- LATEST INTERVIEWS -

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- ENEMY REIGN INTERVIEW -

Email interview with Sherwood Webber by Drew DePietro (2009)

Archaic North - How exactly did you come to form Enemy Reign?

Sherwood - Justin, former guitarist had asked me if I wanted to come check out his band, and if I’d be interested in doing vocals. I went and checked them out with an open mind and things started to develop. It was slow at first but considering we’ve been together under 2 years, the stuff we’re writing right now for our full length sounds fully developed. The “Means To A Dead End” EP was and excellent training, the material we’re writing is the big game.

A.N - Also, how did you come to name the band Enemy Reign?

S - It was a collective idea. We’ll always be subject to some type of Enemy Reign, it works on both sides these days, the memory of the Bush administration and the reign of fear and paranoia that is hindering progress these days. It’s always present; you’ll never escape Enemy Reign, it just works for us. We’re not a politically driven band, we’re into universal evil.

AN - Were there any difficulties encountered while writing the EP? Musical differences, thoughts on direction, who writes what..etc.

S - Like I said above, it was a great learning experience. It was written and recorded with a second guitarist (Justin) in the band, that added a certain element. Everything we’ve written since he’s left the band has been written and arranged by the 4 of us. Nick contributes all the riffs, he’s very open to ideas and manipulation of what he brings to the table. We’ve worked hard on developing our sound, the EP was a start, our style has developed. It’s all about our new material. There is definitely a learning curve with a new band, but the Guenther brothers have a very disciplined work ethic. We’ve done a lot with arrangement and tempo mapping that has made us a much tighter and deliberate band.

AN - Was the task of self producing and distributing the "Means to a Dead End" EP daunting? Or was it something that just fell together and grew from there?

S - There was really no choice, we’re a brand new band, the economy sucks. It’s a digital world where music, if you want it, is essentially free. Record sales are down, labels are not just throwing money around, no-one is. While there is a certain pride in being self reliant, the DIY approach can only take you so far in this genre. Basically we just scraped together the money to finance the EP and did whatever we could to get it out there. I have to say it’s been really gratifying, anything worth having is hard work.

AN - Out of the 5 songs on the EP, which would you say has been getting the most ridiculous reactions from the crowds?

S - “Isolate”

AN - I hear the title for the upcoming full length is “How About.......Go Fuck Yourself!”......what's that about? Someone piss you off? Or is it to just send a message?

S - Actually, that’s just what I was thinking about calling a song, not the full length. We’re pretty outspoken folks, known to tell people to get fucked once in a while.. Haa.

- If someone were to come up to you and say "Hey, I just downloaded your new EP it sounds great!" What would your reply to them be?

S - No problem, in the digital age, being high and mighty about some broken down archaic business model is suicide. Fighting it would be like trying to bail out the ocean with a pint glass. There is opportunity to be discovered.

AN - As the world is aware, "downloading is gravely injuring the musical economy"...Would you agree with that statement?

S - Downloading is gravely injuring executive bonuses, I say fuck it, it’s about time. Time for a new model, who cares if the current musical economy is destroyed? I’m not talking about independent labels, I’m talking about the majors. Burn that fucker to the ground. Are people going to stop making music? Will it be a quiet world now? Bands at every level have been on the losing side of the business forever, this is really an opportunity. I respect the independent labels a lot. There is a huge overhead for a label for them to do their job correctly and it’s harder and harder with downloading. With change comes opportunity and for everyone to throw up their arms and not recognize the potential of a changed business model is quite close minded. There will be innovators and there will be progress!

AN - Are there any plans for a major tour coming soon for ER? Or are you all just focusing on the new full length?

S - Definitely focused on the full length for now, but A European tour is imminent in the Spring.

AN - After listening to the EP about 4 times in succesion, it has a very distinct sound. Quite frankly, it's very refreshing. It's heavy as fuck and it's full of hooks. What kind of output/input has the EP received since you've released it?

S - We’ve gotten a lot of great reviews and I’m really anticipating the slaughter review, it’s gotta be coming! hAaa I’m almost reluctant to give reviews as much credit as we have, it’s all subjective.. It is nice to hear some positive feedback about something you’ve worked very hard on. Journalists serve an important purpose, if someone reads a review and it initiates them to the band, we couldn’t ask for more. I agree with you, it’s heavy as fuck and full of hooks.

AN - I don't want to be a "bad interviewer" but I've read in your interview with U-Zine.net that you "Like metal alot..just because." What's the reasoning behind that answer?

S - That shit just makes me feel good, metal rules, dood

AN - If a promoter were to offer/ask ER to play a gig in their town, and they told you, they could only pay you in beer and cigarettes...Would you do it?

