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Interview: Primordial (Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill)

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
One of my wildest dreams a few years ago was to someday be able to talk with the man whose voice made my spine shiver and my eyes water when I was listening to “Heathen Tribes” or “Coffin Ships”. Well, somebody pinch me because that day is here! Iconic frontman of “Primordial”, man of many talents and cultural references and in general earth shaker and awe inspirer, Allan Averill a.k.a “Nemtheanga”, finds the time during touring to speak to Metalpaths webzine for many hot topics and personal thoughts, as well as for the upcoming shows of Primordial with Mael Mordha in Athens and Thessaloniki. Enjoy!
011 min read

EXODUS Singer ROB DUKES To All The Haters: ‘Go F**k Yourself’

Manos Spanos
Jay Nanda of San Antonio Metal Music Examiner recently conducted an interview with EXODUS and GENERATION KILL singer Rob Dukes. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: Fans who know you strictly from EXODUS will get to hear [GENERATION KILL] songs that still keep your vocal style at times while often including a melodic side, without compromising the band's heaviness, such as in "Prophets of War", "Death Comes Calling" and "There Is No Hope". Is mixing it up a nice change of pace for you? Dukes: Absolutely. Not to take anything from EXODUS. I love doing it. I mean, it's fucking killer. But EXODUS is a thrash band, pure and simple, and very aggressive, and that's what I do there. I listen to more diverse music, so to be able to bring that into the fold is the object of the whole thing. I didn't want to start another thrash band, you know? Me and Rob Moschetti both grew up on [IRON] MAIDEN, BLACK SABBATH, early [JUDAS] PRIEST. We surrounded ourselves with guys who like the same stuff, and we just fucking went out and wrote songs that — you know, we're not reinventing the wheel here. So we just basically wrote songs that we like, that we wanted to hear. Not only play but songs we wanted to hear. So we stole a little bit from here, we stole a little bit from there. It wasn't like we sat down and said, "Let's steal from these albums." But those are the albums that shaped me as a person. Like when I was a kid, those first two IRON MAIDEN albums, SABBATH albums and early PRIEST were the stuff that I grew up on. And RUSH, PINK FLOYD — bands of that era. I appreciate you saying that it doesn't lose anything. Even though it's got some mellow stuff, it's actually dark and cool and seemed to fit. If it didn't fit, we wouldn't have done it, you know what I mean? San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: What's the latest with EXODUS? I'm sure with Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist] filling in for SLAYER for obvious circumstances, his participation has taken place a lot longer than you guys probably anticipated. How has that affected EXODUS going forward? Dukes: Well, we haven't toured as much. That's apparent. We've got way more down time than we're used to and had in the last 10 years, so that's one aspect I'm not really a big fan of. But that's how we all make our living, so we had to go out without him. It was what it was. Wish he was there, but listen, the guy's in SLAYER. I'm not going to begrudge him for that. That's awesome for him, and I know he's having fun doing it. I think eventually, when we do this new album which we're doing in February, he'll find a way to do both. There's a lot of people who do multiple things in life. Financially, it'll be good for him to have two incomes. I think we're going to find a way in 2014 to make it all happen. San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: I remember interviewing him a couple years ago by phone, and Gary was telling me how much heavier he thinks [EXODUS] has become since you took over on vocals compared to the previous singers. I've gotta agree. I don't know how you feel about that, but a lot of bands these days that have been around a long time kind of level off or don't get as heavier, and obviously you can't say that about EXODUS. You guys just seem to be heavier and crunchier with every record. Dukes: Yeah, I think so, man. I hope I'm carrying the torch well. I try not to read into the comments on fucking Blabbermouth and all the fucking haters. There's certain people that won't let go of the past. I realize, for the past, that's what it is for them. They love the time in the past, and I get it. Not everything is better than the original, and I never claimed to be. I claim to be doing this. Paul [Baloff, original EXODUS singer] died, unfortunately, so he's not here. So I'm carrying the torch. Zetro [Souza, former EXODUS singer] fucking quit. He fucking walked in one day — he didn't even walk in. He just didn't answer his phone and said, "I'm not doing this anymore." And he quit. And now he wants back. You know what? I think we're heavier. The first album, "Bonded By Blood", was so fucking dark, dude. Lyrically and just darkness. And then I think they went in a direction that kind of took away the darkness of it. By the time I joined, they were back into the dark. They were moving back in that direction. I stepped in and I said, "I'll carry the torch. I'll fucking do it." For the people that don't fucking like it, go fuck yourself. That's all I got for you. Fuck you, you know what I mean?
06 min read

