Metal Injection

Testament's The Formation of Damnation has been hotly anticipated for two reasons.  First, it marks the return of lead guitarist Alex Skolnick.  This resets the lineup to its original members but for drummer Paul Bostaph.  Second, it's taken quite a while.  Since 1999's The Gathering, the band members have been busy elsewhere.  Rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson has his black metal band Dragonlord, Skolnick has his jazz trio, and the drummer's throne is a perpetually revolving door.  Add in reunion touring and record labels folding like cheap lawn chairs, and the result has been a brand in search of a soul.

That soul is back on Formation.  It's a Testament record, no more and no less.  Despite Skolnick's return, it's in line with Testament's output after his departure in the '90s.  Thus, thrash riffs bulge with death metal heft, but leavened by the band's trademark melodic sense.  Skolnick's fluid shredding is welcome and familiar, but it sometimes feels airdropped into material mostly written by Peterson.  Still, this division of labor works best.  Skolnick joins the songwriting credits for "Dangers of the Faithless," and adds the unnecessary complexity that bogged down The Ritual, which he dominated.  Peterson is quite capable of running the show himself.  His "The Persecuted Won't Forget" is some of Testament's most dynamic work in years; when Skolnick swoops in with a jaw-dropping solo, it's merely an added bonus.

The biggest bonus is Chuck Billy, who is seemingly ageless.  His vocals are just as ferocious as they were on Low, when the band dropped its balls to try out death metal.  As always, his lyrics are slightly awkward (e.g., "Election day spitting bullshit to the enslaved / Make them believe compromised insanity").  This time, though, they're at least directed, protesting the war in Iraq.  Anyway, Billy's vocals have always been about their sound.  For having a limited range, he's quite expressive.  When he howls "Fear is only what you feel" in "F.E.A.R.," one can't help but fear him a little.

Formation bursts with energy, yet it's muzzled by overly hot production and mastering that renders it uniformly loud.  The record is one long peak, which makes it a tiring listen.  Andy Sneap contributes his usual clear, heavy mix, but the mastering destroys all separation and smears everything together.  Drums smack futilely against digital zero, and songs never come up for air.  The material is good, the sound is bad, and this comeback leaves the listener wanting more.

7/10

Testament on MySpace
Nuclear Blast Records

Every up-and-coming metal band should watch Born in the Basement.  The DVD, by original Overkill drummer Lee Kundrat (aka Rat Skates), is a metal version of your grandpa's "when I was your age, I had to walk five miles to school" story.  When you're young, the story seems like elder posturing.  Eventually, though, you learn what grandpa meant.

That's the hope, anyway.  Technology and times have changed so much since the '80s that most bands now won't go through half of what Overkill endured.  Imagine a time without computers, MP3's, CD's, Photoshop, and the Internet – basically everything bands use today to promote themselves.  When Overkill formed in 1980, they did everything by hand.

More specifically, Rat Skates did everything by hand.  What he lacked in resources he made up for with resourcefulness.  He hand-drew Overkill's logo, screenprinted t-shirts himself, and used an ink stamper to make stickers and custom guitar picks.  He made cassette tape inserts with copy machines, and shrinkwrapped the tapes by hand.  Those big banners that hang behind bands?  He made a 20-foot one for Overkill using magic markers.  Most impressively, he constructed a huge, bad-ass stage set for Overkill using milk crates.  No doubt he'd be in shock at a band like Job for a Cowboy, who've gotten where they are through the hard work of…making MySpace friends.

Born in the Basement isn't a documentary about Overkill.  However, it includes plenty of material from the band's salad days, including riotous photos featuring KISS-like makeup.  There are pictures of a very young Don Kaye, Alex Perialas, and Jon Zazula (look 'em up).  Radio and video interviews with the band reveal a bunch of snotty, confident kids.  Overkill are thrash's dinosaurs now, so it's a trip seeing them like how we see, say, Animosity or Black Tide today.

True to its subject matter, the DVD feels home-made.  The interviews with Skates feel canned, and the editing works in horribly cheesy American flag-type visuals.  But Skates' passion is so infectious that you'll be on the edge of your seat wondering what crazy DIY solution he'll whip up next.  Once Overkill "made it," Skates only stayed on for two albums.  He left disillusioned that his hard work had yielded so little in an unforgiving music industry.  In the short term, he was right.  In the long term, though, he was wrong.  From the foundation he literally built with milk crates, Overkill is still going strong.  Hopefully now with this DVD, Skates will get his due, too.

Rat Skates on MySpace
Kundrat Productions

I'm conflicted about retro thrash.  As trends go, there's far worse, like metalcore, deathcore, and symphonic Hot Topic-core with token sex object keyboardists.  It gives exposure to old-school thrash, which is never a bad thing.  And unlike other metal trends, at least retro thrash is upfront about the fact that it does absolutely nothing new.

But while respecting the past is admirable, recycling it isn't.  The earth does not need more plastic discs that sound just like plastic discs 20 years ago.  In that case, I'll take the 20 year-old discs, thank you very much.  Let's see, what came out 20 years ago?  1988 yielded Testament's The New Order, Slayer's South of Heaven, Megadeth's So Far, So Good…So What?, and Metallica's …And Justice for All.  Not bad.  None of today's retro thrash even comes close.

What puzzles me is how labels are lining up to sign bands that are copying second-tier thrash – the kind they so gladly dropped in the '90s when grunge came along.  Seemingly every big label has a retro thrash band.  Century Media has Warbringer, Metal Blade has Fueled by Fire, Candlelight has Blood Tsunami, Prosthetic has Skeletonwitch, and Earache has invested heavily in retro thrash with three bands – Evile, Short Sharp Shock, and Municipal Waste.  What are the odds these bands will get dropped in three years, after the trend has passed?

