For a band who has been proclaimed the “unluckiest band in rock”, the guys in Royal Bliss seemed to be putting that moniker to rest in 2008 and 2009 as the band scored two Top 40 Rock singles in “Save Me” and [...]]]>

Royal Bliis bring their new album to Flint next Saturday.

For a band who has been proclaimed the “unluckiest band in rock”, the guys in Royal Bliss seemed to be putting that moniker to rest in 2008 and 2009 as the band scored two Top 40 Rock singles in “Save Me” and “We Did Nothing Wrong”, from their album “Life In-Between”. But as the album and those songs started to progress, the powers that be at their record label at the time (Capitol Records) shifted and a lot of bands got lost in the shuffle, including Royal Bliss.

But instead of trying to find a new major label, the band opted to go the indie route and start work on their next album. Almost three years later, the band’s saga is reaping benefits as the band released their brand new album, “Waiting Out The Storm” on January 24^th. When hearing the story of the genesis and the situation the album was born out of, it’s easy to see why the band called the album what they did.

The band is currently out on tour with West Virginia rockers Bobaflex for dates through March 6^th. As the band was in Portland to record some new material that may or may not end up on a future album, or something to complement the new album, I had a chance to talk with singer/guitarist Neal Middleton about how the issues with the former label shaped the album and Neal’s experience on a certain NBC music game show.
Here’s is my interview with Neal:

AM: After everything that has happened in the past couple of years, where is your excitement level at for the new album?
NM: The excitement is huge and we feel this is the best album we’ve ever done, but that’s what we always try to think. We want to go out there and prove that we can do this without a major label and we’re in control of our own destiny. There’s a new energy to the band and it feels like we’re a new band all over again.

AM: How long did the recording process take?
NM: Originally, we had written 100 songs for the album and it went through a bunch of different phases. We got it down to 40 or 50 songs before getting into the studio with Brian Virtue, then we widdled it down to 16 or 18 songs that we recorded for the album. But it probably took about a year and a half before the initial recording started, and then about another year and a half after that, so it was almost a three year process all together.

AM: In that time, how did the lyrics and music change from start to finish?
NM: I usually write from a perspective of what’s going on in my life at that time, and there was a lot at this point. We ended up leaving the label, I just had a son and some other things that were going on. I was a father for the first time and a lot of the lyrics had to do with the idea of watching him growing up and being a good father to him. Some of the songs had totally different lyrics and sounded when they were finally recorded than the pre-production stage.

AM: How did the band find new management and stay afloat in the tough time?
NM: We were out of the label management and the deal prior to recording. We had some help from some private investors that really believed in the band and what we were doing and helped us with the recording costs. When working with Brian, he basically told us that if we were just interested in writing a bunch of songs for the radio, he wasn’t interested in working with us. He wanted to be a full on Royal Bliss album. It was around that time that UEG Management, who handles Hinder, Nickelback and a few other bands found us. We were in Nashville recording at the time when we started getting all of these managers wanting to work with us. They were pretty shocked that we had no interest in going back to a major label and wanted to self-release things. They liked our music and didn’t just automatically think about how they could make money from us, so that worked out well.

AM: How did the band feel after finishing the long stretch of touring last summer?
NM: It was tough, to say the least. We paid for a lot of the touring out of our own pocket. We did two to three months with Hinder, another month with Puddle of Mudd, making as little as 250 dollars a night. But with traveling and gas prices, we were spending a lot more money than that to stay on the road. I had my son in August and we had to cancel 15 shows while I spent time with him. During that time, I went out and auditioned for “The Voice” (laughs). I actually made it to the Top 85 people on the show and performed in front of the coaches, and it should be on the show when it comes back on. At that time, I was thinking more about money and taking care of my son. But it was a really weird experience and I felt very out of place. I can’t play a character on some reality TV/game show. In a way, I’m glad it didn’t work out and it helped me finish the record.

AM: If there was anything you could go back and change about “Life In-Between”, what would it be?
NM: (laughs) To raise about an extra $500,000 to properly promote the album. It was a great album and I wouldn’t change a thing about the album itself, but we just didn’t have the capital to have the album stick around for a while. EMI got bought out and the executive that signed us left, which left us in the dark. By the time that got settled, there wasn’t a lot of money for touring and promotion.

AM: The album did yield a couple big singles; how did the band react to first hearing those songs?
NM: It was such a surreal experience. Coming from Salt Lake City, we always had a good following there, but when we started hearing the song on Sirius Radio, we started going crazy. But from there, we started going to cities on tour and we’d turn on the local radio station and see if they were talking about us. It was great to hear radio stations 1,500 miles away talking about our shows and stuff. It really does give you butterflies.

Royal Bliss play at the Machine Shop in Flint on Saturday, February 11^th. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.etix.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.royalbliss.com.

