwriting is more simple and focused on creating “catchy” songs while keeping a high level of intensity and technical playing of course. It seems to me that Those whom the gods detest was a bit more brutal and At the gates is more in the continuity of recent years focus on songs. Do you agree with that?

   It could be true sure. We just do what we do. We have always just went for what feels right at the time.

- is there a red thread in the lyrics and themes of the different songs? Is there a kind of a concept to the album or is it more a collection of different stories.

   At the gate of Sethu is a collection of individual songs, with a wide variety of topics.
 
- I read that you tour with Morbid angel and Kreator. That’s great! Are you headlining it? I guess that as many metalheads you listened to these bands, but what do you think about what they are playing now?

 
  Being on this tour will be lots of fun. We have toured with Morbid Angel, and Kreator in the past, so touring with these bands again is long overdue. As for what I think about how other bands are playing I say as long as they are happy with what they are doing musically then who gives a damn what other people think.

- which songs of the At the gates are you playing live?

   We will start off playing Enduring the eternal molestation of flame, The supreme humanism of megalomania, and The Inevitable Degradation of flesh for starters. We will add more as we go, and change out songs from tour to tour.
 
- how Nile’s songs are written? will you write again ten minutes songs like you did before? 

 
   The lyrics get written first, then the music. We don't think about how long the songs are. We just work on the stuff until we feel it's ready and kicking ass. Our songs take how ever long they need to take to say what they have to say.
 
- the great acoustic instrumental song on this album is called “ethno-musicological cannibalisms” is that title a kind of joke or something?

 
  Err is this question some kind of a joke or something?

- which are your favourite Nile’s songs?

   I don't really have a favorite Nile song. For me it's hard to have an outside perspective being in the band. It's all reflective of where we were as musicians and what we were getting into.
 
- which recent bands would you recommend?

   Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance. I don't know how long these bands have been around. I just know that I got to hear these bands recently and they were brutal as hell.
 
- which recommendations could you give to young bands trying to “do it”?  what’s more important, perfecting everyday the playing and songwriting skills or the “hard working touring endlessly for no money attitude”? obviously you did both and know a lot on the subject so what’s the key points on your opinion?

 
   My opinion is if you are a serious musician it's all in what you want from playing music. Some play mostly for money, some for fun at home, some for the musical challenge, some simply for the soul healing expression of writing and playing music, and some for all of these reasons. If you devote your life to any pursuit you will see results. Making it in music for me was being able to play and write music in a band that played shows and put out records. I never cared if there was label interest or chances for big tours. I just know that I will always play metal on whatever level I can, be it total pro or for fun locally on the weekends. I will always write music and play in a band.
 
- want to add something?

    I would just like to thank everyone that's into or plays metal for years of relentless dedication, and making life interesting!  

Asva-presences of absences

Asva is an interesting collective led by Stuart Dahlquist (Goatsnake,ex Byurning witch, Sunno))) ) what they play is mostly long drone songs, but with the addition of other elements. Their last record Presences of absences, released in 2011, see Asva evolve toward less guitars and heaviness and more organ layers and melodic singing, giving the record a strong progresive and "spiritual" vibe. maybe drone purist would dissaprove (but maybe Asva was already too original for them) but the result is a sucess in my opinion, the record having a strong personnality and being really enjoyable at the same time.

but just try it and make your own opinion!

Asva on last.fm

Municipal waste / Toxic Holocaust - Toxic Waste (split - 2012)

Toxic Waste is a really coherent 4 tracks (2 each) split record done by two leaders of the crossover/punk-thrash 80' scene. The content is without surprise with this Municipal Waste / Toxic Holocaust record, each band staying faithful to his usual style, but the quality is there so no reason to complain...if you like these bands you'll like this split. 

You can listen and download it for free at Tankcrimes Bancamp page.

Slave

Slave is a powerviolence trio from Birmingham (Alabama), that release in july their first full lenght tape (self titled). What is cool with this band is that groove and dynamic are often present in the 13 unrelenting tracks of the tape, with a good use of rythm changes. the dual high/low screams vocal attack is also a good point. The sound can be improved but it's ok. If you're into powerviolence or grind/punk/hardcore it is a release that you should listen to and Slave a band to follow because this first full lenght is promising.

you can listen to some of the songs on their Bandcamp page

Aaron Gibbs their guitarist/singer kindly answered to my questions so you can read it below : 

 -can you present the band, its members, what was the project at the start, how it evolved etc… ?

 SLAVE is a three-piece power violence band from Birmingham, Alabama consisting of Aaron on guitar/vocals, Chandlar on drums/vocals and Kevin on bass/vocals. Chandlar and I started the band and have been playing together since May 2011. At first we messed around with our sound a lot and played a few shows as a two-piece. Our best friend Justin started playing with us around July of last year. Unfortunately, he passed away in October of last year, so we took time off from playing shows and ended up recording the "Erode" demo with our good friend Carter Wilson. We started writing a lot of songs and playing more shows in January, followed by a short-lived bassist named Ben. We kicked him out because he was shooting up drugs and selling his body on the streets to maintain his drug habits behind our backs. We kept writing more songs and Kevin joined the band a few months back. He's a great guy, one of the best bass players I know and has been in a ton of great local Birmingham bands. That's pretty much the story so far. In a nutshell, it's been a slow and interesting adventure, but things are at full speed and better now than ever.  