Warbringer are probably the best of this bunch.  Like their peers, they're ripping off the '80s – the upward-modulating riffs in "Instruments of Torture" are pure Slayer – but they're more skilled at it.  Instead of the usual polka beat-fests masquerading as songs, Warbringer have hooky solos, catchy choruses, and fluid transitions.  They also bring the requisite hasty abandon, recalling the intensity of their avowed influences Sacrifice and Demolition Hammer.

Their songs are strong and sometimes memorable.  "Born of the Ruins" has one of the most unforgettable riffs this year from any band.  The old-school production from old-school producer Bill Metoyer is eerily authentic (if there's anything retro thrashers do well, it's studio mimicry).  Yet this record is ultimately unfulfilling.  It thrashes, it rocks, it goes through all the right motions.  But it's no more than the latter.  That's the difference between a brand name cereal and the store brand knockoff.

7/10

Warbringer on MySpace
Century Media Records

Cavalera Conspiracy is the musical reunion of brothers Max and Igor Cavalera after a decade-long estrangement.  Both have moved on from their origins in Sepultura; Max has Soulfly, which continues in the direction of Sepultura's Roots, while Igor has Mixhell, his DJ project.  Inflikted is billed as a return to their punk and metal roots, which is true in form but not substance.

In fact, Cavalera Conspiracy sounds like Soulfly's thrashier, heavier side, which arose after Soulfly added Marc Rizzo as a lead guitarist.  It also sounds like Nailbomb, Max's industrial thrash project with Fudge Tunnel's Alex Newport.  At times, Sepultura's pre-Chaos A.D. thrash comes through, like in the frantic "The Doom of All Fires."  There's really not much difference among these sides of Max; his four-stringed riffs are unmistakable.  They're solidly kinetic, but post-Sepultura, he's churned out so many that they blur together now.

As with Soulfly, the color comes from Rizzo.  He saved Soulfly from nu-metal oblivion, and while his backing here is more robust, his solos and melodies really make the songs.  "Nevertrust" would be standard hardcore punk if not for Rizzo's wildly zigzagging leads.  In "Ultra-Violent," he pours out death metal-esque dissonance, then rockets into a flurry of triplets that would make Kirk Hammett jealous.  Ironically, the plainness of Max's riffs allows Rizzo to take flight with abandon; he's the true star of this record.

Meanwhile, Igor is surprisingly invisible.  His drumming is technically perfect – the barrelling double bass in "Hex" recalls the glory days of Arise – but the sterile, high-tech production erases his personality.  "Dark Ark" dabbles in his trademark tribal percussion, and "Bloodbrawl" has colorful toms.  But otherwise, his sense of groove is gone; he sounds like any other click-tracked machine-gunner today.

Clean and hyper-compressed, Inflikted is the most upscale-sounding record of Max's career.  Rizzo's parts are practically mixed in surround sound; Max's vocals go through all kinds of electronic gadgetry.  His typically simplistic lyrics ("Never trust society / Never trust the system / Never trust the enemy / Never trust the politricks") would nevertheless have rung true in the gritty settings of Sepultura and Soulfly.  Here, he seems to have nothing to say other than, "We're back."

6.5/10

Cavalera Conspiracy on MySpace
Roadrunner Records

Two things jump out about Black Tide.  The first is their youth: they're all under 20, and singer/guitarist Gabriel Garcia is supposedly only 15.  Arizona's Age of Evil are likewise babyfaced, with similar power/thrash metal influences.  Where are these kids coming from???  They make Trivium look old.

The second head-turner is Black Tide's label: Interscope.  That is, the home of 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani, and Jimmy Eat World.  If it hasn't sunk in yet, I'll restate: on their first record, these teenagers are labelmates with Dr. Dre.  Are you jealous, or are you jealous?

Crazy thing is, Black Tide might deserve their good fortune.  Most metal bands will never reach the maturity of Light From Above.  It's true-blue metal lifted straight from the '80s – think Dio, Iron Maiden, Armored Saint.  Thrash beats drop in at times, but otherwise it's melodies for miles.  Garcia naturally sounds young, but he has '80s singing down cold.  His vocals and riffs have a slight cock rock tinge, which makes sense as cock rock and power metal often intersected (e.g., Skid Row's first record).

Songwriting separates Black Tide from their peers, regardless of age.  These are songs one remembers – a lost art in metal.  "Give Me a Chance" is an Ozzy-esque anthem, complete with power ballad clean tones.  "Light From Above" revives Iron Maiden harmonies and retro bass work.  "Enterprise" also weaves guitars together smartly.  Even a filler track like "Show Me the Way" uncorks tasty Van Halen licks.

"Warriors of Time" drops jaws with a luscious acoustic intro that screams "classic."  Its "whoas" are old-school invocations that succeed where Trivium failed on The Crusade; its solos reincarnate Kirk Hammett's triplets in early Metallica.  Subtract one point for covering "Hit the Lights" and falling short – but add half a point for even trying.  It's silly for these kids to be singing about "warriors of time," but it might be apt.  Will Interscope know what to do with them?  They potentially have quite a long-term investment.

7.5/10

Black Tide on MySpace
Interscope Records

Aeon's Rise to Dominate (reviewed here) did just that as one of last year's best death metal records.  Perhaps that's not saying much; 2007 wasn't exactly a banner year for the genre.  But cut through the hordes of MySpace pretenders, and you'll find quality like Aeon – real songs, real vision, real death metal.  Anyone can do "br00tal"; memorable songs are another matter.  Aeon have them in spades.  On only their second full-length, they found a maturity that eludes bands for entire careers.  Catchy riffs, hooky melodies, blasting only when necessary – these are the ingredients that set this Swedish band apart.  Last year, drummer Nils Fjellström joined Dark Funeral, causing Aeon to drop off Metal Blade's 25th anniversary tour in the US.  After booting him out, and a subsequent period of limbo, Aeon recently announced Fjellström's return.  Guitarist Daniel Dlimi answered some questions about the drummer situation, the artwork for Rise to Dominate, burning churches, and Swedish fish.

