All Bands
Soulbound interview about “Towards The Sun” PT.I
Me: First of all, congratulations that you guys finally released the very first professional recordings "Towards The Sun". How are you feeling now?
Band: Thank you Kumi! It’s hard to describe how you feel after almost two years of endless weekend-recordingsessions, tons of photo-shootings and a bunch of concerts in between. All we can say is, we’re so glad that this huge project has come to an end and we’re even more stoked about showing our stuff to other people. In my opinion that’s what they call ‘to carry off the bays’.
Me: The band signed with a record label already, right?
Band: Indeed we did, we’re really happy to call Deafground Records our supporter; they’re helping us out with promotion issues and lots of other stuff. Best regards to our friend Maurizio and of course to the rest of the awesome Deafground crew! It feels really good to know that there’s someone who’s supporting us, big relief!
Me: You guys replaced the second guitarist from Jens to Patrick, huh? Do you mind if I ask you what happened in the band? Could you introduce Patrick to Soulbound fans anyway?
Band: That’s correct, well, look, being in a band is a really time consuming hobby – I’m not really sure if “hobby” is the right description for that what we’re doing, it’s definitely a whole lot more than that. You got to make the decision yourself, spend time with the band, or spend time with your friends, family and so on. Jens’ decision fell on the latter and that’s perfectly fine for us. There was no fight and there never will be, he was a good friend in Soulbound and it’ll stay this way.
Band: Anyway, let’s talk about Patrick! He’s a fuckin’ great guy and we got along with him very well since the first time we met him! You get to know each other very well, when you’re on tour and we had a whole lot of fun together! He’s a great guitar player and also an amazing graphic-designer! We’re really happy to have him and also we’re pretty damn sure that you guys will also like what you’ll see and hear on stage!
Me: I noticed Hendrik Kröger from Syranic did a great job as a producer this time again. How was the recording process with him?
Band: Damn right! Hendrik is an awesome producer, working with him was really pleasant and he really exceeded all our expectations with the record! I think the communication between the band and their producer is the most crucial part when it comes to setting up a record. We really got to know each other during this time and the mutual respect kept growing every day, we’re really happy about that. It all went so smoothly, we couldn’t imagine someone else doing the job that Hendrik is doing for us!
To be continued… Stay tuned!
By the way, “Towards The Sun” is already available at famous metal CD stores called disk union Hard & Heavy Ochanomizu, Shibuya, Shinjuku and their online store, also you can find it on Amazon Japan. Check it out!
Check it out the professional music video Halloween!
Burden Of Life interview about the great EP – In The Wake Of My Demise and about the band ～ PT. 2
Okay let’s get back to the interview with the brilliant melodic death metal band Burden Of Life. Here we go!
(Why don’t you check the interview PT.I at first if you didn’t try it yet?)
Me：Well, I'm curious about the history of the band and about current members. Could you tell me about it?
Kötti: Oh well, the unavoidable question :D The roots of Burden Of Life lie in a basement of our former guitar (later-on bass guitar) player in the summer of 2003. But the name was different, the people were different, so the history of Burden Of Life starts in December 2005 when we had already 80% of the current Line-Up and a proper place to rehearse. From then on it was just a usual underground band history. We played between 1 and 13 gigs a year, had to face small line-up changes and released a demo in 2007, our first album in 2008 and the EP in 2010. The next "real big thing" was getting our record deal with Twilight, through which we will release our second album.
Kötti: Our current members are Michael Schafberger on guitar,
Tobias Haimerl on keyboards,
Matthias Babl on drums,
Karl-Arnold Bodarwé on bass
and myself, Christian Kötterl, on guitar and vocals.
Kötti: We were all there from the beginning except for our bass player Karl who joined in fall 2008 shortly after the release of "Ashes Of Existence". So this is our most stable line-up yet.
Me: Do you have any plan for a new full-length in the near future?
Kötti: Yes we do. We are now writing and rehearsing the songs for our second full-length and all I can say is that it will be a concept album and will feature eleven songs including an intro and an interlude. It will be recorded in April and we hope to release it in late 2012. So stay tuned and check our homepage (www.burdenoflife.de) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/burdenoflife) from time to time!
Me: Okay, this is the last question. Could you tell me what the aspiration of Burden Of Life for 2012 will be?
Kötti: Well apart from the aforementioned album recording and release we hope to get the chance to play some smaller festivals in summer (although we would not say no to the bigger ones as well) and of course concerts in general. Yeah, all these things that small aspiring bands wish for you know? :D And of course we hope that the people will like our new record when it's out, but there is still some time until that happens.
Thank you so much!
Kötti: Thank YOU so much for your interest in underground metal and supporting Burden Of Life way over there in Japan. I am such a huge fan of the country and I hope to go there one day to bring you some awesome German Melodic Death Metal! THANKS!!!
