Interview with Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records!

Hey Brian, how are you?
Good, thank you

Metal Blade Records, at its roots, is the forefront of Heavy Metal music. I know you’ve discussed the beginnings more than enough in the past, but can you give us a quick rundown of how Metal Blade Records started?
​I was just a huge fan of the New Wave of Heavy Metal back in 1980. I started the first ever US Metal Fanzine, The New Heavy Metal Revue, and then started working at a record store in LA. Once I found there were some good bands in LA and no one was paying any attention, I decide to do a compilation album of the local bands. That turned into a distribution deal with a indie distributor and the rest is history.........​

Some of the biggest bands in Metal have made their way through Metal Blade as well, knowing you were the starting point for a lot of these bands must be an incredible feeling.
​I was just happy to play whatever small role I could to help the scene out. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. It is pretty amazing looking back  at how many amazing bands we got to work with. Even better they are still all friends to this day. ​

Having the reputation you do heading Metal Blade, do you have any tips for all the up and coming bands on getting noticed?
​Try to get out and be a part of your local scene. Also social media is a huge help as it exposes you worldwide. Also in terms of music, it is good to be influenced by your favorite bands just do not try to sound like them. ​

I’m sure you’ve seen a fair few bands in your time, what makes a band stand out to you live?
​It is just something that hits me. For sure you have to sound good and play good, but some bands just have "it"​

What’s your process on signing a band to the label? How many people does a demo go through and do you need to see the band live before you finally decide?
​Usually someone at the label or someone we work with will mention a band to me. We really do not have to see them live as much as back in the day. They will have some stuff online we can check out as well. If something hits me, we like to work with them. ​

Metal Blade’s roster at this point has some high profile Metal bands including Amon Amarth, Goatwhore, Cattle Decapitation and The Black Dahlia Murder, just to name a few, but there’s also some lesser known bands on there. What Metal Blade bands would you like to see get into the spotlight?
​Igorrr, If These Trees Could Talk, Visigoth, Alleageon, Mother Feather, Portrait, Below, Abnormality, just so many!!​

What are some of your personal favourite releases so far from Metal Blade Records? Either of all time or just so far this year.
​Well that is so hard to answer, I love them all. Kinda like picking your favorite child. But Armored Saint's "Symbol Of Salvation" is up there. I talk about it in our book, but the circumstances of having lost a guitar player to leukemia and making an amazing album make it very special​

I would like to thank you very much for your time, Brian. Last up i would like to ask what albums fans should be keeping an eye out for in the future?
​New Cannibal Corpse, Black Dahlia Murder, King Diamond new album and a Live DVD........​

Thanks a lot for your time, Brian!
​Thank you!​

Six Feet Under "Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest" Review

                Six Feet Under mastermind Chris Barnes is at it again, following up 2015s “Crypt of the Devil” the band are back already with the fourth version of their “Graveyard Classics” this time, focusing solely on two bands; Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. That’s right, two of the most influential Metal bands, both known specifically for the range their vocalists have, are being covered by this Death Metal band. We are going to split this up into two parts, since the album in split up this way anyways, we will focus on the Priest section first then the Maiden section.

                To start off, side one is 5 classic Priest songs and although tuned a little lower, the instrumentals sound great. This side opens with “Night Crawler” off the bands fan favourite album “Painkiller” and right off the bat you can tell how this is going to go. With the slightly lowered instrumentals to match Barnes’ guttural voice, the vocals kick in and for a lot of people, the interest will shut off. Throughout each and every song, the most dynamic change in vocals you get is the change from the growls to the squeals and back again. I’ll give that the first few times, the squeals make me chuckle, but lose their glamour when you realise that these are songs that most metalheads love, falling apart right in front of you. “Genocide” from “Sad Wings of Destiny” is a lot of the same and outside of very minor actual singing shoved in the back and mixed in very low in “Invader” it’s practically all the same as well. It goes without saying that the Priest side is a bust.

                Spoiler alert, the Iron Maiden side doesn’t differ much and bothers me twice the amount. Again, while the instrumentals could be a redeeming factor, the practically monotone vocals absolutely destroy it. The best song on this side is probably the opening “Murders in the Rue Morgue” as Paul Di’Anno’s vocals aren’t quite as operatic and ever changing as Bruce Dickinson’s are. “Flash of the Blade” do show off the excellent musicianship of the rest of the band but is much in the same as the rest of the album, if you made it that far, you’re either hoping that something will change or you’re a sadist.

                Four installments is enough, it’s time to call it quits on the songs that should never be covered by a Death Metal band. Chris, just bury the idea and make a new series where you cover classic Death Metal songs, hell this is a different band, you could probably even get away with redoing “Hammer Smashed Face” if you really wanted. If you’re fucked up, or maybe you just really like Chris Barnes and never want to forget the good old days, then maybe you should pick this up. If you’re a sensible metalhead who doesn’t want to hear a fourth album of ruined classic Rock/Metal songs, I highly suggest you avoid this.

10/100

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Abnormality "Mechanisms of Omniscience" Review

                ....And in their third album, everything connects just right, kind of like a puzzle. Welcome to “Mechanisms of Omniscience” the new album from the Technical Death Metal, Abnormality, coming to you from Metal Blade Records. If you’re interested in very heavy riffs that’ll make you quit playing your guitar because you can’t play them, fully automatic assault rifle speed blast beats, or a chick who sounds scarier than you ever will, well you’ve come to the right place. Technical Death Metal is something wonderful, when done right, so let’s explore if it’s done right!