What's going on with Nils?

Nils has always been playing in many other bands besides Aeon, so that's nothing new for us.  But the main difference now is that Dark Funeral is a pretty much active and touring band, and that can obviously cause us problems.  He does not want to quit Aeon and we sure as hell do not want to lose a such talented drummer, either.  We will see if he is able to handle Aeon, Dark Funeral, and all the other bands he is in.  One thing is for sure, though, we won't tolerate always coming in second like some fucking side project.  We will have to give this a little time to see how everything evolves.

Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse seems to be your #1 fan.  In every interview with him, he cannot stop talking about you guys.  How did this happen?

I am not sure, but I think it started with Erik at Unique Leader sending Alex a copy of Bleeding the False and telling him that we really wanted to tour with them if possible.  He really liked the album ,and we got a spot on their tour as well.  I can't even tell how fucked up it feels to hear him and the rest of the Cannibals raving about how good we are.  I mean, I have been listening to Cannibal Corpse since the early '90s and they are one of my favorite Death Metal bands.  I am the one who should be raving about how good they are, not the other way!

Whom do you consider influences and inspirations?

Death metal bands that have given me a great deal of inspiration through the years are Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Deicide.  Zeb [Nilsson, other guitarist] might be a little inspired by Suffocation, among others as well, but I am not sure.

"When the War Comes" has a crazy diminished arpeggio passage at 3:00.  Is someone in the band musically schooled?

Nils and Max [Carlberg, bass] are the only ones in the band that are schooled.  However, Zeb is a real guitar masturbator and knows all that shit about scales and whatnot.  He is the one who pulls all the solos off.  I must confess that I am almost completely retarded when it comes to musical theory.  I just create music in a way that I think sounds good and don't give a fuck what scales and shit I've used.

Technical geekout time – favorite guitars, amps, drums, effects?

I really love my Schecter C7 Hellraiser guitar!  I have exchanged the bridge pickup on it from the stock EMG 707 to an EMG 81-7.  The guitar looks awesome, sounds amazing, and feels damn great.  As for the amp, an Engl Powerball with two Engl 4×12 standard cabs…it kicks all kinds of ass.  I am not using any effects otherwise.  As a note, we used my Engl Powerball + cabs when we recorded the guitars on Rise to Dominate.  Hmmm, why the fuck am I raving about this gear, it's not like I am endorsed or anything.  So Engl and Schecter, feel free to send me an endorsement offer if you read this.

Zeb is using an Ibanez RG1527 with EMG 707 pickups that he obviously likes.  He is using a Rocktron Velocity power amp and a Sans-Amp PSA-1 preamp with Marshall 1960 cabs.  But I doubt that it's his favorite amp.  I think he would go for an Engl as well, if he had a chance.

Max uses a Spector bass (I don't know what model it is) and an Ampeg SVT-4 amp.

Nils doesn't want to talk about his gear, since he is kind of looking at endorsement alternatives right now, I think.

Why do you hate Christianity so much?

Why not?  Religion is fucking stupid.  And Christianity is pretty amusing to pick on.

"House of Greed" goes, "Burn the church down / Burn it down".  Have you burned any churches down?  If not, would you?

No, I haven't burned anything down… yet.  But I am seriously thinking of burning down the postal office right after I finish this interview, since they seems to have fucked up the shipment of my new Full-HD LCD TV that I have ordered.  It's not a church, but it will do for now.

You say "There will be no heaven for me".  What comes after death?

A pitch black nothingness.  Simply the end.

"Caressed by the Holy Man" seems to be based on a historical story.  Can you go more into that?

Yes, it is based on facts.  It's all about the founder of the Watchtower [Society]/Jehovah's Witnesses.  Tommy thought that he deserved a song on his own.  And as he was chatting with me on MSN, trying to figure out some good lines, I told Tommy, "I am sure that this fucking bastard was a child molester."  And after some quick Google researching, there of course he was.  I think it was easy for Tommy to write the rest of the lyrics after these facts came along.

So you guys don't like Jesus.  This much is clear.  But are you Satanist?  Atheist?  You can't have it both ways, you know.

I can only speak for me, but I am 100% atheist.

You did the artwork for Rise to Dominate in less than a week.  What was that like?

What a fucking trip it was.  I almost had a fucking heart attack every night for 6 days straight.  After I did the artwork for Bleeding the False, I told the guys that I won't do this shit again, ever.  And when it was time for this album, we did hire an artist who painted the cover and put together a layout for it.  He sure did, and he did a great job  The only thing was that it just didn't feel right for us.  When we were looking at the cover, it felt so wrong and NOT Aeon at all.  I was trying to convince myself that it would work.

But a week before the album was going to print, I totally panicked and realized that I/we couldn't live with this artwork.  So I asked Metal Blade how long a time I would have if I wanted to create a completely new cover, artwork, and layout.  The answer: 6 days.  6 stinking days.  I just had to give it my best shot.  So I was working my ass off for 6 nights.  And since I had to take of my daytime job as well, insomnia was a fact.  But in some strange way, I managed to pull it off, and it turned out pretty cool despite the utterly shitty time frame I had to deal with.

What tools did you use? 

A Canon EOS 350D camera, some royalty free stock photos, and Adobe Photoshop.

Do you do other artwork or graphic design?

I have done a couple of other album artworks before this, like our previous album Bleeding the False, Sanctification's Misanthropic Salvation album, and Souldrainer's First Row in Hell CD.  And some other demo CD artwork as well.  Otherwise, it's just hobby artwork stuff and some web design.

