On June 11, 2008, when classic San Francisco thrashers Death Angel came to NYC to play BB Kings Blues Club & Grille in support of their latest album, Killing Season (Nuclear Blast), we invited guitarists Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar to our Manhatten headquarters for a video question-and-answer session.

In the following interview the guitarists get current on all things Death Angel, including their involvement in the Eighties Bay Area scene with Exodus and Metallica, their landmark releases The Ultra-Violence and Act III, the tragic 1990 bus accident that nearly tore the band apart, and the quality musicianship that has always been central to Death Angel’s music.

Check out this exclusive footage below! (more…)

When Massachusetts hardcore stalwarts Converge rolled into NYC’s Blender Theatre on April 1, 2008, in support of their latest full-length, No Heroes (Epitaph), MetalKult caught up with vocalist Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou for a candid backstage video interview.

In the footage below, check out the guys as they discuss their respective paths into the music business, thoughts on the transformation of the hardcore scene and the “riff refinancing” that went into creating No Heroes. (more…)

When MetalKult visited Norway last March, we met up with Archaon (guitar) and Seidemann (bass) from the black metal band 1349. Before the pair took us out on a Norwegian metal pub crawl, we sat down in Neseblod Records’ Maiden branch for a few warm-up pints. When the alcohol started flowing, so did the conversation. Lucky for us we had our video cameras with us.

In the following candid question-and-answer session, Archaon and Seidemann speak on a wide range of topics, including 1349’s position in Norwegian black metal, their views on Satanism and religion, black metal as Norway’s biggest cultural export, and the state of their forthcoming release, the follow-up to 2005’s Hellfire.

Check out this exclusive interview below! (more…)

+++ Hey guys! It’s Angela from Arch Enemy here. Over the past few weeks I’ve been checking in with updates from our U.S. Tyranny and Bloodshred tour, which started on May 9 in Philadelphia and ended on May 30 at West Hollywood’s House of Blues. With supporting acts Dark Tranquility, Divine Heresy and Firewind, it was a crazy, good time. Below is my final wrap up of that tour! But don’t fear, if you’re lucky I just may post a final final round-up report of our European festival shows. +++

We are all back from the US “Tyranny And Bloodshred’ tour and ripping through the European festival season now! Michael is working double shifts with Arch Enemy and Carcass – speaking of which: Carcass are fucking great and getting a killer response!

The USA / Canada tour was absolutely amazing (most shows sold out) and for the first time I wished it wouldn’t have been over so fast! Firewind, Divine Heresy and Dark Tranquillity were such nice people and put on a kick ass performance every night as well. Fantastic tour package! A big thank you to all of you for the smooth ride, for the passion and for the great music!

Here’s some live shots of Micheal from Edmonton:

Those weeks flew by like nothing – and we know we have been missing out on lots of places all over the country, especially more down south! We will be coming back for another US run when Carcass take a break from dissecting the metal world (and before everybody starts shouting and screaming: I am damn positive Carcass will make it to American shores as well – check www.mypace.com/carcass for tourdates!).

“Taking Back My Soul” live in Edmonton May 24:

Here’s some pix from our bus in Vancouver:

“The Last Enemy” live in Vancouver June 26:

“My Apocalypse” live in Vancouver June 26:

Here are some impressions onstage, off stage and on the road – I love those beautiful mountains around Vancouver and in between Seattle and San Francisco!

(more…)

When MetalKult visited Norway last March, we were invited to visit the private studios of Norwegian black metal band Satyricon for a gear tour and the following in-depth question-and-answer session with frontman Satyr and drummer Frost.

Below, the pair discusses a wide range of topics, including the progression of Satyricon’s sound from traditional black metal to more straightforward rock, collaborating with Samoth and Thorns, and how “Satyricon has always been proudly a part of Norwegian black metal” even though Satyr wasn’t interested in doing what Mayhem’s Euronymous expected of him.

Satyricon also discuss the resolution of Frost’s visa troubles and their plans for recording their new full-length in Los Angeles. On June 2, U.K. and European fans were given a treat of what’s to come when Satyricon released a five-track EP, My Skin Is Cold, which included the new title track, “Live Through Me” and “Existential Fear-Questions” (excluded from 2002’s Volcano) and compelling live versions of “Mother North” and “Repined Bastard Nation.”

Check out this exclusive interview below! (more…)

On March 4, 2008, Japanese doom-psych-drone trio Boris played before an excited crowd at New York’s Knitting Factory. The band was in town to support its latest release, Smile (Southern Lord).

In the clips below, watch Boris unleash a torrent of distortion, cries and ripping rock and roll as the play “Statement,” “Laser Beam” “Buzz-In” and “Pink.” (more…)

Brooklyn, NY‘s Tombs—featuring guitarist/vocalist (and sometimes MetalKult contrib) Mike Hill, drummer Justin Ennis and bassist Carson Daniel James—are currently writing the follow-up album to their self-titled EP (Black Box Recordings / Level Plane).