Look at any year end Top 10 list of metal albums (including this very writer’s), and you should see one constant on those lists- and it’s not Metallica & Lou Reed’s horribly executed “Lulu” album. One album [...]]]>

Revocation open for Children of Bodom in an east side show at Harpo's on Tuesday.

Look at any year end Top 10 list of metal albums (including this very writer’s), and you should see one constant on those lists- and it’s not Metallica & Lou Reed’s horribly executed “Lulu” album. One album that is on the vast majority of those lists is the third album by the Boston extreme metal band Revocation, “Chaos Of Forms”. The album is a nearly 50 minute sonic lesson in all things technical death metal that is showing that the guys in Revocation are quickly becoming one of the underground metal world’s fastest rising groups.

With “Chaos of Forms”, Revocation delivers their usual brand of metal, but for the first time, they added unusual (for the metal world) instrumentation for the album, enlisting a horn section for one of the tracks. Given the diverse education that guitarist Dave Davidson received at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, it’s no surprise to see the band branching out and adding new elements to their metal.

After taking a bit of time off around the holiday to recharge their battery, the guys are about to get back on the road as they open for Finnish thrash stars Children of Bodom on a tour that lasts through the beginning of March. Before their tour was underway, I had a chance to Davidson and bassist Anthony Buda to discuss the new album and how they feel the band is progressing in the metal food chain.

Here’s my interview with Dave and Anthony from Revocation:

AM: Are you guys surprised at all the accolades for “Chaos Of Forms” at the end of last year?
DD: I mean, it’s always nice to see your band on those lists and for people to say those things and definitely an honor. When you look at magazines like Guitar World, and see your album getting praise- it’s shocking but an ever bigger honor.

AB: It’s nice to know that people are appreciating what you’re doing. I feel things like this help show the constant evolution of the band, but at the same time, you don’t get too full of yourself over it at the same time.

AM: How did the recording experience for “Chaos of Forms” vary from previous albums?
DD: It was different in a sense that it was the first time we stopped and started a bunch of times while recording. We had to do this because we kept getting asked to be on tours and did tours with Despised Icon and Darkest Hour and kept coming back to the album. But with all these stops and starts, it gave us more time to develop the songs- so it actually worked out fine.

AB: For us, this was the first time we were full integrated as a full time band, touring and recording. For me, it was finding that balancing between how we sound live and trying to make the album sound closer to how we sound live.

AM: In what way lyrically and musically do you see this album being different from past albums?
AB: As a metal band, you want to have fun when doing your music and bring forth that attitude, but at the same time- you want to make people think and not be overly directly. It’s better to let people internalize the things they are hearing and let people make interpret the music in their own way. It makes for an experience with more substance and depth.

DD: I think not being super direct keeps things interesting. A song like “Cretin” on paper is about this demented circus freak. But if you look deeper into the song, it’s an allegory for bullies and the torment with that, or the agony of what someone deals with a physical handicap. A song like “Conjuring the Cataclysm” talks about necromancers and zombies and things, but it just as easily discusses our band in the metal world and the subculture into itself.

AM: Is there a song in the live set that you feel challenges fans the most these days?
AB: Definitely “The Watchers”. It’s unlike we’ve done before because of the fact we have a horn section and organ section in the song that gets the most surprising reaction from fans and has been receiving pretty positive responses so far.

AM: How does your education at the Berklee School of Music influence that diversity in the music?
DD: With those songs like “The Watchers”, I think it was just the product of my environment going to school there and studying with many different people from different backgrounds. Plenty of people there just hide in one musical corner and don’t want to come outside of that zone. I focused in on all sorts of music, a smorgasbord that opened my eyes up and learned more improv stuff- which you can see on the intro to “Cataclysm”.

AB: As someone that worked with Dave before he went to Berklee, I’m here to say he’s always been the same guy and is a great player, but this knowledge makes him that much better. He knows what it takes to make a song sound good, but can still get the best technical aspect out of the song too.

AM: The band recently expanded to a quartet- where did the band find Dan Gargiulo, the band’s new guitarist and how does he fit into the grand scheme of the band?
DD: Dan’s a great player and totally came in and wowed us. We had known him through a friend of a friend and he played in a few other bands in the area. He worked out well because we didn’t have to show him how to play every song- he picked up the entire set list just by his ear and knew the songs within a couple of days.

AM: With all the touring the band does- do you feel the band is starting to get the recognition most band’s seek?
DD: It’s been a long hard road and at the shows, I think people are starting to recognize us more and more and more people are hanging out with us, so I think it’s working (laughs). Touring is key to heavy metal music, so is the word of mouth and it’s exciting to play to other crowds.

AB: We very focused on playing with a lot of different types of bands, because it helps fans get out of their own little subgenre and world and exposes them to us, and at the same time, helps us to see what those fans are like as well. It may not directly be their type of music, but they usually get and respect what we’re doing.

Revocation open for Children of Bodom at Harpo’s on Tuesday, January 31^st. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at http://www.relapse.com/label/artist/revocation.html.