I’m absolutely psyched that they told me they’ve already started preparing the new full-length and are trying to release it in this year, wow!
Okay, here’s the fabulous opener of their latest EP – In The Wake Of My Demise called “Your Ruin, My Relief” , so check it out!
TASTE OF EXTREME METAL - “Your Ruin, My Relief” by Burden Of Life
Your Ruin, My Relief
(Music & Lyrics by C. Kötterl)
Caging myself beyond all reason
Witnessing the madness within
I am prisoner and jail guard
I‘m virus and infected
Merging it all I am left a nervous wreck
Losing focus and losing track
Who‘s still preventing escape I cry
Finally perceiving my tears‘ reflection
Shattering the mirror
This impostor made of glass
I realize my foolishness
And how this all could ever last
Trading my love for mercy
My self-respect for surrender
Accepting my emotional suicide
Dead inside I crave for salvation
Crave for this hell to end
All that‘s left to do is to let you feel
We‘re done
Shattered is the mirror
This impostor made of glass
I realize my foolishness
And how this all could ever last
Turning my back on you
I return the hell you put me through
Now these days will end
The days you mauled my feeding hand
Your Ruin, My Relief!
Your Ruin, My Relief!
Release me now!
Turning my back on you
I return the hell you put me through
Now these days will end
The days you mauled my feeding hand
Burden Of Life interview about the great EP – In The Wake Of My Demise and about the band ～ PT. 1
Me: I'm a newcomer a fan of Burden Of Life coz I knew the band only some months ago, and now am totally into your music especially for the latest RP "In The Wake Of My Demise" . I mean the EP is more greater than the last album within the strong sound production and the sense of momentum. How did you dedicate your efforts for making the great stuff?
Kötti: I am not 100% sure if I got the question right but I'll try ;) First of all thank you for your kind words! We really appreciate that you like our music! I am guessing that you want to know about what we did differently in terms of recording and production compared to our last album and why it is a better release in virtually every aspect. Well, for the first time we went into a real studio with people who really knew what they were doing while we engineered our demo and our first album "Ashes Of Existence" on our own. That's the reason why they sound like shit (demo) and shit with a little whipped cream (Ashes Of Existence) in comparison to the phenomenal sound on the EP. I also think the songs had gotten a lot better by the point we went into the studio for "In The Wake Of My Demise". We are still very happy with the result, even almost one and a half year after its release.
Me: You got my point perfectly! So, I would love to know more details about the EP. Does it have any theme or concept for that?
Kötti: Well there is not a real concept behind the EP as a whole but if you like you could say our band's "concept" is that the lyrics are always revolving around rather sad and depressing themes. We called the band "Burden Of Life" and not "Sunshine Of Life" for a reason ;) I think the things I sing about are issues that almost everyone can relate to in one way or another like broken love, feeling shut out and alone, losing your loved ones and things like that. These are the things that weigh on your life like a burden but we do not say there is no hope. The songs are meant to scream out your anger and get pissed off for a bit to feel relieved afterwards and maybe find a way to carry on.
Me: Could you introduce each song in the EP?
Kötti: Sure I can!
Your Ruin, My Relief
As an opening song on a release with only four tracks you need something that is as much in your face as possible. So I think this is the most brutal and straightforward song we did up to this point. Of course it still has beautiful melodies and even an acoustic interlude because we are not Cannibal Corpse (which I love by the way) but compared to our other songs it is quite relentless.
The lyrics talk about breaking up a relationship in which you did not feel respected and more like you were exploited and now you finally have the balls to say "Fuck off you abusive vulture! This is so over!"
Breathing The Soil
This is the oldest song on the EP and we played it live as early as fall 2008. It is the "pop-song" on the EP as you can hear in the very catchy chorus. I have always liked the idea of incorporating clean vocals into our music as I am a HUGE fan of vocal giants like Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) and Rob Halford (Judas Priest). We already tried it on "The Endless March" on "Ashes Of Existence" but I think it worked a LOT better here.
We will keep on using clean vocals in the future whenever they fit the song, but don't worry the screams, growls and shouts will stay :D Lyrically this song is about a nomad-type of guy who loves exploring the world and seeing everything with his own eyes and whenever he happens to come back home his yearning for freedom and adventure takes him back out on the road again.
Behold A Burning Soul
This songs seems to have struck a nerve with many people as it is quite popular on YouTube and was already covered by two people, which is a huge honor for us. I think it's the most "doom metal" we will ever get :D It's a slow and brooding song about being afraid to tell someone how you feel about them out of fear of rejection.
The string section at the end of the song are real instruments and not synthesized and we would love to do more of that in the future. We will see if this happens.
