Paul: First thing’s first, as a huge fan, it’s a true honor to be speaking with you and I just wanted to thank you in advance for taking the time to do this interview.

James: Yeah, no problem man, thanks for the interview I really appreciate it.

Paul: So you guys are all set to release Unwelcome in a couple of weeks. How prepared were you to go into the studio, and how did the entire process play out in comparison to earlier Arsis albums?

James: Well, with Celebration of Guilt being our first album, we obviously had some demos out prior to recording, with a few of those songs actually being on the album. Even with Diamond and Disease and the second full-length, the way Mike Van Dyne and I used to demo stuff out was really super primitive. I would demo everything out on a full-track cassette recorder, then program the drums with a drum machine from the mid 1990s (laughs). So, it wasn’t high tech at all. Then I’d send it to him and he’d make boom box recordings of himself jamming along to my demos and mail it back to me. So by the time we got to the studio, I had an idea of what his drum parts were going to be like, but there were always some surprises that would turn out different than I imagined. But with the latest album, Noah and I actually demoed a lot of the stuff out at his place, went over and fine-tuned it, then sent it off to Shawn. Shawn would program pretty much exactly how he was going to play it, so we were actually super prepared to record Unwelcome.

Paul: Both you and Brandon are excellent guitar players, so how did you divide the guitar solos?

James: When we tracked Unwelcome, it was before we actually asked Brandon to officially join the band. Well, we had the idea that we were going to ask him to join; I had just never met him. The other guys had toured with him when he filled in for me. We did plan a lot of guitar solos for the album with the idea that he would be joining Arsis. If there was a song that I had planned two guitar solo sections for, I wanted him to have one of those sections, and then there are a couple songs when he had the only solos on the song. “Let Me Be the One” is all Brandon, and there’s a lot of rocking 80s kind of riffs. It’s a really weird progression harmonically at the same time, but Brandon loves 80s music and he really gets off on being able to play over weird stuff, so it was really a perfect solo section for him to take.

Paul: How did his joining the band come about given that he’s considerably younger than the rest of the band?

James: It’s working out great actually. Brandon is pretty mature for his age, he keeps a level head, and he’s actually taken quite a bit of interest to the business side of things. Not only that, but Brandon Ellis is THE best guitarist I’ve ever played with in my life.

Paul: I’ve just gotta say, isn’t it amazing how he’s only 20 years old? He’s a young player but the stuff he’s doing is incredible! I remember listening to him play for the first time and was just like, WOW.

James: Oh yeah, Brandon’s a very mature player. And he really plays like a man, y’know? I’ll be like “you’re beating the fuck out of your strings dude.”

 Paul: What struck you guys to do a cover of Sunglasses at Night? Did it just come about as a joke like when Children of Bodom covered Britney Spears, or did you guys actually put a lot of thought into it?

James: (Laughs) Noah and I… Noah especially had really wanted to cover that song, probably for 5 or 6 years now, ever since he joined the band. He’d just be like “let’s do a melodic death version of that song, it’d be so awesome.” We were finishing writing up stuff for Unwelcome when we went over to his house, and he had the intro and the first riff written out in death metal style, and I was just like, “that is fucking badass.” (laughs) And I just sat down and finished arranging the rest of the riffs in a death metal type context, brushed up on the vocals really quick and was just like, “hey, I guess we’re covering Sunglasses at Night now!”

Paul: I actually had no idea that it was a cover of an 80s song in the first place, but I was wondering why you were singing “I wear my Sunglasses at Night.” Then I was playing it in the car with one of my bandmates and he burst out laughing and was like dude, you know this is an 80s pop song right? Then he played the original for me and I felt like the biggest idiot. It was like, “I already wrote the review! Fuck!”

James: (Laughs) it fooled everybody. When it was being reviewed for production, the guy was like “I dunno about these lyrics James.” And I was just like, “It’s a cover!” (laughs)

Paul: Then I showed it to my mom so you can imagine how that turned out.

James: Oh my god, what did your mom say?

Paul: We come back to the house, and I say, “Hey Mom, have you ever heard of the song Sunglasses at Night?” And she’s like “Oh, yeah, that’s a really cool song from the 80s!” And I’m like, “yeah, well this metal band covered it.” So I put it on. And at first, she’s kind of getting into the intro. Then she hears “I WEAR MY SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT!” (laughs) and her eyes pop out of her skull.

James: (laughs) Oh man, that’s a great story, glad it’s shocking some people. Mission accomplished with that! I think we kind of made it our own though.