-what can you tell about your self titled cassette that will be out in july? Why on cassette?

Our self titled cassette is 13 songs total. 12 originals and a cover of "Culpa Mia" by Despise You. It's all six songs from the "Erode" demo tape and six new ones we wrote this year. It was recorded in May by our friend Shibby Poole in Nashville, TN.

We decided to do a tape for a few reasons. Number one being that everyone in the band is really into owning a physical copy of recorded material by bands we like. I can't speak for the other two guys in my band, but I get a certain feeling when I'm looking at the artwork or insert of the piece of music I'm listening to that gives me a little more insight on what I'm hearing wether it be what they're singing about, where they're from, pictures of the band or where/how they recorded the material. I'm kind of a nerd. Once I get into a band I want to know as much as I possibly can about them.

Another reason we decided to do a tape is because my good friend Daniel runs a DIY label out of Memphis, Tennesse called Fat Sandwich records and said he wanted to put it out. We were going to self release the new recordings on a tape ourselves, but after he approached us we decided it'd be a good move to let him put out the tape. We're also looking to put all of these songs on a 7" but we'll see how that goes.

-what about it’s cover artwork?

The artwork was done by our friend Chase Wilson from Nashville, Tennessee. He knows the powerviolence genre well and knew what we were going for so we chose him to do it. He does great work. There are two versions of cover art for the S/T release. The first one is a man being whipped. The second is a deceased, tortured body on the ground, surrounded by people. We sing about some pretty fucked up things that are going on everywhere in some way, shape or form. 

-what I like in your songs is that with rhythm changes, with the vocals, etc, you introduce diversity, dynamic and groove while keeping the intensity on a high. Is that something you have in mind when you write songs?

I think in the beginning we tried to write powerviolence songs with a bit of grind influence on them and I think we accomplished that sound on the "Erode" demo tape. We're all into a lot of different stuff wether it be heavy music or not and I think this recording really showed that. When we were writing the new songs I was listening to a ton of death metal and tried to incorporate a simplified version of those breakdowns into our music. Also, a lot of the older songs are played faster, in addition to the newer material just being faster in general. I'm a fan of bands trying to do new things wether it just be something totally off the wall or mesh multiple styles together. I don't think we're necessarily doing anything new or original, but I want listeners to see that we're into a wide variety of music.

-what are the lyrics about?

Our lyrics are pretty straight forward and simple. We talk about our distaste for police and the legal system in a few songs. A few songs are about our religious beliefs and views on racism, sexism and homophobia. None of that shit is cool at all. Living in the "Bible Belt" of the United States is pretty crazy and at times, disheartening. I feel like a lot of people in the southeast, where we're from, are raised into going to church every Sunday and are threatened by the bible and Christian values into doing what's "right". I think that's bullshit and it really sucks that some people will only know those ideals and feelings because it's been forced upon them since day one . There are a lot of good people in this world regardless of their race, gender, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. If you have a good heart and are a good person, then you have a good heart and are a good person. It's really sad that people around the world aren't accepted for who they are because of something so minuscule like that. It's fucking bullshit in my opinion. Another thing we talk about a lot is use of heavy drugs. I smoke and drink and am completely okay with whatever a person wants to do, but I have a problem when it starts fucking up mine or my friends and families lives. I know everyone in the band has had at least one bad personal experience with friends or family being hurt or torn apart from drug use. 

-does the name of the band indicates you feel that the freedom we have in today’s society is illusory and that we should revolt? If so in which ways can/should it be done in your opinion?

We originally took the name from the title of the Infest record, but the more I think about it everyone is a slave to something or someone in some way, shape or form. Wether you be a slave to your job, school, the legal system, drugs, a relationship, religion, etc. there's something always holding you back from doing exactly what you want to be doing in the exact moment you want to be doing it.  

-what drives you to play extreme/pissed off music?

I like the speed and intensity of it. I like that I can write a song in my room on my guitar, practice it with my band and and scream as loud as I want about what pisses me off. The most rewarding part of it is being able to do this in a room in front of people who feel the same way that I do. I consider myself to be a really nice and approachable person, but that does't mean I don't have a lot of things that I'm not angry about. It's a way for me to get out a lot of bottled up aggression in about ten minutes, Haha.  

-your music is somewhere between, or mixing, punk/hardcore and extreme metal/grind, with what kinds of bands do you usually play with? do you fell like being part of a scene and in which way?

 Everyone got into the music we're playing now from listening and going to punk rock and hardcore shows. I hope to show and share the music of my influences through the music I write. We usually play with a lot of different kinds of bands. We've played shows with a lot of punk and hardcore bands. We've also played a few shows with stoner/doom metal bands and a few powerviolence and grind bands. Unfortunately there aren't many bands similar to us that come through the area, but we try to book shows and jump on ones we'd correspond well with any chance we get.

I absolutely love being a part of the scene in Birmingham. I try to go to every local show and catch regional ones when I have the time. If you don't support your local bands and venues you aren't going to have anyone to play with and you aren't going to have anywhere to play. There is a ton of diversity in our scene. We honestly have a little bit of it all and I really don't think there's a single bad band in Birmingham. It's cool, though. Birmingham isn't huge, but it isn't small, either. Everyone knows or knows of each other. Everyone hangs out all the time. We all love each other. There's not a lot of bullshit or drama here at all. It's perfect. I've done a lot of touring and I can honestly say there's nowhere else in the United States I'd rather live. Birmingham is my favorite place.  