What was it like mixing and mastering with Dan Swanö?

It was the easiest thing I have ever experienced when it comes to getting something mixed/mastered.  He was so damn professional.  We sent him the whole project on DVD-R's and gave him a couple of CD titles that we thought had a killer production, just so he had something to refer to.  He started to mix the damn thing for a couple of days, and then he was mailing us some preview mixes.  We told him what we didn't like and he changed it and sent a new mix and so on.  About 10 days later, he was finished and we had a killer mix/master on our hands.  Completely satisfied!  I hope we will work with him again in the future.

Aeon are from a city called Östersund.  What is your hometown like?  Is there a metal scene there?  All I know is that the city hosts biathlon championships.

It's a small little town in the middle of Sweden.  The metal scene here is pretty good.  There are some quality bands here with really talented musicians.  However, there is a lot of inbreeding in the bands.  But that's a typical small town problem, I guess.  I hate sports… I almost didn't know we were hosting biathlon championships, hahahaha.  Fuck biathlon, they'd better get a guitar or some shit like that instead.

When I visit Sweden, I must eat ____.

Surströmming (a stale fish that reeks really bad that people here eat – I sure as hell don't).

When I visit Sweden, I must drink ____.

Norrlands Guld (Swedish beer that tastes like shit).

Any last words?

Thanks for taking your time reading this interview.  Take care.

Aeon on MySpace
Metal Blade Records

Before Amy Winehouse, there was Van Halen.  Tabloids couldn't cook up a saga more banal yet fascinating: Eddie's on the wagon; Eddie's off the wagon.  Diamond Dave's back; no, he's not.  Add drama about the non-brother members (Michael Anthony's out!  And playing with Sammy Hagar!  Who's obscenely rich from tequila!) and continual marital strife, and one almost forgets Van Halen is/was an actual band.  Given the recent tour by the (mostly) reunited original lineup, Ian Christe's biography is quite timely.

Like Sound of the Beast, Christe's history of heavy metal, Everybody Wants Some is wryly lucid.  The chronological presentation starts with the Van Halens' childhood as Dutch immigrants and ends just before the recent reunion tour.  In between, Christe helpfully inserts timelines of the band's various eras (David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, Gary Cherone).  Color photos resurrect a visual history once lost to back issues of Circus and Hit Parader (and fully revived in Neil Zlozower's book Van Halen: A Visual History).  Christe ably distills myths into facts; the story behind the brown M&M's is particularly interesting.

While heavy on facts, the book is light on psychology.  An unauthorized biography, it lacks the exclusive interviews of an authorized one.  Thus, while Van Halen's backstage antics were probably as sordid as Mötley Crüe's, this book is nowhere near as juicy as the Crüe's autobiography, The Dirt.  Still, Christe condenses secondary sources clearly and concisely.  Alex and Eddie's brotherly dynamic is evident and poignant.  Roth comes across as surprisingly human, Hagar perhaps too much so, and Cherone gets a respectful nod, despite Van Halen III being essentially a frisbee.

Like many Van Halen fans, Christe favors the Roth years, yet he competently makes a case for the Hagar era (one appendix is titled "Van Hagar for Dummies").  His even-handedness yields a smoothly flowing "just the facts" presentation.   Everybody Wants Some is the perfect excuse to revisit Van Halen's long, varied catalogue – preferably while reading the book.  You can skip Van Halen III, though.

Ian Christe
Wiley
2007, 320 pages, hardback

Earache has a habit of reheating and re-serving old platters, and iCrusher Complete is no exception.  It collects two DVD samplers, iCrusher 1 and 2, issued in 2001 and 2002, onto one double-sided DVD.  By definition, samplers aren't cohesive.  Sticking two together, along with audio tracks and extras seemingly selected by a blind man, makes for one of the most random viewing experiences in recent memory.

The DVD starts jarringly – not with roaring guitars, but with techno beats.  Images follow of the prosthetic-nosed Mortiis rolling around in sand and mud.  He also hangs out in a cathedral, accompanied by a rather strong wind machine.  Beavis would have started dancing; Butthead would have slapped him in the face and changed the channel.  It's a strange choice for the leadoff spot, yet more goth club Mortiis stylings begin side two.  Earache must really love the dude.

Most of the videos are extremely low-budget.  My notes for Gandalf's "Morning Sun": "This is weak and cheap."  Godflesh's "Christbait Rising": "primitive, but it works."  The harsh yet dreamy hues of the latter evoke flickering, dying TV's.  The video of Cathedral's "Black Sunday" isn't synced to its audio; it's just live shots interspersed with silly hijinks road footage that no one but the band would find funny (why bands fill DVD's with such tripe is beyond me).  In Hate Eternal's "Powers That Be," the band inexplicably plays in a forest, while a hooded figure runs around.  It's basically a black metal video.

However, there are a few gems.  Live footage of The Haunted, recorded for Live Rounds in Tokyo, looks crisp and sounds clear.  Watery shots of Venice perfectly complement the surrealism of Ephel Duath's "The Embossed."  The video for Decapitated's "Spheres of Madness" is essentially Hellraiser but not scary; still, the song kicks ass.  It's a treat seeing live footage of Entombed at their prime (circa 1992), and live footage of Carcass playing "Tools of the Trade" is amazing.  It looks and sounds great, and is a reminder of how much metal loses when it gets bit-crushed in YouTube.

The bonus audio tracks are actually two long DVD chapters – you just watch pictures of the bands as their songs play.  It's boring as hell.  Over the years, Earache has released some truly awful music, and it's astonishing that they would remind the world again of that fact.  There's Society 1, a crappy Marilyn Manson clone; Autonomy, a crappier rap-metal outfit; and Ultraviolence, a Hi-NRG dance act whose name is accurate in that it describes what I'd like to do to them.