In The Wake Of My Demise
The title track and the last one we finished before we went into the studio. It is a song in the same vein as "Of Father And Son" on our first album. A straightforward Melodic Death Metal Double-bass tune.
The cover artwork was inspired by the song's lyrics which talk about a man who feels unwanted by his environment and thinks about leaving. "In The Wake Of My Demise" means quite literally "after I am dead" and because he feels laughed at und not being loved he decides to wander off. I think most people have in felt like this at some point in their lives.
The interview PT.II will be out next week. I asked them about the band, about their next album, and some teaser from their EP will be appears on it. So, stay tuned! The EP - In The Wake Of My Demise is a real blast one!
Check it out on their official site:
www.burdenoflife.de
Facebook Burden Of Life:
https://www.facebook.com/burdenoflife
The gears of the metal bands ～ Show me your stuff ! vol.2
Tobias Dahs －The guitarist from LEVIATHAN
Tobi: On this first picture you can see my ENGL-Screamer amplifier, as well as my 2x12 ENGL cabinet equipped with Celestion V30 speakers. Actually the ENGL Screamer is not the typical amp that you'll see in the area of Melodic Death Metal, simply because it doesn't offer as much gain or distortion as for example other amps of this category. But at least I came to the conclusion for myself that less distortion is a lot better, especially when you play live together with a keyboard.
The frequencies of both instruments are very similar and in order to keep the sound of the whole band clear and defined, it's good to reduce you gain output as much as possible. Another thing that I really love about the ENGL is it's very precise tone, the amp tends to separate the notes very clear, which is great if you play fast Death Metal riffs.
Tobi: Here you can see my pedal-board, or well actually what is going to be my pedal-board very soon. At the moment it still looks very empty, simply because I have just started to build it up. Up to now it only contains what I've been using live so far: My Boss tuner and my ENGL Z5 Footswitch, which allows me to control the different channels of my amp. But a few more pedals are already on the way to join this board. I just recently ordered an Rocktrone Tri-Wah Wah-Wah pedal and I'm still in search of a nice delay pedal to add to my setup.
Tobi: And right here you see my still new guitar. The Fernandes Vortex Elite 2009. Ever since I signed my first endorsement deal with Fernandes guitars in summer 2011 this has been my weapon of choice. It's the classical V-shape that you'll know from a lot of players in metal music and it comes along with an EMG 81 in bridge position and a Fernandes Sustainer on the neck. It also features a Floyd Rose Tremolo, something that I really love because it keeps your guitar in tune, no matter how crazy thing get on stage.
For strings I use Pyramid guitar strings in scale 010 to 046, which is basically one step thicker than the standard guitar strings you may know. I use this size simply because we tune our guitars down one whole step, to the famous tuning that you might know from the mighty Chuck Schuldiner and his band Death.
And last not but not least I wanted to talk a bit about why I use the V-shaped guitar, simply because a lot of people think it's a totally old-school shape that has been used way too much. But it's not just a cool looking shape, it also offers a great advantage to all the other guitar shapes. Because of the two wings at the end of the body, this guitar remains in the same position no matter if you play while standing or sitting. Your arm that rests on the body of the guitar makes it stay in that position. And this is really great because it makes it a lot easier to play also technically difficult passages while playing on stage.
BLEEDING RED interview about the upcoming full-length “Evolutions Crown”
Part I. The interview with Timo
Q1: How is the recording process going so far?
Timo: We're almost done now, I'm still in the studio every few days. We just have to finish editing the drums, put some decent keyboards under some parts to get a dreadful atmosphere, and mix some parts. It should then come back from the mastering on 5th January.
Q2: The album artwork is available now and it looks awesome! Who had the idea for that? Is there any concept / theme in it?
Timo: We've found British artist Jonathan Straughan by chance on the internet. The whole thing was already finished and available for purchase. It fitted our purpose perfectly, because our lyrics deal with humans at a crossroads.
Timo: They can either fuck everything up in the future or evolve to a higher level. So the future of mankind lies in the human hand. I want to emphasize that we don't want to show that the earth herself is threatened by mankind - because she isn't! She can get rid of us and heal itself if she wants to, and it seems like we've gotten another chance.
In addition, the album title "Evolution's Crown" mixes up Darwinism's and Creationism's terms for the human kind. By combining them, we wanna make clear, that none of those paradigms has ever completely understood reality. So you can say, the album shows up new ways of thinking, while humanity is at the crossroads of self-destruction and evolution. And that is what the whole cover symbolizes.
Q3: Could you tell me details of the upcoming album? How many songs will you put it on?
Timo: There are going to be twelve songs on it, including two instrumentals. Each song is full of honest, aggressive and direct Metal from slow to really fast pieces! Also the songs from the 2009 Unmaster can be found on the album - with new, more brutal drums and a new mastering!!!
