Interview with Nate Garrett of Spirit Adrift

New to the scene Doom Metal band Spirit Adrift just dropped their full length album "Chained to Oblivion" which follows up their EP released only months prior "Behind - Beyond". We recently caught up with the mastermind behind everything, Nate Garrett, who is an incredibly busy guy, and I'm starting to think he doesn't know what taking a break means, to talk about the releases, touring and whatever else may have come up in between!

Good Day, Nate, How are you?

 

I'm great! I'm currently sitting outside of Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia. Love this place.

 

It’s been quite the busy year for you guys, having released not only an EP back in February, but your full length, “Chained To Oblivion”, just came out as well! Do you have any time for rest?

I'm actually involved with two other full lengths that are coming out this year, plus I'm currently on the road working for Pallbearer, and I'll be leaving again with Gatecreeper as soon as I get back home. I fly back to Phoenix on the last date of that tour to get married. So hopefully by the time Halloween comes around, I'll be able to chill. Until then, no. No time for rest. It beats the alternative.

 

 

Were the two written and recorded around the same time or did you take a step back afterwards to think more about the full length?

I wrote and recorded the EP in May of 2015. I went on tour that summer, and when I got back, I went insane writing, demoing, rehearsing, re-demoing, and generally obsessing over the full-length. Then Bob Hoag and I recorded it in October of 2015.

 

 

Would you say that the full length is a continuation of the EP or a completely separate entity?

Both, I suppose. I want every Spirit Adrift album to be related and intertwined. At the same time I want each album to be its own special entity, a representation of my life at the time I recorded it.

 

 

What is your writing process for each of your songs?

Usually guitars come first. Vocals typically come last, and everything else is somewhere in between. I write lyrics every day just randomly. Most of them get thrown out. Once I have something demoed, I rework it until I feel like it's worthy of being considered a song.

 

 

When it comes to lyrical content, what is your aim or what drives you?

In the simplest terms, I try to document my own struggles in a way that can help others.

 

 

You were also related recently to King Diamond, which must have been a big ego boost eh?

I don't think I sound anything remotely like King Diamond, but I'll take the compliment. He rules.

 

 

 Let’s talk the future, what’s the upcoming tour plans; Europe, US, Canada, South America, what’s up?

There will be some US shows in early 2017. We'll be touring Europe in April around a big festival. That is, if all goes according to plan. Beyond that, who knows!

 

 

Doom Metal practically prides itself on long songs and “Chained to Oblivion” is no different, how do you pick songs for your setlist that work together?

There's only 7 originals and a cover to choose from right now. Plus a couple of new ones. We'll have to see how it plays out.

 

 

Any bands you’re hoping to take on tour with you? Prosthetic Record’s roster is quite plentiful

I would love to tour with Inter Arma, Pallbearer, Yob, Pinkish Black, Khemmis, Vektor, SubRosa, Portal, Baroness, and a few others. That would be more of a "them taking us out" situation, though!

 

 

On the note of Prosthetic Record’s, you signed with them quite early in the bands career which is generally a big deal for any band, do you have any stories of how that came about?

Another band I was in received an offer from Prosthetic. I was shopping the Spirit Adrift EP around, and it made the most sense to go with Prosthetic. Steve Joh at Prosthetic hooked it all up. He's the man. Truly one of the best guys I've ever worked with on the business side of things.

 

 

Finally, do you have any interesting little secrets or facts about the album your fans might not know about?

Chained To Oblivion was by far the most difficult album I've ever made. 

Thank you for your time Nate and I hope to see you on the road soon!

Thanks for the interview man. I really appreciate it! Take care

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Interview with Scott Hedrick of Skeletonwitch (audio)

     As the Decibel Magazine Tour 2016 was nearly finishing, the tour made its way up to a still snowy Toronto and after their exhausting set and having to unload the stage, Skeletonwitch guitarist Scott Hedrick still had enough energy to talk to us during High on Fire's set about the new vocalist, Adam Clemans, the upcoming EP, all the changes to the band, and of course, how happy Abbath's voice makes him.






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Tour review: The Decibel Magazine Tour with Abbath, High On Fire, Skeletonwitch and Tribulation in Toronto at The Opera House April 10th, 2016

                On Sunday, April 10^th, 2016 on a snowy day in Toronto, the Decibel Magazine Tour descended upon our beloved venue, The Opera House. Abbath, High on Fire, Skeletonwitch and Tribulation made up the extreme metal tour of the year bringing a couple different firsts to North America, Skeletonwitch on tour with their new vocalist Adam Clemens and Abbath on tour for the first time.

At roughly 7pm, with a line of us standing in the snow the doors finally opened and with very little time to waste, Tribulation took the stage shortly after. Opening with “Strange Gateways Beckon” this band is just as mysterious as they are fantastic, with guitarist Jonathon Hultan very light on his feet, dancing and making his way around the stage seamlessly. While the show continued the band continued to keep the audience captivated in each and every line they had to shout out. Eventually, very quickly and after only a few songs, “Holy Liberation” began and cranked through in what felt like no time at all and Tribulation were done. The audience was mesmerized and even though they were the opening band tonight, they packed in the venue and made plenty of new fans already. No one was ready to see them leave, except those of us who knew what was next.

