Peanut butter and jelly. Movies and popcorn. Pummeling metal and praying for world peace. Some things just go together perfectly.

Welcome to the spectacle that is episode 49 of Issue Oriented. First, your fearless host talks to Burnt By The Sun vocalist (and Issue Oriented contributor) Michael Olender about good and evil, the perils of personal creativity, his band's new release Heart of Darkness and much, much more. It's a thought-provoking piece and we know you'll love it.

Then hear film maker Jonathan Kalafer discuss his new award-winning documentary, We Love You. This film documents an annual event called the Rainbow Gathering, which takes place at a different National Park each year. With up to 50,000 people in attendance, Rainbow Gatherings culminate with a prayer for peace taking place each 4th of July – even if Federal Agents shoot pepper spray at kids on July 3. Which Kalafer captured on film. We Love You recently won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Check out this interview – you'll be glad you did.

LISTEN: Issue Oriented episode 49 with Michael Olender (Burnt By The Sun) and Jonathan Kalafer (We Love You)

Issue Oriented ep49 - Burnt By The Sun, We Love You

 

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We had the extreme pleasure to get an interview with one of the best bands going today, grindcore masters PIG DESTROYER. It was a really fun interview, as the dudes are super nice guys. We learned about their day jobs, what disturbs them, their feelings on cops and much more. Watch it above. If you missed the assloads of live footage we have been posting of the band, here is a full list of what's up so far. I think we still have another clip or so to go:

PIG DESTROYER Loathsome Live
PIG DESTROYER Naked Trees Live
PIG DESTROYER Deathtripper Live
PIG DESTROYER Heathen Temple LIVE
PIG DESTROYER Rotten Yellow Live
PIG DESTROYER The Machete Twins Live

As September 18th draws ever closer, the riff-hungry troops of doom are stocking up on earplugs and rolling papers, preparing to follow the sign of the Southern cross down towards their own uber-resinated version of Mecca. Past the Mason-Dixon line and just shy of Hell itself lies their destination -  Asheville, North Carolina, which, thanks to a bevy of bands and some seriously ambitious promoters, is in turn gearing up to bear witness to the heaviest gig of the year. With the Metal Injection-sponsored (you're welcome) Planet Caravan Festival right around the corner and excitement running higher than Bobby Liebling on a day that ends in "y," we here at Metal Injection figured it was high time we gave y'all a peek behind the wall of sleep and unveiled a brand-new interview with those freshly resurrected, impossibly heavy and inescapably vital purveyors of cosmic, mind-altering "doom with a capital D and six extra O's," YOB.

Resident feedback worshipper Grim Kim caught up with YOB's Mike Scheidt for some gnarly Q&A action about stellar new record The Great Cessation, Planet Caravan, and the neverending triumph of DOOM (in all-Caps, of course). (more…)

Above you will find an interview we conducted with the legendary Dave Lombardo of SLAAAYYEERRRR. It is just one of the many interviews we conducted at Mayhem Fest this summer and we will be posting all of them over the course of the next few days. Rob and Scarlett double-teamed the event, with Rob conducting interviews mid-tour at the Camden, NJ stop and Scarlett conducting interviews at the last stop of the tour in Oklahoma City, OK. Besides the SLAYER Interview, we have already posted interviews with CANNIBAL CORPSE, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and WHITECHAPEL. Make sure to check those out.

In the next few days we will be uploading additional interviews with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, BEHEMOTH, TRIVIUM, JOB FOR A COWBOY and ALL THAT REMAINS so make sure to keep checking back for all the awesomeness!

Your good friend Issue Oriented just ordered you a double. Enjoy:

John Nolan (Straylight Run, ex-Taking Back Sunday) stopped by to talk and play. We discuss everything from Christian death metal to Long Island to food. Of course, we also talked about his new solo release Height (due this October) and all sorts of artsy stuff, too. And hey, remember that world premiere we gave you a few days ago, of John Playing "I Don't Believe You"? Well this episode includes the entire performance – an Issue Oriented exclusive.

Then you'll hear my interview with Billy Hamilton of Silverstein. We talked about navigating shifts in pop culture, the unshakable influence of one's home-town scene, stupid hair, the band's recent release A Shipwreck In the Sand, and much more. (more…)

Issue Oriented ep47

 

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With all kinds of craziness in the air, Issue Oriented is kicking off an avalanche of content from now through October. To start things off with a bang, we're stoked to present episode 45, featuring Frank Turner. Frank stopped by as he passed through while on tour with The Offspring, and we talked about a number of things – from the constant connectivity of Twitter and Facebook, to playing 24 shows in 24 hours for the filming of a music video; and lots more. Great stuff.