S - Beer and weed, sure



AN - Are you big on crowd participation? And if you are(which I'm assuming you are), What is your favorite thing to get the crowd to do?

S - Like the show so much they tell someone, continue to follow us, or buy a shirt, any of those work for me. Actually their presence is enough, no matter how they choose to participate.


AN - Can you remember the craziest fan you've witnessed?

S - This jackass named SLAYER that lurks around Denver. He may be back in jail.


AN - What is your favorite colour?

S - Green, or white


AN - Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me for Archaic North Entertainment's Webzine. Hope to see Enemy Reign passing through Sudbury, Ontario sooner than later, Keep the horns high!!

S - THANK YOU DREW! and we’ll love to play up north, spread the word and we’ll come see you.

- JANVS INTERVIEW -

Email interview with Matteo by Mark Howitt (2009)

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with Archaic North Webzine, as most of our staff here are fans of your work.

Archaic North - How has the reaction been since the release of Vega?

Matteo - The critical response has been quite good I would say. Being a band with no live activity is very hard on the public reception side seen that before buying a CD people these days usually prefer to cut themselves an arm and a leg.

AN - Where has touring taken Janvs thus far, and are there any current tours or future dates to look out for?

M - We never did a single concert, mainly because of line-up issues. In the future I would really like to transform Janus into a band that tours to some extent, we will see. I would like to ensure us and the public decent performance conditions, so how well our sales will do in North America could be quite decisive since here in Europe the market is so stale. Our label got an agreement with Sony Red/KLM for the distribution of "Vega" in the USA and Canada a couple of months ago, so we really hope you'll give us this chance!

AN - How is the scene in Italy doing at the moment for Black Metal?

M - Honestly I basically live in an ivory tower, I don't really feel to belong to any scene here in Italy although I recognize some important common ground with bands that blend metal and progressive rock sounds and attitudes that come from Italy and other countries. Here at home I keep in touch with the other musicians I became friend with during the years but really nothing more. For Malphas it's the same, he was in the scene thing 10 years ago but now he is the band's old sage who doesn't care anymore for such things. m:A Fog is the most involved of us playing or having played in several Italian bands and also in Norwegian and French ones, doing gigs around and such things on a regular basis ecc. ecc. Italy however doesn't lack good bands at all, usually we only get underrated because of where we come from and that can be frustrating when you see some German or Scandinavian or American band that is worth a tenth of what you are having ten times your visibility.

AN - What are some bands that are doing well there?

M - Black Flame, Hate Profile, Spite Extreme Wing, Hiems...I don't follow the Black Metal scene very much.

AN - During the production of Vega, how long was the process and can you describe the experience?

M - Thank you so much, really. Well, "Vega" costed really a lot of fatigue and sacrifices to me. Except for the bass and the drums I had to compose, arrange and record everything myself. We also made a substantial economic investment to upgrade our instrumentation and afford the production you can hear (although we had to work really fast in the studio). Everything was recorded, mixed and mastered in 13 days. It's been stressing, the only positive side is that the studio we worked in was in a calm and beautiful countryside spot near Piacenza, so I could relax a little bit between the straining sessions I had to overcome alone for the most part.

AN - What does the name Janvs mean, and what does it mean in regards to the choice to use if for the band?

M - Janus is the double faced god of doors and transitions who belongs to the ancient Italic/Roman religion only. The symbology of Janus is immense. Janus represents the constant strife and synthesis between opposites, all kinds of opposites, which work in the sense of a journey towards its third, invisible face which represents transcendence. I think that all the most important aspects of the symbolical universe of this very important god, really fit my personality and the aims and ways of expression I wanted to develop with the project I intended from the beginning to become my main and deeper effort in music and "art", which could last my entire life-span and could grant me total freedom of expression. I really think that our musicality and language is every day closer to the symbolical way of being of the god we use the name of, delivering the longing for a timeless dimension through a journey made of the constant attrition of opposing and diverse elements.

- Vega has a very strong atmospheric and progressive feel to the album, as compared to Fvlgvres. Is this something that you will continue doing for the next album?

M - Yeah we will continue to change and evolve, I am that kind of person. I began writing some new material and it's quite different from Vega, more varied. Unfortunately a new album will still take some time though, I have fewer spare time than before and I want to make an important record.

AN - Lyrically, what inspires Janvs and what is Vega about?