Also the track-list is official, already:
1. Bloodforce
2. The Running Man
3. Nameless
4. Wasted Screams
5. Thoughtcrime
6. Unmaster
7. Involution
8. Calm Before The Storm
9. Tritoxine
10. Frequencies
11. Goddess Of Black
12. Calling For Your Downfall
Q4: I heard the new album will be available on March 2012 via the label. It means all metalheads in the world will have a chance to get a copy of them in their countries, right? Are you guys ready for taking over the world, haha?
Timo: We definitely are! We want to touch and wake up people around the world and for that, we are perfectly prepared, I think. Our label "BLACK BARDS" took care of this, they are doing a great job, just as our manager Flori Milz does! I think the album can be purchased online all over the world via this link (it's a German page, sorry): https://www.nuclearblast.de/de/produkte/tontraeger/cd/cd/bleeding-red-evolutions-crown.html
Of course, it will also be in record stores around the world!
Q5: Well, I would love to show the EP "Unmaster" to metalheads before the upcoming full-length will be out. Could you introduce the song "The Running Man" from the EP?
Timo: The Running Man is based on the 80's movie with the same title. It is about us humans being distracted by TV every day. Instead of thinking, questioning, and really living, they just want to be entertained and lied to via the propaganda shows every day. And because the whole elite plans rely on a distracted, mislead, dumb population, we want to help change that state with this song.
Q6: How is your plan for 2012?
Timo: Everything is based on the new album. After the release, we plan to play a lot of summer festival shows, perhaps organize a little tour in fall, and so on.
Of course, as soon as the recordings are done, we also start writing new stuff for the next album, already! In the end, we would love to play gigs all over the world, we will see...
Thank you so much Timo!
Part II. TASTE OF EXTREME METAL － “The Running Man”
Please install the Flash Plugin
The Running Man
Something’s wrong in this fucked up world
It’s a world built upon lies
With the truth staying in the shadows
For your ratings they’re the price
Without reflection people believe just what they see
It’s the end of knowledge, no more arts
In their minds nothing but TV
Sadistic killers hunting you down
hypnotizing society
Your blood will keep them watching
As worth of life finally deceased
Information, a thing of the past
Valuable tonigh’s your death
You’re the Running Man
Time for your last breath
Come On!
Yeah, you’re the Running Man - prepare!
“Showtime!”
Prepare to be sent deep down below
For they can’t wait to see you running
Now it’s time to start the show
There is no choice
Now you’re running for your life
You’re the Running Man
Kill them in the final strive
Subzero, Buzzsaw
Assassins for their god
Fireball, Dynamo
Servants to your law
Watching the fight go down in fire
Struggling for air as the flames grow higher
Something’s wrong in your fucked up life
an existence built on lies
With the truth staying in the shadows
For your ratings I am the price
Without reflection people believe just what they see
It’s the end of my life? Want my death?
Time for your last breath!
You’re the Running Man - prepare!
“Showtime!”
Prepare to be sent deep down below
For they can’t wait to see you running
Now it’s time to start the show
This is my choice
Now I'm fighting for my life
I'm the Running Man
Kill you in my final strive
Unmaster – the copy of mine :)
Okay, I would love to tell it to you once again - Bleeding Red’s professional first full-length
Evolutions Crown will be out on March 21st. Check it out and make sure to get a copy of yours! Bleeding Red FACEBOOK
New Year Greetings from Parasite Inc., Leviathan and The Last Hangmen
Here’s some greetings from three brilliant melodic death metal bands to Japanese metalheads and every metal-lover in the world! Here we go!
Hey guys over there,
We wish you all a happy and successful new year. We hope you don’t have that huge hangover at the moment and that you all got healthy into the new year . Well, we still have it a bit but we are already working on some things for the upcoming new band year with full force. There will be a lot of stuff we hopefully can make happen with the band and one thing we already can say for sure: The next album is not so far anymore and we really can’t await to bring it out to you then. We all wish you the best also for your friends and families. May you all have a great year 2012.
Horns up! - Parasite Inc.
First of all we want to wish a happy and great new year to all the metalheads and to all our fans in Japan! We really hope that 2012 will be a lot better, especially for all of you that have suffered from what happened last march. And we also wanted to take the chance to let you know what we will be doing this year.
And the main thing is that we will return to the studio in march again, to record "Beyond The Gates Of Imagination Pt.2", which will complete the lyrical concept that we started with our latest album. If everything turns out as we have planned it, this new CD will be released in early fall. And till then, we all wish you a good start into the year of the dragon!