                After a very short transition, Skeletonwitch took the stage with new vocalist Adam Clemens, known best for his work with Wolvhammer, opening with “I Am of Death (Hell Hath Arrived)” off the bands most recent album “Serpents Unleashed”. Instantly, most previous fans of the band were drawn to the new incarnation of the band, while not having quite the vocal range previous vocalist Chance Garnette had, Clemens made up for with sheer destructive Black Metal force. The band played a lot of songs off of “Serpents Unleashed” with a couple songs from “Beyond the Permafrost” and “Forever Abomination” mixed in, but it was the new songs that made everything special, you want to hear what the band will be bringing soon. “Well of Despair” has been out for a month now, but the song live is even more destructive, the fast paced Blackened Death sound Skeletonwitch are known for got the crowd headbanging like some psychos. “Black Waters” was the other new song shown off and personally sounded a bit more melodic and chaotic instrumentally than anything previously done by the band. Not knowing the song made it a bit hard to follow, but that’s fairly common with any song you don’t know, but all in all it’s a song to look forward to hearing a studio version of to really take in the madness. Eventually the band had to come to a close with “Beneath Dead Leaves” and let the pit open one last time for Skeletonwitch before their final goodbyes.

                Due to an interview taking place at the time, I was only able to catch the first couple songs from High on Fire, but the interview was worth it, don’t worry that will be up very soon. Opening with “The Black Plot,” I actually enjoyed the band more this time than when I saw them on tour with Pallbearer. Maybe it was just an off day for the band last time, but the new songs like “The Black Plot” seemed more rehearsed and much tighter than before. The band brings a traditional Heavy Metal destructive sound that a lot of people can enjoy, although being the slightly out of place band on a bill filled mostly with Black Metal. The other song I caught before having the leave the main area was “Carcosa” which, although a good song and it may have just been my excitement, seemed to take forever. High on Fire has a lot of energy tonight and it was a shame I had to leave, but just you wait for the interview.

                My interview finished just as High On Fire were closing out, meaning when i got back to the main area, the crowd was just thinning out a bit for the smokers to take a quick break. Sneaking back up close, Abbath’s introduction began and needless to say, the crowd went mad. After an epic introduction, the sound of marching feet began and out came the band, everyone except Abbath himself, but soon enough, just before the vocals of “To War!” started, the man of the hour made his way in front of Toronto. All eyes were on the frontman as the band cranked out songs, old and new, including “Winter Bane” from the first Abbath album, “Warriors” from the band I and Immortal’s “Nebular Ravens Winter”. When the band began “Ashes of the Damned” it was hard not to watch the frontman, if you know Abbath, you know his signature Black Metal grunt, and this song is full of them. While Black Metal is meant to sound evil, Abbath is hard to sake to seriously, constantly making faces and striking poses for photos, you can’t not be happy when seeing this band live. If you watch drummer Creature, you might feel uneasy though, dawning a demon mask, whoever is behind the set knows what’s going on. Creature will stare straight forward for 99% of the show, barely needing to look at what part of the set his sticks are hitting and if you watch it too long, you’ll start to get that “are you human?” feeling. When the band broke into the Immortal track “Tyrants” you knew shit was going down, the pit opened to its largest size and the crowd went wild, hair was everywhere and people were being thrown around like there was no tomorrow. In the songs slow section, roughly half way through, Abbath began to make poses and try to get the crowd as loud as he possibly could, and it worked, before breaking back into the headbanging madness. “Count the Dead” put a break between two more Immortal songs, “One by One” and a song that personally, I was overly excited to finally see, “Solarfall.” Abbath took every chance he got to take to the very front of the stage during “Solarfall” and again, got the blood pumping. “Root of the Mountain” followed with “All Shall Fall” afterwards. The band left the stage and after a ton of cheering and chanting Abbath retook the stage, asking “so you want some more?” and caused absolute chaos one last time with “In My Kingdom Cold,” saying goodnight, promising the bands return and leaving the stage.

Tribulation Performance: 85/100

Skeletonwitch Performance: 95/100

High On Fire Performance: 80/100

Abbath Performance: 95/100

Overall Experience: 90/100

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Skeletonwitch "Well of Despair" Single Review

                I can’t believe it’s finally here, after all the drama revolving around Skeletonwitch at the end of 2014-beginning of 2015 with the unexpected departure of ex-vocalist Chance Garnette and a European tour with ex-Cannabis Corpse vocalist Andy Horn, no one knew exactly what happened to the Witch. After nearly a year of silence the band announced they were releasing a new EP and that they would be taking place in the 2016 Decibel Magazine Tour alongside Abbath, High on Fire and Tribulation, but still the question was “who is doing vocals?” Well, if you somehow missed the news Wolvhammer vocalist Adam Clemans took over vocal duties and FINALLY the band have released their first bit of new music.

