Metal Music Interviews

Interview Interrogation: Lindon Faynes from Awful Noise (Australia)

11/4/2021

If you think you can hear some rather Awful Noise, then you're probably right... no it's not your next roadworks or your stomach rumbling, it's Australian noise-makers Awful Noise giving your ears a good pounding. Having delivered their second single "Synchronized Drowning" and released a COVID-19 split with Canadian and Belarusian hordes Mendacity and Grimentity respectively, the new kids on the block are priming themselves to leave their mark on the national metal scene, whilst securing a record label deal for their debut album. They've dealt with COVID restrictions and bushfires rampaging their homeland of Queensland, and now they're setting on navigating the choppy waters of the music industry... vocalist Lindon Faynes elected himself to be interrogated by GMA, as Fosters would say 'good call'.

For those who have not heard of Awful Noise, could you tell us how the band came about and how the name was chosen?

     "Our original bassist Brady Irwin and myself started hanging out and writing tunes with the idea of creating a more of a jokey style of grind band, then we recruited Chris Perkins from Those Who Endure on guitar who had a handful of riffs written and was looking to make a step outside of the deathcore genre. When we had enough material written I hit up my mate Pete Robertson (TazerTorture / Xyanix / Malakyte) for drums as he had put his hand up to play some grind beats. Chris came up with the name 'Awful Noise' and it took a bit of influence from the Finnish band, Rotten Sound. It's a fun name to use for sure!"

You released your 2nd album single "Synchronized Drowning" back in December, what was the reception like? Will we expect similar sounds on your forthcoming debut album?

     "People liked the song and we've sold a few of the single art t-shirts that were printed with the release. It's our punkiest song so far but all the other album songs still have that savage grind attitude"

What can you tell us about the debut album so far? How is the creation process coming along, where are you currently with it?

     "The album has been ready for 2 years now, unfortunately after we recorded the album as a 3 piece our drummer Pete decided to step down. I had to basically sit and come to the conclusion that either the band would die there or would go on with a new lineup. Chris and myself are the only remaining original members with new bassist Robert Needham jumping in after the album."

You mix brutal death metal with grindcore, what makes your music stand out from other bands playing both said genres?

     "Whilst I wouldn't say we're unique or anything like that, we do strive to write outside of the normal grind cliche and our recordings are a lot cleaner than typical of the genre."

Queensland bushfires - Source: The New York Times

Do you take any music inspirations outside of metal? If so who and how do their sounds fit in with your music?

     "Besides punk/hardcore influences we don't really add anything else soundwise."

Do you feel that the Australian metal scene is often forgotten about by the rest of the world, at least in part due to its geological position?

     "Yes and no, you'll always find dedicated international support for bands like Parkway Drive, Aversions Crown, Portal, Psycroptic etc"

Alongside COVID-19, Queensland had to deal with bushfires - talk to us about that, how did it start, is it an annual thing? How was the threat mitigated?

     "Yeah COVID-19 put a holt to a lot of future plans in the music and art industry. When people were able to leave isolation, Chris, Rob & myself went into the studio and recorded 2 tracks for a COVID split with Mendacity from Canada and Grimentity from Belarus. Our friend Ben Davies (Kaerulean) did the drums and his guitarist Blake Nevarov handled the recording. As for the bushfires, they started in various ways: some by lightning, some by human actions, including arson. However, it's the climate conditions that provided ample fuel for the fires to grow and spread. Before the fires ignited, Australia was already enduring its hottest and driest year on record. Also our Prime Minister decided then to take a holiday to Hawaii despite the warnings so f*** him and his handshake."

What plans does the band have for the year ahead (COVID depending)? Do you have any greetings or thanks you wish to send out?

     "Awful Noise is now a 5 piece band with our new drummer and 2nd guitarist yet to be announced. I've recently started talking to labels and distributors about the album so hopefully soon we can finally announce the album title and art, once we know when the album is ready for launch we'll look to gig / tour for it once we're allowed to do so ie covid. We'll give a shoutout to everyone has supported us during this time and to you Rhys for your support. Grind on!"

https://www.facebook.com/awfulnoisegrind

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Interview Interrogation: V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: from Anaal Nathrakh (England)

20/4/2020

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"In the end though, nepotism will always be the most effective tool. So be good friends with someone influential, butter up or pay the appropriate people to get into the frame for the big tours"

Arguably you can place Anaal Nathrakh in the same bracket as Australia's The Berzerker and Canada's sorely-missed Strapping Young Lad, for being pure fucking extreme metal. For a duo who have been serving up nihilistic and downright filthy albums since 1999, Anaal Nathrakh have shown no signs of slowing down and with the forged relationship between V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: and Irrumator, they are unbreakable; no matter how many pieces of equipment they go through by harnessing their beautifully dark minds in synchronicity.