Horns Up! - Leviathan
Dear Metalheads,
first of all The last Hangmen wish you a happy new year! We've got a lot of stuff going on at the moment. Last year we signed to the German Label "Twilight Vertrieb". They rereleased our debut album "Servants of Justice" in December 2011 and they will also release our second full-length album which we are working on really hard right now. We're planning to hit the studios in April to record the drums. Then our guitarists take a few months to shred down the guitar tracks and last but not least the bass and vocal tracks will complete the work. Perhaps followed by some additional synth programming which basically is just for filling the sound in the final mix again. So don't worry about an annoying keyboard overkill, it won't take place. By now we can't predict a definite release date, but we hope to unleash the album by the end of the year.
As you see in 2012 the work on our second album has top priority, besides we're also gonna play some gigs and festivals, of course! Yeah, this is pretty much it... We hope to see you guys face to face someday, who knows when this day takes place...
Cheers! - The Last Hangmen
Deathtrip & Full Metal Attack live reports by Parasite Inc.
It’s an absolutely pleasure to release this blog for me… 4 kick-ass metal platoons from my support bands gathered for playing gigs – Deathtrip and Full Metal Attack, and guys from Parasite Inc. reported that special nights.
Kai: So here we go for the Kumi show ;) After we had already met the guys from Bloodspot one week before at a local gig in our hometown, we left Aalen on November 5th with a bunch of metal, a good mood, some pieces of cake to move on to the show with them and with My Decadence in Limburg. The driving there itself was... I don't know, guess it was funny? (I was mostly sleeping xD)
Kai: Well, we reached the location in the evening and after we had dropped our equipment near the stage we went to Bloodspots rehearsal room to have some food and a beer. The first band I saw this evening was Mandragora. Not Heavy Metal but um, Heavy Crossover? However, if you like kinda Heavy Rock stuff you should check them out ;).
Benni: Yeah, check them out! Even if you don’t like that kind of music, their live performance is really great and the lead guitarist behaves like a young Angus Young on stage! Awesome to watch!
Kai: The next band was My Decadence. I was eager to watch them, coz I only knew them from CD and from their videos on Youtube so far. Ladies and gentlemen, that guys bring their sound truly to the stage. They were playing an awesome show with really tight playing and the venue got filled with more and more head-banging people.
Benni: I too was impressed by My Decadence. I especially liked the way their two singers sang, uhm, screamed! Anyway, everything was spot on, tight and it was a very well performed show.
Kai: Right after My Decadence the guys from Bloodspot entered the stage then and - what shall I say - for me, they are such a live blast! As a surprise they played a new song. A kinda slow and heavy one but makes your balls not less exploding. Exactly like the rest of the songs haha :D. What a kick ass show! If there is one band I had to suggest to someone as a must-see-live-band, I would say Bloodspot now ;).
Benni: Nothing more to add. Bloodspot definitely is one of the best live band I’ve ever seen. You have to smile constantly because you really see how much fun they have performing live. And the new song indeed is a really, really good one!
Kai: Those who survived the Bloodspot massacre (were not so much hahaha) then screwed their heads off to our set. We had a great stage sound and I guess the people liked the songs. We also played a new song called "In The Dark" which we didn’t practice much before, so it sounded a bit like that. But all in all it worked out and it was a lot of fun to play :) The rest of the evening we had a relaxed time in the Bloodspot rehearsal room again.
Day 2
Kai: After a kinda slow day we left Limburg and moved on to the next show in Cologne, this time with Legacy of Vydar, Bloodspot and Mandragora. The venue was a small club with a small stage and a much smaller backstage area. 4 bands + equipment = cozy time ;).
Kai: Well, when I first saw the guys from Vydar, my first question I asked myself was kinda "what the hell have they gotten to eat to get that tall?". They not only look so tall on their pictures :D. Unfortunately their bassist couldn't play with them this concert, so their sound was a bit thin and had too much highs. On the other side it maybe was a good thing ;)? Because that way I was able to enjoy the great work on the guitars and drums. Also I had no idea how they played that gig with 6 people on that small stage ;). Great band! 'Nuff said.
Benni: Well I found it kinda funny to hear and see all the songs live after spending quite some time on the mastering of the Legacy of Vydar album. I really know the songs by rote because of that. I was especially impressed by the drummer who played everything exactly like he did on the album and it was really tight!
Kai: Btw. the bad catch on that gig was: Almost no audience. So the bands played mostly for the bands only or maybe for some bugs in that club. Anyway it was not less fun to play, so we had another good show although we felt that we had to struggle a bit more with the sound on that stage than in Limburg.
Bloodspot finished this concert with another live punch and it really was a honor for us to meet with all that great guys and musicians. We hope to share the stage with you once again ;) Thank you all for the great time.
Guys from Parasite Inc., Bloodspot and Legacy Of Vydar were together in a picture!（some of the guys couldn’t make it in a pic somehow, btw.）
Thank you so much for Kai and Benni for reporting about those great nights! I also want to say thank you for Bloodspot guys who named Full Metal Attack as Kumi-show :) All you guys rules!
