Modern melodic death metallers Allegaeon from Colorado, US quickly established themselves in the metal scene, less than a year after their formation and releasing their self-titled EP they signed with Metal Blade Records in 2009 and they have been going strong ever since. They are currently working on their fifth anticipated album and touring with Ne Obliviscaris in Europe so I caught up with guitarist Greg Burgess to discuss this and more…
So you guys formed a decade ago now back in 2008, can you tell us about how the band came to be?
I moved to Colorado in 2007, to get my masters degree in Classical Guitar Performance, at Lamont School of Music. While I was prepping for school I spent my days practising and looking for a band to join. Every band I contacted wasn’t really interested until Allegiance sent me a message on MySpace. At that point, it was a whole different group of guys. The lineup shifted until right before we tracked our self-titled EP and we changed our name to Allegaeon.
During the recording sessions for ‘Proponent for Sentience‘, Denver, CO’s ALLEGAEON recorded two Rush covers. Fans have already heard ‘Subdivisions’, which was included on the album and has since become the band’s most streamed track on Spotify. ALLEGAEON is releasing their cover of ‘Animate’ worldwide on all digital music services. Listen to the song and stream/download from your preferred provider here: smarturl.it/allegaeon-animate
Guitarist Greg Burgess elaborates: “When we settled on Rush to cover during the ‘Proponent’ sessions, I simply couldn’t pick which song to do. ‘Subdivisions’ or ‘Animate.’ Both were favorites for me personally, and both were sort of ‘under the radar’ eg. not ‘Tom Sawyer’ or ‘Spirit of the Radio.’ Where the original idea was to do a cover for a Japanese bonus track, we figured if we did both we could cover a special song for both the Japan AND Europe pressing. Then the powers that be decided to just include ‘Subdivisions’ on the album, and keep ‘Animate’ in reserve for something. Jan 6th, 2018 is the only occurrence of the golden ratio in date form that will occur during our life time. So 1.6.18 seemed like the perfect date to release it in Allegaeon fashion.”
REVIEW: Arch Enemy – Will To Power by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy
Swedish melodic death metallers Arch Enemy are back with their tenth album and follow up to the successful 2014 ‘War Eternal’ which saw new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz’s take to the helm, and was the first album in thirteen years to feature a new line-up after former long-time vocalist Angela Gossow stepped down. The transition went well and she was quickly accepted by fans. With this new album ‘Will To Power’, it is the first album to feature respected guitarist Jeff Loomis who joined in 2014 and notably is the first to incorporate more clean vocals throughout, again showing off Alissa’s wide talents and the evolution of Arch Enemy after their two-decade career.
Opening song ‘Set Flame To The Night’ is a scene setter, with voices and sirens accompanied by resonant fast and alarming guitars that build suspense and foreboding…
‘The Race’ furiously kicks off with Alissa White-Gluz’s fierce screamed vocals and urgent guitars. The guitar work, especially towards the end, carries over the creepy vibes seen in the opener. It features crashing riffs and rapid drums throughout, this is a solid and savage first full offering and sets the bar high.
Finnish metal group Noumena will release their fifth studio album ”Myrrys” on the 28th of April. The album is a strong follower to Noumena’s previous album ”Death Walks With Me” released four years ago.
As an appetizer, Noumena serves a single track “Metsän viha” in digital services and as a lyric video in YouTube:
– Metsän viha is an upbeat opening track of the album, which is a great choice as a single as well. The song combines catchy melodies, badass riffs, overwhelming drumming and Andy’s and Suvi’s merciless growls. Lyrics deal with the humanity’s ability to destroy everything vital and dear, comments guitarist Tuukka Tuomela, who has composed the song.
The album is an eloquent combination of 90’s style melodic death metal and melancholic Finnish mollie tunes. The album is mixed and mastered by the metal visionary Dan Swanö, who has ensured wide and dynamic sounds. “Myrrys” offers a musical journey all the way from catchy upbeat moments to sturdy and desolate emotions.
With melodies, riffs, sounds and lyrics, “Myrrys” paints a picture of a mindscape filled with contradictions and Northern despair. The album title “Myrrys” (old Finnish) refers to ruckus, tumult or uproar. So far, Noumena has sticked to English as lyrical language, but the album themes, including Finnish nature and cultural heritage, and intimate stories required the use of Finnish. Every band member has contributed to songwriting, and the formidable cover art is crafted by Finnish young talent Otto Lehtonen.
“Myrrys” is Noumena’s second album with vocalist Suvi Uura, who contrasts and balances skillfully Antti Haapanen’s growls with her deep voice. Uura joined Noumena in 2009 and the rest of the band are original members in the band turning 20 years in 2018.
On the album release day (28.04.2017) Noumena will also release their next official music video directed by Jyrki Murtomäki.