Then Frank played three songs in the Issue Oriented studio – two come from his September 2009 release Poetry of the Deed; the third, "Pass It Along", is previously unrecorded and unreleased – originally intended for the new album, it didn't make the final track listing. Don't worry, though – your boy Issue Oriented has you covered. Click the player above, or just hit us up in iTunes.

Don't forget to check out videos of this episode's performances on YouTube.

PLUS: We're happy to announce the return of the Issue Oriented Hotline! Call our brand new number – (201) ISSUE-99 – with comments, requests, and whatever is on your mind. You might even wind up on the next episode of the show! That number again is (201) ISSUE-99.

Enjoy the new episode – it's a goody.

LISTEN: Issue Oriented episode 45 w/Frank Turner

Issue Oriented episode 45 - Frank Turner

 

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Issue Oriented episode 45 - Frank Turner (AAC enhanced)

Our Pagan Fest coverage rolls on with a BLACKGUARD interview and live footage. We interviewed vocalist Paul Ablaze. If you don't know, his band won a Myspace contest that Nuclear Blast held which awarded them a record deal with the label. The band are no newcomers though, as they have been around the Montreal scene just as long as household names such as Despised Icon and Beneath the Massacre.

My favorite part of the interview is when I asked him if he had any advice for other bands looking to get a label's attention. His answer was somewhat a surprise and yet still pretty obvious. Check out the interview above and then two live clips we shot of the band here and here.

Continuing our coverage of Pagan Fest 2009, we present a goofy interview with the pirate thrashers known as SWASHBUCKLE. These guys were pretty good sports with me giving them shit about being "pirates" based out of New Jersey and had some great responses to my "hard-hitting" journalistic inquiries. Check out the interview below. We also posted two live clips of the band here and here. So grab your goblets and let's get to partying!

When Noa heard that MOONSORROW was touring the States she nearly wet her pants! Moonsorrow, is one of Noa's favorite bands so of course she had to interview them, mainly vocalist Ville Sorvali. Watch as Noa is completely swooned by the Finn! During the interview Ville discusses being on Pagan Fest, the band's new album Firestorm, the preservation of Heathen culture, Finnish funerals and Mel Gibson. We have also uploaded two live clips here and here of the band for you to enjoy. This is just the beginning of our Pagan Fest coverage as we have live footage from all the bands coming in the next few days.

Shadows Fall might bring the metal. They might bring some core too. But, Brian Fair says on tour he mostly brings the classics and instrumental rock to soothe his moshed out soul. After an interview with roving reporter Justina Villanueva, Brian Fair (the dreaded scream machine) discussed what he puts to his ears when he's not on stage or in a recording booth.

Metallica, Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets probably the most perfect record. That one stands the test of time. The first time I heard Metallica was Kill Em All, but Master Of Puppets–by that point I had already been a fan. That was the perfect record. It had the fast crazy song to open it, the 8-minute epic next, by the end there is the half ballad. They were the masters of the half ballad. Sanitarium and One and all those types of songs. And they also had slow dirge-y songs, like Things They Should Not Be. They had everything. They had everything that I liked about metal in one record. It's like goddammit–that's the record that you wanted to write. But, its like shit, they already did it. You can throw [Master Of Puppets] on today and it sounds just as fresh. Some metal records you can hear in history why they are awesome, but now you might be like, eh that didn't really survive. But, that record is always going to survive.
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Shadows Fall at Starland Ballroom in NJ

About a month ago, Shadows Fall played a one-off show with Korn in the armpit of NJ. I had the great opportunity of chatting with vocalist Brian Fair about Music Festivals and the new Shadows Fall album.

After playing the Philippines a year ago, Shadows Fall was invited back to the country. "To come back and headline a festival was insane," said Fair. Crazier than that, the festival included pyrotechnics, which according to Fair "were never tested before the actual set." Imagine a 30-foot skull that shot fire out of the eyes.

“I can’t believe heavy metal took me to the Philippines.” It was one of the most interesting cities the band has ever got to visit, he explained. “Just living in Boston, anywhere its warm all year long its like, ‘this is awesome.’”

Being a Boston resident does have it’s metalhead perks though, at least when it comes to the annual New England Metal Fest. "I was just [at New England Metal Fest] to see Lamb Of God. It was a great metal fest because the Dead was playing at Centrum next door.” Fair really felt at home. “[It’s like] finally good drugs at a metal show."

