British Tech-Metal

EUROBLAST TOUR - Stealing Axion Interview

As the EUROBLAST tour kicks off this week, we caught up with STEALING AXION, InsideOut Music’s latest prog offering, who will hitting European shores for the very first time alongside JEFF LOOMIS, MONUMENTS & VILDHJARTA.


 So first tell us a little about who Stealing Axion are.

Our band is comprised of Dan Forbrich, Josh DeShazo, and Phil Willmarth.  We have been coined as a “progressive groove metal” band.  With our debut album Moments we wanted to hit both extremes from very heavy and mechanical to soft and emotional… sometimes both at once.

There are a whole load of great upcoming proggy metal bands these days. What do you think you guys bring to the table musically? What’s your niche?

A few things that I guess set us apart are the utilization of 3 vocalists who all sing in multiple different styles.  We also like to lean on the proggier side of things, using conceptual lyrics and longer song structures and whatnot.

What is an Axion, and how would I go about stealing one?

An axion is a hypothetical particle, and if you use it in your band name it’ll always be mistaken for Axiom.

So you’re about to hit the road in the UK and Europe with Jeff Loomis, Monuments and Vildjharta on the Euroblast tour. This must be super exciting for you guys. Will this be your first time playing on this side of the atlantic?

Not only the first time playing there, but our first time being there at all!  It’s going to be really awesome to see a new part of the world for sure!  We’re also really honored to be sharing the stage with such incredibly talented and amazing bands, it’s going to be a blast.

How would you describe your live show?

Pretty high energy, especially for a bunch of fat guys haha.  We really dig audience interaction, and we love to feed off the energy of the crowd.  Neck pain is common.

You guys are opening the bill, and I’m sure you’ll set the bar high. How do you plan on capturing the attention of those who don’t already know you?

We’ve put together a pretty strong setlist that showcases a lot of different aspects of our music, so we hope there’s something in there for everyone.  Also… start enough pits to wear everyone out at the beginning of the show.

Your debut album MOMENTS came out in August through InsideOut. That label has a pretty eclectic mix of artists. How did that relationship come about? Were you chasing them, or did you just ‘get the call’?

Kind of a mixture of both.  We were told that they wanted to hear our album and we gladly obliged as their roster contains some of our favorite bands of all time.  The contact was made through Acle, who was mixing our album at the time!

How was it working with him?

It was awesome.  He knew exactly how to get the sounds we were looking for on the album, and it was a very streamlined process.  We look forward to working with him again in the future.

Was that just an internet relationship, or did you or he travel to work together?

It was all done over the web via ftp and email.  We tracked everything in our own studio and then we sent the raw data over to him where and we would correspond via email and send the files back and forth for tweaking purposes.

Do you think his involvement changed the material at all? Do you think he left his mark?

I think it’s safe to say he left a mark on the album.  He tweaked a few things that I think we would have not done ourselves and we ended up liking them a lot.  One of the things that comes to mind is in Moments Part 2 when the vocals come in after the long instrumental section. Originally the middle voice was the lead melody and the top voice was the harmony. Acle switched this and we liked it that way MUCH more. 

The way you guys describe your writing process sounds more like brewing a good ale than writing a metal tune. Tell us a little about how that works.

We do like to let ideas “brew” over time.  For the beginning stages; Phil, Josh, or I will write a demo of a song.  The song structure will be pretty much finished by the time one of us brings it to the rest of the band, and from there each of us will go in and add layers, vocals, synths and that kind of thing.  Once we do that, we will demo the song again with all these new ideas in it and quite often the song turns out much differently than originally intended because one of us might hear the song differently than the other.  We also like to let ideas sit for a while, so we’ll go working on some other songs and come back to older ones in which time we may have thought of more things to add.

I read some interesting stuff about your approach to lyrics too…?

Near the beginning of the writing process we came up with a “storyboard” for the lyrical concept.  Once we finished the music for the album, we assigned parts of the story to each song depending on the mood of the piece.  This way, each song stands alone but also lends to a bigger picture. 