Paul: Oh, yeah totally! I never would have guessed it was actually an old pop song, because I never heard the original before. I just wondered, “Why is he saying I wear my Sunglasses at Night?”

(laughs)

Paul: Anyways, I know that you guys are really big on King Diamond. When I saw you guys open for Sonata Arctica, I remember seeing you wearing a Mercyful Fate shirt, while Brandon was in a King Diamond shirt. And I said to myself, “Hmmmm… I think this band really likes King Diamond.”

James: I’m sure you weren’t paying attention to this, but I was actually wearing a King Diamond belt buckle.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNDf5y9CU7Q]

Paul: Oh, awesome! But yeah, after listening to Unwelcome, I felt that the album drew a lot of influence from them. Would you agree?

James: Oh yeah, for sure. They were a really big influence on me when I first started playing guitar. Especially Don’t Break the Oath. It’s just so dark; I remember I was 13 years old when I bought it. I talked my mom into taking me to the record shop and bought Judas Priest’s Painkiller on cassette and Don’t Break the Oath as well. I fell asleep listening to Don’t Break the Oath and realized that this is what I wanted to do. After that I’d just take money my relatives gave me and bought King Diamond albums, and it all went downhill after that (laughs). But yeah, we’re definitely influenced by King Diamond, Brandon really loves Andy LaRocque. Big time.  

 Paul: More specifically, who are some guitar players who have inspired your sound? I’ve heard that your taste in music is rather diverse, so I’m especially curious to know.

James: Growing up as far as learning guitar, well, we talked about King Diamond. And I was a big fan of Paul Gilbert, especially his stuff on Street Lethal with Racer X. Also, Cacophony with Marty Friedman. Then after that I got into the more brutal stuff. Like Carcass and Dissection. Stuff like that.

Paul: I’ve noticed a lot of diminished arpeggios in your playing, which gives it a cool neo-classical kind of flavor. Are you classically influenced or trained?

James: Yeah, I guess so. My first instrument was violin, where I was taught a lot of theory and stuff like that. I was never really a classical guitarist though. I could never get into finger styled playing. And of course I like Yngwie Malmsteen.

Paul: Rising Force is one of my favorites.

James: Yeah man, that’s good stuff.

Paul: What do you guys do to pay the bills when you’re not on tour? I read somewhere that you’ve worked with hair. Did you go to cosmetology school or anything?

James: I did. I don’t work at a salon anymore. Right now, I’ll be a parks operation coordinator for a couple months at a time. The way it works is that I’m on call, but it’s a pretty cool job.

Paul: Do any of the guys balance the band with school?

James: The only one who I think is taking classes right now would be Noah. I know he works as well; he does stuff with audio visuals. Brandon I think just shreds for a living. Shawn… what does Shawn do? I think Shawn is the manager at a grocery store.

Paul: How much metal do you listen to nowadays? Is it stale now that you’re playing it every night alongside a bunch of other metal bands, or is it still fresh and exciting to you?    

James: Some metal is still fresh and exciting. I don’t listen to it as much as I used to, I’m not gonna lie, but we still listen to a fair amount of metal. If we listen to metal on tour, it’s usually going to be 80s metal. Or even glam rock. You know, the fun stuff. But yeah, I still am a metal fan.

Paul: You’re magically thrown back in time and can play in any band from the 70s or 80s. Which would you pick and why?

James: Wow, that’s a good question. Let me think… any band?

Paul: Any band, it doesn’t even have to be metal.

James: (long pause) Man… that’s a really good question. (More silence) I’m thinking hard about this one actually. I’m wrestling between artistic value and popularity. I would say King Diamond. I think they made money too, back in the 80s. They also had that glam imagery I really loved in the 80s, just darker.

Paul: As I mentioned before, I saw you guys back in December with Sonata Arctica. How did that tour go? What were those guys like?

 James: Oh, they were really nice. Everybody was really spot-on every night too. Tony really is an incredible singer. I know it seemed like a weird package to a lot of people but I had a good time. I mean, I know a lot of the fans weren’t as receptive to our style as I would’ve liked, but it was a good tour to get back into the swing of things. It wasn’t super long… We had a great time, we really did.

Paul: When you guys are touring, how do you guys make most of your money and how is it distributed?

James: Well, you sell merch of course, and have a guarantee from the venue every night. So what happens is we first pay off our dues, and then we just split the rest four ways.