JON DETTE Performs With ICED EARTH For First Time (Video)

Manos Spanos
For the remainder of ICED EARTH's European tour with VOLBEAT, Jon Dette (SLAYER,TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX) is sitting behind the drums, taking over for Raphael Saini, who filled in during the summer festivals, the recording of ICED EARTH's new album, and the club leg of the VOLBEAT tour. Dette made his live debut with ICED EARTH last night (Wednesday, November 6) at O2 World in Berlin, Germany. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. Commented ICED EARTH: "Raphael came in and helped us out of a tight spot this summer with a full schedule of festivals, a new album to finish, and no room for diversion on the schedule. He came in and delivered and we are very grateful for that. We wish him all the best for his future endeavours." Added Raphael: "When I had the chance to join ICED EARTH for their summer festivals and the new album, I couldn't say no: I was really excited even though I knew that it was going to be something temporary. "I am honored to be part of the band's history, an amazing album, and to have worked with some supremely talented musicians. My journey will continue, there's more to come." ICED EARTH earlier in the year parted ways with drummer Brent Smedley for "personal family reasons." ICED EARTH will release its new album, "Plagues Of Babylon", in January 2014 via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created and illustrated by Eliran
01 min read

BEHEMOTH To Release ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ Single, Video; First Teaser Available

Manos Spanos
A teaser for "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel", the brand new video from Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH, can be seen below. The song will be released as a digital single and limited-edition 12-inch EP on December 4 via Behemoth/New Aeon Musick in Europe. The gatefold EP will be limited to 2,000 copies (1,000 on white and 1,000 on black 180-gram vinyl), all of which will be hand numbered and signed by the BEHEMOTH bandmembers. In addition to the title track, the single will include two more compositions that will not appear onBEHEMOTH's tenth full-length album, "The Satanist": "If I Were Cain" and a cover of"Ludzie Wschodu" from the influential 1980s Polish punk rock band SIEKIERA. The music video for "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel", which was described by BEHEMOTHfrontman Adam "Nergal" Darski as "killer" and "a monster," was directed by Polish producersGrupa 13, with whom BEHEMOTH previously collaborated on the clips for "At The Left Hand Ov God" and "Ov Fire And The Void". Fan-filmed video footage of BEHEMOTH performing "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" during their October 19 appearance at this year's edition of the Loud Park festival at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan can be seen below. "The Satanist" is due in early 2014 via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Metal Blade in North America. The CD was recorded at Hertz studio in Bialystok, Poland with the help of theWieslawscy brothers and Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK,STRAPPING YOUNG LAD). Other songtitles set to appear on the effort include "Messe Noir"(French for "The Black Mass") and "Ora Pro Nobis, Lucifer" (Latin for "Pray For Us, Lucifer"). The effort was mixed by Matt Hyde (SLAYER, HATEBREED, CHILDREN OF BODOM) and was mastered by Ted Jensen (METALLICA, AC/DC) at Sterling Sound in New York City. "The Satanist" cover artwork was painted with Nergal's own blood. He provided a container of his plasma to Russian symbolist painter Denis Forkas in Moscow. Forkas then blended the blood into the painting so that it would have a more "organic" feel. Additional artwork was handled by Metastazis and Zbigniew Bielak. "I wanted to incorporate some of my DNA into the art," Nergal told Australia's Heavymagazine. "This album seems to be so defining of who we are now as people and as individuals, and considering all the instances in recent years, [we wanted] to make it more 'ours' than it is usually." In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Darski described BEHEMOTH's new songs as "very atmospheric" and "very emotional." "Think BURZUM meets NEW ORDER meets KILLING JOKE," he added. But at the same time, fans shouldn't expect the album to sound too far removed from BEHEMOTH's past efforts. "Take SLAYER, for example," Darski said. "Whatever genre they deal with, they still end up sounding like SLAYER. Even when they were flirting with nu-metal, it was a SLAYER record. Same with BEHEMOTH."
04 min read