M - I never liked to do long talks about the things I do myself, judging them for others. I was forced to do so from time to time of course, but don't like it. It always makes me feel incomplete, gross and somewhat arrogant. I prefer to give people a great freedom of approach to what we do, because I do songs for the very reason I have difficulties expressing certain things in more conventional ways and because I think that when an album is born from a proper amount of passion and resources it can speak for itself, without the need of a user manual, so to speak. I think that it is very rare that the "artist" may understand everything of what he has done too. I don't want to say to our listeners what they should think or feel listening to our music. However, let's say that the overall theme that crosses all the songs on "Vega" consists in the expression of the search for a lost fixed point of reference, in a moment in which a certain sense of loss and confusion doesn't appear to offer any escape option, but that at the same time fails to destroy all the "positive tensions" that have the vagueness, the visionary power, the distance and the strength of a true faith. "Vega" has been the polar star of Earth until 10.000 years ago and will return being it in some others millennia from now, this is for sure. This star and its name are also bound to a lot of different cultural and ethimological meanings across very distant civilizations, and almost all of them are closely related to what I intended to channel through this little work of ours. Longing for transcendence, that's what inspires me, it always comes down to that.

AN - I truly believe that Vega is a hidden gem, and the clean vocals are some of the best I have heard mixed with Black Metal. Do you think that the next Janvs release will have more of this? What vocalists inspire you?

M - Thank you very much! Yes probably our next album will make almost exclusive use of clean vocals. What vocalists inspire me? Well I guess a lot, every singer I like actually may influence me here and there. Let me think...Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, Dave Mustaine, James Hetfield, John Lennon & Paul McCartney are very high on the list of the male ones.

AN - What are your thoughts on the current state of the world?

M - My thoughts about it are pretty awful.

AN - Thanks again for the interview, is there any last comments?

M - I want to thank you and all the people who supports us reading this.

- KRONOSFEAR INTERVIEW -

Live interview with Kevin by Mark Howitt (2005)

Mark Howitt - What is the current status of Kronosfear?

Kevin - Well, Senior Smick is currently out West right now, he’s laying down the ground roots. Hes coming back in August to the hammertown. He's gonna do a few shows and then after that Im going to go out there and we'll be moving our base of operations out to the West Coast (edit: of Canada)

M - So Kronosfear is going to move from Hamilton to British Columbia?

K - I think it's just going to be Mic and I. Chris is playing in a bunch of different bands, he's playing in Reich of the Dead, Glimpse of Hell among others.

M - Do you also play in any other bands?

K - I also play in Gnarly Skull right now. Its like hardcore/punk and then there is Rigorous Obliteration is always on the back burner. Not really allowed to do that now but I cant talk about that.

M - So what has Mic been up to out West?

K - He is playing in a Black Metal band out there…Uh, hold on a sec. I gotta take a toke here…

M - You always gotta get the tokes in the interview. I'm telling you, it makes the interview.

K - Exactly, exactly. But Mic is playing out West, he is playing guitar and singing but I really can't remember what the name of the band is.

M - So how is Kronosfear doing lately anyhow? Any new albums coming out?

K - Well, our new album is all recorded but we are all broke fucks and were trying to get a label to put it out for us, so I think we are just going to end up putting it ourselves and making that once we go out west. Weve got in the works, our last show in Hamilton. We recorded that, it’s a nice sound recording which was recorded by Colin from Will of the Ancients so we are planning to do the live DVD type thing hopefully. Should be pretty bad ass.

- So you said you are playing some shows then in August?

K - Yeah, hopefully. Nothings confirmed yet but for sure we're gonna try and get at least one in the Hammer, maybe one in Toronto and with some luck hopefully a couple more so it will probably be the last shows with Chris on drums.

M - Well, we look forward to the shows and thanks for doing this interview. Horns High! Got any last words?

K - Hang loose, and you know…ass!! ASS!!!

- ECLIPSE ETERNAL INTERVIEW -

Live interview with Voldamares by Mark Howitt (2009)

Mark Howitt - Eclipse Eternal has just played a big show with Mayhem in Toronto, and I just caught your set here with Absu. Amazing set indeed. How were both of these experiences?

Voldamares - The Mayhem show was excellent. It was much better than we expected just because with Marduk not being there we had a sneaking suspicion that the crowd might be a little hostile to anyone replacing them. Turns out this was not the case. I guess it was a good thing that instead of a bunch of death metal bands playing, there was actually some local black metal bands instead, so it seemed to be a pretty good crowd reaction.

M.H - Yeah, it seemed a bit strange to me that they would have death metal bands supporting a band like Mayhem, especially being a band so rooted in the black metal scene as Mayhem is. How was the experience playing with them? They haven’t played in Canada in such a long time and its rare for them to come to these soils and tour. It may have been a good thing that these bands cancelled because it gives local talent an opportunity to share the stage with Mayhem and get them onto their resume?

V - Absolutely. I guess you could say it was bitter sweet I guess you could say because Marduk are one of my favourite bands so for them to drop off and have us replace them its great for us and its kinda like having a knife fight with yourself because you are going to win and you are going to lose.