Album no.11 will see daylight sometime this year but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is no clear cut release date, but what is clear cut is that it's destined to leave you needing fresh underwear. It was then only fair for GMA to interrogate V.I.T.R.I.O.L. about the unmovable partnership the band has, what he has been doing since the UK went into lockdown and how music distribution has changed in context with what challenges the band faced years ago to what newer bands could face these days... oh and having a question about the new wave of British Extreme Metal being answered in a unique way; the interviewee asking the interview; much love Dave :).

Album #11 is coming out this year, is there a definitive title yet or are some ideas being bounced around; what stage is the album at?

     "Hello. Yes, everything is completely finished, we handed the whole album over to Metal Blade Records a while back. But then immediately after we’d done so, the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off. So we’re in limbo to some extent now, and we don’t know what’s going to happen next. Presumably MB want to continue to release music, because people out there in the world in lockdown can still seek out and listen to new music – in fact music might be a particularly important thing for many people at the moment. I’ve been listening more myself, certainly. But at the same time, presumably the people at the label, the pressing plants, the distributors and so on are mostly working from home or furloughed. So yeah, the album is complete, but we’ve no idea what will happen with it next."

What can you tell us about the new album that has no relation to the previous album? e.g. themes, differences between this and "A New Kind of Horror"?

      "Well the last album had a lot to do with the First World War because of the time we were writing it, which obviously isn’t the case with this one. So in terms of subject matter it’s very different in many respects. There’s a lot in it, but I suppose you could say that a lot of it focuses on the position of the person or individual – basically, you or I, or a person we could very easily have been – in the world. That’s especially the case with the cover art, too, which is particularly striking this time. I’ve been thinking a lot more about art over the last year or so, and in working with Mick [Kenney] on the artwork for this album, we’ve really outdone ourselves.

     But art aside, in general, I think we humans are increasingly subject to manipulation, for example even to the extent that the Government’s responses to the coronavirus crisis here in the UK were initially dictated not by experts on viruses, but by behavioural scientists. And it’s turned out that in many respects, even though the album was written before the virus came along, it’s just as applicable in the new updated global context. Musically it’s more direct, I think. For the kind of music it is, I think it’s probably more accessible – obviously I don’t mean it’s pop music, and something filled with blast beats and screaming can only be accessible in a relative sense. But even by our standards as a band you can latch on to despite the viciousness of the music, I think it’s even more immediate than before. But we won’t know whether that’s borne out in other people’s experiences until the things is finally fucking released!"

As a band you've been going 21 years now, (how time flies) would you agree the British Extreme Metal is experiencing a new wave of bands?

     "Haha, I’m not sure how the two halves of that question go together! When you’ve been doing something for ages, it usually means you have less of an idea what’s going on with people who have just started doing it, not more! I think perhaps your question would be better answered by a journalist like you rather than by me." [Rhys: Touche Dave, got me there; the UK Extreme Metal scene is amidst a new wave for sure]

As the UK is in lock down, what have you been doing at home both musically and in other hobbies?

      "It’s a weird mixture of intentions and inertia. I think a lot of people have found themselves expecting and fully intending to get on with all the little projects they’d not got around to, but then in reality sitting in their pants eating shit in front of the TV. My mental escape has always been games, so I’ve been playing quite a lot. I’ve also been thinking about some philosophical stuff – I recently finished a really big piece of work, and it’s possible that I could polish some parts of it and seek to publish them, so I’ve been thinking about some problems that I’d have to solve to get them to publishable quality.

     It won’t make sense to many people, but if you’re into that sort of thing, basically it’s about the roles of cognitive vs. conative elements of a hybrid metaethical position. But mostly I’ve been sitting on my arse and festering into an ever greater loathing of my fellow humans and the twats on the telly and the radio who act like they know what they’re doing, but who are actually incompetent, self-serving, arse-covering fuckwits. Just like everyone else."