Paul: Is it something you can make a living with while on tour?

James: Yeah, to be honest with you we’re smart about the money. We don’t order merch that we can’t pay off immediately, so we never have debt hanging over our heads. After we pay off everyone we need to, the rest is all profit and we keep our spending very minimal. It’s actually equivalent to what I make working my day job 40 hours a week so I can’t complain about that.

Paul: Plus you love what you’re doing, so that must make it even better.

James: Yeah, exactly.

Paul: Well thanks again James for taking the time to do this interview, it was great talking with you.

James: No problem man, thanks a lot for the review!

 Paul: Anything else to say to the fans?

James: Thank you all so much for the support, looking forward to seeing you on tour soon!

Catch Arsis on tour with Hypocrisy, Krisiun, and Aborted!

05/01 – Gramercy – New York, N.Y. *
05/02 – Palace – Stafford, Conn. *
05/03 – Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, Quebec *
05/04 – WreckRoom – Toronto, Ontario *
05/06 – Reggie’s – Chicago, Ill. *
05/07 – Station 4 – St. Paul, Minn. *
05/08 – The Zoo – Winnipeg, Manitoba *
05/09 – The Exchange – Regina, Saskatchewan *
05/10 – Pawn Shop – Edmonton, Alberta *
05/11 – Republik – Calgary, Alberta *
05/13 – Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, British Columbia *
05/14 – Studio Seven – Seattle, Wash. **
05/17 – The Vex – Los Angeles, Calif. **
05/18 – 910 Live – Tempe, Ariz. **
05/20 – Trees – Dallas, Texas **
05/21 – Korova – San Antonio, Texas **

* with Starkill
** with Autumn’s End

The post Interview | James Malone of Arsis appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

The post Video Interview | Ensiferum (Sami Hinkka) on Paganfest America 2013 appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

The US doesn’t see that many Australian metal bands come through often, however, you seem to have quite the following in the western states.  Why do you think your influence carries overseas?

Lee: I actually have no idea haha!
CJ: yeah, not really sure why, but all I know is that we a super stoked about it, we hope to come to US asap, so we can crush a load of shows and meet the people who’ve been supporting us since day one!

Brendan Van Ryn was your vocalist up till 2008, his lyrics seemed to be particularly popular amongst fans.  Was there difficultly adjusting the songwriting after his departure?

Lee: That was a long time ago. The whole band contributes to the lyrical content so no. 

This particular genre is characterized by crushing beats and grueling riffs.  In order to work harmoniously, every musician needs to be on the same level.  What drew you to choosing Chris McMahon as your new vocalist?

Lee: Again, this was 5 years. Ancient history in today’s world. CJ was a friend of ours who we had played heaps of shows with. He has always had a brutal voice! So it was a no brainer to get him on board.

In addition to Van Ryn, you’ve changed guitarists in the past.  With these lineup changes, do you think your sound is at its final stage, or is there room for evolution?

Lee: Those lineup changes were a while back. It’s natural for that to happen with young bands, I reckon a lineup staying solid is the exception not the rule. I think the band is as solid as we have ever been! We’ll keep growing with every new release as our abilities grow.

Your current album, titled Hate, will be releasing in the United States on April 5^th via Nuclear Blast Records.  How has the response been back home?

CJ: The response was massive, we had no idea that it would blow up as it did, we are really happy that it has done so well

Speaking of Nuclear Blast, how has the addition of the largest independent metal label in the known universe been beneficial for the band on an international level?

CJ: It has been amazing, they have really got behind us in every way possible. We visited the head office in Germany, they treated us like family. We never thought it would be possible to be part of that label but it happened, it’s wild. The Nuclear Blast team in the UK were great people, we’ve had a great time working with them, same with the US team. Nuclear Blast are truly the best at what they do.

The road to international appeal isn’t met by just successful releases which I’m sure you all know.  What are your current touring plans, if any, and where would you like to play?

Lee: We have an Australian tour with Cattle Decapitation in June, Then we are back over to Europe for some festivals and a few shows with Between The Buried And Me in June / July. We are up for the Summer Slaughter tour in the opening slot voting competition (you can chuck a vote on Facebook). We’ve got Asia, more Australia and more Europe for rest of the year!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=47Plg93oJ1M]

Your name, Thy Art is Murder, seems to be a bit cliché.  Is there any particular inspiration?

Lee: The vast majority of band names are stupid clichés, especially in metal. What do you expect a bunch of 15 year olds playing death metal to pick as their band name?! Pissing off mum is job number 1.