Are there any lyrical themes running through the whole record?

Yeah there is a concept to the lyrics for sure.  In a nutshell it’s about a crazy guy who predicts the end of the world and as the story goes there are clues as to whether or not he truly is crazy or not.

Have you started work on your next release yet? Is there any info you can share with us? Will you be working with Acle again on this release?

We’ve started the writing process and it’s coming along nicely.  Many demos have been made in our free time, and all I’ll say so far is it’s going to be another big/epic/diverse piece of music continuing from where Moments left off!  We plan on working with Acle, schedules permitting!

We’ve got plenty of geeks on our page - talk us through your gear.

We use the “keep it simple” approach to gear, so this might not be a very glorious response haha.  On the Euroblast tour coming up we will be using Ibanez RG7321 guitars, Ibanez SR505a basses, PODHD500’s for both guitar and bass tones running direct.  Vocals will run thru SM58s.  For drums we will be using Pearl drums & hardware.  

On the album however, we used some different things.  Ibanez RG7321, Ibanez RG2228, & Carvin DC747 guitars. Cort Artisan Bass. PODXT and PODX3 for guitar and bass tones.  Drums were Superior Drummer.

Check out album track ‘Mirage of Hope’ below, and be sure to catch the tour in your local city - not to be missed!

Veil of Maya + Support @ Leeds Cockpit 03/05/12

Last month, five of the world’s finest rising prog metal stars hit UK shores, creating probably the biggest online buzz since Periphery’s LXD tour.

Headliners Veil of Maya, were joined by Sumerian label-mates Betraying the Martyrs and Structures, as well as groovsters Volumes, and Century Media’s dark, doomy, and down-right thalltastic Vildjharta…more on that later. Save for Volumes, this was all pretty much new music to me, so I’ll share some first impressions.

Having missed my train to Leeds, I arrived just in time to watch Structures walk offstage, so the night began in ernest with Volumes. They were a man down, so had an entire guitar in the backing track, from what I could tell. I don’t think there’s much wrong with that generally, but I would perhaps have preferred to see an adaptation for one guitar. More importantly though, the kick drum work did not lock with the guitars at times, rather diminishing the power of the songs, compared to CD. The frontmen delivered confident performances, but honestly failed to engage the audience throughout, besides favourites ‘Intake’ and ‘Wormholes’, which received greater, though still slightly sparse applause. I don’t doubt that they’re a solid band, but I was a tad disappointed.

Vildjharta took to the stage, each sporting matching t-shirts, with a certain word stamped across the chest, and across their guitars also. Now, I’m going to call them out on this. The vibe in the room was that the band thought they looked pretty cool - but everyone else, save for a few keenos at the front, thought they looked a bit daft. That said, I guess it’s been a clever tool for them. It’s become a thing (albeit a teeth-grindingly irritating internet thing), and it sells shirts, so good on them. But it still bothers me. Let’s move on.

I’ve since listened to Vildjharta’s debut, Mastaaden and it is truly a scary and dark piece of music. It’s original, and it’s emotive. Having heard the single before the show, I hoped that their menacing image would translate to a harrowing live performance, but instead, they came across more like six jolly vikings. I was also told that this was one of their first tours, and unfortunately it showed, with awkward, banal chatter between songs, and some slightly sloppy kick work. Strings and vocal performances were solid, however. No qualms there. As they play larger venues I hope they put together a well-orchestrated set, and deliver the scary performance their music deserves.

The penultimate band of the night, and most unknown to me, delivered the first truly convincing performance of the evening. Despite some questionable haircuts, Betraying the Martyrs displayed a slickness and professionalism leaps and bounds ahead of the previous acts. They’re not my thing at all - fairly beatdown-orientated metalcore, with some synths, and pop-punk clean vocals. There’s probably a few bands crossing your mind right now - and you’re not far off, but Betraying the Martyrs do it very well indeed. Most crucially, their frontman writhed and twisted a-top his riser, towering over the rest of the band, and delivering an incredibly powerful and commanding performance. Two criticisms: “Let’s open this pit up!” does not need to be said more than once per song - tops. They far exceeded that rule of thumb. Secondly, the clean vocals were pretty ropey. Otherwise, thoroughly impressive, and the crowd responded with some venue-wide circle pits. Shout out goes to the rotund chap in the red t-shirt who spilled my full pint all over my own face.