M.H - So what has been new with Eclipse Eternal? You have recently released Ubermensch, how has that been going for you?

V - Its going really good. We sold out of our first run of 500, and going on to our second run. Sales have been good enough though because we don’t have any real distribution, but we will be hopefully be getting distribution really soon because we have recently signed a distribution deal with Northern Storm Records.so hopefully they will do something. If they don’t, we’ll kill them. Or we will just do it ourselves like weve always done. We do our shirts, we do everything by ourselves. That’s the best way to do it and the response has been good, the reviews have been good and we just keep moving on.

MH - So you’re first album was released by Galy Records and after that you moved on to do it yourself for the second album. I understand that you are working on a new album?

V - We are yes. We left Galy on not so great terms and we would prefer not to speak about it. Moving forward though, the next album we do not have a working title for yet, but its going to be a great album. Right now we have basically added in some newer influences. Some Windir has been a big influence. Watain has been a big influence and we have played a show with them. Dissection has become a bigger influence than they were before. You will be able to hear these new influences on the new album.

MH - Sounds like a killer combination of influences for sure. Do you know when that is expected to be in the recording process?

V - We are hoping August. We have half the album written and we are just practising those. Every two days we do a whole set of just new songs and then we start writing more. That’s just the way we work. It typically takes us awhile to record an album because we are very meticulous. We want it to sound absolutely fucking perfect.

MH - Yeah, it is very common in the black metal world to try and get it like that especially when you are trying to form ambience with the music. That’s why Black Metal is so powerful I think is because people pay attention to that stuff.

V - Ya, there is so much thought that goes into it. Its not abrupt, its not just a one time thing. You really have to think about what you are doing and what you want to convey. That takes a lot of concentration and channelling of the spirits.

- So the second album was produced by Fredrik Nordstrom, you went to Sweden to record that?

V - We went to Sweden to mix it. It was very expensive but he did exactly what we wanted him to do which was make the album that we wanted. So you get what you pay for and we really cant complain. He was really good to us and we hope to use him again.

MH - So you will probably be using him for the next album?

V - That’s the idea. Well see, I mean the idea is up there but it all really depends on finances of time. We are a busy band, he is a busy man but the hope would be that we would continue along that road.

MH - Moving on to another subject, the Canadian Black Metal scene. You are a definite supporter of this ring of bands and you have created The Order of the Wolf and you have been promoting and playing Black Metal for a long time. Playing in Eclipse Eternal and promoting the countries bands. How do you feel that the Canadian Black Metal scene has evolved over the last few years?

V - We have got so much better. So much stronger. Music has evolved and I think now that people are finally clueing in to this type of music it is bringing people together in a good way. There is so much, I wouldn’t say support because that’s gay, but we really help eachother out and encourage each other to be better. I mean, when somebody is aggressive you know, we want them to be really aggressive . When someone has a strong belief we want them to strengthen that even moreso, to know that they stand behind them when they do their acts. When bands play we show up, and make sure that others show up because we have been there. We’ve played shows for five years now, and we’ve seen bands come and go but we are still here. We prefer to play with Canadian bands when we play. We prefer to have these bands playing with us because these are our country people. We have to support our own, because nobody else will.

M.H - Very true indeed. Moving on to a smaller level, a provincial level. Do you feel that the Ontario Black Metal community is thriving?

V - I feel that it is shrinking. The bands are shrinking mostly because the good are rising to the top and the shitty are falling to the wayside and that’s the way that it should be. That’s the way life is. There are really good local bands in Ontario but if somebody asked me to name them, I could probably name four. Weve got about two million people in this city alone and that does not include any of the outskirts and we have four bands. Four. We have four that we have played with and that are good. That is sad, but those four bands are fucking killer. And therefore, we don’t need anymore.

MH - I would definitely say that Eclipse Eternal is on top of that food chain. You guys have played shows with more bands than I can even count on my fingers and toes. Some top names too, pioneering bands. You must have a strong resume at this time, what are some of the best bands you have played with?

V - Last week we played with Mayhem, tonight Absu of course. Weve played with Watain, Averse Sefira, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Dark Funeral. We have played with a lot of really good bands and it spans through genres. We have played with Akercocke, Nuclear Assault, Razor, Piledriver. We have played with a lot of different bands are we are very honoured to have done so.

MH - Sounds like you guys have probably the best resume out of any Canadian Black Metal band in my opinion. I can just see Eclipse Eternal going even further with this new album just from the materials I have heard.

