I caught up with vocalist Charlotte Wessels of Dutch Symphonic / Gothic Metallers Delain about their history, talking about the change of record labels that has been going on, festivals and tours they are playing at or have played in the not so distant past and questions about the Dutch Metal scene. Apologies for the unwanted noises in the background, I believe it was due to connection issues.

The interview can be heard above.

https://www.facebook.com/delainmusic?ref=ts&fref=ts

Country - SWEDEN
Genre - INDUSTRIAL METAL
Label - UNSIGNED


So Backstabber what does Perception Of Darkness personally mean to you and how did the band form?

It means everything to us. Perception Of Darkness is the way we choose to express ourselves through, it's our channel to create, discuss and hopefully influence people to think for themselves.
But it's also a brotherhood for us, the other guys in the band are some of my absolute best friends and that's also a big part of Perception Of Darkness.

The band was formed by our old singer Karl Johansson who is no longer in the band due to some different reasons.

Would you say Sweden lacks numbers in Industrial Metal vs. Melodic Death Metal?

I think Sweden has a lot good Industrial Metal bands, some good examples are Raubtier, Pain and Deathstars. But here there aren't really a lot of bands on the smaller stages that play Industrial Metal.
The only ones i know of would be Zavod, Mass Murder Agenda and Man.Machine.Industry.

And of course in comparison to the Melodic Death Metal bands we are quite outnumbered.

How would you describe your music without genre tagging or using cliches?

Since we decided to get rid of our singer we no longer have any rights to our old songs since he was our main songwriter. But we are working hard on our new album. I don't want to describe it all to much right now, but let's just say that we are taking it back to the roots of how Industrial Metal should sound.

What makes Perception Of Darkness stand out from the rest of the Swedish metal scene and have you played outside Sweden?

First of all we play in a quite small genre, as i said earlier there aren't a lot of industrial metal bands on our level. I also like to think that we are a really good band to see live. A lot of our friends play very technical metal and they miss out on the live part of being in a band. Perception of Darkness is quite the opposite. We play pretty straight-on metal and leave a lot of room for the live show.

Last year we played 2 European festivals and a boat cruise. Our first gig outside of Sweden was at "Dark Mental Festival" in Copenhagen where we got the honor to open the festival up, the second was as an headline act at "Plana Demo Fest" in Serbia, and the boat cruise went from Stockholm to Riga and featured bands like Frantic Amber, The Resistance, Man.Machine.Industry and Skitarg.

How many releases do you have to date and what is your favourite?

As i said earlier we have had to remove all our material when we decided to get rid of our singer. So we are currently working on our "first" album.

What major metal festivals are there in your area?

There are a few: Copenhell, Metaltown, Sweden Rock Festival amongst others. Last year we were actually involved in starting a new festival in our hometown of Malmö called "Faceplant Metalfest". Unfortunately, just a couple of days before the event it had to be cancelled due to problems with the economy.

Finally do you have any hello's, thank you's to send out?

Not really, would just like to thank all of the fans for being patient with us. Last year was really good for us and it feels terrible that we have to take a big part of this year to rebuild what we had worked so hard for, but we will be back strong than before.

https://www.facebook.com/PerceptionofDarkness

Band - Lectern
Genre - Death Metal
Country - Italy
Label - Ragtime Records

How long has the band been going, how did it form and what does the band name mean?

Enrico:  "The band was formed many years before I entered. Fabio is the founder of our band, the one that gave start to this malefic assault and the mastermind behind our concept. Lectern is the priest's higher place where to spread the holy lie".

Fabio "He said all so much and well, so, nothing to add more!".

What inspired you to play the style of music you play?

Enrico: "Death metal is a way of being. I was born with Death metal inside me and hate sculptured it focusing my will. In time I discovered that the hell I had in, could be translated in apocalyptic music which death metal stands for. Early extreme bands? Deicide, Cannibal Corpse and Slayer (even first Metallica four albums)".

Fabio:

"I was just speaking of that with Enrico one day, I told him "man, Slayer is the top of extremes how they could be so, without high blast beats and grunts?" He told me "simple: it's Slayer!".When I approached to heavy metal, it wasn't a genre so extreme rather for Venom and others. They had a great look, they were rude, but not so skilled at play. We had Iron Maiden that changed the visual concept of how a gig was meant to be finally on a stage, I'm speaking about Powerslave tour and what came after.