So, drenched, I moved forward to get a good look at headliners Veil of Maya. This is a band I really should have checked out thoroughly by now but, you know how it is, there’s always a couple that slip the net. I’d heard great things about guitarist Marc Okubo, and his reputation is thoroughly deserved. Despite being the only guitarist in the band, he conjured an enormous sound, using what looked like loopers to add layers. I’m also told that they don’t play to a click, which is pretty phenomenal based on the robotically tight performance I observed. The crowd responded appropriately, and the band looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying the show. They delivered a raw and intimate performance, in stark contrast to the heavily choreographed and ‘aloof’ set from Betraying the Martyrs. These are two very different approaches to live performance but, for me, Veil of Maya had the edge, based on performance alone. Quite apart from that, their wonderfully intricate and adventurous music was simply of far higher quality.

This was one of the most exciting bills to hit the UK in a while and, despite my nit-picks, each band was thoroughly enjoyable. As the worldwide prog-metal scene grows, these bands are going to be riding the wave all the way to the top. I look forward to see how they develop - I think we’ll have some future greats in this bunch.

Tom

Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here Review

(2012) Basick Records.

1. Dark Age Of Technology

2. Engrams

3. Mobius Pt I

4. Mobius Pt II

5. Mobius Pt III

6. Cloud City

Finally, the follow up to Chimp Spanners debut album with Basick Records, ‘At The Dreams Edge’ has arrived, All Roads Lead Here. Much has changed since the debut release, with the Chimp Spanner project, switching from a one-man project, to a full live band, comprising of Adam Swanny (Monuments), Boris Le Gal (Cyclamen, Neonfly) and Jim Hughes (Blessed Inertia), and have toured successfully with the likes of Cynic and labelmates Uneven Structure. Although Chimp Spanner has become a full band, this EP remains the work of Paul Antonio Ortiz, Chimp Spanner himself.

This beginning of this EP feels quite familiar from the word go. Much like how opening track Galaxy Rise from At The Dreams Edge eases you into the experience, Dark Age of Technology begins with a similiar fade in into the tune, before breaking into a chugfest. Pauls sense of melody shines from the start, with some very interesting lead work over hypnotic riffing, before eventually cooling down with some ambient feel good synthwork, before once again descending into a heavy groove with impressive leadwork.

Engrams provides a smooth, beautiful and very interesting transition into the epic three part monster Mobius (Pt I,II,II). It reeks of that now all too familiar glassy clean guitar work made famous by bands such as Monuments, Fellsilent and TesseracT, but is used in a different context completely. As opposed to complimenting the main guitar line, and being used as a background layer, it itself is a singular, hypnotic, and quite dark piece. A brilliant interlude, and fades into Mobius perfectly.

Mobius without a doubt is one of the best compositions I have heard in a long time. Whereas most people would have definitely associated Chimp Spanners previous work with some, dare I say, cheesier, music, it is quite obvious that this is a different animal, and a much more dark and ambient effort. Once again combining meaty grooves with a thematic, and frequent tapping riff, embellished with tasteful leadwork and a trippy landscape of synths, reminiscent of some video game soundtracks, such as Tekken and Gran Turismo, Mobius actively keeps the listener interested. Mobius Pt III is probably my favorite Chimp Spanner composition yet, giving throwbacks to some of the memorable riffage known in songs like Supererogation and Bad Code, but as forementioned, with a much darker ambient feel.

Cloud City provides quite a relaxing end to the overall experience, with a nice ambient backdrop, with some very Frank Gambale-esque lead playing and impressive underlying rhythmic work, and maintains this very chilled vibe for the majority of the tune, but ending with some crushing riffs and one of the dirtiest, filthiest grooves around.