Kumi666
TASTE OF EXTREME METAL + Interview – Rising Aspiration
Okay, I don’t want to say anything silly, so let’s start this blog with a cool metalcoreish melodic death metal tune “A New Day” by Rising Aspiration.
Rising Aspiration - A New Day
If you want to listen to the song with more greater sound, click the link below and play the audio file Rising Aspiration - A New Day
A new day begins
You say to yourself from now on everything else
in your life
You Look in the mirror it shows you a sad face
a man you never wanted to be
your body has conquered your mind
You have fought and still lost
One last breath
One last cry and you died
You cannot free up
The abyss in front of your eyes
All bridges fall to the Ground
Your time is running down
You have destroyed yourself
Scars that never heal
your body has conquered your mind
You have fought and still lost
One last breath
One last cry and you died
Rising Aspiration interview
Q1: I found Rising Aspiration via Zero Degree, I also found the name of ZD in the booklet of the EP “Path From Nothing”. Both of the bands know well each other?
Norman: Oh yes we know very well each other! I think we know them since they started up with their band and two members even before. We had many beers with them :) Cool guys, cool band, cool music.
Q2: In the biography of Rising Aspiration, you mentioned In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Amon Amarth, I feel the band has more metalcore taste than those Swedish melodic death metal bands, more modern taste you have. How about an influence by metalcore bands?
Norman: We like bands like As I lay Dying, Killswitch Engage and so on.
If our music has a metalcore sound, we don’t make it aware. We don’t like it to push our music in a case or something like that. The influence comes from everywhere .
Q3: The EP “Path From Nothing” is a good one! Could you explain me about each song of the EP especially about the lyrics, themes…?
Norman: The EP didn’t have main topic. Almost each song has his own. “Path from Nothing” and “Awakening” for example is about to get out of irrelevance in which you sometimes in. It is about finding new a challenge. “Closed Forever” tells us, that you sometimes have to forget about a person that you once loved. “Thought Of Suicide” : It is about a person who has only suffer and pain in his live and there is no way out…only one chance…“A New Day”: Here a man fights each new day against his addictions but at least he can’t make it. So he fits in his destiny.
Q4: I would like to know about the members. Could you introduce me about them?
Norman: Florian is our singer and songwriter. He likes bands like At The Gates, Machine Head and Jonny Cash. Jens plays the lead Guitar. Started up making music in 2004 by playing Bass. One of the members who founded the band. He is inspired by Bands like Killswitch Engage, Misfits and In Flames. I’m at the rhythm guitar and plays it since 2007. I’m responsible for artwork and web-design. Favourite bands are Iron Maiden, Amon Amarth , Arch Enemy and Catamenia. Marc is the bass player. Started playing Bass guitar in 2007. Machine Head, Metallica and As I Lay Dying have influenced him most.Felix is the drummer and the second founder of the band. Started playing the drums in 2004, by listening to bands like Nightwish. Other bands are Iron Maiden, In Flames and Dark tranquillity. In conclusion we can say, that every member is involved in creating our music! We didn’t have a bandleader or something like that.
Q5: What is your plan for upcoming months and 2012? Do you have any ideas for the full-length album in the near future already?
Norman: There will be no album in 2012 definitely. Our focus now is to make new songs and play more gigs in the future. So let´s see what happens.
Thanks to Kumi for supporting us and greetings to all metalheads in Japan!
Rising Aspiration
Debut EP 2011
Path From Nothing
1. Path From Nothing
2. A New Day
3. Awakening
4. Thought Of Suicide
5. Closed Forever
Rising Aspiration official web site: www.risingaspiration.de
Soulbound music video “Halloween” ～ behind the scene
The melodic metalcore band from Bielefeld just finished their first music video for their song Halloween. I’ve got some comments from each guy of the band, plus I put the video on the end of this blog. Check it out!
Jonas: Well, first of all, thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about this, feels really nice to share those impressions with the world. You know, since this was our first video shoot we didn’t really know what we’ve gotten ourselves into (laughs) but I think it came out really well and we’re really proud of what we accomplished. Sure, there were some really long days at the weekend and it wasn’t always fun, especially the night where we had to shoot outside at 923561512 degrees below zero, not cool.
Johnny: Yeah I remember that night! (laughs) You jumped around like a squirrel on speed and yelled “Holy **** it’s so cold!” over and over again. Well, among those sometimes frosty days, there was one day which literally made me scream “Hell Yeah, this is awesome!” Of course I’m talking about the day were the people from our local dancing school agreed to join us at the set. It was so much fun with them, they were so disciplined and of course every single one of them was an absolutely flawless dancer. Even though we had to shoot the dancing scene over and over again in many different settings they always kept smiling and you could see that they had a really great time.