The Nineties, changed everything prepared by Slayer since the middle and at the end of the Eighties. Reign In Blood changed all, unconsciously this band was unaware of the monstrous styles they were forging like death metal and grind. Then, someone understood that you can play faster, brutal and out of all patterns just going a bit forward! Holy fuck! Florida was the home of prime movers like Morbid Angel and Deicide, sons of a brutalized thrash: death metal was born. If I think about death metal, I wanna an insane show, motherfucking weird riffs, growls and solos and an approach that destroys every kinda melody. These bands are legendary, with other great acts like New York kings Suffocation and early Immolation and Incantation. Europeans were too busy with schemes and elegance in riffs, Americans were the bastard Yankees they're and always will be, ready to blow you away! Lectern belongs to this second side".

What is your local town / city scene like?

Enrico: "Rome's metal-rama is quite good against all the critics everyone part of the scene, sentences. We got even few international bands, like Hour Of Penance and Buffalo Grillz, and a very florid underground. Some of those bands are ascending in terms of importance and in terms of presence during important festivals in Italy and outside our boundaries. Extreme or classic both are in our scene. Most of us are part of the same crew even, good friends even I mean".

Fabio: "Perfidy Biblical and Lectern are my bands, and the best in Rome I knew was last summer, guitarist of our Finnish brothers Ceaseless Torment and hope to play with them in Helsinki as promised. It's quite strange, I don't use to listen to so much metal by now, 'cause I don't like going too much outside, I hate people but myself and I don't recognize me in this society and in the actual music scene full of nerds caught by social networks and shitty mind-lock barriers. Well, if Dark Angel comes for a show here, I'll go, for the rest I don't give any fuck!".

Have you played alongside any big bands, if so who? If not who would you like to play alongside?

Fabio: "No, we're an underground band, and we didn't play with anyone famous! I'd play with Jesus Christ to nail him by my own, but a stage would be too fucking small for that!"

Enrico: "Personally, my aim is to play as much as I can in league with the classics of death metal and thrash also. If I've to choose I don't want to share the show with posing rockstars that are concerned only about cash, forgetting that, as Destruction said, "united we stand, together we're strong". I do appreciate humble and serious musicians that want to respect the passionate fans and impose an honest message, because that's why we are here".

Has the band got any plans for 2013?

Enrico: "Releasing our new slab of pure hatred. A ten tracks album that will contain new songs originated by the new line up. You'll hear the difference in terms of inspiration, believe us. Playing as much concerts as we could do, even outside Italy".

Fabio: "Also this time, Enrico precedes me. Songs are ready, and we will finish what started at Kick Studio very soon, artwork and layout have been set. Death metal it is! In the name of Satan will be!".

Finally any thank you's, hello's and any other messages you wish to say?

Enrico:

"I'd like to thank first of all Fabio for his brother-ship in life and in Lectern. As fan I wish to bring my cheers and my gratitude to those pubs and clubs in our area that still give metal the possibility to breathe and spit flames through all the sacrifice that our musicians spend on the show: in particular I want to say thank to Closer Live Club and all its honorable crew, Traffic Live Club, Blackout and Atlantico. Then I want to say thank you to the Roman organizations like Altamira Events and New Rome Disorder for bringing metal in Rome. A special thank should go to Welt from Yama Tattoo studio for his inks and events organization and professionalism. Visit his studio if you come in Rome! Last but not least I'd like to pay a merited thanks to Old Temple Records".

Fabio: "Shambles will come! Upside every cross!".

www.lectern.in

Following on from our recent reviewal of Galician Power Proggers Talesien and their latest album "El Silencio" we thought it would be best to deliver the Spanish inquisition and put the flaming tongs on this sextet to explore the past, present and future of Talesien, but be warned, there may be blood.

So guys, how long has the band been going, how did the band form and what does the band name mean?

Talesien has celebrated just our 10th anniversary in 2012. The band name comes from the third long play "The Book of Taliesyn" by Deep Purple, but we decided to change it a little, the second part of the title specifically in order to avoid coincidences and also because there were other bands which had chosen this name too. So…

What inspired you to play the style of music you play?

We feel that we are inspired by every single metal song that we listen to in whatever style. We listen to Bon Jovi but we listen to Slayer too. We are open minded people in that sense. We only search for good songs, it doesn´t matter if we are talking about Thrash, Power, Heavy, Progressive, Death Metal, etc.

What is your local town / city scene like?