The Devil Wears Prada were one of those bands that early on in their career, they were on every metal tour you could think of. The Dayton, Ohio band spent more time on the road each year than [...]]]>

The Devil Wears Prada are sure to pack the Royal Oak Theater this Saturday night.

The Devil Wears Prada were one of those bands that early on in their career, they were on every metal tour you could think of. The Dayton, Ohio band spent more time on the road each year than they were probably home, just trying to get the word out on the band. After a few years of touring, the band were shocked to see their 2009 album “With Roots Above and Branches Below” narrowly missing the Top 10 of the Billboard Album Charts. But the band knew their heaviest effort was still yet to come and with the recently released “Dead Throne”, the band finally cracked the Top 10, selling 35,000 copies during it’s opening week.

Fans and critics alike are heralding the album as the band’s heaviest to date and tackles false idols as it’s main lyrical focus. To help give the album it’s stepped up heaviness, the band listed Killswitch Engage wildman Adam Dutkewicz to produce the album and has become another sign the band is far from done.

The band is currently out on the road right before Christmas with Enter Shikari and Whitechapel for a scorching night of new school metal. But before a show in Maryland, the band had a little bit of down time when I had a chance to chat with guitarist Jeremy DePoyster. Jeremy and I discussed Dutkewicz’s production techniques and the things he misses about the band’s early days on touring.
Here’s my interview with Jeremy:

AM: When seeing “Dead Throne” debut at #10 on the album charts, what was your reaction?
JD: It was an awesome feeling. With our last album, we came real close and debuted at #11, I think. It was close, but I’m not reading our plaques right now, so I’m not sure (laughs). But it’s good to see what we do every day is paying off. It’s good for a non-radio friendly band with massive amounts of promotion doing this. It’s vindicating because we’ve done things the we we’ve wanted to do it.

AM: What was the band’s mood going into the recording of the album?
JD: I think the mood varied greatly. We rehearsed the songs in Chicago, where I live now. It was work all day, every day for several days in a row getting the vocals right, the music right and so on. We had only been home a couple of days from a long tour before we went right back in to work on recording. We had all these demos all set and we thought they were so good, thinking we were prepared. Then when we started working with Adam, he chopped things up and changed things drastically.

AM: How was working with Adam D on this album?
JD: Adam was awesome. This was the first time we didn’t work with our friend Joey Sturgis and he always did a great job. But I think Adam was more of a producer and intensely worked on the songs. He helped us crank out performances we didn’t even know we had in us and pushed us to make the best album we’ve ever done.

AM: For the “Zombie” EP, what areas of pop culture did you pull from for inspiration?
JD: Our original inspiration for it was when we were on tour in Europe. We were in some very weird countries with no internet and everybody was getting a little stir crazy. I think that started it and when we saw that “Zombieland” movie, we thought “oh yeah, we gotta do a concept like that!”. But we felt we didn’t want to make an entire concept record, so we did this.

AM: Is there any discussion of expanding on the idea of that EP at some point?
JD: I think we’ll go back and do a concept record somewhere in the future, but it won’t be about zombies or anything.

AM: What do you miss about the early days of the band’s touring?
JD: Some of the intimacy that you had about being an unknown band is gone. We were just learning when we first started touring back when we where 17 or 18. We were in a van in those days and you learned to run the crew and operation and learned more things in those days. You’re in a bubble more when you reach a level like we have.

AM: What has been the weirdest thing about the band’s success?
JD: It’s all been kinda surreal and you get all wrapped up in things while on tour. But we have a bunch of dudes in the crew that are easy to talk to and bring you down to earth. When you go home after the tour, things remain pretty down to earth and we don’t get too wrapped up in our own success.

The Devil Wears Prada plays at the Royal Oak Theater on Saturday, December 17^th. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.tickets.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.tdwpband.com.

The guys in the New Jersey based band The Parlor Mob know all too well about the downside of the music industry over the past several years. With the band signed to Capitol Records and a merger between a [...]]]>

The Parlor Mob plays a free show at the Pike Room this Friday.

The guys in the New Jersey based band The Parlor Mob know all too well about the downside of the music industry over the past several years. With the band signed to Capitol Records and a merger between a few different labels, many bands were dropped from the labels, causing them to release their music elsewhere. The Parlor Mob found this out through an email of all things and in a moment of frustration to be heard, the band released their EP on the internet.

Well, someone listened to that EP, because the band was signed to Roadrunner Records shortly there after and released their debut, “And You Were a Crow” in 2008. The band decided to switch gears majorly with the writing and recording of the album that would become their sophomore release, “Dogs”, which was released this past fall. The album is a celebration of the band’s perseverance and trials dealing with being a band during this time in the music industry.