-which bands from your area would you recommend?

From Alabama - Legion, Deism, Grandaddy Ghostlegs, Younger Siblings, The Urns, Belial, Central Fires. Yautja and Choking on Ash from Nashville, TN are great. Seraphim from Mississippi and Dead in the Dirt from Georgia are also really rad.  

-what have you planned for 2012 apart from the release of the cassette?

In 2012 we plan to play as many shows as we can. We're currently writing for splits with Yautja from Nashville, TN and Consent from Chicago, IL. We want to get the S/T pressed onto a 7", too. We're doing a lot of weekend shows out of town and hopefully can do some touring this fall or winter.

-when are you touring Europe?

We would love to tour Europe. That has been something we've all wanted to do for years. As soon as the opportunity is there we'll take it. I literally know nothing about setting up shows in Europe, but I know we'd do it in a heartbeat.  

-Something you’ll like to ask me (it’s your turn now if you want!)? something you want to add?

Thanks for the interview, Dennis. Your review/interview and kind words are appreciated. We don't have a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, but anyone who's interested in our band, booking us on a show or picking up some shirts or tapes can email me. You can also check us out on bandcamp and read our blog.

aaronchristoffgibbs@gmail.com

slavepv.bandcamp.com

slavepv.blogspot.com

Pet the preacher-the banjo

Pet the preacher is a new really promising hard rock band. They are from Denmark but they play hard rock with a southern feel (I mean southern as New-Orleans is southern), wih soul, groove and a bluesy roots sound. They release their first full lenght record on vinyl with Kozmik artifactz, it's called The banjo. The ten songs tells the story of the downfall and redemption of a musician (or at least thats what I understood). some songs are quiet, some songs are rockers, but the quality is on a high through all the record. Good songwriting, good musicianship, great vocals, a very cool record. if you're into heavy and rocking music you have to check this new band.

HERE is a video they did for one of the song of their EP. and HERE is "the devil's door" from their new record The banjo.

Their singer and guitarist Christian Hede Madsen agreed to answer to my questions about his band. (Thanks you Christian!). You can read it below : 

-can you present the band and its evolution up to now ?

We are a danish trio called Pet The Preacher and we play rockNroll music. We were fromed in late 2010, and after finding our feet, Jacob Bredahl produced our first release, Meet The Creature(2011), as well as our debut album, The Banjo(2012, Bilocation Records). We are going back in july to record another EP as well.

We wanna be the best playing band out there, in the best meaning of the term, so we try to evolve with every song and every performance.

It´s all about the music.

-to me your sound goes back to the roots of hard rock with a kind of bluesy feeling, do you agree? How would you describe your music?

I totally agree. I think that blues is the thing that really holds us together. That groovy-vibe that Son House, Bukka White and the other delta-musicians stood for. They played dangerous music in a living and passionate way, and I think we wanna do the same, though the sound and structures are different.

We are very inspired by  bands like CLUTCH as well as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, newer bands like DOWN, Mastodon, Baroness, The Raconteurs, Graveyard, Rival Sons and everyone else who plays heavy, groovy music from the heart. I think I will describe our sound as: "heavy, progressive blues!" . If it makes any sense at all!?

-how did you get into this kind of music? And do you play or have played in other bands?

The style developed out of nothing. The three of us sounds like Pet The Preacher when we play. It is our differences that gives it that groove.

I tend to be the "heavy" dude, playing with nasty gain, screaming my lungs out and being all over the place. Torben, the bass-player is a truly great player, who often takes the role of another guitarist, playing harmonies and intricate bass-lines. He can fill out where I mess up. Christian, the drummer, knows a great riff when he hears one and lays down one the best half-time beats I have heard. He has got the balls and makes sure it never gets too Sweet or too boring.

Though he has a thing for small percussion-instruments too.

-The banjo is a concept album in that the lyrics are about the evolution of a man and tells its story, can you tell us more about this story and why did you choose this approach for The banjo?

I write all the lyrics and I was very keen on writing a concept album as our first record. I thought it would make a good statement and also show that we are not a mindless-whisky-drinking-Mötley Crüe-tribute band. We are here to stay and to change things.

The theme came step by step. I thought that a concept of a man deep down in a personal hell and his ascendancy too another place, not a heaven, but a natural place to stay and be happy, is very relevant. I am very aware of "direction" in life. Where are we going? And why? Why wait to be happy, when we control it ourselves? I think it is one of the biggest challenges in our modern world: staying positive and believing life is beautiful. There is so much shit around. But  I wrote an adventure called "The Banjo", thats the short story. Everyone can make of it what they want.

-how was the album written and recorded?

The music was written, the three of us together. Every riff and idea is tried out. Musically, we are a very democratic band. Everybody should feel comfortable about their parts, before we move on. That can change later in the process, but to start with we are happy haha.

I, or Torben, usually come with a riff or 5 and we take it from there. Then I put lyrics to it. Pretty simple. We are a rock-band, not scientists.

Regarding the recording process, we went to DEAD RAT STUDIO in Åbyhøj, Jacob Bredahl´s studio. That is a kick-ass place and we feel very at home there.

We record without a click-track and all together in the same room. Even the solos are recorded live this time. Then we put a rhythm guitar and vocals on top.

Jacob Bredahl is a really good friend and an amazing producer. He loves the sound of "human beings", meaning that it has to be dangerous and edgy, which really suits our sound and approach in the band. A mistake is only a mistake untill you hear it the 10th. time. Then it becomes an integral part of the song.