Even more desultory are the video extras.   An "up close & personal" feature on Society 1's Matt Zane is promotional fluff and neither up close nor personal.  A making-of feature on Society 1's "Nothing" video shows Zane getting pierced in his back and getting suspended in the air by hooks.  Without commentary, the feature manages to be both horrifying and boring.  An "in the studio" feature on December recording The Lament Configuration cobbles together shaky handcam footage with blown-out sound.  It ends abruptly, leaving you wondering what you were watching – much like the rest of the DVD.

Earache Records

Black metal lyrics generally fall into three categories: (1) Satan, Satan, Satan; (2) Odin, Odin, nature; and (3) kill yourself, but not before buying my album.  The promo of The Plague doesn't have printed lyrics; the marble-mouthed, croaking vocals don't help.  But Necronoclast's website has the magic word: "suicidal."  Door number three, unsurprisingly, leads to a one-man band.

"Greg," a Scottish fellow, conjures up the usual suspects – Burzum, Xasthur, Leviathan, Krohm.  However, he doesn't paint the usual smear.  The attention to detail is great.  "Degeneration" could have shot its blastbeat load and called it a day, but it slips in a creepy, clean-toned coda.  "Necronoclast" narrows to hovering feedback, then slams into the next track.  The purple-hearted jangles of "Vultures" suggest The Cure roasting on spits: Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me.

But Necronoclast aims higher than mere wrist-slitting.  For starters, his drum machine is too robust (the dude can program a mean fill).  The percussion slices cleanly through the mix, a far cry from the usual pitter-patter of one-man bands.  Instead of lone misanthropes, the guitars evoke darkened skies.  The solo in "Degeneration" carves contrails of falling ordnance.  "Necronoclast" is martial, almost epic.  Shrouded pallbearers trudge wearily through "Faceless."  The cover image of circling vultures is apt.

The Plague inhabits a strange netherworld between Anaal Nathrakh and Xasthur.  Is its apocalypse external or internal?  As in war, a clarification of mission would help.

7/10

Necronoclast on MySpace
Moribund Records

It's wakey, wakey time, kids. For the naysayers who think Erik Rutan was crazy to quit Morbid Angel – look at what they've done since. For the tin-eared who claim he can't produce – you've probably jammed on his records all year. For the haters who think Hate Eternal is about nothing but speed – did you even hear I, Monarch? In the face of adversity that would break most people – physical injury, loss of band members, the death of a best friend, bassist Jared Anderson – Rutan has not only survived but also flourished. He's built Hate Eternal into a death metal juggernaut. His Mana recording studio is in hot demand, having yielded ripping records by Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under, and Dim Mak, among many others. On the eve of the release of Hate Eternal's new record, Fury & Flames, Metal Injection caught up with the frontman/guitarist on tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, 3 Inches of Blood, and Decrepit Birth.

How's the tour going?

It's going great, man.

How do you like this tour package?

It's good. In this day and age, having a variety of metal seems to work out. In order to have a successful tour, you almost have to have a mixture. Black Dahlia is awesome. They're super-pro and they're a great band. 3 Inches of Blood is a killer metal band. Decrepit Birth's an awesome death metal band. It's been a huge tour. It's been packed shows every night.

I've noticed that these more diverse shows get more women.

Oh yeah, that's true. A lot of women. I think a lot of 'em are young girls on this tour. It's good to get the young kids – they're hungry.

How is it being on Metal Blade?

Metal Blade is the best label there is, in my opinion, for metal. It starts with the staff, from Brian Slagel down to the end of the line. They're all incredible. I worked with them many times for records I've produced for Metal Blade. So when we were done with our contract with Earache, I knew we were going to Metal Blade. I didn't even entertain anyone else.

You're a well-known football fan. Is your love for football related to your love for metal?

I use football analogies all the time. I was talking the other day about how on this record, everyone worked together. And in the past records, everyone bought into the system. I set up the game plan, and everybody believed in the system. Being in a band is like a team sport. It's like football in a way. Every night, the mission is to destroy. I love football because it's brutal. It's a brutal sport, and death metal obviously is brutal.

You worked with Paul Romano again on the artwork. What was working with him like, and what's the concept behind the artwork?

Paul – he's the best. He's super-detailed, and he's a deep guy. He gets to the grit of the record, and the inspiration behind it. He likes to get a pre-rush advance, and I give him all the lyrics. I talk to him about the concept of the album and what I'm thinking as far as the vision of the album [goes].

When my friend Jared Anderson passed away, my old bass player – that was a huge influence on the whole album for me. That's how the record came about, [as] a tribute to him. For a long time, I was thinking of a title that would represent him. [Romano] came up with the concept of the Furies, which is Greek mythology, with the women on the left, and the man entering into death on the right with his death mask.

In death metal, you probably hear the word "death" constantly, so maybe for you it doesn't have the same impact it has for most people. With your friend's passing, did the word get meaning again?

No, it's separate. I never really looked at it that way. It's just different. It's more irony, I guess, than conjoined.

What I took away from I, Monarch was the whole duality concept. To me, your career has been about turning death into life.

I've had a lot of people die in my life. That's definitely influenced my music over the years.

How does this influence manifest itself?

It's just a different emotion going on. When Jared passed away, it was such a shock. It was tough times for a while. Jared was one of my best friends. He was going to come back to the band. When he was gone, it was just me on my own. I had nobody else in the band. It was just me, dealing with Metal Blade. His death – it consumed me. Through the whole record, I felt like I had that much more reason to do it the best I could. I was feeling all along that he should have been there. I [would] walk into my studio, and [see] the records that we put together. The whole time, his presence was there.

How's Mana coming along?