The band is on the road at the moment, but during an off day back home in Jersey, I had a chance to talk with guitarist Dave Rosen about the band’s journey to their second album and some of the more economically downtrodden places that the band has played in recent time.
Here’s my interview with Dave:

AM: How has the reaction to “Dogs” been so far?
DR: It’s been great for the most part. We really didn’t know what to expect with this album because it was such a different record than the first album. This album wasn’t exactly a sure thing, but it’s worked out pretty well so far.

AM: Was there a conscious decision to move away from the sound on the first album?
DR: Nah, it wasn’t a conscious effort to change everything up. The first album was written when we were a lot younger, back in 2005 and 2006. We toured over two years behind the first album. I think we’ve got a lot more tight as a band and knew what we wanted on this album. Overall, I think “Dogs” took less time to write than the first album. It was only when we sat down and listened to the first cut of the new album that we realized it sounded so different than the first one.

AM: How long did the recording process take this time out?
DR: After we got off the road, we took about two months off to slow down a bit. The process took about six months altogether, because we extended our pre-production period. We decided on Matt Rose to produce early on, so we had to fly him out from LA out east. We wrote thirty-something songs in the beginning, recorded 15 and ended up with 12 on the album.

AM: Where was the band coming from lyrically on this album?
DR: There were interesting things going on with this album. When we wrote the first album, the world was totally different and we wrote more about things going on in the world. This album was an expression of the battle we’ve had for everything in this business. It’s the sound of the band’s struggle to make it to a second album. It personifies the world around us and being walked on and how you fight that.

AM: Did the band catch any heat for releasing the debut EP online from former labels?
DR: We got signed with Capitol Records early on and when they merged with another label, we got an email one day that we were dropped. We weren’t sure if it was legal, but we just wanted to get the word and the music out to the people. When we released it, the label didn’t seem to care about it, so we never had any problems with it.

AM: How has the touring environment been for the band?
DR: It’s crazy and noticeably different since the last time we toured majorly. It’s hard to get people out during the middle of a week for a show until 1 A.M. when they gotta work the next day. You go to places like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse and you can tell just how tough these places have it. For people to go and buy beers and a ticket, it can run you 40-50 bucks for the night and that’s a lot of money. So, we’ve been trying to get the word out about some of our guest list spots out on Facebook and sometimes, we end up doing that as well, just to get people to come out to the shows and hear us.

The Parlor Mob plays at the Pike Room on Friday, December 16^th. The show is free and more information can be found at www.thecrofoot.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.theparlormob.com.

This Christmas, the guys in the band Rains might want to send a thank you note to the guys in Rev Theory. Early in November, the band behind the hits “Hell Yeah” and “Justice” had a unfortunate [...]]]>

Jeff Rains brings his band to open up for Five Finger Death Punch Friday in Plymouth.

This Christmas, the guys in the band Rains might want to send a thank you note to the guys in Rev Theory. Early in November, the band behind the hits “Hell Yeah” and “Justice” had a unfortunate accident when one of the band’s guitarist suffered a hand injury and was forced to drop off the tour. This opened up a well coveted spot on the large hard rock tour headlined by Five Finger Death Punch.

The band from Fort Wayne, Indiana didn’t hesitate in accepting the opening slot on the tour. The band has been touring pretty relentlessly since the 2009 release of their album, “Stories”. The album is a deeply personal collection of songs, detailing the life of frontman Jeff Rains. With the band doing tours with many big names in the rock world during that day, this current tour with Five Finger Death Punch could be their biggest to date.

Before a date in Massachusetts, Jeff was getting a bit of a break before they played that night when I had a chance to speak with him. We discussed the dilemma facing the band when they got the offer for the tour and how the band ended back up releasing musically independently.
Here’s my interview with Jeff:

AM: The band wasn’t originally scheduled to be on this tour- how did the offer come about?
JR: We were originally asked on November 8^th after something happened with Rev Theory- I don’t really know what happened with them. I got asked one night around midnight and it was a week before the tour- but at the time- we just had two guys who had left the band. So, we had to scramble to find two new guys within a week and learn all the songs to start the tour. But we did.

AM: How did you find the new guys in the band on such short notice?
JR: Our new drummer played in a band called Ra (“Do You Call My Name”) and he had worked with us before, as well as recorded with us. We asked him if he wanted to hop on a tour in 3 days and he was on a plane immediately the next day. As for the bassist, we talked with our bass tech who knew a guy named Matt that used to play in a band called Surface with him. After meeting with him and rehearsing with him twice, it was a good fit. We seem to work best under pressure (laughs).

AM: Care to explain how “Stories” made it’s long journey to a wide release?
JR: Well, the band was initially signed to a major label, but the album never got pushed the right away. About ten months ago, we left the label and started to release everything anew. I think by doing this on our own, we’re finally getting the right push and radio is starting to pick up on the songs.

AM: What was the main message you wanted to convey with “Stories”?
JR: I was just getting sick and tired of the bad rock radio songs out there, it was like a never ending batch of songs about drinking and drugs that’s been done before. I decided to take a different route, I took stories from my life and went from there. There’s songs like “Liar” which was a reflection of a scary time in my life and a time I particularly wasn’t fond of- but it’s become one of the most popular songs on the album.