MEGADETH’s DAVID ELLEFSON: ‘My Life With Deth’ EPK Available

Manos Spanos
A two-minute EPK (Electronic Press Kit) on MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson's autobiography, "My Life With Deth", can be seen below. The autobiography of Ellefson, co-founder and bassist of 11-time Grammy-nominated heavy metal titans MEGADETH, was made available on October 29 via Howard Books. Ellefson's memoir, "My Life With Deth", chronicles the story of Ellefson's fall into addiction during the band's early years, followed by his subsequent recovery and the return to faith which championed the band's rise to fame over the past several decades. The book was written withJoel McIver, the bestselling author of 21 books on rock music, and features a foreword byAlice Cooper. World rights to "My Life With Deth" were sold to Philis Boultinghouse atHoward Books by agent Lisa Gallagher at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Since 1983, the celebrated metal band MEGADETH has sold more than 20 million albums, received eleven Grammy nominations, and built a fan base of millions. Still going strong, they recently toured the world with METALLICA, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. Now, in "My Life With Deth", Ellefson tells the whole behind-the-scenes story of the band and his personal journey from suffering to salvation. At first glance, Ellefson's history reads like a how-to manual of excess, from hardcore drugs to X-rated debauchery. But Ellefson goes much deeper, taking us on a gripping journey from his Lutheran upbringing as a Minnesota farm boy, through the culture shock he experienced when he arrived in Los Angeles and entered the music industry, to his drug-fueled MEGADETH days, and finally how he beat his addictions and embarked on a path of sobriety and faith, entering a new life of Christian devotion. Today, studying to become a Lutheran pastor, Ellefson presides over MEGA Life! Ministries, a foundation that reaches hundreds of churchgoers every week. Ellefson says: "My autobiography is not the usual tale of rock 'n' roll woe, but rather something I hope will truly inspire people. I have dedicated my life to my craft, and I wanted to share the story of how a kid with a bass guitar and the dream of rock stardom literally risked it all to move from the farm in Minnesota to Los Angeles, and with a lot of hard work, sacrifice and a little luck along the way, made the dream come true. I think the readers will enjoy the stories, as well as the hardships, of this way of life as a musician and artist. I've been very open about my life's obstacles and the means by which I overcame them. Now, my hope is that this story will inspire others to follow their dreams and really live out the purpose for their lives, too.” The book features contributions from Kerry King (SLAYER), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Ellefson's current bandmate in MEGADETH Shawn Drover and also former colleagues Chris Poland andMarty Friedman. In addition to numerous gold and platinum records, David is the author of the book "Making Music Your Business" and has two metal bass guitar instructional DVDs through Rock House Method entitled "Metal Bass Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2". He is also a featured bass clinician, keynote speaker and panelist on the subject of music and the music industry.
03 min read

SEPULTURA’s ANDREAS KISSER: Having DAVE LOMBARDO Guest On New Album Was ‘An Honor’

Manos Spanos
The Rock Pit recently conducted an interview with guitarist Andreas Kisser of Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. The Rock Pit: Ross Robinson produced the new album ["The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart"] and the last time you worked with him was on the "Roots"album. How was it working with him again? Andreas: It was amazing! We love Ross. He's a great guy and a great producer. When we worked on "Roots", it was one of the most important albums in our career, not only forSEPULTURA but also for Ross himself. It was great to see him after so many years and when we had the opportunity to work together again, he understands SEPULTURA so much. He's very spiritual, very organic. He didn't want the album to sound like a machine — no click on the drums, none of the Pro Tools. The concept of the album also warranted it in the recording, just to be sure that the balance that we had without being attached to the technical stuff that we have to be. Even on "Roots", we used all that digital equipment but now he brought his own experience and can add different atmospheres and it keeps the music alive. We always try to bring the SEPULTURA sound that we have on stage live into the studio and I think with Ross, we kind of managed to achieve that finally. The Rock Pit: How much of an influence did he have on the album? Was there some "Roots"thing going or any nostalgia? Andreas: No. I mean, Ross worked with us on the last stage. We wrote the music in the studio here in Sao Paulo; me and Eloy [Casagrande, drums] wrote the music together. The drums and the guitars were really the base of everything and then Derrick [Green, vocals] came in and brought vocal lines and Paulo [Xisto Pinto Jr., bass] with bass lines and then at the last stage, of course, Ross came. We went into the studio in Venice Beach [California] where we recorded the album and we gave the songs to him and then he came with suggestions and he was crucial. He made a big difference especially on finding the sound and the right atmosphere for the songs. It was really a group effort that you hear on the album and there's something that we respect about that; it's amazing. It's a different process when a new person comes in to complete that. The Rock Pit: For the drumming, you had a new guy Eloy Casagrande, which is his first album with you guys and he did a fantastic job. How was it recording with him? Andreas: He's great, man! Like I said, he has lots of experience, he has a great heart and is dedicated and professional; he was ready. Being in SEPULTURA from his side is a dream and it shows. It's great to have somebody who wants to be there more than anything else. His drumming is fantastic; I think he really stepped up. He never did something like that before, that type of music so extreme. Ross was also great to push ourselves to break that music, to really do like we do in live performing. We really had a great time with Ross. He really understood the way we wanted to record, without the drum click and everything. He was amazing; [he] did an amazing job. The Rock Pit: I noticed that Dave Lombardo does a guest spot on "Obsessed", which is another great song on the album. How did his appearance come about? Andreas: Yeah, that was something really cool. It wasn't planned at all. Ross' studio in Venice Beach is a beautiful place and Dave Lombardo was there on Venice Beach having a good time with his kids and dogs, and he called Ross and said, "Hey, I'm around. What's going on?" andRoss invited him to the studio and said, "SEPULTURA is here. Do you wanna jam?" and he says, "Yeah, why not?" and then he was there. We spent a few hours with that and we put together a two-man drumset and Lombardo was thinking, "OK, let's start jamming," and that was inspired by the song that we wanted to have something special there. Dave is such a great guy; he's one of our biggest idols. SLAYER has been such a big influence on SEPULTURAand to have him on the album is an honor and a privilege. The way it happened was even better. It was not like that kind of bureaucracy and all that kind of crap. It happened so naturally that it's even better. Read the entire interview at The Rock Pit.
05 min read