It's going awesome. I've produced about 40 records now. I'm starting to get a nice resume. I have an A and a B room at the studio, so that I can accommodate smaller and bigger bands. I've got three guys working for me there now. They keep it busy while I'm gone on tour. That was a big [deal] for a while. I'd go on tour and the studio would be dead.

How did Mana get its name?

I just happened to be reading about Rapa Nui, Easter Island. "Mana" represents spiritual power. It seemed like a really powerful name for a studio. Music is a spiritual power. It's magic. Music is magic, especially from the beginning to the end of a record – to see it flourish and become something that lasts forever.

When you produce records, you see every micro-detail of them. Does this get in the way of this magic?

Sometimes you drill a point so hard, you lose the spontaneity of the moment. That's the hardest thing, trying to have a balance of hammering – which I do – and not letting [musicians] get beat down. It's hard, because everybody's different. It's like psychology, dealing with people's personalities, how much I can get out of them before breaking them. You don't want to do that. Unfortunately, sometimes that happens. People get broken down. I would say, "Hey man, it's another day tomorrow." I always try to spin it positive. But recording records is as hard as it gets. I make people work in the studio, rather than just let Pro Tools [do the work].

You're renowned for that.

There's plenty of other guys, engineers and producers, that are fine with letting Pro Tools [take care of things]. To me, that's not music, that's technology. I think it loses the vibe of recording when you just let technology fix everything. I like to make the player work, [to] get the best out of him, and [to] do whatever I have to do to make the record sound solid. I would definitely take the hard work over, "Oh, that's good enough, we'll fix it later." I don't like that mentality. It doesn't build character.

What does it take for a band to work with you?

Just contacting me, you know?

Would it have to be metal?

No, not at all. It does have to be something I like. I listen to all kinds of music, so I'm not jaded or closed-minded to anything. Honestly, I'd like to do other music, no matter what it was – Celtic music, Persian music, anything. I love instrumentation. I've recorded violins, opera singers, acoustic guitars, tablas, timpanis, different instruments. I've been fortunate that I've been able to work with bands I really enjoy. I find good in a lot of things. Just because I don't play [a style] of music doesn't mean I don't feel it.

What are you guys listening to in the van?

We've been listening to a lot of Nile lately.

You guys are driving fast.

Yeah, exactly! That new Nile record is the fastest thing alive. We've been listening to that a lot. We've been listening to some Metallica and Iron Maiden. Power metal is good driving music, man. Iron Maiden is the perfect driving music.

My theory is that the melodies rise above the road noise.

That's true. You can't listen to Hate Eternal and drive. You'd probably crash, you know what I mean? Even Nile, man, we've had some moments like, "Whew!" We were listening to Brain Drill the other night, and I thought I was going to fucking total the van. We had to put something else on. It's just too much. The notes and the brain and the driving and the fucking snow – I was like, "Dude, you gotta take that off, bro, I'm going to fucking crash."

Will you do another Alas record?

Yeah! I've got a lot of music written for it, too. I gotta coordinate it with the rest of the guys.

Will you have the same singer?

I'm not sure. She lives in Austria, and she has kids now. I have another girl who's a friend of mine who sings opera. She has a master's degree in music and teaches voice and she lives in Tampa. So who knows, maybe I'll have both of them sing. But, you know, Hate Eternal, and especially producing – in the last year and a half, I've done double digits' worth of records. I just haven't had enough time. But I want to make time for it. I really enjoyed doing the first one, and I'd like to make [the next] one a lot better.

You've also talked about doing a Hate Eternal tab book.

Yeah! I go online and all the tab's wrong, and nobody knows what the hell we tune to. So I would like to do a tab book. We're a hard band to duplicate.

It's weird shit.

Yeah, it's weird shit. It's hard to figure out. People can barely figure out what we tune to. They think we tune to B, like a 7-string, just 'cause it's dark shit. We tune to C#.

Your soloing style is pretty unique. What are your influences?

The bends, and some of the Indian sitar-like [makes noises] – like [on] "Tombeau" on the new record, there's a step-and-a-half bend. The bends and the slides…

Do you have any blues background?

No, no blues. Classical.

In classical, you wouldn't have those microtones, but blues would.

Right. I listen to Persian music and Indian music, things that have semitones going on. That's what really inspired a lot of that Middle Eastern [sounding] stuff.

Now that Shaune [Kelley, second guitarist] is in the band, how does that change the live dynamic?

It's like if you had stereo, and then you went surround sound. In my opinion, it never sounded thin as a three-piece, because I had proper gear or whatever. But everything I wrote was for two guitars. Shaune plays different from me, but we work well together. In the past, I'd do solos, and it's just one guy, and you [would] know it. On the new record, you can tell there's two guys because they're really different from one another.

That's old-school.

There's a song [in which] he does all the solos, and two songs [in which] I do all the solos. But the rest of the songs [have], like, total Slayer-esque trade-offs. You can really tell there's two guys.

Are you crediting them in the liner notes?

Totally, yeah, man! There's more solo spots on this record. It wasn't on purpose. It just ended up being that way. The music allowed for it – a lot more air.

You've been in the music industry for a while, so you've seen the transition from cassettes to CD's to MP3's. What's your take on downloading?

I think everything's going to end up being downloaded. Records are being downloaded – obviously illegally, too, but legally – people are downloading [them] and printing out the CD covers. I think eventually it might all end up going that way. CD manufacturing won't be as big anymore, which will be curious on the legality and how to keep track of [sales]. Everything's going to an iPod now.

Metal Blade is putting out this band, The Arcane Order [review], and it's going to be a digital-only release.

No shit! Wow, I didn't know that. That's interesting. I love CD's. I want to read it, I want to look at it. But some people – man, everything's just on an iPod now. They're missing a big part of the puzzle. I like the lyrics, I like the artwork, I read everything in there. We grew up with vinyl. I was buying vinyl, looking at it like, "This is the shit!" You'd buy stuff just 'cause the covers looked cool. That's how I found Iron Maiden.