Johnny: They joked around with us and were really making us feel comfortable, thanks again guys, you were absolutely amazing!
Felix: Definitely, props to you for sticking around until the end! Oh and by the way, it was pretty awesome what a whole bunch of stuff our film crew brought along! I was like “Dude! How much gear do you need to film a music video?!” Turned out every single thing was needed to let the video look as good as it does right now (winks). Most of the place was occupied by the light equipment; I felt like I was standing in a football stadium, it was so awesome!
Jens: Yeah dude, I felt like it was 11am! Real pity though, what you gotta pull off if you want to shoot in public! One scene was shot in a subway and we thought it was no big deal but we were so dead wrong. There was so much paperwork and stuff do and sign, pretty annoying if you ask me, it felt like they didn’t wanted us there at all (laughs).
Mario: Yeah but even though some parts were not that much fun, we sure had a really great time shooting this video. We can’t thank our crew enough, there were so many people around the set who all put so much effort in this video, thank you guys! And to be honest?! I hope that this was not the last time we get the opportunity to shoot a video like this, it really was a worthy experience and a whole lot of fun!
Halloween
You only see my mask
That’s not what I find in the mirror
Disguise is a cushy task
It’s the only time I see clearer
Disconnected from my reality
It’s the time for sensualityNow face it
Be honest
Show what’s behind the mirror
My real facesSo let it out
I have no doubtThat is what I am
What I feel could just be on Halloween
I’m just feeling free
Only on Halloween
Freaking out loud
Act myself out
Shouting out loud
I take myself outIt’s my time in the year
An easy way to escape from low times
I’ll get freedom from my fear
The only day I can act in my prime
Disconnected from my normal life
It’s time for my intestine strifeNow face it
Be honest
Show what’s behind the mirror
My real facesSo let it out
I have no doubtThat is what I am
What I feel could just be on Halloween
I’m just feeling free
Only on Halloween
Freaking out loud
Act myself out
Shouting out loud
I take myself outIt’s my time in the year
An easy way to escape from low times
I’ll get freedom from my fear
The only day I can act in my prime
Disconnected from my normal life
It’s time for my intestine strifeOnce in a while
To be exact on the 31th of October
Which is the only day in the year
I’m allowed to act the way I was naturally born
At the same time, I’m dying to be a hero and a monster
This day is the only day I can be free
And this day is: HalloweenThat is what I am
What I feel could just be on Halloween
I’m just feeling free
Only on Halloween
Freaking out loud
Act myself out
Shouting out loud
I take myself out
Okay, it’s last but not least… CHECK THIS FABULOUS VIDEO OUT!
Towards the Sun – Track list
1. Intro
2. Curse of Vanity
3. Halloween
4. Towards the Sun
5. Broken Pieces
6. Down in Destruction
＋ Bonus-Material
You will be able to check the actual release date on their Facebook page soon: www.facebook.com/MusicSoulbound
Also you can check it out their pics of the music video shooting stuff on “Gallery” tab, just try it!
TASTE OF EXTREME METAL – “Surreal World” Zero Degree
Actually, it’s really hard to choose one song for the teaser coz every song in the album rocks and I believe you could not judge any bands with only one song. Anyway I decided to go with the album title tune “Surreal World”, you could hear/see and could imagine what they drew in their musical canvas. Okay check it out!
“Surreal World” - ZERO DEGREE
If you want to listen to the song with more greater sound, click the link below and play the audio file "Surreal world" - ZeroDegree
Surreal World
Born into a hybrid world, a mental illusion of your digital self,
feel the breath of the iron lung, titanium spine, made of cyber junk.
Do you believe in fate?
Do you feel far away from the truth?
Do you accept what you see? Do you control your life?
Welcome to my surreal world,
come in and waste your time,
a prison for your mind.
The TV screen sent subliminal codes, to blind your mind from the truth.
The system has made a virtual cage, the world turns into an abstract age.
Do you believe in fate?
Do you feel far away from the truth?
Do you accept what you see? Do you control your life?
Synthetic life in every cell,
manipulated imitations from hell.
Welcome to my surreal world,
come in and waste your time,
a prison for your mind.
Surreal
About the lyrics…
Sebastian: Surreal World is the title track of our debut album. The song was developed in the later writing process. After our singer Thomas gave us the final lyrics we thought that it perfectly outlines the whole album and gives it a concept. I have to say that every time we discuss the meanings of lyrics there are many possible interpretations and Thomas doesn’t reveal his intentions anyway. We think that this makes it more interesting for the listener because he has to make his own opinion about it.
Sebastian: So I can only give you a hint: It deals with the topic that modern society is influenced by many things, especially the media. People know about the power of these platforms, no matter if it is print, TV or social networks. They use it to create a truth which might be right for themselves but not for other people. Reality merges with fiction which leads to the point that people are losing self-control without realizing it.