AM: What were some of the music that you grew up early on that inspired you to start a band?
JR: I really got into country music at a young age- which I think helped with the storytelling that I bring forth today. My dad went and bought me an acoustic guitar when I was younger, but in exchange- he would give me a list of songs he wanted me to learn to play. It included a lot of Led Zeppelin, John Mellencamp, Van Halen and stuff. But when watching Woodstock ’94 and during that time, I started getting heavy into the grunge stuff- like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden- which changed the way I do music.

AM: How has the band dealt with the pressure of the music industry and the touring market these days?
JR: The fans are fantastic, and the bands we’ve toured with have been great. Some of the stuff we deal with is with some of the stations, like the station in Fort Wayne- that even though we’re doing a tour like this, they still consider us a local band and haven’t given us much support. When you get on a tour like this, it’s kinda tough to just be considered a local band anymore, so you gotta tour everywhere, just to get the name out.

Rains opens up for Five Finger Death Punch at Compuware Arena on Friday, December 16^th. Tickets are $25 and are available at www.compuwarearena.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.rainsmusic.com.

After playing legendary punk clubs like New York’s CBGB’s back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Ted Horowitz was growing tired of playing rock clubs and not getting his true passion out. But in 1990, the [...]]]>

Popa Chubby brings his widely diverse blues to Callahan's up in Auburn Hills tomorrow night.

After playing legendary punk clubs like New York’s CBGB’s back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Ted Horowitz was growing tired of playing rock clubs and not getting his true passion out. But in 1990, the man that would become Popa Chubby had an epiphany while jamming with the legendary Parliament Funkadelic. Deciding to strike out on his own in a blues direction, Chubby started to release albums and started his blues journey in earnest at the Long Beach Blues Festival in 1992.

With Chubby releasing nearly two dozen releases in almost 20 years, he has become the iron man of the blues scene and tours relentlessly year after year. After a tough year personally for the blues man, Chubby used his roots and the city of his birth for inspiration for his latest album, “Back in New York City”. Always showing his wide range of diverse music acumen, Chubby gives us his own take on Bach “Jesus’ Joy of Man’s Desiring”, to the metal-tingled “Warrior Gods”.

With the album now out, and just back from a highly successful European tour which Chubby had been back from no less than 24 hours before I spoke with him- Chubby was getting ready to turn back around to head out on some U.S. dates to wrap up the year. Chubby and I discussed what went into the new album and if there’s been any musical stoned unturned yet in his career:
Here’s my interview with Popa Chubby:

AM: How has the reaction been to fans in the States and beyond for “Back in New York City”?
PC: It has been amazing so far. I just got back from Europe, where we had a huge sold out tour all over Europe, which was a great feeling. I think it has a lot to do with the label I’m on now (Provogue), who really believed in this album and helped me out greatly.

AM: How did the recording process play out for your this time versus your past work?
PC: I think the big difference was that the songs came from some hard living (laughs). It’s been a tough couple of years, but by taking those hardships and tough times that I’ve been through, it’s made for good music. There’s been a lot that’s been stripped away, but I have my guitar and my music and it’s what I do.

AM: Taking a song like “Warrior Gods”, which had a very metal feel to it- what bands did you pull from for inspiration?
PC: Oh man, I pulled from a lot of metal- Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica- even some punk bands like Bad Brains and the Damned. There was a lot going on with that song.

AM: Do you feel “Back to New York City” is more a tribute to the city than anything?
PC: I don’t feel it’s as much of a tribute as it is a love song to the city- a fickle one at that. It’s the city where my heart is and where some of the greatest times I’ve had are at. The album is all about my life there and the times I’ve shared and had while living there.

AM: How do you feel touring and dealing with the industry is now compared to earlier in your career?
PC: To be honest, it’s been better for me. The shows are busier now than they’ve ever been and the fans are very supportive and very grateful towards the music. The fans are buying the CD’s at the show and I am so appreciative of all of them. It’s been very positive.

AM: What made you originally want to move into the blues genre?
PC: When I got into blues in 1990, I was just getting sick and tired of playing rock clubs for 45 minutes and having to pay the club 50 bucks in order to play. I just love to play guitar, and blues clubs would let them come in and play what I wanted to and would let me play for 3 hours and pay me to play. It was a great feeling and it really has become what I love to play.

AM: Your music crosses many musical genres- do you feel like there’s any other genre that you haven’t tried as of yet that you want to?
PC: (laughs) Nah, I think I’ve tried everything at this time that I’ve wanted to do. I don’t deliberately try to play new types of music on an album, it just comes out that way.

Popa Chubby plays at Callahan’s Music Hall in Auburn Hills this Thursday, December 1^st. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.atcallahans.com. Additional tour dates and other info can be found at www.popachubby.com.