Does downloading hurt Hate Eternal?

Oh, sure, it's hurting every band. I'm not sure how it all works out. Because of the Internet, there's way more awareness and exposure for everyone. But all the illegal downloading's hurting the whole record industry, the sales, which ultimately [leads to] money that bands don't make. And bands barely make shit anyway.

I've heard some fans make this argument: "Metal bands don't make money from CD's anyway, they make it on the road – so let's download the album."

Awww, that's fucked up, man! That's not true. We do make some money if you have a decent [record] deal. It's coming out of the band's mouth, for sure. It's illegal for a reason, right? [But] it's impossible to control.

How do you feel about the state of death metal today?

There's not a ton of pure death metal bands out there these days. There's a ton of hybrid bands. But everything has to evolve, right? Everything can't be the same. We were listening to Altars of Madness the other day, and it was fucking groundbreaking. Nothing's groundbreaking anymore. I don't know how much more brutal it can become, or more technical or more extreme than it already is. It's really all about standing out.

You look at somebody like The Black Dahlia Murder, who obviously have a lot of death metal influence – they're huge, they're blowing up. I think it's great. Music has definitely become heavier and heavier. I think [death metal] now is in a good state. It's just different. You gotta go with the times, you know? But our music will always be what it is. We don't change for anything.

Hate Eternal 'Bringer of the Storms' directed by Dave Brodsky

Hate Eternal on MySpace
Metal Blade Records
Mana Recording Studios

The Arcane Order make a pretty good Strapping Young Lad.  The resemblance is startling – barreling, precise, melodic death metal with apocalyptic keyboards and outlandishly over-compressed production/mastering that makes snares sound like gunshots.  Kasper Thomsen's vocals even sound like a young Devin Townsend.  There are slight differences – more solos, lusher keyboards, and screams that climb into black metal registers.

But, overall, this is Strapping Young Lad minus the smirk – which is perhaps fine, as SYL is on the DL now.  The musicianship is fantastic, especially the colorful drumming.  "Horizons Buried" has beautifully abstract chords, and keyboards wrap "Eruptions of Red" with an epic warmth that eludes most symphonic metal.  But aside from SYL, Gojira, Textures, and Hacride have already paved this road.  At least this ride down it is smooth.

The real story, however, is in my inbox.  I got this email from Metal Blade:

Metal Blade Records is starting to release ‘Digital Only’ releases, which means these releases will only be available to consumers as digital albums and will not be carried as physical releases in stores. What this means for you is basically that you will only receive these releases as digital downloads to check out for review or interview consideration. We will not be making up physical copies to service as we will not be making physical copies up for sale.

This isn't completely true, as CD's of In the Wake of Collisions are available in Europe.  But Metal Blade's American website lists the album only as a "Digital Release."  In the US, you can download it from iTunes, Napster, Downloadpunk.com, Sony Connect, and Zune – but you can't find it on CD.

It's a huge deal that a label the size of Metal Blade is doing this.  The Arcane Order are not a new band.  Their resumes include established acts like Raunchy, Invocator, and Koldborn.  In the Wake of Collisions is their second record – but the term "record" is perhaps becoming obsolete.  Bands these days receive gold and platinum "records."  But actual vinyl is and will always be a niche medium, and CD's are endangered species.  Will bands in the future get gold and platinum…MP3's?  It's a brave new digital world, and for better or for worse, Metal Blade has jumped in headfirst.

7/10

The Arcane Order on MySpace
Metal Blade Records

Bullet for My Valentine are more metal than you think.  They're also less metal than they think.  The result is music of the most middling sort.  Middling music is what sells the most, but quality is another matter.

Perhaps quality doesn't even matter.  A recent Billboard article detailed Sony/BMG's promotion for the band – radio, video, and online campaigns for the US, Internet for overseas.  The article said, "[BMG executive John] Fleckenstein feels BFMV has found its mark with its contemporary brand of music that harks back to the style of classic English metal and the group's ability to reach a crossover female audience."  Perhaps Scream Aim Fire refers to targeting of demographics.

Of course, Sony/BMG is only doing its job.  Bullet for My Valentine counted on such marketing when they rejected the largest metal label, Roadrunner, for the even-larger Sony/BMG.  Even smaller metal labels now have dedicated personnel or PR agencies for publicity.  Metal is big business – otherwise, Blabbermouth wouldn't exist.

Since label execs on down to consumers are complicit in such structures, perhaps the flak Bullet for My Valentine catch from metalheads is just jealousy.  The band began as Jeff Killed John, playing nu-metal.  When that didn't pan out, the band changed its name and switched to the next trend, melodic metalcore.  On its second album, Bullet for My Valentine signed to a major label, without "paying dues" and developing a grassroots following through touring like other metal bands.

Slogging in vans is not for everyone, though, and Bullet for My Valentine shouldn't be faulted for grabbing success when it hit them in the face.  But they should be faulted for unoriginality.  It's just as well that Roadrunner didn't sign them; otherwise, the label would have had two Triviums on its roster.  "Metalcore" isn't the best tag for these bands, as neither came from the hardcore punk scene.  But they have the same sound that's now called "metalcore": melodic Swedish death metal with occasional breakdowns and good cop/bad cop sung/screamed vocals.

Bullet for My Valentine made loud noises about being "more metal" on Scream Aim Fire.  The first two tracks bear this out, adding thrash to Swedish melodeath harmonies.  However, the rest of the record reveals BFMV's true colors – a Victory emo band in metal clothes.  Occasionally the band feints at harder edges, like the thrashy intro to "Take It Out on Me."  But the song deflates, almost becoming hair metal before remembering to stiffen up for its choruses.  More hair metal emerges in the slick power ballad "Say Goodnight."  One can feel the target demographic shifting from riff to riff.