Birmingham skyline, England / Source: MeetBirmingham

Arguably you're one of the strongest metal duo's to be still active and so what is it that makes you both tick along nicely?

     "Tick along nicely? This is Anaal Nathrakh, not a long-running car boot sale or someone’s happily married grandparents. We do what we do together because when we get together and work on this stuff, the results excite us. We specifically don’t have a trick or formula that makes things smooth and easy. That would be boring, and alienate us from any creative satisfaction. There’s never any thought of ‘ok, back to the old job, and this time around…’, because every new thing we do is ad hoc and vital and expressive, not mechanistic. We have a significantly optimised approach to recording, for example, because we know what we’re doing, but despite that we haven’t recorded in the same place twice in a row in nearly a decade, we usually use different equipment, and the cares and concerns we have at any given time are fresh and immediate.

     A band like Bolt Thrower could perhaps approach an album and say to themselves ‘OK, how do we talk in a slightly different way about war this time?’. And it worked brilliantly for them. But that’s just not how our minds work. Yes, when we work together on Anaal Nathrakh there’s a similarity or continuity with our previous stuff, because it’s us and it’s Anaal Nathrakh. But beyond that there’s no trick or method – we do what we do because we know who we are, we know we get on well, and we know if we focus and work as hard as we possibly can, we will think the results are fucking brilliant. Even if nobody else did, haha!"

What (in your opinion) are the biggest challenges facing the new crop of metal bands coming up the ranks in the UK?

     "I have little idea, to be honest – you’d have to ask someone who’s in that position. If anything I’m sick of the solipsism that makes people feel entitled to comment on the predicaments of others without actually understanding the peculiar difficulties of others’ situations. It’s like an MP saying they could live on universal credit when they haven’t got a fucking clue about life outside their privilege. Having said that, one of the big things must be how to adapt to the fact that the world has moved on in terms of distribution and performance channels. Nowadays a lot of music culture revolves around Instagram and so on in a way I find distasteful, but which is simply the norm to most people. That’s an issue for all bands, but it must be especially acute for those trying to build some initial recognition and rise among the plethora of others on Bandcamp or wherever.

     It still applies if you have significant recognition among potential fans, of course, but if hardly anyone has ever heard your band name yet, it’s got to be harder. We had early success on mp3.com back in the day – it was more like an early YouTube kind of thing back then, not the corporate pop shit thing is it now – but nowadays you have to navigate a much more complex network of genre tagging, big-data-style keyword heuristics, game search results, all that kind of shit. In the end though, nepotism will always be the most effective tool. So be good friends with someone influential, butter up or pay the appropriate people to get into the frame for the big tours, and in the UK, be from London. Then you’ll soon be doing better than us and be more able to answer that question than we are."

What plans for the year ahead do you have (COVID-19 depending); did you have before this pandemic?

      "Well, it’s basically impossible to answer that question. As it happens, we were planning on keeping a somewhat lower profile in terms of shows, just playing key events. But now we don’t even know when the album is likely to come out, everything’s cancelled, and no one can book shows and tours at all. For example, just as the virus blew up in the West, we were in talks about a really big festival show in South America, possibly along with some tour dates on that side of the world. But that’s completely out the window now. Depending on how the prognosis for society develops, perhaps we’ll have to think of something innovative and unconventional to do. But for the time being, it’s a waiting game to see what will happen."

Do you have any greetings or thanks you wish to send out? Any final words?

"Thanks. Remain indoors."

https://www.facebook.com/Anaalnathrakhofficial

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Interview Interrogation: St. Anacletus from Hostia (Poland)

28/6/2018

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Poland has always been revered as a massive player in the metal music world, most notably for it's wealth of history and presence in the Extreme Metal arena. Heavyweights like Vader, Behemoth and Vesania may spill off the tongue like as if it was common public knowledge, but it's the underbelly or underground that is currently driving the scene forward and it's bands like Hostia who act as part of the cogs turning the mechanisms.

This machine does not need oiling, but by examining the fluidity of the overall machine it's clear that the Polish Metal scene has a long, bright future ahead of it. Guitarist St. Anacletus (historically speaking refers to Cletus who was the third Bishop of Rome (c.79-c.92; his death) gave GMA the low down about Hostia, their history, debut album, music style, and general attitude towards metal music in Poland.