 Hate displays very bold album artwork.  Does it have any particular reference to the album?

 CJ: We got the designer to do what he thought when he listened to the record and he made the art work perfect. We are stoked with it, it’s mental.

 Music is great an all, but you have to have hobbies outside of the world of brutality.  What are some of the things you do for fun?

 Lee: I dont mind heading up to the pub to watch the footy and the occasional round of golf

 Lastly, do you have any final words for Der Metal Krieger and your fans across the world?

 Lee & CJ:  Cheers to anyone that’s supported us over the years! And cheers for the interview. Vote for us to open the Summer Slaughter if you want to see us in the USA soon!

Order Hate!

Order Hate!

Nuclear Blast USA

The post Interview | Thy Art is Murder from the Land Down Under appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

I would like to thank you guys for taking your time out of your busy schedule to do this interview, we really appreciate it!

Evan: No problem at all, thanks for the opportunity!

First off, I want to congratulate you guys on the upcoming completion for your debut album, “Olden Tales & Deathly Trails”.  How did you guys all come to meet each other and form Wilderun?

Evan: Thanks so much; we’re really excited to get the music out there.  Wilderun has been sort of a band in the making for a while now.  Over the years, I had been writing music for this project on and off in my spare time, but only recently was Wilderun fully realized.  After a couple years of demos and different incarnations of the group, this particular band came together around the beginning of this year. We’ve all been friends/fellow musicians for a good while here in Boston, so forming the band felt very natural.  I first came to Wayne [Ingram, lead guitar] with the proposition at the end of last year.  Since Wayne is not only a great guitarist, but also a skilled orchestrator, I really wanted to collaborate with him to help get this project off the ground.  When Dan [Müller, bass] and Jon [Teachey, drums] joined in, the band immediately felt complete.

What was your first exposure to folk metal and your personal opinion on how it has affected the mainstream metal scene in the U.S.?    

Wayne: My very first exposure to folk metal was with a good friend of mine many years ago. We had grown up learning guitar and listening to power metal.  I remember one day we were in his car, and I heard this amazing metal song with accordion and fiddle in it.  It turned out to be “Sahti-Waari” by Turisas.  I had never heard anything like it and had to find more. I knew about Blind Guardian and was familiar with their music, but it was Turisas’ arrangement of metal and folk instruments that captured me. I bought “Battle Metal,” then shortly after discovered Nightwish, which was the first band I found that combined incredible symphonic elements with folk instruments. I never looked back, and it quickly became my favorite genre.

I have to say that I’m not sure how folk metal affects the metal scene in America. It’s so different on each coast. I’m from Southern California, and in my hometown the only people that listened to folk metal were a couple of friends and I. It’s not very big out there. On the East coast however, it’s a big deal and there are tons of die-hard fans, probably because the European bands have an easier time getting there for shows. You’ll find way more folk metal oriented bands on the east coast.

I noticed that you guys incorporate a ton of unique instruments such as the mandolin and the hammered dulcimer.  First can you tell me what inspired you guys to use the hammered dulcimer?  It’s such a fascinating and unusual instrument to use!

Evan:Well, I suppose simply the fact that we had one was inspiration enough!  But we just wanted to use some unique folk instruments that would not only bring a specific, new flavor to the music, but that would integrate folk instruments historically used in American history.  Even though we’re certainly not a strictly “American” folk metal band, and we definitely take a lot of influence from many different countries, we really wanted to explore these sounds, just as we explored folk songs from our country on this album.  Utilizing one’s own culture and musical history is one of the most exciting and interesting aspects of folk metal as a whole, and we try to embrace that, while still crafting our own sound and not being restricted by it.  Not to mention, so much of what you hear from American folk tunes/instruments originated in other countries in the first place, so it’s only appropriate that our music does become sort of a melting pot of sounds and ideas.

What other instruments have you learned to play, and why did you decide to learn them? I don’t know many people in the US who would say, “You know,  I want to start playing the autoharp!”

Dan: Well I grew up in a German family so from a very young age I was exposed to German and Bavarian folk music. I’ve played instruments like the autoharp, the hammered dulcimer, and various other folk instruments around the house for as long as I can remember. But it was only since I was a teenager that I got into folk metal and had a desire to learn these instruments. It was kind of inevitable!