There is a reason we return in july for the 3rd. time. I can recommend DEAD RAT STUDIO to everyone who has balls and dare to be challenged.

-I guess you are or will be touring to promote the record? What else is planned for the rest of 2012?

 Yeah we have some great plans for the future, very soon we will present some new dates for 2012, as well as a European Tour with some really good friends.

We wanna play as much as possible, we are indeed a live-band. But keep and eye on our twitter, facebook and other stuff for a tour update, and come dance.

That will be truly appreciated.

-with which band would you dream to play?

Everyone who plays from the heart. World-tour with Black Sabbath or Mastodon would be cool though... But we love so many bands, that everyone has something to bring to the table. Just call us!

-how is the scene in Denmark? Which band would you recommend?

 The scene is flourishing. There are a lot of great bands coming out, in a lot of different genres.

I think we are leaning a little bit towards the metal-scene, because people seem to relate to us very well there. Though they consider us a soft blues-band I guess. There are so many to reccomend, but some that I know got their shit together and their heart in the right place( dont mind the genre):

By The Patient, RISING, HelHorse, Specktors, Hexis, The Kandidate, Scarred By Beauty, Dance With Dirt, Stream City, Stoneword, Solbrud but again there is so many new bands and even more established acts. It is easy to get inspired. This is just the start.

-something to add?

Thank you so much for noticing us and giving us your time. We really appreciate it. Please buy our record on vinyl, www.kozmik-artifactz.com, and spread the word.

Peace

Kill city creeps-5 tracker

Kill city creeps is a new band from Sydney, Australia, they released in october 2011 their debut record,the five track called 5 tracker. Its is really a cool and promising debut, not that it's really original, classic 60' inspired garage rock with grooving keyparts and at times a dark Cramps like feel, but the songrwiting is good making it an enjoyable record. The male/female vocals are also a good point for the band.

but just check it on their BC page.

Thrall-Vermin to the earth

Thrall is a tasmanian duo (completed by guest when they play live) playing classy black metal. Vermin to the earth released last year is really a great and special black metal album in my opinion, mixing successfully the classical elements of black metal (the vocals that are really good black metal vocals, some typically black metal blast beats, the succesion of fast and slower parts, the grim mood, etc...) with different elements like a post-rock feel to some instrumental parts, or a cleaner production, allowing the sharp, dissonant but also melodic riffs to get their way faster to your head, with either crushing or hypnotic effect (bordering at time to psychedelia like on Mass exctinction) . They blend with taste the old and new school of black metal, and above all they know how to write good songs.

try it on their BC page

Iron mtn

coming from southern Califormia, Iron mtn is an instrumental quartet playing psychedelic doom rock. Heaviness, groove, psychedelia, fuzzy guitars, drums and Moog is their recipe and they cook it with style and efficacity. They released in february a self titled half an hour (four songs) record. From spacey slow motion to rocking the songs take you to a cool trip into their smokey realm of mysterious heaviness.

the trip can start at their bandcamp, but you can't be sure where it will end...

Martyrdöd-Paranoia

Rarely a crust record is as powerful and epic as is the new Martyrdöd called Paranoia and released by Southern lord. It's far better than the average metallic crust, more variety due to a really good songwriting, a sound that really put forward the sharp riffing, cool vocals in swedish, well, really well crafted and well played songs...with this record Martyrdöd easily keep his status as one of the best crust bands.

you can listen to the title track on Cvltnation, HERE

Jungle by night-Hidden

for today something more groovy and colourful than usual in Blasting days, let's funk!

Jungle by night is a bunch of young guys from Amsterdam and they play some instrumental afro-beat/ethiojazz funky music. and they do it brilliantly! they released in april their second record called Hidden and it's a really enjoyable piece of groovy music! they're newcommers but are taking the afro funky scene by storm! they bring a new freshness into it and with new bands like that the future of afrobeat will shine bright.

but let's just listen to it : Jungle by night BC page.

[P.U.T]-Like animals

P.U.T is a french/belgian duo (two brothers, one living in Paris, the other in Brussels) playing really high quality noisy and dirty industrial metal. They released in march their fifth full lenght (see complete discography below) called Like animals.

If you're into urban and dark menacing atmosphere, crushing heavy or noisy dirty riffs and cold mechanical beats, then this record is for you. The ability of the duo to create songs that combines a vicious groove with a grim mood is that set the record apart. It sure will end as one of the best industial metal record of the year.

putmusic.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PUT/78005182411

Lionel and Nicolas kindly agreed to answer to my questions about their band. here is the interview : 

-how did the band formed, how did it evolve up to now, and what does its name means ?

[P.U.T] formed in 1998 with Loïc my elder brother on guitar / rythms and me, Lionel, on bass and vocals. We did 2 albums "Bitterness, despair and cyniscism" in 2001, "Surgical ep" in 2002, 2 maxis, some featurings on remixes and albums, and played something like twenty shows.

At the end of 2002 Loïc stopped and was replaced by a friend, Alexandre Vitrac. My younger brother Nicolas also joined as sound engineer and programmer for some rythm parts. We released "Happy days" in 2005, many maxi’s, featurings on compilations, and played some gigs in France and Belgium.