                Opening with the track “Swarm,” the album kicks off at full speed with scaling guitars and insane blastbeats before being welcomed by a simple single deep growl. The main riff, while not being quite as intense, fits well under Mallika Sundaramurthy’s intense growls and keeps a perfect heavy pace to the song for everyone to catch a breather from the intensity that the rest of the song holds. “Synthetic Pathogenesis” and “Mechanisms of Omniscience” almost sound like they could be one whole song that was later spit up the middle, while still being very technical and insane, the former of the two is probably the slower and more banger song, but when it ends, the ending blends absolutely perfectly into the intro of “Mechanisms of Omniscience” without the use of any outside sounds, purely instrumental.

                “Assimilation” while being purely instrumental, is a great track for the album, and probably live as well. The pace is slowed a bit from the rest of the album, the riffs are a bit more simple for the most part and the drums don’t go at insane speeds, instead the band trades out high intensity speeds for a track that would probably give Sundaramurthy a quick breather and get any audience to the verge of breaking their necks. An instrumental, of course, leads into another song, “Cymatic Hallucinations” kicks it up almost instantly and while the riffs are still intense, this is a much heavier drum song and the entirety of the song the drums feel a lot more front and centre than anything else. This is also one of the only songs on the album to feature an actual guitar solo and man; you thought the riffs were insane, wait till you hear how much the solo shreds. Again, this song hits one of those paces that absolutely destroy, the final riff in the song could probably get a huge group windmilling in sync right up to the final drawn out note.

                To fully articulate the intensity of this album, I’d like you to go listen to each of the bands past albums, find the flaws in the album, outside of “I don’t like that the vocalist is a female” because fuck you, now imagine the issues of the past being gone. Abnormality have developed incredibly well as a band over the past nearly 10 years of releasing music, they found their flow and what works for them and it worked out incredibly well. “Mechanisms of Omniscience” is Abnormality’s finest hour, it shows the development and insanity of the band and doesn’t try to be so over the top that it just renders the album, unlistenable. If you’re a fan of Technical Death Metal, or if you just want to hear how this chick could kick Corpsegrinder’s ass in a growling tournament, then “Mechanisms of Omniscience” is definitely an album you’ll want to add to your collection.

90/100

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Amon Amarth "Jomsviking" Album Review

                Swedish Melodic Death Metal legends, Amon Amarth are back with their tenth album “Jomsviking” and the first concept album written by the band. A total of ten songs (eleven if you get the bonus track, which is worth it as it pushes the story just a little more), it’s been a long wait for the fans since 2013 but the wait was probably worth it for most of you. While reading a bunch of hate about how their first couple songs basically sound too much like Amon Amarth, I’m gonna tell you to just leave if you’re one of those people.

                Side note: this is a concept album about a man who loves a woman who is being married off, he proceeds to kill the man she’s being married to. Banished, our character faces all sorts of hardship before returning a full-fledged Viking Man and trying to make her love him, all just to be shunned away in rejection. I, personally, cannot wait for the full release to read the lyrics and properly follow the story, but this is what I gathered.

                The album kicks off with the first released single and video “First Kill” which sounds like a throwback to “Surtur Rising” and “Twilight of the Thudergod” more than any other albums. Starting with a signature Amon Amarth opener the song instantly draws you in the way the band know how to. Once the main riff kicks in with the tapping over top of a consistent speed guitar and blastbeats you’re hooked, while the chorus does sound a bit more like something from “Deceiver of the Gods” the song is a constant hook, pulling you in and while its more along the lines of a standard Amon Amarth song, that’s all most people want from the album opener.

                A few tracks down you’ll find “Raise Your Horn,” a drinking song dedicated to the dead. This song takes a bit more of a page from “A Fate of Norns” and “With Odin On Our Side,” with a chorus like “raise your horns, raise them up to the sky, we will drink to glory tonight” not only will this song become a live staple, but just another reason for me to buy a drinking horn when the band come through on their tour. The song is a bit slower than average, but its heavy, catchy and harmonic in all the right places.

                “At Dawn’s First Light, run for your lives” is how you’re welcome to the second released single “At Dawn’s First Light,” this song reminds me a lot of “Where Is Your God” and a bunch of songs from “Twilight of the Thundergod” while still sounding completely new. The versus are straight speed, the chorus slows down a little for the intense harmonies Amon Amarth are known for and in between the chorus and verse is my favourite section, just a straight heavy instrumental with Johan Hegg screaming “slashing, killing, thrashing, spilling, blood for honour, death and glory” over top is just spectacular. Following the second chorus is a lower set of vocals from Hegg as the song gets heavier just before a short but sweet solo. It should also be noted the lower sound at the beginning and near the end, it’s neat to here Hegg almost doing a spoken word section during songs.

                Last track of significant mention is “A Dream That Cannot Be” featuring our main characters love, voiced by Doro Pesch and while not normally being a fan of her vocals the almost raspy womanly tone of her singing voice in contrast with Hegg’s growls is quite special. The band played with this idea on the last album “Deceiver of the Gods” having Messiah Marcolin on the track “Hel” and while it worked then, the way this song pushes the story makes it a significant song on the album. The song isn’t over the top in any way and is fairly consistent beginning to end not really changing pace or tone at all but if you like Pesch you’ll enjoy the song, and if you don’t, like myself, you may still just enjoy the song.

                In the end, “Jomsviking” is now my second favourite Amon Amarth album, just behind “Surtur Rising.” It’s heavy, it’s melodic and it’s surprisingly touching once you pick up some of the vocals. There is real emotion to all of the songs and you can understand how much the character must have gone through. Out through Metal Blade Records, any fan of Melodic Death Metal should pick up this spectacular concept album and you should definitely see them on tour in April/May with Entombed and Exmortus!

95/100

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Listen to "First Kill"

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