Your first big gig was at Paganfest in March of 2012 alongside Turisas, Arkona, and Alestorm.  What did you have to do to land such a big festival as your very first show? With such big names in folk metal, were you guys at all worried or nervous of how the crowd would respond to you guys?

Evan:  That show was a great time.  We were naturally all a bit nervous, having never played the material live before, but I think our general excitement overruled any other feelings once we were on stage.  The crowd really seemed to dig our performance.  Considering all the well-known folk metal acts playing that night, we were really playing for the right crowd.  They responded to it pretty quickly, and I think we made a good deal of fans by the end of it.  Hopefully there will be more shows like that in the future!

You guys are based in Boston, Massachusetts, describe to me what it was like growing up as a kid and what music you were into and what you teenage to early adulthood was like?

 Dan: My childhood was relatively normal. I hung around with friends and family, played video games, and travelled with my family a lot. My parents had me take piano lessons when I was six years old and when I turned 14, I got into playing bass and kind of stuck with that for a while. It’s actually not until more recently that I’ve been picking up the piano again. I like to think that it keeps me well rounded as a musician.

Your debut album was released on September 21. What song would you guys say you had the most fun writing?

Evan: Each song was a pretty unique writing experiment for me, but if I had to choose one, I’d probably say “The Dying Californian”.  Working in the traditional melody and lyrics into my own material was a really gratifying, albeit challenging, task, and I think I felt most accomplished after that one was completed.  Although, some of those riffs in “Vaunting Veins” were damn fun to write.

Wayne: Since Evan already wrote most of the songs when he and I started working together, it was basically my job to compose all of the symphonic elements and arrange them along with the folk parts. For me, “Suncatcher” was the most fun to write.  Not only did I get to write a huge orchestration, which is my favorite thing, but also it’s a great song because of its melodies and variations on themes. The best part about orchestrating is how you get to use the same ideas but in different parts of the orchestra to create a variety of moods and colors.  “Suncatcher” has the most of that in there, and so it was really rewarding to work on.

In the spirit of drinking and partying, what was your craziest drunken experience?

Evan: Well, a good buddy of mine once ripped the divider between urinals in the bathroom clean off the wall.  I think that’s up there.

What do you guys do in your spare time when you’re not writing music?

Dan: I really enjoy playing video games whenever I get the chance. It really takes me out of my daily life and lets me escape for a while. I also love brewing beer. I’ve been doing it for a couple years now and it’s a really rewarding process (especially when the rewards are delicious!). Aside from that, just spending time with my lady and hanging out with friends.

What is a random fun fact about each of you?

Dan: The band that actually got me interested in playing bass in the first place was “Weird Al” Yankovic. I actually wanted to play upright polka bass but was handed an electric bass by the music store I was taking lessons at and everything just sort of fell into place.

Evan: I have a map of Middle-earth on the wall in front of my toilet.

Wayne: Get me two glasses of Delirium Tremens and I am amazing at pool.

If there were three bands that you would hope to tour with, what bands would they be?

Wayne:  There is this amazing, newer band from Australia called Troldhaugen, who kind of sound like a metal version of “Banjo-Kazooie”. I would love to play a show with them. Finntroll is next on my list cause their music is so fun and memorable. However, it would be a dream come true to tour with Dimmu Borgir. The way they blend orchestral elements with metal was a big influence on how I went about writing all of the symphonic parts for this album. Plus, maybe we could use their orchestra and have our stuff played live!

If there was one place you would love to travel, where would it be and why?

Dan: Definitely New Zealand. Ever since I saw “Lord of the Rings” I knew that’s where I had to be. There’s just so much wondrous, vast open space. And mountains. I live for mountains.

Evan: I think I just want to hug a panda.

Wrapping up, what are your future plans for the band?

Evan: Right now, we’re just trying to get the album heard by as many people as we can.  There are really no specific plans beyond that, but we really want to play more shows soon, and hopefully do some sort of tour in the near future.  And of course, there will eventually be even more music to come.

Is there anything that you guys want to say to your fans, any exclusive information you’d like to share?

Evan: The response so far, even in only the few days following our album release, has been phenomenal.  Thanks to everyone who’s grabbed a copy of the album, or simply listened to it.  Wherever you are, we really hope to come play for you soon!

Wilderun’s debut album Olden Tales & Deathly Trails is currently for sale at www.wilderun.bandcamp.com, where both physical copies and digital downloads are available.  Thank you so much for taking your time out of your schedule to do this interview!

The post Wilderun Interviewed, A Look at the American Folk Metal Perspective appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.