                Monday night, Skeletonwitch debuted a new song on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal and if you missed it there then the good news continues, they debuted a video for the new song titled “Well of Despair” and released it on Bandcamp with a limited edition single art shirt (which is now sold out, i just went to buy one...). Now the question on everyone’s mind, how is it still Witch without Chance, trust me I had issues believing it was happening too, and how will it sound compared to previous albums? Instrumentally, Witch is there. From beginning to end, Nate and Scott’s riffs are as Witch as it gets, the bass from Evan is still as prominent and melodic as it was on “Serpents Unleashed” and the drums from Dustin will still make the earth shake. The vocals from Adam are a bit different from Chance’s obviously. While not trying to be a clone and having his own technique Adam made it his own while still adding in the grunts that the Witch fans know and love. While not having quite the same range in vocal style, Adam is still an amazing voice to have in Skeletonwitch and I personally am very excited about seeing him front the band.

                A little more on the song, there are 4 general phases to this song the speedy melodic Thrash Black Metal mix intro, the verse/chorus riffs that everyone knows and loves from Skeletonwitch that makes their music so distinguishable, a heavier riff just before the second chorus that sounds like something ripped out of “Beyond the Permafrost” that makes me excited to hear how much they mix the past few albums into one. Finally, in the last minute you get the headbanger, the section of the song where the pits will go mad, the headbangers will break their necks and Adam takes his vocals to probably the deepest and most Black Metal they get in this track. The track is one of the longer songs Skeletonwitch has released (still only about 4 minutes) but it keeps true to what the band wants to do, get in, shred and get out and it does exactly that.

                This is only one song, I get it and trust me I was a huge fan of Chance and he will always be an idol of mine vocally, but here’s the thing: Adam fits. It’s amazing to me to see someone fit in so well without trying to be a clone. Skeletonwitch are back and whether you like it or not, the band is as healthy as ever, this song proves it. Now I’m off to convince them to stick “Released from the Catacombs” into their setlist! Tour with Abbath starts on March 17^th in Baltimore and if you don’t believe me that the band are back, go get a ticket and see how energetic they are live! Expect a review of the show when it gets here to Toronto and an interview I will be conducting with them on site.

95/100

Skeletonwitch's "Burned From Bone" Review

Skeletonwitch's new song "Burned From Bone" was played for the first time officially to the public this past Tuesday, August 13th 2013, on Sirius XM's Liquid Metal and I don't think a single person who listened to it was disappointed. The song starts with a very Skeletonwitch regular sound, until the song kicks in. When Chance does his awesome noise growls and the main guitar riff kicks in from Scott and Nate, I found myself looking at my iPod (which at the time was my Sirius radio) and thinking "holy shit, this is real Blackened Deathly Thrash Metal." Now we are getting to the good part, when Chance's vocals kick in. Don't get me wrong I love the entire band and I've never been disappointed with anything anyone has done but I'm a vocalist and I have to give praise to this man. The lyrics he comes up with in this song like "I am the demon cloaked in the light of darkness" in the opening line and "your fate but a living cremation, suffer burned alive." When I hear Chance's crazy vocals I'm always thinking "is this what a Skeletonwitch would actually sound like?" Of course it is! Than the slower breakdown vocals "your life now feeds the flame, choke on the ashes as you die..." These sections in Skeletonwitch songs are always what I look forward to, even though the song slows down Evan, Scott, Nate and Dustin have this way of making these sections so heavy you can't help but find yourself headbanging (don't drive and listen to this song if your someone who normally headbangs during these section, don't want to cause an accident) now how do you come out of an awesome Chance vocal, headbang heavy section? With a guitar solo from Mr. N8 Feet Under of course! Now this solo isn't insanely face melting fast but the way it's set up it feels like a bass solo mixed with a guitar solo! N8 is an insane guitarist jus like Scott (whom I've had the pleasure of meeting and he's an awesome guy very down to earth and willing to talk to myself and other fans at the concert, not to say the others weren't but he was the only one at the merch table at the time) this solo I always find myself playing air guitar to. N8 knows how to do a solo and with Evan's bass solo sounding section under this, this entire ending to the song couldn't have been more epic.

If you haven't checked out the new song find it on the Prosthetic Records youtube channel (or follow this link http://youtu.be/Kd0y6vFC3CA?a ) overall I'd give the song 9.5/10 very quick in and out just like all Skeletonwitch songs and it makes me excited for the new album being released this October on Prosthetic records (PreOrder here http://www.indiemerch.com/skeletonwitch/ ) and too see them for the second time this year on their tour with The Black Dahlia Murder! (Tour dates here: http://loudwire.com/the-black-dahlia-murder-2013-north-american-tour-skeletonwitch/ )