One of the most thunderously sounding metal records is coming straight outta San Francisco, as the duo known as Black Cobra released their big sounding new album, “Invernal”. The album, a mixture of sludge, doom and stoner metal [...]]]>

Black Cobra brings the sludge opening for Kyuss Lives this Saturday at the Crofoot.

One of the most thunderously sounding metal records is coming straight outta San Francisco, as the duo known as Black Cobra released their big sounding new album, “Invernal”. The album, a mixture of sludge, doom and stoner metal is a eight song concoction that sounds like it could rattle your speakers loose after a few listens. With it’s blend of punk infused doom metal, “Invernal” is one of the heaviest albums you’ll hear all year.

“Invernal” is the band’s fourth full length album, and second for Southern Lord Records. The duo of Jason Landrian and Rafa Martinez honed their skills in bands like Cavity and Acid King to give Black Cobra it’s full texture and sonic landscape.

Black Cobra has scored a big tour as the duo will open for Kyuss on their upcoming North American tour. Along with The Sword, Black Cobra will bring their sound to a like minded crowd and sure to be a night of pure heaviness. A few weeks before the tour with Kyuss, I had a chance to chat with drummer Martinez. Rafa and I discussed the improvement on the production of the new album, and how they came to Southern Lord Records.
Here’s my interview with Rafa:

AM: What do you feel are the major differences in the recording of “Invernal” versus your previous album, “Chronomega”?
RM: When we started writing “Invernal”, we didn’t have any ideas coming into the studio. With “Chronomega”, we had tons of ideas and songs already written. I think with “Invernal”, the songs were a bit more challenging to put together and we discuss more complex things. “Chronomega” was more raw, straight forward, where as “Invernal” was discussing more themes than before.

AM: Did you feel the process was a lot easier this time around?
RM: It was easy- we flew out to Salem (MA) to record it. But what was tough was that we were playing on different equipment and normal stuff that you would take for granted. It took a while to get used to the new equipment and to get the right sound. Kurt (Ballou-producer) helped us get in the swing of things and it went pretty easy.

AM: The production on “Invernal” sounds a lot better than previous records- who is the person to thank for that?
RM: Oh, that’s all Kurt. It was his studio, his equipment. He was good at finding the right amp combo, the right drum sounds and was able to get the full sound of the band.

AM: How do you feel your live performance has improved over the years?
RM: When we write songs, we always try to write songs that we can play live and prepare them that way. When we play live, the chemistry is a lot tighter than it used to be. We’ve done 600 shows in 7 years or so- anywhere from small gigs, to big festivals. That many shows gets rid of any stage fright that might come into place. It comes from experience and it’s easy when you always play the same way, no matter how many people are in the crowd.

AM: How did the band come to sign with Southern Lord Records?
RM: We have known Greg Anderson (owner of label) from playing in bands for a lot of years. We’ve always been around and it was a couple years back when he was playing with a band and we were playing at the Roadburn Festival. After our performance, Greg and we sat down and really started putting things together. It didn’t take long to put together an agreement and things have worked out great so far.

AM: What can fans expect with the upcoming Kyuss tour?
RM: (laughs) There probably won’t be too many younger fans there, but I think it’s a good fit for everybody. There’s a lot of different elements to Kyuss’ music, but there’s a lot of metal in their sound. They’re a unique band and hopefully their fans take to us, but I feel their fans are pretty open minded and should be fine.

Black Cobra opens for Kyuss at the Crofoot Ballroom on Saturday, December 3^rd. Tickets are $25 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.blackcobra.net.

When lead singer Scott Lewis of the San Diego based death metal band Carnifex discusses the negative undertones in the band’s music, you have to believe it. With album titles like “The Diseased and The Poisoned” and the latest album, “Until I [...]]]>

Carnifex unleashes far more than "Nothing" at Harpo's this Saturday.

When lead singer Scott Lewis of the San Diego based death metal band Carnifex discusses the negative undertones in the band’s music, you have to believe it. With album titles like “The Diseased and The Poisoned” and the latest album, “Until I Feel Nothing”, it’s safe to say that some form of pessimism runs through the band’s veins.

But given the band’s disposition, the band has seen a steady rise through the metal ranks throughout the past half-decade or so. The band has become a fixture on the road, playing on various tours since as the Summer Slaughter Tour in 2010, and various tours on this side and the other side of the Atlantic- where the band gets a lot of traction as well.

Following a rough patch for the band, it fueled the anger for the new album, which came out back in October. The album is a blazing, quick 30 minute exercise in venting out frustrations for the band and their fans. The band is out on the road with Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya throughout the end of November.

Before the tour got going, I had a chance to chat with lead singer Lewis about how that negativity fans the flames of the band’s music and how he looks back at the band’s past album, “Hell Chose Me”.
Here’s my interview with Scott:

AM: Going into the recording for “Until I Feel Nothing”- what was the mood of the band at that time?
SL: Honestly, it was a pretty low morale at that time. It had nothing to do with the album- it was other stuff dealing with certain people in between those albums. We were kinda burnt from the last tour cycle, which lasted 16 months and we were pretty tired.