BLINK-182 Drummer Goes ‘Black Metal’ For Halloween

Manos Spanos
BLINK-182 drummer Travis Barker dressed up as former GORGOROTH and current GOD SEEDbassist King Ov Hell (real name: Tom Cato Visnes) this past Halloween. Barker's Instagram photo of his Halloween getup — complete with black metal-style makeup — can be seen below. Back in 2002, Barker revealed to Sweden's Close-Up magazine that he once turned down an opportunity to join SLAYER. "I've never revealed this before, but a few months ago, I was offered the position as the replacement for Dave Lombardo in SLAYER," he told the magazine. "It would have been fun — they're my childhood idols, but I don't know… I'm happy with what I've got going right now." Barker's lengthy resume also includes stints in TRANSPLANTS and BOX CAR RACER. In an interview with MTV conducted in October 2002, Barker expressed his appreciation for extreme metal music, stating that "I grew up on WHODINI and RUN-D.M.C. and SLAYER andKING DIAMOND and THE CLASH. We've always loved all these types of music." An article published in Teen Music listed SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" as one of Barker's top two CDs of all time, an honor it shared with THE POLICE's "Live".
01 min read

MACHINE HEAD: Previously Unreleased ‘Pins And Needles’ Song Posted Online

Manos Spanos
Guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD has posted the following message on the band's Facebook page: "For those of you just tuning in today, in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of our fifth album, 'Through The Ashes Of Empires', I've written a multi-part story in my General Journals, today is Part 3 of the story. I've decided to do a Part 4 and 5 to 'Through The Ashes Turns 10', because I realize there is more of the story that needs to be told, so most likely on Tuesday and Thursday of next week, I'll throw them up. "Part 3 goes into the feud that happened between Kerry King [SLAYER] and I back in 2002. 'For the record: I'm not re-telling this to start and/or dig up old shit. I love Kerry, he fuckin' rules! We hung out two nights ago when SLAYER played in San Jose, we had a blast, got HAMMERED! But 10/11 years ago? Things were different, and in order to paint an accurate picture of where our heads were at for the writing of 'Through The Ashes Of Empires', this part of the story has to be told. It played a role. Consciously or unconsciously it definitely played a role. "In 2002, Kerry King of SLAYER and I got into a public war words over disrespectful comments he'd made about MACHINE HEAD. For over a year, I had bit my tongue in hopes that he would lay off, and just give it a rest, but he didn't, and after a particularly brutal stab at us and me in particular, I went for the jugular. I fucking roasted him. Things got ugly in a hurry in public and behind the scenes it was even worse. The feud would last for 5 years until 2007, when at theMetal Hammer Awards in London it was squashed. "I hated every minute of it. "To have someone who had shaped your musical life so much, who took MACHINE HEAD on their second and third tours ever, who was a former friend and mentor to me, just ripping on you… it was tough. But after a while, you have to say 'fuck this.' It doesn't matter who it is, you have to stick up for yourself. I couldn't let the things being said go unanswered. It might've gotten truly ugly, but I think we both earned each other's respect a little more in the long run. I respected him for calling us out publicly, when so many people in the music business just talk shit and plot behind people's backs, he gave his opinion and what can I say? It stung. However, once squashed, I like to think he respected me for standing my ground and protecting what was mine. Maybe it was tough love from Kerry King? Maybe, but one thing's for sure, in some ways it fueled a lot of anger in me. Maybe it worked. "In and around this same