V - We would like to bring this to Europe, to show Europe what Canadian Black Metal is. We don’t exactly have a great name across the world when it comes to Black Metal. Most likely they don’t even know that there is Black Metal here in Canada and I don’t blame them for that its just that there is not many in Canada that have really risen to the top or have worked quite as hard. To showcase themselves and really put themselves on the line. Cause it takes a lot of sacrafice. Not many people are willing to sacrafice everything for music. We have done that for five years now. Every cent we have, every hour we have is spent doing this music and it’s a huge sacrafice but it is definitely worth it and something that we have not regretted. Something we are not about to stop.

MH - Any last words?

V - Kill yourself!

- CEPHALIC CARNAGE INTERVIEW -

Live interview with Lenzig by Mark Howitt (2005)

Mark Howitt - So what do you think of Sudbury's metal scene?

Lenzig - Its alright...I mean its not the greatest weve played but it dont suck either you know..its a cool place to be.

M.H -Marijuana is one of your main influences and it seems to fuel you to write music, but musically, what influences Cephalic Carnage?

L -Like old Death Metal, new Death Metal, the weird experimental stuff like Mr. Bungle. Like Sublime, Sleep, Mastadon, High on Fire, Bob Marley. Stuff like that.

M.H - How has touring with Hardcore acts such as Hatebreed and Madball been? You guys are more of a Grind/Death Metal band.

L - It just exposes us to crowds that don't normally see us y'know, and hopefully that expands things for us down the road. Right now were just kind of eating shit but at the same time we're exposed to more people in a different scene and thats a challenge. You can only do a death metal tour for so long. Now were just trying to make an impact on a different level.

MH - That's good for a band though. Alot of bands are doing that now like Morbid Angel and Slayer, In Flames with Soulfly. Alot of shows are mixed genres of metal now it seems.

L - We just cant really be one dimensional, and you know...close minded. So we feel that we can appeal to Hatebreed and Madball fans as well. It's just like weed. Weeds not for everybody, and neither is Cephalic.

MH - What are your future plans for touring? Anything scheduled?

L - After this one we go home for a day, and then we'll go to Europe and tour with Exhumed for a month. Then go home for another 2 months, then were back to Europe with Macabre.

MH - That's awesome. Those are both good bands. So I'd imagine Cephalic is looking forward to the European tour?

L - Yeah. It'll be our first tour over in Europe, but we've only played a festival there once before. Were just looking forward to doing the same thing like we're doing here. None of those people have ever seen us, so we're gonna go there and play our hearts out.

- From what I understand your recent Halls of Amenti CD is the first offering of a trilogy you guys are working on?

L -Yeah, we're trying to do a three cd set, and some day when theyre all out you can put them all on seperate stereos and play them all together, and it will all be one song interacting with eachother.

MH - Hmm..I don't think I've heard of that being done before.

L - It'll just be weird. The cd's will back eachother up.

Edit: I open a bottle of Jaggermeister and offer it to Lenzig, along with more tokes and some Ciclone Rum/Tequilla

MH - You liking the Jagg?

L - Not really, but..(takes a sip of the Jagg)

M.H - I'm sure that you guys will be more known after this tour with Hatebreed.

L - Yeah exactly. And when we go to Europe, we've never had a chance to utilize record sales there. We can now go there and promote Cephalic really hard, plus at the same time put our hearts out and try to get some new fans. It should be fun.

MH - So where do you guys get your lyrical content from?

L - Well, there's a store in Colorado called K-Mart, and they have a used lyrics section. We just buy cheap lyrics, or at the flea market you can get them on clearance. I just bought 10 books for a dollar one time. Right now im at chapter Lucid Interval.

MH - Well, cheers to the road, cheers to the tour and i hope you guys had a good time here.

L - Yeah right on. Thanks for the party favors and shit. That's fuckin metal.

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- HATE ETERNAL INTERVIEW -

Live interview with Erik Rutan by Mark Howitt (2005)

Mark Howitt - So how has the tour been thus far?

Erik Rutan - The shows have been great man. All the shows with Hatebreed have been fuckin' awesome. Phenomenal shows, some of the best of my career. Canada's been killer.

MH - That's great. I understand that you produce your own albums with Hate Eternal. Have you recorded any other bands besides your own?

ER - Yeah, I recorded Krisiun's 'Conquerers of Armageddon album, Internecine, Dim Mak, Dying Light, Massacre...I got a band Eternal Suffering coming in in December. Premonitions of War. I've done about 13 records now. I got about 5 more coming.

MH - So obviously you'll always produce all of the Hate Eternal records?

ER - Oh yeah. I love doing the Hate Eternal stuff.

MH - Yeah, it's pretty good production I must say. Are you a part of Morbid Angel anymore?

ER - No... I'm not part of Morbid Angel anymore. I helped write Domination and toured for the other two albums. Wrote a bit of Gateways to Annihiliation, but I'm not part of their new album.

MH - So you're totally done with Morbid Angel?