"We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture"

For those who have not heard of Hostia, could you please give us a history of the band?

     "We just started to write our history! Story of 4 reincarnations of dead popes playing grindcore metal! Kidding! There is not much to say. We are long time friends, each of us played for years in different bands, but we wanted to play this kind of music in this certain line up. I told the rest about the idea and 30 seconds later we had the band!"

What do your families think of your music, and when did you get your first taste in metal music?

     "Haha! Good question! My lady can stand it for a moment, that’s why we have such short songs haha! For my mum metal music is OK until the growling vocals come in. So Hostia is probably too much! I started with Metallica when they played at Wembley after Freddie’s death and then very quickly got into more extreme stuff like Death, Morbid Angel, Vader, Napalm Death and Sepultura. Slayer came quite late for me I must say.

What enticed you to play Grindcore? How would you define your sound?

     "I just f*cking love it! I am into very different music styles but when it comes to playing I feel the best in the most intense, energetic and brutal short songs! Stripped to the bone, pure energy! Like a punch between the eyes! So I hope Hostia sounds like that! We consider Hostia as a grindcore metal band but with some other elements taken from hardcore, death metal or even rock and roll. We don’t want to play the same song ten times on the album. We want it to vary, but at the same time as brutal as we can make it!"

How does it feel to release your debut self-titled album "Hostia", will there be a album launch party?

     "Feels f*cking awesome! It’s like the birth of a child… except the fact that none of us have a child. We are proud of it and really overwhelmed by the great response we have received till now. It feels really f*cking good! It’s not a debut album for any of us as musicians, but it feels like the new beginning for us! There was no release party because of two reasons. We want to keep our faces unknown for some time and second – as you noticed it is our debut album, and we are still a quite unknown band so it would be a big exaggeration to organize a release party."

(Warsaw University of Technology) - Politechnika Warszawska

Will you be looking to do an international tour in support of the album?

     "That’s a hard one. To be honest we didn’t plan Hostia to be a very active live band when we started it. But all of us love to play live. Playing live is the reason to have a band so we will see what time brings! We are ready and open for all kind of offers. I think it all depends on if people will like our music as much to have the need to see us live. For now I can say we have some people from all over the world and places so far away from Poland like Honduras or Venezuela writing to us and buying the album so you never know what future brings! We would love to play some shows for sure!"

What is the general attitude towards metal music in Poland like? Is it well supported?

     "Hard to say because we used to have quite big metal labels like Metal Mind or Mystic, but firstly it's getting smaller with number of releases and second left metal and focused on other styles of music. And then are more underground labels like ours Via Nocturna. So metal is supported mostly by small local radio stations, or late night broadcasts in bigger stations, and by internet magazines. Government would rather make us disappear than support but what can you expect from hypocritical ultra catholic neo-nationalists right? We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture. But fuck it – we don’t need that until there are many metalheads! Metal supposed to be in opposition!"

What is the metal scene like in Warsaw? What venues, bars, etc are there? What sights / attractions could you recommend to metalheads to go and see?

     "Forget about Hardrock Caffe Warsaw – that’s first! There are many clubs but smaller ones changing every couple of years and I must say – cause I am really out of time I have blank head now! Most metal big club here would be Progresja Club. Then we can mention Potok Club, Proxima, Stodoła, Palladium. There was Club Rock but not sure if it exist any more. For beer you can check Rock & Roll pub next to Metro Politechnika station. About Warsaw – I don’t want to make everyone asleep by me taking next 3 hours about what you shall see in Warsaw! Depends on what you like but we have a lot of interesting places and stuff to see. Let me know if you around!"

What plans do you have for the year ahead?

     "Some new videos are coming and hopefully some shows! As well as some kick ass new merch so feel free to visit us on www.facebook.com/hostiaband as well as Bandcamp and Youtube! Thank you for the interview and all readers for spending their time on checking a bit about Hostia! Spread the blasphemy!"

https://www.facebook.com/hostiaband/

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Interview Interrogation: Axia (Portugal)

15/6/2018

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Portugal might not necessarily be a country that produces metal band after metal band on the international stage, instead it produces a range of metal bands with the potential to. Naturally the first metal band to spring to mind would be Moonspell, arguably the most successful Portuguese Metal export since the scene first emerged. However one of the latest bands to find the path to international recognition is the grindcore outfit Axia, whose latest album "Pulverizer" (released via Selfmadegod) is a brutal force to be reckoned with; album was mastered by Peter In de Betou (Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Meshuggah, Hypocrisy). GMA was able to grind the band down and to analyse what makes Axia, Axia.