timeframe, Kerrang! magazine had shredded us in a slew of articles and show reviews. The U.K. magazine was famous for building bands up just to tear them down. At this stage in MACHINE HEAD's career, believe me, they were in full-on tear down mode. "I had mentioned in an earlier journal about the U.S. press and how they essentially had blacklisted us. Coverage in any magazine was just about nil, nada, zilch. To this day, we've only had one major cover story and that was back in '99 for the now-defunct Metal Maniacs. American journalists were asking me during interviews to 'apologize to our fans for'Supercharger'.' "Tours still did well and despite what the press has repeated over and over again, our fans stood by us. Sure, there was complaints from Head Cases [MACHINE HEAD fans], often times they said them respectfully to my face, or on the Internet, but they stood by MACHINE HEAD, and the ticket sales for those tours (thankfully) proved it. "But regardless of all that, we had hit a wall in the music business. Sure, we had just re-signed with Roadrunner in Europe but our future in the U.S. was terribly uncertain. Silently getting turned down by 35 U.S. labels... man... it was a lot of rejection. It weighed on me. I began to doubt myself. "Other bands were talking shit; ex-band members were talking shit (and still do). "We'd gotten a little merchandise advance, but we were living month to month and about to be broke again at any day. "It felt like the world wanted us to stop. "The vultures were circling.
010 min read

BROKEN HOPE And DEICIDE Make Amends For Death Metal Solidarity

Manos Spanos
Reformed Chicago death metallers BROKEN HOPE have issued the following statement: "BROKEN HOPE and DEICIDE have reached out to each other, have made apologies, and mended their friendship after the debacle at the end of the 'No Salvation Tour'. "Glen Benton [DEICIDE], Shaun Glass [BROKEN HOPE] and Jeremy Wagner [BROKEN HOPE] have been good friends for 20 years and the blow-up in El Paso was completely unnecessary and the situation could have been rectified if all parties talked it out as friends. Moreover, there were some very low blows lobbed in an effort to maim Glen Benton, and a number of those words were very unfair and very immature, so to that end, we apologize. "That said, both bands have extended olive branches to each other in order to retain their longtime friendships, and to rise above all the worthless drama, finger pointing, and scandalous fallout that’s plagued both bands. "We're glad to once again have Benton's friendship and to have DEICIDE as brothers. Friendship and music are ALL that matters here. "We ask all fans to please embrace our effort to revive our friendship with Glen and DEICIDE, and as we all take a higher, more positive road." BROKEN HOPE's sixth album, "Omen Of Disease", sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. Issued on October 1 (September 30 internationally) viaCentury Media Records, the CD's drum tracks were laid down at Belle City Sound in Racine, Wisconsin with engineer Chris Wisco (LAZARUS A.D., JUNGLE ROT, ORIGIN, GORGASM), while the remaining instruments were tracked at Mercenary Digital Studios in Zion, Illinois with engineer Scott Creekmore (DIRGE WITHIN, PUTRID PILE, LIVIDITY). "Omen Of Disease" features a special guest appearance by Trevor Strnad of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER on the new BROKEN HOPE track "Rendered Into Lard". The cover painting for the CD was created by world-renowned horror artist Wes Benscoter (SLAYER, CATTLE DECAPITATION, AUTOPSY, KREATOR). BROKEN HOPE tapped James Murphy (DEATH, OBITUARY, TESTAMENT) to mix and master"Omen Of Disease" at Murphy's studio, Safehouse Production. "Omen Of Disease" — a title conceived by chief lyricist and guitarist Jeremy Wagner — is also a song on the new album, marking the first BROKEN HOPE "title track" since their 1991 debut LP, "Swamped In Gore".
02 min read