ER - Well not in a bad way, not like that. We're still friends and things. I'm just doing Hate Eternal full time now.

MH - So what are your biggest influences musically, for the style of technical music you play?

ER - Slayer. They're probably my biggest influence. And before that it was like Iron Maiden. I loved Iron Maiden growing up.

MH - What is your opinion on the Black/Death Metal scene today? Do you think it's growing, like more people are getting into it as the years go on?

ER - I think Death Metal is always gonna be here. There's nothing you can do to stop Death Metal. As long as bands like us and Nile and fuckin' Krisiun and all the old legendary bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Cannibal Corpse still do our thing. I don't think that Death Metal is meant to be a popular form of music.

MH - I find that it is getting a bit more popular lately, like a lot more people are getting into it and hearing it.

ER - Oh yeah, but it's not like popping in a Staind record or Linkin Park. It's never going to be like that, but that's why there's a lot of Death Metal bands that are very loyal.

MH - What do you think the most memorable touring experience has been throughout the years?

ER - Probably this one, because Hatebreed are probably some of the coolest fuckin' guys I've ever met.They're one of the easiest to tour with, and Jamie the singer went out of his way to bring us on this tour so we can get exposed to Hatebreed fans, playing our music, and to show them loyalty between Hardcore and more underground bands. Even though we come from different genres we all share something in common, and that's what it's trying to prove. I'm glad he hooked us up.

MH - It definitely gives you new exposure.

ER - Yeah. Exposure to people that we would have never played for before.

MH - So what does the future hold for Hate Eternal fans?

ER - Well right now we're just between tours. We're doing nothing but touring right now. We got a main support slot with Deicide and Krisiun after this. We're also headlining Europe with Dying Fetus and Deeds of Flesh for like two months. So we'll probably do a new record sometime next year.

MH - Well, thanks for the time. Its been great talking metal with you.

ER - Yeah man, thanks.

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- HATEBREED INTERVIEW -

Live interview with Chris Beattie by Mark Howitt (2005)

Mark Howitt - So what do you think of the Metal Scene here in Sudbury?

Chris Beattie - It's good man. We're all having a good time except for the fuckin' border and all that bullshit. That sucks a fat dick.

MHYeah, there have been a lot of border problems since the terrorist incidents and all that shit. They're being more strict now.

CB - Yeah, but it's still a bunch of bullshit though.

MH - I bet. Do you think that Hatebreed will ever play Sudbury again at all, when you guys come back to Canada?

CB - What's the name of this place?

MH - Sudbury

CB - I thought it was Sadsberry or something, but ya of course we'd play here again.

MH - I like the fact that you guys are a band that aren't afraid to play small places, you guys get your name out that way. I was talking with the guys from Cephalic Carnage and Hate Eternal and they said that Hatebreed was right cool to play with because you're into all types of metal, not only your own style.

CB - Oh yeah. We grew up listening to it.

MH - So do you have any favourite bands?

CB - I listen to everything man, like Entombed, Carcass, Crowbar, Slayer. Madball I grew up listening to.

MH - What do you think of the band Acid Bath?

CB - Acid Bath? I never really got into them that much.

MH - They were pretty good. They have a unique style.

CB - That's more like grind ain't it?

MH - No... it's really mellow acoustic doomy metal stuff. It has Sammy from Goatwhore and Crowbar in it, Dax Riggs.

CB - Oh alright, yeah. Goatwhore rules man!

MH - You guys are going on tour with Slayer soon?

CB - Yeah... In two weeks. After this tour.

MH - Fuck, that's gotta be amazing. Slayer are like the Gods of Metal.

CB - It's gonna be a good tour... a great tour.

MH - You guys are looking forward to that I take it?

CBOh yeah, Fuck yeah!

MH - How was Ozzfest? Did you guys like playing that?

CB - Yeah. We did our thing. It was cool. We only had 25 minute sets, but that's about it. I think we only came here once at Ozzfest in Toronto. The shows were huge so it's cool.

MH - Yeah. Well thanks for the insight, good to see you here.

CB - Yeah talk to ya later.

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- KRISIUN INTERVIEW - (2006)

Live interview with Max Kolesne by Mark Howitt

Mark Howitt - Could you tell me a bit about the formation of Krisiun?

Max Kolesne - Well, we started out at the beginning of the 90's and we released our first demo tape called Evil Wage in 1990. Then in 92 we did our second demo, which is called The Plague.

MHI have'nt heard those yet.