In 2006 I moved to live in Belgium, we stopped for a time, then continued but without live rehearsals. We toured again at the end of 2007. Nico then went from the back to the front of the scene, handling second guitar. A 45 tours, some maxis, lives records, and many shows in Europe, including a tour in Germany.

Half 2009 Alex quit for personnal reasons.

We continued as a duo, a band of brothers, and released 2 albums this way,  the first being "the end" in 2010, followed by 2 maxis and then the second album being  "Like Animals" in 2012, we did  many shows including two European tours.

After 14 years of existence we have played more than 170 shows, in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech republic, and Switzerland. We released 5 albums, 8 maxis, 2 lives, 45 tours... ouf voilà, we are in june 2012.

-At the start what did you like in industrial/noisy metal? Which bands influenced you?

Lionel : at the start it was bands like Scorn, Unsane, Sonic Youth, Sleeppers, Hint, Grötus and Godflesh that made us wanna play this kind of music. The hypnotic, heavy, dirty, weird and distorted feeling that goes with this music made a big impact on us and me Loïc wanted to do the same, to play music that disturb the senses and the mind, our own to start with.

Nicolas : What I liked was the possibility to subvert the sounds, to torture samples and to make music with noise, to channel an emotion through a deluge of noise. Many bands influenced me, like Front 242, unsane, portobello bones, condense, ministry, scorn, prodigy...

-In your opinion how do you bring something different into this musical style?

N : In the band we don’t have a technical approach to music, it’s more physical. We set a goal for a song and we find the tricks to do it. That’s what makes the sound and the song structure specific to PUT.

L : Honestly I think we have a sound and a way to write music that is really our own. And what’s more, I don’t think any other band sounds like us, with the mix of sludge noise metal Indus that we play…

-What does Like animals represent in the evolution of the band ? how was it written and recorded?

N : It’s just the logical following to what we want, we write what we feel at the time. Each one doing his thing on his own and then proposing it to the other, each one thus bringing it’s own personal touch.

Concerning the recording it’s really simple : a SM57 in front of the amp, really loud volume, and that’s it. For this record we were really looking for a raw sound, coming straight out of the amps.

L : It was our easiest and fastest album to record, one twelve hour session and it was done. We were already playing live many songs so we knew it already quite well. For “Like animals” we wanted something closer to our live sound, rawer hence more aggressive and heavier. So are also our new songs compared to the songs on the previous records, we were "internaly" angrier.

Concerning the writing, like Nico said, we write each one on its own (also because we live 350km away from the other) and propose it to the other who then adds his touch to it. We had already done that for “the end” and it worked well. Each one has its style but it always stays in the spirit of [P.U.T].

-what about the EP IT released before Like animals? it contains remixes of songs that are on Like animals, usually the bands release remixes after the release of the original songs not before, why did you do that?

-N : the goal is just to say “hey, we’re gonna release an album, get ready for it!”

-L : we also wanted to surprise, to “tease”, proposing one song from the album IT, and 3 remixes/ interpretations of songs to come, to disturb a bit and make people wonder what’s coming.

-with which kind of bands do you use to play ? are you sometimes on the bill of electro shows?

-we don’t play on electro shows much, it depends of the open-mindedness of shows organisers but I think we’re too much guitar oriented and metal for most electro shows organisers…but we opened for Scorn in Brussels (Mick congratulated us for our show), and played with dub or experimental bands. But these years we mostly played with metal bands, grind, punk, post rock, noise…and that’s ok with me because some were killers!

N : organisers have trouble to set up shows with bands of different musical styles. On the contrary we are really open and we like playing with bands doing something different than we do.

-what about the lyrics of the songs ? why does the record is called Like animals?

N : “Exuvia” is about Amazonia sending killer spiders against man as a vengeance. “IT” is about a man bit by a scorpion and falling into delirium. The song “zoo” is about a man who prefers spending his time watching “reality-tv” than facing the real world because he fears people, feeling that they behave like they are in a zoo. “Mammoth” is about all these assholes that crush everything on their way without thinking and paying attention to other people. The album is called “Like animals” like the song of the same title which notes that man is the worst animal.

L : on this album we were more directed towards songs about the destruction of nature or man’s behaviour, two themes that were already present in our previous record but it is more stressed in this one.

-do you already have ideas concerning your next record ?

-L : “like animals” was released just a few months ago, so for the moment we are still touring to present it, still many things to do for it. We don’t think about the next record yet, we have the time…

-apart from touring any other things planned for 2012 ?

-L : we plan to do a second maxi for free download in the year with remixes again. for 2013 we plan a split with Grünt Grünt a really good grind band from Angoulême (France), if all goes well we’ll also release an EP with 3 or 4 unpublished songs for our 15 years of existence, interested labels can contact us…

-something to add?