All Roads Lead Here is an extremely impressive follow up. Whether the listener is fully attentive or if this serves solely as background music, it will inspire and relax you. This EP, like many, I feel serves itself better when listened to in its entirety, with each song linking perfectly [especially Mobius, for..well….obvious reasons!] It is quite easy to hear how Chimp Spanners sound has improved from the previous release to this one, with a slightly darker undertone and a slightly heavier approach. This is a must have for the progressive metal fan, and will appeal to those with any interest in jazz or ambient music. Go out and buy this record, seriously, you won’t regret it!

- PJ

9/10

RED ENEMY INTERVIEW & TOUR

This week Irish hardcore-come-tech-metal mob, Red Enemy, unleash their second wave of fury on our fair kingdom. British Tech-Metal caught up with them to see what the fuck is up….

 

For those people who haven’t yet heard Red Enemy, how would you describe your sound?
Its just heavy metal music really. Few riffs here and there, few heavier parts, few lighter parts ya know yourself.

There seems to be a few Irish bands causing quite a stir at the moment (Hero In Error and Shattered Skies spring to mind). Do you think it’s more difficult for an Irish band to succeed?
Yeah for sure. Bands like Hero In Error have had a really great year. They’re all quite close friends of ours, we all grew up in bands together so its great to see the industry finally taking notice. It most definitely is harder for Irish bands, i’m certain of that. Growing up, no bands were getting signed, it wasn’t even an option really. There were no labels, no magazines and very few promoters. It was an absolute privilege to even get a touring band over to play Ireland. They rarely did. It was very difficult to envisage the next step. So many excellent Irish bands have come and gone that really should have backed themselves a bit more. It’s unfortunate. I think the mindset is changing though. It’s good to see.

‘Red Enemy’ is refreshingly simple, in a scene where there’s a lot of plurals, and similarly abstract band names. How did Red Enemy come about?
Well, we used to be called ‘Steellined’……it was myself Dan and Kev. Whopper name like. Nevertheless, we were obviously looking for a new name one day and just happened to be talking to a mate of ours in school. He said he used to be in a band called ‘Red Enemy’ and that we could have the name if we wanted. We said yes.

Your EP ‘What We Are Contained Within Is What We Are Worth’ has been getting some great reviews across the board. How do you intend to follow up such a great offering?

Yeah the response has been amazing really. I think a lot of that EP was very forced. It just turned out that way. We’ve been writing new material and it feels much more natural. It flows better and ideas aren’t as quickly shot down as they used to be. The writing process this time around is much more enjoyable, and i think that will stand to us. 

So you’re coming back across the Irish sea to England for the second time this year. How was the response first time around?
The first tour was great. It was just refreshing to be able to play outside of Ireland and play to completely new people. The response was very positive to say the least. We’re coming back next week, so we mustn’t have been shite anyway haha. 

Will you be doing anything differently for your second visit?
I don’t think so. It’s still all very new to us so we’re just gonna play the best we can and enjoy ourselves.

And will you be playing any new material live next week?
Unfortunately not. We recently parted ways with out long-term guitarist Rob so there wasn’t much time for new stuff.

Sad news about Rob [guitars] leaving the band recently. Have you found a replacement for this tour?
Some random nobody who’s never online called Olly Steele?

Oh! Olly’s a pretty crazy guy. He’s going to get you guys in trouble for sure.
We had him over to Ireland for 10 days recently. He was quite subdued. Maybe because he had a hernia. Pussy.

So who has the nastiest tour habits?
Our collective farting escapades day in day out. Don’t even worry about it mate like.

Any funny stories from last time you were in England?
I remember laughing a hell of a lot. But for the life of me, i can’t remember why. Make your own mind up on that one i suppose.

You can tour with any 3 bands in the world. Who are they?

Pantera

Testament

Motley Crue

Fun tour right??

What’s been your best moment as Red Enemy so far?
You know there hasn’t really been one particular moment. Tonnes of smaller ones. It’s been a great year. As a whole, probably getting over to the UK… FINALLY!!!  