MK - It's older material. It's very hard to find, and I think in Brazil is one of the only places you'll find it, but even now it's hard to find that stuff. In 93 we then released our first mini-cd called Merciful Order. We finally released our first full album in 95 called Black Force Domain, which was the album which opened alot of doors for us. We got to play Europe for the first time, and got a contract with a German label. We started playing Europe, and then we released Apocolyptic Revelation in 97, and we came to the U.S for the first tour over here in 99. We toured with Angel Corpse and Incantation, and we got really good responses. The guys from Century Media really wanted to help us out with our bill and shit. After that they released Conquerors of Armageddon. Since then we've just kept ourselves going, lots of tours, lots of shows. We released Ageless Venemous, and now we've just released Works of Carnage about a month ago. It's still a pretty new release.

MH - Yeah. Works of Carnage is a brutal album indeed. From what I've heard it's one of your strongest efforts to date.

MK - Thanks man, we appreciate that. It's a pretty straight forward, aggressive album. We have alot of influences from older bands like Dark Angel, Slayer, and straight forward bands from the 80's, so we're really inspired by those bands like Venom and Morbid Angel. I think this really shows on Works of Carnage, the older style we have. We play like real fast blast beats and shit, but we try to have our own personality for Krisiun. But I thin it shows that we have influences from those older bands.

MH - Have you guys always been called Krisiun?

MK - Yeah. We started as Krisiun, and we still have the same line up. We did have a rhythm guitarist at the beginning, but he quit for personal reasons. We decided to keep the band as a three piece. Alex has a really heavy sound with his bass, and it really fits in well with our music. When Moyses is doing the solos and leads it really fits well with the bass, so we decided to stay as a three piece.

MH - Does it simplify things while writing?

MK - Yeah man. We feel comfortable playing like that. It just came as a very natural thing. We like practicing and jamming. That's the way we write all of our music. Just practicing and jamming out. It's a very natural thing.

MH - Can you explain what the metal community is like over in Brazil?

MK - I'd say it is a very strong metal scene. There is alot of bands with different styles like melodic metal, black and death metal. It's a very old and strong scene in a way. We had bands from the early 80's playing some cool shit. Some bands are as old as Slayer, but they did'nt have the chance to show their music to the rest of the world. Alot of people go to our shows down there. There's alot of metal maniacs.

MH - How has your reaction been so far in Canada and the U.S?

MK - It's been good man. It's always a great pleasure and honour for us to play up here, and tour the U.S. We play everywhere up here and we fuckin' love it. Sometimes we play for only a few people, but sometimes when we play smaller shows it's more intense than playing in festivals like when we played the Wacken Metal Fest in Germany in front of 40,000 people. Sometimes we feel more comfortable playing small shows, and seeing the metal heads there.

MH - That's awesome. Do you have a favourite album?

MK - It's hard to tell just one band. I grew up listening to all the old metal like Motorhead and Judas Priest. We're kind of older guys, we're around 30 and shit, but for albums we listened to Reign in Blood, Altars of Madness, Darkness Descends, Welcome to Hell and Black Metal by Venom.

MH - Are those what inspired you to play and write brutal music?

MK - Oh yeah. The old Slayer, Morbid Angel, and Venom albums are probably the strongest influences we have.

MH - When do you think you'll be playing in Ontario again?

MK - I am really hoping that next year we will be around here again. We are already planning to come back here in the U.S and Canada sometime in the summer.

MH - Have you ever played in Montreal, or Ottawa?

MK - Yes. We actually played Montreal yesterday. It was a really good show for us. Everytime we come to Canada though we only play Toronto and Montreal. That's it. It's pretty fucked up.

MH - Fuck, we gotta get you some gigs in Ottawa, Sudbury, and other places around here. (Edit: Krisiun came back a few years later and played mentioned cities)

MKYeah, that'd be great for sure man. It would be a great pleasure to play those places.

MH - Well, you guys fuckin' rule for sure. Do you have any last comments for our readers?

MK - Yes. We thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to spread our word and music, and it's been great here in Canada. I also want to tell our fans that we will never wimp out. We will always keep true to the roots, and we'll always keep true to our roots. We're always going to play fast and extreme forever, until the day that we die.

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- LAPIDATE -

Live interview with Erich Kennedy and Gord Brown by Mark Howitt (2006)

Mark Howitt - To get things started, could you introduce Lapidate by giving us a brief history of the band?

Erich Kennedy - We started out in late 01/02 as a really shitty band (laughs). It was a different line up at that time. Darryl Kelly used to play guitar for us, and the rest was the same.

Gord Brown - And then our old bassist got kicked out cause we thought he was a dumb ass, his name was Luc. Darryl plays the bass now. We had split with him earlier for job reasons, but he came back in and we've been clicking ever since. We've been a four piece since about August now.

MH - Do you guys find that as time goes by you've evolved into something you always wanted?

EK - Me and Gord had ideas to start a band now for about 3 years. Basically I started playing drums with Gord. We always basically played what we could.