AM: Did that attitude help push the musical vibe on the album that much heavier?
SL: Actually, most of the music was written well before we got into the studio and we knew what it was going to sound like. We started writing late in 2010 and there might have been one or two songs that were not written prior to going into the studio. But when writing my lyrics, they tend to stay negative no matter what sort of situation is going on in my life.

AM: Was there anything you really tried to stay away from when recording the new album?
SL: It’s not that I tried to stay away from any one particular thing, but we were more interested in refining and re-focusing our sound. We weren’t going to write political lyrics, because we’re not that type of band- our lyrics reflect more personal stuff. We wanted a different feel to the album versus past records. I’d say it’s probably our most refined collection of songs to date.

AM: What did As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis bring to the production table this time out?
SL: Actually, it was engineer Daniel Castleman who did a lot of the work for the album. Tim did a lot of the pre-production and we shared some of the same rehearsal space and the same building during the recording. With both of them both, it was a pretty laid back vibe. Daniel was more aggressive about the song structure, while Tim was more of the bells and whistles guy and used as a safety net.

AM: When looking back at “Hell Chose Me” (past album), is there anything else you’d change about it?
SL: Maybe a riff or two, but I was really satisfied with that album. It was a good showing at being as real as we could. I think the new album is more melancholy than “Hell Chose Me” and prefer this new album over the past, but it’s tough to compare the two albums.

Carnifex plays at Harpo’s on Saturday, November 26^th. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.myspace.com/carnifexmetal.

Even though Windsor, Ontario is technically in the Great White North, it serves truly as an eastern suburb of Detroit (and no, I’m not “calling it South Detroit” like that nauseating Journey song that I will [...]]]>

Boots and the MicLordz hit the Clem for a free show with Critical Bill Thanksgiving night.

Even though Windsor, Ontario is technically in the Great White North, it serves truly as an eastern suburb of Detroit (and no, I’m not “calling it South Detroit” like that nauseating Journey song that I will mention no further). Even though there hasn’t been many bands to make their way out of the border town, many Windsorites cross over into Detroit all the time for concerts.

In their many journeys into the States to check out shows in Detroit, the guys in the quintet MicLordz and Sauce Funky got their education in all sorts of Detroit music. Whether it was classic R&B, hip-hop of rock, the band melded their love for all those music, and most likely add a little Chili Peppers and Sublime, and the sound of MicLordz was forged.

After touring a ton over the years, the do-it-yourself had released a slew of releases and spreading the band’s gospel. MicLordz and Sauce Funky are ending the year on a high note, with the new release of their new EP, “My World”. The title track of the EP is now starting to get some radio play in Canada and in the States and brings it’s hard working, good time vibe to more and more stations every week. With the EP taking off, the band just did a record release party at the Blind Dog in Windsor and have some more dates planned in Michigan and Ontario before the year is out.

But with the band having a few days in between shows, I was able to chat with lead singer “Boots” Marjanovic, who is the driving force behind the band’s strong work ethic. In the interview, “Boots” and I discussed the inspiration behind the autobiographical video for “My World” and how Detroit helped influence their music.
Here’s my interview with Boots:

AM: Have you been surprised with the amount of stations picking up on “My World”?
BM: It’s been great, but that’s been the goal the whole time. For a band like us, it’s tough to write a so-called radio single. We really tried to write more hook oriented songs and we’re not surprised we ended up going in this direction. You never really want to have the band pick the first single (laughs), but we all believed in this song and was a good representation of the band at this moment. It’s been an exciting time, and having the support of Jay Hudson and the 89x “Homeboy” show has been a major part of the success so far. And we’re hoping for more play and at least one more song on the station before the year is out.

AM: The video for “My World” seems very autobiographical in it’s delivery, what was the inspiration for the video treatment?
BM: We went back and forth with the idea and concept for the video. One of us brought up the video for Van Halen’s “Right Now” and piggy-backed off that idea. We let fans take a peek into the workings and story of the band and the things that go into making this band. People sometimes don’t understand the industry and the road, so we hope this helps with that. The point of the video is to show that it is a tough grind, there’s a lot of sacrifice, and a lot of positives and negatives and how you get through them.

AM: Was there anything that you left out of the video that you were not so sure about adding in the video?
BM: We didn’t really leave out that was too crazy. There might have been a few things that the powers that be might have had a problem with, so we left those out. But I think video describes out story pretty well.

AM: For the rest of the album, what sort of lyrics and musical themes are on the EP?
BM: There’s other songs that show the hunger of this band and the desire to go to battle for our music. We wrote a few songs for hope of licensing for different things, but all relative to what we do. But we really want to get people hyped up, and girls are always an important part of the songs we write and the things we do, because they are a good portion of the fanbase. “1 AM” is a smooth older track that’s geared for women. On the album, we re-did the song “Nothing to Me”, which hopefully shows that we hit different sides of the musical spectrum.