There are a lot of bands playing different styles, we live in a very rich land in that sense. Unfortunately we also live in the north-western corner in Spain and it´s too difficult to spread our work and especially playing live music around the country because of the distance. Also it´s a social question, the people who live around us consider our music as something underground and marginal.

Have you played alongside any big bands, if so who? If not who would you like to play alongside?

We have been playing alongside many different bands throughout our history, bands such as DIO, Cradle of Filth, Riot, Marky Ramone, In Extremo, Lost Horizon, etc and we would be very pleased to play alongside Dream Theater, Symphony X, Kamelot, Evergrey, Circus Maximus, Seventh Wonder, Iron Maiden and many more…

Has the band got any plans for 2013?

Keep playing and to continue with our brand new long play presentation in places where we still haven´t gone and also to start to compose a new one asap.

Finally any thank you's, hello's and any other messages you wish to say?

First of all we want to give you many thanks for being there for your support and for giving us this opportunity and also a big thank you to our fans for keeping our spirits high

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Talesien-Oficial/326397790752670
http://talesien.com/

Global Metal Apocalypse caught up with Savage, now you may wonder what the hype is about us interviewing Savage, well here you will find out there Metallica connection.

There is more to it than meets the eye (and music).

With only a couple of likes on Facebook, this NWOBHM band who has been going since 1976 and hails from Mansfield, is owed a lot by the metal community, as you shall find out by listening to the interview, there is some shocking facts on it, you'd have to be silly not to listen.

Back last year I caught up with Kent's hopefuls, one band by the name of Dark Theory, this is perhaps the darker version of Cradle of Filth, but with a Gothic horror twist as vampire bites were experienced this time, the interview took place outside The Red Road Festival (hosted by one of the music industry's finest promoters Mr. Adam Fillary), this was an interview that involved darkness, vampires and a whole load of black metal.

Check it below and check the band's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Theory/176915864515

Furthermore we interrogated Skeleton Kid, lovely chaps too. Marilyn Manson meets punk rock and as a result draws out this mob of feisty gentlemen who know the differences between a Meerschaum pipe and the Victorian burlesque movement, or so it would seem as I found out there is more to this band than pinstripes, makeup and lavish hairstyles, more than music also, there is a group of lads who would rock your house down.

Check it below and check the band's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/skeletonkiduk?ref=ts&fref=ts

Following up from the review we gave to these American Groove Thrash stalwarts, we conducted an interview with them to get in deep behind the scenes of what makes them tick.

How long has the band been going, how did it form and what does the band name mean?

The band formed in early 2011 but we didn’t play our first show until early 2012, we all knew each other from mutual friends and Excessum is Latin for death.

What inspired you to play the style of music you play?

Pantera, Death, Dark Angel, Metallica, and Testament are the bands that we are inspired by and it is these bands that showed us what kind of music we wanted to play.

What is your local town/city scene like?

Our city doesn’t have a very strong metal scene but we are trying to change that.

Have you played alongside any big bands, if so who? If not who would you like to play alongside?

We are about to play a show with Green Jelly and we also played a show with The Classic Crime.

Has the band got any plans for 2013?

Yes, we plan on releasing a new album and we are touring the east coast in June.

Finally any thank you's, hello's and any other messages you wish to say?

We would like to thank: Our parents, our significant others, the members of our families who support us, Vic Firth, Evans drum heads, Exodus Cymbals, Gibraltar, Tama, Dean, Peavey, Behringer, Jason Few and the rest of D.R.E.A.D., Beav from the handlebar, Mindy Willis and the Willis family,  As Kingdoms Prevail, The Squeaky Lizard, Drew Ray, Eric Taylor and Megan, Drew Ray, and anyone else who we forgot! You know who you are!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Excessum/151954524849900

Following up from the review we gave to these German Melodic Death / Thrash metallers, we conducted an interview with them to get in deep behind the scenes of this monster of a band.

How long has the band been going, how did it form and what does the band name mean?

The band formed back in 2001 in the town of Oberhausen, the reason behind our formation is just to make music, nothing more and nothing less. In fact the band name itself is nothing special, if you want to hear something special like that then it's not only a pit of doom, but rather the true meaning of "core of destiny", we came up with the name 12 years ago and even back then we never thought that we would play together for such a long time.

What inspired you to play the style of music you play?