GB - We went from not being able to play Metallica covers to playing this stuff.

EK - Yeah, we always listened to heavier stuff but could never pull it off.

MH - You have definatly gotten heavy, in a good way. What kind of stuff do you guys listen to? I kind of hear a Dying Fetus influence in there somewhere?

EK - Grind! Like Ohio brutal death shit. Hemdale, Waco Jesus, the American Disgorged. We like to stick to the chunky, heavy shit. The sort of grindier stuff.

GB - Yeah, like Gutted and Hemdale, Anal Blast.

EK - We have mixed influences. Nothing like Limp Bizkit, Disturbed or anything like that though. (laughs)

MH - Being a newer band, how many songs have you written so far?

GB - What we played tonight. (laughs)

EK - No, we have about 15 originals, but we only play some of them.

MH - I really liked that White Stripes cover you guys played. It was some fucking sick ass shit.

EK - That was an idea we came up with 2 days ago. We were gonna play New Kids on the Block's the right stuff.

GB - (laughs) Yeah that was the other idea.

MH - So you guys have been playing shows for about 2 years now?

EK - Well, as what we are now about a year. Before that it was all shitty covers and we did'nt know how to play.

GB - It's slowly been evolving though.

EK - We used to be called another name and it was basically like Obituary covers and shit like that.

GB - We've been slowly evolving though. As we progress we kind of throw out the older stuff and do'nt play them anymore. It's the best way to do it. Any riffs from the old songs you like, you just take them and throw them into new and better songs.

MH - You guys are from Ajax? Can you describe it's scene?

EK - One word. Shit. Pure shit. It's a Sum 41 town, so it's really lame. It's all nu-metal crap, pop punk...all crap. About 99% of Ajax are Eminem wanna be's. It fucking sucks.

GB - The four of us is about all that listens to good heavy shit. The closest cool place for us to play is Oshawa. They've got a few good bands like Everest and Wetwork.

MH - Do you guys think that there are enough good metal bands in Ontario to make a really huge scene?

EK - Oh definatly. It's growing for sure. The black metal scene here is definatly getting up there, but our music is starting too. Our scene and the type of music we play is getting alot better. When we first started this, we said that we were'nt going to be a band who plays for people because they like it. We thought nobody would like it, but as it turns out people are getting into it, so that's cool.

GB - Like with Eclipse Eternal. They have a huge following. They came out with a great cd and that helped pull together the black metal side of things.

MH - It's all about playing what you want.

EK - Exactly. We're not going to play Korn just to make people happy. That just aint going to happen.

MH - What sort of stuff do you guys write about?

EK - I'd say about 40% of our stuff is about eating shit, shitting on someone, or anything to do with shit. We're very into Scheister. Just kidding. (laughs) And gore all the way. It's all about the gore, beer and shit.

GB - Yeah, were into the Italian gore flicks as well. Its all about Fulci, Romero and all those Italian movies.

MH - So you found out about noon today that Deicide was'nt playing, and you were opening for Hate Eternal and Krisiun?

EK - Yeah. I was at school.GB - Lori emailed me last night saying that if Deicide did'nt show up, we could play. We were'nt going to give up that opportunity. I got the call at about noon, so I ran over to Erich's school and said get your drums, we're going downtown.

MH - I saw the crowds reaction. Most were pretty impressed.

EK - We were very happy about the crowds reaction. The Toronto scene has gotten so much bigger and better in the last year or so. it's bigger than I've ever seen. It seems everybody's coming out to the shows and stuff.

MH - How many times have you played in Toronto?

GB - We play here alot actually. We've opened for Neuraxis before. The Toronto scene has really grown for local bands. We've got all sorts of young bands coming out now.

EK - Yeah, we play alot of little shows here. We played with Brodequin as well. That was our big show. But like we were saying before, we were'nt expecting anything because of what we play, but now everybody's just so open to it. If were going to give credit to anyone in the scene, it's gotta be the promoters. It's the promoters who get the scene constant and growing.

GB - Like the Toronto Undead has done alot, and Inertia Entertainment. They're bringing out alot of new bands.

EK - We respect them alot. Toronto Undead has just opened up, but they're giving bands shows. If you're in a metal band in Toronto and you call them, they hook you up with shows. That's why there's alot more bands playing here now.

GB - It's also good because the only way your going to grow as a band is to play live. You can play a million times in your garage or whatever, but you dont know how it's going to be when you hit the stage.

MH - Is there any Lapidate shows in the near future?

GB - Yes. We're playing the 2004 Northern Lighs metal fest on June 26th, and that's through Unrestrained magazine.

MH - Well thanks for your time, stay brutal. Any final thoughts?

EK - Cheers to everyone who supports us. You fucking rule.

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