AM: Being from Windsor, how did the music of Detroit and going to shows here help influence the band?
BM: It’s an unbelievable influence on us. Windsor is like a suburb of Detroit and we would always go and hit shows. Me and Mike (O’Phee- other vocalist) would hear guys like Eminem and Kid Rock and totally get inspired. Even going back to music like Motown and Seger, it just shows how great the music of Detroit is and how it influenced us. But I think with Kid Rock, as he mixed up rock and hip-hop and how it crossed racial boundaries, that was the one that did it for us. Music is such an important part of the legacy of the Detroit, it’s hard to say otherwise.

MicLordz and Sauce Funky open for Critical Bill at the Emerald Theater on Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 24^th). The show is free and check out www.emeraldtheater.com for more details. For more band info and tour dates, check out www.miclordz.com.

Most fans of rock music wouldn’t think of Nashville being one of the new bastions of rock music, but the Music City has been gaining far more attention for it’s rock scene versus the country music that [...]]]>

The Features might or might not bring their guns to the Pike Room on Saturday.

Most fans of rock music wouldn’t think of Nashville being one of the new bastions of rock music, but the Music City has been gaining far more attention for it’s rock scene versus the country music that made the city famous these days.

But over the past decade or so, the Tennessee town has seen an explosion of bands either moving to, or being home-grown success stories. Most fans should know the slow burn to major success for the now arena rockers Kings of Leon, but there’s more to Nashville area music than KOL. One of those bands is Murfeesboro (about 30 minutes) natives The Features. Since the late 90’s, the Features had released a string of EP’s and released their full length debut “Exhibit A” in 2004.

After releasing “Exhibit A” on Universal Records, the guys ended up doing the independent route and in 2009, the Features were signed to Serpents and Snakes Records, which is the imprint of the previously mentioned Kings of Leon. The band’s first album on the new label came out back in July, “Wilderness” and the band is back on the road now.

With the band getting underway on the tour, I had a chance to chat with drummer Rollum Haas. Rollum and I discussed the evolution of “Wilderness” and how that Nashville scene is changing.
Here’s my interview with Rollum:

AM: In comparison to the debut, how have fans reaction been to the material from “Wilderness”?
RH: A lot of people have said that it’s their favorite thing we’ve done. I think any band that’s been around a while will always have people that miss the old songs. Most of the time I think it’s because people associate music with certain points in their life and maybe they were more carefree when they listened to that stuff. Sometimes it’s because the old music was better. That’s not the case with us though. We’re much better looking and sounding than we used to be.
AM: What were some of the things you were looking to bring forth with the material on the new album?
RH: We didn’t really set out with any particular ideas, other than to make it sound better than the last few records. I think the problem we’d always ran into in the studio was never having a cohesive sound. Some of it can be using instruments and sounds you’re uncomfortable with and some of it can be the intimidation of being in a studio and under the microscope. Wilderness is the first time we didn’t really branch out too far from what we’d use live. It was also the first time we worked with Craig Alvin as an engineer. He played a very big part in the way it came across.
AM: How do you feel the studio experience was for the band this time around?
RH: Better than ever. It’s the first time I feel like we’ve come across in a way that makes sense.

AM: Has the group reached a level of comfortability with producer Brian Carter on a personal and professional level?
RH: Brian is a special man. Part mad scientist-part hibernating mammal, & part curious child. It’s very easy to tell he’s gifted within a few minutes of meeting him if you know what to look for. He has an ability to turn conversations into time vortexes. Drifting from topic to topic, finally to return to the initial conversation three hours later and complete his thoughts without a flinch.
AM: How do you feel the band’s live act has progress and improved over the years?
RH: We’ve always been pretty energetic live, to the point where it surprises people who’ve only heard the records. We’re maybe a little tighter and more controlled than we used to be. That just comes from getting old and grumpy.
AM: What were some of the albums and types of music that shaped your influences when you were younger?
RH: My parents are both big music fans so I grew up in a house where there were always records playing. My dad was/is a big prog rock fan so a lot of that rubbed off on me. The first things I remember liking a lot were The Beatles and The Police. When I started to play music I was really into Duran Duran, Roxy Music, & Britpop bands like Blur and Pulp.
AM: With the current Nashville scene, do you feel the scene is far more friendly to rock acts than it used to be?
RH: I’ll say that it’s easier for the rest of the world to accept that you’re a rock band from Nashville. We’ve been around long enough to see that progression of, “Oh you’re from Nashville? I’m surprised you don’t play country”, to being a place where Kings Of Leon are from and Jack White and the Black Keys have set up camp. Nashville itself has always been accepting.
The Features play at the Pike Room on Saturday, November 19^th. Tickets are $8 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.thefeatures.com.