A big thank you for your curiosity! good luck for the future.

the video for IT from Like animals :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xox2zq_p-u-t-it-extrait-de-l-album-like-animals_music

DISCOGRAPHY
ALBUMS
2001: "Bitterness, despair & cynicism" CD (P.O.G.O. Rds)
2002: "Surgical [e.p]" CD (P.O.G.O. Rds / Djeuze Grou Prod.)
2005: "Happy Day" CD (P.O.G.O. Rds)
2006: "Llive at bois d’arcy 14/01/06" CD (P.O.G.O. rds)
2008: "Live at Magasin4" 2CD: Xcrocs Records - Fr) // tape: Noise park activities (At) + Yaizekletka (Ru)
2010: "The End" (Dirty roadz)
2012: "The End" (Yaizekletka Rds - Russia)
2012: "Like animals" (pogo - dismember)

MAXIS & 7"
1999: Démo "Only friends sessions" - sold out -
2002: "Limited ed. series vol.01" (P.O.G.O. Rds) - sold out -
2004: "Acoustic sessions" (P.O.G.O. Rds) - sold out -
2004: "Limited ed. series vol.02" (P.O.G.O. Rds) - sold out -
2004: promo 4 titres (Rought mix version) from "Happy days" (P.O.G.O. Rds) - sold out -
2007: "Follow my wave e.p." (P.O.G.O. Rds - Spook Core Music - Dustin Must Die - Rottingham label - Elf Flesh Industries - Subconscious Manifestation - Deadknife Rds )
2007: Maxi album "Limited ed series vol.03" (P.O.G.O. Rds - Spook Core Music - Dustin Must Die - Rottingham label - Elf Flesh Industries - Subconscious Manifestation - Deadknife Rds)
2008: 45 tours "See the light / They Live" (Noise Records - France)
2010: "my sun is dying" (Dirty roadz)
2011: "wake up in the water" (Dirty roadz)
2012:  "IT" (pogo - dismember)
and many compilation in France, Netherlands, USA, Japan... 

Grand magus-The hunt

If you like old school rocking heavy metal you probably already know Grand magus. The swedish band once again don't disappoint with The hunt, their fifth record released this may on Nuclear blast records. Grand magus is heavy metal the way Dio and Judas priest were heavy metal, and The hunt is heavy, melodic, epic and mighty. A song like Iron hand could fit nicely in Bristish steel and at the same time Grand magus has a strong personnality and you can recognise one of their song at once. And the powerful and pure class vocals by JB (also guitarist in grand magus) play a large part in that. Of course the arrival of Ludwig Witt (who was with JB in Spiritual beggars) as new drummer wasn't something to slow the progression of the band. 

To sum it up The hunt is highly recommended if you're into old school heavy metal. With the King giant record, dismal hollow, it is my favourite heavy metal record for 2012 yet.

Grand magus official site

and just below you can read JB's answer to my questions about Grand magus and The hunt  (thanks a lot JB!) :

-with The hunt and Ludwig Witt replacing Sebastian Sippola on drums Grand magus starts a new chapter. What can you say about it?

It’s very interesting and like a new beginning. You know when you’re only three people in a band, any changes will have a huge effect on the whole band. Ludwig is obviously a great drummer and the perfect man for the job in Grand Magus, but he’s also really enthusiastic about the whole thing and I think it makes things exciting for Fox and myself too.

-the lyrics seems now to revolve mainly about “Viking times” while it used to touch also more “philosophical” subjects on some songs, is it so?

Yes, they are a combination of both things. Mainly the start is always something emotional, something I feel strongly about, then it takes on different meanings and levels and evolves into something more than just words, you know?

-I like all your records since the first one, but  I’am especially pleased with The hunt which is for me really a peak in the Grand magus discography (the best with maybe Iron will in my opinion). What is your feeling about it and the place of The hunt in the history of the band?

I agree. At the same time, I can’t judge or listen to our albums the same way I can judge and listen to other bands music. All our albums have been the best we could do at a certain point in time and while you get better at your craft, sure things get better and more accomplished, but that doesn’t mean that the older stuff is less powerful or “worthy”.

-I think it’s an influence for you since a long time, but it seems to me that on The hunt a cool “early Judas priest” vibe is more present than ever while keeping the special Grand magus sound and personality. What do you think about it?

I totally agree. That was actually something I really tried to accomplish. That kind of adventurous and sometimes a bit loose feel you would find on STAINED CLASS or SIN AFTER SIN.

-“son of the last breath”  has an intro (and outro) a bit different, how was it written?

Yes… it was like a nightmare journey, haha! It was co-written with Nico who also produced the record and he’s responsible for a lot of the acoustic guitar parts and stuff on that track. The basic melody in the beginning that also is the framework for the cello parts was just a little thing I came up with on the way home from the studio one day. It’s got a strong influence from Scandinavian folk music which is something both me and Fox grew up with. Then you have the riff that is in IRON HAND as well that Fox came up with. It’s like a puzzle.  

-how are your recent shows, with the new songs and Ludwig Witt?

They have been great, the new songs work excellent live and Ludwig has been awesome!

-how did you get into metal? What does it represent for you?

Very early. I actually grew up with metal due to my older brothers who were teenagers when I was 3. They listened to Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Nazareth, Black Sabbath etc. and I heard that stuff from very tender age. For me metal is power, excitement and basically a necessity in my life. I couldn’t imagine a life without it.

-how do you explain the fact that Sweden produce so many good hard rock/metal bands?

I think Swedes in general are quite musical or at least are very interested in music. We like to sing and there’s a strong tradition of music in the country. Another thing is that we are quite good at gathering influences from other countries.

-which new heavy metal band do you like? Which other kind of music do you listen to?

I don’t really listen to any new bands. I listen to the old bands, haha. I still think the old guard that are active does great music. I like a lot of different stuff, but metal is my main diet.

-how do you see the evolution of Grand magus, from the first record until now? Seems to me that bit by bit the “classical heavy metal” influence got more present whereas the “stoner” (or “doom” in Monument) sound of the start faded away?

Yes, I agree. I can’t really add anything to that.