Our inspirations are very chameleon-like in that they are all-round, because each one of us listens to a different style / type of music, so it's a mixture of metal styles (Death, Melodic, Hardcore, Groove, etc) 

What is your local town/city scene like?

Our local town is Oberhausen which is in North Rhine Westphalia.

Have you played alongside any big bands, if so who? If not who would you like to play alongside?

I don't think  we have because we play a lot of underground shows. However if there are any possibilities, we want to play at festivals or support a bigger band at shows or when they are on tours. All that can be said is that we are working on it ;), ha, if you have any connections, please tell us :).

Has the band got any plans for 2013?

Yes indeed we have, first of all we want to enlarge our fan base and gather some critics of our new album, then the next step is to play more shows in Germany.  I think shows overseas are also interesting and would be happy to play them too.

Finally any thank you's, hello's and any other messages you wish to say?

Check out our music and come out to see us live at a show!

https://www.facebook.com/pitofdoom?ref=ts&fref=ts

Following up from the review we gave these talented Americans of whom play Heavy Metal in a form that eluded me, such is the greatness of experimentation.

The band have their own special comic and so this is what they had to say about it:

As for the interview, here comes the epic digestion.

How long has the band been going, how did it form and what does the band name mean?

(Scott Mays) "Band name? My interpretation is that we are the Justice League of Heavy Metal so we have to have a cool moniker. Our main superhero is Dionysis and we are his merry "Cult" followers!"

(Dionysis) "How can I top that?!? What he said! Actually it all started in 2006 with a passion to form a band that would stand the test of time. Most groups form with a common goal, but then over time the membership drifts away. People lose interest, or quit for various reasons, and then the band breaks up. Those who want to continue moving forward with their music are left to start all over with a different project. After experiencing this cycle in several band incarnations, I decided I'd had enough. I wanted to be a part of something that would not implode or die when a member decides to leave. How does one go about creating such a thing? Well, to keep people interested indefinitely and generate a never ending supply of musician recruits, you have to build something bigger than just a band. It almost needs to be a "religion" to have that kind of longevity. So rather than yet another "band", I created the "Metal Cult of Dionysis". To my complete amazement, the plan seems to be working! I carried the project on my back by myself for a couple of years. I shot a music video, released the "CCCXXXIII" EP, and went through several lineups.

Then in 2008 Bassist / Vocalist James Huff joined and lit this group on fire! Yet more members came and went, but all the while Huff stuck with the Metalcult and helped push the band further and further. By 2010 we had recorded our first LP "Alchemy", began production for our "Metalcult Comix" book, and recruited Guitarist Scott Mays. When he joined the group it was like another piece of the puzzle just fell into place. Since then, yet more band members have come and gone, but the Metalcult just keeps progressing, getting stronger and stronger. Last year we had the incredible privilege of working with producer Peter Wichers to create the "Behind The Mask" single. Then about halfway through 2012 Guitarist Heath Hash jumped on board this crazy electric circus. His talent and energy has completely rejuvenated the band. That brings us roughly up to now, and I'm very excited to find out what the future holds for the Metalcult."

What inspired you to play the style of music you play?

(Mays) "I love the powerful sounds of metal. It's almost like war or superhero battles in audio!"

(James Huff) "I discovered metal at a young age. It helped pull me through a lot of life's everyday struggles, and got me through some hard times. It just opened something inside me that I had never felt before, and fueled my soul. I immediately knew I wanted to learn and play this style. There is just so much compassion and feeling that you can express with metal music, and it truly is a way of life."

(D) "Exactly! This music is not simply a genre, metal is a lifestyle."

What is your local town/city scene like?

(Mays) "Great! Supportive. Our local fans dig what we do."

(D) "Yeah, our hometown supporters are one of the diving forces behind this group. Galax, VA is a really small town located in the southern Appalachian mountains of Virginia in the USA. The place is best known for bluegrass music, but there really is a diversity of sounds in the area. You can also find a lot of Punk, Rock, and Heavy Metal bands making killer original music in these mountains. Plus, even though it is a remote area, it's within relatively close distance to some larger cities in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Tennessee. So we tend to trade shows with a lot of bands in the region to spread out as far as we can. Eventually we'd love to branch out even more and go farther North, South, and West in the USA...possibly across the seas to the UK! Watch out Rhys, we could be destroying a stage near you one day soon!" (ed: lets hope our promoters listen up).

Have you played alongside any big bands, if so who? If not who would you like to play alongside?