The band has commissioned artist Tom Manning to create a mini-comic book for each song on this record.  He may regret the gig.  The lyrics are amazingly empty, full of high school diary entries like, "What's happening to me / I'm dying from the inside / Body hurts too much to feel / And pressure adds to pain."  Lead single "Scream Aim Fire" falls considerably short of "For Whom the Bell Tolls": "Fuck this battlefield, the bullets tear around me / Bodies falling, voices calling for me."  The chorus doesn't even make sense; screaming would only disturb one's aim while firing a gun.

Oddly, this is pop music that wants to be metal.  Usually it's the other way around.  This attests to metal's increasing market value, and Scream Aim Fire is very much music for markets.   Much technical skill went into this record; the songs are catchy, the chops are sharp, and the performances are flawless.  But when all soul and emotion has been click-tracked, compressed, and polished away, it's hard not to be repulsed.

5/10

Bullet for My Valentine on MySpace
Sony/BMG

It is peculiar how two people can rock this much.  Consider Black Cobra's bi-bodied brethren: The Spinanes and Mates of State (not that rocking); The Evens and Local H (sort of rocking); The White Stripes (more rocking), Jucifer (yet more rocking), Big Business (pretty goddamn rocking).  These are girlie men (and women), however, next to Black Cobra's Hans and Franz.

Originally a bi-coastal experiment, this San Francisco duo has honed and nearly perfected a now-familiar sound – the pummeling sludge of Unsane, Melvins, High on Fire, Lair of the Minotaur, et al.  Black Cobra's contribution is a singularity of force that results from a stripped-down lineup.  Thus, cut away meanderings from The Melvins and mystical shit from High on Fire.  Black Cobra wield only riffs, drums, and howls, solos be damned.

Yet Feather and Stone is perfectly named.  Its 25 minutes are surprisingly varied.  Clean tones break up the beatdowns of "Thanos" and "Dragon and Phoenix."  Hypnotic, palm-muted menace introduces "Ascension."  These lighter moments make the heaviness heavier; "Red Tide" drops like a tornado after "Thanos."  Jason Landrian's scarred throat recalls Ministry's Al Jourgensen, while Rafael Martinez punishes both drum heads and eardrums.  "Below the Cusp" throws tritones like elbows; "Swords for Teeth" feels like a brawl between very large men.

But Black Cobra aren't that big.  And they kick the asses of "blackened death-tech-core" bands with five posers and a gratuitous model on keyboards.  From now on, there's no excuse for not rocking hard enough.

8/10

Black Cobra on MySpace
At a Loss Recordings

Vader are fond of exclamation points.  This EP, originally available during 2007's Death by Decibels tour, has songs titled "Lead Us!!!" and "Die!!!".  They should have included "Forwards to Die!!!" and "Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)" from their back catalogue, and called the whole thing !!!.

The Lead Us!!! EP contains no new material.  "Lead Us!!!" comes from 2005's The Art of War EP, while "Die!!!" comes from the EP's Japanese edition.  Likewise, "The Book" comes from 2006's Impressions in Blood, while "Raining Blood" comes from that album's Japanese release.  The disc also contains three videos.  "This Is the War" came with The Art of War, while "Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)" and "Sword of the Witcher" were extras on the And Blood Was Shed in Warsaw DVD (reviewed here).

Still, tracking down Japanese editions and full-size videos is onerous, and this EP does a service by compiling Vader's best bonus materials from recent years.  Of note is the blistering take on Slayer's "Raining Blood," easily the best metal cover of this song extant.  The other tracks find Vader at their finest, having evolved into a memorably precise death metal juggernaut.

The EP's greatest draw is its three videos.  "This Is the War" and "Sword of the Witcher" feature state-of-the-art computer animation, and are some of the most visually engaging videos modern metal has produced.  Seeing them on a full-size screen, free of grainy YouTube compression, is a cinematic experience.  25 years into their career, Vader not only have their own sound, but also a vision.

7/10

Vader on MySpace
Regain Records

After At the Gates, Tomas Lindberg has been busy.  He's indulged his crust/grind side in Skitsystem, Lock Up, and Disfear.  He's continued his work in Swedish melodeath with Nightrage and The Crown.  However, The Great Deceiver might be his strangest project yet, exploring realms dangerously close to (gulp) nu-metal.  For proof, see 2003's Terra Incognito, which might grow dreads on your head and send Adidas stripes down your legs.

Life Is Wasted on the Living combines Lindberg's punk and metal sides.  The record mixes d-beat and Swedish melodeath, an odd contrast of primal and epic.  Fortunately, the band has dropped almost all vestiges of nu-metal.  A few half-time grooves remain, but those are now buttressed by toms and a more metallic feel.  "Running with Scissors" and "The Big Radiating Nothing" are bulldozing d-beat-ers, while "A Life Transparent" flashes big, Dark Tranquillity-style melodies – then rides off on galloping d-beats.  Lindberg's rasp is as strong as ever, though the riffing is the real star here.  The production balances grit and polish, layering instruments with depth and clarity.

Of note is the artwork, a collaboration between Deathwish, Inc. boss Jacob Bannon (Converge) and Great Deceiver guitarist Kristian Wåhlin.  Yes, that Kristian Wåhlin, the artist who did the covers for At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dissection's The Somberlain, Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and a slew of other other classic albums.  In fact, it was the break-up of Grotesque, Wåhlin's first band with Lindberg, that led to the formation of At the Gates.  In The Great Deceiver, they've returned full-circle, thankfully now with metal minds.

7/10

The Great Deceiver on MySpace
Deathwish, Inc.