-do you already have ideas or songs or the next record?

No songs yet, haha! We finished the album in March, so it’s a bit too soon, you know? Ideas, yes.

-do you have something to add?

Heavy metal is the law!

Hammers-Vardogr

Hammers from Manchester UK plays since a few years now a very good dark metallic hardcore ("blackened" if you want) and they give us some more with a third record released in june and called Vardogr. Once again they offer quality music burning intensely with a dark flame. The songs are well crafted and the record has enough variety to keep up the attention of the listener, from blastbeating to d-beat to slower tempi. The production is crushing heavy the way it should.

So if you like this kind of music I recommend you listen and/or download it for free on their Bandcamp (physical copies are coming).

here's an interview with the Hammers guys, read it below :

-to start with can you present the band?

Sacha - Hi there, I'm Sacha and I play the guitar in the band and do my best to scream. Nick plays drums and Daniel plays bass and also shouts.

 

-do you play or have played in other bands?

Sacha - I have been playing in bands for a long time as I'm fairly old! The bands I was in that anyone outside of Switzerland (I'm from there) will have heard are Product, Milan old school sxe hardcore and The Secret. I was also in a punk rock band called My Stupid Dream, a metalcore band called Glorification, and before that in a new-metal band called Haggard. My first proper band was called Belch and it was a lot of fun.

Nick - I've been in loads of bands, as a drummer I'm pretty much in demand so have been in at least 2 bands at once since I was 17. I'm currently in Well Wisher and WExHAPPENEDxNEXT and have just started a screamo band with some friends too. I used to be in Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!! Anxiety Attack, Hail Brethren and Calculon to name a few.

 

Daniel - I only play in Hammers currently, but previously I've been in a few pop punk bands with my good buddy Ruth (The Cost of Living, Get Serious) and a few more serious folk/emo collectives (North Cross, Carraway), I've also temped in a few other bands over the years.

 

 -how did you get into this kind of music?

Sacha - I don't really know how to answer this question and that's because I don't know if I'm really into the kind of music we play! It sounds strange but I'm sure a lot of musicians get it. The bands that we could maybe be compared to that I like are Converge, Trap Them, Cursed... but I tend to listen to other styles or bands most of the time. I didn't start Hammers, so when I joined the style of the band was already more or less there. When I started writing music I just added my style to it. I think that Vardogr is the first time a Hammers record sounds like a completely formed one.

Nick - I started a metal band with some friends at school and we got a gig at this place called The Yorkshire House in Lancaster. We played with a bunch of local bands, one of which was called Lee Malvo and was dead fast thrashy hardcore and I was so into it! Got talking to them and they put on fast gigs at The Yorkshire House for £3 entry, so I got to see awesome bands from the local area and all over the world such as Perth Express, Fighting Shit, Beecher, Narcosis. I spent all my wages on records from the distros and then started a band with some local dudes into fast. It went from there.

 

Daniel - I honestly don't remember how I ended up listening to this kind of thing, it's been a natural journey. The first heavy music I can recall getting into and feeling as though I was part of something was straight edge hardcore, everything else seems to've stemmed from those mid-teen years. I'm into a lot of different things, so I find it easier not to think about any given genre and just to enjoy what I enjoy. Being able to travel and play with a real diverse selection of really great bands and people is my favourite thing about being in Hammers. It's not neccesarily that it's 'this kind of music', more that we're mostly all just this kind of people.

 

-tell us about the writing and recording of Vardogr? Can you also explain its name?

 

 Nick - I've really enjoyed writing this record. We've argued a lot, got stressed over it, got excited over it and I think all 3 of us have ended up really happy with it. Also keeping that we'd started playing again a secret initially helped because we didn't do any gigs, we just practiced and focused on writing, which was great.

Sacha - Some of the songs were ones we were writing when we stopped, so we started from those, used a couple of riffs that we tried to fit into a few songs before and then just wrote brand new music. It was a really nice and natural process. I want someone to ask me about the references and influences to my riffs cause I tried to squeeze a lot of stuff I like into these songs. As it turns out a year wasn't enough time for us though, since the vinyl will be ready a week into the tour! We recorded in a few different sessions in a studio right next door to our practice room, so that was nice and relaxed.

Daniel -  The records name came about when Sacha sent me links to an article on bilocation, and the concept grew from there. The word 'vardoger' is from Norse mythology and roughly interpreted means 'one who goes before'. For example, when you're thinking of someone and then the phone rings and it's that same person, that could be said to've been that person's spirit walker visiting you in thought as a precursor to the actual contact. In the same instance though, they could've only called you because in return when you thought of them your own spirit walker visited them and so on and so on.. There are a number of different interpretations of the concept and I hope that's come across with the record. I personally used the notion across a variety of subjects (even though I'm aware a lot of it comes over as quite similiar lyrically), but for me the record covers the mythology side of things, and then more intimate interpretations of loss, thinking of certain people, missing certain people and a sense of spiritual longing and connections. It's basically a record about ghosts, of some nature or another.

-what about the artwork of the record?

Sacha - The record will come in a laser-cut envelope sleeve with a 12 page booklet and a little something to make it interesting.. Each cover has been screenprinted by me, a total of 3500 individual prints! As soon as we get the records back from press, we'll be posting some pictures of the whole package. I think it looks very nice and it's been a long process, it would be great if people thought it was good too. I was always surprised by the nice words about our record covers and it's very rewarding to know our efforts are appreciated. Our designs, tshirts, record covers are just as personal as our music.
 