More after the jump (more…)

If you've been visiting our site the last 2 weeks, you've seen that we've been adding a shit-load of inteviews and clips (18 to be exact) from this year's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. We have crap loads of interviews conversations with a bunch of bands, most of which we have never covered on the site before. If you missed some of our coverage, here is a roundup of all the clips we released:

GOD FORBID Interview with Doc Coyle at New England Metalfest	AS I LAY DYING/AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE Frontman Interview at Metalfest	Vincent from THE ACACIA STRAIN gives us a tour of the Worcester Palladium	CHILDREN OF BODOM Interview at the New England Metalfest
NAPALM DEATH Interview at New England Metalfest	VEIL OF MAYA Interview at New England Metalfest	CATTLE DECAPITATION Interview at New England Metalfest	PSYOPUS Interview at New England Metalfest
UNHOLY Interview (interrupted by a hippie)	AUGUST BURNS RED Interview at the New England Metal Fest	BISON BC Interview at New England Metalfest	iwrestledabearonce Interview at New England Metalfest
SYLOSIS Interview at New England Metalfest	THY WILL BE DONE Interview at New England Metalfest	TRAP THEM Interview at New England Metalfest	WOE OF TYRANTS Interview at New England Metalfest
AFTER THE BURIAL Interview at New England Metalfest	METAL SPRING BREAK GONE CRAZY

We have just posted a brand new interview we shot with Paul Masvidal of the legendary prog-death band CYNIC. This was seriously one of the coolest interviews I have ever conducted. Masvidal is one of the calmest, nicest people I have yet to meet. During the interview we talk to Paul about the reunion, the new record Traced in Air, the future of Cynic, how he stays so calm, changes in the scene between when he left and now, jazz-fusion bands and much more. Click here to watch the full interview. If you are too lazy to do that, here are two juicy excerpts about the future of the band:

On recording more music with CYNIC:

I'm really just trying to stay present and stay in the process, and I can't predict the future but I feel really good about how things are going right now so we'll see. Its not like a for the sake of a reunion record. Its more about staying in the flow and seeing what unfold. The way I see it is we're kind of in a groove and we will keep going.

On more touring to support their latest release, Traced In Air

We intentionally did these two support tours [with MESHUGGAH in the U.S. and OPETH in Europe] but we only did like half the U.S. on this, not even. So we have a lot more touring to do. I think we're going to do a lot of the festival stuff, maybe in the States and in Europe, also trying to get into some headlining dates as well.

Fuck yes! Like I said in the interview, we need a Cynic headlining tour with like a 2 hour set so they can noodle all night long. 45 minutes was not enough for their awesomeness. Stop being a pussy and just watch the interview already!

CANNABIS CORPSE started as a band that loved two things: smoking weed and listening to CANNIBAL CORPSE. It has become one of the most fun live acts I've seen in a while. The band discusses its origins, Cannibal Corpse's opinion of the band, lighting bongs with your feet and more. These dudes are great guys and its a fun interview. Check it out above and check out these two live clips we posted as well: Sentenced To Burn One Live | Every Bud Smoken (please excuse the low vocals, we couldn't get soundboard).

We had the pleasure of recently interviewing John Baizley, vocalist/guitarist of BARONESS and creative genius behind many of modern metal's album covers. When we interviewed John about a month ago at the Bowery Ballroom, it was at the tail end of the crazy touring cycle for the unbelievably awesome Red Album that they put out. John discussed that record and the last year in detail and also mentioned that the band is going straight into writing mode. Check out the interview below. And if you want more BARONESS, check out all the live footage we have acquired of the band over the years.

About a month an a half ago, OPETH came into town and were absolutely amazing. We had the pleasure of speaking with frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson before the show. Maybe its just because they are Sweedish, but they came off very honest and humble and it was truly a pleasure for me to conduct this interview. The band discuss the mellow direction of the new album, the female vocalist cameo, their music appearing in Guitar Hero, how they pick their set list, David Coverdale and much more. Click here to watch the interview.

We have completed posting all the interviews that we conducted at MAYHEM FEST with 3 new interviews with Phil from MACHINE HEAD, Brock from 36 CRAZYFISTS, and Alex from SUICIDE SILENCE. All 3 are great for their own reasons.

Also, don't forget all our other awesome interviews from Mayhem Fest, we interviewed Guy from THE RED CHORD, Brann from MASTODON, Sam of DRAGONFORCE, Zach from BLACK TIDE and members of AIRBOURNE.

It's no secret that we are good friends with the fine gentlemen in THE RED CHORD. We have done quite a few interviews with the band, they are probably the band we've given the most coverage to. So it comes with no surprise that when we ran into vocalist Guy Kozowyk backstage at Mayhem Fest, we just started talking forever and eventually we were like, "Hey, why don't we just start filming this?" What resulted is one of the most honest and truthful interviews ever. Guy just gives his unfiltered opinions on everything from the crowd at Mayhem Fest, to his thoughts on SUICIDE SILENCE, UNDEROATH fans, satanism, deathcore, wiggers and more. This is a must-watch for any Metal Injection fan. It's highly recommended. Click here to watch.