For those who have not heard of Axia, could you please give us a history of the band?

     "Hello. We're basically a group that have been together for quite a long a time, collaborating with other bands and projects. We frequently tour and write music very often, and was the genesis of Axia. One day after listening to a stack of songs and realizing that it followed a musicality that wouldn't fit in any other of our projects, we decided that would be necessary to create a new identity capable of bring those tracks to life."

What do your families think of your music, and when did you get your first taste in metal music?

     "I've been consuming music ever since I can remember of my existence. I was still a child when I first started to collect entire tape discographies from the 60's/70's, heavy metal was gradually introduced during my curiosity incursions through my friends collections.

     I think metal music eventually became much more respected and user friendly than it used to be 20 years ago. People tend to respect and appreciate the musical/skill abilities from a given musician, even if they do not enjoy the music there's a lot more recognition and value."

What enticed you to play Grindcore? How would you define your sound?

     "Extreme metal as always given me a sense of excitement and freedom. There's such huge energy stream gleaming when the music is playing that it makes the heart beat synchronizing with the the tempo.

     I wouldn't describe us as a grindcore band, I rather say that The backbone of AXIA‘s music is an hybrid raid of extreme paced songs, infused with infinite levels of self-inflicted negativity and hopelessness."

What was reception like for your album "Pulverizer"? Was there a album launch party?

     "We're still collecting opinions and reviews about the new record, but so far the reactions are quite above what we initially expected. We did a release show during the almighty SWR - Barroselas Metalfest XXI, along with a line-up of awesome bands which actually went pretty great."

Clérigos Church, Porto (Credit: Tripadvisor)

What challenges do you face as a band in Portugal?

     "Well, Portugal is developing quite fast during the last couple of years. Things have change a lot and nowadays the only obstacles are the geographical position and of course the low wages. Musicians are getting better and more ambitious, there's a lot more planning and creativity."

What is the general attitude towards metal music in Portugal like? Is it well supported?

     "If we take in account the population size, I would say that Portugal is one of the best countries to play live shows. With a good promotion campaign, an underground show can easily achieve a massive attendance of 200/500 people depending on the band popularity."

What is the metal scene like in Porto? What venues, bars, etc are there? What sights / attractions could you recommend to metalheads to go and see?

     "Porto became a crucial landmark in what regards to music, there's very few chances that any band won't play Porto during a tour that features the peninsular area. There's many great places to visit, to enjoy live music or simply to listen and buy old rarities. Make sure you don't miss Bunker Store, Piranha, Zhe isuisria."

https://www.facebook.com/AXIAband/

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Interview Interrogation: Lindon Faynes from Awful Noise (Australia)

Interview Interrogation: V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: from Anaal Nathrakh (England)

"In the end though, nepotism will always be the most effective tool. So be good friends with someone influential, butter up or pay the appropriate people to get into the frame for the big tours"

Interview Interrogation: St. Anacletus from Hostia (Poland)

"We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture"

(Warsaw University of Technology) - Politechnika Warszawska

Interview Interrogation: Axia (Portugal)

© 2011-2022
Global Metal Apocalypse

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Interview Interrogation: Lindon Faynes from Awful Noise (Australia)

Interview Interrogation: V.I.T.R.I.O.L.: from Anaal Nathrakh (England)

"In the end though, nepotism will always be the most effective tool. So be good friends with someone influential, butter up or pay the appropriate people to get into the frame for the big tours"

Interview Interrogation: St. Anacletus from Hostia (Poland)

"We are not Portugal that gave Moonspell the award for promoting Portugal in the world. Behemoth would never get that kind of thank you from our minister of culture"

(Warsaw University of Technology) - Politechnika Warszawska

Interview Interrogation: Axia (Portugal)

© 2011-2022Global Metal Apocalypse

Archives

Categories

© 2011-2022
Global Metal Apocalypse