…and your worst moment?
Ah sure who cares. We’ve already forgotten about them.

What can we expect from Red Enemy in 2012?
An ALBUM!!!!! We want to release an album. That would be nice.

Red Enemy hit England’s shores on Tuesday 22nd Nov 2011 in Brixton, finishing on the 29th at Stourbridge Rescue Rooms. You’d be a bender to miss them. 

Review! Visions - ‘Home’

Since the release of their EP, ‘The 33 Sessions’ back in April 2010, Visions have stood out as one of the UK’s most promising tech acts.

The new album, ‘Home’, has been one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I’ve been fortunate enough to get my filthy mitts on a promo copy!

It’s all too easy to ride the bottom string like a dirty whore and knock out a metal tune in an afternoon. Instead, Visions opt for a more melodic approach, with an interesting use of harmony to add colour and interest. The vocals are largely a raw, powerful scream from vocalist Daniel ‘Boff’ Bareford, with some strong cleans scattered throughout the album.

We were excited to release a pre-production track: Attentive; Continuum, on the British Tech-Metal Compilation. Like our compilation, this track opens Home, with it’s calm-before-the-storm intro. The rest of the song sets the pace for the album: catchy rhythms, interspersed with extensive fretboard exploration from guitarists Dan Maywood and Jake Monson and indeed 6-string bass player Dave Evans. A interesting change from the pre-prod track is the use of a sped-up tape effect just after the intro, before the full band kicks in - nice little touch!

Jumping straight to the last track of the CD, Attentive; Reverie, Visions have attempted an ambitious two-part piece, reminiscent of the ‘In the Presence Of Enemies’ tracks from Dream Theater’s Systematic Chaos. Both tracks have a similar tonality, and follow the same lyrical theme, bringing the album full circle, and to a powerful end. Another clean guitar, similar to that which opens the album, fades us out.

Other highlights include new single ‘Desinent’, a video for which is currently circulating on Scuzz TV and will be online on July 15th, and the re-worked versions of older tracks Delete The Sky and Oceans. Also, instrumental and comparatively simple track ‘Creations’ offers a welcome break after the widdle-fest of Oceans - a nice change from the usual electronic and/or clean interludes found in contemporary metal CDs.

Why Visions? What makes this album stand out is that it is completely different to the vast majority of metal albums that have been, and will be released this year. Steering well-clear of the ‘djent’ bandwagon, Visions craft their own sound, that I really struggle to liken to any other band, and I therefore will not try. The ideas on show have clearly been thoroughly explored and no single song is without a killer section that makes me go ‘Awwwhh shittt!’.

This is a strong contender for my album of the year! Highly recommended.

- Tom

Home is out worldwide via Basick Records on July 18th!

Pick up a pre-order pack HERE

REVIEW: Red Enemy - ‘What We Are Contained In, Is What We Are Worth’

I’ve heard good things about Ireland’s Red Enemy from my Irish buddy, and recent addition to the BTM admin team, PJ, but never got round to checking them out myself. So I thought I would take a look at their EP: ‘What We Are Contained In, Is What We Are Worth’ EP. First Impressions? Great! 

Here is a band with its feet firmly rooted in Hardcore, with certain elements that I could liken to Parkway Drive or perhaps While She Sleeps. However, on further inspection there’s a lot more going on here than you’re everyday 2-step fest.

The materiel is well written, moving from groovier metal sections, into super-tight beatdowns and at times including some well-considered harmonies that are used sparingly to add definition to certain parts.

Vocals are strong, deep and round, and are frankly perfect for the sound of the band. A few higher screams here and there offer some welcome surprises - brilliant!

I don’t know if this offering was recorded ‘properly’, or if it was a bedroom project. Either way, production is good and punchy, with all-round solid performances from the band.

All in all, there’s really not much to complain about. It’s perhaps not the most original material, but we can’t all be pioneers!