(D) "It depends upon which bands are considered to be "big"! I've been navigating the heavy metal underground in the USA for quite some time now. In some of my previous groups I've performed opening gigs with various bands you may have heard of such as Manowar, Saxon, D.R.I., Arch Enemy, Cannibal Corpse, Marduk, Diamond Head, Amon Amarth, and quite a few others. Unfortunately, the Metalcult has not yet landed a gig with a big name act as yet. We've come really close, though. I feel 2013 is going to be the year that we finally break through and get some invitations to perform with more well known bands. If I could have my pick of bands we can perform with, I'd have to choose some of our heroes. Lamb of God, Corrosion of Conformity, Queensryche, Gojira, Anthrax, Cradle of Filth, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest...Hell, might as well go for broke! We want a tour opening for BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA, AND KISS! There it is. Have your people contact their people, those people can communicate with our people, we'll sign on the dotted line to make it happen."

(Huff) "We would share the stage with anyone, really. Metal is a community and brotherhood. So big name or no name, I would play a show with anyone."

Has the band got any plans for 2013?

(Heath Hash) "WE REALLY NEED TO RECORD!"

(Mays) "A new full length CD will be nice. The band's success so far has come from music created by previous musicians. So I'm eager to see If the music that Heath and I have been a part of creating in the band will be popular as well."

(D) "No doubt. The band has been through a lot of changes since it began. No matter, I'm confident the lineup we have right now is the strongest Cult of Dionysis has ever had. When people hear the new material the band has been working on, they are going to be very, very pleased. The Metalcult has no official label, management, booking agent, outside financial support, or corporate contributions of any kind. We run this show 100% underground as a "Do It Yourself" organization, and we do the best we can with the limited budget we have to work with. So on average we publish a couple of comic books a year, a new recording every couple of years, and we manufacture normal band products such as T-shirts as money becomes available. We're already booking 2013 live shows around Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It's about time for us to deliver a new record, and you can count on at least a couple more issues of Metalcult Comix in 2013. It would be nice to become "discovered" and finally get some kind of industry support, but truthfully...FUCK IT! We're going to continue making this music and keeping the true believers happy whether the music industry notices Cult of Dionysis or not."

Finally any thank you's, hello's and any other messages you wish to say?

(D) "Wow, there are just so many people who deserve to be thanked. I'll try to be brief and wrap this up quick, or we could be here awhile! First of all, there are a lot of people who have contributed to the band, but are no longer working with us now. They deserve credit, and we'll never forget 'em. So if you ever played a live show or wrote a song with Cult of Dionysis...THANK YOU! Also, we all have very patient, understanding, and dedicated family members and friends who support this band. If you are a band member's wife, girlfriend, mother, father, grandparent, brother, sister, child, or just a longtime pal constantly providing positive energy and encouragement...THANK YOU! There are a lot of bands around the region working their asses off to get somewhere in the music biz. They've helped us and we wanna return the love. Here's a shout out to our brothers & sisters in bands who have been helping to build a stronger metal music scene: Doom Syndicate, The Ziggurat, The Reasons Were Legion, Luna's Lament, Hellblock 13, Mindjakked, War Torn Angel, Torment Garden, Lifemare, The Dirty South Revolutionaries, 3 Quarters Dead, White Knuckle Black Out, Monstrok, Dread...I'm probably forgetting a few, my apologies to any that have been left out!

We would also like to sincerely thank you, Rhys, for giving a bunch of nobodies from nowhere a chance to be heard. It's people like you who introduce underground bands like us to the world. Without you, we'd have no voice, no way of bringing our metal to the masses (ed: That's what Global Metal Apocalypse is all about, bringing metal to the masses)

Finally, a message I truly want to deliver to the people of planet earth is this: NEVER GIVE UP! Artists. Musicians. Writers. Anyone with a dream. There will always be obstacles, trials to overcome, people standing in your way. Do not despair! Be smart, stay positive, figure out ways to adapt to change and beat the odds. All the hard work is worth it in the end, and people need your creativity. Human beings can draw energy from your creations, and the whole world will benefit, so hold on to the dreams! Bless you, each and everyone!"    

https://www.facebook.com/cultofdionysis?ref=ts&fref=ts

Once again Global Metal Apocalypse caught up with another metal musician, this time from Bahrain, a small island in the Middle East, Abdulla Muijrers of Thrash Metal band Motor Militia was the guy to do the honors, from which you can download the video below.