Check their Facebook and click “Like”: www.facebook.com/zerodegreemetal
Zero Degree Interview on Oct. 2011
I had an interview with Sebastian from the melodic death metal band Zero Degree. They released the great first full-length album “Surreal World” last year, and I asked him about the band, their upcoming activity and their near future for the next album.
Q1. I knew Zero Degree this year and the album "Surreal World" is my latest favorite but you guys recorded it on 2009 - 2010, right? Could you introduce the album?
Sebastian: Hey Kumi! Yes, the album was recorded between October 2009 and April 2010. It is our debut album which contains songs from our early beginnings to the point when the recording started. We recorded at our own studio, which explains the long production period. We had the time to do everything right. After one year of the album release, we are still happy with it and the people liked “Surreal World” as well. It definitely opened up new perspectives to Zero Degree’s future!
SURREAL WORLD (2010)
01. The Door To The Unknown
02. Tomorrow Dies Today
03. Frozen Alive
04. The Storm And The Silence
05. Grapes Of Wrath
06. Whispering Age
07. Virus
08. Disease
09. Surreal World
10. Where Angels Die
11. The Fog
Q2. When did you started Zero Degree? Who is the founder of the band?
I would love to know about each member.
Sebastian: The founding of the band in its final lineup goes back to the year 2006 but the formation of the whole concept behind the band took place maybe two years before. At that point, Pascal and Thomas were playing in a really successful Misfits-cover-band called “138”. “Successful” in terms of playing a bunch of shows. People said that they were much better than the original band at that time. And they did a really great job with all that kind of horror stuff. But Pascal wanted to build up a new band playing their own stuff. And he really liked melodic death metal so he began to write songs for his project. After some lineup changes the band became what it is today.
Sebastian: The other band members were active in different bands before and while doing Zero Degree. Maik did some death metal projects. André was active as a guitarist in a metalcore and a thrash metal band before joining Zero Degree. Tobias played guitar and drums for the band “Maroon” and he did the legendary South American tour with them. I only played in a small band which consisted of me and my best friends from school.
Q3. "Surreal World" is totally great album with full of killer tunes! Do you have any plans for recording new stuff or so in the near future?
Sebastian: Yeah, we definitely try to put out a new album next year! The writing process is doing great so far and everyone is keen on playing new stuff, maybe at the next shows. But we are a democratic and very picky band when it comes to the writing of new material, so we will see how many ideas are going to survive.
Q4. Could you tell me about your upcoming activity? Any gigs you play in the rest of 2011?
Sebastian: Zero Degree signed a record deal with a great company which will release “Surreal World” all over the globe. The name of it hopefully will be announced within the next few weeks. We are going to prepare the band for the next level. There is a lot of bureaucracy and things to manage, but we try our best.
Hopefully, we will be playing some gigs soon. Primarily, Zero Degree is a live band, that is the thing we want to do and everybody enjoys. Lately, keeping the band going was really tough without playing any gigs. But we will be back hitting the stage!
Q5. Do you have any messages to Japanese metalheads?
Sebastian: Thanks to all the Japanese metalheads for being so passionate about supporting the metal scene. You really make Japan the place to be for a metal band. Thanks for the support and the interest in our music.
Thank you so much!
- Kumi666
Parasite Inc. live report for the first two shows with Kevin
Kai: Hey guys,
as you maybe can remember in the last blog we announced a change in the line-up: Benne left the band in Mai and for luck we could find a replacement in Kevin within a short time that seems to be a lucky stroke not only for him ;).
After he could get into the whole songs after a very short time we were ready and curious to our first two gigs on September 24th and October 15th with the renewed line-up. So, what we already could recognize during the rehearsals has become also live to a really good confirmation: The band syncs and we feel as a good working band again! Strike!
Kai: Btw. the gig on October 15th was a funny one because the stage that we had to play on was an old wagon at an old trains station (So, we now know the minimum spec for the space we need on a stage^^) and at the bonus song (“Hatefilled”) my guitar string got torn apart with my tremolo actions, ouch. That never happened to me before and for luck it happened at the bonus song. At least we could play the song with only one guitar and the audience was merciful with it …phew.
Kai: Anyway it was totally fun with a great audience and like at the first gig, Kevin played his stuff like he has been in the band for years now. We are in a really good mood and looking positive into the future with the upcoming recordings for the new album next year and also to the November gigs with Bloodspot and to the “Kumi Show” ; ) with Legacy of Vydar, Bloodspot and us. So, see you soon.
I’m very glad that my support bands play gigs on the same stage together. Thank you so much guys who named the gig FULL METAL ATTACK as Kumi-show BTW, haha :D