“Myrrys” is released by Haunted Zoo Productions, which is an independent record label established by Noumena members. Distribution by Playground Music and Inverse Records. Released in Russia by FONO under the license from Haunted Zoo Productions. Album is released in CD/LP/DIGI.
Myrrys:
1. Kohtu 0:51
2. Metsän viha 4:25
3. Kirouksen kantaja 5:39
4. Sanat pimeydestä 4:10
5. Sanansaattaja 9:50
6. Roihu 4:29
7. Murhehuone 5:37
8. Pedon veri 3:54
9. Syvällä vedessä 9:48
LIVE REPORT: Children Of Bodom – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 12th March 2017 by Carina Lawrence
Finnish Melodic metallers, Children Of Bodom party hard for their two decade milestone!
Children Of Bodom have impressively been delivering their mixed metal genre, comprised of elements of extreme, power, symphonic and neoclassical for twenty years now and are one of Finland’s finest and bestselling metal artists for their efforts. The band decided to celebrate their hefty two decade reign with the fans on their ‘Down & Dirty’ tour…
It is a pretty packed venue for a Sunday night in London’s 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire which is a well-known music venue, with a beautiful interior and the perfect place to host the bands night of glory and merry atmosphere…
They fittingly take us back to the very beginning opening with a song from their debut 1998 album ‘Something Wild’ launching straight into chaos with ‘Deadnight Warrior’ which immediately gets the crowd going wild, especially following their impatience before the band came out, chanting ‘Bodom!’ to summon them. Sticking with their debut they churn out ‘In The Shadows’ after this. They treat us to many songs from their first offering later in to the set also with, ‘Red Light In My Eyes,Pt 2’, ‘Lake Bodom’, and also revisit it in the encore with ‘The Nail’.
There isn’t much talking from lead guitarist/vocalist, Alex Laiho, as he appears so eager to let loose and play, to simply revel playing endless skilled guitar solo with slick ease, with no complaints from the crowds. When he does briefly talk he is filled with gratitude for the crowd participation and carnage unfolding.
The played a range of brilliant songs spanning their twenty year career as you would expect, including the ever popular ‘Needled 24/7’, ‘Downfall’, ‘Everytime I Die’, ‘Hate Me’. There was however a lack of songs taken from some of their latest albums, such as their current and ninth album with 2015’s ‘I Worship Chaos’ and the previous album, ‘Halo Of Blood’, but seeing as they have nine albums, they can’t play them all, and every single song they plucked out with furious speed went down a storm anyway – these dedicated and mad fans were hungry for any Bodom songs!
Other songs they graced us with came largely from their 2000 album, ‘Follow The Reaper’ with classic likes ‘Bodom After Midnight’ and ‘Children Of Decadence’. The end this triumphant show fittingly they go out playing ‘Towards Dead End’.
For a Sunday night this was mental in terms of the turn out and the energy. The band seemed very conscious and considerate of fans handing out lots of water to the people at the front of the hectic and sweaty pits! There was a lot of crowd surfing, or at least many attempts of this before security stopped them in their glorious plight, expressing their gratitude for the band, along with plenty of head banging, some great circle pits and just general antics – even in the seated areas some fans struggled to stay to their seats, frantically getting up to bounce around and go nuts, showing that all fans were fully engaged and hanging on to every note. They absolutely slayed with all the guitar and keyboard solos especially, that are amazing to witness, with the crowd appreciating each and every one, which there is certainly no shortage off! This was an epic night which left everyone buzzing through their high intensity, energetic and unforgettable performance!
The band chose to film in 360-degree to create the illusion of a “virtual square”, allowing the viewer to control their own vantage point. Bassist Gaetano Ettorre states, “‘For the “Start A New Game’ music video, we created a “modern square” full of confusion and solitude. This square seems crowded by virtual people projected on the protagonist through the monitors, but at the end it’s just a bare and sad room. The protagonist can’t stop watching the monitors as he is essentially fed by that media, so he eventually becomes a puppet under virtual oppression.”
SAWTHIS regard Babhell as their best work to date. Ettorre states, “Babhell, in general, touches upon themes of poor human communication and its negative result. Everyone is talking, and no one is listening or looking at what’s happening right in front of them. Ultimately, in a world where everyone is talking and no one is listening, honest dialogue becomes impossible and thoughts become just noise like a Babel, a hellish Babel, hence the name Babhell. If I had to choose a term to describe the sound of the record, it would be ‘multi-emotional chaos’. Our music is a balance of rage and happiness, resignation and reaction, love and hate-Babhell represents a perfect mix of everything.”
Stay tuned for more tracks and other media coming from SAWTHIS supporting Babhell.
Babhell track listing:
01 The Burning Place
02 My Return
03 Start a New Game
04 Through Hell
05 This String is for Your Neck
06 The End
07 Seabed
08 Waiting for Love
09 Empty Wall
10 Never Alone (feat. Nico Andrea Di Benedetto on keys)