Here we have a solid hardcore/metal band, with some progressive tendencies, self-releasing a CD that is absolutely professional quality in terms of both songwriting and production.

Well done boys - look forward to hearing more!

8/10

Tom

REVIEW: Uphoricide - In The Company Of Vulgar Images

Uphoricide are a 5-piece band from Manchester that describe themselves at “tech-death metal”. They claim a wide range of influences; from Meshuggah and The Black Dahlia Murder, all the way to Led Zeppelin and Daft Punk!

The EP starts with an atmospheric, almost doom-like track called “Pain Is Coming”, and unfortunately, I think they were right to give the first track this title. It’s somewhat saddening to say that the 1:20 instrumental at the start of the release was my favourite track, but I’m afraid what comes after isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

The EP as a whole lacks melodic material, is void of any sort of production value, and generally sounds as though the band are incapable of playing in time. It is nearly impossible to discern what the guitar is playing at any point due to the grotesque amounts of distortion, and the vocals are so low and guttural they reduce to almost a rumble at many points throughout the EP.

One thing I will give these guys is that they’re not scared of experimentation; their use of quotes, atmospherics, and guitar FX throughout the EP is imaginative, however poorly executed it may be.

Not my cup of tea, I’m afraid, chaps!

3/10

http://www.facebook.com/uphoricide

Dr. Slaggleberry - ‘The Slagg Factory’

I would like to think that my ears and brain are now so accustomed to some of the most technical, progressive and noisy music around, that nothing would be able to throw me.

I’m abreast with The Arusha Accord, down with Danza, versed in Venetian Snares and knee-deep in The Dillinger Escape Plan, but yet, here is a band that I still find challenging.

After becoming our very first band of the week a few weeks ago, I was very pleased to be asked to review Dr. Slaggleberry’s latest release: The Slagg Factory.

Their press release describes them as ‘organic’, and I’m struggling to find a better word (answers on a postcard, please). Their jazz-metal sound is raw and dynamic; a stark contrast to today’s heavily-processed prog metal, such as Periphery and Cyclamen.

With just two guitars (Chris Pethers and Tim Morrison) and a drummer (currently recruiting!) I expected to be left wanting for a more conventionally ‘complete’ line up, but it works! In general, one guitar (low tuning or seven-string - not sure which) handles the low end, whilst the second takes the more lead-orientated lines, filling the whole audio spectrum very nicely.

For me, the highlight of this mini-album is the first track: ‘Feed Me A Stray Cat’. Weighing in at just shy of seven minutes, it’s a musical journey in its own right, and encompasses all of Dr. Slaggleberry’s wonderful polyrhythmic nonsense; from atonal dirt to off-kilter cleans, and back again. Where I find Slaggleberry so outstanding is in their ability to create such smooth transitions between, often, very different sections. They progress from head-spinning, chromatic noodling to filthy groove breakdowns within the space of a couple of bars, and it never sounds disjointed, nor forced.

Another highlight is track three: 845. This song offers a welcome break from the first two mind-bending tracks with a lengthy, and wonderfully simple clean intro, before dropping into the grooviest passage of the whole record. While one guitar outlines some interesting chords and a chromatic line, the second rides the bottom string like an angry bull, and I love it. I only wish this track was longer, and this groovy idea was explored further.

There are very few areas I can criticise. I would usually hark on about tighter and more focused production, but this record thrives on it’s raw and almost DIY quality.
One observation is that the more ambient clean sections can, at times, sound a little weak. I would love to hear these transform into immense soundscapes, which would provide an even greater contrast when the filth kicks in once more.

Truly a lesson in in the fusion of jazz and metal, The Slagg Factory becomes more and more rewarding on every listen, as I find new nuances that passed previously unnoticed.

Dr. Slaggleberry are a band of very gifted musicians, and will no doubt get the recognition they deserve in the very near future. With a full-length on the way in 2011, I’ll be keeping a very close eye on this band.

A stunning release. 8.5/10

Tom

Check out Dr. Slaggleberry online:

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/drslaggleberry
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/drslaggleberry?ref=ts