Tombs will record their new full-length and Relapse debut this August, which will see an early 2009 release. Audio samples taken from Tombs self-titled release, as well as demo material from their forthcoming full-length, can be heard now via the band’s MySpace: MySpace.com/TombsBklyn.

Additionally, Tombs have announced a number of European tour dates for this fall. These dates will include a performance at the Trainspotting Fest in Germany alongside Capsule, Ultra Dolphins, Pulling Teeth and more. A listing of confirmed Tombs tour dates can be found below with more to be announced soon. (more…)

When Sweden’s Disfear hit NY’s Knitting Factory on April 16 in support of their latest record, Live the Storm (Relapse), MetalKult grabbed our cameras and raced downtown to catch a heavy D-beating from Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates) and crew.

Below, check out the guys rip through “Get It Off,” “Phantom” and “The Cage” from Live the Storm. (more…)

+++ Hello, it’s Robin from The Ocean. This diary starts in the middle of our world tour in support of our latest album, Precambrian (Metal Blade). We have already been on tour in Europe for over a month now, but I only recently started bothering to write down some of our adventures as The Ocean tours the States for the very first time. Here’s the second installment… +++

5/30 Charlotte, NC, Tremont Music Hall

After another long drive we arrived at the huge Tremont Music Hall in the late afternoon. We set up our lights and hung out outside, while Mike was getting some free ink by the guys from Liberty Tattoo, who had offered their services prior to the show via MySpace… awesome people! There was a good crowd and the show was fun. We slept in the RV in the backyard of the venue until about 8 AM, when it got too hot.

Mike getting ink in front of our RV in Charlotte:

5/31 Atlanta, GA, Masquerade

Christian emo fans getting corrupted by members of The Ocean:

When we got to the place, there was a bunch of young girls waiting outside in front of the venue. Our faces lit up… had we finally made it? Had we progressed from a filthy rock band that draws filthy buffalo-hip chicks and long-haired metal dudes into…something else…that draws hot teens? Someone eventually told us that there was another show happening upstairs, some bands we had never heard of before were playing in a large room, and that someone described the style of music as “Christian emo.” So we embarked on a mission to try to convert as many of these lost teens to the cult of the Ocean, and won a good handful over, by offering them free guest list spots. These poor Christian emo girls didn’t really seem to understand what was happening to them when Withered unleashed their black metal thunderstorm.

Chris from Withered playing bike guitar:

Tonight was gonna be the last show with these guys who had become brothers in a matter of a few days, and we were all rocking out to their awesome set. Luckily, we were allowed upstairs, so we could eat all that Christian emo food and drink their Christian emo whiskey. The first band sounded like a terribly corrupted version of Mars Volta. But hey, these guys drew some 500 kids; there’s gotta be something to them.

Atlanta street party:

We drank a lot of J.D. and had a cool show. Afterwards we went out with Kylesa, Withered and Lair of the Minotaur to eat and party one last time. It was impossible to sleep in the RV tonight, the moist heat was unbearable. I took my sleeping bag and laid down outside in the parking lot, but even with the sleeping bag it was just too fucking hot. I took off my shirt and used my sleeping bag as a mattress, and still sweat was pouring from my forehead. It didn’t get any better. In the end I found peace sleeping in underwear in the parking lot, worried only that rats would come after my genitals.

Our drummer Luc, who doubles as the Venus de Milo:

6/1 Orlando, FL, Back Booth

We woke up completely beat and left really early to be at the venue at 5PM, as we were told, and when we got there no one was there. On the way we had passed Jacksonville, the city where I had my first real-life encounter with America in 1996. As a 16-year-old, I spent about one year of my life in this city as an exchange student, going to high school and living with an American host family, made up of a dude and his daughter. The dude was a nice but boring character, whose life can be summed up in a few words: work, Burger King, Seinfeld, weed and football on the weekends. His daughter was a much more interesting type: a diehard Christian who had devoted herself to an enlightened life serving God, and trying to baptize all eclipsed existences around her with a passion: her Dad appeared to be the only lost soul she had given up on.

She was engaged in aggressive agitation endeavors, including visitations at random people’s homes several days a week, missionary trips to the Philippines, etc. Me, getting big-time into Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy at that time, and her, completely denying the theory of evolution and conceiving of evidence of the dinosaurs as a coup of mad scientists possessed by the devil, were certainly not the best match. But somehow I felt sympathy for her, and I had the feeling I needed to save her just as much, or maybe even more, than she needed to save me. I sent her a copy of our recent album Precambrian the other day, as a reminder that the earth is (more…)

When MetalKult visited Norway last March, we were privileged to have the rare opportunity to visit with Emperor guitarist/vocalist Ihsahn at his Symphonique Studios in Notodden, Norway.

While we were there we got a tour of the gear Ihsahn used to record his latest solo album, angL (Candlelight/Mnemosyne), before sitting down with the black metal legend for a lengthy interview.

In the following clips, Ihsahn discusses a diverse range of topics, including the roots of angL’s aggressive sound, his collaboration with Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt and how the “black metal expression” had to come from rural, isolated places like Notodden.

Check out this exclusive interview below! (more…)