-what about the lyrics? Is the song called The Spectacle linked to the situationnist critique?

Daniel - In the past Sacha and I have shared the word writing task, however this time around I did all of the lyrics based on the concept I mentioned earlier. I write in a pretty vague manner, so really everything is open your own interpretation. If you interpreted that song as being linked to that, that I am more than happy for that to be the explanation. I know there are many songs that I hear and misinterpret the entire weight of, by twisting them to meet my own situational needs. The Spectacle was a title I'd had in store for a while and the lyrics were the last to be completed for the record. It generally turned out as a combined reflection on corporate conduct, with a few references to the poetic edda.

 

-how is the metal/punk scene in Manchester? Which bands would you recommend from the area?

Sacha - There are a lot of good bands at the moment, a lot of new bands. Our friends Pine Barrens are very good, there's Knife Crimes and Esoteric Youth as well... The scene is growing and we have a couple of new venues and quite a lot of shows.

Nick - I'm also really into Wode and NASDAQ and there's a new band called Heroin Diet who I've seen once and we're ace! As Sacha said, there's a lot of new venues popping up which are either really cheap or free to hire, there's people with PAs and sound guys willing to help out with gigs for little or no money and there's a big group of people putting on gigs at the moment. Music in Manchester is generally pretty exciting right now!

-you give your music for free on your bandcamp page, is it for promotional means or do you think that music should be free? Or that mp3’s should be free?

Sacha - I personally think music should be free. I have a lot of records and I always buy more, but what I pay for is a product, a record that has to get pressed and packaged, and that needs paying for. Music is different, especially in the internet age. When I was a kid I would tape music from friends CDs or even from the radio (I remember staying up late when I was 12 to record Guns'n'Roses' concert in Paris!) and that's how I would get to know new bands and new music. My cousin gave me tapes of AC/DC and Bon Jovi and that kickstarted my passion for music and rock music in particular. With the internet it's easier then ever to get hold of music and a lot of people will get into buying records, going to shows and support bands in general. The only argument against file sharing or downloading comes from record labels or greedy people. It's gonna be better in about 10 years when record labels won't exist anymore, CDs will be a novelty product and bands will be in complete control of what they do. I'm excited for it!

Nick - Completely agree with Sacha. Music should be shared. I've made a mix CDr with a bunch of current UK bands on which I'm giving away for free on this European tour to share the rad bands we have in the UK. All the bands I asked to be on it are 100% up for it....nobody wants any money for it, we just want it to be free and enjoyed by everyone!

-you told me you are currently on tour, tell us more about that tour?

Sacha -  Tour starts tonight! We're opening for Tragedy in Bradford and then we start with a big drive down to Cornwall tomorrow. I'm writing this interview 4 hours before we leave. We're gonna be playing pretty much all over Europe and beyond, including countries we've not been before like Spain, France, Serbia... It's gonna be great, especially if we can leave the horrible Manchester weather behind.

Daniel - I booked the tour to be a mix of places and people we've visited before and places that we'd been asked to visit before and hadn't been able to. It covers a lot of ground in 4.5 weeks (about 6300 miles!), but we've just bought our own van (a lovely little Renault called Suzanne..) so we're confident and comfortable to be undertaking something so huge. I won't start to relax until a week or so into the tour, but that's just the kind of worrier that I am. I love to organise but it brings out my social anxieties whilst on the road.

 

-apart from touring do you plan something else for 2012? What will be the future for Hammers?

Sacha - One thing we want to do is this collaboration with Manatees that we've been talking about for a couple of years. If it works, you expect a 7 piece band of sheer heaviness! I would like to write a 7" when we come back from tour and see what we sound like after a month or playing every day.

Daniel - We'd like to tour everywhere, Nick especially wants to go to South America first. I'd really like to revisit Sweden and the rest of northern Scandinavia, and we've been on a permanent invite to Greece through our good friend Mike. It all comes down to time and money, it's a shame but it's the way it all works unfortunately. We're forced to tour less due to work commitments, but it means we can plan further ahead and really make the most of the available time we have. It'd be nice to revisit a lot of the collaborations and splits we had planned when we were going at breakneck speed, I'd like to be more prolific, but through genuine productivity rather than rushing ourselves.

-your turn to ask me a question and/or add something in conclusion?

Sacha - Do you have any lego or other 80s toys I could have? Especially Masters Of The Universe, G.I.Joe, Transformers... I'll trade you Hammers merch!

 

Nick - Do you want to start a band with me?

Sorry I didn't kept my legos or 80's toys... but I send a message to all my readers, if you got some, just contact Sacha!
Nick if you knew my poor musical skills you wouldn't want to start a band with me... or maybe some harsch noise improvised stuff?

Low volts-Twist shake grind break

This record aptly called "Twist shake grind break" smells sweat and booze. Released in my 201 it is the debut record of Low volts is a one man band from San Diego playing slide guitar, a kickdrum and singing. The music he plays is bluesy garage rock stripped of any artifice, carrying the true spirit of good ol'dirty rock'nroll. Could make a good soundtrack for dwelling in old boogie bars lost in any swamp or desert (with the cool western feeling of "huntin" feedin' drinkin'").

nothing new under the moon but a cool record filled with good rocking vibrations.

You can listen to it on its BC Page.

www.lowvoltsmusic.com/